Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Jul 31, 2012 @ 09:35 AM
In part one, we discussed understanding bass on a sonar, a common function of most every depth finder available today. We touched briefly on fishing for bass on the sonar and in part two we're going to expand on pursuing bass suspended over deeper water, especially those relating to but not necessarily on cover.
We have many years experience chasing bass on clear-water reservoirs like Table Rock, Beaver Lake, Lake Lanier, Bay Springs and various other highland impoundments where we've seen a lot of situations where you could not only find bass with your electronics, but actually interact with the bass on your sonar and down scan.
But we also wanted to get another opinion on pursuing bass suspended deep over cover like brush piles. For further clarification we tabbed touring FLW Tour pro Brett Hite of Phoenix, Ariz. Hite is a master at catching bass in deep water with techniques like drop shot, fish head spins and topwater.
Where to start
"This time of the year, I'm going to stereotype a lake, especially a highland reservoir type lake," Hite said. "If it's super hot out and the water temperatures are in the 80s and 90s, I'm going to focus on main lake structure and brush along that structure. The fish are relating to the thermocline and it's easier to find them in one area, pattern them on a certain depth and then find cover in that right depth."
Hite starts his search on main lake areas like points, islands, humps, river channel turns and more defined features on the lake bottom. He'll then start idling the area while watching his Humminbird 1198 sonar, side imaging and down imaging all at the same time. When he sees a brush pile or tree, he will mark it with a waypoint but depending on the depth he may or may not stop and fish it.
Hite's experience has shown him that you can often spook bass away from the brush, even in deep water and you're often better off to mark several pieces of cover and then come back to the first one and fish back through them to give the fish a chance to settle back down. Hite wants to find as much cover in one area of a lake as he can so he'll have options come tournament time.
Once he had marked several brush piles, he'll start a ways off from the pile and get on the front deck while watching for fish on his sonar and down imaging. He'll make a couple blind casts to the target in hopes of getting his bait down near or just above the cover, and he often catches big fish this way.
"One thing that has helped me this year is the ring option on my waypoints on my Humminbird graph," he said. "I can set a ring out from 50 feet of the pile, and when I get to that ring, I can start firing at the target once I have my look ahead arrow pointed right at the brush pile as I move forward on my GPS screen."
Hite reiterated some of what we talked about in part one, in that while you may see arches when you idle over suspending bass with the big motor, as you creep along on the trolling motor, the bass will appear as a solid line on the screen.
Anglers should realize suspended fish around cover often move and displace when you catch a fish. Hite finds that if he catches one or two out of a brush pile or tree, he's probably done all the damage he's going to do there.
"You see it all the time, I start to see just a little clutter on the screen so I know I'm on the edge of the brush pile and I drop my worm into the pile. When I hook a fish, a bunch of lines magically appear off the bottom and from all around and come up with the fish. Next time I drop the worm, I can't get a bite. It's like you move all the suspended fish off the target."
Hite simply moves to the next pile when this happens and starts his stealthy approach over again.
The beauty with sonar is you can watch the bass move up or down in the water column and react to something like a drop shot worm in their zone. Hite admits though that sometimes you've got to pull a few special moves on the fish to get them to react and go on a lure around the cover.
"When I see a fish I will drop my drop shot Roboworm or Senko on them as quick as possible," Hite explained. "I will start deadsticking it near the bottom or just at their zone up off the bottom. Then I will just shake it a little and pause then shake a little and pause. If the fish don't react. I will reel three or four handle turns and then open the bail and let the bait fall again. A lot of the time, that move triggers fish.
This works especially well when it's high skies and slick water. It seems suspended fish can be more aggressive when it's cloudy and windy. But sunny skies can often be better for ultra clear water when the fish are deep as it increases their strike zone. It's definitely something you have to build experience trying in different situations.
Tackle for suspenders around cover
Hite has found that basically three lures can help him cover the zone. Oddly enough it's the same three we reach for and there are others as well. For Hite, a drop shot is his go-to bait of choice. He'll either use a 6-inch Robo Worm rigged weedless on a Rebarb Gamakatsu hook or a 5-inch Thin Yamamoto Senko rigged wacky style on an octopus or weedless wacky hook for cover laden areas.
The other two baits he'll choose are a fish head spinner like the Sworming Hornet or a topwater if the fish are suspending high over shallower brushpiles or in ultra clear water. We often throw a single swimbait and shaky head in these same situations.
But most of the time, Hite is reach down and picking up a drop shot when he's first targetting suspending bass around cover like brush piles and standing trees in deep water.
On Ouachita last year in the Forrest Wood Cup, he was targetting bass out deep with a drop shot on brush piles and standing timber. This spring he was doing the same for a good finish on Lake Hartwell. And next month, much of the field will be doing this very thing for bass on Lake Lanier in the Forrest Wood Cup.
His approach is simple. In practice he rigs three or four rods with drop shots. He'll use different leaders between his hook and weight. He'll try different colors, citing that he often starts with darker Roboworms in low light hours and then moving towards more translucent and shad patterns later in the day during the summer. He chooses a 1/4-ounce cylinder weight 95 percent of the time for his fishing in water up to 50 feet in depth. Beyond that or on extremely windy days, he'll go to a 3/8-ounce weight to maintain good contact with the bottom, the cover and the fish he sees on his graph.
He prefers a medium-heavy 7-foot Evergreen Spin Cobra rod and Revo Premier spinning reel. Hite recommends buying the best drag system in a spinning reel you can afford. The medium-heavy power gives him the leverage to hook and move a fish away from the cover and get them headed to the boat and the smooth reel drag gives him the ability to land those hooked fish when they surge.
He sees the advantages to both braid and fluoro with this combo, but chooses braid for the same reason. He'll use 10 to 20-pound Sunline SX1 Braid with a 7 to 10-pound Sunline Sniper FC fluorocarbon leader. He wants to turn a big bass up and away from the cover. And braid eliminates his line twist. Straight fluorocarbon will let the bait fall faster but the line will twist more. The braid with fluoro leader gives him more control and the line twist doesn't inhibit the lure's action, his ability to feel bites or his hooksets like twisted fluorocarbon can at times.
If the fish are aggressive, like often happens on choppy water conditions or overcast skies, he reaches for the Fish Head Spin or a big topwater.
"You have a better chance I feel catching a kicker on a topwater if the bass will make the commitment and come all the way up to get it," Hite said. I will sit way off the brush piles or trees and make long casts past the target and try to bring it through their zone from several angles."
If the fish won't commit to the topwater, he'll thread a Yamamoto swimbait on a fish head with an underspin and put it on a rod with 10 to 12-pound test Sunline Sniper FC with a Revo 6.4:1-gear-ratio Premier and a medium-heavy power glass rod like he's well known for using with vibrating jigs. Because the bass will often come up and try to kill the fish head spin rather than eat it, he just keeps reeling the bait until the rod starts to load back and then he just leans into them. With the glass rod he's able to keep the fish hooked up and they load on it better instead of being ripped out of their mouths with faster rods.
Often overlooked bridges
We recently spent some time on Table Rock Lake fishing with family. I have caught a lot of bass around the bridges on Table Rock in the past and decided to scan some around one of the bridges that has produced in the past with my Lowrance HDS 8 Gen 2 unit. Upon reaching the second column, my graph displayed perfectly several nice bass suspended off the shady side of the bridge.
We caught a few bass pretty quick with jigging spoons and drop shot worms but most of the fish were the smaller aggressive bass suspending high in the water column. I reached down and picked up a single Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait on a 3/8 ounce Big Hammer jighead. The first cast I counted the swimbait down to about 10 feet and then started a pretty slow retrieve. As I got closer to the boat I started reeling a little faster and a fish just locked up the reel.
A short fight ensued and I swung in a spotted bass weighing more than 3 pounds. That was all the clue I needed. I went on to catch several more nice spotted bass and a nice largemouth on the swimbaits in the shaded side of the bridge. And it seemed a medium retrieve was better as the fish were very aggressive. If you reeled it too slow, you didn't get a bite. You had to buzz it over their heads and they would stop the reel handle when they struck.
