The Mental Side of Bass Fishing – Don’t Panic!

Recently, Zoom pro staffer Gerald Swindle won his first B.A.S.S. tournament at Lake Toho in Kissismee, Florida. The video above is Gerald, in his own words, describing how he dealt with his co-angler catching back-to-back nine pounders early on day three of the tournament. Wow!!

The mental side of bass fishing tournaments is so important because it involves confidence and decision making. Gerald talks about how he didn’t get “rattled” and took back control of the situation. Congratulations Gerald!!

Give Your Reels a Blast

While a dry cloth will remove the obvious dust, Ardent's Reel Blast is a pressurized dirt remover that can get in those hard-to-reach places, removing excess dust and leftover debris from last season. Simply point and shoot the pressurized spray, and it will remove remaining particles of debris without requiring disassembly of your equipment.

Plano says "don't let the groundhog overshadow February tackle duties"

Whether Pennsylvania's famous furry little butterball saw his shadow today or not, most anglers across the country have already accepted the fact they are in for six more weeks of winter because it is only February. However, the groundhog sighting still offers encouragement since the plump little rodent looks to be about a 10-pounder, a size that stirs illusions of a double-digit bass or walleye on the line during a nice warm outing that surely will occur just a few weeks from now.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Releases Video on Fizzing Bass

The Inland Fisheries Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) today announced the availability of a seven-minute video detailing the results of a two-year study to determine the best method of treating largemouth bass suffering from barotrauma.

Mr. Walleye's New Favorite Line

Mr. Walleye® Gary Roach has made a career out of rigging, jigging and bobbering walleyes with livebait. Meanwhile, walleye anglers are still confused about which fishing line to use in different situations, especially given the surplus of “extra-this,” “super-that” lines currently crowding the aisles. Thousands of dollars and countless tournament wins later, there’s no one more qualified to design and test a “Walleye-Specific” fishing line than Mr. Walleye himself. Now, thanks to Roach and the walleye wizards at Northland® Fishing Tackle, choosing a great walleye line has become a no-brainer.

Lake El Salto & Anglers Inn Heating Up

Anglers Inn International at famed Lake El Salto has become famous for its phenomenal service and giving anglers a once-in-a-lifetime experience never to be forgotten.

Lake El Salto went through some water level growing pains, which caused fishing conditions to cool by the end of 2010. The hot summer months concentrated piles of fish around timber, giving anglers the perfect opportunity to catch high numbers of fish. As usual, the water level dropped and in 2010 the lake level was at a near all time low. When the rain approached, it caused the lake to rise over 40-feet in a very short amount of time. This caused the level of the water to suffocate the vegetation, which caused the fish to suspend in hopes of finding higher levels of oxygen.

Winter Fishing is Incredible if you Dress Correctly

In 1996 I bought my first Gore-Tex rain suit and can honestly say it was the best fishing/winter gear I have every paid for or owned. That may seem unusual if you every get a chance to look in my closet at all my winter clothes. The weather where I live is usually pretty nasty for about a month in the winter. One of my best days fishing a few years a go was a cold/wet day in February with my fishing bud, but we were dressed for success that day.

Randall Tharp on the Sci-X of Attraxx

The Bass University is Coming to Massachusetts

The Bass University is headed to Framingham, Massachusetts this weekend, January 15th and 16th for the last stop of the winter/spring 2011 schedule. The Bass University classes are taught in an up close and personal classroom type Setting. Students really get to rub elbows and spend one-on-one time with the pros.

Woo Daves Tube Tips Part #1 and #2

Joe Thomas Talks Jerkbaits and Spring Patterns

Dave Wolack Says Throw a Spinnerbait

During the autumn months when bass are still moving in tributary creeks feeding on shad, tournament angler Dave Wolak may only have one type of lure in his boat. It will be a 3/8-oz. pearl/white spinnerbait with double willow leaf blades and a white plastic trailer, a lure the Yamaha Pro has been using for years on waters throughout the United States.

"I honestly don't think a fisherman needs another lure this time of year," laughs Wolak, "because it's hard to find another lure that can be retrieved so many different ways but still looks like a shad no matter how you fish it."

While Wolak does employ a lot of different retrieve variations, particularly a stop-and-go action that causes the spinnerbait to flutter and change directions, his primary key to success with the lure is that he does not concentrate in the very backs of tribu- taries where shad populations may be the heaviest. Instead, he goes to the back and fishes his way out.

