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McClelland Prepares for Coveted GEICO Bassmaster Classic Win

McClelland Prepares for Coveted GEICO Bassmaster Classic Win

by | Jan 14, 2015 | | 0 Comments

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Jan. 14) — With the esteemed 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell drawing ever closer, pro angler Mike McClelland is anxious for his chance to make history.

“When you talk about the Bassmaster Classic,” McClelland said, “especially with GEICO becoming the title sponsor last year, the urgency for me to finally win one of these makes it that much greater. This is probably the ultimate goal every angler puts on his list at the beginning of the year. Angler of the Year is important, but winning the Classic is the most prestigious title you can win in this occupation.

“The Classic is one of those few goals that has eluded me in my career. Other than winning Angler of the Year, I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in my career from when I originally set out to do this for a living.”

Determined to add the Bassmaster Classic to his list of career accolades, the Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat Stratos Elite angler has used the short off-season to take every precaution possible to make it a reality.

“Typically, once the tournament season ends I start getting on the treadmill, working out, and keeping myself in decent shape,” McClelland said. “A lot of people don’t look at tournament fishers as true athletes, but it takes a special person to stand on the deck of a boat for eight hours a day during a tournament.

“Aside from physical preparation, I’ll do some on-water work too; however, the weather has been too cold lately. As soon as the weather starts breaking though, I’ll spend as much time on the water as I can to stay sharp.”

Adding to his physical training, McClelland has been mentally planning for his Feb. 20-22 trip to South Carolina.

“I really feel like I’ve done my homework for this year’s Classic,” McClelland said. “The Classic was at Lake Hartwell in 2008. Fortunately I participated in that one, so I have a little bit of history on that lake already. Also, I spent five days before the off-season in December on Lake Hartwell. Since then, I’ve been studying topographical maps of the lake and preparing as much as I can without being on the water.

“When you have a lake that is off limits for two months, you have to do everything you can to keep your mind fresh as to what the lake has to offer. That way when you do get there, you’re not fumbling around with what the next step is going to be.”

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Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat Elite angler Mike McClelland is anxious for his chance to make history at the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic Feb. 20-22 at Lake Hartwell.

McClelland Prepares for Coveted GEICO Bassmaster Classic Win

The Rod Glove Signs Three New Elite Series Pros

by | Jan 13, 2015 | | 0 Comments

The Rod Glove has just added three new Elite Series Pros to their already impressive pro staff list. Joining the team for 2015 are Jordan Lee from Alabama, Paul Mueller from Connecticut and Chad Morgenthaler from Illinois. These three new pros will join current Rod Glove pro staffers Dave Wolak, Brent Erhler, Greg Bohannan and the one and only Gerald “G-Man” Swindle.

“The Rod Glove is thrilled to add these three new anglers to the team” says Rod Glove owner, Jim Van Ryn. “All three of these anglers fit right in with our group and the image we are trying to portray as a company”, he adds.

For more about the Rod Glove, visit their site at www.therodglove.com

McClelland Prepares for Coveted GEICO Bassmaster Classic Win

Team Livingston Tip Sheet: Follow Hank Cherry’s Keys to Wintertime Jerkbait Success

by | Jan 13, 2015 | | 0 Comments

If you live anywhere in the country (except where the lakes are all frozen over), wintertime is one of the best times of year to target suspended fish. People seem to forget that fish still feed a lot in the winter, they just don’t feed as often. They really don’t have to: the bait is all grouped up this time of year, the shad kill is going on, and that turns fish into really opportunistic feeders.

For that reason, this time of year is a great time to throw a jerkbait like the JerkMaster 121 with Electronic Baitfish Sounds MultiTouch Technology™.

FIND THE BAIT, YOU’LL FIND FISH
Finding the bait is the key to locating fish in the winter, and the easiest way to do that is to look for birds diving and flying around. If you find an area where birds are actually diving and picking up the bait, you know you’re in the right spot. You’ll find fish on windy points a lot this time of year, but if you don’t have an array of electronics, you can just locate an area where birds are active and cast around until you’re able to fine-tune the location of the bait.

