When High-Tech Tackle Isn't Working: How To Catch Bass The Old-Fashioned Way
Story and Photos By Keith Sutton

Have you ever thought how different bass fishing was in days gone by? The modern tackle we use is very different from — and much better than — the simple tools used by anglers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Back in the old days, catching bass was much more difficult.

To compensate for poor-quality, short-range tackle, early anglers developed innovative fishing techniques designed to draw up-close strikes. Three such techniques — skittering, doodlesocking and jiggerpoling — rarely are employed by most of today's bass anglers. But as more people learn about the incredible success you can experience when employing these old-fashioned fishing methods, an increasing number of anglers are giving these tactics a try.

With a bit of improvisation, you can adapt modern tackle for use when skittering, jiggerpoling and doodlesocking. And you're sure to find the results pleasing.

Skittering
When thick weeds hinder an angler's use of more conventional fishing techniques, bass can be caught by skittering. This old-fashioned tactic, once used by market fishermen swinging perch bellies or frogs, typically employs a sturdy 10- to 12-foot canepole, jig pole or fly rod and an equal length of line. A pork frog or strip of fish belly is affixed to a stout hook, and the bait is skittered across broad openings in weed patches. If bass are present, they'll hit with frenzied, chomping charges.

One of the earliest descriptions of skittering was written in 1791 by naturalist/explorer William Bartram, who observed it being used in the southeast United States.

"I found some of my companions fishing for (bass) … with a hook and line, but without any bait. Two people are in a little canoe, one sitting in the stern to steer, and the other near the bow, having a rod 10 or 12 feet in length, to one end of which is tied a strong line … to which are fastened three large hooks, back to back. These are fixed very securely and covered with the white hair of a deer's tail, shreds of a red garter, and some parti-coloured feathers, all which form a tuft or tassel, nearly as large as one's fist, and entirely cover and conceal the hooks: this is called a bob. The steersman paddles softly, and proceeds slowly along shore, keeping the boat parallel to it, at a distance just sufficient to admit the fisherman to reach the edge of the floating weeds along shore; he now ingeniously swings the bob backwards and forwards, just above the surface, and sometimes tips the water with it; when the unfortunate cheated fish instantly springs from under the weeds, and seizes the supposed prey. Thus he is caught without a possibility of escape, unless he breaks the hooks, line or rod, which he, however, sometimes does by dint of strength; but, to prevent this, the fisherman used to the sport, is careful not to raise the reed (pole) suddenly up, but jerks it instantly backwards, then steadily drags the sturdy reluctant fish to the side of the canoe, and with a sudden upright jerk brings him into it."

In Fishing in American Waters published almost a century later (1888), we learn from Genio Scott that skittering was still popular, and anglers had enhanced their rigs with fishing spoons.

"Angling ... among the lily-pads and pickerel-weed is a very exciting sport. The angler should use a rod from 13 to 15 feet long, flexible, but strong. For skittering, a float is not used, nor is natural bait the best. Use Buel's or M'Harg's spoons, mounted with red ibis feather, and white feathers or hair for the under side of the spoon. Stand near the bow … and skitter the lure along the surface of the water, near the margins of the lily-pads ..."

I often fished with my Uncle Guy when I was a youngster, and I remember how he skittered for largemouth bass in the oxbow lakes we visited. He would first catch a sunfish and cut a piece of flesh from its belly. This was affixed to a stout hook tied to several feet of Dacron line on a long, sturdy canepole. While I sculled him about, he skittered that piece of fish flesh across openings in weed patches and caught dozens of bass.

In later years, he sometimes used a weedless Johnson Silver Minnow spoon with a pork frog or eel trailer, a technique still employed by most skitterers.

Jiggerpoling
Uncle Guy also taught me about jiggerpoling. This was a fairly common bassin' method in the mid 1960s, at least in the backcountry waters we fished. While crappie fishing, we'd watch many anglers working shallow shoreline cover with their jiggerpoles. Sometimes, if the crappie weren't biting, we'd join them.

For jiggerpoling, we employed the same canepoles we used for crappie. The light line was replaced by heavy Dacron run along the pole from butt to tip and secured at regular intervals with strips of electrical tape. A 12- to 24-inch piece extended beyond the tip. To this was attached a topwater lure, usually a Heddon Dowagiac or Creek Chub Pikie.

"You want to make it look like a little fish is chasing an even littler fish on the surface," Uncle Guy explained. "You do this by tapping your rod tip on the water ahead of the lure as you pull it around. This makes it look like the lure is chasing a minnow. When a big bass sees this, he'll rush in and grab it."

