Want to catch more bass now? Want to have fun while doing it? Check out these awesome squarebill fishing tips from Alex aka @Oklahoma’s Worst Angler! Alex has you covered if you looking for tips on your rod and reel setup, line and casting position!
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Video Transcript:
Alex:
Moderate action, five or six gear ratio.
Alex:
Fast action, seven or eight gears.
Alex:
Slow roll.
Alex:
Burn, burn, pause.
Alex:
Slow roll.
Alex:
Burn, burn, pause.
Alex:
Before you go any further, are you subscribed? Subscribe to Monsterbass. Subscribe to the channel. Hit that red button. It's easy. It's cake. Hooks are sharp. Ouch. What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Monsterbass channel. I am Oklahoma's Worst Angler, and today what we're going to be talking about is what I think is going to be best for you if you're going out there and throwing a squarebill, and the proper equipment, the rod, the reel, the line to use. That's what I'm going to be talking to you guys about today.
Alex:
Now, first off, we got to highlight the squarebill in the November months' box. This is the Xcite Baits' XB1. Check out the paint on this. Our buddy Zach Messer, he came up with this paint. He came up with this paint. He sent the design off to Xcite Baits. What they did is they mass-produced it onto this squarebill, on this one right here. The only thing is you're not going to get this anywhere else, but the Monsterbass Box. So, if you haven't picked one up yet, fall bluegill, Xcite Baits XB1, highlighted squarebill this month, in the box.
Alex:
Now, that's actually... I don't want to throw this on very much because it is so pretty and because I've already lost one. It's squarebills and pawns, sometimes don't match. So let's talk about how to hopefully avoid that stuff. So say you're going out to a brand new pond, and you don't know what kind of structure is in there. You have no way of knowing. You're on the bank. You have no fish finder. You have no graff. You don't cast something out there and take a look.
Alex:
Best way to do it first off, breakdown the water using a Texas rig. Bury that hook point in there, and fan cast out. Drag that Texas rig along, and find out what you're working with; if you got a lot of grass in there, if you've got a lot of branches, a lot of brush, whatever it may be. That is the best way to go about attacking a new body of water, especially if you're going to be throwing a squarebill. Because when you are throwing crank baits like this, that are diving, those treble hooks, they will hang up on just about everything. So you don't want to go in there blind and you don't want to lose a squarebill like I did. That's my only tip for today, talking about throwing these guys.
Alex:
Now, let's talk about textbook and say what you should do and how you should throw a squarebill or throw crank baits, you need a moderate action rod. You need a five to six gear ratio reel. You need to be throwing 10 to 12 pound fluorocarbon. In different areas of the country, that's going to work. But in other areas of the country, that's not going to work. Let's break this down.
Alex:
If you are fishing, say a body of water that is a lot of grass, not as much structure, but a lot of grass, you're not going to want a moderate action rod. And the reason I say that, when we're talking about a moderate action rod, what you're going to have, this is not a moderate action rod, but I just kind of want to use this as an example to show you guys here. So you've got the length of the rod here, in a moderate action rod, that rod is going to start loading more towards the bottom of that blank, about two-thirds of the way down. That's where it's going to start loading. Obviously, this is not a moderate action rod.
Alex:
Now, the reason I say you don't want that for the grassier lakes or the grassier body's a water, is if you want to rip that squarebill through the grass, that moderate action is not going to give the kind of snap or unload in that rod tip that's going to help that squarebill just kind of rip through there. A moderate action is a much softer tip, it's going to load further back, which typically is good for your treble hook baits. But again, grassier bodies of water, I say, go with a moderate-fast to a fast action.
Alex:
It's good to know your equipment. It's good to know your rod. And to know you moderate-fast, or your fast action rod is going to feel like when you are snapping it through there. That is going to be better for you when you are fishing grassier lakes, and especially like I said, if you want to rip that through.
Alex:
Now, where a moderate action rod will come into play. A moderate action rod is going to be a lot better for you in deeper water, less structure, less stuff to get hung up on, because what that rod is going to do, when it loads, it's going to load perfectly, it's going to allow that fish to do most of the work in those treble hooks are going to get ripped right in there... Or get stuck right in there, not ripped. Still talking about ripping stuff out. But moderate action rod, when you're throwing crank baits, deeper water, more open water, typically is the way that you want to go. But not everybody has that ability to go and select a rod, whether it be a moderate action, or a fast action, anything like that. A lot of us kind of fish with the same rod for just about everything. These are the things to keep in mind.
Alex:
Now, talking about reels. People say that for crank baits, you want to have a slower gear ratio, so you can really just kind of slowly crank that along. There are times of the year where you want to be burning a squarebill. We've all heard it from TacticalBassin and burn, burn, pause. Have you ever tried burning a crankbait or burning a bait on a five gear ratio reel? It doesn't burn. It's more like a jog. It doesn't sprint, it jogs. So there are times where that slower gear ratio is going to help out.
Alex:
But me personally, I like to throw my crankbaits on a seven gear. That's just me personally. I'm able to slow down my cranking. I'm able to slow it down. A lot of people will say, "You don't get quite the same cadence or the same action by slowing your reel down." I've never noticed a difference, and the fish I've caught have never noticed the difference either. But do you have to have a dedicated crankbait bait setup? You don't technically need to. When it comes to having multiple rods, multiple reels, all of these different options, it's not a necessity. It is 100% a luxury, but you don't have to have all those different things.
Alex:
Let's break it down again. If you're a fishing more grassy lakes that are a little more shallow, I do recommend using a moderate fast to a fast action rod. Reel speed, totally dependent on you. I personally liked seven gear. I think seven gear is perfect. Sometimes I'll throw a six gear on some crankbaits, usually all my deep, deep divers. That's when I'll use a slower gear ratio, but that's neither here nor there, because if we're talking about squrebill.
Alex:
On more open water, more open, a little bit deeper, less structure, go with a moderate action. That's it, simple as that. The reels, whatever.
Alex:
If you guys have any questions for me, as far as crankbaits, as far as squarebills, as far as what rod to get, what reel to get, what line to you use, anything like that, feel free to reach out to me on my channel, Oklahoma's Worst Angler. Reach out to me on Instagram. I just recently started a TikTok. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that yet, but yeah, there's an Oklahoma's Worst Angler on TikTok. I mean, follow me there, I suppose. Who knows what's going to go on there. But anyways, thanks for watching, guys. I appreciate every single one of you, and I'll see you next time on the water.