This is where EBS MultiTouch™ will be a big help, because the JerkMaster 121’s sound technology dramatically expands the “range” of the bait when you’re looking for fish. And fish just hit the EBS baits SO much harder, it’s amazing.

One little tip on MultiTouch™: Even though you’re fishing over shad balls in the winter, I frequently switch up the sounds from EBS™ Shad (the actual sounds of a panicked/fleeing shad) to EBS™ Craw (which emits the sound of a snapping shellfish). I’ve caught just as many on craw as shad because it’s a different sound that just catches their attention.

WORKING THE JERKMASTER 121
The first thing to do once you’ve located bait is figure out what that bait is relating to, and whether it’s on a 45-degree (point) or on a steeper drop-off. Shad can suspend in 5 feet in a pocket, or they could be in 25 feet on a point, but it’s really important to find the depth where the bait is in the biggest masses.

If you find fish suspended in 6 to 15 feet of water, stay off of them and make long casts toward shore. I tend to play with the retrieve depending on water temperature. I like to work the bait more in short twitches this time of year than stroking the bait, and pause to let it float up a little. That action imitates what the shad are doing underwater. If you’ve ever seen a dying shad, that’s exactly what it does: it floats up a little and then twitches.

The retrieve kinda goes day to day, but it’s generally better to fish slower, albeit a little more erratically.

ADD A LITTLE WEIGHT TO THE BAIT
Sometimes I’ll add weight to the JerkMaster 121, depending on how deep the fish are. The bait comes with No. 4 Daiichi 4X Strong trebles, and trust me, you can just take it out of the pack and sling it and do just fine. I fiddle with all my hooks on all my baits, though, so I’ll run the JerkMaster 121 with thinner-wire No. 4 trebles (which are slightly lighter than the 4X hooks), or I’ll go up in hook size depending on how deep the fish are.  You might be surprised at how a tiny little change in the size of the hook will affect the action, and the way you can fish the bait. If I find myself in a situation where fish are deeper – say 15 feet or more – it’s not unusual for me to switch the No. 4s out to No. 3s, depending on how I want the bait to fall.

THE FINAL DETAILS
I throw a medium-action rod and 12- to 15-pound P-Line fluorocarbon, which I prefer over mono because it doesn’t float the bait up, and has virtually zero stretch. I stick with more opaque colors this time of year because they’re more natural-looking for shad in the winter. My personal favorite is Blue Pearl, but you can go with almost anything in white or off white (Pure Bone or Bone Croaker, for example).

