David Harrell has an “everyman” approach to fishing for big bass. He doesn’t have any big secret weapon or perfectly matched tackle and bait combo.
He just goes fishing.
OK — he does have a lucky fishing cap.
“I have a lot of fishing buddies who have this rod for this bait and this line for this reel,” Harrell said. “I just grab my stuff and go fishing.”
His summer “stuff” usually goes like this: at least three rods, one each baited with a watermelon colored Carolina-rigged worm, a silver/blue back Rat-L-Trap and a 6- or 7-inch Texas-rigged Zoom or Culprit dark-colored curly tail plastic worm.
If it’s really early, he’ll tie on a white or chartreuse sales-rack buzz bait, but it goes in the rod box when the sun comes up good.
On his worm rigs, he uses 2/0 Gamakatsu hooks with 1/4-ounce bullet slip sinkers, and he fishes almost exclusively with 15-pound Berkley Big Game line.
His most-used reel is the economical H20 Express reel on a 6 1/2-foot All Star medium-action rod. He tries to stock up with both around Christmas when they are on sale.
“You can fish just about any area or condition on the lake in the summer with those lures,” David said.
