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Tuesday Megabass Tip on Wdnesday
Over the past few weeks, we’ve given you some tips and thoughts of approaching your water during the “dog days” of summer. Each body of water in the country is unique to itself, and each lake will have a bass population that reacts a bit differently than others.
Here are some key points to remember.
1. Northern, natural lakes and river systems will be least affected. These are the best places to fish in the heat of the summer.
2. Clear water lakes will have a big population of suspended bass, due to a distinct thermocline. This thermocline will usually last until late September, when the bass can move even deeper or shallower.
3. Seek out the headwaters in clear water lakes, as the oxygen levels are better, and the fish will continue to feed shallow.
4. Stained water lakes will have two distinct populations: a deeper group (6-12 feet), and a super shallow population. Bass will be less likely to suspend in stained water lakes, due to the weak thermocline and shallower average water depth.
Don’t let the slowdown in mid to late summer fishing keep you off the water. The great thing about this time of year is lots of things will work, depending upon the water you are on. You can catch them shallow on top early, flipping, shallow cranking, cranking mid-depths, or fishing deep for suspended fish. There are a lot of things going on, and it’s up to you to use your creativity to dial it in!
Best of luck!
Get all your Megabass here.
Stakes Are High In Upcoming Toyota AOY Championship In Michigan
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — After eight events covering rivers, lakes and man-made reservoirs from Florida to Louisiana to New York and in venues known for the Monkey Trial, the Liberty Bell and the finest country music theaters, the 2014 Bassmaster Elite Series regular season is finally in the books.
But the year is far from over. What’s left is the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Bays de Noc out of Escanaba, Mich., Sept. 18-21. There, more than two dozen Bassmaster Classic berths and the 2014 AOY title will be up for grabs.
AOY Down To Six
Only six anglers have a mathematical chance to win the 2014 AOY award: Greg Hackney (664 points), Aaron Martens (649), Todd Faircloth (647), Jacob Powroznik (623), Keith Combs (623) and Mark Davis (618). Hackney, Faircloth, Powroznik and Combs would be first-time winners. Martens is the reigning AOY and a two-time winner while Davis has three titles — the last awarded in 2001.
At the last Elite event on New York’s Cayuga Lake, Hackney accomplished two things. He won the tournament and the first-place prize of $100,000, and he put some distance between himself and his AOY challengers. With a 15-point lead over Martens, Hackney controls his own destiny. If he can finish in the Top 15 at Bays de Noc, he’s guaranteed the title. If not, he leaves the door open for Martens … and perhaps others.
Martens is 15 points behind Hackney, and Faircloth is 17 back. Both are regulars in the AOY hunt, and both will need help from the leader if they’re going to win the title. If Hackney has a good tournament, Martens and Faircloth are fishing for second place. But since Bays de Noc is new water for the Elite pros, it’s tough to handicap this all-star field. Martens has a reputation as a finesse angler and smallmouth whisperer, but Hackney and Faircloth are extremely versatile and at the peak of their powers.
In fourth and fifth place are Powroznik and Combs, both with 623 points (Powroznik leads by virtue of a tiebreaker). Powroznik won earlier this year at Toledo Bend, and locked up the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year award at Cayuga. Since even the last-place angler at the AOY Championship earns 51 points (the winner gets 100), it’s going to be very difficult for Powroznik or Combs to come from so far behind to win. Combs posted his best AOY finish last year when he was fifth.
As for Davis, his chances for an AOY title this year would be best described as very, very slim. Essentially, he’d have to win the championship while Hackney finished 47th or worse and the others would have to struggle as well. Nevertheless, Davis has been a big part of the race this year, leading in points for much of the season. If he could pull out a miracle at Bays de Noc, he’d be the oldest AOY in history at nearly 51.
Classic Berths
In addition to the race for AOY, a large number of 2015 Bassmaster Classic berths are at stake in the AOY Championship. Since the Classic’s inception in 1971, a spot in the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing has been a benchmark of success in the sport. The 2015 Classic is no exception and will be held Feb. 20-22 on Lake Hartwell out of Greenville, S.C.
