Here are details of how to fish Megabass Dark Sleeper an ultra deep swimbait techinque. The Megabass Dark Sleeper is a very unique swimbait, and can help you catch more fish if you know how to use it right. The Dark Sleeper is also sometimes hard to come by, and tackle shops often run out because it is a fish catching machine. Hopefully, you will see how well this lure can work in this post of tips on how to fish the megabass dark sleeper.
The megabass dark sleeper is the perfect swimbait for fishing deep ultra clear water. Basically in a nutshell the dark sleeper is a soft body swimbait molded around a heavy piece of lead. The dark sleeper swim-bait creates a natural profile with a heavy weight inside the bait, so you can get down deeper with a more realistic swimming presentation. In addition, the dark sleeper’s weedless nature enables you to fish it well through all types of cover. There are video’s of this bait being flipped and pitched essentially using it like a jig.
Even though the design and idea of this bait makes a ton of sense, it is a hard bait to fish. After experimenting with this bait over several months, I’ve learned a lot of things to help you catch more fish on this lure. The right fishing equipment, retrieving the bait properly, and knowing when to use a dark sleeper will make a difference for you. Let’s dive into how to fish a Megabass dark sleeper, so you can put more bass in the boat.
The right equipment will help you have better success when fishing the Megabass dark sleeper. The dark sleeper works best with a stiff medium heavy action rod with a fast tip. A stiff rod will give you a better hook up ratio to drive the hook into a bass’s mouth. Add on a higher speed ratio reel to make an even bigger difference for quickly picking up slack line for a good hook set. Anything over a 7:1:1 gear ratio will do the trick. Lastly, make sure you have a long rod over 7 feet, so you can bomb that baby out and get more leverage on your hook sets. A good rod and reel combination will make for more fish catches with the megabass dark sleeper.
The type of line you use will make a big difference when fishing a megabass dark sleeper. You will have more success with a braid to flourcarbon leader set up than straight flourcarbon, or straight braided line with this bait. Here is the logic on why this is. The Dark Sleeper is a bait that shines best deep with long casts, so with straight flourcarbon you don’t get as good a connection as you do with braid. Yet, the braid by itself is to visible and bass shy away from it in clear water. Thus, the braid to flourocarbon line solution with a double uni knot is optimal for fishing the dark sleeper.
How you fish the megabass dark sleeper depends on the type of cover, and how the bass are responding. Optimally, the bait performs best with a slow steady retrieve along the bottom. One of the cool features of the dark sleeper is it always lands on its belly. Essentially you could just jig it along the bottom, and it would probably get some bites. the best way to retrieve a dark sleeper goes like this. Cast the dark sleeper out, and let it fall to the bottom. Vary your retrieve and see what the bass tell you. It seems the bass like the dark sleeper best when it’s slowly bumping the cover along the bottom. Check out the video below for a better idea of how you can fish the Dark Sleeper.
Knowing when to use the Megabass Dark Sleeper will help you put more fish in the boat. Here are some thoughts to consider. Seasonally, this bait will work all year long. The Dark Sleeper is super finesse, and it doesn’t need a lot of cranking to get the little tail swimming to draw strikes. The dark sleeper is ideal for when you encounter bass in deep water 20+ feet. Plus, when you have a lot of cover to go through once you get down fishing deep. The weedless nature and the compact profile of the dark sleeper will help you cover deep water faster, and help you locate more fish in those deeper haunts of the lake.
The dark sleeper works well on high fishing pressure situations. It’s not a bait the bass see a lot, and has a real natural appeal to those bass in those deeper haunts. Its a great imitation of a baby bluegill, or a small goby often found flitting in out of the cover. One of the best colors in clear water is Wakasagi. It Straight up will get you chomped!
Check out this video of how to fish the megabass dark sleeper. This video also contains some more details of the lure, and why it should be an essential part of your arsenal for fishing. In addition, the video shows some details of what the dark sleeper looks like underwater to help give you a better understanding of how this bait can work. Lastly, the video on how to fish a dark sleeper has some fish catches to highlight how well this lure can crush some bass. Enjoy!
The megabass dark sleeper can be hard to find in tackle shops. I’ve only been able to find the baits online, and they tend to run out fast. Ebay, Amazon, and Tackle Warehouse are good place to start if you want to try one of these baits out. Another thing about the dark sleeper is it can get torn up. The softplastic gets worn out after a dozen bass or so. Keep a little super glue handy to piece your baits back together if they get torn apart. The plastic is very durable though compared to most. I’ve yet to have a bass rip the tail portion off of the bait. Make sure to check out some of my other great swimbait posts for more info on fishing swimbaits – Swimbait Rigging & Best 5 Softplastic Swimbaits
Finally, The links above and below in this post are affiliate links were you can pick up baits, rod’s, reels, line, and anything else I use to “Krak” some bass on the megabass dark sleeper. Krakenbass receives a small percentage of the sales through these links. I only use links to baits, and gear I personally trust and know work. These links are supposed to be helpful for you, and not for the small amount I make for the sale of the products. I hope these products can help you “krak” some bass like they have for me. Thank you for your support!
As Always,
Stay Stoked!
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