Captain Phil

I have two old baits that don't get much credit these days, the Heddon Tiny Torpedo and the original Rapala minnow. Both of these baits work best when thrown near cover on light line. Both work better in clear water. In all honesty, if you can't catch bass on these baits you should probably take up another hobby.

When I was in business in Miami, I met a man named Wayne Huizenga. When I knew him in the sixties, he was running a small business hauling garbage. His business became what is now known as Waste Management. Later he started a company called Block Buster and owned the Miami Dolphins and the stadium. He told me he never started out to make a lot of money, he was just trying to serve his customers as best as he knew how. I asked him to give me one piece of advice. Here's what he said "Do what others won't do and do more of it than anyone else." America is full of opportunities like that. Sometimes they are right under your nose where most people can't see them.

Lots of good advice. Here's mine. If you like what you do, you will be good at it. Try to figure out what you are good at first. I started working right out of high school. I was a good student, but not very focused. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My parents wanted me to go to college. I tried to make them happy, but college wasn't for me. I loved anything mechanical, but my parents didn't want me to be a car mechanic. By pure luck, I was hired by a major business machine company to repair office equipment. It was similar to being an auto mechanic except it was much cleaner. I was happy in that job for awhile. I learned all I could and opened my own business. That business eventually turned into a computer software company that I sold in 2000 to retire when I was 53. You don't want a job, you want an opportunity. If you work hard for someone else, you will make the owners and or stockholders rich. If you work hard for yourself and like what you do, you will be happy when you are old like me. Don't follow someone else's plan, follow your own.

I have been using a Shimano Castaic CA-200 reel for flipping and pitching for a long time. I recently had to rebuild it because I nearly wore it out. This reel has a flipping switch. I am a right handed fisherman. The flipping switch is handy, but not entirely necessary. It lets you engage and release the spool with your thumb. This saves a little time. Time is money in a tournament. The switch is used more in pitching than flipping. In flipping, there is no casting.

If you wish to use hardware to attach your bait, go for it. I don't for all the reasons I stated above. I am not on this forum to argue with folks or get the last word. I am trying to help anglers who may benefit from my experience. I fished both fresh and saltwater tournaments for many years. When you fish for money, the difference between getting a check and not getting paid can be as small as how you attach your bait. I no longer fish for money, but I still fish like I do.

In my neighborhood we have a new "Mr. Car Wash". My SUV is a literal pain to wash, especially since it sits outside. Since my back operation, I am afraid to climb on a stool or ladder. For $30 a month, I get unlimited washes, hot wax and the use of their vacuums. Their vacuums are stronger than any I have ever used and they suck every bit of the sand out of my carpet. It's a huge bargain and keeps my vehicle looking like new.

I have no problem with using small quality snaps in place of a slip ring on hard baits. I would leave the split ring myself, but that's a matter of personal preference. The problem with snaps and swivels in bass fishing is when anglers use them for no reason other than they are too lazy or uninformed to tie knots. If you can't physically tie a knot, you have no other choice. I can't tell you how many times I have taken out a customer and had them show up with a huge snap swivel on the end of their line. Some even have steel leaders. I tell them we don't have pike in Florida and the charter turns into a knot tying lesson. Bass fishing does not require extra hardware to attach your baits. If the bait needed a snap swivel, the manufacturer would have included one. If you make an informed decision to use a snap to improve the bait, I believe that is perfectly fine.

I am sure there are many other ways to tie a loop knot. This is the one I use.

I only use two knots when bass fishing, a Palomar for lines larger than 20 mono in diameter and a Jimmy Houston knot for lines 20 and under. Before braid I used a standard clinch knot. I lost some great fish using braid with that knot, so I did some research and found the Jimmy Houston knot. Never had one fail with any line ever.

Using a snap when bass fishing reminds me of a statement made about football. “Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad.” Using a snap adds weight to the bait. It changes the look of the bait and the action. It also attracts weeds and additional hangups. In some cases this can be an improvement, too often it's not. In offshore salt water fishing, we use high quality ball bearing swivels and snaps. This is necessary as we may need to change the bait and entire leader quickly. This is not required in bass fishing. If using a snap or swivel works for you, use it. If I was going to fish a bass tournament, I would want all my competitors to use them.

