The fifth fish Ray hoisted over the gunwale of the Bass Cat was the proof I needed that I should accept his offer to share one of his lures.

Sometimes I need the evidence to hit me in the head.

Fishing buddy Ray Halter and I teamed up last week to explore one of our favorite lakes in search of springtime largemouth bass. Ray was the longtime owner of The Rodmaker’s Shop in Strongsville, one of northeast Ohio’s premier fishing tackle stores, and even as he approaches his 80th birthday still gets on the water two or three days a week.

He’s learned a thing or two across the decades of his bass tournament experience, and he applied it in full force during our recent outing.

“OK, give me one of those jigs,” I said as he unhooked his four-pound largemouth.

Our day had started on a high note. Ray and I scored early and often as we blitzed spinnerbaits and bladed jigs over a shallow flat that had scattered beds of aquatic vegetation. The sky was overcast and the fish seemed to sense that weather was coming. They were chasing our lures, hitting aggressively and fighting hard.

Rain clouds blew across the lake, but our spirits weren’t dampened even though the bite tapered off. Optimistic that we could find more fish in the mood to play, we decided to change locations, settling on a deeper flat with thick clumps of curly-leaf pondweed.

Ray struck first. He was swimming a jig through the voids between the clumps, popping it free when it got snarled in the greenery, and letting it drop toward the bottom. A big bass clobbered his jig on the drop and jumped a couple of times as Ray brought it to the boat.

A few minutes later, Ray struck again with his swim jig. The bass was a twin to the previous fish.

I, meanwhile, was alternating between winding the bladed jig and swimming a plastic worm through the grass. Both typically are good options. The worm teased two bites, but I did not connect with either fish.

Ray continued with his swim-jig approach and boated three more bass before I finally surrendered to his generous offer to share the lure that was obviously working better than the two that I had been casting.

He gave me a jig the same color and weight and the same boottail swimbait body like the one he was using. I tied it to my line, fired a long cast and immediately hooked up with a bass weighing nearly five pounds.

It was clear that there was something to Ray’s notion that the lure he was using was the perfect option for the location and conditions. His jig weighed three-eighths of an ounce and sported a thin skirt in a color similar to a bluegill. The boottail he added as the teaser trailer was a color that complemented the jig skirt.

Ray explained the jig was the perfect weight to drop at the rate that would trigger a strike from lurking largemouths. The lure was neither too subtle nor two gaudy. That the fish liked the lure was evident by the aggressiveness of their strikes.

While I believe several kinds and sizes of lures might work at any given time and place, and that location usually matters more than lure choice, it was clear that Ray had zeroed in on the combination that outperformed the baits I was casting.

Lesson learned. Next time I go poking through the grass for bass, you can bet I’ll have Ray’s set-up rigged and ready for some stop-and-pop fishing.

Jack Wollitz has been learning and writing about fishing for more than 50 years. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.