It's easy to scan bridges with side scan, down scan and sonar technologies. The fish will often suspend in a group on one corner or side of the bridge. Once you figure out their depth and area they are relating to, it's just a matter of getting your presentation and retrieve speeds down. You can catch them casting very light shaky heads and just letting them fall through the school. A topwater can even catch them at times although it seems something sub surface is better. A soft jerkbait and hard jerkbait alike can catch them at times.
Suspended bass scare a lot of bass anglers away. But often it's just a matter of finding what piece of cover or structure they are relating to and then presenting something in and around their zone to get them to react. Spend your time idling and looking with your electronics for arches and lines relating to obvious cover. Mark several good looking piles, tree tops, bridge pillars and then circle back and fish them after the fish have had a chance to settle back down. Soon you'll be a master of Video Game fishing like the pros.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Mon, Jul 30, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
4 baits will give you better chances of boating hot-water bass
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Jul 26, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
To read the previous parts to this series, click part one and part two.
Conventional wisdom (which is never wrong) says the simplest way to make a brand stick out in a crowded market is to spend lots of money on marketing and advertising. Blow your budget via print and online ads, in addition to television spots during choice programming, and it has to work, right? That’s what all the successful brands, inside and outside the industry, do.
Wrong! and Wrong!
The fact that entities engage in an activity says little about the efficacy of the activity itself. (I’m not saying advertising is not effective, mind you; I’m saying that advertising is largely effective only within a very narrow sphere, and even then to very specific types of companies. This is a topic I’ll be covering with great depth next month in my newsletter).
In this industry, like all the others, companies buy copious amounts of ads, do mass product giveaways, enlist the help of prominent local and national personalities (pro staffers), partner with non-competing manufacturers, create a social media footprint and use co-op advertising with retailers, all of which can be “effective.”
For our purposes, however, let’s focus on social media—an area industry companies seem fixated upon, though it is fraught with issues—and “team members” as two of the best means to help a brand stick out:
1. Team members can help establish ubiquity. Before I get called out for using a “big word,” that’s not my intent. I just think “ubiquity” makes my point simply: being everywhere. A prominent pro staffer can do wonders for a brand in that, through his travels for tournaments, interviews at shows and on weigh-in stages, in addition to his interactions with fans, he can provide a brand with a presence. However, that’s just one guy, and even if he wins, his impact is very limited. He has other “mouths” to feed.
Also, his tournament shirt isn’t much help. (In my opinion, tournament shirts are good space wasted, in that while they are fine with just a few logos, the rampant littering of fabric amounts to very little return for sponsors.) If you are to successfully use a pro staffer/tournament angler to add prominence to your brand, a wrapped truck or boat is a good start, provided your logos are the most dominant.
Your “team members” can have the most impact. I’m talking about local and regional pros, guides, tackle shop owners, local bass clubs and even outdoor media members. Have a couple hundred caps and t-shirts made with your logo very dominant, and send them out to these folks, who will wear them not just on the water but around town as well. Your goal, remember, is to make it feel as though your brand is everywhere, which, (a) creates curiosity for small, lesser-known brands and (b) gives the appearance of market-dominance to established brands.
2. Embrace social media. Before you say “I already do that,” let me say something: No, you don’t. And even if you do, you are likely not getting out of it what you could. Over the last 18 months I have made better understanding social media my business, and one of the key things I’ve learned is that everyone is doing it; few are doing it well. If you want to use it to gain exposure for your brand, first think about interacting with followers and fans on Twitter and Facebook. Too many companies set up an account, post the occassional question, then never respond. Don’t do that.
You need raving fans, not just loyal followers. Engage them with questions, provide ample, consistent feedback and use the sites as an extension of your customer service. If someone reaches out to you with an issue or question, make them feel that a resolution/interaction which leaves them satisfied is your ultimate goal. If nothing else, your brand will stick out for caring about its customers as much as it does about sales, something successful, smart companies do very well. There is a reason brands like Lexus stick out: They make customer service the priority, not the product.
I know many of you will wonder why I don’t highlight options such as product giveaways. While they can be effective, especially at getting new anglers to try your product, a major concern is do they get the “right” anglers to try your product. With consumers’ love of anything free, there is a high likelihood that many, if not most, of the anglers who access giveaways are never going to be in the market for your product. They just picked it up because it was free. (There are ways around this, which I’ll cover at a later date.) Also, there is research to suggest that givewaways are one of the surest ways to devalue a brand.
If you are looking for more highly successful, inexpensive steps a brand can take to stick out, reach out to me via my website or email.
Ronell Smith, the Tackle Insider, has an extensive history in the fishing tackle industry and has relationships on all sides of the industry to be able to speak to all facets of manufacturing, buying, selling, promoting and growing fishing brands and products. To learn more, visit ronellsmith.com or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Jul 25, 2012 @ 08:23 AM
Justin Lucas shares his secrets to catching suspended bass on hollow-bodied swimbaits
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Jul 24, 2012 @ 02:00 PM
Tips on fishing for bass suspended around vertical cover like bridges, dock pilings, and trees
Video game fishing. That's the phrase I hear a lot when guys are watching bass on their depth finder suspended around cover and then lowering a bait into their strike zone, watching them come up to eat it and then reeling them in and the whole process is recorded pixel by pixel on the screen of today's modern fishing electronics.
Truth be told, it feels like playing a video game at times, save for better graphics and sound effects. Because of my background in technology and well boyish love of video games, fishing for suspending bass with my electronics really appealed to me the first time I watched guide Rick La Point catch a bass he saw on his screen on Table Rock a decade ago. I had dabbled with it with shaky heads on Beaver Lake some and was recommended I go see Rick do it.
I imagine for me it was like a lot of guys still feel now about their electronics. What the heck am I actually looking at? We'll cover not only how to fish for suspended bass but we'll begin by discussing how sonar works and then dissect screens to illustrate what appears on a graph so everyone can have fun with some video game fishing.
I will preface this by saying I've owned and fished with Garmin, Pinpoint, Lowrance, Humminbird and now back to Lowrance. They all have great features, and most have good sonar capabilities. I run Lowrance HDS 10 and 8 Gen 2 units. I'm very comfortable with the options, menus and more. That's really key. Pick a graph that offers good quality and get familiar with every single option on it and what it does. I don't set my graphs one time and never adjust them again. I'm constantly changing my sensitivity or my scanning range or my contrast and color lines. That just takes time and personal preference to figure out.
Understanding Sonar
The first thing is to understand how your electronics display. We'll start with the most common which is sonar. Most of us that have lived through the various iterations of electronics had flashers, the liquid crystal sonars, then side scanning, now down scanning and I guess we're moving into outward scanning, 3d overlay structure mapping and more. But about every graph you buy will have the basic sonar options.
Whether you use Humminbird, Lowrance, Garmin or another brand, the first thing you do is turn the Fish ID stuff off. That is an interpretation of signals and not always an actual fish. A cluster of baitfish densely grouped will return a large fish icon. So turn all that interpretation off and learn to interpret what is really there. The first thing you need to understand after that is that everything is moving. A fish is not a beautiful perfect fish shaped object on the screen. The boat is moving, the fish are often moving (which is a good thing on suspended fish), and objects in the water can be moving along with the water itself.
That means you need to be able to read lines. The sonar transducer is a fixed object on the bottom or inside of your boat. It passes over something and pings back an echo to the unit. If something is dense or larger it may ping back in multiple colors. The color changes on your graph typically indicate larger fish or objects.
But as the transducer pans over the top of a fish he's going to see a small head, big body and small tail. So what happens is the sonar draws a small line that increasingly gets larger then tapers back off to a small line again. These have come to be known as the "arches" that represent a suspended stationary fish.
In contrast, if you see a solid line that continuously is being drawn as the boat moves, that often is a fish moving in sequence under the transducer or you're simply not moving and neither is the fish. The sonar is pinging and painting what it sees from right to left on the screen. So if it keeps pinging something it keeps drawing it on the screen. The return you see is a solid line.