In the early days of plastic worm fishing, hook setting was a huge issue. The hooks we had were horrible dull things with no point. Even if you sharpened them, they would go dull in a heartbeat. This required pool cue stiff rods and Olympic style hook sets. We were lucky if we landed two thirds of our fish. I jerked the rod so hard on my hook sets I fell out of the boat twice. I use Gamakatsu or Owner EWG 3/0-5/0 hooks for worm, fluke and Senko fishing. For Flipping, I prefer round bend hooks. My favorite is Owner 5103-131 in 3/0 or 4/0. These hooks will hook a fish by it's weight alone.

I must get a dozen texts and emails a day in reference to purchases I did not make. When this started, I called the number and quickly discovered they were after my bank account info. I also get calls from people who leave messages on my phone stating that I owe them money when I don't. I have even received emails from my own bank what were fake. These are all phishing attempts out to steal my money. Never ever open an email with an attachment unless you know exactly who it came from and what it is in advance. When I buy tackle online, I use PayPal. If a merchant doesn't accept PayPal, I don't do business with them. Using a debit card online is courting disaster. I have made a number of purchases recently from Tackle Warehouse and have yet to have a problem.

The only good reason I can see to use snaps when bass fishing is if you are handicapped and have trouble tying knots. Adding hardware to a bait changes the action and adds an additional point of failure. If you wish to increase the action of a bait, use a loop knot. It's a very easy knot to learn and tie. We use them in inshore salt water fishing and I have never had one fail.

I pull my 1/2 oz. Rattle Traps with a 7/1 reel and 20 pound big game mono. I fish a lot of shallow water. My Rattle Traps run about 3-4 feet deep on the retrieve. If I find an area with underwater grass 3-4 feet under the surface, a Rattle Trap will just touch the grass. I recently switched to 50 pound braid and have seen no difference in running depth. I do fish a Rattle Trap on the bottom at times. They run shallow when moving at any speed.

Our bass club The Harris Chain Bassmasters" ran a big bass tournament every year for a long time. I was the Master of Ceremonies in a few of these tournaments. I also received many inquiries from Clubs and organization who wished to run their own tournaments. Our tournaments were team format with one big bass per boat. We did this to differentiate ourselves from most of the numerous other money tournaments in our area. These were very popular as everyone had an equal chance. We kept the entry fee low ($100 per boat) and had about 100 boats. First prize was about $1,500-$2,000 and we tried to pay down ten places. Being a B.A.S.S. Club at the time, we were insured by the B.A.S.S. Federation. Luckily, we never had any injuries to speak of. Do not run any money tournament without proper insurance or you may regret it. Cheating was a problem. We had two guys who put weights in a fish. We caught it at the weigh-in and pressed charges. It bounced around court for a while and they were eventually fined and banned from future tournaments. We also coordinated our tournaments with the local Game Officials. They came with big tubs of water and medicine to help the bass overcome the boat rides. We held a very popular drawing after the tournament and sold raffle tickets. The prizes came from local shops and merchants. We also sold business sponsorships and placed them on our fliers. All in all we raised about $3,500 each tournament. Integrity and honesty is the most important part of running a tournament.

Sorry, there is no cheap land left in Florida. ?

Debit cards are trouble. They don't have the same protections as credit cards. If you don't have a credit card, use PayPal for Internet transactions.

Catt. Sounds like you and I have been writing for a long time. By now, so much has happened to our original articles that I have a difficult time remembering who wrote what. Over the years I have penned articles for numerous newspapers, magazines and websites. If you can find an old copy of July 1999 Bass & Walleye Boats magazine, you can read an article about one of my boats on page 54. If you took that photo, I am sorry for the confusion. It is very similar to my photos. There is only so much you can do with a photo of a plastic worm.

No problem. My website has been up for over twenty years. Over that period of time, many photos and entire pages of text have been shared and copied all over the internet. The only purpose I had for creating this website was to help people who are new to or are struggling with Harris Chain bass fishing. It has never been a money making commercial enterprise. Enjoy.

