The walk the dog technique is DEADLY when it comes to catching big bass! Jeremy from Fishing The Lonestar is here to teach you how to walk the dog and get more TOPWATER blow-ups!

Check out Jeremy's channel Fishing The Lonestar: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLDd...

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Video Transcript:

Jeremy Francis:
Got one. That was a long task to get that guy in.

Jeremy Francis:
Hey, what's up guys. Welcome back to the MONSTERBASS channel. My name is Jeremy Francis with Fishing the Lonestar, and today we're talking topwater baits. In particular, we're talking walking baits.

Jeremy Francis:
Walking baits so much fun to throw, a lot of awesome success can be had with them, whether it be in a pond or a lake, especially this time of year. But we're going to provide a couple of tips and tricks. We're going to provide some tips and tricks to throwing these baits and lures in local lakes and ponds to hopefully help you hook up on more bass.

Jeremy Francis:
The Patriot 2.0 recently came in the August box, the August topwater box, and I love this paint and color scheme. They came in my Regional Pro Box, kind of a bluegills shad color. Pretty awesome. And then, also in a recent box was the Heddon Spook Jr, another awesome little topwater spook style bait.

Jeremy Francis:
What's key to both of these is, the techniques are using, the equipment you're using, the retrieval and really how you get the most out of this bait from a walk the dog perspective. We're going to talk about all that, kind of in a two part video. But I'm going to break all the technical stuff down here, and then we're going to head out to some local water and hopefully hook up with some fish, and I'll show you the retrieval aspect out on the water.

Jeremy Francis:
First, let's dig in though to the equipment that you need to use to have success with these baits. First and foremost, I want to highlight the rod. Now this particular rod that I'm using, you'll see the TFO and I'll show you right here, it is a 6'10 topwater rod. It does say moderate rod, which means the action has a lot of give and bend to it. You'll see that bend right here.

Jeremy Francis:
And the reason why it's important is because you're throwing a bait with double troubles, double trouble hooks. You want there to be a little bit of give when you go to set the hook, otherwise you're literally going to rip the fish's mouth and rip this bait right out of it. I know you hear the saying, "Ripping lips," but if you're not careful with these style baits, you literally will rip them right out of the fishes mouth. Having the right rod, and I'll talk about why 6'10 matters, but having the right action rod, moderate, really helps.

Jeremy Francis:
Now, with it being 6'10 and a six foot 10 rod, a little bit shorter rod, I normally would probably fish with a seven to seven three foot rod on most applications. But being a 6'10 rod gives you a little bit more maneuverability with the rod to be able to twitch it and work it the way you need to with the rod tip to give it action to really walk. We'll highlight that a little bit when we get out on the water.

Jeremy Francis:
The reel I'm using here, it's a Lew's LFS. I've upgraded to the wind knobs, wind grip knobs, but this is just the Lew's LFS reel. It's actually a seven 5:1 gear ratio. The speed though, of the real does not really matter too much because you're working this bait with the rod, not with the reel. Again, we'll talk about it on the water.

Jeremy Francis:
And then last, the line. The line that I'm using here is a copolymer or a monofilament line. And the reason why is because this line floats as opposed to fluorocarbon that sinks. And again, if you have a topwater application ... Sorry, my lines all caught up here in my bait.

Jeremy Francis:
But the reason why you don't want fluorocarbon is because if you're throwing a topwater bait, fluorocarbon, that line seeks. And also braid will float, but braid's probably not forgiving enough for this type of presentation.

Jeremy Francis:
What's helpful with monofilament or copolymer is A, it floats, and B it gives a little bit. That's going to help you, not only with setting the hook, but keeping that fish pinned as you reel them in and get them in to the bank or to the boat, whichever it is. It's your fishing.

Jeremy Francis:
That's the technical stuff. What you probably want to see though, is this lure in action because it walks like a dream, so does the Heddon Spook that came in a previous MONSTERBASS box. But the one we're going to throw today is going to be this one here. Let's head out to a local pond and see if we can catch some fish, and at the very least I'll show you how you should work your rod and retrieve to get optimal movement and walking the dog with a bait like this. Let's hit the water.

Jeremy Francis:
Here's a really good spot to target. With a bait like this, you'll see this submerged grass right here. There's likely fish holding off the edge of it, bass that are hitting either shad or bluegill swimming up here. I'm going to cast it out under a tree, cast pass it under a tree over it. And I'll show you as I'm retrieving it, what my rod actually looks like to get this to walk the dog.

Jeremy Francis:
Once my bait lands, [inaudible 00:05:17] I was saying, "Gauge the reel." And then, you'll notice that in order to get it to walk the dog, watch my rod tip. I'm giving it twitches with the rod tip, and in between the twitch as when I'm making the real, the slack. Twitch, reel, twitch, reel, twitch, reel.

Jeremy Francis:
And then, once you get a nice motion going and you get rhythm going, then your bait walks behind it very well. Watch as that bait gets a little bit closer, you'll see it just gliding from side to side, which is exactly that walk the dog motion that you want. I would kind of pause it right there over some of that grass.

Jeremy Francis:
Another thing too, you don't want to do with your rod is vary your cadence. Sometimes if you go slower twitches, you'll get a really erratic movement, side to side, and, or, faster twitches, you get more of a quicker movement. Well, it just kind of depends on what the fish are wanting at your local water, so kind of want to vary it up.

Jeremy Francis:
You'll see right now, I'm getting bigger side to side sweeps with a little bit slower twitches, or I can pick it up some and get quicker rod switches.

Jeremy Francis:
As we get closer, I'll show you guys again. I'm touching my rod, and in between the twitches is when I'm twitch, reel, twitch, reel, twitch, reel, twitch, reel twitch, reel, so that I'm rolling in the slack. As I'm popping slack in my line, I'm reeling it in, in between each pop of the rod. And that's what creates that back and forth movement is a back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, back forth. And you'll notice in between each one, that was when I'm doing my reel.

Jeremy Francis:
Well, a little about the Patriot 2.0, though, is it's got enough weight to it, that I can make a long bombing cast and cover a lot of water, especially in a pond like this. I can cover a lot of water quickly. What I'm seeing right now is the bass are roaming chasing balls of bait, so I'm able to cover ground and hopefully find where those groups of fish are.

Jeremy Francis:
Another helpful tip guys, in your retrieve is, don't be afraid as you're walking the dog to then just pause it. And sometimes what you'll find is bass will be following and trailing it, and when you pause it, it allows them to almost kind of catch up, and they really don't even have a choice. It almost kind of hits them in the face. It's almost like they don't have a choice but to hit it then, when you do that.

Jeremy Francis:
Got one. That was a long task to get that guy in. And there you have it guys. Good bass. Caught him right there in that bottom hook out there chasing bait fish.

Jeremy Francis:
One more tip, while you're throwing a lure like this, that's trouble hooks, is always carry pliers to be able to pop them out.

Jeremy Francis:
All right, guys, hope those tips helped for using the Patriot 2.0 by MONSTERBASS, a great new addition to the MONSTERBASS lineup, and in my recent box. Hope these were helpful tips. Please comment below, let us know if you're catching some fish on a Patriot 2.0, what your favorite topwater lure is, because the topwater box was insane. And make sure you like and subscribe to the MONSTERBASS channel. Hop over Fishing the Lonestar, my channel as well. Again, my name is Jeremy. Subscribe there. We'd love to see you over there. Both channels provide some excellent tips and tricks, so be sure to subscribe below on the MONSTERBASS channel for more great videos like this coming your way.