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Tackle Talk | The Selected Crankbait

Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Jun 28, 2011 @ 07:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Two of the same baits. One has caught 100 bass; one has not.

 

We gravitate towards our favorite lures, regardless of the circumstances, almost willing the fish to bite our favorite baits even if that’s not the normal deal. It’s funny how anglers latch on to specific baits, especially when it comes to hardbaits like crankbaits.

Anyone who has fished a while has amassed a good collection of crankbaits, and if you’re like us, you have several of the same color and sizes of your favorites.

Did you know that not all crankbaits are the same? They may be created exactly the same, but for some reason, and we have yet to explain it perfectly, there are certain crankbaits in a stock of similar crankbaits that just produce better than others. Perhaps it’s a confidence thing among us as anglers, as confidence can yield more catches just because you’ll anticipate and make yourself stay disciplined longer than you would with a bait in which you have no confidence.

I recently heard a pro was fed up with the craziness in tournament fishing and decided to sell all his tackle. One of his pro angler buddies called him up and asked if he could go through his tackle box and look for just the “chewed” crankbaits and buy those off him. The angler refused to part with those crankbaits even though he was getting out of the game so to speak.

David Dudley has a single crankbait that has produced more than $250,000 in winnings. He doesn’t practice with the bait as it’s too valuable to come out anytime but in the tournament because he knows if he gets it around some bass hitting crankbaits, they will eat this one.

I’ve been testing a lot of crankbaits and have latched on pretty hard to one. It’s a Strike King 6XD in Gizzard Shad. It's caught more than 100 bass since May.



In this photo you can see some hook rash but all around that you can see little sandpaper-like striations. Those are from the teeth of bass gnawing on the sides of it while in their mouth; same thing appears on the back of the crankbait and on its eye. Compared to exactly the same crankbait out of the package, my confidence starts to dwindle. The baits are just alike, only I’m going to reach for that scratched up, gnawed up bait first every time.

Should I lose that bait, you’re probably going to have to give me a moment of silence to mourn.

We’ve talked to David Fritts and David “Smiley” Wright before about finding gems of crankbaits, arguably the two most well known deep crankers in the southeast if not the entire U.S. I’ve heard stories of cinder blocks being sunk at specific locations to mark diving depths of crankbaits out of the box. Sometimes sitting with hundreds of crankbaits, they will cast and cull the perfect wobbling, deflecting, accurately diving baits into a tournament, fish-producing box of cranks. Really there is not a thing wrong with the other crankbaits but they've determined how a bait should feel and what it should touch and if they don't get that the put that bait aside.

Why do they do that if all crankbaits are made the same?  They are to an extent. But the imperfections and tuning of baits, swapping of hooks, a little too much clear coat, a rattle or casting weight that is lodged or dislodged can make a bait act and sound complete different from its twin brother.  



What does that all mean to us as anglers? It’s a lesson in being mindful. If you’ve got a bait that behaves just a bit differently than the hundred other crankbaits like it that the bass are seeing on a pressured lake, chances are you might be on to something. I’ve known guys to pick up silent crankbaits at a tackle shop and shake the packages, listening for just a little bit different sound.  

When you find a bait that is really producing, you need to cull it, mark it and guard it. I fished with several good crankbait anglers who use magic marker and number their baits to keep up with the ones that really produce and the ones that have been lake proven and super-tuned yet.  

Come tournament day, you need a proven producer in your hands.  I’ve also been fortunate to find a pile of baits that produce well. I keep them separate from others. It’s very possible to find a whole bunch of baits that produce together, but I’m always looking for a slight edge on the fish. It always seems the more beat up my crankbait gets, the better I catch them.  

One factor to mind is lip strength. Grinding a crankbait into hard bottoms, which is often the case when cranking, can cause the lip to flex and stress cracks to form not to mention it can roughen the edge making it susceptible to line nicks and altered swimming action. I often smooth my lips back down with light sand paper to keep the bait from scarring my line and running the risk of losing the crank.  

So if you can afford to buy crankbaits, buy a few. Chances are one is going to work a little better than the rest. But chances might also be that a whole pile of baits will work just as well if you've established their productivity with just one.