Exactly how many Classic spots are up for grabs is difficult to determine since the number of Elite anglers who will “double qualify” through AOY points and by winning an Elite Series or Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens event will not be known until the Bassmaster Tournament Trail season ends in October. Nevertheless, somewhere between the Top 34 anglers in the AOY race and the Top 38 (plus double qualifiers who ranked lower than that) will be Classic bound.
Since the scoring system for the AOY Championship is the same as that used for regular season Elite events (100 points for first place, 99 for second, 98 for third, etc.) and only 50 anglers will be competing, the fewest points anyone can earn is 51. That will make big changes in the standings difficult and unlikely. In fact, the Top 22 anglers in the race are already mathematically guaranteed Classic spots. And on a practical level, it will extremely difficult to unseat anyone in the Top 32.
On the other end of things, anglers currently ranked 46th or lower have a big hurdle to leap and will need a combination of high finishes on their parts and struggles on the parts of anglers who are on the bubble, if they’re going to be fishing on Hartwell next February. What that means from a spectator’s perspective is that the real battle will be taking place between the anglers who rank from about 33rd (Brandon Palaniuk) to 45th (Andy Montgomery) because they have the greatest chance of losing or gaining ground.
Of particular note are two veteran anglers in that group. The first is Kevin Short, currently ranked 34th. That he’s in Classic contention is a testament to his personal resiliency and skill with a rod and reel. Short missed the fourth tournament of the year after his Arkansas home was destroyed by a tornado. To qualify for the Classic despite missing an event is a rare accomplishment. The last time it happened was 2006 when Randy Howell, Alton Jones and Kevin VanDam made the Classic despite being disqualified at one tournament. That season there were 11 events, so they had 10 others to make up lost ground. For Short to do it in an eight tournament season, would be even more impressive.
The other angler of note is Jones, currently 39th in AOY points. Jones is no stranger to Classic competition — he’s been to 16 previous championships — but to miss this one would sting would more than most. Hartwell was the site of his Classic win in 2008.
Conspicuous Absence
The other big story in the 2014 AOY race is who’s not involved — Kevin VanDam. After 24 consecutive Bassmaster Classic appearances and nearly as many Top 10 AOY finishes in that time, VanDam struggled this year and finished 53rd — out of the AOY race and out of the 2015 Classic. He has seven AOY titles, which ranks behind only Roland Martin, who has nine.
VanDam’s streak of consecutive Classic appearances is second only to Rick Clunn’s 28 in a row between 1974 and 2001. Both have won four Classics.
And KVD’s nine straight seasons in the Top 10 of the AOY race ranks behind only Larry Nixon’s 12 in a row (1977-88) and the 11 in a row posted by Clunn (1975-85) and VanDam himself (1992-2002).
2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Booyah, Carhartt, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. 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 presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.
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Media Contact: Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, dprecht@bassmaster.com or Helen Northcutt, 204-313-0944, hnorthcutt@bassmaster.com.
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FLW Pro James Watson Joins Waft Fishing Pro Staff
Oakley, CA – Premium rod manufacturer Waft Fishing has announced FLW professional James Watson has joined their pro-staff. Watson is a five-year veteran of the FLW tour. He had a third place finish at the FLW Okeechobee event this year using Waft Fishing rods.
Waft rods are made from high performance carbon fiber blanks manufactured in Japan. They feature high-ton carbon that is combined with their unique curing process and a carbon wrap structure. Along with other trade secrets this creates a super light, highly sensitive but very strong rod. Founded out of South Africa, Waft Fishing brings these amazing rods to the America fishing market.
Waft Fishing’s Dan Mathisen says, “We are excited about James joining our team and helping us to promote the rods in the US. We appreciate James being pro-active about introducing them to other anglers.”
Watson of Waynesville, MO has been using Waft rods for over a year. “I love my Waft Rods. These high performance carbon fiber rods are bullet proof. They are hard to break but super light-weight and sensitive.” said Watson “I have the 7 foot 10 inch Iron Feather Bass series which I have been using for quite some time. This is the rod I used when I got third place on Okeechobee. It helped pull seven pounders out of the grass.”
About Waft Fishing: Waft Fishing introduced their products in the United States in 2013 at ICAST and has been developing the market in America for the past year. They will focus mainly on the bass fishing market in America but are well know around the world for not only their bass fishing rods but also their carp and saltwater line of rods. You can find more info at: http://waftfishing.com or contact WaftUSA@gmail.com 925-278-0013.