McClelland Prepares for Coveted GEICO Bassmaster Classic Win

FLW College Fishing Southern Conference Opens Season at Sam Rayburn

by | Jan 13, 2015 | , | 0 Comments

BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 13, 2015) – FLW College Fishing is headed to Sam Rayburn Reservoir January 24 for the first of three regular-season stops in the Southern Conference. A full field of college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Southern Conference Invitational tournament.
Walmart FLW Tour pro Andrew Upshaw, a former college fishing star for Stephen F. Austin University, said that there are two predominant patterns this time of year at Sam Rayburn.
“This time of year the fish are moving from their winter to prespawn patterns,” Upshaw said. “Targeting grass beds from the outside edge to the inside edge in 3 to 8 feet of water is a very smart move.”
Upshaw said that if the grass beds aren’t firing, college anglers should throw Carolina rigs to natural cover such as stumps, trees or deeper grass, from 8 to 12 feet deep.
“I think a red-crawfish or pinchin’ Peach-colored Rat-L-Trap would do the trick,” Upshaw continued. “The big thing is not to get discouraged if a cold front comes in. It’s only going to make the bite better. I think a college team will weigh in an 18 to 20 pound stringer to win this tournament.”
Anglers will take off from Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 Recreation Road 255 W. in Brookeland, Texas, at 7 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament, which is hosted by Jasper County Development District, include:
Angelo State University – Chase Gibson, Denver City, Texas, and Keegan Moore, San Angelo, Texas
Angelo State University – Logan Clark, Marble Falls, Texas, and Blake Turner, Georgetown, Texas
Angelo State University – Scott Halbrooks, Lubbock, Texas, and Garrett Rose, Pipe Creek, Texas
Baylor University – Denver Lawless, Waco, Texas, and Connor Case, Plano, Texas
Henderson State University – Shane Stoddard, Hot Springs, Ark., and Cobey Wingfield, Malvern, Ark.
Henderson State University – William Stone, Arkadelphia, Ark., and Theron Asbery, Grove, Okla.
Lamar University – Cameron LaFleur and Casey Burleigh, both of Orange, Texas
Lamar University – Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas, and Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas
Louisiana State University – Dane Lecoq and Brennan Vosburg, both of Morganza, La.
Louisiana Tech University – Austin Watkins and Tyler Wilk, both of Boyce, La.
Louisiana Tech University – Dustin Browning, Jonesboro, La., and Christopher Vallillo, Ruston, La.
Louisiana Tech University – James Mathews, Ruston, La., and Adam Forester, Pineville, La.
Louisiana Tech University – Nick Farrell, Calhoun, La., and Randy Branch, West Monroe, La.
Louisiana Tech University – Zachary Sparish, Robeline, La., and Austin Sepulvado, Calhoun, La.
McNeese State University – Hunter Terrell, Lake Charles, La., and Brian Murphy, DeRidder, La.
McNeese State University – James Hovey, Joaquin, Texas, and Sean Leleaux, Welsh, La.
Nicholls State University – Jess Robertson, Houma, La., and Tyler Rivet, Raceland, La.
Nicholls State University – Trevor Leblanc, Houma, La., and Grant Naquin, Thibodaux, La.
Stephen F. Austin State University – Garret Whitley, Quinlan, Texas, and Justin Marcum, Hallsville, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Taylor Barton, Montgomery, Texas, and Tyler Woods, Mansfield, Texas
Texas A&M University – Garrett Nance, Pearland, Texas, and James Wittenborn, Haskell, Texas
Texas A&M University – Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas, and Matthew McArdle, College Station, Texas
Texas A&M University-Galveston – Hugh Keller, Houston, Texas, and Garrett Goette, Tomball, Texas
Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Cody Garrett and Clint Marek, both of Tomball, Texas
Texas State University – Evan Coleman, Georgetown, Texas, and Andrew Jackson, Liberty Hill, Texas
Texas State University – Sam Stone, Austin, Texas, and David Cosner, San Jose, Calif.
Texas Tech University – Donald Peters, Los Cruces, N.M., and Joseph Smith, Kingwood, Texas
Texas Tech University – Greg Roberts, Lafayette, La., and Layne Bynum, Lubbock, Texas
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville – Drew Porto, Colleyville, Texas, and Kenneth Anderson, Fayetteville, Ark.
University of Central Oklahoma  – Cole Matthews, Edmond, Okla., and Easton Ramsey, Oklahoma City, Okla.
University of Central Oklahoma – Colten Hutson, Edmond, Okla., and Brock Enmeier, Enid, Okla.
University of Central Oklahoma – Zach Holliday, Yukon, Okla., and Chris Zins, Oklahoma City, Okla.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Neil Arnaud, Lafayette, La., and Jed Hebert, Lafayette, La.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Ry Savory, St. Martinville, La., and Dustin Robichaux, Houma, La.
University of Louisiana-Monroe – Brian Eaton, Monroe, La., and Tyler Craig, Frierson, La.
University of Oklahoma – Alex Edgeman, Sandpoint, Idaho, and Landon Dixon, Hinton, Okla.
University of Texas-Arlington – Cody Elliott, Alvarado, Texas, and Jordan Jarrett, Mansfield, Texas
University of Texas-Arlington – Payton Gilcrease, Allen, Texas, and Jacob Britt, Forney, Texas
FLW College Fishing teams compete in qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top fifteen teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five Conference Championship tournaments. The top ten teams from each of the five Conference Championship tournaments will advance to the 2016 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 fishing club recognized by their college or university.
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 industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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