Deep Pre-Spawn Fish

Unbelievable!!! I have never seen anything like it. All the guides were shocked. We had fished the X2 Countdown with some success here in Northern Cal. but we did not yet know how to use it. Then we went to Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto. Many of the fish were still in a pre spawn staging areas off ledges. Swim baits had been working all week, but then it slowed way down. That's when we tied on an X2 Countdown. We landed 14 fish between 6 and 9 lbs in one spot in three hours. Then continued to catch fish in the same pattern all over the lake. We got it all on video and will release it soon. Here are some tips. First, understand that this bait sinks. You can throw it out and just sit there and it will go down or give it a few cranks til it gets to the bottom. I am sure there are times when a fast retrieve works, but we were going super slow and keeping it on the bottom. It was like fishing a jig. You can feel every rock. We believe the rattles in the bait also attract, which might explain why the swim baits stopped working. make multiple casts. We believe we actually were able to make these fish bite by offering multiple casts. Once they started... 14 fish. 4 in 5 casts. All between 6 and 9 lbs. and that was after they stopped eating a swim bait. We have a tournament this weekend and a front will arrive mid-week. That will likely keep those big fish from moving up. We just ordered a bunch more X2 Countdowns in various colors and have high hopes for the weekend. Tight Lines.