tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61565792333133535132024-03-14T05:46:38.210-05:00FLW Outdoors Magazine - From the EditorsSOstruszkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04343556857903522724noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-91450364598823364472010-04-11T19:53:00.006-05:002010-04-12T03:28:09.963-05:00Three Tournaments in OneThe first annual National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is supposed to be a three-day tournament, but it's shaping up to be more like three days of tournaments, with each phase being dramatically different from its predecessor.<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>On Day One at Fort Loudoun Lake southwest of Knoxville, the Auburn team of Dennis Parker and Shaye Baker burst out of the gate with a 16-pound, 10-ounce stringer of six bass to lead the field of 25 two-man teams. Murray State's Kalem Tippett and Steve Miller then positioned themselves as the stalking horse with a 15-pound, 12-ounce stringer. Just when it appeared as if the event would boil down to a nail-biter between the Tigers and the Racers, Day Two spoiled the script.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>As Auburn faltered with one bass that weighed 1-pound, 2-ounces and Murray State couldn't manage a single keeper, Texas State came on like a stampede. Jay McCollum and David Cosner, who started out in fourth place with 13-3, brought in 9-10 in the next round and captured the lead with 22 pounds, 13 ounces. Likewise, the University of Florida, which had seemingly taken itself out of the running on Saturday with 6 pounds, 6 ounces, posted a 15-pound, 9-ounce stringer Sunday to claim second with 21 pounds, 15 ounces. Texas A&M is the only stable influence in the field. It was in third on Saturday, and stayed in third Sunday with 4 pounds, 8 ounces and a 19-13 total.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>"Oh well, even if we don't win, we can say we were in first place on the first day of the first College National Championship," said Auburn's Baker. Though that might be true, and the Tigers are in fourth place ahead of Murray State in the final round, it's still safe to say that anybody could win. It's been that kind of competition.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Auburn and Murray State's anglers blamed a lack of wind and current for making their fish go off the feed, but the final round could see another turnaround as damkeepers at Tellico Dam downstream start generating again bright and early Monday morning.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Still, that could also play into the hands of McCollum and Cosner, who are fishing the same main lake points pattern as Auburn and Murray State. The trump card might be any spawning bass a college angler can land, as swiftly warming temperatures are starting bass toward the banks and shallow flats. Might the current activate the bank runners again that Auburn and Murray State relied on to get them to the head of the pack on Day One?</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Or could a couple of more lunkers such as Cosner weighed in Sunday nail it down for Texas State? Anything is possible; the only thing certain is that it's anybody's tournament to win.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div><br /></div><div> </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-40098229721700542662010-04-10T13:23:00.003-05:002010-04-10T13:31:40.212-05:00Collegiate Weigh-In Will Settle All BetsThe first round of the FLW Collegiate Bass National Championship is waning, and the 25 two-man teams are working their way back toward the take-out ramp at Knoxville. Who's ahead? We'll find out at 4 p.m. or thereabouts when the opening weigh-in starts on the campus of the University of Tennessee. Though a few boats report good sacks of bass, Fort Loudon Lake hasn't been altogether kind to everyone. The team from Eastern Kentucky University, for example, caught more than three dozen bass by mid-afternoon, but only a couple of them were keepers. Ditto for the University of Oregon, which hauled in enough small fries to stock a good-size pond.<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Although it's anybody's game now, Auburn, Ohio State and Texas State seem to be emerging as the early favorites. A member of the Texas State team from San Marcos boated a 5-pounder and it was the largest reported. Those guys were culling by 1 p.m., as was the Auburn team of Shaye Baker and David Parker. Of course, many of the boats are out of range or just keeping mum about their catches. All will be revealed starting at 4, and set up the competition heading into the next two days. </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-77851276020869611972010-04-10T09:25:00.000-05:002010-04-10T09:37:17.186-05:00FLW College Championship10:30 a.m.<br /><br />The action has slowed in the FLW College Championship. We're with the Hampton Sydney College team and the guys are fishing docks. It's slow going so far. The Ohio State team came out strong and had about 9 pounds in the boat within an hour or so. But now they've gone quiet. I'm sharing a boat with Nick Tate and Phillip Hopper of the host University of Tennesse team. Fort Loudon Lake, where the tourney I taking place, is their home waters and they wish they were competing instead of just watching. I told them that the home water advantage wasn't all it's cracked up to be.<br /><br />Colin MooreAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-50354543841418793872010-04-08T10:47:00.002-05:002010-04-08T10:51:37.239-05:00I'm on the way to Knoxville, heading to the first-ever Collegiate Bass World Championship. The tournament begins Saturday morning and will include 25 two-man teams from colleges and universities around the country. This is an event that you have to qualify for to get in, so it pits the very best young bass anglers from the college ranks against each other. It should be exciting, and I hope to see you there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-2583559019937644172010-02-09T13:38:00.003-06:002010-02-09T13:54:49.952-06:00Kentucky Native Brings More Than 25 Years of Experience to PublicationMINNEAPOLIS (Feb. 9, 2010) – FLW Outdoors announced Tuesday veteran outdoor writer and editor Colin Moore has accepted the position of editor-in-chief of FLW Outdoors magazine.<br /><br />Moore brings more than 25 years of experience in both the fishing and hunting industries to the magazine, including stints with Grand View Media Group and B.A.S.S. Communications, Inc. In addition, Moore also has served as executive editor of Outdoor Life magazine.<br /><br />“I am pleased and proud to join the FLW Outdoors team,” said Moore. “For many years, this company has served the nation’s sportsmen and provided them with opportunities to fulfill their dreams or just enjoy their time spent outdoors more. I look forward to the challenge of building on what my able predecessors have accomplished, and being part of the team that will explore new opportunities and ways to use the new communication tools available to us. Certainly, we’re in the digital era now, and growing our presence on the Internet and in the various forms of social media is going to be a priority. At the same time, we’re going to remain devoted to delivering the quality information that our magazine readers have come to expect from FLW Outdoors. The goal is to combine all our media platforms into a vibrant, interactive community where the folks we serve feel welcome and engaged.”<br /><br />“On a personal note, my wife Brenda and I are glad to be returning to our Kentucky homeland,” Moore added. “Through the years, our career paths took us to a lot of wonderful places north and south, but somehow we never felt completely at home anywhere except when we were in Kentucky. So this return definitely has us excited and looking forward to spending a lot more time with our friends and families.”<br /><br />Moore received a B.A. from Murray State University in Murray, Ky., in 1972 and a M.S. in journalism from Columbia University in New York in 2005. Moore’s numerous awards include accolades from the Florida Outdoor Writers Association, Florida Sportswriters Association and the Outdoor Writers Association of America. In 2005, while at Outdoor Life, Moore won the Henry Luce Award from Time Warner for the Best Feature Article of the Year. The award is presented annually to the editor who assigns and edits the article judged the best of the previous year across all titles in the Time Inc. family of publications.<br /><br />“When we decided to expand our reach into hunting and other outdoor activities as a complement to our leadership position in the fishing industry, we knew we needed someone with a wealth of experience to help tie everything together from a content standpoint,” FLW Outdoors President and CEO Charlie Evans said. “There is only one person we wanted for this position, and it was Colin. His expertise in fishing, hunting and the entire spectrum of outdoor sports is unmatched.”<br /><br />FLW Outdoors magazine was founded in 1980 and is the world’s leading authority on bass and walleye angling. In addition to the print and online versions, FLW Outdoors magazine offers even more information on facebook.com/FLWMagazine <http: com="" flwmagazine=""> , twitter.com/flwoutdoors <http: com="" flwoutdoors=""> and flwmag.blogspot.com <http: com=""> .</http:></http:></http:>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-69795078744509943582010-01-28T09:16:00.002-06:002010-01-28T09:42:52.469-06:00Saying Goodbye to Sawdust<span style="font-size:85%;">By Sean Ostruszka<br /><br />It has finally stopped snowing.<br /><br />Almost every night for a year, my apartment’s living room would get a dusting of snow. It gingerly fell through the air, coating everything once it came to rest – my coffee table, the couch, the TV remote, a wastepaper basket. It even got in what little hair I have on my head.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Then I discovered polyurethane resin. Now the snow storms come far less frequently.<br /><br />To clarify, the “snow” was actually balsa wood sawdust. As an avid lure maker, almost every night I tinker, fiddle with and make lures. However, living in an apartment with no work room means most of my work is done on the coffee table in my living room. Hence the snowstorms. Honestly, I can’t believe my wife actually put up with the mess for a year.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">To my wife’s joy, some six months ago I began talking with a medical student in Brazil who was </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJqZwc901TN7ZcXLWsTYal_MshsFWI4jnDTYyVpXNJ74qdbPqoRtzA3SbG7ZuN0tnGMiKs1-BRRAmSbnVk3q3DnYaJGLJ1ilbaaQOgo274bas7tAx4-cTI96j-ee0LDmeDn2U_5lF3BU/s1600-h/ResinMolds.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 335px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJqZwc901TN7ZcXLWsTYal_MshsFWI4jnDTYyVpXNJ74qdbPqoRtzA3SbG7ZuN0tnGMiKs1-BRRAmSbnVk3q3DnYaJGLJ1ilbaaQOgo274bas7tAx4-cTI96j-ee0LDmeDn2U_5lF3BU/s400/ResinMolds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431816481366423522" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">making lures out of polyurethane resin. Seeing as he had little spare time away from studying, the student needed a way to make lures that was faster than carving them from balsa. Resin lures were the answer.<br /><br />Polyurethane resin is an extremely tough and rigid urethane that is similar to the plastic most mold-injected lures are made of. In fact, many of the hard swimbaits coming from out West are made from resin. It comes in two parts that have to be mixed together, and in its unaltered state, the resin doesn’t float. However, by adding microballoons – hollow glass spheres that look like a fine powder and decrease the weight of a casted piece – the resin can reach a density of roughly 0.5 to 0.6 g/cm3 (water has a maximum density of 1 g/cm3). To put that in perspective, balsa wood has a density ranging from about 0.1 to 0.13 g/cm3, while basswood and pine range from 0.3 to 0.6 g/cm3. That means the resin isn’t near as buoyant as balsa wood, but it is still buoyant and light enough for lure building.<br /><br />The beauty of resin is its capability to quickly replicate the same lure over and over. Any lure builder knows every lure made from wood will work slightly different from the next depending on slight differences in shape, wood density and weight placement. With the resin, one lure is exactly like the next. Better yet, lures can be made in seconds.<br /><br />Alumilite is a company that specializes in making these casting resins, and they have a multitude of options. Some of the resins are actually cured hard in 90 seconds, though I prefer resins that allow for a little more working time. Compare that to the hours that go into building one balsa lure.<br /><br />The downfall is price and initial time. A plank of balsa costs next to nothing. A 28-ounce kit of polyurethane resin and a jar of microballoons will run around $43. Builders will also have to purchase RTV silicone rubber to make the mold to shape the resin. A 1-pound jar goes for $27.50 on alumilite.com. Like I said, it is not cheap, though Alumilite does sell complete starter kits that come with everything a builder would need, along with instructions. Go with the Super Casting Kit for $70, as the smaller one doesn’t really have enough silicone for most lures.