Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2023 i Bassmaster

November 11 Veterans Day. Thank a service member by taking them out on the water. 12 World Pneumonia Day. Brush up on boater safety and make sure you’re prepared for an overboard emergency. 23 Thanksgiving. Liven up the turkey talk by breaking out the hush puppy recipe from summer cookouts. December 23 Festivus. A holiday for the rest of us striving to be better anglers in the new year. 24 Christmas Eve. Your final chance for last-minute gift shopping before the biggest holiday of the year. 30 Bacon Day. Sure, champagne is nice, but isn’t Bacon Day a little bit tastier than New Year’s Eve?…

Mark Smith Lake Washington, Wash. Devon Norwood-Kitson Candlewood Lake, Conn. Zakary Richardson Winterport, Maine Rich Ortiz Warren County, N.Y. Zebco Gets It Done Dear Editors, On March 13, 2022, my 6-year-old son, Gunnar, landed a beautiful 5-pound bass. He wrestled in the monster all on his own with a 30-inch Zebco Dock Demon rod and reel. I had to help hold it for the picture, but Gunnar had his arms wrapped around it tight! Had to share! A proud dad,Matt McCauleyTyler, Texas…

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. Turbulent Lure Paul Pagac, email $75 to $90 Turbulent lures were manufactured in the 1930s and 1940s by Oscar C. Schaefer of Racine, Wis. They were made of some sort of composition material and typically included angular pieces that rotated on an axis. The version shown here is the Turbulent Headless, but other models included the Penetrator, Tiger, Excitor, Wet Flu, Diver and others. Many of the company’s 11 styles were sold in unique boxes with a picture of the lure on the box top. C.C. Roberts Mud Puppy Mark Merkle, email $20 to $35 The Mud Puppy was created by Constance C.…

ACTIVE ANGLER Driving through a northern Florida pine forest on his way home from ICAST, Scott Canterbury has tackle on his mind. With six hours to go before finally wheeling into his driveway in Alabama, the 2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year is thinking back to a time before his professional life revolved around tournaments, product launches and road trips. Back then, his favorite tacklebox was a battered piece of Tupperware filled with jigs. Armed with a wad full of hooks, skirts and heavy heads, he’d head out onto the water with a fishing buddy clad in an old-school, Bassmaster-style jumpsuit and start dropping jigs at dawn. These days, he’s required to be a little more versatile than that. Canterbury fishes with at least a dozen tackleboxes on…

St. Croix Mojo Bass TRIGON Rods Winning the ICAST 2023 Freshwater Rod category, the TRIGON uses anthropometric data to maximize angler comfort and control. Built with an ergonomic handle and Dynamix reel seat, this rod comes in 25 casting and nine spinning models to address anything from finesse to hefty swimbaits. ($170-$270) stcroixrods.com Spro Vortex E Spinning Reel Focusing on power and precision, Spro fitted the Vortex E with oversized drag and handle knobs for torque and stability. Four sizes are available, with 5.2:1 (1,000) and 6.2:1 (2,000, 3,000 and 4,000) gear ratios. ($79.99) spro.com Berkley PowerBait Nessie The top Freshwater Soft Lure at ICAST 2023, this slow-sinking, soft-body glidebait is built with a mesh-reinforced joint for durability and maximum motion, stabilizing fins, a hook retention clip and Fusion19 treble…

WHEN DARRELL GADBERRY set out from the ramp on a chilly January day in central Texas, he had reason to be optimistic. For several days, temperatures had been consistently in the low 40s and prevailing winds had shifted favorably from the frigid north slightly to the west. With a flicker, Gadberry let a cast fly and felt his bait plunge into the waters of Fairfield Lake. Then, he felt an enormous strike. The ensuing fight drew up a 13-1 leviathan largemouth that has remained the lake record ever since Gadberry’s fateful catch way back in 1987. Try as anglers might, three decades of Texas bass hounds weighing dozens of fish each year have yet to top his feat. But today, there’s another battle being fought on Fairfield Lake — a…