Hopefully, you understand passing over a stationary object and passing over an object that is moving or sitting still over an object that is also still.
These are simple keys to understanding when you see fish on your graph. Now if you turn up the sensitivity on your graph and drop something that has some mass, because a lure has to have mass for it to return a ping of any size, you will see a line as it is continuously painted by the sonar processor. It doesn't have to be large. It has to be dense. A drop shot shows up a lot better than a balsa crankbait on the graph because of the drop-shot weight, especially if the weight is tungsten.
A Real World Example
So that's some basic understanding of how the graph reads. You can find more basic instructions here. Take this example screen shot from last week on a clear water highland reservoir where the spots were suspending 18-35 feet deep. In this screen shot those red/blue streaks on the screen are bass. Four or five of them were up about 18 feet in the water column. We had a drop shot below them but they weren't reacting to it. So we brought the drop shot up then lowered it back down. More fish got right under the transducer on the trolling motor where we had the drop shot worm lowered. We shook it high, then lowered it again. Then we brought it back up.
We're basically taunting the bass with the worm and seeing if we can get one to chase. What finally happened was one bass got locked on the bait around the sinker, then slid up and took the worm, and we started reeling him up. The thing to keep in mind with sonar is what is happening right this millisecond is on the far right. What happened the furthest back in the past is on the far left because the screen is constantly pinging and painting what it sees from right to left. But what you are left with is almost a paper chart of what transpired.
Keep Your Distance
One thing I will back up and say about catching suspending bass in clear water is that distance is critical. Not only can it be critical but often relative. Time and time again I've found that deeper suspended bass are easier to catch than shallower suspended bass when you're talking about dropping a bait straight down on them. Several anglers probably have their own rules here but mine is 20 feet. If bass are suspended less than 20 feet down, I don't drop straight on them. I don't know if it's the shadow of the boat, the fact they can see the boat so well or what, but it seems like the fish are twice as hard to catch straight down in 10 feet of water than they are in 25 feet of water.
So how do you fish for them when they are shallower? There are lots of ways, but the key is to see they are aggressive. I can often gauge this by how they look on my HDS unit. If I see lines interleaving like strands of spaghetti, that tells me these fish are actively moving and chasing. If I drop a bait down to them, do they come up to meet the bait or follow it when it goes past them? If so, these are catchable bass. Now it's just a matter of presentation.
I catch a lot of bass like this casting a light drop shot maybe 1/8 ounce and letting it fall slow. I also catch a bunch hopping a spoon high. But probably my favorite way to catch these fish is with a swimbait on a jighead or a fish head spin with a small swimbait. There's just something about winding a swimbait painstakingly slow only to have the reel lock up on you and feel a fish thrashing its head on the other end.
Again that's the rule but there are always exceptions. Take this screen shot for example. I saw on my graph starting on the far left and working towards the right, a school of bass down about 25 feet deep. Then I saw some bait come into the mix. As I was getting ready to drop my spoon down to the deep fish, all the sudden several bass appeared just 10 or 15 feet down. I dropped on them and before I could engage the reel, the spoon stopped falling. I hollered for my son to reel up his drop shot and drop on them too. Next thing we know, we're doubled up on fish not even 15 feet down. That's often the case with these suspending pods of bass. Get one fired and the others fire easily too.
To Be Continued ...
That's part one of this feature. In part two, we talked with FLW Pro Brett Hite who has mastered deep drop shots and catching suspended bass out in his western Arizona lakes. He'll shed more light on the techniques used to catch suspending bass and how targets them with his electronics.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Mon, Jul 23, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
By Walker Smith
You come off plane, pull down the trolling motor and look down at your graph. Fish are everywhere. Should be a quick limit, right? You fire your favorite crankbait over the point and begin your retrieve. Slack gets knocked into your line as you feverishly reel to catch up with the fish, but no such luck. A single cheek scale hangs from your treble hook.
You quickly regroup, slap the scale off in the water and make another cast. The same thing happens again. You’re not the only one who gets frustrated by short strikes and timid bass – it happens to anglers all the time, professional anglers included.
Strike King pro Jonathon VanDam is a master at overcoming tough conditions by coaxing big bass with small baits. He recently shared some of his favorite small bait selections and the techniques he uses to implement them effectively in his fishing.
Why Small Baits?
We’ve all heard pros say it for years, but it never hurts to reiterate it one more time: You have to match the hatch. This little cliché is a huge key for anglers of all skill levels, yet many remain set in their ways. If your bait doesn’t look natural or resemble the bass’s primary food source, you’re not going to catch as many fish.
Indentifying the type and size of a lake’s forage sometimes requires maximum effort, but can pay huge dividends. Doing so efficiently requires careful and constant observation of all of your surroundings.
“You have to keep your head on a swivel while you’re fishing,” VanDam said. “Schools of shad can often surface right next to your boat, and you would never know it if you’re not paying attention. It’s also important to pay close attention to the fish you catch. Inspect them and look for clues. Look in their throats and in your boat to see what they’re spitting up. That’s a pretty failsafe way to figure out what they’re eating. Once you figure it out, you have a great starting point.”
VanDam prefers to start out with smaller baits when fishing northern lakes due to the smaller shad that inhabit the fisheries. When fishing southern lakes, he will generally use larger baits first and downsize if the bite is slow.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits are widely known to be some of the most effective ways to catch quality bass. With endless colors and styles to choose from, anglers can imitate every type of forage imaginable. Small crankbaits allow the angler to cover water while targeting bass at shallow depths.
“When I find shallow bass on points and weed beds, the Strike King 3XD really puts them in the boat,” VanDam said. “In these situations, I’ve found that fish will really key in on smaller shad, and the small profile of the 3XD will send them into a feeding frenzy when larger crankbaits won’t. You will also get fewer short strikes, resulting in more fish in your livewell.”
When fishing shallow around heavy cover, a small crankbait with high buoyancy is tough to beat.
“If I’m fishing around shallow, heavy cover such as blow-downs and rocks, I love to throw a Strike King Pro Model Series 1 crankbait,” VanDam said. “It quickly floats to the top when I stop my retrieve, which allows me to bring the bait through some really heavy stuff. It helps me spend a lot more time fishing instead of getting hung up.”
During these hot summer months while many anglers are fishing offshore, you can oftentimes find a shallow bite with small crankbaits. In low-light conditions, a small crawfish-colored crankbait with rattles can produce a big pay day. As crawfish come out of the rocks to feed, they make clicking sounds on the rocks that bass can sense with their lateral line. These small rattling crankbaits deflect well off of the rocks while perfectly emulating a feeding crawfish, which can result in some of the year’s biggest bass.
Lipless Baits
In shallow, grass-heavy lakes, lipless baits have dominated for years. Many tournament anglers have been in situations in which the entire field is bombing 1/2-ounce lipless baits around the entire lake. While this approach can prove effective, smaller lipless baits will often catch the bigger, more wary fish.
“When I fish lakes like Guntersville, a lot of times I’ll throw a smaller lipless bait than my opponents,” VanDam said. “Bigger baits can definitely get interest from big bass, but all too often they’ll barely get stuck by the back hook and come unbuttoned in the thick grass. To combat this, I’ll throw a 1/4-ounce Strike King Red Eye Shad so the fish will eat it better without spitting it.”
Good EWG style hooks are paramount when throwing lipless baits. Because the hook points are turned in towards the bait, you are much more likely to catch bass instead of vegetation.
“The only hooks I’ll put on lipless baits are Lazer Trokar TK310 EWG treble hooks,” VanDam said. “They are the sharpest hooks on the market, and they keep grass away while sticking, and most importantly, holding bass.”
Topwater
Every angler loves the look, sound and rush of a big topwater bait chugging across the surface. There are many times throughout the year, however, when a big topwater bait just doesn’t cut it. Small topwater plugs can often produce the same adrenaline pumping blowups that we all know and love.
When the bass are heavily feeding on bream and mayflies throughout the summer, they are huge suckers for these small topwater baits.
