Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson honed his moping technique over many years of fishing for hefty smallmouth bass on Lake of the Woods. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Gustafson)
September 09, 2024
By Matt Straw
Several bass look up to see a baitfish-sized silhouette drifting by overhead. A jig tipped with a soft plastic floats along stealthily over the target zone until one of the fish, drawn by the bait’s subtle action, ascends to inhale it. This scene is quite different than what occurs with a wobbling, rattling crankbait or a thumping, flashing spinnerbait.
The technique, called “moping,” is one Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson employed to win the 2023 Bassmaster Classic on the Tennessee River. He’s quick to state that he didn’t invent the method and that it’s been around for a long time. However, in recent years—in large part due to Gustafson’s and other anglers’ effective use of it on the tournament circuit—it’s become an increasingly popular tactic. It especially shines in cold water, but it also works great in summer or anytime bass are feeding in deeper water, either suspended or on bottom.
Whether moping for bass vertically with down imaging or casting to them with forward-facing sonar, keep baits several feet above fish. (Photo courtesy of Z-Man Fishing) WHAT IS IT? According to Gussy the name “moping” came from the late Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame innovator Ron Lindner, who used the technique to place high in several smallmouth tournaments.
“It’s really a do-nothing technique,” Gustafson says. “It’s hard to resist shaking the rod tip or throwing some kind of action into the bait. You hold the rod as still as possible. That’s where Ron came up with the term moping.”
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One literal definition of “moping” is to wander around listlessly and aimlessly out of boredom, and many anglers might view this sort of do-nothing technique as boring indeed. However, there’s nothing dull about being named one of the best bass anglers on earth while pocketing more than $300,000 in the process. During the 2023 Classic, Gustafson spotted bass with forward-facing sonar (FFS), then dropped down a jerk shad on a jig head and watched it on the screen as he swam it slowly over the fishes’ heads.
However, this wasn’t the first time Gustafson used the technique to win a major tournament. In March of 2021, he moped his way to victory at the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite, also held on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville. The event lasted four days, and Gustafson led from start to finish, weighing 63 pounds of smallmouth bass—7 pounds ahead of the second-place finisher. Gussy trailered home with more than $100,000 in his pocket.
The standard Smeltinator Jig is deadly for moping, but the underspin version adds some flash and vibration for more attraction. (Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle) “There was no forward-facing sonar in those days,” Gustafson says. “Moping was a vertical technique for over 20 years. Every fish I caught in that tournament was right under the boat.”
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He suggests that walleye tournament anglers, including pro (and Gustafson’s close friend) Alex Keszler, were ahead of bass fishermen when it came to moping. He says these anglers would bring their boats right over fish and—as in ice fishing—use flashers to watch walleyes react to live minnows dangled motionlessly above them. This same principle of hanging a jig above fish proved similarly deadly with plastics for bass.
ELECTRONICS-FUELED EXPLOSION With the advent of FFS, Gustafson began casting to mope over visible bass up off the bottom. His preferred jig—a 3/8-ounce Northland Tackle Smeltinator tipped with a 4-inch Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ —is also visible on the FFS monitor. Being able to see and cast to fish ahead of the boat with FFS has been a huge game changer.
“We still catch fish right under the boat at the end of the retrieve,” Gustafson says. “Watching them rise up to the bait is really cool and exciting, but even in 30 feet of water, bass know when the boat’s on top of them, so we learned to work the technique horizontally.”
Casting the bait lets you cover more water than by fishing vertically, and you reduce the likelihood of spooking fish from the outset. Over the past 18 months, the technique has caught on like wildfire with the bass angling community.
“In February [2024], it was the main technique used by all the top-10 finishers in the Bassmaster Elite event on Toledo Bend,” Gustafson says. “It kind of sucks, but at least I got to hit on it before it became mainstream in bass-fishing circles. I still have that bait tied on a rod all the time. I catch largemouths and spots with it, too. Down South, they call it the Damiki Rig, but we’ve been doing it for 20 years, and I didn’t want to call it that.”