NOBODY LIKES TO admit this, but I believe it is an undeniable aspect of human nature: Being right feels good … and letting people know you were right feels even gooder. I’m not saying this particular expression of the human experience reeks of tact, just that it sits on our shoulders like a favorite hoodie when fall weather finally arrives. Of course, one can’t indulge in this guilty pleasure unless a bold prediction is made. For that reason, and because I really like driving the “I told you so” bus, I’ll offer a couple of forecasts to chew on. First, my Texas Longhorns will play for a college football national championship this year. To be fair, I have made this prediction for the past five years, but this year I…

The New Mexico B.A.S.S. Nation has been awarded the 2023 Aquatic Plant Management Society grant for habitat improvement projects on Cochiti Reservoir. In recent years, erosion caused by loss of terrestrial vegetation due to wildlife has brought fine sediments into the reservoir — sediments that have smothered native vegetation and caused an explosion of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil. The New Mexico B.A.S.S. Nation and the Canadian River Bass Club are currently helping with a large-scale fish habitat restoration project on the reservoir in cooperation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Reservoir Fish Habitat Partnership to mitigate that invasion by replanting 15 native aquatic and shoreline plant species.…

It’s your turn to write a cutline for your favorite magazine. Follow B.A.S.S. on Facebook (@bass) and Instagram (@bass_nation) and comment with a clever caption on this cartoon that will be posted on our feed on Oct. 30, 2023. If your caption is chosen, it will be printed in an upcoming issue. Last Month’s Post Last Month’s Caption Winner: “Can I get a ‘McDouble digit and Flys’ hold the Dink!” @victoriousfishing…

Skeleton Optics Outlaw $359 | skeletonoptics.com Features: With polarized polycarbonate lenses by Zeiss, these shades feature 100% UV protection Advanced TRI-PEL/RI-Pel coating promotes clear vision Frames are made of Grilamid TR-90 and feature a Cerakote Firearm Coating for long-term durability One-of-a-kind, hand-painted frames by artist Ely Yerian make each pair uniquely distinct Shimano Macbeth Flat 57F $11.99 | fish.shimano.com Features: A flat-sided design that shines in cold water, this crank features a circuit-board lip and tight rolling action The company’s Jet Boost technology stabilizes flight posture and ensures extra-long casts Dives 3 to 5 feet, depending on line size, and slowly floats to keep the bait in the strike zone longer The Macbeth Flat 57F is 2 1/4 inches long and weighs 3/8 ounce Available in 10 custom colors Simms…

AS THE BASS fishing industry continues to evolve, one of the most critical pieces of equipment — the trolling motor — has seen aggressive developments of tooling and technology. Here’s a look at what ICAST 2023 brought. MINN KOTA ULTREX QUEST Since Minn Kota’s Ultrex debuted in 2017, an online spot included multiple anglers emphatically stating, “Game changer.” That’s no exaggeration, but with today’s anglers pushing their motors into harsher, more challenging scenarios than ever before, the game has changed again with Minn Kota’s introduction of the Ultrex QUEST. Billed as the company’s quietest motor, the Ultrex QUEST sports a top-to-bottom redesign that maintains everything anglers loved about the original model. For example, the hugely impactful SpotLock mode remains, complemented by Drift Mode — essentially, a GPS drift sock. A…

I FIRST MET Michael Iaconelli during the late 1990s when he was on the pro staff of Mann’s Bait Co. in Eufaula, Ala. I was the outdoors writer for The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, and when I arrived at Mann’s, there was a big sign out front that said, “Welcome, Bryan Brasher.” Looking back, it’s hard to believe that of the two visitors to the company that day that I was the more celebrated one. But that was long before any Angler of the Year or Bassmaster Classic titles. It was before he was “Ike.” I’m not even sure “Mike” would have fit him then because, frankly, he was the perfect “Michael.” He was short and rail thin — and while I won’t say he was geeky, he seemed … yeah, a…

Talk to us about Wisconsin as a fishing state and what makes it unique. You know, in the South, bass fishing is super-popular, and it’s the main fish down there. Up here, it’s just not that way. We have a lot of multispecies anglers. We have walleye, muskie, northern pike, largemouth, smallmouth, carp and bluegill fishermen all doing a huge variety of things. As far as bass go, you can fish almost anything. There are so many 2,000- or 3,000-acre lakes. I probably have 30 of them within an hour of my house. I can go out and do whatever I want. I can flip for largemouth; I can drop shot for smallmouth the next day. So, there’s a lot of variety up here. What is the reputation of bass…