"Sometimes, there is simply too much bait concentrated on the flats in the back of a creek, and no matter how you retrieve your spinnerbait, the bass won't hit it," acknowledges Wolak, "so that's when I begin moving away from them and look for places where other bass may be hiding to ambush the shad as they swim past.

"I have a lot of success fishing secondary points, even as far out as the mouth of the tributary if it's a short one. No matter where you fish in America, bass are attracted to points, and it's true even in the autumn. I look for individual pieces of cover like logs or bushes on the point that would not only hold a bass but also attract a shad, and while I may only catch one bass in such a spot, I often re-visit it sev- eral times during a day and frequently catch a fish there each time."

Other places the Yamaha Pro recommends fishing include flooded timber and stumps, especially when they're located in shallow water near a deeper water break or channel edge. These same places will also produce fish later in the autumn as bass begin migrating back out of the tributaries toward main lake winter structure.

"Cover is important in this type of fishing because the bass are using it as a hiding place," Wolak continues, "and you can catch those bass because there aren't as many shad. I'm always surprised at how shallow the bass may be, too, because I've caught them this way in water less than a foot deep."

Spinnerbaits are ideal lure choices because they not only produce flash and vibration to attract bass, they're also basically weedless and they can be fished many different ways. In addition to the stop- and-go retrieve Wolak likes, he also pops the lure with his rod tip to make it jump, and occasionally speeds his retrieve enough to bring the spinnerbait right to the surface.

"I'm trying to imitate an injured or dying shad," notes the Yamaha Pro, "which is what the bass will notice first. It represents something easy it doesn't have to chase."

Over the years, Wolak has settled on a 3/8-oz. tandem willow leaf spinnerbait with one nickel and one white blade, a pearl/white skirt, and a white plastic trailer with crawfish-type legs that help produce more water movement with the lure. He likes 14 or 16-pound fluorocarbon line because of its lack of stretch and abrasion resistance, and he uses a 7-foot heavy action rod because he is catching bass in and around cover.

"Bass start following the shad migration into the tributaries in late September and stay in them for several months," Wolak concludes, "and it's a wonderful time to be on the water fishing, but there are times when there are literally too many shad for an angler to compete with. That's when I start working away from them and looking for the ambush spots. Most of the time, I never leave the creek, either.

"It's a pattern I've been able to use for many years, and all I need to make it work is a spinnerbait."

Kevin VanDam talking about his new KVD1.5 and 2.5 crankbaits

Getting Reel with Fred Roumbanis

As a native of Northern California, it's no surprise that clear water bass fishing comes as second nature to Ardent Angler and Elite Bass Pro Fred Roumbanis.

Chad Brauer's 5 Baits for Successful Fall Bass Fishing

The past few weeks of summer heat have made me excited for the temperatures of fall and the cooler water that make the bass more active. August and September are usually the most difficult times to catch bass, but when the temperatures start to cool in the fall months, the bass start to move to shallower waters and are easier to catch.

Fish Care Tips by Joe Thomas

Fish Care Tips by Joe Thomas host of Stihl's Reel in the Outdoors
Videos can also be found on the downloads page and at ReelOutdoorsTV.

Last Call for Fly Fish Texas

If you haven't made plans to attend the biggest hands-on fly-fishing event in Texas, time is running out. Fly Fish Texas takes place March 13 at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. For a sampling of activities, view the video athttp://www.youtube.com/user/TexasParksWildlife#p/c/EEFA84B51D1C2C8B/7/eymbFadDPlE.

Big Stik Leads to Heart-Stopping Strikes

The Big Stik is a high-tech lunker-killer that walks, pops, spits and catches just about anything that swims. It’s a rear weighted bait making it easier to cast and enabling it to sit in a position that as soon as you start your retrieve, it starts to walk and pitch water a foot and a half to three feet in front of the bait.

Secret Weapon Recoil Rig Works

The heart of this incredible fishing tackle innovation is a special elastic shock cord sheathed in Spectra that attaches between your sinker and lure.

This material is available only through Secret Weapon. It is called SpecTastic (from Spectra and elastic).The elastic shock core will stretch three times its length, allowing the angler to impart as much (or little) action to the lure as he desires.

Swim Jig by Glenn Walker

Get an in-depth look at swimming jigs, one of the fastest growing techniques on bass tournament trails across the United States. Glenn Walker the host of the video is a bass tournament angler from the Midwest, where the swim jig was born.