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Cal Coast Fishing Signs FLW Tour Pro Jimmy Reese
Carpinteria, Calif. – Cal Coast Fishing has partnered with FLW Tour Pro Jimmy Reese to promote their line of tackle management products. The Southern California based company offers two products that help protect themselves and their equipment from baits while not in use. The Bait Sack, which is a premium lure protector, and the Cali Clip, which secures lures to fishing rods when not in use are now available and several new products will be released in the near future.
Cal Coast Fishing CEO David Romanus said, “All of our products have been designed by fisherman for fisherman to deliver simple solutions to problems that we encounter on the water. Our goal at Cal Coast Fishing is to provide quality, easy to use products that enhance the fishing experience for anglers at all levels. We believe Jimmy will provide us feedback from the most extreme of fishing conditions, and will be a great ambassador for our products and brand.”
Reese was impressed with the products and the company. He said,“I first saw the Cal Coast Fishing products at ICAST in July. After checking out their products and meeting their team, I was very impressed. Not only were there products very practical and solutions to everyday problems anglers have, but their passion for fishing was contagious. For those reasons, I am excited to work with David and his team to help promote their line of products. They are great products that are useful to all fisherman regardless of if you fish from a 21-foot bass boat, from shore, or anywhere in between. I will be using them for bass fishing, but I can also see how they would be useful for fisherman targeting any species of fish. ”
For more information on Cal Coast Fishing’s Bait Sack and Cali Clip products please visit Calcoastfishing.com.
Casey Ashley Rescued After Midnight From Sandbar at La Crosse
Casey Ashley is known for his love of flip flops, laid back style, and Costa sunglasses, but as Labor Day night turned into Tuesday morning, he found himself beached well past midnight in very distressed fashion during practice for the Plano Bassmaster Elite on the Mississippi River.
Finally, on Tuesday night, after losing most all of Day 2’s practice to the sandbar mishap, the likeable 2015 Bassmaster Classic Champion stood in a dark, rainy, hotel parking after a much-needed trip to Olive Garden with friends, recounting his taxing first 36 hours in La Crosse.
“Our first day of practice was Monday, Labor Day, and I was running back in to the ramp to call it a day, when I got stuck at about 7:30 that evening,” says Ashley. “I was so shallow, that nearly my entire boat was out of the water, I knew there was no way I could call a fellow competitor to help me, because they’d have got stuck too.”
“It was so shallow, that just before dark, as I sat there waiting on help, I had a raccoon wade past me and he didn’t even get the fur on his belly wet – I’m dead serious,” he grinned.
Thankfully, he had cell service, and after placing a call to Trip Weldon to explain his predicament, Ashley and longtime girlfriend Kenzi Hartman, who was back at their hotel in La Crosse, began placing calls in search of a tow. However, on Labor Day evening, help was hard to come by. And eventually, a marine rescue team from a local fire department was dispatched.
“I gave them my GPS coordinates, and text them a pin on my phone’s map, and for nearly three hours I could sit there and watch the red light flashing on the top of their boat, but they couldn’t see me,” explains Ashley.
A raccoon wasn’t the only wildlife on the scene. Mosquitos were taking full advantage of his desolation. “They were eating me alive, so I put my rainsuit on, my cold weather face mask on, and stuffed my feet into the arms of my hoodie, because they were biting my feet so bad.”
“Finally, just before 1:00 a.m., the fireman got to me with a Go-Devil style boat, and carried me back to the ramp, but I had to leave my Triton stuck on the sandbar all night,” he explains. “I got back to the hotel at 1:45 a.m., and all I could do was lay there and think about how in the world I was ever gonna get my boat off there in the morning.”
That’s when help ironically came from a fellow angler in the form of longtime FLW pro and La Crosse resident Tom Monsoor, a Mississippi River tournament king often credited with inventing the swim jig. “We owe the people at Island Outdoors a ton of thanks, because they were the ones that put us in touch with Tom and his airboat on Tuesday morning,” says Ashley.
Monsoor pulled him free from the sandbar in minutes, but then Ashley had to visit the Mercury Service Team to make sure no dirt had damaged the inner-workings of his outboard. Finally, Ashley returned for a very limited 4-hour practice session Tuesday.
Wednesday, the final practice day, begins with rain and occasional lighting flashes to further remind Ashley and other Bassmatser Elites what a stressful grind the life of a pro can be. Plus, he desperately needs to do well in this event, as he sits in 41st place in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.
