Stalking Summer Studs

WITH MUCH OF the nation settling into summer patterns, or shortly on the way, the year’s sixth month offers plenty of giant bite opportunities. Fooling these heavyweights requires situational awareness and the discipline to make the most of every bite. Here’s how the Bassmaster Elite Series pros get it done.

Taku Ito — Northern Smallmouth Lake

Even though he’d never caught smallmouth prior to 2020, earning three Top 10s during the Northern Swing proved Ito’s wheelhouse holds the tools to tempt whopper bronzebacks. The key for him was tapping into the dynamic yet patient mindset needed to fool heavily pressured largemouth in his Chiba, Japan, home waters of the Tone River and Lake Kameyama.

Ito’s game starts with singling out the jumbos: “I think there are two types of smallmouth: One type of fish is moving everywhere, and they don’t have a specific habitat. The other type of fish [positions] near big rocks, and those fish don’t [school].”

Noting that the latter scenario typically holds the big ones, Ito said he’ll look