The Art of Rogue

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Remember when we were kids and played pickup ball? There was always a kid on my block whom I'd want on my team -- the best hitter, and fielder, the best shot and ball handler. Buster Loving is one of those kids when it comes to fishing (and softball). You definitely want him on your team in a boat!

Ever since I've known Buster Loving, which is about six years, he has impressed clients and competitors with his ability to catch fish on a lure called a rogue made by Smithwick. What is a rogue? For those who aren't acquainted with this long, skinny "stick bait," it comes in three sizes and in a variety of colors. They can be made to dive deep, medium or shallow depending on the bill size and angle. But you won't find any stock-colored rogues in Buster's tackle box -- he paints his own.

Loving doesn't just put a new coat of paint of his baits. He strips the lure naked and removes the bill, hooks and eyes. Then he takes off all the original paint and skillfully uses an air brush to apply new shades of purple, orange, red, white, chartruese and yellow. He cuts his own bill from clear plastic to his specifications and places it back on the bait to work the way he wants. Then bigger and sharper hooks are added and even new eyes -- usually red in color and a little larger than the original manufacturer's.

Are you asking ... does he sell his baits? He does to local tournament fishing friends at $15 a pop. And, yes, he can't keep up with demand. And no- he's not interested in selling to the public. But he does offer his baits to fund raising events such as the Branson Trout Unlimited Chapter's banquet in the fall. Do these new, custom colors work on walleye? Yes! And they work on bass, crappie, white bass and even trout. But is his success just in the colors or does the way Loving handles the baits have anything to do with his success?

The answer is in how Loving works these baits. Fishing with him on several occasions, I see why his right arm is twice the size of his left (just kidding). This is where the name "jerk bait" is coined. The lure is jerked down to the depth desired -- eight feet, 12 feet, even deeper to 15 feet and then stopped, letting the bait do it's work. What in the world can a long plastic bait with no action from the angler??? Not much. Suspend, sink or float is all. But that's enough to trigger a bite. After getting the bait down, I've seen Buster wait for up to three minutes, letting the bait suspend. I guess it drives the fish crazy, especially aggressive walleye who finally thump the bait, not always to eat it but to stun or kill it. Thus the bigger, sharper hooks helps catch the walleye, a lot of times with the front hook. Weather conditions also play a huge factor in the success of the bait. In clear water under 50 degrees, the bait should be worked as slowly as possible. You really need to try to fish high percentage banks or trees because it takes some time to fish the bait properly. As the water warms the fish move more and can be caught on a faster retrieve. I have noticed that sunny days are usually better when the water is in the 40s. When it reaches the mid 50s cloudy days are better.

I just had a conversation with Buster about a trip to Lake Fork located in northeast Texas. He travels there more than 10 times annually, hunting for big Texas bass, and he does well using his Missouri techniques. His trip in early March of this year wasn't the best trip, but it was a good one. When he arrived, local guides and the lodge owner were complaning about the cold weather and dropping water tempeeratures. Buster pulled out his rogus box and proceeded to catch numerous lunker bass including an eight-pounder caught right in front of a local guide and a client. Last trip he landed his biggest bass ever-- a 13.5-pound black bass on what else . . . a rogue. His secret -- work the rogue slower in colder water, letting it sit longer. He worked his magic along dropoffs and ledges, dropping the lure to the edge of the ledge and holding it there until he felt a thump. Even when the fish make their move into the grass the technique can be effective. When the fish get in the grass, the southern tradition is to crank a rattle-trap through it, which works sometimes. However; there are always those post-front days where the fish become sluggish. You want to weight the stickbait to the extent it will tick the top of the grass and then pause. This will trigger a lot of strikes that will just not happen with a faster moving bait.

On Table Rock, working Buster's baits down to hardwood treetops is an art and an extremely successful one. Finding where the depth is on his graph, he knows how far the rogue will dive as he pumps his rod tip, working it down and stopping right where the bass live. From the fish's angle it's an invader that needs to be dealt with, right? Or is it a stray minnow from a nearby school that lost its way? However the fish thinks, if the technique catches a bass in an aggressive mood, hook up!!

For walleye on Bull Shoals what do you look for? Lines of traffic. Where they travel, where they congregate. Ledges, channel edges, jets and points in a rock bluff wall, points, transition banks (where a bank changes from rock to mud or vise versa) and channel swings (where the channel swings from one side of the lake to the other -- and fishing where the channel begins and ends its swinging). In current, walleye like eddies, where structures either in the bank or bottom create slower currents close to faster current. Walleye will stack in these eddies, especially at night, and feed on forage fish who seek slower water to rest.

Have we convinced you to try a rogue? Go to the gym and get your casting arm in condition before you go out, especially after the winter slumber season. Casting and jerking rogues all day is a workout in itself. I'll just say this: I wouldn't want to mess with Buster -- he has a wicked right cross.