By far the most popular way to fish a YUM Dinger is with a weightless Texas rig, and in fact that is the technique I first learned. I have since discovered, however, that the addition of a bullet weight vastly broadens the range of situations when a Dinger will produce well and often makes it a more effective fish-catching tool. These days, I have a weight on my line at least half the time when I’m fishing a YUM Dinger

When bass are quite shallow (5 feet or less) and relating to sparse cover, a weightless Dinger can be tough to top. However, when the fish are a bit deeper, you can get the bait into the strike zone faster without losing any action by adding a 1/8-ounce YUM Weight. In addition, a weight allows you to penetrate denser cover, and at times the faster fall will trigger more strikes, even in shallow water To get a Dinger through thick cover, I may add a ½ ounce XCalibur Tg Weight to my line.

Cast a Dinger to specific targets that you expect to hold fish, and let the bait fall on a slack line, watching the line closely. Many strikes will occur on the initial fall because of the enticing nature of a Dinger’s undulating fall through the water column. Once the bait finds bottom, gently tighten the line, and if you feel ANYTHING unusual, set the hook hard.

Webmaster’s Note: Alton Jones introduced YUM Dingers to the bass fishing world in 2003 when he won a BASS Pro Tour event on Clear Lake using Dingers before they had even been formally released.