What are your thoughts on favorite crankbaits? Do you think one crankbait produces  better than another of the same make and model?

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Making a New Angler From an Old One

Posted by Jason Sealock on Fri, Jun 24, 2011 @ 05:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Better fishing when you focus on the search not the catch


I've been fishing since I was old enough to hold a rod. My father would carry me to Lake Lonely in New York in a johnboat with a beat up white cowling covered Johnson. We'd putt out to his favorite cove where we'd dunk minnows for crappie or pull spinners for walleyes or big northerns or throw grape with firetail Mann's Jelly Worms and Creme Scoundrels for bass.

I was terrified of the ride in the boat out to our fishing spot. Every bump I thought would be my last as I clinged to my orange float vest while staring at all the water in the bottom of the boat. A Maxwell House coffee can served as a makeshift bilge pump.

But I loved the routine of getting to our spot, anchoring, and then proceeding on our mission of boating fish. I knew what to expect, I knew what I had to do, I knew what Dad would do and I felt like I knew what the fish would do. Going out and getting back wasn’t the treat but what happened in between was an adventure even with the same routines on each outing. Even if I didn’t catch any fish, the pursuit was a thrill.

Some 35 years later fishing has changed a lot. A beautiful Ranger Z520 bass boat, sophisticated networked Lowrance HDS units, an Evinrude 250 that would have sank our ole’ johnboat. Now I’m much more serious about my craft and the pursuit of fish. But in the last 12 months, I’ve had a change of heart about my fishing, and the result has been that fish have been coming aboard by the net fulls for me.

So what’s different? The pressure I’ve put on myself – something to which tournament anglers can especially relate. A year ago I was very tired and stressed when I didn’t catch the fish as good as I felt I should have. The more I fish with pros, the more I realize they are still human. I think we see how good those guys catch fish and we think if we don’t catch them to that level on every trip, that we’re somehow a failure at the sport. But the fact is some days they don’t find them. Some days they find them so good they are unbeatable. But they still eat cheeseburgers, wear flip flops and take their kids to baseball games.  

KVD is safe. I’m certainly not going to be taking any of his money in any future bass fishing contests. But I finally realize again that fishing is about the pursuit not the measure of how well I catch them on each trip. I like to fish buddy tournaments, short of that, I’ve changed as an angler. For the longest time, I felt like I had something to prove. That I needed a measure to see how I ranked against the great anglers I admired for years.  

The fact is somewhere in there you lose sight of what fishing really should be about. It should be about finding them, not catching them. So many folks want to shortcut the process and skip the finding part and go right to the catching part. They put unnecessary pressure on themselves to produce fish every time out.  

Fishing is about the process. The process of eliminating wasted water and finding productive water. Some days you may only eliminate water. Those are the frustrating days. But the more time you spend eliminating, the smaller the possibilities get and the more narrow your search becomes for the right places.

I think the pressure to produce compounds in tournaments. You think you have something found, but you shook them all off in practice only to come back in the tournament and not catch a keeper. Next thing you know, you’re contemplating selling your tackle, trading your truck in for hybrid and dropping the boat off at the dealership for a consignment clearance sale.

The reality of this sport we love so much is they don’t bite when we want them to. They bite when they want to. Now sure we can make them want to a little more at times like we talked about in our blog yesterday. But you fish enough and you’re going to catch them, and you’re going to not catch them – whether you’re a weekend local or Ultimate Match Fishing champion pro Jeff Kriet.

Your measure is not how well you caught them in this weekend’s derby, the measure is how good at you at finding fish. The pursuit of the fish is the measure of you as an angler, because what I’ve found over the last 6 months is that the better I get at finding fish, the better I get at catching fish. I’ve had more 20-pound fishing days this year already than I did in the last 2 years. It’s not like I became a great angler from reading some article. I just changed my mindset.  

That’s probably come from talking to guys like Terry Bolton, Mark Menendez, Dan Morehead, Mike McClelland, Curt McGuire, Ben Parker, Craig Powers, Ike, G-Man and many more on a regular basis. When they talk I listen like a kid who’s about to discover the secret code to his favorite video game. I hinge on every word, and I try to apply their experiences to my own. They are crazy good at this game.  