Back and forth went Uncle Guy's rod tip. He held the jiggerpole in his left hand and balanced it across his right knee. He would gently shake the pole with his right hand, flipping the water with the pole's tip. Then, without warning, the water would boil like someone flushed a toilet. Uncle Guy would back the pole in and hoist another largemouth into the boat.

We thoroughly worked all cover near the banks. This provided a sure advantage. Anglers who cast and retrieve may miss fish lying between targets, but with a jiggerpole, you can cover an entire shoreline. And because the pole is so long, you can lift your lure and put it in pockets that might otherwise be missed. You can fish in the center of logjams, under low-hanging boat docks and behind stumps and bushes. Few places exist where a jiggerpole won't swim a topwater.

The second reason for jiggerpoling's effectiveness is that the lure remains in the fish's strike zone longer than a lure being cast and retrieved. Bass see and hear the lure coming down the bank and wait in ambush. When fish aren't feeding aggressively, an angler can slow the pole's rhythm and make the lure look so tempting a bass will strike even if it's not hungry.

Anglers used canepoles when jiggerpoling was at the peak of its popularity, but modern practitioners prefer 12- to 16-foot fiberglass or graphite/composite jigging poles. Dacron was the line of choice for old-timers, but folks now use braided lines. The line should be stout, with a minimum of 30-pound test.

To avoid losing fish if the pole's tip breaks, run line along the whole length and tape it at several points. Leave only 1 to 2 feet beyond the tip and place a snap swivel at the line's end to lessen line twist.

While any topwater lure can be used, prop baits seem especially effective. My favorite was always the big Heddon Dowagiac, a model with propellers fore and aft, which was armed with five sets of treble hooks. In fact, this bassin' technique once was called "dowjacking," a name that originated from the use of this lure. Other lures I have employed successfully include the Smithwick Devil's Horse, Cordell's Boy Howdy, Luhr-Jensen's Nip-I-Diddee and Heddon's Torpedo.

Doodlesocking
In many ways, doodlesocking is like jiggerpoling. You can use the same pole, line and lures rigged as I have already described. But while jiggerpoling requires finesse to work successfully, doodlesocking does not. In this instance, the lure is worked back and forth very quickly with short, repetitive sweeps of the pole. The objective is to make as much noise as you can with the lure.

Doodlesocking also is similar to skittering, but the lure is on a short line — no more than 24 inches and usually shorter — so it can be fished in a circular or figure-eight pattern in small openings.

It's exciting when a bass gets a bellyful of your doodlesocking plug making bubble trails across its ceiling. The strikes are violent. Sometimes a fish hits so hard it throws water in your face. If a bass misses your lure, it shouldn't be a problem. Drag the enticement back over the fish and hold tight. Lunkers may hit several times before you hook up.

One place anglers still practice doodlesocking is the "Sunken Lands" region along northeast Arkansas' St. Francis River. This world of natural lakes and rivers was formed by the 1811 New Madrid Earthquake, and the waters here are brimming with spotted bass. Locals say the best time for doodlesocking is late July, August and September when water levels are low.

"I use a strong 12-foot fly rod, one that's stout enough to maneuver bass out of heavy cover," says Elvis Poe, a Jonesboro, Ark., angler who uses this technique with great success. "Tie on a spinnerbait or topwater lure, leaving about a foot of line between the rod and the lure. Then you're ready for action."

Good lures include the Arbogast Sputterbuzz, the Rebel Buzz'n Frog and Booyah's Pond Magic buzzbait.

Poe fishes his rig around drift piles, where logs and debris floated together in rafts along the St. Francis' main channel. Wading to these areas or positioning a boat nearby, he then works the lure through the water with quick, back-and-forth sweeps of the rod.

"Stick the lure back under those drifts, then jerk it back and forth," he says. "If there's a bass under there, he'll come out and get it."

Shad or big minnows also can be used for doodlesocking.

"Tie on a 3/0 hook instead of the lure," Poe says. "Add a small sinker to get the bait under the water, then run the hook down through the bait's mouth and out its side. Then doodlesock the bait around drifts with a swimming motion."

Largemouth and smallmouth bass also can be caught by doodlesocking. As this technique comes back into vogue with more and more anglers, fishermen are learning quickly that doodlesocking is a hard-to-beat lunker bass tactic any time the fish are shallow.

Catching bass using these old-fashioned techniques takes a bit of learning, but don't let that discourage you. While these tactics may seem out-of-date for catching today's largemouths, skittering, jiggerpoling and doodlesocking are just as relevant and potent now as they were decades ago.