THE LATEST NEWS
Missile Jigs Head Banger Hits the Ground at Classic
Salem, Va. – February 19, 2016 – Missile Jigs and Mike Iaconelli have collaborated again for a new jig that will be released at the 2016 Bassmaster Classic. Building on the success of the hot, Ike’s Mini Flip jig, the new jig is called Ike’s Head Banger jig. The unique head is designed to be used like a football jig but comes through cover unbelievably while it bangs its head on the bottom. The release at the Bassmaster Classic will be from a limited initial run with most orders going out later in March.
“Mike is one of the best jig fisherman in the country and he knows what he wants in a jig,” says, John Crews. “This collaboration eliminates the need for football jigs because it works so much better. It is amazing!”
Ike’s Head Banger will come in 3 sizes including ½, ¾, and 1 ounce. The ½ ounce has a suggested retail price of $4.99. The larger ¾ and 1 ounce sizes will retail for $5.99. Each size will come in 6 colors: Green Pumpkin, Bamer Craw, Candy Grass, Bruiser, Brown Purple Passion, and PB&J.
The release at the Bassmaster Classic is the perfect platform to show this new and innovative jig to the bass fishing world. There will be Ike’s Head Bangers for sale in the Dick’s Sporting Goods booth and the Missile Baits/Jigs booth. In addition to the new jigs in the booth, Missile Jigs will have Iaconelli autographed Missile Jigs hats, Mini Flip t-shirts, Missile Baits boat carpet decals, Sun Shields, and other products for sale.
MISSILE BAITS is a small company dedicated to creating SERIOUS soft plastic baits to help anglers catch more fish. The designs are straight off the top-level professional bass tour. Based in Salem, Virginia, MISSILE BAITS works relentlessly to make the best baits, show their customers how to use them, and stay on the cutting edge of bass fishing. Founded in January 2012, new products and videos will continue to be launched. Log onto www.MISSILEBAITS.com for videos, tips, and more.
Classic Innovations
Innovation has always played a key role in the Bassmaster Classic. Over the years, dozens of products have made their debut at the Super Bowl of bass fishing. In the early years anglers were taking advantage of the new sonar technology and advances in hull and engine performance. Today’s advancements come in the form of side and down imaging, detailed mapping software, shallow water anchors and GPS technology. Recently, another product has burst on to the seen and has changed the anglers approach to the use of technology forever. No product has ever been introduced and immediately credited for 4 classic wins in a row until the introduction of the HydroWave. Kevin VanDam changed the game with his dominating performance at the 2010 Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans. Kevin was one of the only anglers to have a HydroWave on his boat for the event. No one knew what it was at the time and Kevin was not going to let the cat out of the bag until after his win. In the tournament other anglers surrounded Kevin but daily he out fished them all. After his victory and the $500,000.00 check was in his hand, he let the world know of his involvement, innovation and ownership of the new company, HydroWave.
HydroWave emits natural feeding sounds of predatory fish from a speaker mounted on a boats trolling motor. These natural sounds provoke a feeding response in fish and actually bring them closer to the angler. Kevin was quick to credit this new technology in his win. The interesting part comes when the next three Classic winners did the same.
When Chris Lane won on the Red River he was using the HydroWave in a shallow water scenario where the fish were inactive after a cold front. Chris believes that the HydroWave “woke the fish up from their bad mood”.
On the other hand, Cliff Pace credited the HydroWave for his Classic win in bitterly cold conditions on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. Pace said that because of the extreme cold, fish were relating too close to the bottom to pick up on his graphs sonar. When he pumped up the volume on the HydroWave, he said the fish would move just enough for him to identify them. Once identified, Cliff would mark the fish, turn around and cast to where he saw it. “There is no doubt that without the HydroWave I would have never known those bass were there.” Cliff Pace
The following Classic, Randy Howell ran away from the field catching bass continually in one area. After the win in his press conference Randy Credited the HydroWave for brining in waves of fish and actually calling them to him.
The HydroWave accolades do not end with only Classic victories. Since its introduction it has been credited for dozens of Elite, FLW and Bassmaster Open wins.
Beyond the accolades, HydroWave is not sitting on their hands and are continuing to innovate beyond it current successful products. Recently, industry leader T-H Marine Supplies, Inc. purchased the assets of HydroWave. Jeff Huntley, President of T-H Marine stated, “We are proud of what HydroWave is today but more than that,
Check out all the latest innovations in the fishing world here.
See the latest in electronics here.
Gutierrez Wins Western Opener On Lake Shasta
REDDING, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2016) – Greg Gutierrez of Red Bluff, California, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Western Division opener on Lake Shasta presented by Minn Kota with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 40 pounds, 7 ounces. For his win, Gutierrez earned $36,376.
“It feels really good to finally get that monkey off of my back and win an FLW event,” said Gutierrez, who earned his first career FLW Series win. “I’ve won a few different tournaments in my life, and I’ve been close here, but the win has eluded me for a few years. I had a blast this week and could not be happier right now.”
Gutierrez said that he found bigger fish on the main lake in practice and decided to concentrate his efforts throughout the week there. He looked for transition areas, either red clay or chunk rock to gravel. He said he would cover water with a Duo Realis Spinbait 90, targeting shallow points. Once he got bit, he would slow down and thoroughly work the area with a ¼-ounce Frenzy Baits NAIL, a shaky-head rig that Gutierrez designed himself, rigged with a green-pumpkin Reaction Innovations Flirt.
“I weighed in a few fish off of a dart head as well, but the majority of my keepers this week came on the Nail. The bites were very light and subtle. I used the heavy ¼-ounce weight because I wanted to maintain bottom contact as I fished the Nail slowly.