<br /><br />As for the initial attempt, that can be a hassle. First, a master has to be made of the lure, which can be carved from wood, resin or even wax. All the rest of the lures will end up like the master, so extra time has to be taken to make sure it is perfect. Then the mold has to be made. How to make a mold is explained in the instructions, and there are some great videos on the Web.<br /><br />Once those two steps are done, though, it’s all gravy. I can go home, mix up a batch of resin, pour it into the mold and have a finished lure in minutes. I’ve since gotten into making two-part hollow lures with the resin that are better for making topwater lures or adding rattles. However, I’m learning they can be a headache that takes a lot of forethought and effort. Then again, that is what most lure builders enjoy about the hobby – figuring out those little headaches and creating something that may one day catch them the trophy of a lifetime.<br /><br />Personally, the more I use the resin the less I believe I’ll ever go back to balsa. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be lures that are simply better when made from balsa, like shallow crankbaits. But the possibilities are endless with this stuff. Besides, I also like being able to see my coffee table again.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If you are interested in learning more about polyurethane resin or lure building in general, feel free to e-mail me at sostruszka@flwoutdoors.com</span><br /></span>SOstruszkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04343556857903522724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-61813310462122804722010-01-21T15:04:00.007-06:002010-01-21T15:17:33.867-06:00How Cool is Chrome?: A former walleye pro has the answer, and what may be the toughest chrome finish availableBy Curtis Niedermier<br /><br />If fishing lures are designed as much to catch anglers as fish, chrome lures may be the best lures in the business. On the store shelf or in a tackle box, a shiny Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap or Rapala Original Floater staring back is a powerful draw to choose that lure. It has worked on me. I’ve got Rat-L-Traps in every size in the traditional chrome with blue or black back.<br /><br />On the water, chrome at least holds up to its advertisement. Fish eat chrome lures. The problem is the chrome finishes rarely hold up, <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xAShKHpmGQMNSe_4u43wK8Ob2iADp5lpBC1e-fM41S9MRYD-PGD5JIuQkLxCcagJrkp_DpJNiQuin7msWPhgBLZANg9xWSTmzJKTE3SWtuhSmgamQs0EOlYR4arQ5nnJO0s5-fE44fk/s1600-h/WalleyeChromeBaits.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xAShKHpmGQMNSe_4u43wK8Ob2iADp5lpBC1e-fM41S9MRYD-PGD5JIuQkLxCcagJrkp_DpJNiQuin7msWPhgBLZANg9xWSTmzJKTE3SWtuhSmgamQs0EOlYR4arQ5nnJO0s5-fE44fk/s400/WalleyeChromeBaits.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429304611655534050" border="0" /></a>especially if they spend much time banging bottom, shredding weeds or catching toothy fish. I once shredded the chrome finish off another brand of lipless crankbait within about five minutes of ripping it in sparse grass clumps. Three or four hangups were enough to lose it completely.<br /><br />But chrome lovers take heed, a former FLW Walleye Tour pro is here with a whole new look on the chrome market. Keith Eshbaugh of West Alexander, Pa., is the owner of Dutch Fork Custom Lures (<a href="http://custompaintalure.com/">custompaintalure.com</a>). He has been a walleye and muskie tournament angler for years and happens to be a walleye stick on the Three Rivers near Pittsburgh. Throughout his tournament career, he often custom painted lures for himself and fellow anglers. Now, he not only paints lures, but he has developed a method to put some of the most impressive chrome finishes on crankbaits a guy can find.<br /><br />“A lot of the bait companies, they took the chrome baits off the market because they weren’t holding up,” Eshbaugh said. “The two main ways they do it are electroplating – you can electroplate plastic if it has the proper base coat, but it doesn’t hold up too well – and the other is vacuum chroming. My chroming process is a lot different. It is completely new to the fishing industry.”<br /><br />Eshbaugh is still a little guy in the lure business, so he is understandably guarded of the details of his process. All we know is it is tough enough to hold up to toothy walleyes and even muskies, and there may not be a freshwater creature around that can do more damage to a lure than a muskie.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Colors and Options</span><br />Because Eshbaugh does all his work by hand, he can create virtually any chrome finish a customer desires. He can also put it on just about any material seen in today’s lure industry – metal spinner blades, balsa crankbaits, plastic stick baits.<br /><br />I saw firsthand a handful of plastic and balsa lures common to both bass and walleye fishing, and I’m still amazed at how well all those colors shine. He doesn’t just paint designs over a chrome base. He can blend from one chrome color to another to make detailed baitfish patterns, bright multitones, black chrome, various shades of copper and gold, and just about anything else.<br /><br />Some of his more common requests are to recreate discontinued chrome patterns and take standard color patterns, such as perch or even some bass anglers’ soft-plastic craw patterns, and transform them into chrome patterns. He can also add extra details, such as scale finishes over the chrome.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Make Fish Commit</span><br />It wouldn’t be fair to talk up all these chrome lures without touching on where and when to use them. Paul Doute of Southgate, Mich., owns Angler’s Quest, a Lake Erie and Detroit River charter service. He is also an FLW Walleye Tour co-angler and a fishing educator with Lance Valentine’s Walleye 101.<br /><br />For handlining and open-water trolling, he has learned that chrome lures work best under certain conditions.<br /><br />“On those days when the water is clean, or slightly stained, with high sun and no clouds, I usually try to use the chrome to get fish to commit from a farther distance,” he said. “In my opinion, with the big game fish, the last thing to get them to commit to actually taking a lure is sight. They may hear it, they may smell it, but to get that final commitment to actually strike a lure, it is by sight.”<br /><br />Doute prefers his color patterns to have some transitions from dark to light colors, as well as natural forage patterns. The flashes of color changes on the sides help imitate fleeing forage fish and get walleyes close enough to think about biting.<br /><br />Additionally, some chrome patterns are proven to just flat work in specific situations. Based on 20 years of records from handlining in the Detroit River, Doute knows that a No. 11 or 13 Rapala Original Floater in the clown color pattern is the most productive lure in the early season. Clown has a red head, yellow back and chrome sides. Unfortunately, that particular rendering has been discontinued, and formerly, Doute had to pay a premium on eBay for one. That problem is now solved with custom chrome from Dutch Fork Custom Lures.SOstruszkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04343556857903522724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-56780438640823690982010-01-20T08:45:00.002-06:002010-01-20T08:49:01.293-06:00Clarifying<span style="font-style: italic;">"With all due respect to the editors of FLW Outdoors Magazine, the facts you state in your article on the new Yamaha motor are incorrect. Two stroke engines are NOT going away with the new 2010 EPA regulations. The Evinrude E-TEC two-stroke technology is EPA compliant and as a matter of fact, has been since the regulations were announced two years ago! Please check your facts so the buying public is not mislead with wrong information on EPA regulations." - Anonymous</span><br /><br />Thank you for the comment. You're right, not all 2-strokes are going away. Evinrude will indeed continue producing EPA compliant 2-srokes. Yamaha will, however, discontinue producing 2-strokes, which is what the blog intended to state. Sorry for the confusion.SOstruszkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04343556857903522724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-60212623370835686502009-12-12T19:11:00.003-06:002009-12-12T19:13:44.723-06:00On Loan for $25: The Rapala Shad Rap StoryBy Sean Ostruszka<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25643.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 194px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25643.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>It has no rattles or weight transfer system. No mold-injected body or laser-engraved color schemes. No hard-wobbling action or even 3-D eyes. Nothing of any technological significance. It’s just balsa, wire, zinc, Lexan and a paint job. It’s simpler than a Kellogg’s Pop-Tart. And it will be catching fish long after we are all gone.<br /><br />It’s a Rapala Shad Rap.<br /><br />Compared to the newest crankbaits, which feature most of the above-mentioned features, Shad Raps are dinosaurs. Yet even the most quasi walleye angler owns at least a dozen Shad Raps, while most pros own two dozen in each color. Why? Because they still catch fish better than almost any crankbait out there, and they have been doing so from the moment they were designed more than 20 years ago. And I do mean from the very beginning. When the crankbait first came out in 1982, it was so popular, yet hard to find, bait shops on Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota rented out individual Shad Raps for the day for $25 – with a $25 deposit.<br /><br />The lure is quite a bit easier to find now, yet it hasn’t lost its mojo. So, being a lure nut, I wanted to know what makes this lure so incredible. Rapala Director of Field Promotions Mark Fisher filled me in.<br /><br />“The No. 1 issue is it is made from balsa,” Fisher said. “Balsa gives the lure the most delicate and lively action. The lure almost slides through the water. No other material can do that. We have experimented with various plastics, but plastic just doesn’t have the ballast and buoyancy.”<br /><br />Balsa has a density ranging from about 0.1 to 0.13 g/cm3 (water has a maximum density of 1 g/cm3), making it the lightest and most buoyant of all hardwoods. It is even more buoyant than cork. That unique property creates a sharp action when combined with the zinc ballast and the right shape, but we will get to that later. For now, know the balsa construction of a Shad Rap means it takes very little forward motion to get action out of it. That, combined with its subtle rolling action, is why it is the top lure in cold water for so many pros.<br /><br />The shape of the body also plays a key role.<br /><br />“If you look at the lure straight on, you’ll see it is in the shape of a compressed oval,” Fisher said. “That is what gives the tight, rolling action. The flatter and narrower the sides of a crankbait, the faster the action will snap back to vertical. The rounder the sides, the more it will want to roll.”<br /><br />The Shad Rap combines the best of both actions with the buoyancy of balsa. No other lure can claim the same.<br /><br />Anglers may also notice a Shad Rap swims on a level plane. This was also by design. The Shad Rap was originally created to be used for trout and northern pike in the shallow rivers and streams of Europe. In order to not get hung up, the lure had to swim level while still having the desired action. That is the reason the lip is on an angle instead of straight out. Of course, this is also why the lure is not the best at bumping cover. It wasn’t created for it.<br /><br />Beyond that, there is not much more to the lure. I wish it was more complicated, but it is just that simple. However, the Shad Rap has spawned numerous more complicated lures. Though, the transformation wasn’t always easy.<br /><br />In 2000, Rapala set out to make a jointed version of the Shad Rap from plastic. Knowing now what you do about the importance of balsa to this lure, the plastic lure gave the designers headaches.<br /><br />“They knew they would be giving up some delicacy by going with plastic,” Fisher said. “But it was giving up a lot more than they wanted.”<br /><br />Eventually, one of the designers realized that jointed lures have aggressive actions anyway, so there was little reason to keep trying to make the jointed model subtle. Instead, Rapala put in a rattle and created a lure that rivals many lipless crankbaits for noise – the Jointed Shad Rap.<br /><br />Along with the jointed model, Rapala has taken the basic Shad Rap design and created lures like the Glass Shad Rap, X-Rap Shad and Minnow Rap, which is actually a combination of a Shad Rap and Original Floater.