“Fishing in the West with Tony Giallombardo”

Part 1: Spooning-Up Hot-Weather Bass

Editor’s Note: Tony Giallombardo of Tempe, Arizona, a competitive-bass fisherman since 1995, fishes the American Bass Anglers (ABA) tournament circuit, the U.S. Angler’s Choice bass-tournament circuit and the AllStar bass-tournament circuit. This week, Giallombardo will tell us how and where to fish at this time of year in the West when temperatures are still hot.

Question: Tony, at this time of year, the weather’s still hot in Tempe, Arizona. How do you catch bass?

Giallombardo: We fish the same way in really-hot temperatures as we fish in the wintertime when the weather’s really cold. Extreme temperatures seem to have the same effect on bass, driving them deep and generally causing them to hold on offshore structure. So, we use our electronics to find the bass and the Mepps Little Wolf spoon to vertical jig over the bass.

Question: How deep do you fish?

Giallombardo: In our region, shallow water is 15 to 30 feet and deep water is 50 or 60 feet. So, I try to stay within 15- to 30-foot deep water. I like the Little Wolf spoon’s shape and profile in the water and the way it falls. Too, because it’s compact, the bass can get the spoon in their mouths relatively easily.

Question: What color and size spoon do you like?

Giallombardo: I prefer to fish the 1/4-ounce silver-and-blue spoon on 10- to 12-pound-test line, dropping the spoon down on a bait-casting reel with a medium-action rod. I pull the line off the reel and let the spoon flutter down to the fish. I watch the line to see if there’s a tick on the line indicating that the bass has taken the spoon on the fall. Or, I cast out the spoon 25 or 30 feet, hold the line tight and let the spoon fall in a pendulum-type motion, until it reaches the bottom. This way, I can see the strike on my rod tip when the fish take the bait.

If I spot an interruption in the fall of the lure, such as the line’s stopping instead of continuing to swing back toward the boat, then I know the bass has taken the bait and I need to set the hook. If I don’t catch the bass on the fall, I’ll pick the bait up off the bottom and oftentimes the bass will take the spoon as soon as it moves off the bottom. I’ll jig the spoon up off the bottom and let it fall back. Many times the bass will be suspended off the bottom 5 or 6 feet.

The bass are generally holding on rocks, even though there is wood in many of our lakes. We usually can locate bass holding on underwater boulders or on the edges of drop-offs. Our area doesn’t home the gorilla-sized bass you see in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. The biggest bass I caught this year weighed from 3-1/2- to 4 pounds. But I’ve caught bass that have weighed from 5-1/2- to 6-pounds each. When we use this spoon-jigging technique, we generally catch tournament-size bass, which will weigh from 1-1/2- to 2-pounds each.

Question: What pound-test line do you use when you’re fishing the jigging-spoon technique?

Giallombardo: I like 10- or 12-pound-test line because the bigger line allows the spoon to fall much slower and gives the bass more time to look at the bait than if you fished 6- or 8-pound-test line. Too, the heavier line enables you to better get the spoon out of the rocks.