“A Strike King Spit-N-King is my favorite topwater bait to throw in the summer,” VanDam said. “Since bream will often feed near the surface, it’s a perfect imitation. I’ll deploy my Power Poles and throw it around in the backs of pockets in the late spring or early summer and catch lots of really big bass.”
Because the Spit-N-King is a lightweight bait equipped with small hooks, rod selection is always important to consider. VanDam prefers a 6-foot, 10-inch medium-heavy Shimano Cumulous for this application. The light tip and fast action builds up nicely on the back cast, transferring energy into the bait for long casts.
While some topwater baits are more effective in breezy conditions, the Spit-N-King really shines in calmer conditions.
“I always prefer the calmest water conditions possible,” VanDam said. “When the water is slick, the Spit-N-King stands out to the fish and makes it easier for them to track down. If the water is rough, it seems like the bass have a hard time honing in on the bait, which increases the number of missed blowups.”
Soft Plastics
Tired of the short strikes on your favorite soft plastics? Don’t be afraid to downsize – small fish are not the only ones who will steal the tail from your big worms and jig trailers. The drop shot and shaky head are the most effective ways to naturally present small plastics to big, cautious bass.
“I love fishing for smallies, so I never hesitate throwing a drop shot and shaky head for big fish,” said VanDam, who feels right at home with a spinning reel and light line. “A lot of guys associate these two methods with small fish, but that is definitely not the case. Some of the bigger fish I’ve caught have come on the drop shot or shaky head.”
When drop shotting, VanDam swears by the Strike King KVD Dream Shot – the same bait that led him to his first Elite Series win last month on Lake Michigan.
“The Dream Shot is the best drop shot worm on the planet,” said VanDam, who helped develop the bait. “When it comes to throwing the drop shot, I am a big bottom contact guy. I want to feel everything. This bait allows me to use a heavy 3/8-ounce weight because it doesn’t need much rod action at all. It works almost entirely on its own.”
When conditions call for the trusty shaky head, the Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic 5-inch finesse worm is the favorite of many professionals. Due to its unique tail design, it is best to use the lightest weight you can get away with.
“I have a lot of really big bass hit these worms on the fall,” VanDam said. “They cannot resist all the bubbles that its tail creates. For that reason, I generally use a 1/8-ounce jighead. I want my bait to fall as slow as possible to maximize my chances of getting a big bite.”
Line and rod sensitivity are absolutely crucial when fishing with downsized plastics. VanDam prefers 8-pound Power Pro Super Slick braided line with an 8-pound fluorocarbon leader and a 6-foot, 10-inch medium-action G. Loomis 822 Drop Shot rod when fishing small plastics.
Big fish don’t always bite big baits, and you can’t always make them eat what you’re throwing. They often key on forage of a certain size and during the summer the new forage of the year can be pretty small. It is essential to become adaptive and aware of your surroundings in order to get the most out your time on the water. Small baits – whether they're crankbaits, lipless baits, topwaters or plastics – can catch some of the biggest bass in the lake. Try downsizing with the forage and see if you don't upsize your catch.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Fri, Jul 20, 2012 @ 09:38 AM
By Guest Blogger, Ronell Smith, The Tackle Insider
In the first piece in this series, I provided several simple tips for recognizing the most important elements of your brand. But what if the image projected by your brand is anything but positive? In such cases, there is much work to be done, but know that it is doable.
In fact, some of today’s most successful brand—including Toyota and Wal-Mart—once had seemingly insurmountable image issues.
For our purposes, however, let’s look at a more recent example: McDonald’s, the ubiquitous restaurant chain. With the nation’s obesity rate at public health-threat levels, the fast food juggernaut has been held up as the symbol of gluttony in this country. Everything from the company’s food production practices to its cheap prices, which critics say makes junk food much to easy to access, has been assailed in the media.
Talk about being backed in a corner. As a company with tens of billions in annual revenue, abandoning its core menu items was out of the question. But any changes they made had to be meaningful. So, smartly, the company added more “healthy” items to the menu, including fruit and oatmeal, diversified by adding more smoothies and coffee-blended drinks, cut back on the portion sizes of offerings such as french fries and, maybe be most important, confronted the criticism head-on by reaching out to prominent bloggers, who were some of the company’s most vociferous opponents.
Notice they did not totally revamp the company, which would have (a) been dumb and (b) served to alienate its base. What they did, in my opinion, was the smartest course of action: change where they must, but no more than they had to. The result? The company gained market share.
What lessons can our industry glean from this parable when trying to restore a lackluster fishing brand.
1. Cling to your core. The simplest (though certainly not the cheapest or the easiest) fix in repairing a brand would seem to be wholesale changes, removing everything that consumers associate with the brand, including logos. The thinking there is that if those elements that arouse negative feelings are no longer around, the brand is better off. The thinking is wrong. Like McDonalds, you need to change, but changing more than needed could be costly, or fatal. With some research you’ll uncover the core of your brand, those things that consumers appreciate and would never want to see changed. One word of caution: Don’t trust your gut. Anglers, vendors and even media can be invaluable here.
2. Don’t change for changes sake. When faced with daunting criticism, the first thing you must do is block the noise. With information coming at you from all sides, you need to know what/who you can trust. One of the first things you need to come to grips with is change for the sake of change is a bad idea. Any change needs to be meaningful, have resonance with your brand’s core audience. First, look for the low-hanging fruit, things you can change with very little investment. Next, look to make changes that will silence your most vocal opponents, then work to anticipate setbacks that might invite even more backlash against your brand. It’s not enough to quash the perception of your brand in the marketplace; you need to be on the lookout for anything that could potentially work against your branding message.
3. Think relaunch, but don’t afraid to rebrand. Try as we might, some things are not worth fixing. That could be the case with your brand. This is something I see all the time, especially when a company acquires a neglected brand without doing its research. In a low-margin, highly competitive industry, where resources are very much limited, it might make more sense to kill a brand and start over. Again, research can provide those answers.
4. Understand that you cannot fix your way to success. Even if you are one of the lucky ones, and the brand you now own can be salvaged, you aren’t out of the woods yet. Absence of problems does not make for success. You’ve just got back to neutral, and the climb gets even more steep, especially considering that consumers are less likely to give you a second chance. Look to add products or services that are more brand extensions than potential blockbusters. When restoring a brand credibility means more than anything, and if you can gain credibility while growing sales, you are well on your way.
For the purposes of keeping this piece at a manageable length, I’m grossly oversimplifying many of these points. But the important thing to remember is that a worthwhile brand can be restored, though that says nothing of whether or not it should be restored. In the next and final installment, I shed some light on how you can make your brand stick out in a crowded marketplace.
Ronell Smith is widely considered as one of the top industry, tackle and business insiders for the sport fishing industry. His paid-subscriber newsletter, The Tackle insider, is available at RonellSmith.com. Follow him on Twitter and FaceBook.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Jul 18, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
Hot weather can lead to hot finesse fishing, according to one professional angler.
By Walker Smith
It’s the heat of the day. You’ve been flipping a jig since the sun crested the trees. Sweat and sunscreen sting your eyes, and your sweaty hands struggle to grip the rod. To make matters worse, you’re having a hard time catching a keeper. Every angler has been in this position. Before you crank the outboard and head for home, you may want to consider some interesting finesse techniques that can quickly fill the livewell with some “big ol’ pigs.”
Strike King pro Shaw Grigsby is one of the best in the world when it comes to finesse fishing for finicky summertime bass. He recently shared his insight into his favorite finesse techniques and equipment.
Drop Shot
When the water temperatures begin to rise, a bass’s metabolism slows down dramatically. As a result, they are less apt to chase prey. When faced with sluggish, suspended bass, he swears by his trusted drop shot rig.
“The drop shot is just a phenomenal open water finesse lure that is absolutely perfect in clear water situations,” Grigsby said. “When you get it down to the fish with 8-pound line, it has such a beautiful, natural presentation. It really takes the fish off their game. They are complete suckers for it!”
While many anglers believe the drop shot to be a technique meant strictly for bottom contact, it can be quite effective on suspended bass as well. To target these fish, Grigsby locates them on his Lowrance and puts the drop shot right on their nose.