<br /><br />“Including colors, sizes and variations, I’d say there are probably 2 million pieces that have come out of the Shad Rap,” Fisher said. “And of those 2 million, half the ones out there are the same six lures: No.5, No.7 and No. 9 Shad Raps and Shallow Shad Raps. And I bet the majority of those are in the same three colors: silver and black, gold and black, and firetiger. It is incredible when you think about it.”<br /><br />Not bad for one of the simplest lures on the market.The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-26161577664743710322009-11-25T09:06:00.000-06:002009-12-01T09:10:14.050-06:00Wet Shoes and ElectrictyBy Sean Ostruszka<br /><br />It was a night you praise the inventor of rain gear.<br /><br />A couple weeks ago, Mike Steuck of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources invited me and FLW Walleye Tour pro Chris Burns of Davenport, Iowa, out to watch the Iowa DNR do its annual fall electrofishing – aka. shocking.<br /><br />Having never watched this before, I was pretty excited. I mean, how often does an angler get a chance to watch walleyes suddenly float up all around the boat?<br /><br />All and all, it was a great time. Steuck explained how the tool used for electrofishing works on the same principle as a police stun gun. Every electrofishing boat is equipped with a generator. In the case of the Iowa DNR, their boats’ generators pump out 220 volts, or enough to power some refrigerators. Attached to the generator is a dropper, which is lowered into the water and releases an electrical field. While water is a great conductor for electricity, the field given off by the dropper only reaches 5 to 6 feet in any direction.<br /><br />For fish farther away from the dropper, the electricity will cause a slight tingle. However, for fish that swim into the field, it is instant incapacitation. When electricity comes in contact with the muscles of a fish, or any animal, it causes the muscles to contract. And if there is enough electricity, every muscle in the body will contract at the same time, completely incapacitating the fish. While the phenomenon isn’t the most pleasant of experiences, the contraction does no damage to the fish. It simply becomes rigid and, because of its air bladder, floats to the surface. From there, Burns and I got to net them up and drop them into a livewell.<br /><br />Of course, not everything went smoothly. A weather front moved in the second I arrived in Davenport and didn’t leave until I left (something I found a little eerie). That weather system drenched us all night long. My rain gear took it like a champ. My boots, not so much.<br /><br />Still, some wet feet were easily worth getting a chance to be on the boat. Here are a few pictures I managed to take that night while hunkered underneath a rain coat.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25290.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25290.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25291.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25291.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25292.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25292.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25293.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25293.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-11660346355009384582009-11-24T08:51:00.000-06:002009-11-24T09:02:33.733-06:00Pounders = OuchI hate "pounders."<br /><br />It's been five days since I took a trip with my dad to <a href="http://www.caverun.org/">Cave Run Lake</a> for some fall muskie fishing. I woke up this morning and parts of me still hurt. My hands are raw. My back aches. And my left tricep is still very upset. If today was the day after the trip I'd think nothing of it. Fall muskie fishing for me always involves giant lures that can make an angler sore. But this is five days later, and last I checked I'm not 60.<br /><br />Hence why I hate "pounders."<br /><br />To be more specific, "pounder" is the affectionate nickname given to the <a href="http://www.muskyinnovations.com/bulldawgs.htm">Musky Innovations Super Magnum Bulldawg</a>. Basically, the lure is 16 ounces of pain. You read that right, 16 ounces. Launching a cast with one of those things requires physics I'm not smart enough to figure out. Forget loading up the rod. All you can do is swing the lure back, and when it starts swinging forward, use that momentum to get it airborne. Some 25 feet later, it will hit the surface of the water like a goat dropped from an airplane.<br /><br />Why did I throw that monstrosity you ask? Partly because the guys I was fishing with, longtime friends and guides Tony Grant and Scott Salchli, wanted to see how long I would throw it, and partly because they catch fish… though not for me. I threw that thing around a fair amount over two days, resting often to check for hernias, and never moved a fish. Luckily, there are the "lighter" Magnum Bulldawgs (7.8 ounces) and <a href="http://www.chaostackle.com/products.htm">Chaos Tackle Medussas</a> (8.25 ounces). Now those lures did the trick. Over the weekend I had four bites and two follows between the two, along with boating a 37-incher on the Medussa.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25207.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/25207.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There are three things I'll take away from the trip along with the pictures. The first was lure color. The first day, all the action on the giant soft plastics came on firetiger. However, on day two I never moved a fish on the bright lures and instead caught my fish on natural colors. The water temperatures didn't change. The sun was still shining both days. The locations were the same. Yet had I not switched between the two I may have never caught a fish.<br /><br />No. 2 was watching the moon. Fall muskie action almost always comes in windows. And those windows often revolve around moonrise and moonset. Like clockwork both days, once we got within an hour of moonset the fish started showing up. Of the 14 fish my dad and I moved, eight came in two one-hour windows in the evenings around the moonsets.<br /><br />However, the most important thing I took away was how to work the giant soft plastics over weeds. Salchli is one of, if not the best at working weeds with giant soft-plastic jerkbaits. And he showed me what he calls his "bunny hop." Instead of jerking or ripping the lures over the weeds, Salchi points his rod up and does a series of quick pulls to keep the lure just ticking the tops without getting fouled. It’s not easy and it takes some practice to feel the lure just ticking the tops, but once I got it down I caught fish.<br /><br />Now it's time for more Advil. Man I love muskie fishing!<br /><br />Slam the hooks!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sean Ostruszka</span><br /><p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></span></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-12958897460259118942009-11-20T15:15:00.001-06:002009-11-20T15:52:06.640-06:00A Crankbait “Dives-To” New Depths<span style="font-family: arial;">By Jason Sealock</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2LTab-3_oYo2CgkDrqjC18i563U8wszFfiISoOKp25laql8d6cFG-AQHWSQPo8Q5m2ucupZH1YYQApbMLRvZpFe7hujEUaRnQHILFqMC7vNqU7w1espunGfBKetifeTvfmGpE_cEfeY-/s1600/Rap03.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 391px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2LTab-3_oYo2CgkDrqjC18i563U8wszFfiISoOKp25laql8d6cFG-AQHWSQPo8Q5m2ucupZH1YYQApbMLRvZpFe7hujEUaRnQHILFqMC7vNqU7w1espunGfBKetifeTvfmGpE_cEfeY-/s400/Rap03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406305845660836034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">For some reason, crankbaits overtook other lures this year in the speck of cyberspace inside my head that is my attention span. My wife gets annoyed that I can’t hear other words when I’m singularly focused on one task or noise. The problem is compounded when it involves something to do with fishing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Back to my original train of thought, this year we’ve caught so many fish in so many different scenarios on so many different crankbaits that it started me on this quest to understand what it is about my favorite crankbaits that has made them … well, my favorite crankbaits.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Some crankbaits I’ve been throwing for years. Some I only started throwing this year (like the Jackall MC/60 I wrote about earlier).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">What is it, though, that compels us as anglers to stock a box full of similar looking crankbaits, yet reach for the same ones day in and day out. Obviously catching fish has something to do with it. The depth you’re trying to hit has something to do with it. I think, however, as we become better anglers, we learn to quickly assess when a crankbait will catch bass or just cramp our arms all day in given scenarios. In fact, I’d argue, all of fishing really boils down to that single premise – assessing the best tool for the given situation or scenario.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Rapala DT Series Background</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8bYEzhzkIHNtn1Nh4YMe9LC_3JEhVhNp5DQCewao-fleMdfxgO_1oLz8YX8MN2k4Lqdkm8Big5zyOXUAKuVCR8bB0qtXwXWJ6ukwhQnPvTPW-KcjGPK-hYmmg7XUvYQIRKhvF1YTo4_D/s1600/Rap02.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8bYEzhzkIHNtn1Nh4YMe9LC_3JEhVhNp5DQCewao-fleMdfxgO_1oLz8YX8MN2k4Lqdkm8Big5zyOXUAKuVCR8bB0qtXwXWJ6ukwhQnPvTPW-KcjGPK-hYmmg7XUvYQIRKhvF1YTo4_D/s320/Rap02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406306163356205842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">David Fritts didn’t invent crankbait fishing, but he’s certainly in the discussion as one of the forefathers of it. I recently caught up with Mark Fisher, Director of Field Promotions, for Rapala. Mark has been with Rapala for 9 years now and was a pro-staffer for 12 years before that. So his mind houses more than 20 years of experience with their wide-range of products. We got on the subject of the Dives-To (DT) Series, a subject dear to his heart.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“The DT Series is an evolution of Fritts’ many years of experience and his intense study of the properties of Balsa and what you could do with it,” Fisher said. “The Fritts system of cranking employs 10 pound line and snap casts to achieve specific depths. All the crankbaits in the DT line were designed along this system. That’s why we say an actual depth and not a range.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Some crankbait companies look for a certain shape and then figure out the depth range it runs. Rapala attacks bait design from the standpoint that they want to be sure a bait does what they say it will do. If they say it will run 20 feet, then anything shy of that is a failure to them. Fritts worked painfully long hours with Jarmo Rapala to get the baits in the DT line perfect.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Building on Reputation</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">One interesting note is that Rapala has the technology to basically take an existing balsa bait, scale it down 70 percent and reproduce the bait again at the reduce size. But Fisher pointed out several drawbacks to sizing baits.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“We have a basic silhouette, but we also have the capabilities to shoot an element and take it like you would in a copy machine and reduce it 50 or 75 percent,” Fisher said. “We lose some of the action just straight reducing though. The dynamics of the baits change, so we have to play with lip angles, body widths and where the pull point is on the lip. All those aspects impact the action of the bait. All the baits maintain a family appearance but each one is slightly modified and presents refined actions and characteristics that differentiate it in the family.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Rapala has a tongue and cheek statement around the office – no one ever returns a lure because it won’t catch fish. But for them it’s the standard by which their designs live. There is a mystique about Rapala. They know several folks who literally took their father’s favorite Rapala to the grave, and it became a family heirloom.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“We think about that when we’re building our crankbaits,” Fisher said. “If we’re building a DT4, then it’s critical to us that the bait does what we say it will do. Our engineers are as good as the world’s best Swiss clock makers.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The early DT 20 didn’t hit 20 feet consistently and had some swimming issues. A lot of that was just getting the designers to understand terminology in terms of what a crankbait does like hunting or kicking out. Turns out it was simply a problem with the pull point on the lip and now the baits hit their mark.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“When we build a bait to hit a specific depth in the Dives To line, not only do we hit that depth but we learn through the process of testing and tweaking what action is the best action at that depth,” Fisher said. “I love to crank. I did before I ever came to Rapala. We don’t ever knock any other crankbaits because there are a lot of great crankbaits out there. But so many things have been incorporated into the DT series that give me such a confidence that when I tie it on I’m going to hit the depths I need to and it’s going to look appealing to the bass when it gets down there.