Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Bassmaster

THE ANGLER Jamie Hartman knows what you’re feeling. After a couple of long tournament weekends on the water, your forearms are throbbing, your wrists seem to have weights wrapped around them and your hands feel like they’ve been in a trash compactor. Sometimes, that’s the price you pay for hunting down the biggest fish on a body of water filled with dozens of other bass anglers gunning for the same prize. These days, most tournament anglers are wielding serious electronics, powerful boats and a library full of knowledge while they’re on the water. That means every advantage you can find is a meaningful one, and Hartman says he’s found one under his very fingertips: a carbon-fiber rod. BLUE-COLLAR BREAKDOWN A decade ago, carbon fiber was the en vogue, space-age material…

1 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Smith Lake, Ala. 1 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Junior Series, Smith Lake, Ala. 5 Huk B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia, Logan Martin Lake, Ala. 6-8 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk, Lake Guntersville, Ala. 14 Huk B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia, Lake Fork, Texas 26-28 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Lake Hartwell, S.C.…

The images below were submitted by Bassmaster readers, and our antique tackle expert, Karl White, appraises the value of each unique find. To submit yours, email editorial@bassmaster.com. Go-Deeper Crab Harrison Prince, email $15 Heddon Go-Deeper Crab. This is the predecessor of the Heddon Crab Wiggler. Made in the 1950s. Casting Reel Mike Belliveau, email $200 This is an older Shakespeare reel which was made for casting tournaments. I would evaluate this at $200. Nice reel! Dunks Popper Dawn Nassar, email $80 Best lure Carter Dunks ever made. It was made in the 1930s. I would value it at $80. Spinning Reel Dennis McDonough, email $20 Made in the early 1950s. Johnson had to put a side exit because Zebco had the patent for front exit. Does appear to be a…

Take a look at some of our B.A.S.S. fans’ reaction to the news of Forrest L. Wood’s passing: Donnie D. Martindale Wow, Skeeter and Ranger bass boat revolutionized the bass boat industry. Thank you Mr. Forrest L. Wood. Rest In Peace, and thank you for your outstanding contribution to the bass fishing Industry. Charles Fowler R.I.P. Forrest Wood. Thank you for your vision and innovation to the world of sport fishing. Your legend will never die. May God grant you a perfect rest and a peaceful sleep. Spencer Longshore R.I.P. Forrest..knew him well. Did lots of business with him…owned a Ranger…he was a gentleman!!! Kent Warren I was lucky enough to have met Forrest when I got my first Ranger and got to talk with him at several tournaments after…

Bedding In The Bushes It’s happening! The spring spawning season is finally here and three hawkeye Elite Series pros share their favorite tactics for boating brutes Water type: Southern lake Outside: Large flats with brush and trees Water temp: 60 to 62 degrees Clarity: 1 foot or less Depth: 1 to 3 feet Structure: Flooded trees, stumps Cover: Buckbrush, hay grass Forage: Shad, bream Weather: Cloudy and warm Wind: 10 to 15 mph Experts: A trio of Elite Series pros offer their insights for tempting spawners. 1 PERIMETER PATROL Garrett Paquette Canton, Mich. First move: Paquette starts on the perimeter and squeezes inward. “I want to find some deeper water in the vicinity of the spawning flat. If I start catching the big ones deep, that tells me the…

Get In The Zone I DON’T GIVE advice often, because it is typically bad. However, I am confident in this little nugget: If you are an angler between the ages of 13 and 19, register to fish the Big Bass Zone Junior Championship (BBZJC). If you are outside this age range, pass along the advice to someone that fits the bill. Let me explain why. First, the event removes just about every hurdle that exists in traditional bass fishing competitions. For one, it is an online derby. Once a fish is caught, two photos need to be taken showing the length and girth, and then submitted through the event’s website (thebbz.com). Once registered, a competitor can fish wherever they’d like (river, pond, lake, etc.), however they want (from the bank,…

11 Worship of Tools Day. This could be a clue to clean up your shop or text your fishing buddy. Your choice. 17 St. Patrick’s Day. Bass always wear green, but you’ll have to join them today. 20 International Earth Day. Consider giving back to the Earth and your fellow anglers by cleaning up a local roadway or launch ramp. 22 National Goof Off Day. Not that you needed an excuse, but there’s at least one reason to hit the water today. 25 Waffle Day. Celebrate in a Waffle House or by making waffles for your spouse. 28 Weed Appreciation Day. Surprisingly, a holiday exists based on the worship of hydrilla. Here, here for habitat!…

