Emily Shaffer - Lady Bass Pro

Stike King Baits - Emily's Favorites

The Diamond Shad

I like to fish a Diamond Shad because it's such a good locator bait. I can cover a lot of water and find plenty of bass with the Diamond Shad. I feel this bait is especially effective in the pre-spawn when I fish big spawning flats where the bass may be located anywhere. This time of the year is when the bass move out of the deep water into shallow water and begin to look for bedding sites and then fan their beds to get ready for the spawn 

The Diamond Shad (click to read more)

 

 

Spinner Baits

I really like the Strike King spinner baits because the company makes them in so many sizes and so many different colors that I can match my spinner baits to the size and the color of the baitfish in any lake I fish. For instance, in the early spring, I may want to cast a 1/8- or a 1/4-ounce spinner bait on spinning tackle. But in the late summer or the early fall, I'll fish a bigger spinner bait, like a 1/2- or a 3/4-ounce lure, on a bait-casting rod.

Spinner Baits (click to read more)

 

 

Why I Crank

I've won all my national tournaments on crankbaits. I love deep-diving crankbaits, and I've tried to talk Strike King into building me a Series 7 crankbait that will be the deepest-diving crankbait in the fishing market. I particularly enjoy fishing crankbaits in the fall. I won a tournament on Pickwick Lake in Alabama in the fall with a Strike King crankbait.

Why I Crank (click to read more)

 

 

The New Zero 3X Salt-Impregnated Lure

You can fish this new lure around vegetation and rocks. I can use it Texas- or Carolina-rigged and still catch plenty of bass. I also fish the original Zero that floats. When I fish with the Zero, I mainly fish it on top of the water over grass, rocks and stumps. I like to put a barrel swivel in front of the Zero with about 1 to 1-1/2 feet of leader between the swivel and the lure. The swivel gives the bait just a little bit of weight, but it also prevents the lure from twisting your line. When I want a Carolina-rigged soft-plastic bait to float up off the bottom instead of crawling on the bottom, I'll fish the original Zero that's made of the 3X floating material.

The New Zero 3X Salt-Impregnated Lure (click to read more)

 

 

The Denny Brauer Flip-N-Tube

I like this tube better than any other tube because it has a solid head. This tube will stay against the eye of the hook better than tubes without solid heads. I've used this tube when I've fished behind other anglers who have fished with tubes made by other manufacturers. Even though the anglers in front of me have flipped and pitched their tubes in all the same spots I flip my Denny Brauer tubes, I'll catch bass in places where they haven't. I think that's because the Denny Brauer flipping tube presents a different look and a more-compact bait than the tubes do that the bass are accustomed to seeing.

The Denny Brauer Flip-N-Tube (click to read more)

 

 

How I flip

SK: How do you flip a tube?

Shaffer: When I flip a tube, I let the bait fall all the way to the bottom. Once it hits the bottom, I barely lift my rod tip to make the tube move. Most people don't realize how little you have to move your rod tip to get the tube to really move. I think one of the best things that a fisherman can do is flip his tube into a swimming pool and watch what happens when you move the jig. You'll be surprised just how much moving the bait will do when you move that rod tip. I try and stay in contact either with the bottom or with the limbs through which I'm fishing. I'll pull the jig up, bring it over a limb, and then let it fall right straight back down to the bottom.

How I Flip (click to read more)