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the most impressive things to me has been how consistent the baits are. Now there are some anglers I talk with that believe one rattles a little different than the others and will go through 50 DT’s to find the right noise in one. The baits are designed with a baritone rattle but to me that is not the key. The key is that almost every one I’ve ever thrown runs true right out of the box. These are mass-produced lures, but they still fish like handmade lures.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“The balance, action and depths are incredibly consistent,” Fisher said. “We’re rolling hundreds of thousands of these baits out. Part of that goes to the consistency of the balsa we use to maintain that tolerance in every bait. And it shows in the success people have with them. Fritts said the DT 6 is the finest grass crankbait ever made. We get calls from guys all the time to thank us for making the baits that won them so much money.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Common Misconception</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJNMHl0p-aacwtkjMAWE2U7xVm9I-4V9DdbYt9dGJ1BgLzmx6i39M2fQZ856lAF21TP-1yKYkZ2N5MT7K5-oEur8Jin1XtEFy1aTmp-Y5jWgF7oh7Dj7Hsl9qsTxOn0UMmhYf2btDfemT/s1600/Rap01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJNMHl0p-aacwtkjMAWE2U7xVm9I-4V9DdbYt9dGJ1BgLzmx6i39M2fQZ856lAF21TP-1yKYkZ2N5MT7K5-oEur8Jin1XtEFy1aTmp-Y5jWgF7oh7Dj7Hsl9qsTxOn0UMmhYf2btDfemT/s400/Rap01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406306718414337682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the things Fritts taught Fisher in their work together is that most people will put down their crankbaits when the fishing is slow and pick up some other lures. Fritts learned that by changing the depth, action and profile on certain days, you can get the fish triggered again. So when others reach for a spinnerbait, topwater or a worm, Fritts just picks up a flat-sided crankbait or a round-belly bait or a deeper or shallower model and keeps “plugging” away at it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Cool Trick</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I like to learn how people very fluent with a crankbait’s capabilities, work it to achieve a desired response from the bass. Fisher offered a great trick for fishing around grass. When he’s cranking around grass, he’ll reel the bait like normal, but occasionally, he’ll pop the rod tip and then throw slack back toward the bait by dropping his rod tip, much like you would while walking the dog. The slack allows the bait to pivot 180 degrees on its axis while still in its downward facing position.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, he reels up his slack and sets the hook. Most of the time, he never feels the bite, so he sets the hook to be sure. Then if he doesn’t have a fish, he’ll start reeling again. Most of the time the bass will engulf the bait while it pivots, but if not, the change in direction afterward often triggers them. This technique works better with the bigger DT’s like the DT 16 and DT 20 but will work with the others as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Colors</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s not feasible to make every color for every angler, so good lure manufacturers have a base of proven colors. Rapala believes that base is not only good colors nationally but also the hot regional colors that are specific to an area of the country.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“We find out that regionally a certain color might be the hot ticket and we look at that every year to make sure we have a good solid nuts and bolts offering,” Fisher said. “But then we also want to make sure we have those regional hot tickets for further acceptance of the baits. It’s cool to see the trends in color not necessarily on what baits sell the most but what baits you always see in good anglers tackle boxes. And honestly with David Fritts, Larry Nixon, Dave Lefebre, Terry Bolton, Tom Mann Jr. and the other pros, we have the knowledge to build the best crankbaits, and we wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”</span>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-22755584958109740062009-11-17T19:13:00.001-06:002010-01-18T09:35:43.644-06:00Running the new Yamaha SHO V Max 250 LABy Jason Sealock<br /><br />Waking up to rain at 6:00 am didn’t dampen the excitement of testing the new Yamaha outboards. The air was cool but not cold, and the rain was spitting and misting on the 45-minute drive to the test facility in Bridgeport, Ala. A quick safety meeting got everyone on the same page, and then a run down of the SHO outboard came next.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSt5NgmWwyiyp_sFBuJui_1zdPD_gdZv6VmogSSQxlXLypTpB44pfDAcHmMUt8vlrWxXxm7Bu3KDpQvODnYXu2Dllvk4MbKnQj45wBu1kTDMWlqSBzKeNGXCofPFJACdZfv3aJFVmTIq3w/s1600/F250C_oblque_US_R_2_lores.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSt5NgmWwyiyp_sFBuJui_1zdPD_gdZv6VmogSSQxlXLypTpB44pfDAcHmMUt8vlrWxXxm7Bu3KDpQvODnYXu2Dllvk4MbKnQj45wBu1kTDMWlqSBzKeNGXCofPFJACdZfv3aJFVmTIq3w/s320/F250C_oblque_US_R_2_lores.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405249240528171266" border="0" /></a>SHO stands for Super High Output 4-stroke technology. The old 3.3L engine has been upgraded to a 4.2L engine. The outboard is 34 pounds lighter than the V MAX Series II 2-stroke engine it replaces in the Yamaha product line. No other outboard with the same horsepower is lighter in fact. At 505 pounds, the 250 purrs like a kitten at idle. Actually it sounds like the low rumble of a high performance sports car. But when it was time to hit the gas, the engine was surprisingly quiet, even without any muffler, a first for the Yamaha 4-strokes.<br /><br />Many folks don’t realize that a 4-stroke means no oil reserve under the back deck. Owners can actually very easily change their own oil through a filter that is very easy to access. It is even tilted upward with a scoop under it to remove any of the drip problems (i.e. smoke from spilled oil) from the whole process.<br /><br />I asked pro angler Dave Wolak how much oil he went through last season on tour with his 3.3L F225 4-stroke, and he changed his oil only twice. We’re talking maybe 12 quarts in a year of hardcore competitive fishing. That’s impressive and this engine is even better. That’s hundreds of dollars saved in oil if you fish and run your boat a lot, thousands over the life of the outboard.<br /><br />You might hear the engine referred to as the VF250LA. The V is for VMAX, and F is for four-stroke. The LA stands for L shaft length which is the 20-inch model and A for the first generation of this outboard. But the thing to keep in mind here is we’re talking about a 4-stroke engine that has springs and cylinders and more parts than a 2-stroke. All these things add weight, yet these outboards are as light or lighter than 2-strokes.<br /><br />Okay, the proof is in the pudding – namely how does it handle on the water in real life. Well two of us jumped in the boat. We idled past the no wake zone, and Wolak leaned over to ask, “Are you ready?” “Let it rip,” I said. In an instant we were on pad and rapidly approaching 60 mph. Then 65. Then 70, 71, 72, 73 and 74 mph. Wow. The Z520 is running 74 mph going up river against a heavy current. Unreal.<br /><br />He came off pad for a second and then jumped back up on plane in an instant. Then back down to a low speed and we jump back into full speed. This was just a sick display of not only the incredible hole shot but also the mid-range power the outboard has.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFNIbYpgcZvyCr6UfkTcPeCUR7lTLZPdbR85pRWK0MJlQHADEvEyyYrUIwwqj7Z4eWXLYGeRBlwmV-QBVykqFKBzv180vCkxzYZnIEukAcne6jop0VdVrmidGeczltEiVRVcrPOj4ktrd/s1600/IMG_6934.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFNIbYpgcZvyCr6UfkTcPeCUR7lTLZPdbR85pRWK0MJlQHADEvEyyYrUIwwqj7Z4eWXLYGeRBlwmV-QBVykqFKBzv180vCkxzYZnIEukAcne6jop0VdVrmidGeczltEiVRVcrPOj4ktrd/s320/IMG_6934.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405248488622838850" border="0" /></a>One nice thing I noticed is there wasn’t that “clunk” when you went into and out of gear. I was also very impressed with the responsiveness of the motor. No hesitation and immediate power. It was smooth, quiet, and powerful, and it was a 4-stroke.<br /><br />While coming back down the river, Wolak demonstrated a situation that any angler who has fished a shallow fishery has encountered at least once. You’re fishing a really shallow area or you have a problem while running and have to shutdown in shallow water. You can either idle for a long time to get to deep enough water again to get on pad or you can drive in a circle until you build up enough speed to get on plane.<br /><br />In half a turn, the boat was buoyed up to the surface, and we were on plane. Unreal!<br /><br />Anglers and boaters have a choice of 200, 225 and 250 hp models in the V MAX SHO line. All the technologies are the same just some different size and horsepower options.<br /><br />The secret is in increased airflow, lighter weight and borrowed technology of plasma fused metals in the bored out cylinders. The result is increased displacement which means more power. But the other advantage is these metal powders are passed in front of a plasma arc and bonded to the cylinders to create an ultra thin layer on the actual cylinder that is 60% harder than steel.<br /><br />A side effect is that microscopic pockets form in the metals. These pockets hold oil. The result is no more cylinder scrapes and greatly reduced friction, a natural thief of power. Also because the friction is down, the heat is down and the overall cooling in the engine is increased.<br /><br />The thing is most folks won’t even see all the little things they fixed, lightened, redesigned, and designed from scratch to achieve this three-year-in-the-making motor. The overlying message I found while studying the engine is that there are so many things that make this engine a great investment and add to its performance that you can’t say it’s just one thing that makes it better.<br /><br />Small things like retooled water intake to make sure the engine gets enough water pressure in all types of situations to the redesigned air intake and transfer system to make sure the air is not only cooler but more abundant. Engines run better on cooler mornings because the fuel and air are denser then. This is one thing that Yamaha can simulate to make the outboards perform better.<br /><br />I think these engines will set a new bar. For those that don’t know, 2-strokes are going away. Manufacturers will stop producing 2-strokes very soon because of EPA regulations. In fact, Yamaha said only the 150 and 175 2-strokes will remain after January 1, 2010. The dealers who already have the other 2-strokes can continue to sell them, but no more are going to be manufactured.<br /><br />I am seriously impressed with this 4-stroke outboard. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to test the motor on both a Ranger Z520 and the new Skeeter FX 21. The weather certainly won’t rain on this parade. Check the <a href="http://www.yamahagamechanger.com/">www.yamahagamechanger.com</a> website later this week for a lot of technical information on all the new offerings from Yamaha for 2010. We’ll have more updates on the other products soon as well.<br /><br />Hop over to our <a href="http://www.youtube.com/FLWMagazine">YouTube</a> channel to see some videos from the outboard test this morning.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 200%;"></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-31417102843512941952009-11-16T20:50:00.001-06:002010-01-18T09:35:59.944-06:00NEW YAMAHA VMAX SHO SNEAK PEAK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQlQ0hLdYVJYKNZY2_CrodADsO25dUkbVVRhLMXPcx05GR-6Uoqp2uq6gP9N_89CzFX2_XPzOhWhogglK5JGgTkY7Xszq_ae2l2QMqRaz5wzr8zqVaFNEVaVaHlMBK3dmVwidkEmiFFoI/s1600/SHOBeauty+%28Medium%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQlQ0hLdYVJYKNZY2_CrodADsO25dUkbVVRhLMXPcx05GR-6Uoqp2uq6gP9N_89CzFX2_XPzOhWhogglK5JGgTkY7Xszq_ae2l2QMqRaz5wzr8zqVaFNEVaVaHlMBK3dmVwidkEmiFFoI/s400/SHOBeauty+%28Medium%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404904228364365986" border="0" /></a>By Jason Sealock<br /><br />Game Changer? It's definitely going to be a drool inducer. We were invited to an early viewing of the new 4-stroke outboards from Yamaha. Today we were only privy to images of the new outboards and tomorrow we'll actually get to put them through their paces on several different boats.<br /><br />Most notably in their introduction to bass anglers is the all new YAMAHA V MAX SHO line of 200, 225 and 250 horsepower outboards. These are 4-stroke outboards but they completely reinvent what a 4-stroke outboard "can be." Most notably, the engines are 34 pounds lighter than their counterpart V MAX 2-stroke cousins. According to Yamaha engineers, no other V6 bass outboard of equal horsepower is lighter including two-strokes.