The common theme is that the better you are at covering water and finding fish, the better everything else gets in your fishing. Sure you’ve got to get good at triggering fish, milking an area, and more. But my mindset really changed this year on my own lake.  

I’ve been practicing for a tournament for the last week. I’ve only been able to afford a few hours in the morning or afternoon a handful of days the last two weeks. But my simple goal has been to find one school every time out. I’ve picked a section of the lake and forced myself to stay in it and just look around me for what looks like it can hold fish.  

I’ve spent a lot more time staring at a Lowrance HDS 10 screen than I have with a rod in my hand. And a lot of my time has been spent looking at a lot of dead water. But it’s also lead me to multiple schools of fish. Some of the schools have had all little fish. Some of the schools have had a bunch of good fish. Some of the schools have been a mix. Some days they bite one lure, and other days they won’t touch that lure. But the pursuit has been a thrill.  
I’ve added more than 11 places I’ve never fished before to my arsenal over the last 2-3 weeks. Some days I find 3 good places.

Some days I don’t find any. But every time out I’m having fun and enjoying the pursuit. In about the last 15 hours of fishing, I’ve boated more than 100 bass. I’ve had a fight with a fish that certainly would have bested my 8-2 personal best bass before she was able to pull loose. I’ve had tons of little fish and I’ve had some 5-pound fish pose for pictures.  

But the pursuit has been giving me more confidence. And confidence has helped the fishing. And the fishing has seemed to help relieve the stress in my life. And maybe that anxiety of the ride to where I’m going is finally getting a little easier because the pursuit of the fish has put the thrill back in my fishing life.



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Five for 5 | Five Fishing Triggers

Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 @ 06:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Ike got this bass to react to a crankbait in the prespawn
Learn to trigger fish even when they're not hungry


 
Bass aren’t that smart, they just aren’t always hungry. The sooner anglers accept that, the better. So the dilemma that often faces anglers is that the fish aren’t biting because they aren’t hungry. But you want them to bite because you’ve only got a certain day to spend fishing or you’re in a tournament situation and have to produce fish.

Well they’re not eating because they’re hungry so they’re going to have to react to your bait being in their comfort zone. We’ve all heard guys talking about firing up a school, getting them to fire, exciting the school and other descriptions of how anglers have gone from not getting a single bite to catching fish every cast.

We’ve come to believe that what is happening at these times is a combination of the two reasons a bass bites. The fish go from not being hungry to actively feeding and violently reacting to agitating prey in their strike zone. We’ve seen it with crankbaits, jerkbaits, topwaters, jigging and jerk spoons, and other various baits.

The fact is when you caused one bass to get excited about a bait, his buddies saw what he was doing and now they want some too. They’re much like us in that regard. I can remember as kids, my sisters not wanting anything for snack until I walked back in the room with a popsicle and suddenly they wanted one too.

So really sometimes it’s only about making one fish react. In our mind, that’s all fishing is. How to make one fish bite. Then once you make that one bite, figure out how to make the next one bite.

Here a few tips to keep you reeling in the fish and making the most of the bass you find.

Vary your retrieves. Hop it, rip it, snatch it, jerk it, grind it, scoot it, stroke it and move it largely and often to see if one fish will react in the area. One retrieve, try it right along the bottom. Then on the next retrieve, hop it up and see if they aren’t suspended just off the bottom. Reel it through one time slow and then come back through the area real fast to get them used to it being there but not sure exactly what it is.

Don’t just go through the motions.  I think we get comfortable with fishing a certain way. The worst is when we continue to fish a certain way when it’s not producing bass. You should constantly be changing. Varying your retrieves helps but more importantly, fish outside your comfort zone at times. Burn a bait as hard as you can, violently rip a bait, make the bait go erratic, even if it’s hard and tiresome.

“You can reel a crankbait through an area real slow,” said Michael Iaconelli. “The bass can look at it, study it and decide that something doesn’t look exactly right. Then you burn the bait passed them on the next cast and now he only gets a glimpse of it as it comes by him and he has to react in a split second or he’ll lose his chance.”