“If I see fish suspended 30 feet down over a 40-foot bottom, I’ll drop the bait down to them and just hold it in the strike zone,” he said. “Several guys do a lot of wiggling and jiggling, but I just hold it still and let the bait work naturally. This drives the bass nuts.”
Shaky Head
In summertime situations when target fishing is necessary, a shaky head is hard to beat. Whether you’re targeting largemouth, smallies or spots, a shaky head will probably catch it.
“I love to fish shaky heads when I’m in a lake with good largemouth,” Grigsby said. “I’ll typically run up the reservoir where the river starts and fish the shaky head around rocks and trees. It is an awesome target finesse bait. When they’re really eating, I’ll use a 6.5-inch KVD Perfect Plastic Finesse Worm. If the fishing is tough, I love throwing the little 5-inch version. “
The importance of weight selection should never be overlooked. For extreme depths exceeding 20-feet, a 3/8-ounce shaky head is ideal. For shallow to mid-depth water, most professionals prefer a 3/16-ounce or a 1/4-ounce weight.
“In deeper water, I like to drag the shaky head a lot,” said Grigsby. “If I’m fishing a lake with a lot of spots and smallies, hopping the bait can really trigger some vicious strikes. Something about that erratic movement drives them crazy.”
Tube
Fishing a tube can be a hugely effective finesse tactic in dirty or stained water. The versatility of the tube is unmatched, giving it a function for virtually every situation. Whether you prefer flipping in thick cover or open-water casting with an exposed hook -- the possibilities are endless.
“The TK190 Tournament Tube hooks from Lazer Trokar are the best tube hooks I’ve ever used,” Grigsby said. “It makes a really awesome presentation and fits in the tube perfectly. The tube sits straight on the hook every time.”
Presentation is essential when fishing a tube for summertime bass. These baits were developed to emulate dying shad, which is why an erratic, slow fall is so imperative. A slow drag on the bottom can be effective but a lift and drop is often more effective with suspended fish or fish riding high off the bottom in more clear water. Letting the tube drop really shows off it's natural ability to fool bass as an injured prey.
Rod Selection
While many tournament fishermen are adamant against using spinning gear, it cannot and should not be avoided when targeting deep-water summer bass. A parabolic bend and good backbone are the two most important aspects to consider when choosing the proper rod. The parabolic bend allows the entire rod to load up, while a great backbone aids in landing big fish.
“When finesse fishing, I’ll almost always use spinning gear,” said Grigsby. “I designed a perfect finesse rod for Quantum called the Tour Shaw Grigsby. It’s a 6-foot, 10-inch spinning rod with a parabolic bend that has a ton of different applications.”
While casting gear has its place when it comes to football jigs and various finesse jigs, spinning tackle is impossible to beat for light line applications. The free flow of line, easy casting, and advanced line-management systems are perfect for subtle bait presentations.
Underwater Eyes
Summertime finesse fishing is heavily dependent on your ability to effectively operate your electronics. When the fish go deep, it is important to have the ability to see them and study their movements.
“Every tournament I fish this time of year, I fish with my eyes glued to my Lowrance HDS-10 Gen2,” said Grigsby. “When you’re idling away from the boat ramp, study your graph and find out what depth the bait fish are relating to. I really like to find areas where the depth of the bait coincides with the depth of the bottom. This makes it much easier to locate and target feeding bass.”
To get the most out of your graph when targeting deep summertime bass, scroll speed and ping speed are critical. When fishing vertically, increase your ping speed to its maximum setting and adjust the scroll speed to 2x or 3x. In most situations, you can watch the fish eat your bait.
“I fished a PAA event on Table Rock two years ago, and I threw the tournament away because I literally couldn’t stop fishing on my Lowrance,” Grigsby said. “I was having too much fun! It’s addicting to watch the fish eat your bait. It’s just like a video game!”
Attitude
Hot weather fishing can be arduous, but a positive attitude and patience can make a world of difference. It is important to realize that you may not be ripping lips all day long. Begin the day looking for just four or five good schools of fish. When you find these schools and target them with finesse baits, hot and heavy action is very likely to follow, so stay positive.
“I love adverse conditions because it takes half of the field out from the start,” said Grigsby. “For instance, Oneida this August is going to be smokin’ hot and guys will struggle. It breaks their concentration. If you go into a tough summer tournament with a great attitude, you will be light years ahead of the competition.”
Summertime finesse fishing is not for the weak-hearted. Between the sweat, pleasure boaters and oftentimes sluggish bass, it can take a great deal of trial and error to master. With the right baits, proper equipment and a good attitude, you may be surprised at the number of big bass you can put in the boat this summer.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
By Shaye Baker
When the summer sets in, the heat in a boat can be brutal. Mix in a few hundred summer breaksters on jet skis, and all of a sudden a fun fishing trip on the lake turns into a Nightmare on Elm Creek. But bassing during the summer months doesn’t have to be miserable. One of the best ways to beat the heat and avoid the crowd is by simply sleeping in on Saturday. Get up around noon, mill around in the AC for a while and finally slip outside to hook the boat up about the time the sun starts to set. One of my favorite things about summer days, when the temp starts to cool off you can bet the fishing is just heating up.
Night fishing is no new-found topic. It’s been around for years, and yet there still doesn’t seem to be half the pressure on the water at night as you’ll see in the daytime. Most of the pleasure boaters are land bound and a lot of the bass fishermen just aren’t fans of the low-visibility lifestyle. But make no mistake, bass feed at night, especially in the summer months, and Elite Series pro Greg Vinson takes full advantage.
The hectic schedule faced by a touring pro leaves little time for fun fishing. Though being a pro angler is fun in its own respect, the long tournament days and pressure packed practices don’t really allow anglers to slow down and just enjoy fishing. So as the schedule starts to slow in the summer, Vinson finds his way back out to his old stomping grounds in search of a few bites at night.
“I used to fish almost every night growing up,” said Greg Vinson. “There’s just something about fishing at night that is exciting. When you set the hook, you have no idea what’s on the end of the line until it’s in the boat.”
Cutting his night teeth on Lake Martin, a clear-water, highland-like reservoir, Vinson spent most of his time fishing pier lights.
“I fished lights so much early on that it was years before I realized you could even catch a fish at night that wasn’t around a light,” Vinson said.
Fishing lights, whether it’s the traditional above-water lights or the newer, under-water lights, is a completely different technique than fishing in purely dark conditions. It’s actually a lot like fishing in the daytime. Crankbaits, jerkbaits and shaky heads can be used to pull fish from around lights with more natural color choices than you would expect to use in areas void of light.
“Bandit 200’s and Salt Licks rigged on shaky heads have always worked well for me,” said Vinson. “One of the real keys to fishing lights is focusing on the halo area around the light where the light starts to fade back to darkness. The fish use this area as an ambush point and that’s where you’ll catch most of your fish.”
When you venture away from the lights, there are several things to pay attention to that can help you catch more fish. Anything that helps fish track and find a bait is a benefit and anything that detracts from a fish locating a bait is a hindrance. At night, you can use a lot of the same tricks that you would use in a low-visibility or muddy water situation in the daytime. Rattles, scents and vibrating baits all up your chances of drawing a fish in at night. A heavy wind or a lot of current can actually be a negative at night.
“This time of year the wind always helps in the daytime, but at night a little ripple is all you want,” said Vinson. “A lot of wind and current makes it hard for the fish to track your bait at night.”
Vinson does use JJ’s Magic to entice fish and believes that it really helps convince the fish to commit to the bait when they bite, but the most important trigger for the night bite is vibration.
“When visibility is low, a fish’s other senses are enhanced,” said Vinson. “One of the biggest things fish rely on in lowlight conditions is their lateral line. Bass can pick up on vibration through their lateral line and identify the size of objects around them to determine if they are prey items. They can then track the item and attack it even though they can’t see it.”