<br /><br />The engines incorporate the first marine application of plasma-fused sleeveless cylinders. This is basically a high-tech aeronautical and performance automobile technology that has been ported over and applied to marine technology for the first time. They get a larger bore which results in much more displacement, in fact the largest displacement in its class.<br /><br />The result for bass anglers and boat owners is more response, power and the fastest hole shot acceleration in its class, even more than the V MAX Series 2 two-stroke models.<br /><br />Tomorrow morning we'll be testing these outboards along with a slick new 70-hp, four-stroke that will be a sweet option for a lot of aluminum model boats. Just like its big brothers, this outboard is lighter, faster and more fuel and oil effecient.<br /><br />I'm actually very excited to run the boats tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see the new Skeeter boats being unveiled tomorrow as well. We'll hopefully have video from the test runs along with tweets from the event tomorrow. Check back to see more or follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/FLW_Magazine">Twitter.</a><br /><br />Until then, here are a few photos compliments of the great folks at Yamaha. I'm already drooling and scheming on how to get a Ranger with the new outboard next year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDGjsFo-3iWgLT3JLcRuIb5hD5Pd37qCPo-IDqcvZCe8XuKnvpMiS7Z35k-ulx0baKUqoJacZZz6p9HEPX3GC5KB3lzYWKo4iEdNDa3kKvpOUCNQ1O213EylQ9FsvtE3qYaHPjQOd5oUJ/s1600/Running+VFSHO250+%28Medium%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDGjsFo-3iWgLT3JLcRuIb5hD5Pd37qCPo-IDqcvZCe8XuKnvpMiS7Z35k-ulx0baKUqoJacZZz6p9HEPX3GC5KB3lzYWKo4iEdNDa3kKvpOUCNQ1O213EylQ9FsvtE3qYaHPjQOd5oUJ/s400/Running+VFSHO250+%28Medium%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404904111865520994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-U3WKXz3fZdEz8qYPp_BFcZCEFyNoqziZlkYcc70r08L_35Gksc9PEQXaxJ7zeaaggVPb3iiG6ryvojDzMWO-LX70Dcq7mzddnz6oUNlWYLpJChRCvNyo6I49LCQtsefqoo1YdMLxmPNw/s1600/SHO250+%28Medium%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-U3WKXz3fZdEz8qYPp_BFcZCEFyNoqziZlkYcc70r08L_35Gksc9PEQXaxJ7zeaaggVPb3iiG6ryvojDzMWO-LX70Dcq7mzddnz6oUNlWYLpJChRCvNyo6I49LCQtsefqoo1YdMLxmPNw/s400/SHO250+%28Medium%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404903631986580242" border="0" /></a>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-57659914852439776292009-11-06T16:19:00.001-06:002010-01-18T09:36:19.665-06:00Do You Know What Your Jig is Doing?By Jason Sealock<br /><br />I like to look at lures in the water. I constantly do this with new baits and we're going to be incorporating a "water-eye-view" into some of our product photography in future issues.<br /><br />Today we took several jigs and dropped them into the tank along with a bunch of plastics to study their actions. It was pretty eye-opening.<br /><br />Here are a few of our favorites:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A couple different football jigs</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30fuSY1Ws2dq8SeKc5b-QRUmqujzYQ-3qtU-Sw-CmKF9qezRWSWn9hnm4X6_bKmMVM2PY8DM__lolkkKAh09wK2-7i-zJDtwn_iqRmAZ9LqiNqXNpr_JWhET9FMm1ABj4yO8B6UaGYfvR/s1600-h/JigsinTank03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30fuSY1Ws2dq8SeKc5b-QRUmqujzYQ-3qtU-Sw-CmKF9qezRWSWn9hnm4X6_bKmMVM2PY8DM__lolkkKAh09wK2-7i-zJDtwn_iqRmAZ9LqiNqXNpr_JWhET9FMm1ABj4yO8B6UaGYfvR/s400/JigsinTank03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401119385295779474" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br />A flippin jig with a big Zoom Chunk<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMSyO__6ypj47MW1VFVZBU0ozPIFnJ2k4NtAnILSnrbDfREmyL_uMBGiQmrR_wObNCK9vX8w0fJV4yIHXZ9UVoDzLq2SkXt8fvNa8PAZmWndFUkYpNtGlqMndVgSerAFQezfYQo3OTnfw/s1600-h/JigsinTank02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMSyO__6ypj47MW1VFVZBU0ozPIFnJ2k4NtAnILSnrbDfREmyL_uMBGiQmrR_wObNCK9vX8w0fJV4yIHXZ9UVoDzLq2SkXt8fvNa8PAZmWndFUkYpNtGlqMndVgSerAFQezfYQo3OTnfw/s400/JigsinTank02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401119619325971826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">And our favorite of the day - The Talon Series <span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Shibui Ookii Jig</span></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjd7H60WNFvEd9eY85WffA0VnQKlX04BLJb6rUxQSTQi89VZh5JhRMO5B16J9ypzthcRJW2Yh-6oMNXEnrcRb8GBlzYQ3k9Rf8GoxbkIll5BFYzNyWc_NnhXyws5H9FzkZmwPUQu_mDvKl/s1600-h/JigsinTank01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjd7H60WNFvEd9eY85WffA0VnQKlX04BLJb6rUxQSTQi89VZh5JhRMO5B16J9ypzthcRJW2Yh-6oMNXEnrcRb8GBlzYQ3k9Rf8GoxbkIll5BFYzNyWc_NnhXyws5H9FzkZmwPUQu_mDvKl/s400/JigsinTank01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401120019268467378" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Doesn't that look like a Venus Fly Trap or something. You should see it move in the water. Just unreal. We'll be doing a First Look on this jig soon! Very cool.<br /></div>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-18157543120871622892009-11-05T12:16:00.001-06:002010-01-18T09:36:32.356-06:00Tackle Storage is a System<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> By Jason Sealock<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPuUWSB4DLLqsvhdF9vi0CHv9lQzXM1ER6d5tFizPL5Jwz9cETymTlm5Kbsdh9sqQT0Cb7M4o9RYTM9K_SVJwbply8l3mQhZXoOoEQooatvNcVPrvkjN7dvMtgNqvidU0niDpz_2SVPTIB/s1600-h/Plano01sm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPuUWSB4DLLqsvhdF9vi0CHv9lQzXM1ER6d5tFizPL5Jwz9cETymTlm5Kbsdh9sqQT0Cb7M4o9RYTM9K_SVJwbply8l3mQhZXoOoEQooatvNcVPrvkjN7dvMtgNqvidU0niDpz_2SVPTIB/s400/Plano01sm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400685881525004578" border="0" /></a>My storage system for tackle is not complex, but it works really well. Being the editor for a fishing magazine means you fish a lot in “someone else’s boat.” That translates to me constantly being the “co-angler” and lugging tackle to and from different boats. Rods, reels, tackle, tools, and more have to get from my garage to some remote destination. And over the course of 25 years, I’ve collected what my wife terms a stupid amount of gear. I’m probably the worst about going to a tackle shop and buying something I already have because “I might run out.”<br /><br />That leads to a lot more tackle than a person (or boat for that matter) can physically carry. So how does one keep it all organized yet have it readily accessible when heading out the door? Well obviously having some method to all this madness helps. Sure I’ve got unopened packages hanging on pegboard, and tubs full of plastics still in their bags. But that’s not very efficient to organize on the fly.<br /><br />The key is being modular and organized from box to box. If you only have 20 crankbaits, put them all in a Plano StowAway® box labeled crankbaits. However, if you have 300 crankbaits, you might need to be a little more organized. I store all my crankbaits two different ways. I store them by brand (so I can easily grab all my Rapalas or all my Lucky Crafts if I want). But I also store them by running depths. I’ll have a Rapala box, a Bomber box and a Norman box. But I’ll also have a shallow box, a medium box, and a deep diver box. I even have a custom painted box.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWstkKod-qp9D9tNXHVXeq_c6GQjYWAVhENpaMHgotroskEUAmDGqNjxkvSTgsjyyKi-_0JPmAlttoSySTi1FhqoCqEs-jUqD3TX5X9jaIHGTGP2OpvWB-pFeRU0H5uPiNuTtrJ0Dlpf4/s1600-h/Plano08+%28Medium%29.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWstkKod-qp9D9tNXHVXeq_c6GQjYWAVhENpaMHgotroskEUAmDGqNjxkvSTgsjyyKi-_0JPmAlttoSySTi1FhqoCqEs-jUqD3TX5X9jaIHGTGP2OpvWB-pFeRU0H5uPiNuTtrJ0Dlpf4/s400/Plano08+%28Medium%29.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400686583074016594" border="0" /></a>I do the same for other lures like topwaters, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jerkbaits and more.<br /><br />The labeling can be something as simple as masking tape and black marker, or you can use a label maker to make them all easily legible. Certain boxes store baits better than others. I keep most of my big crankbaits in the staple Plano StowAway® ProLatchTM 2-3600 or a 2-3700. But recently the 2-3701 and 2-3601 have been even better for storing baits. They are the thin versions of the old standbys and neatly store baits in a low profile container. Of course you’ll need more but it saves having a tangled mess every time I reach for a shallow running crankbait.<br /><br />I also really like the XL ProLatchTM StowAway®. It’s one big box perfect for storing tools, fishing line and bags of soft baits in bulk. I keep several under my work bench. One holds jumbo spools of line, one holds filler spools of line, one holds tools for making jigheads and skirts and others hold plastics in bulk. I can easily grab one and throw it in my truck when I head out the door.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgexwNxZraNRfDNxG7wO7knkiTWGK4QuVxq4Sytg5Z-dMsI-hV01fbZ7f06FS2-zbdrqewNvfWadBjClYAYmLCx0CdFWBEPJ1P4FzzEnAKGub6JEMlo0BFndJGiSdsEgQC1qX2MiS-xI4t/s1600-h/Plano09+%28Medium%29.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgexwNxZraNRfDNxG7wO7knkiTWGK4QuVxq4Sytg5Z-dMsI-hV01fbZ7f06FS2-zbdrqewNvfWadBjClYAYmLCx0CdFWBEPJ1P4FzzEnAKGub6JEMlo0BFndJGiSdsEgQC1qX2MiS-xI4t/s400/Plano09+%28Medium%29.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400686241120212418" border="0" /></a>But the key to the system is storing everything on shelves where they are easily seen. Plano’s Storage Shelving works perfectly in our tackle room at the office and took less than 10 minutes to put together. We use two of them as well as some standard shelves to store everything. One shelf holds six of the XL StowAways or a pile of the 3601 and 3701 StowAways.<br /><br />Keep about six to eight empty StowAways on hand always. When we have a field assignment or just a fun trip where we want to put some new products through the paces, we load a few baits from several different boxes into the empty boxes and hit the road. Sometimes, however, like when we know there is a hot crankbait bite, we just grab whole boxes and go.<br /><br />This system works the same for me at home. When I get ready to go, I generally do my research and know what I should take depending on season and fishery. So I load up what is needed and only end up most of the time needing one or two boxes and some plastics in my bag.<br /><br />This is a modular system that has worked for me fishing all over the country and even locally. When it’s winter, I know the fish won’t be hitting my Spro Bronzeyes or Zoom Horny Toads. When I’m fishing muddy water I know I won’t need my Optimum swimbaits. So I travel with only what I need for the trip. That saves me from lugging whole boxes just because one or two baits from that box are needed.<br /><br />Obviously it takes some time to build up to this system, but if you’re like me, asking me to throw out a pack of plastics is like asking me to throw out a tool I don’t use often. If there’s a chance that it may be the perfect tool for a certain situation, then I’m going to hang on to it.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 200%;"></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-88348186777941115912009-11-03T11:30:00.001-06:002010-01-18T09:36:45.389-06:00The Fish that Indiana U Will Remember ForeverBy Jason Selaock<br /><br />This one bass turned around their whole tournament. They had a meager 4 pounds after day one. Then on Day two they went with their gut instincts and hit a spot that yielded a 3 and this fish that weighed nearly 5 pounds. We were fortunate enough to be filming Jesse as he fought the bass and Dustin as he netted it.<br /><br />It was great to see their reaction and the other anglers fishing on the bank and in their boats clapping and cheering for them. It was an awesome thing to witness because this was the exact moment that turned the tournament around for them.<br /><br />See it unfold here in these photos taken by Sean Ostruszka<br />(click the photos to see a larger version).<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qLGH0hV7QpqekcSeptrt3v5fHvfx2_HLNq0635ks4V9NZ9dNtmS5jvWQJi9UXPagVRXW-X1qyLkh0gc9Zea4G8IEcLtxsojl9veCAYiOFL06iejTpBOEljvrwDM9tsEeVqnYSy2byK8H/s1600-h/IU_02.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qLGH0hV7QpqekcSeptrt3v5fHvfx2_HLNq0635ks4V9NZ9dNtmS5jvWQJi9UXPagVRXW-X1qyLkh0gc9Zea4G8IEcLtxsojl9veCAYiOFL06iejTpBOEljvrwDM9tsEeVqnYSy2byK8H/s400/IU_02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399932697162785170" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBZvjRSyIwiw__E9kua3LQ8q1a101A4fEb7Vyj2XRQUeQ2Zz5Tmh4VLoj791blBqfi_rGOrfTm0KJ0pBxum5fCJTDaNTwMtxQuGc7y1k6Yxat71cbl87aFUR_V9yfYYCwYZ9yXmUKQO7i/s1600-h/IU_03.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBZvjRSyIwiw__E9kua3LQ8q1a101A4fEb7Vyj2XRQUeQ2Zz5Tmh4VLoj791blBqfi_rGOrfTm0KJ0pBxum5fCJTDaNTwMtxQuGc7y1k6Yxat71cbl87aFUR_V9yfYYCwYZ9yXmUKQO7i/s400/IU_03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399932793571940754" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHMQuUA3Vo7XmMwVxn5zESQc-Vmqqer9g4zoulbiDuiIUd3ldlONygyIKFrdUCsjL8LU5cA9sTsRfvirfm5lN6H8P8kPVzxJ8lQZW6tFYT1eRh-zewuICoEaPddlUySp6NrIonu1aXpRf/s1600-h/IU_04.