Saturate the area. Fish don’t suspend motionless all the time. They are often moving up and down an area, in and out of a piece of cover, towards and away from structure. Because of this, it’s not likely your bait landed right next to a fish. So you have to play the odds. Ask yourself how you can maximize the odds that your bait is in fact in front of a bass that is roaming around in an area. So make 20 casts to a log. Make casts with three different lures to the same spot. Make sure you’ve had your bait in front of a bass at least a few times on each stop.

Ignore the norms. Fish won’t bite buzzbaits and frogs, when it’s very cold. Yet I’ve seen tournaments won on a buzzbait when it was snowing and Dean Rojas catch 20-plus-pound limits on the frog in the early prespawn period. Sometimes the fish are there and not necessarily hungry, but they are still creatures of habit and if something is in their face making a commotion, they’re going to settle the noise. Don’t be afraid to pull something out of the norm from the box and give it a workout in an area if you really feel the fish are there.

Give them the one-two combination. I’ve seen several instances where a school probably got activated by one bait but then started eating another one. I’ll give you an example or two. I had a good school located recently. I was catching some fish on a worm and a jig. The fish quit biting for a second. I fired a crankbait through the school for several casts. I think the crankbait is good at getting them looking even if they don’t bite it. Then I picked up a big spoon and first cast I started catching them on the spoon.

I’ve seen the same thing happen with bedding bass. You get them reacting to one bait and swirling and spinning on it, then you pick up a new bait and fire it in there and the fish jumps all over it. It’s something about getting the fish almost agitated with one bait but they are still leary of it. Then when a new bait comes in their zone, they figure this is too much to stand for any longer.

In my experience, the only difference between a novice angler and a very seasoned angler, is the latter’s ability to get fish to react even when they are not feeding. A novice angler will pull up to a spot that has fish, make a handful of slow presentations and then leave or keep moving up the bank or structure. The seasoned angler will continue working his lures as if there is a bass watching it at all times, trying to taunt it into biting. That is when you’ll figure out that bass aren’t always hungry, but thank goodness, they just don’t have the restraint to resist their own animal impulses.  
 

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Fishing Diminutively Deep for Bass

Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Jun 22, 2011 @ 12:01 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Lowitzki fights a keeper largemouth bass out of 20-plus feet of water with a shaky head 

Sometimes good intentions go without reward in fishing. You figure the fish should be doing one thing and really reacting to a certain presentation in a certain location because they always have this time of year on your favorite reservoir. Then you find out your best presentation isn’t getting the job done. You try all the colors and all the sizes that you can think of.

A natural tendency is to leave. But often times, on highly pressured reservoirs, they are merely conditioned. We’re going to be talking about “triggering” fish in an upcoming blog, but one technique seems to be working for pressured fish more and more.

Deep shaky head fishing is really gaining momentum for fishing offshore, whether it’s on clear reservoirs in the Deep South like Lanier and Clarks Hill or northern fisheries like Champlain and Erie. The technique seems to not only get more bites but more and more, we’re seeing it play a big role in catching big fish too.

In the recent FLW Tour event on Kentucky Lake, Rich Lowitzki had his best finish as a pro and was in the top 10 going into day three, with 90 percent of his catch for the first two days coming on a shaky head out deep.

His system may not be rocket science, but it definitely powered him into a strong finish in an event when the fish were highly pressured but largely schooled.

“I don’t claim to be an expert or anything,” Lowitzki said. “I’ve got a company that makes one of the best shaky heads on the market, and if you look at my history, the places I do well are places where a shaky head really shines. But this event was different.”

Lowitzki practiced for three days on Kentucky Lake with some co-angler partners and while they threw the typical offshore mix of crankbaits, worms and jigs, he kept throwing the shaky head. Soon he was gaining confidence that the shaky head might actually be a better offering.

