THE LATEST NEWS
“Mueller Accepts Elite Series Invite”
Naugatuck, CT – December 2014 – 2014 B.A.S.S. Nation champion and Bassmaster Classic runner-up, Paul Mueller, recently committed to the Bassmaster Elite Series for the 2015 season. The 30-year-old Southbury, Connecticut native secured his Elite Series invite by winning the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship on the Ouachita River in early November. For Mueller, the timing is right to ascend onto the sport’s highest stage.
“Although I qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series last year through the B.A.S.S. Nation,” says Mueller, “I think it was smart to wait. Now, I better understand the industry and competition. Qualifying for two consecutive Bassmaster Classics and finishing as a runner-up in this year’s event certainly builds name recognition and demonstrates that you can compete at a high level, but it is more than that. It is about building the brands of your sponsors. I work hard every day to promote my sponsors through social media, instructional videos, guide trips, seminars, and sport shows.”
Even though Mueller looks forward to his first year on tour, he is trying to remain realistic.
“I realize that there’s going to be a transition – there’s going to be a learning curve – because you are fishing against the best guys in the business.”
While Mueller has assembled some sponsorship support for his professional debut, he still seeks a title sponsor for his team. For more about Paul Mueller, or to view his instructional video series, visit www.paulmuellerfishing.com.
Falling Temps, Means Spinnerbait Time
(By James Watson) When the heat of August starts to fade and the memories of warm summer nights begin to be forgotten, water temperatures start to slowly dip down the mercury gauge. The world of a fish, in its underwater habitat, is changing.
The majority of fish are moving from their summer locations, usually deeper water, to flatter, shallower banks in search of food in preparation for the upcoming winter. As temperatures continue to drop into late fall, those fish will eventually make their way back to deeper water and start associating with steeper banks throughout the winter.
This process is a never-ending, circular cycle and the time frame when it happens depends on the weather patterns. Polar vortexes dropping in from Canada can cause this transition to happen quickly. Or a mild, more gradual, cool-down can draw the process out. The fish’s timetable is set by length of day and water temperature.
A spinnerbait is one of my favorite ways to catch large bass when water temperatures begin to drop, to the point when temperatures get below 55 degrees. I like to burn or wake a spinnerbait in late summer and early fall. As the days move closer to the New Year and those temps keep dropping, I will slow down my presentation. When the water temps reach 55 degrees or cooler, your best bet for big fish is to slow roll that spinnerbait.
My spinnerbait of choice is the War Eagle Screaming Eagle in white and chartreuse. I’ll throw a ½ ounce double willow blade with one of the blades always being gold. As the water temps get closer to 55 degrees, I’ll change to a yellow and green spinnerbait with a large Colorado blade on the back and a small Colorado blade in front or a larger bladed double willow leaf.
As with any specific technique, the foundation of throwing a spinnerbait and having success in landing fish on it is based on the total set up. The incorrect line choice can break fish off or not get a good hook set. The gear ratio on your reel can also be a determining factor in the proper presentation of the spinnerbait. Too stiff of a rod or too light of a rod can mean trouble. I’m not saying you can’t catch fish with some random set up but you are going to be more consistent if you have the right set up. In a tournament situation, consistency is the number one factor.
I might be a little different with my line choice compared to other fisherman. I prefer to use monofilament line for my spinnerbaits in cold water. For slow rolling, Maxima 20-pound Ultragreen gives me excellent abrasion resistance with just the right amount of stretch. I’m throwing the bait around rocks on steeper banks as the temperatures fall, so it is important to have an abrasion- resistant line. Maxima Fishing Line is the best on the market.
I use a Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier reel with a 5.2:1gear ratio. This is a great mid-range priced reel tough enough to put up with the demands of fishing for a living. That gear ratio allows me to really slow my presentation down, which is critical in cold water.
I throw my spinnerbaits on a seven-foot medium-heavy Waft Outlaw Rod. It gives me the stiffness for a good hook set on a long cast, but the flexibility to fight the fish without worry of losing it.
Since a spinnerbait only has one hook, (or two if you’re using a trailer hook), your rod and line choice is important. With only one hook, the hook set is crucial and a stiffer rod gives you the power for a solid hook up. Monofilament line provides just a little stretch you don’t break off. It is a balance that I’ve found consistently gets large fish in the boat on cold days.
So as the current Polar Vortex crosses the country, bust out the spinnerbaits on your home water, if it isn’t iced up. Commit to a spinnerbait with the right set up and you can still have some fun catching big late fall largemouths. Good fishing J.W.
Keep up with James on his Facebook page.
Get all the brands and styles of spinnerbaits you could ever want here.
What Does It Do?
