Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2022 i Bassmaster

The definition of the word “rookie” is simply someone who’s new — and for many years, B.A.S.S. used that basic interpretation to decide which anglers were labeled rookies on the Bassmaster Elite Series. If a guy was fishing the Elites this year who wasn’t there last year, he was a rookie. But when guys started showing up who’d already won millions elsewhere, B.A.S.S. added a new classification for anglers who were new to the Elites but not to the sport, the “newcomer.” That’s someone who’s won at least $500,000 fishing other major pro circuits. The trail has seen its share of both do well. In 2019, Drew Cook won Rookie of the Year ahead of guys like Lee Livesay and Patrick Walters. That same year, Scott Canterbury, an accomplished newcomer,…

ACTIVE ANGLER Scott Martin can’t stand the cold. The Bassmaster Fishing 2022 cover star is an ace in hot weather. He was born for the humid, sun-soaked summers of central Florida and a life of scouring its byways for big bass. And while warm weather permeates most of the tournament calendar, life as a professional bass angler means you’re going to face your fair share of confrontations with a winter chill. Such was the case a decade ago on Lake Hartwell, when Martin came face to face with his most bone-chilling day on the water. BLUE-COLLAR BREAKDOWN “It was 37 degrees all day,” Martin says. “We had sleet all day, and it never got cold enough to freeze. It was a rainy mush.” The mush had Martin in a funk.…

THE BASSMASTER KAYAK Series saw some incredibly close finishes over its six contests held in 2021, its second year of organizing national tournaments for kayak bass anglers. From bagging record-setting fish at a launch ramp, to a Bassmaster Classic champ taking his first kayak win, it was often a game of fractions of inches to determine winners on some of the USA’s top fisheries. The series’ catch-photo-release format requires anglers to take cellphone pictures of their fish on an approved measuring board, then upload them with the TourneyX app, which tabulates results. Anglers in the tournament and fans can watch the standings in real time at TourneyX.com. Lake Fork The season-opener at Lake Fork in Alba, Texas, on March 13 saw Nate Gloria of Omaha, Neb., win with 98 inches,…

FISHIN’ STIX BITE ALARM — Missed opportunities are a thing of the past thanks to the Bite Alarm from Fishin’ Stix. Available in black, pink, green, orange and yellow, this battery-operated device mounts directly to a fishing rod via the articulated clamp. Simply run your line through the Bite Alarm’s neoprene Y grip, and when a fish bites the pressure pulls the arm forward to activate the audible alarm and the LED light. Alarms are customizable, and adjustable sensitivity knobs allow anglers to dial in the right setting for their fishing style. ($13.99) activeoutdoorsllc.com EAGLE CLAW LAZER SHARP PRO SERIES DROP SHOT KIT — Don’t get hung up on the “pro” part; that simply means folks who know a lot about finesse fishing helped assemble a kit that makes this…

1 [The Power Of Little Swimmers] Bass often become extremely lethargic as water temperatures reach their lowest point during the year, but that doesn’t mean they’re not catchable. Using a subtle lure like a small swimbait (2- to 4-inch range) in the early part of the year can produce big results. The easiest way to rig a small swimbait is on a simple jighead, but if the cover is too heavy, a belly-weighted swimbait hook could also be a solid alternative. Follow The Baitfish After the baitfish migrate to the backs of creeks in the fall, the water temperature begins to drop, and with that, the baitfish begin to migrate toward deeper water. While not every bass in the lake will follow the bait to deeper water, there is typically…

Go {Fish} Keep the fish biting all winter long with the best cold-water baits and techniques. Tournament angler Kristine Fischer shares her top three baits to keep the bites reeling in. Go {Cook} Jimmy Kennedy shows you a great way to make nachos on the grill. Grab your favorite chips, cheese, salsa and any other ingredients your family enjoys to make these tasty nachos. Go {Camp} Location. Location. Location. There’s nothing like a campsite with a great view. Our Go RVing partners put together a list of eight campgrounds with gorgeous lakefront sites. Go {Explore} There are two sides to Glacier National Park. Get an insider’s guide to West Glacier with the Adventurtunity Family. Go {Gear Up} There’s a reason these PFDs are so popular and come highly recommended. See…

Do line characteristics affect lure performance in cold water, and if so, what is the best choice for some of the techniques you use that time of year? Robert Smith, Carbondale, Ill. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Bob Downey Cold water can cause all lines to stiffen a little, especially braid, when air temperatures are close to freezing. Most braided lines absorb moisture and the line will freeze. Fluorocarbon and monofilament don’t freeze, so you can still cast easily unless the guides freeze up. I’m usually fishing slower-moving baits or finesse techniques under those conditions, so I’m using lighter lines that tend to lend themselves to better lure action. Fluorocarbon can be a little brittle in cold weather and more inclined to break on a big hook set. At Knoxville last…

Ugly Stik Ugly Tuff Spincast Combo $59.99 | purefishing.com Features: Ugly Stik now offers a spincast combo tough enough for almost any fish that bites Rods feature the Clear Tip design for strength and sensitivity and Ugly Tuff one-piece stainless-steel guides and rubber shrink tube handles Reels feature Ugly Tuff aluminum frame and pre-spooled monofilament ProFISHiency Loaded Pocket Tackle Box $14.99 | profishiency.com Features: Stay prepared with this ready-to-fish collection of gear Includes a set of mini pliers with built-in line cutter, a spinner lure, a crankbait, two bobbers, three worm hooks and three sinkers Box is small enough to fit in your front pocket and gives you options to fish for bass, catfish and panfish Plano Edge Line Management Box $49.99 | planomolding.com Features: Protects braid, fluorocarbon, mono and…

