Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2024 i Bassmaster

September 2 Labor Day. The not-quiteend of summer marks the last major recreational boating holiday of the year. 8 Grandparents’ Day. Fish with Grandpa’s favorite lure or, if you’ve still got them, take Grandpa and Grandma out on the lake. 13 Friday the 13th. A day for superstitious anglers to work on tackle management rather than presentation. October 1 International Coffee Day. An excuse to enjoy a new blend of morning joe while also double-checking your soft-plastics horde for coffee-scented tubes and worms. 14 Indigenous Peoples Day. Honor the original inhabitants of our great nation by learning more about the indigenous history of your favorite fishery. Then tell a friend.…

Little Jig, Big Pig My son, Carter Leman, was just 7 years old when he caught this bass on September 2 of last year from our dock on Lake Lancer in Gladwin, Mich. He caught it on a tiny spinner rig and a kids’ pole. He fished all day long without catching anything. He was determined to catch something. It wasn’t until it was getting dark that he caught this monster bass — 5.2 pounds and 21 inches. It was one of those great parenting moments when you get to see your son fall in love with the sport you also love. Sincerely, Bob Leman Gladwin, Mich.…

WHEN DOZENS OF anglers bailed from the Bassmaster Elite Series five years ago, one of my chief questions was would they ever be allowed back? From the beginning, the answer was clear: Only if they requalified. Obviously, there have been exceptions to that rule by way of the Legends Exemption. Anglers who’ve built up points through the years by winning the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors or by winning the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year title are eligible for the Legends Exemption — but only if it’s extended to them by B.A.S.S. officials. The others have to requalify through the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN — and that mission is harder than it’s ever been in the 57-year history of B.A.S.S. There…

I’VE BECOME LAZY. Call it old age, indifference or lack of motivation, but for the past several years I’ve slid into a fishing rut that is unbecoming. Not so very long ago, I’d hook up the boat and drive to a different lake every weekend for not only a change of scenery, but to challenge myself to find the key to success on an unfamiliar body of water. For the past three years, I’ve quit challenging myself. I’ve been satisfied fishing the same two lakes with the same old stuff in the same old spots. That finally changed when my longtime friend Paul Michele invited me to join him on a little Florida adventure this past July. “So here’s what I’m thinking,” Michele pitched, “is we will get on e-bikes…

Perched on the Louisiana/Texas border, the city of Shreveport is flanked by Caddo Lake and Lake Bistineau — host lakes for the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX event to be held Oct. 19-20. A city with a rich history tethered to the Red River, Shreveport is bristling with family activities and educational opportunities for outdoors lovers, with easy access to some of the South’s most scenic bass fisheries. 16.17 Weight in pounds of Caddo Lake’s record largemouth, caught in March 2010 30,000 Gallons of water in the largest tank at the Shreveport Aquarium 318 Local area code, doubling as a label for Great Raft Brewing Co.’s signature golden ale 92,000 Square feet of the Sci-Port Discovery Center, including IMAX and planetarium…

B.A.S.S. fans react to Steve Kennedy’s epic glidebait bite at the TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Elite at Smith Lake in June. Bill Daily Got to spend a day with Steve on Lake Martin several years ago. Great guy. Will never forget it. Nick Terpselas Need a camera in his boat everywhere Steve Kennedy Pro Angler is thinking of throwing a glide / giant swimbait! Chris Nation Steve Kennedy Pro Angler is definitely one of my favorites to watch! You can tell it’s not all about the money or trophies for him that he truly loves fishing now as much as he did as a kid. Love listening to him get excited when he gets these awesome bites! Mark Weichold Steve Kennedy Pro Angler My favorite Angler love ya man!!!!! Get um…

What’s the best way to adjust for the weight loss when switching from AGM to lithium batteries to maintain hole shot and overall speed? @sgrlwyr, Instagram This is a common question we get from readers and one to consider before switching from AGM to lithium. As always, the effect of the change can vary from one boat to another. The key to remember is that switching from AGM to lithium allows you to remove a significant amount of weight from the rear of the boat. For example, a Dakota Lithium battery can weigh as little as half of what a lead acid battery weighs yet provide twice the power. Also, most boats, especially older models, were designed to perform while carrying the heavier AGM-style batteries. Some anglers report losing speed…

WATER ALWAYS FINDS a way, and so do anglers who leverage this truth by targeting the places that enable water movement. Canals, ditches, cuts — call ’em what you want — these typically narrow waterways linking larger bodies often hold overlooked opportunity. John Crews knows this concept well, as he integrated a prominent connector into his 2022 Elite win at the St. Johns River. The Rodman canal, linking its namesake reservoir to the St. Johns, yielded a key bite while Crews awaited the lock, and that fish helped push the Virginia pro across the finish line. “They always need to be considered because any type of funnel is a feeding area.”– John Crews “They always need to be considered because any type of funnel is a feeding area,” Crews said…

