Seth Feider is fishing a Damiki rig this morning, while Jeff Gustafson and Matty Wong watch and provide commentary from the LIVE Mix set on the shores of Oahe.
Canadian Gustafson, or “Gussy”, is one of the best smallmouth fisherman on tour, proving that with 19- pounds, 9- ounces worth of smallmouth for fourth place on Day 1.
Gussy and Wong tossed a little banter back and forth, discussing the Damiki rig while they watched Feider fish on LIVE. Gussy mentioned his friends back home referring to this finesse technique as “hanging a minnow”. A few tips were shared with the viewers, from using a drop of super glue to secure the soft plastic to the jighead, to more detailed instructions like not dropping the bait all the way to the bottom.
Since smallmouth are visual feeders, weary little rascals and feed up, Gussy stressed the importance of watching the bait fall on your graph and then stopping it at the desired depth, just above the suspended smallmouth. If you let the bait fall past the fish and then reel it up to the fish, it throws the smallmouth off and alerts them to something not being right.
If this simple change in presentation means two fish out of 10 bite versus one in 10, you’ve just increased your effectiveness by 100%. Little things make a big difference in this game. And the guys in LIVE are sharing some juice this morning.