Large profile baits that displace a lot of water are great at night because they are easy to track and give a fish the best chance at seeing them. Vinson’s bait selection is always dark. He’ll hold the bait against the night sky and says that anything with a sharp profile warrants a cast or two.
Big worms like the 11-inch C-Mac work well bounced along the bottom. Black buzzbaits are a favorite for a lot of anglers at night because they make a lot of noise that is continuous and easy to track. But for Vinson, his favorite thing to throw has to be a night blade.
“I’ve only been fishing a spinnerbait at night for about 7 or 8 years now, but it’s definitely one of my favorite things to do,” Vinson said. “It’s almost like fishing a jig.”
Instead of firing the spinnerbait out and burning it back like you might during the day, you have to really slow down at night and work the bait. Vary the retrieve and pump it from time to time to trigger strikes.
“I like to throw a big profile spinnerbait at night with a lot of vibration. My favorite is the 3/4-ounce Davis X-Wire with a No. 4 to No. 6 Colorado blade,” said Vinson. “I’ll beef up my spinnerbaits too by adding a trailer. A soft plastic that puts off a lot of vibration is good. Lately I’ve been using a black-and-blue-flake NetBait Kickin’ B Chunk with a black-and-blue skirt. That combo works really good.”
As far as where to look, keep it simple. The fish will usually hang pretty close to where they are during the day. Fish will even relate to structure at night, hanging around the same stumps, rocks or brush piles where they are during the day.
“One thing I have noticed is that fish will venture farther from the cover at night to chase down a bait than they would in bright, sunny conditions,” said Vinson “If you can get your bait close to whatever you are targeting, they’ll usually come out and get it.”
Summertime night fishing can be a welcomed reprieve from scorching hot days where the only thing scarcer than shade is a bite. So head out and give it a try for yourself if you’re not a fan already and you’ll find that there are few moments more exciting than a foot of slack suddenly knocked in your line by a 4-pounder. Some may say the early bird gets the worm, but there’s a reason the owl hunts at night too.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Jul 10, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
By Ronell Smith, The Tackle Insider
Let’s play a quick game of word association.
• Starbucks Coffee: friendly, knowledgeable staff, fresh coffee
• Wal-Mart: low prices, low wages
• Toyota Motor Co.: reliable, conservative styling
• McDonald’s: fast food, inexpensive
Even if we don’t share the same top-of-mind descriptions, it’s likely we aren’t far off. Certain brands elicit certain emotions in all of us. Whether we see their names, are exposed to their products or hear mention of their products, an image immediately “appears” in our head, and that image, part of the entities brand statement, lives on as an unconscious association indelibly etched in the brains of consumers.
What image do people have in their minds when they think of you, your company or your products? What’s your brand stand for? I don’t care who you are, what business you are in or how successful you are in that business, if your brand isn’t clearly defined, you’re lost in the weeds, largely irrelevant.
But I’m professsional angler, you say. You think those guys don’t have a personal brand? Try this: KVD—winner, best angler alive, all-American guy. Or maybe your company makes t-shirts or hooks or line or wooden lures. What do your products stand for?
If you haven’t spent any time considering your brand statement, these simple tips can help tease out the most important elements of your brand:
1. What makes you memorable? The last thing this world needs is another ho-hum brand. In this age or noisier-is-best, you need to stick out, but for all the right reasons. Look for those elements of your products, services or persona that seem to have resonance with family members, friends or clients. What words to people frequently use to describe you, your products or your business? Study the similarites, looking for commonality, which can later be used to craft a brand statement.
2. How are you different? If you are afraid to stick out, you can stop reading now. This information is not for you. If you do care about being noticed for all the right reasons, spend some time thinking about your point of differentiation, what makes you or your company different from everything/everyone else on the market. If you say “Nothing,” that’s a problem unto itself. You have lots of work to do. This point cannot be overstated, either, for as writer Mike Michalowicz frequently says, “Better is not better; different is better. It’s hard to define being “better”; “different” is easily recognized. More and more, distinctiveness is a much sought-after asset, one that keeps you top-of-mind and relevant.
3. What statement do you make? If you’ve ever have a friend or family member give you an “accounting of yourself,” you have a good idea of what I’m trying to say here. Everyone and everything makes a statement, whether we like it or not, whether it’s the statement we want to make or not. Maybe yours is the angler who gives the best interviews; the hook manufacturer who’s hooks won’t bend, break or roll; or it could be the apparel marketer who keeps anglers looking and feeling cool. While these might sound like slogans, and certainly slogans can be fashioned from the statements, you’re really getting at what you stand for and have come to be known as.
You’re probably wondering about those instances where a brand means something in the mind’s of consumers that they’d rather not be known as. In the next installment, I’ll look at the steps involved in reshaping a brand.
Ronell Smith is widely considered as one of the top industry, tackle and business insiders for the sport fishing industry. His paid-subscriber newsletter, The Tackle insider, is available at RonellSmith.com. Follow him on Twitter and FaceBook.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Mon, Jul 09, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
At tournament time, tight territory and too many anglers put extra pressure on the bass and on you as angler, but one professional angler has learned hard lessons on how to make the most fishing in crowds.
By Walker Smith
Professional anglers are the best in the world when it comes to overcoming adverse fishing conditions. Whether they are facing torrential winds, 6-foot swells or brutal cold fronts, these guys will put fish in the boat when many anglers will want to go to the house. There is one condition, however, that even the most accomplished professionals loathe: fishing in big crowds.
These anglers spend countless hours searching for bass fishing nirvana – perfect structure, great water conditions and limited fishing pressure. However, circumstances and, lately, restrictive tournament boundaries sometimes force the pros to get up close and personal with each other.
Megabass pro Aaron Martens is known for his ability to fish effectively in crowded areas. We all remember watching him battle it out with KVD in the 2011 Classic and most recently in the 2012 Green Bay Challenge, sharing water with the likes of Ott DeFoe, Terry Scroggins and Mark Davis. Martens believes that four key elements enable him to catch more bass in crowded areas.
Attitude
When your most productive areas are covered with other anglers, it can really take a toll on your state of mind. Optimism, flexibility and open mindedness are valuable antidotes.
Most folks that follow professional fishing and Aaron Martens have noticed a more upbeat and positive angler this season, and it has reflected in his fishing.
“You absolutely have to stay open-minded and relaxed," Martens said. "It’s too easy to get stuck on a few select places when you’re surrounded by boats. It’s important to have the confidence to leave a good area in order to look for something better.”
During the 2012 Green Bay Challenge, Martens believes his willingness to “stay put” cost him the victory. Although several of his best waypoints were often swamped with upwards of 20 boats, he recognizes that he should have stayed the course and ignored the significant fishing pressure.
“I had the fish figured out really well in practice, despite the heavy fishing pressure,” he said. "Several of the other guys weren’t fishing these spots the same way that I was. I should have taken advantage of that. I blew off a few of my more crowded spots when I should have covered more water fishing my strengths.”
According to the Elite Series pro, unconventional methods help him refocus and ignore the surrounding madness. For the first time in his professional career, Martens looked to his iPod for a much-needed distraction.
“I had never really done that in the past, because I like to have total concentration when I fish. This time, however, I needed something to drown out my surroundings in order to focus my mind.”
Lure Presentation
While a natural bait presentation is always important, it is paramount when surrounded by a multitude of other anglers. Martens goes to great lengths to assure the proper presentation of his bait while fishing crowded water.
“Attention to detail is everything," said the meticulous pro. "If I see some guys catching a few bass on 8-pound line, I will generally downsize to 6-pound line in order to give the bait a better presentation. My go-to bait in crowded scenarios is usually a 6-inch Roboworm. It displays a ton of natural action, and when they’re eating it, nothing else compares.”
When considering lure presentation, he is very observant of wind speed and current.
Even if there is no wind, there is always current. It may be less than 1 mph, but it is still there, and it still matters. You have to look beyond the obvious when battling other anglers for water. Your opponent may be picking off a few bass here and there, but you can catch tons of fish when you present the bait correctly. Bass position toward the current to ambush prey, and if you’re working your bait from the opposite direction, you are not going to get as many bites. Casting into the wind isn’t always fun, but you’ll catch more fish if you do.
