Matt Lee – IMA Baby Stik
Major League Fishing Pro, Matt Lee is a magician with a topwater bait and with the release of the IMA Baby Stik, Lee now has a new addition to his bag of tricks.
Measuring 105mm and weighing ½ oz, the Baby Stik slots in below the Big Stik(175mm) and the Little Stik (135mm) in the IMA family of pencil poppers. Its smaller profile combined with its spitting action and side to side movement make it ideal for high pressured situations or when the fish are feeding on smaller bait.“Here in the summer and going into the fall, bass a lot of time are gonna get on that small bait,” explained Lee. “A good way to trick them is to have a topwater that spits, so they really can’t get a good look at it.”
Fishin’ the Baby Stik
“In a topwater bait, action is so important, little things can make a big difference,” said Lee. “For instance today where I live on Smith Lake, it’s a clear water lake with spottedbass and largemouths that roam and chase blue back herring and they get so conditioned and so do fish all over the country. A little tweak or bait change will get bites. With a pencil bait it originally has always been a really big bait, but there are times when you just want something smaller. The fish definitely like that spitting action and how it looks under the water and how it pushes water out in front of it and that’s what I get with the Baby Stik.”
As summer transitions to fall fish, Lee starts moving off the main body of the lake and into the creek in search of schools of shad and bass. “Bass are gonna be eating shad and that’s prime time for the Baby Stik,” said Lee “Usually if you find the shad, you find the bass. Start at the mouth of a creek and work your way to the back and when you find an area that’s got shad, try to run that around to some different areas to develop a pattern. As it gets farther on in the fall and the air temp cools, the fish will move way back and if you get a big temperature change that can put them on the move big time.”
Lee likes to work the Baby Stik with a fast cadence and he does not set the hook until he feels the weight of the fish. When fish are schooling, he keeps the bait in perpetual motion. If the bass are reacting to his bait but not getting it good, he will replace the feathered rear treble with a undressed treble, a trick that works well in clear water.
Tackle Deets
The Alabama Pro likes to fish the Baby Stik on a Quantum Accurist 706 a 7′ MH fast action casting rod, paired with a 8:1:1 Smoke S3 reel. Lee spools up with 50lb Sea guar Smackdown Braid and he ties direct to the bait with a Surgeon’s Loop knot that allows the bait to move more freely.
Lee has a few simple guidelines he follows when it comes to color selection. He likes an opaque color such as Bone when it is cloudy or during low light conditions. When it is sunny he favors either something shiny such as Chrome or translucent such as Real Ghost Shad or Ghost Minnow. Up North, a Bluegill pattern is a must have. “On lakes with blue back herring, the fish seem to really be keyed into a flashy bait, but on lakes like Guntersville if its clean and I’m around vegetation, a translucent color works well, ”he explained. “Don’t get caught up in the color they were biting yesterday be sure to adjust to the current condtions. One thing that you learn from fishing professionally is how much fish can change on a day to day basis”
