In this interview, filmed at the 2021 Bassmaster Classic, Taku Ito is talking about the techniques he used a Lake Fork, and the techniques he intended to use for smallmouth on Lake Champlain. Taku finished 7th fishing finesse techniques on Lake Fork, and 31st at Lake Champlain, but his smallmouth techniques really paid off with his recent win on the St Lawrence River. Watch as Taku talks about the importance of scent and dialing into the right bait when fishing for big smallmouth.

0:46 Bass fishing is high pressure in Japan, so Taku Ito prefers finesse fishing
2:38 Lake Fork finesse fishing with flick-shake-style wacky rigging on 7 & 8 inch worms
6:18 Electronics that Taku Ito uses to finesse fish for bass
7:23 Fishing line choices for finesse fishing with big fish around cover like at Lake Fork
10:15 How Taku Ito uses 3 different finesse techniques depending on where the fish are in the water column
12:01 What soft plastic worms does Taku Ito use?
15:36 Smallmouths love Taku & Taku loves smallmouth - Taku Ito's advice for fishing for big smallmouth
17:37 Fishing line for big smallmouth fishing up North
19:26 Small baits for smallmouths