1/11/2024 0 Comments Bass fish jumping![]() ![]() “But at this point, it’s hard to overlook them because this is true innovation.” “Components are often overlooked,” said American Tackle Company's Darrin Heim. From there I would jerk it around, almost like a floating worm.A decade of design work paid off on Thursday as American Tackle Company took home “Best of Show” honors at sportfishing’s largest trade show with a sleek, nearly weightless custom rod component: the Tsuka 2 Complete Carbon Handle. I would throw it, let it sink, then I would start to reel it in and have bass follow it and I would catch them. I’ve had quite a bit of success jerking it on the surface. One thing I’ve done recently is throw it on a weightless Texas rig and work it like a jerkbait. Then I will put some action into it when I feel the bass is right by it. You want to see which way they are swimming and throw it 10 feet in front of them. Then when you have fry guarders later in the year, you can start to put a little weight on the bait.Īs the bass move off the beds, they will start to cruise and for those bass you want to be careful not to throw right on them. If I see a prespawner that is just sitting there, I will try to throw it out and let it fall in front of its face. Those color switches can make all the difference in the world.ĭuring the spawning cycle, I start with no weight attached to The General. Baby bass is my favorite color, but sometimes if they don’t want that color, I’ll go to a black or junebug color. In the springtime, especially in sight-fishing scenarios, I’ve noticed a couple colors work best for me. I was so shocked that I could go behind people and throw it in the same areas, at cypress trees or reeds, and catch them. An Open has so many people in the field, and you end up fishing behind people. I knew instantly it was going to be a difference maker. It started with the 5-inch and soon after we got the 4-inch and the 6-inch. So, I was testing a bunch of the MaxScent stuff, and The General was the one I liked the best. ![]() ![]() I had never signed a sponsorship deal with any bait companies because I didn’t want to be tied to something or feel like I had to use it unless I really felt it was going to make a difference. That ended up being the MaxScent material, which has been a game changer for me. ![]() At the end of 2016, Berkley told me they had some new stuff coming that was like the stuff I was already throwing, but it was made in this new material. The first tournament I won with The General was a Bassmaster Open at Lake Chickamauga in 2017, and I don’t even know if it was packaged yet. That worm helped me get five on so many days where I struggled and got me to the final day where I could win with something else. I had a practice partner who really rode me about getting a limit no matter what it takes. That is what was killing me, I wasn’t catching limits. In ‘16, I told myself I was going to add a stickbait into my arsenal and try to put more fish in the boat on those days where I am really struggling. I won in 2011 and went all the way to 2015 without winning any big tournaments. I refused to think there was something to it.īefore The General came around, I was almost on the verge of quitting. It took 10 years of co-anglers just whooping up on me with it and having my buddies go out with me and out fishing me every time to force myself to throw it more and make it part of my arsenal. I thought, “Wow, this is pretty neat.” Then I fought it for way too long until about 2016. Once my boater caught five nice ones with that worm, he let me use his spinning rod, and I caught a limit with it. The first time I ever threw a bait like that, I was 18 and fishing as a co-angler. I fought throwing soft plastic stickbaits for years. It gave me that edge and has helped carry me through the last five or six years. I try and look back and think about the moment when my fishing went to another level. I have contemplated, “What made the difference that helped me be able to hang around the top?” I have decided it was when Berkley’s The General came out. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |