Most anglers think of soft-plastic baits when bed fishing comes to mind, and they are an important part of Craig Graham’s arsenal.
However, he always keeps a Rapala hard-plastic handy.
“I don’t prefer to catch a fish on that bait because of the little hooks, but I use it to aggravate the fish,” Graham said.
His technique is pretty straightforward: He casts the lure out well past the bed and reels like mad to get the bait down to the fish’s level, and then he crashes it into the side of the fish.
“I rip it through, rip it through,” he said.
He’ll then rip it away to keep the fish from grabbing it.
“You can catch bucks on it, but you don’t want to catch a 7- or 8-pounder on it with those little hooks,” Graham said.
Once the bass becomes agitated and locks on one particular spot, the angler will put the Rapala down and pick up his Speed Craw to seal the deal.
