Chasing Baits

[BASSPATROL247]

fished with a buddy today and he showed me something that I thought was very interesting. on the way back to the ramp he stopped at the first spot we fished on a earthen dam covered with rock(bowling ball size) where we did not get a bite and tol me to grab my rod with a lipless crank and he had a chatterbait, he told me he was gonna cast right to the bank and as soon as his hit the water for me to cast right to the same spot  and hold my rod to the side and start reeling fast while twitching,jerking,stopping,speeding up,twitching,stopping etc... while he  held his rod to the side so our rod tips were close to each others and he was gonna do the same type retrieve to make it look like my bait was chasing his...anyways we tried it and nothing then on the second try he caught one and had this look on his face like he knew we would get bit.. then after he released he fish he said theres a good chance w can get one or maybe more just making regular casts and sure enough my next cast got a fish.. we tried it again in one more spot with no luck, he said him and his brother have been doing all spring and that some days it works and some days it don't. he has a theory that doing that makes the fish think something is chasing food and their instincts take over and make them bite when they are in a neutral mood.. was or is it luck? I don't know but the fact it worked once convinced me to try it more often see if theres actually to it or if it was just coincidence....

[einscodek]

Interesting but also could just be double the commotion that the bass needs to come and check out

[BobP]

I think it's a valid strategy but I'd rather use a rig that allows me to do it all myself.  Two come to mind:  a double fluke rig or a walking topwater with a Forerunner crankbait 12-18 in in front of it.  The Forerunner (I think made by Norman) was a small bait with line ties on the front and back and one treble hook.  Don't think it's made anymore so I whip up something similar - a small light bait with props on the front and rear, with line ties fore and aft.  It skips along in front of a Sammy as though it's being chased by the larger bait.  

[papajoe222]

BobP beat me to it. I used a Forerunner with topwaters and frequently caught fish on it rather than the 'chasing' bait.  I even experimented using it with cranks. Now I just throw a Bo Rig (sp?) with a crank or lipless crank.  I've had fish hit the blades, but a lot more hit the following crank.