I try and look back and think about the moment when my fishing went to another level. I have contemplated, “What made the difference that helped me be able to hang around the top?” I have decided it was when Berkley’s The General came out. It gave me that edge and has helped carry me through the last five or six years.
I fought throwing soft plastic stickbaits for years. The first time I ever threw a bait like that, I was 18 and fishing as a co-angler. Once my boater caught five nice ones with that worm, he let me use his spinning rod, and I caught a limit with it. I thought, “Wow, this is pretty neat.” Then I fought it for way too long until about 2016. It took 10 years of co-anglers just whooping up on me with it and having my buddies go out with me and out fishing me every time to force myself to throw it more and make it part of my arsenal. I refused to think there was something to it.
Before The General came around, I was almost on the verge of quitting. I was really struggling. I won in 2011 and went all the way to 2015 without winning any big tournaments. In ‘16, I told myself I was going to add a stickbait into my arsenal and try to put more fish in the boat on those days where I am really struggling.
That is what was killing me, I wasn’t catching limits. I had a practice partner who really rode me about getting a limit no matter what it takes. That worm helped me get five on so many days where I struggled and got me to the final day where I could win with something else.
The first tournament I won with The General was a Bassmaster Open at Lake Chickamauga in 2017, and I don’t even know if it was packaged yet. At the end of 2016, Berkley told me they had some new stuff coming that was like the stuff I was already throwing, but it was made in this new material. That ended up being the MaxScent material, which has been a game changer for me.
I had never signed a sponsorship deal with any bait companies because I didn’t want to be tied to something or feel like I had to use it unless I really felt it was going to make a difference. So, I was testing a bunch of the MaxScent stuff, and The General was the one I liked the best. It started with the 5-inch and soon after we got the 4-inch and the 6-inch.
I knew instantly it was going to be a difference maker. An Open has so many people in the field, and you end up fishing behind people. I was so shocked that I could go behind people and throw it in the same areas, at cypress trees or reeds, and catch them. You could see the difference.
After winning that tournament, I was hooked. I was ready to jump on the Berkley team, and from that point on, The General really gave me that edge and became my go-to bait.
When I look back, if I took away that worm, I don’t know any tournament that I would have won, let alone stay in contention. I’ve grown to trust it.
I don’t really know why bass love The General or other soft-plastic stickbaits. I try to compare it to what they eat naturally and what it looks like, and I can’t come up with anything. The closest thing I can come up with is a centipede falling out of a tree and shimmying down the water column. It is one of those mystery things. For whatever reason, the bass seems to love it.
I’ve been learning more and more how to work it in different seasons. I mostly wacky rig it in the spring. As the season goes on, I use it a lot more with a Texas rig and a lot more with a Neko rig. I’ll add more weight to it a lot of times.
In the springtime, especially in sight-fishing scenarios, I’ve noticed a couple colors work best for me. Baby bass is my favorite color, but sometimes if they don’t want that color, I’ll go to a black or junebug color. Those color switches can make all the difference in the world.
During the spawning cycle, I start with no weight attached to The General. If I see a prespawner that is just sitting there, I will try to throw it out and let it fall in front of its face. Then when you have fry guarders later in the year, you can start to put a little weight on the bait.
As the bass move off the beds, they will start to cruise and for those bass you want to be careful not to throw right on them. You want to see which way they are swimming and throw it 10 feet in front of them. Then I will put some action into it when I feel the bass is right by it.
One thing I’ve done recently is throw it on a weightless Texas rig and work it like a jerkbait. I’ve had quite a bit of success jerking it on the surface. I would throw it, let it sink, then I would start to reel it in and have bass follow it and I would catch them. From there I would jerk it around, almost like a floating worm.
If they go up to it and put their nose down to it or follow it and don’t take it, I’ll add weight to it or change to a Texas rig or start twitching it. Changing bait sizes can also make a big difference. Sometimes they don’t want the 6-inch version, but they will inhale the 5-inch bait.
Line size can be a big key too. With a lighter line, The General will fall a lot faster, but sometimes you don’t want that, and you need to tie on a heavier leader.
Making a small adjustment makes a big difference.
When we move into the summer months, in places that don’t have smallmouth, I will fish in the 5- or 6-foot range and will put it on a Texas rig. If I am on the St. Johns River, I will put it on a Carolina rig and drag it on shellbars and points.
Up north, I downsize my line and stay between 10 and 15 feet of water. I will use some wacky rigs and also Neko rigs with a 1/8-ounce nail weight. You can nail weight it in the center, or if you want it to fall really quickly, I’ll put a nail weight on each end.
But my favorite way to use it is to take between a 1/4-ounce and 1/16-ounce jighead or Ned head and I will thread a 4-inch The General on there and throw it just like you would a Ned rig. I also do some straight retrieves with that setup, almost like you would work a hair jig.
The 1/16-ounce size makes this terrible spiral as it sinks, but I don’t know how many times I’ve thrown it out and the smallies would get it before it even hit the bottom.
Even after throwing The General solid for the last six years, I still haven’t figured it all out. I am still learning stuff with it, which is mind-blowing. I don’t know that there are that many baits where I learn stuff with it every year. You can just do so many things with it.
Now, no matter what, The General will always have a place on my front deck and will hopefully help me stay at the top of the leaderboard for years to come.