He decided to test his theory with a technique he does a lot up north on the great lakes, drifting. He picked up a rod and cast out a 3/4-ounce football jig. Then he cast out a 5/16 JimRic shaky head with a Zoom Trick Worm. He drug both baits side by side with his partners. He was getting bites in an area on the football jig but he was getting three times as many on the shaky head and bigger fish. He’d catch a 1 3/4-pound fish on the jig, and then catch a 2 1/2-pound bass on the shaky head.

That gave him the confidence to stick with it for the event. The first day he had nearly 20 pounds of fish on the shaky head, including two fish weighing more than 5 pounds.

“I really just work three worms on a shaky head,” Lowitzki said. “If I’m throwing a Zoom Trick Worm in water deeper than 20 feet, I use a 5/16 ounce head. If I’m throwing a Poor Boys Baits Jerkworm or a Yamamoto Senko, I throw it on a lighter 1/4-ounce head because the worms are heavier and bulkier and fall about the same.”

Admittedly Lowitzki favors a spinning rod and reel for his shaky head fishing. One reason is he never goes with line heavier than 10-pound test and often fishes with 6 or 8-pound test. In fact some of his bigger fish have come on 8-pound fluorocarbon. His preferred setup is a Daiwa Steez reel which he feels is the best spinning reel ever made and Dobyns Champion Series 762 spinning rod.

“If you have good fish fighting skills, you really have nothing to worry about with the lighter line,” Lowitzki said. “You have to have your drag set right and know when to back real. But the biggest key is to just be patient.”

During this event, Lowitzki proved the point. He set the hook on a big fish. A second later his co-angler did too. They were both fighting good fish. Lowitzki coached his co-angler to fight his fish up to the boat and he would net it. His co-angler seemed more concerned with landing Lowitzki’s fish which was bigger.

“I said look, just take your time and I’ll net yours and then when you get him in the boat, you just dip mine.”

He scooped his co-anglers fish, and then went back to playing his fish and seconds later landed his fish.



Lowitzki also advises changing up your presentation from day to day and sometimes even in the same day. Some days you’ll find a deep school and as soon as the bait hits the bottom the fish are on it. Some days they want it crawled slowly over every rock and occasionally just stopped and shook a little. Some days he hops it when he sees fish suspended just off the bottom.

He believes that the lighter bait has a very natural fall and when the fish are grouped up, it’s just too easy an opportunity for them to pass. The key is just getting it in front of the right quality fish. The diminutive size of a shaky head really isn’t an issue for a big fish. He’s an opportunist and eats it because it’s easy.

Lowitzki believes that different shaky heads have a different fall. He’s designed his head with a 90-degree bend in the hook and feels that when he hops it, he can impart a little different action and fall to it.

Obviously, throwing the bait more and experimenting with it will bring more confidence with it. It’s often overlooked in power fishing situations because guys feel likes it’s something they “have to throw” in difficult situations. So when they have the opportunity to fish with big tackle and big baits, they shun the minuscule offering of a shaky head. That’s when it really makes a difference.

“David Dudley called me after the Kentucky Lake tournament and said he’d heard that I caught a bunch of fish on the shaky head,” Lowitzki said. “He couldn’t believe it and prodded me to tell him the truth about what I was really throwing. He finally believed me when I told him that’s what I caught the majority of my fish on. He said, ‘so I got my butt handed to me on Kentucky Lake by a shaky head?’”

While it’s not the end of all discussions of catching fish offshore, it shouldn’t be viewed as just shallow clear water bait or something you throw when the weather is bad and the bite is tough. It can actually be a better offering when the fish are really chomping in big schools around rocks, sparse grass, wood and more.


      

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A Day of Fishing to Best All My Days of Fishing

Posted by Terry Brown on Tue, Jun 21, 2011 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Terry with his big 28 pound catch

By Terry Brown

I try to get out on the water whenever possible. Like most of the Wired2Fish readers, it’s when time allows or if we have products to test. Most of the time, I get to go right after work for a few hours. I am fortunate that we have a couple of good lakes in Central Illinois not far from the office that offer a variety of different types of fishing. You can fish shallow grass, blow down wood and stumps, or creek channel ledges offer structure where deep water techniques can be employed. I like the variety.