“I’m a bubbly boy to make the Classic, and there’s about 10 of us all packed together in the points, so I need to catch ‘em. But at this point, even though I missed a lot of practice, I just gotta roll with it,” says Ashley, who certainly won’t dare go near the backwater that left him high, dry, and sleepless throughout much of his time in La Crosse thus far.
5 Questions with 2013 La Crosse Elite Series Champ Tommy Biffle
Somebody disconnected and stole the $80 extension cord Tommy Biffle was using to charge his boat batteries in preparation for the final day of practice while he slept Tuesday night.
So the defending champion of this event stayed in the hotel parking lot Wednesday prepping tackle and graciously answering questions, instead of investigating the Mississippi River at La Crosse one more day, where he last claimed victory when the Bassmaster Elite Series last visited here in late June of 2013.
1.) You averaged 16 pounds a day when you won here in 2013, and smallmouth played a big part in your win. Todd Faircloth won the previous year with an average of 15 pounds of largemouth per day. What will the average winning weights be like this year, and will both species play a big factor?
I think the weights will be a little lower, and I can tell you that I’ve not found the big smallies so far in practice.
2.) What is the biggest difference in this fishery now versus three years ago?
They were biting better when we were here that June. I don’t think they’re biting as well since we’re here in September. Honestly, September is about the toughest month for bass fishing anywhere in America.
3.) What 4 lures do you think will get used the most this week, among the entire Elite Series field?
Frogs, soft plastic swimbaits, swim jigs, and Texas-rigged soft plastics.
4.) In your opinion, what’s the biggest story of the brand new football season?
The Sooners getting beat in the first stinkin’ game of the year – but I don’t really get into football like a lot of people – I’m way more into watching hunting and fishing on TV than football.
5.) Your Quantum teammate Casey Ashley got accidentally stranded on a sandbar until well past midnight during practice Monday night. You love to fish ultra shallow. Have you ever been stranded that long?
Yep. Twice. Once at Lake Texoma up in the Red River arm, when I put a weigh-in bag over a push pole and waved it high in the air until a guy scouting for ducks in an airboat finally saw me after about 8 hours of sitting there, and came to tow me loose.
And then at Okeechobee, when I decided to zig around one side of an island, as everybody else zagged around the other side of the island up in the North end of the lake. I realize now why they all chose the other side of the island. It was so shallow my shoestrings weren’t even wet when I got out to push. An airboat finally pulled me off five hours later for $300, and the guy’s towrope broke twice before he finally got me free.
VanDam’s 3 Picks for Back to School Smallmouth
In much the same way late August and early September causes breakfast Pop-Tarts to shimmy in the bellies of children facing the unknowns of a new school year – this ‘in between’ time on bass fishing’s calendar of seasons can also raise the anxiety levels of serious smallmouth anglers.
Fear not – the most decorated angler of the past two decades has been chasing smallmouth since his grade school days at Alamo Elementary in Kalamazoo – and he graciously offers up the details of three rods, reels, and lures he would choose to chase smallmouth right now as class gets back in session.
“More so than the season or the calendar – in the Northern US, it’s all about the forage base,” says VanDam. “Whether it’s gobies near the bottom, small perch, or in some cases, open water baitfish – it’s your job as an angler to figure out what they’re eating the most of,” says VanDam.
“But I’ll tell you this, ever since gobies became so prominent, smallmouth are not nearly as nomadic as they used to be – they don’t roam in search of baitfish in open water as much as they once did – and so dropping on them vertically with a drop shot or tube near the bottom is going to be my first choice,” says the Team Toyota angler.
“Secondly, Smallmouth are visual feeders, so I’m always going to have a deep diving KVD jerkbait handy,” says VanDam. “With all the flash and erratic action you get out of a jerkbait, as long as the water is clear enough for them to see it, they can’t hardly stand not to smash it.”
“For a third pick, I want to make sure I’m covered if we’re on a southern smallmouth reservoir like Table Rock or Dale Hollow– so I’m picking a Strike King 5XD in a bluegill or crawfish color,” says the 4-time Bassmaster Classic Champion. “Just because it’s still really hot in the South doesn’t mean smallmouth won’t get around flat, main lake, gravel points to eat bluegills and craws – but the key is to retrieve it really fast.”