Following the fall transition is easier if you know which clues to look for Water type: Highland reservoir Water temp: Mid-70s to low 80s Clarity: 2 to 3 feet Depth: 5 to 30 feet Structure: Rock, laydowns, brush Cover: Docks, overhanging trees Forage: Shad, bluegill Weather: Partly sunny with afternoon clouds increasing Wind/current: Calm conditions Experts: A trio of Elite Series pros explain how they unlock the late summer/fall transition 1 FIND THE FOOD Wes Logan Springville, Ala. First move: Running his Skeeter FXR20 into major creeks, Logan starts midway back and makes his best judgment on whether he needs to be working outward or inward, based on weather. “The bait is going to be moving to the backs of the creeks and the backs of the pockets, on the…

Before the Elite Series, you won the Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops in 2020. But you actually narrowly missed winning it in 2019. What was it like to come back to the championship and win it all? The year before it was on my home lake at Chickamauga. It was August, and I remember it being really tough. I honestly thought 17 pounds a day would win it, no problem. We had a really good week, too. We ended up catching about 20 pounds a day, but Bethel beat us. That was heartbreaking, honestly, because we did everything we needed to do to win, but it just wasn’t our time. I was devastated, but we fished really clean, and other than a 6-pounder…

New science from the Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Auburn University has shed light on a lesser-known member of the black bass family: Micropterus cataractae, colloquially known as the shoal bass. Distinct from its largemouth and smallmouth relatives, shoal bass thrive in eddies and rapids in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Using funding from Sport Fish Restoration, Auburn master’s student Jamie Leigh Rogers worked alongside unit co-leader Dr. Shannon Brewer to implant shoal bass with radio transmitters from five sites along nearly 60 miles of Georgia’s Flint River. After 15 months and four seasons of tracking, data from nearly 2,000 waypoints revealed new insights: Shoal bass moved on average just 820 feet per day.…

The images below were submitted by Bassmaster readers, and our antique tackle expert, Rob Pavey, appraises the value of each fascinating find. To submit yours, email editorial@bassmaster.com. Heddon Midget River Runt Spook Scott Payseur, email $5 to $10 One of Heddon’s most popular lines of lures was its River Runt Spook series that emerged in the 1940s and gradually replaced the company’s glass-eyed wooden “River Runt” plugs that made their debut in the 1920s. “Spook” was Heddon’s trademarked name for its line of plastic lures. River Runt Spooks came in many models, including the Midget, Jointed, Sinker, Floater, “No-Snag,” Deep Diving and plenty of others. Many colors were offered over the years, with scarcer finishes being the most sought after. Shakespeare Marhoff casting reel with box Jim Cymore, email $70…

ACTIVE ANGLER Clifford Pirch has watched his Western colleagues leave one by one, making their way east toward homes in Alabama or Tennessee. But from his home near Arizona’s Tonto National Forest, Pirch feels little desire to follow them. More than two decades into his career, the three-time U.S. Open winner is still a persistent threat on the Bassmaster Elite Series. “I probably drive half of the time and fly the other half,” Pirch says. “Some of the Western guys fly to all of the events and leave their boats back East, but I like to bring mine home.” This season, Pirch is enamored with a few new pieces of gear, namely a new Lobina Lures Loco Rico — a popper with a paint job on the bottom of the…

THE FIRST TIME Mark Zona got a smallmouth bite in northern Michigan on an umbrella rig, he couldn’t contain himself. “Oh my God,” recalls Zona, host of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show and The Bassmasters TV co-host. “It was one of the most ferocious strikes I’ve ever gotten from a bass. It was mind-blowing.” A few years have passed since that big revelation occurred on a brisk fall day, but you can bet Zona has an umbrella rig on his deck anytime he heads north during the fall. What is an umbrella rig? It consists of a lead head with multiple wires sprouting out behind in an umbrella-like configuration. Small jigs, rigged with swimbaits, are attached to the wires, and the rig is pulled through the water to resemble a school…

EVERY BASSMASTER ELITE Series pro has a painful tale of a near-win, a total bomb or something in between where a key decision shifted outcomes one way or another. Within these tales we find a rich harvest of techniques, tactics and timing that can help every angler sharpen their game. NEIGHBORS NEEDED Brandon Lester Event: 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe Scenario: Late August brought the Elites to their second-to-last event on the 370,000-acre Missouri River reservoir shared by North Dakota and South Dakota. You’d think such a giant lake would scatter the field, but when Lester found the opposite to be true, he faced a question of personal style. “Lake Oahe is a very vast body of water, and usually, on [big lakes] like that, there’s a…