I was mowing my lawn when the first call rang on my cell phone.
“Dingers! We have to have Dingers! Nobody can find them! Help...Ahhhhhhh!”
This call was the first of several. Everyone who fishes Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita that has my cell phone number called me that afternoon to deliver the same machine-gun message. The only thing missing was breathing into a brown paper bag between screams of “Dingers!” and “I’ve got to find them!”
I visualized a mob of rabid fishing guides marching through the streets of Mount Ida, Ark. with pitching sticks and flame-tipped crankin’ rods breaking windows and burning buildings in search of YUM Dingers.
It wasn’t quite that extreme, but I do know that tackle shop owners that didn’t carry Dingers sure heard about it.
A lot has been written about stick baits in the past few years due to their incredible effectiveness. It seems every soft plastic manufacturer makes a version of this popular shape. I will tell you that the majority of pro fishermen and guides I talk to say the YUM Dinger is vastly superior to all other brands of stick baits. I don’t think they’re doing it to curry favor, either.
They say there are three distinct advantages to the YUM Dinger. The first is obvious. It contains Live Prey Technology. This unique formula replicates the enzymes baitfish release when under distress. It also causes fish to hold onto the bait a lot longer. In fact, several people say it is too effective because fish swallow the bait too far.
The second reason is it is extremely durable. You can catch multiple fish with one lure. I experienced this firsthand a few days ago on Lake Ouachita (I’m not stupidÉI’m going to take advantage of a hot bite when told, too) when a group of breaking fish came up around the boat. I was able to catch several fish without having to take the time to re-rig my bait.
The third reason is it has the preferred fall rate and action for this style of bait.
Why is this lure so effective at this time of year?
I believe it’s because it is so versatile. It can be wacky-rigged, Texas-rigged, Carolina-rigged, fished on a jighead, there is hardly a wrong way to fish it.
My personal belief is that it is most effective when it can be wacky-rigged. This allows both ends to “flutter” as it falls. This is the way it is being fished on Lake Ouachita, for instance. However, you can’t fish it this style when you’re casting into heavy vegetation.
The key to this presentation is to keep enough slack in your line to allow the bait to fall to the bottom naturally. If you have any tension on your line it will impede the falling action. Keep your eye on your lineÉif it start moving you better set the hook.
I don’t know what a Dinger represents besides a wounded baitfish. I believe that some colors, such as the new Mardi Gras color, resemble members of the sunfish family. This color is deadly when fishing around fish that are keying on sunfish as either food or nest robbers.
I Texas-rig this color and walk-the-dog with it until the bait goes over an area I believe a fish is around. I will pause it for about four to five seconds and then continue to walk-the-dog. This action, I believe, represents a fleeing sunfish. Bass are either going to believe it is going to mess with their nest or eat it out of instinct.
Now, in return for having my honey-dos interrupted I’m going to spill the beans on a new technique that will soon sweep the country. Journalists call this burying the lead.
The guys at Lake Ouachita are catching their fish on 6” Dingers in Watermelon Seed, Watermelon Candy and Green Pumpkin/Purple Flake. The colors don’t matter as much because water clarity at your lake or river will determine what colors you select. However, the technique they’re using is the secret.
They’re taking a 1/16 oz. or 1/8 oz. jighead and threading the Dinger on it just like a grub. They throw the Dinger tight to the shoreline and speed-reel it to the boat. If they see a depression in the water they simply let it drop into what they assume is a spawning bed. If a fish is there it is going to hit it.
The Dinger’s body gives a slight waving action as it’s being reeled back to the boat. The action is very subtle, but it is absolutely deadly. The aforementioned guides are tripling their typical catches under similar circumstances. In fact, they aren’t even calling the bait by its name. They simply refer to it to each other as the “magic lure.”
In all honesty, there really isn’t a wrong way to fish this lure. Pitch it, flip it, swim it, dead-stick it, walk itÉit doesn’t matter. People seem to come up with new ways to catch fish with it every week.
All that matters for me is that local bait shops carry it. Otherwise, small towns across America are in danger of being ravaged by gangs of marauding guides and I’m in danger of getting in trouble for not getting the lawn mowed.
Please, no cell phone calls!
Good fishing,
Chris Gulstad