Drop/Shot Tube – “They’ve been eating a tube for 35 years, and they still do,” grins VanDam. “As far as drop shot lures, I use either the Strike King Dream Shot, which has a ton of action, or the new Strike King Half Shell in a color called “Edge” that I’ve done real well with this summer. The Half Shell sits perfectly horizontal on a drop shot hook,” he explains. “I use an 8-pound fluorocarbon leader on a Size 40 TourKVD spinning reel, and 90% of the time I’m using a medium action 7’ 4” TourKVD spinning rod.”
Jerkbaits – “One of the most versatile rods Quantum ever built is great for jerkbaits,” says VanDam. “It’s a 6’ 10” casting rod that I pair with a 6.6:1 TourKVD reel spooled with 12-pound fluorocarbon. And again, day-in-day out the deep diving KVD jerkbait that Strike King makes is pretty awesome.”
Crankin’ Down South – “If you want to cover a ton of water quickly on the big reservoirs down South, it’s hard to beat a 5XD crankbait this time of year in a bluegill or crawfish color. I always crank with a 5.3:1 Quantum reel spooled with 12-pound fluorocarbon, and for 5XDs, I use a 7’ 4” medium heavy TourKVD Cranking Rod.”
Note: The author has a Masters in Fisheries, and loves Smallmouth more than football and pizza – so tremendous care was taken to provide oxygen-rich aeration amid the speedy photo work of the attached image. The fish was released alive into public waters less than a mile from the classroom.
Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest Headlines 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Lineup
Toledo Bend Reservoir, where Kevin VanDam won the first of three Bassmaster Elite Series events this year, appears on the 2017 Elite schedule as well. Headlining the 11-event schedule is a nearby Texas fishery, Sam Rayburn Reservoir, which will host the new Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest May 17-21.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule features more exciting twists and changes than the world’s premier tournament circuit has seen in its storied 11-year history.
This year, Bassmaster has added a new stop on the circuit, the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest. The event, which will replace and build upon Toyota Texas Bass Classic’s decade-long legacy, is scheduled for May 17-21 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, one of the hottest big-bass lakes in the United States.
“Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest will combine the best features of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic and our own BASSfest tournament — both of which have become immensely popular among anglers and fishing fans,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “Texas Fest will host a special Fan Appreciation Day offering anglers and their families opportunities to meet, greet and learn from the world’s best professional anglers.”
The Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest will emphasize best practices in fishing conservation, including a catch, weigh and immediate release format. The event will also continue to benefit the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD), which has been instrumental in introducing fishing conservation guidelines that have influenced fishing tournaments throughout the United States.
“Toyota has been a longtime supporter of fishing and conservation in Texas, and we know the partnership with B.A.S.S. will only bring those practices and our messages to a greater audience,” said Dave Terre, TPWD’s chief of fisheries management and research.
The Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest will continue to follow the rules established in the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, including the use of on-boat marshals for weighing fish and the allowance of one fish over a designated size per angler to be brought in each day for public display and subsequent return to the lake. Only Bassmaster Elite Series anglers will be able to compete in Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest, one of the qualifying events for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro. The winner receives an automatic berth in the Classic.
Another feature carried over from the Toyota Texas Bass Classic is the big bass award: a Toyota Tundra. Anglers will like knowing that at any point in the event they are one cast away from winning a $50,000 truck.
“The Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest is going to be a fantastic tournament that builds upon everything we’ve established over the past 10 years,” said Kelly Jordon, professional angler and co-founder of Toyota Texas Bass Classic. “Adding the Bassmaster organization to the existing event will benefit everyone involved.”
Also for the first time, the Elite Series schedule will include two events prior to the Classic. With the “Super Bowl of Bass Fishing” moving to March 24-26 at Lake Conroe outside of Houston, Texas, B.A.S.S. decided to conduct two Elite tournaments in February.
The schedule will open with the Elite Series’ first-ever visit to Tennessee’s Lake Cherokee, Feb. 9-12. Weigh-ins the first two days will take place lakeside, and the Saturday and Sunday weigh-ins will be held in Knoxville, Tenn., in the Convention Center. B.A.S.S. hasn’t visited Knoxville or the 28,780-acre lake in east Tennessee since the Bass Champs Invitational in 1981. The Visit Knoxville Sports Commission and the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce are co-hosting the festivities.