BASSMASTER ELITE SERIES veteran John Crews claims to be a die-hard junk fisherman who “doesn’t feel comfortable” unless he has 10 rods on his boat’s deck in a tournament. However, he relies on only three lures to find bass and deduce productive patterns during the vital practice days. This strategy has helped him finish in the money nearly 75% of the time, to qualify for 13 Bassmaster Classics and to pocket $1.5 million in winnings. One reason for his three-bait breakdown is that practice fishing with too many lures leads to confusion. Another is that he can cover more water in practice by putting his trust in moving baits. “I used to waste too much time in practice fishing slow,” Crews said. “I eliminated slower baits. Over the years, I’ve…

Date: Jan. 18, 2021 Venue: Lake T, a small flatland reservoir Water: 40 to 42 degrees, clear to stained Weather: Sunny, high of 48 degrees Pro: Patrick Walters, 26, of Summerville, S.C. Walters fished on the University of South Carolina’s bass team that won the 2017 Winyah Bay (S.C.) college event. He won the 2018 Central Open at Red River (Louisiana), the 2020 Eastern Open at Lake Hartwell (South Carolina) and the 2020 Toyota Texas Fest Elite Series tournament at Lake Fork. This is his third season on the Elite Series. Boat: Falcon 205 Predator with a 250-horsepower Yamaha outboard; Minn Kota trolling motor; Garmin, Lowrance and Humminbird electronics; and twin Power-Pole shallow-water anchors…

1 The iTrek MirageDrive GT with Kick-Up Fins, chair, rudder, pump and three-piece SUP paddle all fit in the iTrek 9 Ultralight’s rolling, soft-side suitcase. Not pictured are a repair kit and electric pump that also come standard and fit in the case. 2 The boat’s MirageDrive GT features Kick-Up Fins that, well, kick up when they hit rocks or logs. This feature also helps the drive pack into the carrying case. 3 Hobie’s pump makes quick work of inflating the iTrek, which is 9 feet, 5 inches long and 40 inches wide. The pump adds air both on the downstroke and the upstroke. Pumping, hooking down the chair and installing the rudder can be done in less than 10 minutes. 4 Bases for rails and rod holders can be…

Congratulations to the newest members of the Bassmaster Lunker Club™. Membership in the club is free and open to any B.A.S.S. member who catches a largemouth bass weighing 10 pounds or more, a spotted bass weighing 5 pounds or more, or a smallmouth bass weighing 6 pounds or more, from Jan. 1, 2021, to the present. New Lunker Club members will receive an official certificate with holder and a gift pack. 11-7 Bob Grizzle 1 Farm 13/Stick Marsh, Florida 1/2-ounce topwater prop bait (shad) 10-2 Byron Carlile 2 Potato Creek State Park, Indiana Spro RkCrawler (green craw) 7-1 Dave Landis 3 Brevoort Lake, Michigan 4-inch Yamamoto Senko 11-2 L.A. Sevilla 4 Lake Amistad, Texas 3/4-ounce Hop-It football jig 11-10 Guy Tipps 5 Saguaro Lake, Arizona 3/4-ounce Picasso jig 10-2 Roger…

FOCUS. AN INTENSE gaze beaming from the eye of the competitor. Peer across the bass fishing landscape and you’ll see dozens of thousand-yard stares in each field every weekend. They’re the mark of the competitors who are locked in, the men and women playing a game beyond what they see on the water, those busy casting, catching and playing the game of chess going on beneath the waves. Tournament fishing has often been likened to the game of chess, a battle dating back 1,500 years where the pieces on the surface rarely reveal what’s going on behind the scenes. As in fishing, the basic moves are simple: cast, retrieve, move up, move down. Pause the bait. Hasten the retrieve. The pieces move this way and that. But as in chess,…

PATRICK WALTERS LOVES it when the going gets tough. He’s in his element when his competitors are scratching their heads. “Figuring out the puzzle. Yeah, that’s the best part of bass fishing,” he says. Case in point: the November 2020 Toyota Texas Fest event on Lake Fork. In spite of Fork’s storied reputation as a lunker factory, Walters was one of only four out of 85 competitors to catch five-bass limits each day. While his competition struggled to get bites, Walters unlocked a “sneaky little pattern” consisting of standing timber, jerkbaits and his state-of-the-art electronics setup to win the event with a whopping 104 pounds, 12 ounces, beating the second-place finisher by a record-setting 29 pounds, 10 ounces. Evidently, Walters doesn’t have a panic mode. “On the last day of…

Stuck. With four wheels in the water and Lake Murray lapping at his rocker panels, Bryan New was stuck at the boat ramp. The water was especially low that year, and his usual launch location had been fortified with a load of pea gravel at what should have been its end. In the predawn darkness, New had backed too far down the marooned ramp and was now leaning on a local restaurant owner to tow him out. It took three trucks to do it, but the restaurateur ultimately managed the task. That’s the kind of day New was having when he finally launched his boat to pre-fish at another ramp. It was February 21, his birthday. And as the sun began to break over Columbia, New’s day was about to…

The sight of a bass in midair, particularly when you’re trying to secure the biggest win of your career, would be enough to make most anglers a little weak in the knees. But Wisconsin pro Caleb Kuphall stood up straight and tall to land this sailing largemouth during the 2021 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville en route to one of the most dominant wins in Elite Series history. He finished with a final margin of almost 18 pounds, and when you’re ahead by that much, you don’t have to sweat flying fish. In fact, for the entire 2021 season, if you were gunning for your first win, fate just seemed to be on your side. Out of nine events, only two were won by anglers who’d previously raised a blue…