This past week, I had the chance to sneak out on a very windy evening where I felt the variables were perfect. Full moon, water is clear, and grass is everywhere topping out in some areas. We are in the post spawn, but even though most anglers feel this is one of the toughest times of the year, I like it as big female bass have a tendency to congregate right after the spawn. If you can find where they are positioned, it can be a “Katie, bar the door” time.

I had been out a few times in recent days testing a new device from Hydrowave to see if it could really make a difference, and to be honest those days had been very tough. I would locate small schools of fish on my Humminbird side imaging, but the largest bass in those schools seemed to be about 3 pounds. Bass were mixed with white bass and saugeye, so it was fun but no school of big fish. It was all about to change!

When I got to the ramp, I noticed there were no other boats in the lot. That surprised me as my last trip the lot was full but feel the heavy west winds and threat for rain and storms may have kept others off.

Sometimes the stars just align. Even though the conditions at first glance may look unfavorable, digging deeper is the key. As I mentioned above there were several factors that held promise – the post spawn slump had to end, a mix of clouds, a strong west wind and most importantly the grass was getting right. The grass is a variable, if figured out, that can be not only a great place for small fish but can hold big cruisers resting after the spawn. I don’t pretend to know everything about it, but rest assured, it can drastically change a body of water.

A whole new set of techniques are available because of grass. Obvious ones like topwater fishing and frogging come to mind immediately. Both are special techniques, and if you don’t like catching fish on top, it’s time to offer the rod and reel in a garage sale. Bites are explosive and many times fish are bigger when it gets going.  Punching the grass with a heavy weight, heavy line and compact bait is another technique that many anglers have a tough time dissecting, but when you do, it can be awesome.

Another technique that I have gotten pretty good at is finding sparse sections of deep grass and cranking, jigging and worming it. I still have a ton to learn, but I am dialing it in better each year. This day set up perfect for this technique.

The more time I am on the water, the more I look at all the variables. Some may call it instinct but I call it “finite awareness” –  paying more attention to the little things. I look at sun position, wind and casting angles more critically than cover or bait selection. That’s something that really came into play on this trip.

Sun Position
I truly believe fish use the sun to position themselves. Deep ledge fish particularly use the sun. An ambush point, a resting area or feeding advantage are not far apart. When the sun is positioned high in the sky; a point, a stump or even a creek channel ledge can serve as shade or a comfort zone for big fish. Add the wind into the equation, and it allows the angler to pinpoint exactly where the bass are on a particular piece of cover. Remember, bass are Mother Nature’s creatures, cold blooded and are equipped to deal with all kinds of weather.

They seek a comfort zone and an area that provides both food and body related comforts like water temp and cover. The sun was high, air temps were around 80 degrees and water temps had dipped to around 73 degrees. This was a critical piece of the day’s equation.

The Wind
The wind was around 15 mph with 20-plus mph gusts out of the west. I chose to go with the wind as I knew most anglers would seek refuge from it and I could fish areas that others would not attempt. Wind can cause bass to get aggressive, in particular in post spawn. It rings the dinner bell.

Casting angles
I have spoken for hours with close friend Gary Klein about casting angles. Knowing that there are good, better, and best cast angles was a key to this day. Fortunately, I found best on the first cast. My first fish was an 8 pounder. Five casts later, I had five fish that weighed right at 20 pounds.

One other thing I should mention again here: I was using the Hydrowave Sound Technology Device. I had it set on passive shad as I pulled onto “the spot”. I immediately changed the sound pattern to “Frenzy” after landing the 8 pounder. Did it make a difference? I can’t swear it did, but rest assured it will be on every time I am on the water. It was another variable and much like adding scent, if it works, I use it.

Approach
Instead of being on the deep side and crossing the shallow place on the points and jut-outs, I paralleled the drop. That cast line I believe was the difference. The sun was in the west, wind was out of the west and the ledge ran north and south. Starting to get the picture?

This particular spot has a few stumps, rock and is about 100 yards long. It is on the old creek channel, and to the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t get much pressure. Matter of fact, I had never seen anyone ever fish it. The water depth was 15 feet on top, and the fish were positioned in 19 feet. Utilizing side imaging allowed me to see the school on spot number one, dissect it and see how the school reacted.