After that, the touring pros will get a second Classic warm-up, Feb. 23-26, when the schedule shifts to Florida’s famed Lake Okeechobee. That fishery, nationally known for producing gigantic Florida-strain largemouth bass, last hosted an Elite Series event in 2012, when California pro Ish Monroe won with a four-day weight of 108 pounds, 5 ounces — the fifth-largest catch in trail history. The Okeechobee Tourist Development Council and the Board of County Commissioners are hosts.
Anglers will then have a month to prepare for the Bassmaster Classic’s historic 47th renewal, with fishing taking place on another big-bass factory, Lake Conroe. Weigh-ins will be held in Houston’s Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
Once the excitement of the Classic is done, the Elite Series schedule will resume April 6-9 with a return trip to Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Louisiana/Texas border. Superstar pro Kevin VanDam won there in May of this year; it was the first of his three victories so far on the 2016 Elite Series circuit. Toledo Bend is currently ranked as America’s No. 1 bass lake for the second year in a row, according to Bassmaster Magazine’s 100 Best Bass Lakes list. Perennial host Toledo Bend Lake Country welcomes B.A.S.S.’s return to Many, La.
Next up is the trail’s first stop in Mississippi. Elite No. 4 is scheduled for April 27-30 on Ross Barnett Reservoir in Ridgeland, Miss. The 30,000-acre fishery was ranked ninth in the Southeastern Division by Bassmaster this year. The Ridgeland Tourism Commission is host.
After leaving Mississippi and completing the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, the Elite Series will visit Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark., June 2-5. Unlike other Elite events, this one runs Friday through Monday to accommodate anglers’ travel plans over the Memorial Day weekend. The Elite Series’ last visit to Dardanelle produced Oklahoma pro Jason Christie’s fourth career B.A.S.S. victory. The Russellville A&P Commission is the host organization.
“I don’t know how you can look at this schedule and not be excited,” said B.A.S.S. Tournament Director Trip Weldon. “We’ve got a good mix of familiar fisheries — places we’ve visited several times the past few years — and some lakes that we haven’t been to in a while.
“We’re even going to a couple of new spots. That’s especially exciting.”
From Arkansas — with the July heat starting to take hold — the Elite Series will swing north, with back-to-back events in New York.
The first will be July 20-23 on the smallmouth-rich waters of the St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y., host city for the tournament.
It will be the third trip for the Elite Series to the river that separates the eastern United States and Canada, and the first two were overwhelmingly popular with fans in that region. The first event there, in 2013, drew an all-time Elite Series record of 34,100 fans, and the second trip, in 2015, drew 31,600 — a total that ranks fourth all-time on the trail.
Immediately afterward, the Elites move east to Plattsburgh, N.Y., for an event on Lake Champlain, July 27-30. Though Champlain has been a regular stop for Bassmaster Opens, it hasn’t played host to an Elite Series tournament since 2007, when Alabama pro Tim Horton won with 83-10. The Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau is host.
The Elite Series will complete its northern swing — and its regular-season slate — by traveling to Lake St. Clair, Aug. 24-27. Macomb County, just north of Detroit, Mich., will host the Elite event on the 430-square-mile fishery. St. Clair was ranked No. 1 in the nation on Bassmaster’s 100 Best Bass Lakes in 2013 and was last visited by the Elite Series in 2015.
Details about two special Elite events — the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship and the Bassmaster Classic Bracket Tournament — will be announced later.
Date Event Fishery City, State
Feb 9-12 Elite #1 Lake Cherokee Knoxville and Jefferson County, Tenn.
Feb. 23-26 Elite #2 Lake Okeechobee Okeechobee, Fla.
April 6-9 Elite #3 Toledo Bend Reservoir Many, La.
April 27-30 Elite #4 Ross Barnett Reservoir Ridgeland, Miss.
May 17-21 Toyota Bassmaster Sam Rayburn Reservoir Lufkin, Texas
Texas Fest benefitting
Texas Parks & Wildlife
June 2-5 Elite #6 Lake Dardanelle Russellville, Ark.
July 20-23 Elite #7 St. Lawrence River Waddington, N.Y.
July 27-30 Elite #8 Lake Champlain Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Aug. 24-27 Elite #9 Lake St. Clair Macomb County, Mich.
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, Academy Sports + Outdoors, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, Power-Pole
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Nation, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.