By Louie Stout

Add a spinner to your SenkosTake your favorite stick worm, add a tail spinner, and start whacking bass, says Bassmaster Pro Keith Poche.

It’s the perfect setup for fishing fussy bass and a trick that Poche learned from Louisiana buddies four years ago.

It sounds like something that would work well on Michiana waters, too.

Key components include a 5-inch stick worm (Senko or whichever brand you prefer), a small, No. 1 Colorado blade attached to a quality No. 2 ball bearing swivel fashioned on a screw-in eyelet. He uses a gold blade under cloud cover and silver on sunny days.

“I’ve experimented with other blades, but this little Colorado works best,” says Poche.

He uses a screw-in TTI-Blakemore HitchHiker to attach his spinner to the back of a NetBait Salt Lick or Yamamoto Senko.

The stick worm is a remarkable bait in itself, but the spinner adds attraction, enables him to fish it a bit faster and cover more water, says Poche. It also “calls” fish to the bait.

He makes long casts over shallow water and winds the bait slowly, about six inches beneath the surface.

“Other than a shaky worm, it’s the best bait I’ve ever thrown for generating bites,” he contends.

It’s the perfect rig novice anglers, including youngsters, he adds.

“There’s really no trick to it, other than you might experiment with retrieves to see how the fish want it that day,” offers Poche. “I have fished it all over the country and it works whenever bass are shallow.”

The rig is especially ideal for spooky bass during pre-spawn, post-spawn or fall. The water must be relatively clear so the fish can see it.

“It’s good on those sunny, slick days when the fish aren’t aggressive,” Poche adds.

Lure color can be critical, too, Poche adds.

“When it’s bright, the fish prefer the more translucent (watermelon red) Senko, but on cloudy periods, they want green pumpkin,” he offers.

He will reel the bait steadily, hesitating occasionally to allow it to flutter downward so the blade could “helicopter” on the fall.

“That draws lot of strikes, whereas other times they’ll blast it while winding it,” Poche explains. “Also, when you pull it over the edge of a grass bed and kill it, they’ll crush it.”

He cautions anglers to not fish the rig too fast and to hesitate before setting the hook, much the way you should when tempting bass with surface frogs. Let the rod load from the weight of the fish, then set the hook.

“There’s something about this rig – and I have no idea what the bass think it is – but they will come from a distance to eat it,” he adds.