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHMQuUA3Vo7XmMwVxn5zESQc-Vmqqer9g4zoulbiDuiIUd3ldlONygyIKFrdUCsjL8LU5cA9sTsRfvirfm5lN6H8P8kPVzxJ8lQZW6tFYT1eRh-zewuICoEaPddlUySp6NrIonu1aXpRf/s400/IU_04.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399932881370082658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLZ3CVYa1C_f9tqi91WSQueR97ENie_BJ_TVqywhGSZVccua7k_-cu6MkasPW6nFtSFN6GJw20rCXBwLcj0Cd1SYg7GXond7U0QRaETk4hIZehKqfh9Xy_Ws7HOZtmk80jkUu5pA4jmKG/s1600-h/IU_05.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLZ3CVYa1C_f9tqi91WSQueR97ENie_BJ_TVqywhGSZVccua7k_-cu6MkasPW6nFtSFN6GJw20rCXBwLcj0Cd1SYg7GXond7U0QRaETk4hIZehKqfh9Xy_Ws7HOZtmk80jkUu5pA4jmKG/s400/IU_05.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399932944967038786" border="0" /></a>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-4846818652167887662009-10-22T09:18:00.001-05:002009-10-22T09:24:32.201-05:00Bass Fishing on the Today ShowBass Fishing doesn't get a lot of mainstream media coverage. Usually I'm okay with that because fishing is a source. It's much like surfing in the way it provides a lot of people with motivation and desire that would not otherwise have it. And trying to force that on people is somewhat counter-productive to helping balance and enrich lives.<br /><br />But occasionally bass fishing gets thrust into the limelight for a moment or two. We can only hope that it's for positive reasons. So I was happy to see FLW Outdoors, the National Guard, Ranger, Evinrude and other companies as well as personalities like Justin Lucas, David Dudley, and more shown positively on the TODAY Show on NBC this morning (Oct 22, 8 a.m. hour).<br /><br />While several of the facts and mentions were inaccurate, the gist of the piece was about how much bass fishing has grown from the days of our grandfathers and how much the sport of professional competitive fishing has grown. I thought Lucas did a great job in the piece and it was a lot of fun to watch I thought.<br /><br />See what you think<br /><br /><div><iframe src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/33429562#33429562" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" height="339" width="425"></iframe><p style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); margin-top: 5px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; text-align: center; width: 425px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; height: 13px; color: rgb(87, 153, 219) ! important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/">Breaking News</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; height: 13px; color: rgb(87, 153, 219) ! important;">World News</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; height: 13px; color: rgb(87, 153, 219) ! important;">News about the Economy</a></p></div>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-79516155589130298042009-10-19T09:41:00.000-05:002009-10-19T09:46:39.498-05:00Cull-or Me Impressed<p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the perfect tournament, an angler would make five casts, catch five 8-pounders, slip all of them in the livewell and practice his winning smile the rest of the day. In other words, there would be no need to ever worry about culling fish.</span></span></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Reality, however, means an angler will ideally have to cull early and often throughout a tournament. This lends itself to the possibility of an angler culling the wrong fish or forgetting to cull and having too many fish in the livewell – neither of which is a winning strategy. Plus, there is the wasted time of trying to find the smallest fish in the livewell so it can be replaced.</span></span></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Luckily, a handful of manufacturers have devised products to aid anglers in keeping their best five bass in a day. Here’s a look at a limit’s worth of those products tournaments anglers have to choose from.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/24472_original.jpg" alt="" align="right" height="155" width="250" /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="">Ardent SmartCull Professional Culling System</b></span></span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Along with reels, Ardent makes a host of accessories for anglers, </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">one of which being the SmartCull </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Professional Culling System. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Basically, Ardent has taken a set of clips and attached a floating, colored ball to them – nothing new there. However, each ball has a set of numbered dials that allow the angler to show the pounds and ounces of each individual fish up to 15 pounds, 15 ounces. It’s a simple, “why didn’t I think of that” feature that ends the hassle of digging through fish to find the smallest one. The system comes with six clips and retails for $39.99. (<a href="http://ardentoutdoors.com/"><b style="">ardentoutdoors.com</b></a>)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="">Cull-Buddy</b></span></span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style=""><img alt="" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/24479.jpg" align="left" height="189" width="250" /></b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The beauty of the Cull-Buddy system is storage. The six colored buoys neatly hang in a holder, which can be mounted on any livewell or storage lid larger than 9 inches by 9 inches. The holder is made from a durable PVC-like material, and it’s easily installed with the included mounting hardware. Aside from convenience, the system also means no more loose clips rattling and tangling in storage compartments. The system retails for $34.99. (<a href="http://cull-buddy.com/"><b style="">cull-buddy.com</b></a>)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: small;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"></st1:place></st1:city></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"></st1:place></st1:city></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"></st1:place></st1:city></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style=""><img alt="" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/24473.JPG" align="right" height="192" width="250" /></b></span></st1:place></st1:city></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style=""><br /></b></span></st1:place></st1:city></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="">Berkley</b></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style=""> Tournament Culling System with 15lb Scale</b></span></span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the technology buffs, the Tournament Culling System with 15lb Scale is as cutting edge as it gets when it comes to culling. Along with eight color-coded culling clips, the system includes a digital scale that stores and sorts fish as an angler weighs them. Not only does this help with quickly culling the smallest bass, it will also add up the weight so the angler knows roughly where they stand. Batteries are included for this system, which retails for $44.95. (<a href="http://www.berkley-fishing.com/index.php"><b style="">berkley-fishing.com</b></a>)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="">Accu-Cull Culling System</b></span></span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Similarly to the Ardent SmartCull, the Accu-Cull system utilizes dials to note the weight of each individual fish up to 9.99 pounds. Yes, you can actually note the hundredths of an ounce, which is great for tournaments where small fish rule the system. The system itself doesn’t actually come with clips, but it mounts to the lid of the livewell and works with clips you may already own thanks to both numbered and color-coded dials. The retail price is $35.99. (<a href="http://www.accucull.com/index.htm"><b style="">accucull.com</b></a>)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style=""><img alt="" style="width: 260px; height: 161px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/24474.gif" align="right" />XTools xCull Manual Cull Kit</b></span></span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="text-indent: 0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Most buoys use a flexible cord, which can get tangled both in storage and when hooked to a fish. The floating xCull buoys are solid plastic, minimizing the problem. The xClips are also easy to use as they don’t have to be run through the gills. While a grease board and pencil do come in the kit, the system is perfectly complimented by the Accu-Cull system. xTools also make the gripNweigh Pro Series Automatic Culling System similar to the </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Berkley</span></span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> model. The retail price for the manual kit is $18.99. (<a href="http://www.xtools.us/"><b style="">xtools.us</b></a>)</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> -- Sean Ostruszka</span></span><br /></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-34230043839023400052009-10-09T14:47:00.000-05:002009-10-09T14:50:01.780-05:00Learning Concentration through Skeet Shooting<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in my grandmother’s backyard shooting trap with my dad. We used a simple thrower like is available from Walmart and shot only for fun. I did the same thing in high school with my friends, and eventually graduated to an actual trap range in college. After about a two-year hiatus, I recently got back into the shooting sports by joining a local skeet club. Most of the members compete across the state and even the country, and they are all talented and more experienced than me. But from them, my love of the shooting sports has fired back up to the point that I can’t keep clay pigeons and double-barrel shotguns out of my easily distracted head.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">If you are not familiar with skeet, visit <a href="http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=49004%20">http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=49004</a> for way more information than you need and to introduce you to the complexities of what should be a simple game.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Skeet has helped me tremendously with developing mental strengths that I can apply to fishing or any task. In my writing, it is often difficult to relay the mental aspects of fishing that so many pros have mastered. While I can explain how to rig a weedless lure, skills like concentration, confidence, determination and discipline are best learned through experience. Those experiences, however, can come from any part of life, like I have learned through skeet.</span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">For example, when I step up to the first and second stations on a skeet field to begin a round, I am focused on the steps I need to take to break the target and can usually hold the focus through the shot. By the time I reach stations three and four, however, I often find myself thinking about a missed shot, admiring another shooter’s shotgun or wondering if the clouds are going to bring rain. When I step up to shoot, lack of concentration causes me to miss as much as, if not more than, poor form and fundamentals.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The same is true in fishing. When I start out a day flipping, I am totally in tune with my casts and lure through the first hour or so. But as the day progresses, my mind starts to wander. I may begin making poor pitches and hang the lure or splash too much. I may miss a subtle bite that I should have felt. Or I end up overfishing each cast and wasting time.</span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />As I progress as a shooter and an angler, I have learned that when distractions work their way into the scene, I can overcome them by slowing down and reviewing the fundamentals. I think about my lure scraping every rock and about the exact place where I want the cast to land. I don’t do it as well as the pros, but those skills come with time. Concentration at least makes my execution better and my reaction time faster.</span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Another lesson I have learned is one of confidence. When I step to the line to shoot skeet, I know that I will break the target. Of course, I don’t break every target, but before I shoot, I tell myself I will. I believe that I will. In fishing, I have to rely on my experiences and gut instincts and tell myself that if it feels right, it will be right, and I will catch fish.</span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />If I miss a shot in skeet, I don’t dwell on it and take a hit to my confidence. I study the situation and try to determine what I did wrong. Back to fishing, if a lure or area doesn’t work, I think about why, but I don’t criticize myself, which would rob me of trust in my instincts. I try to grow my confidence by analyzing the situation and making a change. I have to believe that every move I make is the right one.