That photo is from my personal website. Forum members are welcome to use any photo I have on it for any purpose. I know we are not supposed to put links on this forum and I am fine with that. Google Harris Chain Bass Fishing. Thanks!

The Rattle Trap is a great trolling bait here in Florida. Our lakes are mostly shallow and so are our bass. On a fast retrieve they run 2-3 feet under the surface. I doubt you could get one to troll much deeper unless you used a planer or inline weight. Line size also affects their running depth. Trolling a Rattle Trap is a great way to find fish. It's against the rules in most bass tournaments. When I'm fun fishing, I occasionally troll one in a long idle zone. In the Everglades canals, trolling a Rattle Trap is dynamite.

Bass fishermen love buying stuff. We all have a garage full of baits, rods, reels and stuff that we used at one time and never used again. Do you "need" $8,000 worth of tackle to catch bass? No, but I'll bet someone who does got enjoyment out of every purchase. You need two basic casting rods, one heavy for worm fishing and one with a little more flex for spinnerbaits and plugs. 6'-7' in length is about right for me. I like a shorter rod for topwater and fluke fishing so I can work the bait better. I also carry a 7 1/2' Bass Pro collapsible flipping rod. I own one spinning rod. It's a 6 1/2' graphite rod with a strong backbone that flexes about 1/3 from the top. I believe everyone should eventually own one high quality fishing rod. Shimano makes the best bass fishing rods in the world. Zodias rods are a work of art.

The term "Wacky Rig" was originally used because the worm was hooked sideways in the middle with both ends dangling equally. Over the years, this technique has been modified and refined to a point where it can describe any weightless or near weightless worm fishing technique. However you rig the worm, it's the natural fall and action that makes it work so well. The small swivel in front of the worm has two functions, it adds a little weight without affecting the worm itself and it keeps the line from twisting. If I hook the worm sideways in the middle, I use a thin wire round bend worm hook. I have used 1/0 to 3/0 hooks depending on the bait and where I am fishing. Hooking a fish is never a problem because the hook is exposed. If I am nose hooking the worm, I use a 3/0 Gamakatsu # 58413 offset shank worm EWG hook. This is a deadly finesse technique that has the added benefit of forcing you to fish slow. If bass anglers would slow down their fishing, they would catch a lot more bass. However you fish it, this technique catches fish. It's about as much of a no-brainer as it gets in bass fishing.

Here in Florida, we have more and thicker underwater weeds than you may find in a Northern Reservoir. A traditional Wacky Rig with the worm hooked through the middle is often difficult to fish because of the exposed hook. By hooking the worm "Texas Style" without the weigh, you can pull it without fear of it hanging up in the cover. What makes a weightless worm effective is the slow natural action. Very few bass can ignore a slow falling or gliding straight tail plastic worm. A weightless swimming worm also works well. I once fished a Federation tournament in Toho with a guy who swam a worm rigged with a bend to make it spin. I thought he was nuts until he started pulling in fish after fish. I later learned he was the Top Rod in his club. For this type of fishing, I prefer Zoom 8" Trick Worms. My favorite color is June Bug Red. I have successfully used everything from watermelon to bring pink, even merthiolate. I use 8 pound mono on a spinning rod for this fishing. Anything thicker dampens the action and I don't get as many strikes. The 4" Zoom finesse worm is a killer when the fish are pressured. I won a local classic fishing them on a Mojo Rig against a field of outstanding anglers. When fishing gets tough, downsizing is the way to go.

The Wacky Rig (weightless worm) is one of the deadliest bedding bass baits there is. You should make long casts to keep from spooking fish off the bed. By the time you see a bedding fish, it's often too late. Back in the day, Southern boys had a trick they used during bedding season. They carried a bunch of stiff straight sticks in their boat. When they spotted a bedding fish, they placed the stick adjacent to the bed and left to give the bass a chance to come back. When they returned, they made long casts to the stick. When a weightless worm drops into the bed on light line, it's almost guaranteed to be picked up.