Have you seen the new Eliminator trolling motor prop nut from the guys at R2 Marine Innovations? We have been testing it for several months and get this question a lot (what does it do?). We caught up with the brains behind it all and he was more than happy to explain it to us. Not only does the Eliminator look pretty cool it is functional too. Your going to want one of these under your Christmas tree this year.
You can get yours here.
Thanksgiving with the Blaylocks: Family, tradition … Oh, and a Little Fishing, too
BENTON, Ark. – Ever since I can remember as a little boy growing up in central Arkansas, Thanksgiving weekend has been about family, and being outdoors. Late November is right in the middle of deer season in Arkansas, and as a kid I remember thinking that Thanksgiving was all about deer camp.
Our family was there, we’d eat Thanksgiving dinner in camp, and hunt in the evening. Now that I’ve gotten older and have a family of my own, deer hunting isn’t the most important thing – heck, this holiday isn’t even about the actual day of Thanksgiving. It’s more a time to be thankful for everything we have in our lives, and to enjoy the things that make this such a traditional holiday.
And I have to admit, I like to hang on to old traditions. It kinda makes me sad when things change, but our Thanksgiving weekends now are different than they were when I was a kid. Back then, my great grandma and grandma would come into deer camp, and we’d fry up deer steaks right there in camp.
It seems like Thanksgiving has turned into “Turkey Day”, but that’s just not how we traditionally did it. Growing up in my family, Thanksgiving weekend was family and hunting, and I was fortunate to have a family where four generations got together during the holiday to eat and share time together. We just happened to do it most of the time in the outdoors.
No matter how things change, though, the holiday is still about family. These days, myself, Lindsey and our son Kei will spend time with Lindsey’s grandparents and my grandparents on my mom’s side, and it’s still a big deal for all of us to be able to spend time together as a family.
Of course, Thanksgiving is about food too, and we’ve done both the traditional and the not-so-traditional. As a matter of fact, some of my favorites are not the stuff everybody seems to cook – ham and turkey and mashed potatoes and such – but Li’l Smokies and potato casserole. Lindsey is a great cook, and she puts things together for Thanksgiving weekend visits with the families. Me? I’m a good taste-tester.
Fishing the holiday weekend
It just so happens that this Thanksgiving weekend features a winter tournament series that a buddy and I compete in near our home in Benton, so I’ll be continuing the tradition of being in the outdoors for the holiday weekend. This is part of a four-tournament series, and all of the best anglers in the area get in on it, and I can tell you this right now: some of the very best bass fishermen in the country are guys from Central Arkansas you’ve never even heard of.
If you’re a student of tournament bass fishing at all, you know that Arkansas is notorious for producing some of the best anglers in the world: Scott Suggs, Larry Nixon, Mike McClelland, Ron and Spencer Shuffield, Kevin Short … that list goes on and on. Well the guys who I fish against in these local tournaments aren’t intimidated one bit when you show up from the FLW Tour or Elite Series. Chances are, they’re going to beat you unless everything goes right, and that’s something I truly appreciate about the late fall/winter tournaments around here.
This time of the year, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that the Alabama rig is going to dominate, but there’s always the added factor of unpredictability in the weather. Two weeks ago, we had days that dipped down into the 20s, and this week we have a warm front moving in that will push the highs up to 70 degrees.
The water is going to be cool no matter what, though, and this is a time where the Livingston Lures Stickmaster and Electronic Baitfish Sounds technology™ are going to be players. I’ve said this many, many times before, but I’ll repeat it again: don’t put your jerkbaits away in the late fall and winter! People assume that you have to stop throwing a jerkbait when the water cools down and fish start moving out into deeper water, but that’s not always true. You can catch fish on jerkbaits all through the winter if you just do a couple of things to modify them.
I’ll go down in line size to 6- or 8-pound test, and add a No. 3 or 4 split ring to either the front or back eyelet of the treble hooks on the bait. What this does is make the bait sink slowly – I don’t feel like fish are going to run up to your bait in the wintertime nearly as much as they want it to come to them.
EBS is a big help here, because it basically calls the fish to the bait as it sinks.
Starting to plan for 2015: The end of November/early December mean that it’s almost time to start getting tackle ready for the next season, and I’m really looking forward to 2015. In addition to the FLW Tour, I’ll be fishing both the Central and Southern B.A.S.S. Opens, so I’ll be fishing more tournaments than usual.
I’m going to continue to enjoy the holiday season with my family, continue to fish and hunt a little, but I’m already looking ahead to the first Open on Lake Toho in Florida in January, and the FLW Tour kickoff on that same fishery in March. It’ll all be here before you know it, and I’m ready to get back to work.
Be sure and check out the entire Livingston Lures line here.
Don’t Miss This!
Amphibia’s first-ever Black Friday event happens tomorrow – Check out the all-new site and tell your friends! Amphibiaeyegear.com