</span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Don’t be afraid to look to other aspects of life to strengthen your mental skills and competitive abilities for fishing. You’ll be surprised where they show up.<br /><br />-- Curt Niedermier<br /><br /></span></div>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-6994339758018663382009-10-07T09:13:00.000-05:002009-10-07T09:15:59.433-05:00An Awful First Rule<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">It was told to me by a friend and longtime musky guide, and I wish he never mentioned it.</span></span> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Probably five years ago, I was fishing with Tony Grant when I hooked a giant. I'm talking 40-plus pounds of behemoth musky. And the best part about it: I had her hooked good. Then it happened. I felt her move beneath the water to attempt to jump, I leaned my rod a little to try and stop her, and then nothing. No weight, no jump, no anything. She was just gone. I will never forget that awful feeling, or what followed it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">After crumbling to my knees on the deck, I looked to Grant in hopes he would inform me of what went wrong. He just looked back and said, "Nothing. The first rule of musky fishing is muskies get off."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">I wish he was wrong, but he's absolutely accurate. I have no idea how they are able to dislodge massive hooks like surgeons, but they do. And they were in rare form this past weekend. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Having scored pretty well on a </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" times="" new="" roman="" ><a href="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/community/profile/blog.cfm?browseby=216">fall trip to Kinkaid</a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> last November, and hearing of a hot bite, my co-worker, Alan, his friend and I again made the trek into southern Illinois to chase some slime. And just like last fall, we got the net wet. Little after 2 p.m. I had a 45 1/2-incher rush a nickel-and-black Shumway Flasher and get just enough of the hook to allow us to get some pictures.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><img src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/24194.JPG" alt="" /></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">A trophy like that should have made the trip an incredible success, and don't get me wrong, it was a successful trip. But the four other muskies we didn't get pictures of sure left us with sour tastes in our mouths. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">For some reason – and I don't know a single person who knows why – muskies will sometimes get in the habit of nipping at lures. They will launch up to lures like hook-seeking torpedoes, looking like they're about to not just eat, but destroy what they see. Then right before they close their mouths, they slow down and daintily nip the back. On the frustration scale, it ranks right up there with the popcorn kernel stuck between your back two molars. Again, why they do this is unknown, but when they get in that mood there is little an angler can do to get them out of it. I have recently been told burning smaller lures will sometimes get them to commit, but that is the first I have heard of any remedy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">If you couldn't guess, the muskies at Kinkaid were severely in the nipping funk, and unfortunately it cost Alan the trophy of a lifetime. Prior to the giant, we had three muskies between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. that all hit our lures, but didn't grab hooks. Regardless, the action had us pretty optimistic. Then just before 2 p.m. we motored into a small cut I had fished previously and had success. Sure enough, about midway into it Alan made a cast back to an area with an orange-and-black Musky Mayhem Tackle Double Cowgirl and had a 50-plus-inch musky eat the lure no more than 10 feet from the boat. Unfortunately, like the previous three, she only got a taste. She thrashed her head one time and the Cowgirl was air born, with the fish sinking back to the depths, surely with a smirk. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Just thinking back on those two seconds still makes me sick. Luckily, I know where she lives, and maybe, just maybe, later this year we might get to see her again to break the rule.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Slam the hooks!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">- Sean Ostruszka</span><br /></span></span></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-6501170948189018422009-10-05T14:25:00.000-05:002009-10-05T14:29:27.603-05:00Getting Schooled on the Wacky Rig<p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">By Sean Ostruszka<br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Up until last Saturday, a wacky rig ranked down there with 12-inch swimbaits and dough balls as a viable option for me to catch bass. To be fair, I'd never really given it a time to shine. Then again, I never really had a situation to use it. In fact, it was so low on my list of productive techniques that when one of the other editors here asked if he could have any packs of a particular brand of worm, I obliged. </span></span></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0dGZ-z7ltY32H7IF1uh3cjiFGpG0i-bmssFwX4KCG1e1B6huEwG2yHYmvJHwyUqmkBJVFwswD2eMWnmnRnhgL7pDRlTHBqFQXu853Zfzgxp9yW7m89tY2OXnYbnofJbxQQ4tlaW55iNC/s1600-h/9631_1160012917569_1145176822_30511736_6501811_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0dGZ-z7ltY32H7IF1uh3cjiFGpG0i-bmssFwX4KCG1e1B6huEwG2yHYmvJHwyUqmkBJVFwswD2eMWnmnRnhgL7pDRlTHBqFQXu853Zfzgxp9yW7m89tY2OXnYbnofJbxQQ4tlaW55iNC/s320/9631_1160012917569_1145176822_30511736_6501811_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389200177111957634" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Then Brian Lindberg, FLW Outdoors Magazine's creative director, went about whupping me Saturday with the same worms rigged wacky-style. Needless to say, I wish I had my worms back.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">How he rigged the worm and other techniques regarding the wacky rig will be covered in-depth in some of the upcoming issues of FLW Outdoors Magazine, so I won't expound on them here. However, I did want to talk about one thing I found interesting while Brain went about throttling me.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Wacky rigs usually utilize a soft-plastic stick bait, and most stick baits have predominantly the same pen-like shape. However, the shape and flexibility of the worm can be much more important to the success of the rig than many may give credit. We both were using the same color, but different worms. Brian caught fish; I didn't. The second I switched to the other type of worm, my line started getting tugged on too. This wasn't just a fluke occurrence either. A few days after our trip, Brian went out again with a co-worker and experienced the same thing. What we noticed was how the different shapes produced different fluttering actions and different rates of fall. On a rig that doesn't have much action to begin with, those two aspects are very key. Remember that the next time you're not getting bit on a wacky rig. A simple switch to a different worm may be all that's necessary.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Slam the hooks!</span></span></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-48580532707898429642009-09-29T20:21:00.001-05:002010-01-18T09:37:10.270-06:00Going Deep: Crankbaits<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b>Part One: Cranking Cover with the Jackall MC/60<br />By Jason Sealock<br /></b></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Reading FLW Outdoors Magazines on a regular basis, you’ve probably noticed numerous articles on crankbaits – choosing the right ones, where and when to fish them, what the differences are b</span><span style="font-size:100%;">etween different properties and more. For some great crankbait tips go back and check out our March 2009 issue, May 2009 issue and our July 2009 issue.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNtyQpGGZ66s574rSM1mnutz_Aylc35rRge7ndozwNHCY_VBMbpvhkRzv7o_NingC49JNAeSBxG2Ms5tGSduPeHfZ2TSVx7xnZmdI2eheANp5X5ZuI2DrxU7J1eO-RD4kJ2WOKpSW-8VB/s1600-h/photo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNtyQpGGZ66s574rSM1mnutz_Aylc35rRge7ndozwNHCY_VBMbpvhkRzv7o_NingC49JNAeSBxG2Ms5tGSduPeHfZ2TSVx7xnZmdI2eheANp5X5ZuI2DrxU7J1eO-RD4kJ2WOKpSW-8VB/s320/photo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387069768737213490" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">One particular subject o</span><span style="font-size:100%;">f interest to us personally that we’ve not covered much has been cranking shallow cover. We ran a piece on shallow cranking in general a couple years ago, but we’ve been doing quite a bit of shallow cranking this year on stump flats, around laydowns and other various shallow cover with great success and we’ve familiarized ourselves with a few new baits since then.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I have several favorites when it comes to shallo</span><span style="font-size:100%;">w cranking. A Bomber Flat A, a Lucky Craft RC 1.5, and a Rapala DT6 are staples in my tackle box, and I throw them often when I’m fishing shallow. I’ve found certain banks, areas and even lakes where the fish just seem to bite one better than the other, so none of them are indispensable. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">But one new lure I’ve found a new appreciation for this year is a Jackall MC/60. I’ve thrown both the SR (shallow runner) and MR (medium runner) a lot </span><span style="font-size:100%;">this year, and I was able to pull David Swendseid, Product Specialist Manager at Jackall – someone who thoroughly understands the s</span><span style="font-size:100%;">cience behind bait design, aside at ICAST and in several interviews since then, and he broke down this particular bait.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="">The Basics of Design<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Crankbaits are tools. They can plow deep grass beds or rattle the bark off shallow logs. They can be burned, slow rolled, ripped and waked. They range in size from a thumbnail up to the size of your hand. And color offerings between all the manufacturers run the spectrum. What separates one tool from another is functionality.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The MC/60 was designed to be an all-terrain crankbait</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> by lure-design mas</span><span style="font-size:100%;">termind, Seiji Kato. “The desire in building t</span><span style="font-size:100%;">his crankbait was three fold,” Swendseid said. “First, Kato had to create a crankbait with actions similar to a perfectly balanced wood crankbait. But next, it had to have displacement characteristics able to push a significant amount of water. And last, it had to be capable of instantly regaining trajectory after colliding with an object.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxvgATga3XRApoFgdIqqXMu6MoHvQzytA5Lunv0d2DIat9qsuNbKSS45UTlk6IEj83K3admKe31OD2sD9AaM71dC8k2-VkTnDtsiuiGrEp6pKfXRJ0E8_VXja3Nmt1LBxfpvlm-8C6jkcC/s1600-h/MC60a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxvgATga3XRApoFgdIqqXMu6MoHvQzytA5Lunv0d2DIat9qsuNbKSS45UTlk6IEj83K3admKe31OD2sD9AaM71dC8k2-VkTnDtsiuiGrEp6pKfXRJ0E8_VXja3Nmt1LBxfpvlm-8C6jkcC/s320/MC60a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387067981436991058" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">If you know anything about design theory, making a “vehicle” with a perfectly balanced action that can collide into something and then return to that perfect balance the instant it collides is not an easy task. Put that difficulty underwater, and now the designers have to contend with hydrodynamics compounded by an already erratic action.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">“Many crankbaits inherit a problem known as ‘sliding’ or ‘jogging’ when colliding with cover,” Swendseid said. “The impact hinders the bait’s swim motion, fouling the lures tracking and oftentimes causes it to roll over ax</span><span style="font-size:100%;">is with no return.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">So what’s that mean in laymen’s terms? Anyone who has fished crankbaits around shallow wood has seen it. The bait hits something. It kicks over on it’s side, and scoots along sideways, even rolling over and coming to the surface before getting the train back on the rails so to speak. The reason is most crankbaits are made to swim straight in open water. Bumping the bottom is something we as anglers do because we’ve all heard that the erratic action is what triggers fish into biting. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">But it’s not just erratic action that triggers fish into feeding and that thought process drove the design of MC/60. