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5 Pro Tips for Catching More Fish with YUM Dingers

Texas pro angler Alton Jones knows about catching bass with YUM Dingers . After all, he introduced Dingers to the fishing world in 2003 when he won a BASS Pro Tour event at California's Clear Lake with Yum Dingers before the these baits had been formally released.

Jones, who recently qualified for his tenth Bassmaster Classic and who has earned more than a million dollars on the BASS and FLW tours, uses Dingers extensively in tournament fishing. A Dinger's shape and fall create a lethal combination, according to Jones, and he employs Dingers in a tremendous variety of situations.

Jones' top Dinger tips, garnered from countless hours of dedicated Yum Dinger fishing, will help any angler catch more bass (and other game fish, for that matter).

The Weighting Game - The most popular way to fish a Yum Dinger is with a weightless Texas rig, but Jones has discovered that adding of a bullet weight a times vastly broadens the range of situations when a Dinger will produce fish and can make it a more effective fish-catching tool. When bass are quite shallow and relating to sparse cover, Jones still favors a weightless rig. However, when the fish move a bit deeper, adding weight allows him to get a Dinger into the strike zone faster without taking away action. A weight also allows the bait to penetrate denser cover, and at times the faster fall simply triggers more strikes.

The Fall & the Feel - A YUM Dinger's undulating fall triggers the bulk of the strikes, Jones said. He allows the bait to fall on a slack line to get the proper action, and he watches the line intently for any jumps or pauses. Once the Dinger settles on the bottom, he tightens the line gently to feel the bait. If he senses ANYTHING unusual, he sets the hook hard.

Thinking Big - While Jones uses 5-inch Yum Dingers more frequently than other sizes, he is not shy about stringing a 6- or 7-inch Dinger on a hook – especially if he knows he will be around extra-large bass. Big Dingers have been responsible for a few of Jones' finest tournament days ever.

Winning Distance - Jones has found that long casts produce far more strikes any time he is letting YUM Dingers fall beside specific targets, and he doesn't mind if a long cast creates a significant splash. He'll stay as far back as he can and still manage consistent accurate casts to his targets.

Hook, Line & Sinker - Jones rigs 5-, 6- and 7-inch YUM Dingers on 5/O XCalibur Tx3 Wide-Gap Worm Hooks and spools his reels with 14- to 20-pound-test Silver Thread Fluorocarbon line. Sinkers range from a tiny 1/16-ounce YUM Weight for quickening the fall rate to a ½-ounce XCalibur Tg Weight for punching through heavy cover.

This article is provided by Lurenet.com and is used with permission. jB0405.