Pete Wenners Heartland Trails Pro Competitor
For Heartland Trails competitor, Pro-Guide Batteries and Battery Outfitters Pro Staffer, Mercury Pro Team, and Table Rock fishing guide, Pete Wenners, there are three baits that fall into his when all else fails lures. Surprisingly, all three lures have a lead head. The 4-inch single tail grub rigged on a jig head, a 5/16-ounce or 3/8-ounce finesse jig tipped with a trailer, and a 5/8-ounce football head jig and trailer. “A lot of it is, what lure the guy has confidence in, it’s his confidence bait,” explained Wenners. Wenners discards listening to dock talk or reading a fishing report.
His reasoning, dock talk may veer you towards using baits that my not catch fish and just confuse the issue of what lure you should be using; on the other hand, fishing reports are normally dated material, so what caught fish last week, may not catch fish this week.
Which, "when all else fails" lure Wenners uses depending on the season. “In the spring, I will go to a grub on ¼-ounce round ball jig head, or with a finesse 5/16-ounce or 3/8-ounce round ball jig head tipped with a Chompers Twin Tail or Zoom Critter Crawl,” Wenners continued, “depending on water clarity; I will use brown or green pumpkin patterns.”
Key areas that produce bass in the spring for Wenners are points going into pre-spawn, spawning pockets, and flats close to spawning pockets.
In the summer, Wenners' when all else fails bait is a 5/8-ounce football head jig. “I will fish it around deeper cover and structure,” he continued, “I like bigger trailers during this time like Baby Brush Hogs or Speed Crawls.” Wenners likes natural color pattern for skirts and trailer such as: peanut butter and jelly, brown pumpkin flash, and green pumpkin with a couple strands of orange highlight. If the fall, Wenners continues throwing a football head jig. In the winter, Wenners goes back to the grub again.
Wenners’ Grub Rig
Wenners choice of size for a jig head with a grub depends on wind and depth; although, he normally uses 1/4-ounce on 6 to 8-pound test monofilament fishing line with a spinning outfit.