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The MC/60 has a certain and specific circumference in the first third of the head region. Internally, there is an incorporated ballast system that rests directly on the lower floor of the bait’s keel. When the bait impacts an object, the force changes its trajectory along the object. H</span><span style="font-size:100%;">owever, when it is in the free space beyond the object, the weighted keel forces the bait back down and tracking true. The missing “meat” in the tail also allows for better hydrodynamics and less drag against the form and improved obstacle resistance.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Simply put the bait rolls with the “hard knocks.”<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="">Hyper Swimming -vs. Erratic Action<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Crankbaits are as different as species of fish. They can have different designs, materials, shapes and sizes. To gain performance in a crankbait, however many factors come into play. Ballasts, surface planes, wall thickn</span><span style="font-size:100%;">esses and bill shapes all factor heavily into how the crankbait will track, balance, vibrate and swim. Sometimes the design creates an erratic action. Sometimes the way anglers fish a crankbait creates erratic action. Most anglers have been taught that the erratic action or change in action triggers strikes. Swendseid believes otherwise.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPE79gPoiMWomyyuNh0XLWBr8gSFYZHaK3ajFDO2-uHQjG41TtiomhsxW_nB1B-fWKQN07rfb6zMYkusYTYQsStum7NyIBCiqyGMls89AZfgSrIBOBr3RA82A0OtRHPuKc1f6pvSKxGTb/s1600-h/MC60b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPE79gPoiMWomyyuNh0XLWBr8gSFYZHaK3ajFDO2-uHQjG41TtiomhsxW_nB1B-fWKQN07rfb6zMYkusYTYQsStum7NyIBCiqyGMls89AZfgSrIBOBr3RA82A0OtRHPuKc1f6pvSKxGTb/s320/MC60b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387068213657733890" border="0" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">“Erratic action may not be the most effective movement of a crankbait,” Swendseid said. “It is one quality that may attract fish to bite, but it’s certainly not the only one. If a bass discovers a school of crappie or shad or singles out a tiny red ear or a rainbow trout, those prey swim linearly althoug</span><span style="font-size:100%;">h in a hyper state. It is not erratic action, but rather quick intense movement in which bass key.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Swendseid calls the ideal replication of this action in a crankbait Psycho-motor Agitation. Evolved predators can easily detect nervous micro-movements in prey. Because the flicker rate is so much faster in a bass’s eye than in a human eye, they see frames of movement in a much more still life captures where we see everything as a blur of movement. So a crankbait that has a rapid tight vibration will attract fish without the erratic action. Add an excellent wobble and vibration along with an uncanny ability to re-align tracking after collision, and the combination resulted in the Jackall MC/60. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="">Real-world applications<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The editors have been throwing the MC/60 for several months now, and as you can see from some of the photos and signs of wear, the baits have been producing. From fish on stump flats, to bass around rock piles, to bass on points and humps and especially around rip rap, the bait has produced. The key is definitely in having a tight subtle wiggle around cover. It just feels like the bait comes over and around cover with a steady track and the bass really responded to our presentations.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Our favorite episode happened just this past weekend. We located some fish schooling on the surface in one of the bays on <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Kentucky</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Lake</st1:placetype></st1:place>. We went over immediately and started catching the fish on poppers, walking topwaters and even a soft jerkbait. But we were seeing ten times as many fish as we were catching both on the surface on our graph. I picked up the Jackall MC/60 MR which runs maybe 7 feet. The bottom was 11 feet where we were and dropped off into 20 feet. What I noticed, however, is all the bass were streaking up into clouds of bait on the depth finder. I figured if I could run it by the bass just over their heads it might produce.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCzKKUC9dHY9WTZFP9LWsJTkFIyE2jqjjawAOv2IeId8IiKml60iPb4TDzYyFBXfp_HL2iiPXmsXZ8bhWwtcR1AJLkU1bK691f_4-kx13-6T0oEN0xzwN51UsP5fk2K8rQ6F8mb77-efR/s1600-h/IMG_0552.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCzKKUC9dHY9WTZFP9LWsJTkFIyE2jqjjawAOv2IeId8IiKml60iPb4TDzYyFBXfp_HL2iiPXmsXZ8bhWwtcR1AJLkU1bK691f_4-kx13-6T0oEN0xzwN51UsP5fk2K8rQ6F8mb77-efR/s320/IMG_0552.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387070133410249186" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">That proved to be a dramatic understatement when we boated our 50th fish. Three of us fishing, we literally argued over who got the one pair of pliers next. It was a race to get your bait back out there because we had three MC/60s going at once, and we caught them nearly every cast. While we did cull through a lot of short fish, we managed some nice 3- and 4-pound bass.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">We experimented with other crankbaits but this one crankbait in this one depth was the ticket to consistent catches on that spot on that day. That’s not to say another crankbait wouldn’t work in another situation similar to that on another day. That’s the point to be made about crankbaits. They are tools. No one tool does every job and no one tool works everyday. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in; line-height: 115%;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Just like tools, crankbaits are made very differently. Some tools work better than others. Some don’t work at all. And some work in places where there really hasn’t been a tool designed yet for that very specific task. It’s all about having the toolbox full of the “right tools” so that when the situation presents itself, we’re prepared.</span></p>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-51150256837619091102009-09-28T09:35:00.000-05:002009-09-28T09:39:54.328-05:00I'm Loving ... the Yellow Magic Popper<div><p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">By Sean Ostruszka<br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Having recently cleaned off the lure shelf in my office, I thought it might be about time I start a new series of blogs -- one that hopefully will keep my office a little cleaner. So I give you the "I'm Loving the ..." series. Basically, if there's a lure, reel, rod, etc that is really helping me leave the lake with my hands smelling fishy, I'm calling it out here.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 487px; height: 197px;" src="http://www.flwoutdoors.com/_storage/community/users/images/1/0/3853/23846.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Which brings me to my first contestant: the Yellow Magic Popper. After the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, I was tracking down lures the top finishers used so we could showcase them in the magazine. One of those anglers was Folgers pro Scott Suggs of </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Bryant</span></span></st1:city><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">, </span></span><st1:state st="on"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Ark.</span></span></st1:state></st1:place><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> And one of those lures he was using was the Yellow Magic Popper.<br /><br /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Having heard some good rumblings about this little topwater, I asked him what made it so special. His response was simple: the "BLOOP!" He wasn't lying. That little lure creates the deepest and loudest "bloop" I've heard. I've watched how bass react to it, and they don't know what to do. It freaks them out for a second before they crush it. Suggs also told me his trick of increasing the size of the belly hook to make it even louder. It's incredible. You can hear the noise from the very start of the cast, and better yet, it doesn't take much of a rod twitch to make the lure mouth off. The noisy action does hurt the lure's walking ability, even when using a loop knot, but it still walks a little. However, around cover it's lights out. The lure comes with a long, feathered trailer hook that, when combined with one or two pops next to a piece of cover, bass love. I've had bass hit the lure so violently they shot themselves completely out of the water. And that's just fun!</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Slam the hooks!</span></span></p></div>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6156579233313353513.post-35776790101499398162009-09-24T15:18:00.000-05:002009-09-24T15:22:26.993-05:00College Fishing<div style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><p><span style="font-size:100%;">By Curt Niedermier<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">For the past few weeks I have been working on a feature story about the top colleges for bass anglers. Through a survey, hours on the phone and quite a bit more research on top of that, I have developed a list of the top 25 colleges in the country where a bass angler will feel right at home.</span></p> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">For the results, you’ll have to wait until the January/February 2010 issue of FLW Outdoors Magazine comes out, and when it does I hope you’ll take the time to send us your thoughts on schools that should have made the list, those that shouldn’t have and any other comments you may want to share. After all, college rankings are as much about debate and bragging rights as anything.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Right now, I want to share a few things I have learned while putting all this together. First off, it is a great time to be a college angler. Most clubs fish anywhere from three to six club qualifiers each semester, as well as traveling to invitational events held by nearby schools and the major national events. From those I have talked to, there is so much interest that clubs that are only a year or two old have doubled, tripled or increased their membership even more in the last year to the point that there aren’t enough boaters to carry along co-anglers. I’ll get to that point in a second.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Much of the increase in interest is thanks to National Guard FLW College Fishing. No, I am not trying to toot the horn of FLW Outdoors. Rather, the format that FLW and the National Guard have put together is simply the best and most convenient for college anglers due to the two biggest hindrances club members face, as relayed to me in their interviews: lack of boats and lack of money. College anglers have neither. Sure, there are schools out there with a dozen anglers with boats, including some impressive rigs owned by anglers who also fish BFL and local team tournament series, but many are simple johnboats or older bass boast, which are perfect for fishing locally but not the best for national tournaments.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Thanks to National Guard FLW College Fishing, no one needs to own a boat. Anglers don’t even need a wad of cash. FLW provides a travel allowance and puts student competitors in Stren Series pros' boats for tournaments. Many northern schools were especially thrilled with the system. There hadn’t been many opportunities to compete on the national collegiate level for them in the past because of the distance of travel and boat requirements. With divisions closer to home and boats provided, some of that pain has been alleviated.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Another thing I learned is that many of these college anglers are highly skilled, and all are highly motivated. As mentioned, some club anglers across the country are both collegiate competitors and BFL competitors. Most who fit that mold grew up around tournament fishing, and they have fished events with their parents in the past. For those who grew up simply loving the outdoors and fishing, that’s where the motivation comes in. They raise money, volunteer for charities and beat the banks of any water near campus, just happy to be wetting a line.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">For those of us in the fishing industry, especially those of us closely linked to bass tournaments, their enthusiasm is reassuring. Enthusiasm is contagious, and college fishing is growing, which means in the next 10 years there will be a wave of recent college graduates hooked on fishing who now have time and money to put back into fishing.<br /><br /></span></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">So, if for some reason the economy and current state of bass fishing has you down, go visit a college campus, talk to college anglers or take in a National Guard FLW College Fishing weigh-in, because the future is looking good.</span></div></div>The Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00908882216108788876noreply@blogger.com0