Jimmy Mason spends the bulk of his summer fishing time in the main bodies of lakes, commonly fishing structure along the main channel of the Tennessee River. An Alabama bass pro and guide who fishes extensively on Guntersville and Pickwick lakes, Mason has a doctorate level understanding of ledges and other main lake structures, how bass relate to those structures in different situations and how to target those fish.

Mason uses a variety of lures and techniques for targeting ledge bass, including some of the most traditional approaches. In recent years, though, he’s turned heavily to a largely overlooked technique that is easy to execute and highly effective and shows the bass something different from what they mostly see on highly pressured waters.

Lure, Rig & Approach

The underutilized rig that Mason commonly turns to when bass are relating to main river structure and holding close to the bottom is a YUM Magnum Finesse Worm rigged on a YUM Hard Head.

The Magnum Finesse worm is a 7.5-inch straight tailed worm with a bulbous tail that adds buoyancy and causes an upright posture in the water. The Hard Head, popularized under the Gene Larew brand and most frequently matched with a Scutter Bug (formally a Larew Biffle Bug), the Hard Head has a football style head shape and a swinging offset hook that allows for weedless rigging and a lot of bait movement as the head drags along the bottom.

Mason’s primary Magnum Finesse Worm colors are Red Bug and Plum. When the water is extra clear, though, he’ll turn to Green Pumpkin, Ghillie Suit or Elder’s Magic, with Elder’s Magic being his favorite for the clearest water.

He mostly fishes with a 9/16- or 11/16-ounce Hard Head but will turn to the 1-ounce version for deeper spots or when wind and/or current make it more difficult to control the bait in the zone and feel the bottom.

He fishes this rig on a Lew’s 7-2 Jig & Worm Rod and spools his reel with 15-pound-test Vicious Fluorocarbon.

Mason uses this approach to fish a variety of structure types including ledges, bars, humps and points. Common denominators of the best spots are depth changes, current breaks and the presence of shell beds, and the specific areas with the shells tend to be the sweet spots. He positions the boat off the structure, so long casts land the bait just past the zone he most wants to hit and works the bait down the structure.

After making a long cast and letting the rig fall to the bottom, Mason works his Magnum Finesse Worm with a slow dragging presentation, moving the bait with slow lifts of his rod and using the reel only to take up line between pulls.

Mason calls the presentation “counting the rocks” because he moves the bait slowly with the rod, so it stays on the bottom, and he feels everything. When the bottom starts feeling extra bumpy, that means his bait is in the shells and consequently in the primary zone.

Fish will position themselves differently on structures from day to day based current, bait positioning and more, so Mason will work a structure gradually and cast from different angles. When he catches a fish, he repeats the exact cast that produced. That fish often was positioned the way it was for a reason, and sometimes multiple fish bass will respond to the bait being worked through the same spot at the same angle. Those other bass, which anglers will miss out on if they just keep moving, can be real difference makers in a day’s success.

Mason normally starts with the Magnum Finesse Worm, and it clearly is his go-to lure for this approach. When bass are hitting but too few are getting hooked, though (often on the back end of a front), that shows him that they are extra finicky that day. In those situations, he switches to a YUM Hammer Craw, which is a much smaller offering that the fish tend to grab with more commitment under those conditions.

The Hammer Craw has a compact profile and curled claws with small paddles at the ends that make the claws kick hard any time the bait is in motion. Rigged on the same Hard Head Mason uses for fishing the Magnum Finesse Worm, the Hammer Craw moves along the bottom with a bit of a shimmy and the claws creating a lot of movement.

Unlike with the worm, Mason keeps the Hammer Craw moving steadily, taking out the pauses that come from repeated, slow rod lifts. He believes it prompts much more of a reaction strike as it scurries along. As with working the worm, he maintains bottom contact at all times.