Much of this rise in popularity stems from how well the subtle tactic works on pressured fish, which seem more and more common these days. On hard-hit lakes and reservoirs, bass accustomed to seeing more aggressive baits can often be persuaded by a minnow imitation hanging tantalizingly above them. According to Gustafson, the presentation also typically requires relatively clear water. His go-to plastic for this technique doesn’t have an action tail, so bass must be able to see the bait above them and rise to it. For this reason, moping generally shines on clearer lakes and reservoirs.
The advent of forward-facing sonar has made moping even more effective. Whereas before anglers were limited to moping vertically, now they can cast to specific fish, too. (Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle) MOPING MAGIC Terminal Tackle The jerk shad is a fork-tailed minnow imitator offered by many companies, and it’s a key component of any moping strategy. As mentioned, Gustafson used the 4-inch Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ to win the 2023 Classic. When glued to a jig, Z-Man plastics are all but indestructible, and you can boat dozens if not hundreds of bass before needing to replace them. That’s a huge advantage in competition and—to a lesser extent—recreational fishing, as you waste no time threading on new plastics.
Gustafson used a 3/8-ounce Smeltinator because he was fishing in 30 feet of water a lot during the Classic. In shallower water, moping can be effective with 1/16- and 1/8-ounce heads.
“For the most part, it’s a 15- to 35-foot window where I caught those fish,” Gustafson says. “The 3/8-ounce Smeltinator has a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook, which matches the bait best, providing the optimum gap between the plastic and the point of the hook. That’s what I go with most of the time.”
The Smeltinator ($8/3-pack; northland tackle.com ) comes in 14 colors and four sizes (1/8, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ounce) with hook sizes of 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 available. This diversity is great for matching heads to various plastics. While the Smeltinator is also a solid jig for soft swimbaits, Gustafson especially loves it for moping because it features a realistic head design with a 90-degree line tie that helps keep the presentation horizontal, which is essential.
“Horizontal movement is natural,” Gustafson says. “It’s how bass expect to see baitfish move. The natural appearance of the jig and the plastic is important in clear water. I match the hatch with shad, smelt and other natural baitfish patterns.”
He feels the Scented Jerk ShadZ are the best baits for this technique because of the ElaZtech plastic’s insane stretchiness and durability, especially when he adds a dab of super glue to attach the bait to the jig. They’re also buoyant, so they help jigs stay up and glide horizontally.
“Everything about it is more natural than other similar baits on the market,” Gustafson says. “I think the scent convinces following bass to strike rather than turn away at the last second.”
Rods, Reels and Line When moping around, Gustafson uses spinning gear, and his favorite setup consists of a 7-foot-3-inch, medium-power, extra-fast-action G. Loomis NRX+ 872S JWR rod matched with a Shimano Stella 3000 reel . He says that long rods generally provide the most control of a horizontal swim. The G. Loomis rod is rated for 6- to 12-pound line, and he uses 10-pound PowerPro braid with a 10-pound Shimano Mastiff fluorocarbon leader, which he attaches with an FG knot. He likes an 8-foot leader for added stealth and a little stretch, but he still suggests being careful, as braid can rip hooks free, especially with an extra-fast graphite rod.
Basic Technique With FFS, cast beyond bass showing on the screen, watch the jig drop to a point 5 feet above them on the monitor and begin a slow, steady retrieve. Gustafson says it takes practice to get the feel of swimming the lure steadily and gliding it along, but you should always keep it above the fish.
“If it falls past them, they don’t like it,” he says. “It’s tempting to drop it to them, but if you keep it 4 or 5 feet up, they’re more likely to strike.” This is where having FFS helps, as you can see where the bait is and keep it over their heads. Gustafson says smallmouths especially suspend much more readily than many anglers previously thought.
While moping is predominantly associated with bass angling, it’s a universal technique that extends to other species.
“It’s not just bass,” Gustafson says. “Walleyes, redfish, pike—it works for almost any fish. Jerk shads come in a lot of sizes. Just match the size to the forage of the fish you’re catching up to 7 inches. Match the hatch with color, too, and you can catch almost anything that swims in clear water.”
This article was featured in the August 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
