How one Canuck angler got to the world championship of bass fishing—the Bassmaster Classic

#4: Pare Down

As bass anglers develop their skills over the years, some may stick with just two or three methods, while others might use seven or eight. As for Sim, he’s narrowed his most productive techniques down to five basic set-ups—along with drop-shot rigs, jerkbaits and Texas-rigged craws, he also relies on tube jigs and soft-plastic stick baits.

“I believe I can go anywhere with those and do okay,” Sim says. “That doesn’t mean I don’t rig up a frog, spinnerbait or crankbait (above) when I need to. I’ve had to learn how to catch fish on those and other baits all over Canada and the U.S.” The secret, he says, is to always add to your tool box and work hard at increasing your proficiency with a wide variety of baits.

Without question, one of Sim’s strong suits is using the drop-shot rig. In 2009 on Ontario’s Lake St. Francis, he and fishing partner Nigel Touhey used drop-shot rigs, along with tube jigs, to catch the first 30-pound, five-bass limit ever weighed in a Canadian tournament (see “Sim’s fishing CV” below). The key to the drop-shot, Sim says, is to let the bait do the work. “I find people often impart way too much action on a drop-shot,” he says. “It’s usually not needed, and for the most part, I just deadstick the bait because it looks so lifelike. It’s an irresistible meal for bass.”