I fished a 1-ounce jig and chunk, one of Jason Sealock’s Heavy Gator Spoons, a Zoom Ole Monster Worm, a Strike King Series 5XD and a Spro Little John DD on that spot. The bite was fast and furious for about 20 minutes and stopped. There were other bass there but rather than smoking that spot, I had the information I needed to try other spots like it. This is the part of the puzzle for which I live.

I used side imaging again to idle over a couple of other places with similar depth and a similar set up, and on each spot I culled. Not as fast and furious as the other locations, but slouches were present on each. I hit seven spots in a very short period of time and caught 22 bass weighing more than 4 pounds.

My largest five-bass limit weighed 28.8 pounds (the smallest bass in the limit weighed 4.2 pounds). I also had four sauger up to 24 inches and one musky of 40 inches all on spots I don’t spend much time fishing. Utilizing side imaging, the Hydrowave, the right baits and recognizing the variables were the difference.

After I caught the last big fish, I sat down in the boat, still shaking and said this prayer: “Lord, if I never catch another bass, it’s ok, because you gave me a day of a lifetime, thank you for allowing the fish and me to have a meeting today and allowing me to understand your creatures for a brief moment.”

I have caught bigger limits in my life, but needless to say, I will never forget this day – 3 1/2 hours of bass fishing heaven and an evening I will never forget.

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Pundit Picks | Bassmaster Elite Series Wheeler Lake

Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Jun 15, 2011 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Russ Lane is one guy we think will do well this week.



The Bassmaster Elite Series regular season comes to a close this weekend on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala. Up for grabs are the Angler of the Year title, Classic berths, Rookie of the Year titles and of course the little matter of the $100,000 first-place purse. It’s always tough to pick guys you think will do well based on conditions and strengths in fishing. It’s increasingly hard when there is so much on the line. But here are our best guesses for this week.

Todd’s Picks

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Pundit Picks | FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake

Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 @ 08:16 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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One local who doesn't want to be in the top 10 but we just couldn't leave out.


Well this season is like any other on the bass fishing tournament trails. Some of the venues are tough (the Red River) and some of them will be slugfests (Kentucky and Pickwick Lakes). There always seem to be locals who do well and someone you never expected would do well.

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Eliminating Fishless Water

Posted by Jason Sealock on Fri, Jun 10, 2011 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Earlier this week we detailed how one pro has mastered milking an area for all its worth over several days of fishing. It was Vic Vatalaro and it was a great lesson on finding replenishing areas and then stalking the bass and fishing patiently and methodically as they roamed in and out of the area at various times of the day.

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Lock Down Coverage - Fishing an Area Thoroughly Like a Pro

Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Jun 08, 2011 @ 11:00 PM
  
  
  
  
  
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BassOlMonster



Vic Vatalaro led the FLW Tour Open on the Potomac River on Day 1 (photo courtesy of FLW Outdoors)

Fish are funny creatures. Just like humans. At times they don’t want to be around another bass. At times they only want to pair up with one other bass. And at times they can’t be around enough other bass. And then there are those times when a pack of bass like to roam around and do some hanging out on their own.

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Five for 5 | Fishing Utility Applications for the iPhone

Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Jun 02, 2011 @ 12:01 PM
  
  
  
  
  
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iphone Fishing applications




I'm a technical junkie. I like to keep up with all sorts of technology from computers to depth finders to phones. We at Wired2Fish are also iPhone users as anglers. We keep up with thousands of contacts, mail on the road, weather, tournament updates and more. So as you can imagine we get flooded with requests to review fishing applications. We've adopted several applications, well at least I have in my fishing. Here is a quick run down of what apps I have on my iPhone related to fishing.

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Pundits Picks | FLW Tour Open Potomac River

Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Jun 01, 2011 @ 10:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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This was probably the hardest picks we've had to make. There are a pile of B.A.S.S. anglers fishing this event as well as most of the FLW Tour pros and throw in a couple big stick locals and this is going to be a shootout for sure. But here is our best guess for who should do well based on experience and gut instincts.

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