SKEET REESE SHARES HIS INFO ON YEAR ROUND REACTION BITES

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Skeet believes that bass have a commitment zone, if you can figure out how large this zone is, you can choose the reaction baits that will prompt more strikes.

Presentation is always the key factor, regardless of the "force" used in prompting a bass to strike. Specifically, you have to find the strike zone, keeping the lure in the strike zone long enough to get the fish to make a commitment by using the proper action.

Power lures are not required for all reaction techniques, a soft jerk baits fished slowly and erratically can have the same effect as a Lucky Craft hard baits - Lipless Vibrator or Luhr Jensen Speed Trap. "The thing to remember is "speed" does not always mean "fast".


Skeet Reese emphasizes to, "Pay close attention on how far a fish will move to get a bait, then (1) select the lure that will stay at the proper depth for the longest amount of time, and (2) pick something that can be worked in the "commitment" effectively.

The common theory on prompting a reaction strike is make the bait mimic the predatory instinct of the bass, and erratic movement is the key."

Bass primarily feed in one of two ways sight and vibration, so a fisherman has to factor in weather conditions, cover, structure, and water clarity to dictate the approach to use with your reaction baits.

This is what I have learned about the seasonal considerations that dictate the bass aggressiveness, and determine their positions on cover and structure:

• PRESPAWN "At this time of the year, I want a hard, erratic action. With jerkbaits, a solid sharp snap of the rod tip delivers an erratic darting motion thats triggers most of these strikes. They come up look at it, and strike violently, sometimes get hooked in the side of the mouth.
• SPAWN Bass start developing a territorial instinct where they are more interested in chasing a bait than eating it, this starts in the prespawn. In this scenario, the productive colors are perch and sunfish. Baits with treble hooks are a plus, too.

  Reese saids, "Spawning bass are more territorial, so you need to keep the bait in the strike zone longer, if you work a bait to quickly you will not stay in the zone. You need to choose a bait that offers maximum action without moving to far, like a soft jerkbait."

  "Don't worry about the cover," he adds "because they can be in the thickest grass or along wide open banks."

• POSTSPAWN Skeet Reese has found that,"the bass are sluggish, tired, and not back to their regular feeding habits. For anyone wanting to caught large fish on a top water bait, postspawn is the time to do it.

  You have to be creative and try a number of different things, a fast falling jig, a jerkbait dancing in front of them, to a spinner bait flashing right in front of their noses."

  He adds, "typically you've got the males guarding fry and the females have backed out, and these females are rather lethargic, but when they feed, they want something larger that looks easy.

  Although postspawn can be an all-or-nothing proposition, if you've got the water clarity, poppers, buzz baits, Zara spooks and now the new Berkley PowerBait Hollow Belly Swimbaits can produce some of your biggest catches of the year, like the one I had on Lake Guntersville."



• SUMMER Faster speeds are more important now, it the best time for a reaction bite. A variety of baits are productive now because fish are scattered through all zones. "Most times the ultimate summertime reaction bait is the crankbait, if you can find fish relating to cover or the bottom, make the crankbait move erratically and make noise.

  Reese notes that bass feed the most in low light periods. "If the wind is blowing it can produce the best reaction bites you will ever experience.

  The wind breaks up light penatration and acts much like cloud cover or low light. I rely on Horizon spinner bait or a crankbait in shad pattern," he notes.

• FALL, At this time of the year anglers can choose between triggering surface bites, or fishing the bottom. As the water temperature changes, bass get excited and feed more.

  Pay close attention to those triggering movements because sometimes its that last bit of action that gets the strike. Fall is crankbait season for Skeet Reese, because the water temperature is falling and bass are feeding heavily.

  Bass in the lakes he fishes will chase shad or crawfish and the lures need to look like those two forms of forage.