Boat Positioning
While many anglers prefer to fish the areas leading into their productive spots, Martens does the exact opposite while fishing crowded water. Throughout the Green Bay Challenge, he targeted small schools of fish that were holding in very specific areas. In order to maximize his efficiency, he went straight to his waypoints without wasting time elsewhere.
“I really made an effort to fish only my most productive areas. I wanted to get straight to these areas quickly because it decreased the chance of other anglers easing in on me,” Martens said. “Whenever I landed a fish, I would make sure to immediately get my Phoenix back into position. As soon as I put the fish in the livewell, I would get on the trolling motor to reclaim my spot. You have to play a little defense in crowded water.”
Time Management
Effectively managing one’s tournament time is always important, but Martens considers it even more important in tight confines.
“If I know ahead of time that a fishery is going to fish relatively small, I will cover more water during the practice period,” he said. “This allows me to have multiple backup areas. If a bunch of boats are piled on a few of your spots, you can run around and hit other, less pressured areas. I wish I would have done this a little more on Lake Michigan.”
While Martens doesn’t necessarily mind fishing in crowds, he does acknowledge that there is a limit to the amount of fishing pressure that an area can withstand.
“While I don’t prefer bumping boats with other guys, I can deal with it to an extent. We’re all buddies out there. However, when you stop getting bites, sometimes it’s better to start running and gunning. Bass will get used to fishing pressure and eventually they’ll just shut down.”
The next time you find yourself competing in tight quarters, don’t let the fishing pressure get the best of you. A positive attitude, natural bait presentation, effective boat positioning and conscious time management will put more fish in your livewell. Remember: you’re fishing against the fish, not the anglers.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Fri, Jul 06, 2012 @ 01:00 PM
Christmas shopping in July.
That's how I always feel when I'm thinking about heading to ICAST. The ICAST 2102 show finds itself back in Orlando this year. Bring on the humidity, afternoon showers, blazing temperatures, good food, good friends and loads of new fishing tackle.
At Wired2Fish, we're fortunate that many brands allow us to test products way in advance of manufacturing or release at ICAST. Over the years we've been able to tweak some products before release to the public so brands wouldn't run into "gotchas" after production.
This year we've had a lot of products in our hands for months but gave our word that we wouldn't let any proverbial cats out of the bag so to speak. The nice thing is we've already had some real fishing experiences with the products most will see for the first time next week.
That's sort of the point to us in covering new tackle. It's not just what's new, but sorting through the fluff from press release materials to get down to why an angler needs this bait or that line. Obviously the manufacturers have spent a lot of time trying to make products better for anglers. We would be remiss to just say here's the new stuff and not tell you what we like about it.
We also want you to feel more like you're at the show this year so we're going to shoot a lot more hands on video and photos of the products so you have some sense of reference and can get a good feel about the products before you look to buy them later this fall.
This Year's Buzz
Folks like to quantify the show each year based on the new offerings -- "The Year of the Swimbait," "The Year of the Low-Profile Reel," "The Year of the Frog" or "The Year of the Umbrella Rigs." The truth is fishing tackle like any manufactured category of products have trends. Lighter, lower, wider, stronger are all key phrases you see repeated over and over in press releases from year to year and probably lead to the categorizing of each show.
This year though rather than lumping the new tackle into a category we'd rather just focus on what's cool we hear coming out of each camp.
Berkley
There Havoc soft baits released a few new shapes for this year's show, namely the Pit Boss Chunk for jig trailers and the Rocket Craw which has already helped David Dudley win an FLW Tour event this season.
But they really went to town on beefing up their lines. Several of their most popular lines, namely Trilene XT and XL have been reformulated and repackaged in smaller spools. They offer a couple new monofilaments aimed directly for spinning applications and casting applications.
They have a slick new castable umbrella rig call the Schoolie Rig. It comes packaged by itself or in a great all in one kit with 5 swimbaits, 5 jigheads and the rig. This year will no doubt see a lot of new players in the castable umbrella rig market.
St. Croix
St. Croix has some amazing new designs to their Legend Xtreme Rods. We've been playing with the new medium-heavy power Legend Xreme. The obvious new feature is the all new Xtreme-Skin handles that are very comfortable, light and surprisingly very sensitive. The handles look cool and serve the function of repelling dirt, water and fish slime so they are easily cleaned after each trip to look like new again. The rods feature a new FRS technology that makes a smaller but tougher blank without adding any weight.
Abu Garcia
Yes. We've been putting the new third generation Abu Garcia Revos through the paces as well. We love em. We're not even trying to smooth it over. The reels are lighter, lower profile, cosmetically appealing, and fish extremely well. The Revo S, SX, STX, Premier, Winch and MGX are all astounding reels that will please a lot of anglers this fall. We'll have a lot more about them next week.
Big Bite Baits
They came out with the new Coontail worm that you've probably seen featured in some of our videos this early summer and in a few photos. They also are releasing a new Buzzing Warmouth and a smaller Cane Thumper. Stay tuned for more on those.
Megabass
The now famous albeit difficult to always find stateside Japanese manufacturer is releasing a bunch of new products at ICAST. The Knuckle 60 square bill crankbait, the 110 Square Lipped jerkbait, The Spark Shad soft swimbait, and a frog/creature bait called the Para Bug. We're excited to see these baits, get our hands on them and share them with you all.
Rapala
Rapala has a new line of balsa baits called the BX Minnows that we're pretty excited to check out. There is a jointed BX Swimmer and the straight BX Minnow. They feature balsa encased in copolymer shell that makes them very durable yet super erratic. We've played with the BX Minnow and it looks pretty sick in the water.
Snagproof
We're excited to get our hands on the new Ish's Poppin' Phattie. It's a uniquely shaped frog that has cupped sides to the pointed mouth. It should be a dynamite addition to our frog collection.
Spro
There are new sizes of popular lines coming out of the Spro camp this year. The long awaited Little John Baby DD 60 and the new Fat Papa 55 Medium deep runner both look to be solid additions to already proven lines.
Yum
We got our hands on a bunch of their new plastics already including the Craw Chunk, Mighty Craw, Lil SuzEE and the Yumphibian, not to mention several new castable umbrella rigs to accompany their very popular YUMBrella. Their Flash Mob and Flash Mob Ultralight will be big hits and their mini version for panfish and white bass will be a hit we're sure as well. The Craw Chunk is an awesome crawfish trailer with flapping claws that comes in two sizes. The Mighty Craw will be a killer punch bait or finesse bait alike. The lil Suzee gives them a finesse swimbait in that niche and the Yumphibian looks to be a very viable option for a creature bait for flipping and Carolina rigs.
VMC Hooks
VMC is making a big splash this year at the show we've heard. We've already seen their new offset widegap worm hooks as well as the Rugby Jig designed and approved by Mike Iaconelli. Their new resin encased eyelets will eliminate the problems with line cuts and knots sneaking through the hook eye anymore. They are said to be releasing a flipping hook, offset worm hook, heavy duty worm hook, wide gap hook, heavy duty wide gap, heavy duty swimbait and weighted swimbait hooks as well as a new trailer hook and a new wide gap spinshot hook.
Lots to share from the VMC camp this season.
Sunline
Sunline is offering a new braid and a new finesse fluorocarbon at this year's show. The new braid is the SX1 that was designed with input from Brent Ehrler and Aaron Martens for those applications like drop shots that need a light sinking braid. The new FC Finesse fluorocarbon will also be made for situations like leaders on drop shot or shaky heads. We've tested some preproduction spools and love them both.
Shimano
They are said to be offering a new Calcutta D reel and a new Crucial Castable Umbrella rig rod at this years show and we'll probably see a few new reels that they've kept under tight wraps.
G.Loomis
They have a new GLX Crankbait Series debuting at the show as well as new GLX Flipping rods. WE're anxious to get our hands on these as they are said to be 35% stronger with brand new reel seat designs.
Ima
Ima is introducing a new floating jerkbait/wakebait and a mid depth crankbait called the PinJack 200 that we're anxious to see and test.
