How I Fish The Club-O

[Blind Squirrel]

First off I make Club-Os very similar to the way Bob taught me most of the time.  Heavy salt in soft sinking plastic.  However, sometimes I make them with little or no salt and a regular buoyant plastic. 

Most of the time I cast them either texas rigged or wacky rigged weightless (salt gives me all the weight i need) to a likely target, let them flutter to the bottom, and leave them set for a few seconds.  Then I either hop them and let them fall or more often I just burn them back to the boat and throw to another likely spot.  I can circle a backwater lake like this catching fish, swap colors and circle it again catching nearly as many fish as the first time, and swap colors and do it again.  Its a good bait. 

Sometimes I hold the rod up high and slowly wake the bait along the surface.  Sometimes just a steady retrieve, and other times with a little waver or rod shake as I retrieve.  If I see a wake behind the bait I just drop the rod down and give it slack.  Then I real up the slack and if the line straightens out I don't even wait to feel the fish.  I set the hook.  Sometimes the fish just blow up on it.  This is harder.  You can catch them, but it takes discipline just like frog fishing or popper fishing.  If you set the hook on the splash by reflex you miss them, but if you give them 1-1/2 to 2 seconds to take it you get them almost every time. 

Sometimes I'll fish one on a weighted hook just like a swimbait.  The tail doesn't have that wild flapping of a Ping Pong Paddle tail bait (see what I did there Bob), but it has enough action that fish will crush it just like a more conventional swimbait. 

...Tune in tomorrow (maybe next week)for more...  YES, there is more.  A lot more. 

[Blind Squirrel]

Skipping docks is just a variation of my regular presentation, and amazingly these baits skip really well.  Under docks, under overhanging brush, even into over hanfging brush.  If you struggle skipping with a bait caster switch to a spinning rod.  If you are worried about line twist swittch to braid. 

Okay, next...

FLIPPING.  Yes!  Fipping, and I don't mean that dilettante edge dipping stuff some folks call flipping.  I mean penetrating heavy cover.  A Texas rigged Club-O behind a worm weigh, pegged or bobber stopped will shoot through brush, cane, fragmata, tulies, pads, and dead floating lay downs when a creature bait with several times the weight will struggle, and they catch fish doing it. 

Dropshot & Split shot.  A big percentage of bites happen when the sinker hits the bottom and the falling speed of the bait changes.  A crazy number.  They worked wormed on the bottom, and they work presneted to suspended fish. 

I would struggle to think of a way to fish a plastic that you can't fish a Club-O and catch fish.  I used to think maybe not on a jig, but one guy who sells Club-O under his own brand promotes them on what is functionally a shakey head.  From what I hear he sells a lot of them, and I think his own line of shakey head jigs too. 

How about as a trailer on a... spinnerbait, buzzbait, bladed jig.  Yeah, no.  I have tried all of those and the Club-O works great on those too.  If adding a trailer made a difference in the number of bites the Club-O worked as well as any other trailer.  I've even dragged one on a ball jig like I might drag a curly tail grub and caught fish.  Okay its hard to beat a curly tail grub sometimes, but if you go that way the 3 to 5 grub nold Bob sells produces what is in my opinion the perfect size grub.  Honestly though I use the Club-O before I try anything else. 

I know I sound like a shill or a paid promotoer, but I'm not.  The Club-O was the first bait mold I ever bought and I've had a lot of luck with them.  Yeah, I have followed Bob on-line for a long time, but he never gave me anything.  I guess at worst I might be called a fanboy.  Not really though.  Bob and I disagree about lots of things, and in his old fishing forum days I wasn't afraid to say so. 

Can you think of a way to fish a soft plastic you think might not work with a Club-O?  Let me know and I try it if its somethign practical for local waters.  I like the bait so much I own molds for all four sizes. 

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

Swishing maybe?  Usually that's done with streamers, but I can see it done with a worm. 

I had to think about that for a minute.  You fish it a lot of ways.  More than I do.  I'm getting ready to make some bladed shaker jigs for myself.  Maybe I'll try it on that.  Maybe cut down a little so the length is just right.  Maybe full length with a stinger... 

How about with a trolling head for salt water?  The big fat six inch might be perfect for that.  I am working on some cast lead trolling head designs, by the way.  I just don't want to make them like every other trolling head out there...  Which is kinda of how the Club-O was born.  I wanted a stick worm that wasn't just like every other stick worm out there. 

[Blind Squirrel]

I had to look up swishing.  The first thing I found was a fly fishing technique called dip and swish, but I don't think that's what you meant.  Then I ran across a very old article you wrote actually.  It was buried on Narkive from one of those sites that was ripping off your articles way back when. 

Swishing?  A method using an long rod where you reach out with a streamer along a dock or in a small opening in the grass or weeds and just swish it or drag along, and then lift it out of the water.  That sounds like a variation on tulie dipping (also using an extra long rod) that predates modern flipping and pitching methods.  I don't have any rods suitable for that, but I could see it working.  Particularly when you are getting those surface strikes as you lift a bait out of the water.  I have some long rods for crappie fishing, but they are way to limber for this technique I think. 

I could maybe see fishing them like a wet fly too, but most fly anglers are probably to stodgey to put a rubber worm on a fly rod. 

Salt water trolling?  No clue.  I never go saltwater fishing, but I always like to see the things you come up with.  I'm curious to see what trolling head you come up with that's actually different from the average run of the mill.  I guess I could try it for stripers on the river.  As you say... maybe with a stinger. 

[Flat Baits]

Love this write up  Great stuff from both of you guys.  I actually just bought a Club-O mold.  One of my buddies needed some cash and told me to make him an offer on any mold he had.  When I picked the 4 inch Club-O mold he asked me if there wasn't some other mold I'd prefer.  Nope.  He tried to change my mind three times.  Obviosuly he didn't want to sell it.  So do you mind telling me what formula you use.  I'd like to make some up today to fish with over the weekend. 

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

Ha!  I wish he had refused to sell it.  Now you won't buy one from me.  LOL.

Nah!  Its all good. 

I used to use 1/4 cup of salt stirred carefully with per one cup of MF Soft Sinking, but I don't know if MF is ever going to sell plastic again.  I would mix up 3 cups of plastic and 3/4 cup of salt in a 4 cup Pyrex mixing cup and microwave.  That particular mix made a good compromise bait.  Originally the mix I used was 1/3 cup of salt to one cup of regular super soft plastisol.  They sink rate was good, the baits were flexible, and they tore up really easy.  By makign the switch to the Soft Sinking I had a slightly tougher plastic, and I could use a little less salt.  It makes a difference.  Less salt means less easy tear lines, and a less soft plastic is slightly tougher. 

There is another plastic manufacturer that claims to have a soft sinking plastisol, but I have not tried it yet.  I tried another plastic from them and it took weeks to stop feeling sticky to tacky, and yes I mixed it well.  I stuck it in the lathe and let it turn slowly for nearly an hour.  Still it might be worth the headache if there soft sinking is similar to the old MF soft sinking.  MF had a problem though too.  The baits would feel oily when finished.  I heard a lot of people comment or complain about the oily finish of MF plastic over the years.  I kinda got used to it, and I did catch a lot of fish on the Club-Os made with it.  Maybe thousands. 

So I would say either,

1 salt to 4 Soft Sinking
  or
1 salt to 3 Super Soft

Either will catch fish.  Lots of fish.  Just make the colors you like and give it a go. 

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

I should add I heat plastisol until it kicks over before adding salt color or flake.