The city of Eufaula, perched on the Alabama/Georgia border, may hold just 13,000 residents, but it packs a gigantic punch in the fishing industry. In 1971, Bassmaster pro Tom Mann hatched a new business in a Eufaula garage. The concept? To make waterproof fishfinders that were fast. Mann named that company Humminbird. The rest, as they say, is history. 45,181 acres Total size of Lake Eufaula 14 Years since a top-tier B.A.S.S. event last visited the historic lake 49 Years that Humminbird has maintained offices in Eufaula 100 feet The lake’s maximum depth 40 Years that the Lake Eufaula record bass, a 16-pound, 8-ounce monster, has held…

NOBODY CALLS WAYNE NAUDE LUCKY. The African trophy angler has caught too many 10-pounders for that. However, divine providence cannot be ruled out the day he caught South Africa’s record bass. It’s a great story. Naude, his brother Michael and father Noddy raced confidently down the lake at the 2018 Loskop Dam Big Bass Bonanza and got dibs on a hot springtime location, but their dreams were unexpectedly scuttled. A faulty trolling motor sent them speeding back to the launch. The crestfallen anglers tied to a bony snag at the boat ramp to grapple the whipping winds and choppy waves. They made adjustments, fixed the motor and prepared to rejoin the tourney when Naude saw something in the water that stopped him cold: big, bulging, bottle-cap eyes. “Bass eyes bug…

The Forrest Wood Persona AS MOST OF you know, Forrest Wood, the founder of Ranger Boats and one of the first true legends of our sport, died in late January at the age of 87. A lot of the folks I work with knew him well, and I hate that I didn’t. Apparently, he was one of the easiest guys in the world to know. He was a true Southern gentleman with that familiar cowboy hat, a welcoming drawl and a smile as big as his home state of Arkansas. The silhouette of him in that hat has become as synonomous with Ranger as the shield has with B.A.S.S. But through all of his accomplishments, he always had time for people, big or small. That being said, I feel silly…

Drew Cook Hometown: Midway, Florida Last year, you capped your first Elite Series season by winning Rookie of the Year. How much does that mean? Without a doubt, it was really meaningful. I’ve said this before, but the Rookie of the Year in 2019 was huge. Ten years down the road, when the Patrick Walters and the Garrett Paquettes and the Luke Palmers of the world are all household names, it’s going to mean even more. We had the largest rookie class in Elite Series history, and it was the stoutest rookie class of all time if you ask me. We weren’t just a bunch of dudes that came out of nowhere. We knew who we were, we had fished against each other before, and we knew that we were…

Smallmouth bass populations are being threatened by an unlikely suspect — a subspecies of black bass recognized a little over a decade ago, the Alabama bass, Robert Montgomery reports. Alabama bass resemble but grow larger than spotted bass and are able to outcompete largemouth bass and hybridize with smallmouth bass to grow their numbers. Concerns are currently being raised in Tennessee and North Carolina, where suspected illegal introductions of the fish — transported from the nearby Coosa River system — are negatively affecting fisheries. Alabama bass have all but eradicated largemouth bass from the main body of Lake Norman. Elsewhere, in the Volunteer State, fisheries experts are concerned that the spread of Alabama bass will impact the quality of iconic waterways in the upper Tennessee River system, like Dale Hollow.…

The inaugural Huk Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia kicks off March 5 at Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake. That tournament runs in conjunction with the 2020 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk. That’s a long way to say the very first B.A.S.S. Nation kayak series is underway, and there’s plenty of time this year to get involved. The Logan Martin event is followed by a March 14 tilt at Lake Fork, Texas; a May 23 derby on Chickamauga Lake; an August 15 date at La Crosse, Wisconsin; and an August 29 tournament at Clear Lake, California. Each event features a total purse of $30,000 with a $250 entry fee. “You don’t have to look very hard these days to find a…

Do I really need to change my fuel-separator filter every year, even though I never find water in the old one? @Jefferylholland2242, Instagram If you don’t mind breaking down or paying for repairs, no, you don’t. But if you want to take good care of your outboard and prevent unexpected issues, spend the money. According to Ry Landry at Yamaha, “the filter will not only capture water that might have gotten into the fuel but also other contaminants that are present in fuel. “There are a lot more contaminants in fuel than most people realize,” he adds. “Changing your filters yearly is a very important step. This helps to ensure you won’t be surprised with an outboard failure while on the water.” What are some tips for using livewells to…

WHENEVER BRANDON LESTER is having a slow day on the water, he fortifies himself with the belief that “they’re always biting somewhere, and all I have to do is find that ‘somewhere.’” Over his tournament career, the Bassmaster Elite Series pro has found that “somewhere” often enough to convince himself that being in the right place can be just a matter of correct timing. “I absolutely believe bass have daily feeding times, feeding windows that open throughout the day,” emphasizes the Elite pro, “and what a fisherman has to do is learn to recognize when one of those windows opens. Although a feeding window might be lake-wide under certain weather conditions, more times than not that ‘somewhere’ I’m looking for will be a small group of fish in a specific…