Contributer to Bassin Magazine John Mckean

Slop Hop
John McKean

A thick green carpet of vegetation extended out before us, seemingly so dense that I could walk across it. My slop fishing mentor, the late Earl Cartwright, told me not to worry, though, because the lake’s biggest bass comfortably resided in the depths underneath. How that first lunker largemouth managed to rocket through the gunk to nail my lure (failing, by some miracle, to give me a stroke!) still amazes me! From a long lifetime of specializing on these undisturbed – unfishable to most – backwaters, Earl easily guided me to one of my heaviest stringers ever.
Now, foremost among Cartwright’s pioneering slop fishing tactics was his employment of a relatively short, sturdy casting rod carrying a well-tuned Abu 5000 reel. He would have been absolutely appalled at today’s “froggin’ rods” which are often 8’ long! Heck, if any of us younger fishing partners dared show up with even a moderately long pole (by his strict judgment) we’d suffer a day-long tirade of Earl’s well-honed sarcasm on such matters as lack of accuracy, weakness in yanking huge bass out of thick greenery, improper fulcrum for hook setting, and dire predictions of how such rods would explode under the fury of a genuine trophy! Oh, we loved this master’s humorous chastisement, and learned a bunch – but he was definitely 100 % correct. In fact, just last week I read of one unfortunate frogger who complained of shattering two very expensive graphite poles (with length comes premium pricing!) within a few days while attempting to horse slop dwellers!
Today’s quest for longer and longer rods is just plain nuts, especially for working these fields of matted veggies, which we affectionately call slop. While it’s true that a rod is a lever, unfortunately we fishermen are on the WRONG side of that lever! And the longer the pole, the worse becomes our mechanical DISadvantage, either for hook setting or in wrestling a hard-fighting bass from thick habitat!!
“Get the longest, strongest rod you can find for slop walking plastic frogs,” I was told by one widely known authority. Well, I went strong, but didn’t go long; I got an Emmrod!
Many bass fishermen mention getting plenty of blowups in slop but missing most of them; the fake frog is notorious for coming up empty. Yet since hitting the hayfields with my “abbreviated” pole, I rarely experience the frustration of lost fish. The combination of ultimate power (read, no length!) for a solid, minimal stroke hookset and the pulling mechanics of this compact, firm steel lever quickly prove the lie behind “short” strikes.
Since I enjoy throwing unweighted, swimming frogbaits, ones that feature paddle feet or twister legs, my preference is to use a “Light Touch” Emmrod pole. This gives a nice balance between springy castability for relatively light lures weighing ¼-3/8 oz. and all-important ruggedness to tame slop critters. However, I’d strongly consider a four coil rod if working Southern waters, and just may take the 2 Tip model if I ever try world record class bass in Florida, Texas or Southern California! In fact, this coming season I have plans to hit the veg carpets with a Strike Master handle for the added benefit of the leverage-plus foregrip along with its long handle to tuck under my arm for extra support and power.
Whether in a boat or casting from shore, I employ an underhanded, almost vertical swing, low to the water’s surface, to coerce my wide-bellied plastic bait to SKIP. That is, I attempt to mimic the stone-skipping motion we all did as kids with flat rocks over a calm lake. I want Mr. Bass’ immediate attention drawn to a carefree amphibian that is hopping across his roof! Ideally, a big bass will lap up my offering as it skips; geez, I’d feel so darned clever if this worked out very often!! Usually, though, this just sets the stage for the return swim where an alerted largemouth can focus and muster his forces. A waiting bass will often pounce on the active, leggy hopper when it crosses any open hole in the slop, but just as easily will use well-conditioned timing to ambush an unseen, but noisy prey.
Slow and steady does it. From the dark labyrinth beneath heavy cover, a largemouth must first hear a natural motion above, then use his sophisticated internal computer to accurately track his meal. Challenge him to come out for a fight, but feed him a consistently-paced offering to insure that he hits with 100% accuracy.
When the watery explosion comes – and it will – try not to over react (easier said than done!). Ignore traditional advice to “wait for a few seconds, cross his eyes with a megaton set, then drag the fish with rod tip high.” Instead, try to keep cool and do almost nothing other than, perhaps, a bit faster reeling; deploy your Emmrod for the precision instrument that it is and let the pole do the work for you. You see, by pointing the tip directly at the lure during retrieval, the Emmrod’s extremely short range setting stroke will easily implant a 4/0 frog hook in a flash. And, believe me, that’s all the time you’ll have. When I fine-tuned this “do-nothing” approach last August, my slop fishing success skyrocketed!
With the bass stung, just keep him coming. If he gets his head and dives, your chances drop with him. Skitter a largemouth right across the grass if you can – hope you remembered to button down the drag all the way! Now the sheer strength of your steel Emmrod becomes your best friend! With a good line - say, 20# test braid - keep the rod tip low and grind the reel handle for all you’re worth!
Earl Cartwright, who we nicknamed “Dean of the Deep” for his slop fishing savvy, often expressed sorrow for those unfortunate anglers who cast for hours on end, only to blow coverage on a hard charging, surfacing bass. Many blame the weedless riggings of swimming frogs for these recurrent miscues. But let the solid physics behind a well-designed Emmrod allow constant, easy harvest of the fat green slop “hawgs” and discover a gold mine! After all, Earl always told us, “Ya can’t fry a strike!”