“I’ve really learned over the last few years to trust myself and my decision making,” Gutierrez went on to say. “In years past I may have gotten confused and spun out, but I’ve learned to trust my gut and my decisions and I think that is what earned me the win this week.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Shasta were:
1st: Greg Gutierrez, Red Bluff, Calif., 15 bass, 40-7, $36,376
2nd: Richard Dobyns, Marysville, Calif., 15 bass, 35-9, $13,921
3rd: Ken Phillips, Concord, California, 15 bass, 33-15, $10,778
4th: Joe Uribe Jr., Surprise, Ariz., 15 bass, 33-13, $9,082
5th: Bryan Smith, Castro Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 32-15, $8,333
6th: Jeff Michels, Lakehead, Calif., 15 bass, 32-14, $7,185
7th: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 15 bass, 32-9, $6,287
8th: Rick Grover, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., 15 bass, 32-5, $5,389
9th: Tommy Cardoza, Redway, Calif., 15 bass, 30-13, $4,491
10th: Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 15 bass, 29-5, $3,593
Complete results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.
Smith caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Thursday, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $250.
Jack Farage of Discovery Bay, California, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 30 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Shasta were:
1st: Jack Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 30-3, Ranger Z117 w/ 90-horsepower outboard motor
2nd: Jake Stephens, Carmel, Calif., 15 bass, 29-5, $4,618
3rd: Casey Dunn, North Highlands, Calif., 15 bass, 27-1, $3,781
4th: Roy Desmangles, Lincoln, Calif., 15 bass, 26-13, $3,163
5th: Keith Adams, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 26-7, $2,711
6th: Joe Bolen, Paradise, Calif., 15 bass, 26-3, $2,342
7th: Andrew Levy, Grover Beach, Calif., 15 bass, 24-5, $1,807
8th: Blake Dyer, Tempe, Ariz., 15 bass, 24-2, $1,631
9th: Fidel Campos, Elk Grove, Calif., 15 bass, 23-13, $1,355
10th: Tracy Patton, Oakdale, Calif., 15 bass, 22-13, $1,130
Dunn caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Thursday, weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $166.50.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2016 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 3-5 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
The Costa FLW Series on Lake Shasta was hosted by the Redding Convention and Visitors Bureau. It was the first Western Division tournament of 2016. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be a Southwestern Division event, held Feb. 25-27, on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.
Cal Poly Wins Conference Opener On Shasta Lake
REDDING, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2016) – Both anglers fishing in their very first FLW College fishing tournament, the California Polytechnic State University duo of sophomore Nick Rinauro of San Jose, California, and freshman Alec Pitts of Santa Rosa, California, won the FLW College Fishing Western Conference opener on Shasta Lake Saturday with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned the club $2,000 and qualified the team for the 2017 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
Despite being College Fishing rookies, the Cal Poly squad were very comfortable on the water. Both were accomplished TBF/FLW High School Fishing anglers, Rinauro for Leland High School in San Jose and Pitts for Analy High School in Sebastopol.
“We definitely didn’t expect to get the win this week in our first tournament, but it feels great,” said Rinauro, an agricultural business major. “We’ve been following the Costa Series event all week and knew that the lake was fishing pretty tough. We didn’t find much yesterday in the one day of practice that we had, so to come out and get the win is surprising, but awesome.”
The duo said they keyed in on an area where they found clear water, in the McCloud River arm of Lake Shasta.
“A lot of teams ran up the Sacramento River arm, so we were trying to avoid that and do something different,” Rinauro said. “The water was really muddy, but we found a stretch that had clear water and current.”
Rinauro and Pitts boated a quick limit in the McCloud arm using swimbaits, jigs and shaky-head rigs before leaving to hunt for the big kickers.
“We moved out to the main lake and ended up running a lot, spot to spot,” said Pitts, a construction management major. “We caught 20 to 25 fish throughout the day. Our two big fish (a 4- and 5-pounder) came off of two different points in the main lake.”
“I think the key for us today was that we used larger bait profiles then many of the other teams,” Rinauro went on to say. “We used bigger swimbaits, longer worms and bigger jig trailers and that seemed like the difference for us.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2017 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: California Polytechnic State University – Nick Rinauro, San Jose, Calif., and Alec Pitts, Santa Rosa, Calif., five bass, 12-3, $2,000
2nd: California State University-Sacramento – Tanner Austin, El Dorado Hills, Calif., and Ethan Clark, Elk Grove, Calif., five bass, 10-9, $1,000
3rd: California State University-Chico – Andrew Loberg, Rocklin, Calif., and Travis Bounds, Roseville, Calif., four bass, 10-2, $500
4th: California State University-Chico – Carson Leber, Dixon, Calif., and Lucas Boxwell, Auburn, Calif., five bass, 9-10, $500
5th: University of Oregon – Jacob Wall, Jacksonville, Ore., and Dalton Taylor, Eugene, Ore., five bass, 9-1, $500
6th: California State University-Chico – Kevin Chen and Koulton Westbrook, both of Vacaville, Calif., five bass, 8-10
7th: California State University – Cole Thomas, Lakewood, Calif., and Via Thao, Long Beach, Calif., five bass, 7-12
8th: California Polytechnic State University – Johan Eide, Sebastopol, Calif., and Colton Farquer, Oakdale, Calif., five bass, 7-11
9th: California Polytechnic State University – Clayton Lauchland, Sebastopol, Calif., and Christopher Leclair, Oakdale, Calif., five bass, 7-10
10th: University of Oregon – Ryan Habenicht, Creswell, Ore., and Daniel Marshall, Eugene, Ore., five bass, 7-9
Complete results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.
This FLW College Fishing Western Conference event was the first regular-season qualifying tournament in the Western conference. The next event for Western Conference anglers is a tournament scheduled for April 23 on Clear Lake in Lakeport, California.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 15 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2017 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.
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