Hosting its third Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic in March, Tulsa, Okla., is a perennial keeper of the crown in the world of professional bass fishing. Nearby Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees served as the playing field for Tulsa’s two previous Classics in 2013 and 2016. And while the sprawling, 18,000-seat BOK Center will bring the spectacle of the Bassmaster Classic to a raucous crowd, the city itself doubles not only as a host for the 275,000 square foot Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo, but as a worthy entertainment destination in its own right. 411,401 Population of Tulsa 1940 Date the Pensacola Dam on the Grand River was completed 54-12 Three-day winning weight at the 2013 Bassmaster Classic 12.3 Weight, in pounds, of the record largemouth at Grand Lake 60-7…

B.A.S.S. fans react to the 1997 Missouri Central Invitational on Lake of the Ozarks, originally aired on The Bassmasters. Neal Flanagan Fishing I recorded every episode on VHS Fish Brian Love the throw back!! Brings me back to my youth watching on TNN outdoors Dominic Lozano Crazy that I still remember this episode and how amazed I was at how shallow they were catching them. I’m 50 now and had to go to my friends house to watch. The opening catch I remember it like it was yesterday. I was amazed especially being from the west coast at that time. Brant King I built some big tandem Colorado blade combos just because of this tournament lol.…

What are the best tips or methods for taking care of my bass boat when it’s stored outside throughout the year? @castaway_jaz, Instagram The sun is your worst enemy. It will fade your finish, so keep it covered when not in use. If you have a newer boat, Yamaha master technician and boat rigger Israel Britt at Buck’s Island in Southside, Ala., recommends having a ceramic coat applied to the finish. It puts a layer between the atmosphere and the gelcoat and usually lasts a couple of years. “Other than that, we recommend things like the 303 Quick Wax or 303 Speed Detailer,” Britt adds. “As far as carpet, Scotchgard it once a year.” I have around 3,000 waypoints on my HELIX — probably more than I should have. Is…

LEA ANNE POWELL sat beside an open flame in Dubai, memories floating like a gray cloud over her mind. Cancer took her mother. Sepsis took her father. A diabetic coma took her best friend. Linda. Alex. Brooke. Powell lost all three in the span of six months. Now, she was rolling a grilled barracuda in her fingertips — one she helped catch moments earlier in the Persian Gulf. Powell pressed the warm barracuda into a ball of rice. The aroma of hot sauce and oil stuck to her hands. She took a bite, watched the afternoon light flicker over the ocean and felt a ray of hope illuminate her pain 7,600 miles from her Georgia childhood home. A few weeks prior, Powell says she was at a crossroads. The relentless…

PRIOR TO THE Elite Series tournament at Alabama’s Lay Lake in May 2023, all the talk was about how critical the shad spawn would be. However, other factors were bigger players for a number of the top finishers. Three of those anglers employed different strategies and lures to sack their bass. Will Davis Jr., First Place, 62-12 Lay Lake is home water for Elite Series rookie and 2022 B.A.S.S. Nation national champion Will Davis Jr. He relied mainly on lures made by Davis Bait Co., a tackle company founded by his father. During the morning shad spawn, a white Zoom Z Craw Jr. threaded onto a 1/4-ounce blue glimmer Davis Beast Swim Jig duped a few for Davis to get him started. “I had two places,” Davis said. “One was…

Water type: Prefrontal day on a TVA reservoir Water temp: Low to mid-60s Clarity: 1 to 2 feet Depth: 2 to 20 feet Structure: Rock, stumps, laydowns, docks Cover: Hydrilla beds, lily pads, water willow Forage: Shad, bluegill, crawfish Weather: Clouds, rain possible Wind/current: Breezy morning with wind increasing throughout the day Experts: A trio of Elite Series pros offer their insights on taking advantage of an active fall day. 1 IF IT’S EARLY Stetson Blaylock Benton, Ark. First move: “If the water’s still warm and we haven’t had that really hard push of cold weather, a lot of those fish are going to remain out offshore — not necessarily deep, but offshore. I’m going to probably start looking out, meaning deeper, in 15 to 20 feet.” Baits/tackle to use:…