Gamakatsu
The Swivel Shot should come back at this show and be released finally and they are also offering a new Short Shank EWG Treble in regular and 2X Strong versions. We should also see their Alien shaky heads and the G-Finesse Wacky Head.
Eco Pro
Eco Pro Tungsten is coming out with a bunch of new stuff at the show we've heard. We've seen their new castable umbrella rig that is modifiable called the Roll Tide Rig. But we also hear they've got three new jigs, two new jig heads, a punch weight with skirt collar and maybe some other stuff as well. This will be a fun booth to visit because we're pretty OCD when it comes to terminal tackle.
Damiki
The Korean based manufacturer has been bringing lots of cool tackle to the market each of the last few years and this year sounds like much more of the same. We've not got to see any of the new products yet but we here there is a big 11-inch Air Mega Miki II worm, a deep diving narrow bodied crankbait called the Abyss 90 plus a new creature flipping bait and a soft bodied swimbait for umbrella rigs or on a single jighead. We've already got a note to swing by and see their new stuff.
That's just some of the stuff we've played with or heard about leading up to next week's show so stay tuned to wired2Fish next week. We're going to be bringing hourly blogs and videos from the show highlighting ALL the cool fishing tackle we find. We're tasking a force of guys at the show this year to make sure we cover it all for you so keep it locked on Wired2Fish starting next Tuesday night and the NEW PRODUCT SHOWCASE from Orlando and Wednesday morning from the ICAST show floor.
Christmas in July is upon us.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Jul 03, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
By Ronell Smith
I used to use Sticky Notes to keep track of the things I needed to get done over the course of a week. Now, instead of small bits of paper, my desk is littered with notepads of all shapes and sizes, and in each I scribble details from interviews, jot down random thoughts and keep track of tidbits of information that can be shared via Facebook or Twitter.
At the end of each week, I take inventory of all the important information from interviews, perusing it for any similarities, hints, clues, signs of things I missed or could have done better.
More important, I look for common threads, things that kept coming up, whether in conversations, thoughts, emails, texts or in-person interactions. When I looked over last week’s notes, the commonality slapped me across the face: We can do better.
I’m not picking on just the pros here, either. As a matter of fact, much of the reporting I do on a daily or weekly basis has little to do with professional bass fishing. But usually in the course of conversation folks will share a complaint or voice a pet peeve that I might totally miss at the time, only to recognize it after it’s said for the third time by someone else.
For example, last week, while writing a piece for the newsletter, I came across a quote from Jeff Pierce, head of sales for Mustad, where he singled-out the relationship with his pro staffers as invaluable to creating new products. “It’s critical to have the right guys,” he says, “and I’m not just talking about national guys, like Denny (Brauer) and Kevin (VanDam). The regional guys are important, too.”
The truth of the matter is that most of us, despite our desire to will it, might never be the household name we imagine ourselves as, but we can still make an impact. Here’s a simple checklist of things to think about whether you’re trying to join a staff or already enjoy such privilege:
1. There’s a fine line between persistence and annoyance. It’s OK to reach out to a contact and gently ask if they received the email you sent or the voicemail you left; It is not cool, however, to pester someone to the point of continuously emailing or calling them. If you sense the level of contact is excessive, then it is excessive. It’s likely better to connect through a mutual friend or acquaintance anyway. Remember, most people in this industry hold the opinion that if you’re worth their time, they should already know who you are.
2. Social media is now part of your resume. Spend anytime around Facebook and Twitter and you quickly wonder “What were these guys thinking?!” Whether it’s offensive language, vulgar images or derogatory comments about nothing in particular, all of this stuff lives on and is out their for sponsors and potential sponsors to see. Believe me, they are looking. And before you think you have your Facebook page all sewed up so no one can view your posts or images, remember that it’s easy for your friends to “share” them.
3. Understand that it’s not about you. Even if you win every tournament you enter, your sponsors won’t be satisfied. What they really want to know is how willing you are to work shows, travel to film TV spots or stay after hours to meet with media and fans.
“What makes KVD so great isnt’t just that he’s won everything,” said one of his longtime sponsors. “The guy is tireless at staying late to do interviews with our staff for the web and he’s always willing to be a part of events that we sponsor. He doesn’t pull out his contract and say ‘You know, that’s not part of the deal.’ ”
4. Your ego will starve you to death. I hope by now we’ve all come to realize the farce that is “You just need to catch ‘em.” Even if you hook every bass that swims, if you are difficult to deal with, your career will be shorter and far less fruitful than it could be. The way companies see it, there are enough good guys out there that they don’t have to put up with jerks who blow off interviews, use foul language at events, never hang around to sign autographs or who frequently get testy for no apparent reason.
More and more, this behavior is being tied to character, and you would not believe how many times a blow up, whether on stage or on the water, has cost a pro sponsorship from a company that was looking to bring him aboard. Words travels fast. Instead of good sticks, companies are looking first and foremost at good people.
5. Be accessible. Simply put: if you make an appointment, keep it; Return calls in a timely fashion; If you cannot return calls in a timely fashion, don’t make excuses when you do return calls; If you don’t have anywhere to be, stick around for a few minutes after tournaments to greet fans, thank tournament staff and talk shop with anglers. You do not want to be the guy who has a rep for being the first to leave the scene of a tournament.
A great example involves a now-well-known pro who, a few years back, was coming off a rough few years. One of his major sponsors was looking to boot him, but right before he did, he mentioned to a media member that the angler was on the way out.
The media member shared these thoughts:
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know that no one—and I mean no one—sticks around longer to talk to fans or is more willing to do interviews or is quicker to pick up his phone when I need him.”
Nearly six years later, that pro is still on the staff and totally unaware of what was about to transpire.
Remember, I’m not just talking to pros or potential pros. I’m talking to the entire industry, even myself.
Ronell Smith is widely considered as one of the top industry, tackle and business insiders for the sport fishing industry. His paid-subscriber newsletter, The Tackle insider, is available at RonellSmith.com. Follow him on Twitter and FaceBook.
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Posted by Jason Sealock on Mon, Jul 02, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
Guest Blog by Mike Pehanich
I confess.
Once upon a time, I hid from the wind.
Hated it! Fled from it! Hunkered down in the hollow just to fish the flat water away from the waves and rumble!
No more!
I fished a 30-plus acre lake recently, and it delivered some fast bass fishing action on a variety of baits. But what struck me most was the contrast in fish activity from the calm to the windy side.
We had to finesse our fish on the leeward side of the lake with Flick Shake worms and small jigs.
But on the windward side, fish pounded squarebills and lipless crankbaits with abandon! Cast after cast, they hit, rocking those lures with a fury that belied the relatively modest size of these 12- to 16.5-inch fish!
Wind adjustment
I admit that fishing in the wind isn’t always pleasant. Big wind makes boat control tough, casting accuracy almost impossible, and monumental backlashes almost a certainty.
But, boy, you can catch fish in the wind, and often a bundle of them.
“Wind pushes plankton toward the bank and gets crawfish active and baitfish moving around,” Kevin VanDam remarked just before we began filming at Table Rock Lake in April. “Even in clear water, fish will come up shallower when it’s windy.”
All of the productive areas we fished that day featured wind-blown flats. Smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass…all three black bass species were rockin’ and rollin’ with the plankton and baitfish up on those windy flats!
The Two ‘S’s: Stealth and Simplicity
Wind offers other advantages, too.
Fish aren’t as hard to sneak up on either when it’s windy. Wind breaks up light penetration and helps to cover up visual and auditory signals that might betray the presence of you and your boat.
Finally, wind vastly simplifies lure selection and presentation decisions. Pick up a moving bait like a crankbait, spinnerbait, swimbait, or bladed jig, and start casting and cranking. More often than not, the bass will oblige!
Mike Pehanich is publisher of Mike Pehanich’s Small Waters Fishing website and senior writer for Bassmaster magazine. Check out his features on small waters strategies and his exclusive videos with top pros on tackle and techniques on the Small Waters Fishing website.
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