A few weeks ago, I told you guys about catching hybrids and stripers on Sinclair with Spot Choker Underspins, Pulse jigs and Cast Prodigy baits. Well, Mr. Spot Choker himself, Rob Williams, reached out to me, and we started talking about getting together to fish. We went out about a week or so ago and hit Lake Sinclair in search of hyrbids, stripers and whites. What we found was a catfish, big hybrid and new friends. 

Let’s start with this cool little announcement. You can now buy Spot Choker Underspins over at Sugar Creek Marina! How cool is that? 

I love supporting small businesses, and Sugar Creek supports our community more than most will ever know. William always steps up for the Striper Club, all kinds of high school fishing teams, and numerous other functions, groups, and charities around the lake. Plus, let’s be honest … he’s got the best fried chicken around. Mr. Rob from Spot Choker is the same way. He’s as fine a man as I have ever had on my boat and he, very fortunately for all of us, KNOWS how to make an underspin! Just an FYI… I am not paid by Spot Choker. I just honestly believe this is the best underspin on the market, and the sheer number of spots, hybrids, and stripers my clients and I have caught on this is amazing.

Spot Choker just released a new Pro Model bait that has the best thing I have ever seen on an Underspin and I fish a LOT of them. They added a screw lock to the head. You now thread the bait on and LOCK it in place. So, what does that really mean? First and foremost, it increases the life of your soft plastics exponentially. I’m not even kidding here. Want to catch 30 spots on a Keitech? Use this head. Want to catch 40 hybrids, stripers, and whites schooling on one Zoom Fluke? Yeah, switch to this head. Next, it helps you line up the bait correctly. Believe it or not, the screw lock does not bulge the head at all so you still have a slim and compact shape. The next big thing about Spot Choker is they run true. Even if you burn them, they will not roll over. Go to my Facebook page (Southern Born Gentleman) and you can see some video testing and some catches. 

Underspins are a truly versatile bait. From mid-winter deep cove and ditches to bottom dragging to the shad spawn and matching the hatch… you can do it all. I run them along docks all year to catch fish suspended there and over rocks during the shad spawn using a Suicide Shad. I throw them to schooling fish in Sinclair and in the late summer when the whites and hybrids school on Oconee at dawn or dark I throw them with various size and styles of baits for them. This is a bait almost as versatile as a Texas rig worm.

Now, Mr. Rob and I didn’t set the world on fire that afternoon on Sinclair. We did catch a nice 3 ½ to 4-pound hybrid from right below the dam and then we managed to stumble on to a HUGE channel cat. The hybrid choked that bait. I mean it ate it, Friends! He hated that thing like I do politicians. Later in the day on the same bait he hooked up on his catfish. Now if you can catch a 20- to 25-pound cat and the swim bait (a keitech no less) is still on the bait and STILL in place… I think you might have figured out how to make this work. Now here’s kind of my thoughts on tackle. I almost exclusively throw these types of baits on a 7 foot medium action spinning rod with a 35 series reel and 10lb power pro with a 15 pound to  20 pound flouro leader. Mr. Rob is much more a bait cast guy on this and likes throwing 7 feet to 7-feet-2-inch medium action bait casters with even some pretty high-speed reels depending on the application and almost exclusively 12-15lb flouro. 

Whether you chase hybrids at the dam, tournament bass fish, or love speckled trout this is a bait you need in your lineup and USE IT! Just don’t look at it!

Tight Lines!

—Outdoors columnist James Pressley can be reached at pressleyoutdoors@gmail.com .