About James Watson: Watson has fished five seasons on the FLW circuit and has over $130,000 in winnings. He has made two Forrest Wood Cup appearances and is considered an up and comer on the FLW tour. You can stay up to date on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JamesWatsonFishing
Chris Zaldain, Setting Course Over Ground
Chris Zaldain explains the importance using the course over ground setting and how simple it is to use on the Raymarine e127.
Morgenthaler’s Tour Journal
I’d never been to Cayuga prior to the official practice period for this last full-field Elite Series tournament of the year, but I knew that the lake was going to pump out some 20-pound-plus stringers and that it had a lot of grass (both shallow and deep) in the upper third of the lake. It also has a lot of docks. Therefore I was excited and confident that it would fish to my strengths.
On the first day of practice, I had an excellent day fishing a big Lunker Lure jig out in the grass in 12 to 14 feet of water. One stretch in particular treated me exceptionally well, and I hit the water on the second day of practice looking to expand on that promising start. As that second day progressed, and into the third day, the jig bite gradually got weaker and weaker. It never went away altogether, but increasingly I turned to a crankbait and a Senko with a 3/16 ounce tungsten weight to figure things out. The Senko seemed to be the most consistent producer.
I spent the final day of practice plying some of the well-known community holes to try and figure out if they’d hold up during competition. On the first day of the tournament, I ran to one of those areas and it proved to be even more crowded than I’d expected – there were probably 30 boats in one 200 yard stretch. I struggled early, catching one 14-inch bass pretty quickly, but then struggling for a while. The crowd got to me mentally, and eventually I had to make a move to get away from them. The other thing that complicated my efforts was the, at-times, violent storms that rolled through the area.
Once the bad weather cleared out, I started to run the little isolated patches of grass that I’d found, and that proved to be the ticket. They produced a limit pretty quickly, but they weren’t the right quality – a 3-pounder, a 2 ¼, a 2, and two plain keepers. Those wouldn’t get the job done, so as the day progressed, I ran about 10 miles south to my best stretch and culled three of those five, using a D Bomb with a 1 ounce weight in addition to the Senko. The D Bomb triggered some reaction bites, but I never got the big bite that I knew was there, and I eventually settling onto my weight of 14-02. That put me in 46th after Day One, just 2 pounds out of 25th. I was surprised that 14-plus didn’t have me higher in the standings.
Day Two was predicted to have more sunshine, which tends to position the grass fish more predictably, so I committed to spending more time on my best isolated spots, especially since I had an early weigh-in. I put three fish in the boat pretty quickly, and then at around 10:30, I ran back to my best stretch and was surprised to see nobody there. Within 10 minutes I caught my best fish of the day, which was a hair or two under 4 pounds. Then I did the right thing and slowed down , sticking with it until I had four or five more good bites.
With an hour to go, I ran up to the north end of the lake near the check-in site and managed to cull once more, but despite my best efforts, I simply didn’t get the big bite that I needed. I ended up with 13 pounds even, for a total of 27-02, just 15 ounces out of the top 50.
I’m not making an excuse, but one other factor that complicated this tournament for all of the competitors was the tremendous population of pickerel in Cayuga. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I caught at least 30 to 40 of them every day. The real problem is that during practice, you never knew if the fish you shook off was a bass or a toothy critter.
This is one of those events where you really have to applaud the winner. Despite all of the various factors in play, and the extremely tight weights in general, Greg Hackney won by over 9 pounds. That’s unbelievable. Looking back on it, I found the right pattern and presentation, just not the right places. Greg and Todd Faircloth (2nd place) managed to fish a little bit away from the crowd and that was the right call. Despite that slight disappointment, I’m now locked into the Angler of the Year Championship and the Classic, so it certainly wasn’t a disaster.
A few tackle notes: I fished my workhorse black and blue 1 ounce Lunker Lure jig on a Denali 7’11” XH Jadewood Rod paired with a 7.6:1 Shimano Ci4 reel spooled with 40 pound test Gamma Torque Braid. The D-Bomb (green pumpkin) with a 1 ounce weight was on the same rod/reel/line setup. The Senko (green pumpkin) was on a 7’ heavy-action Noirwood rod, same reel, but with 14 pound test Gamma Fluorocarbon. I added a 3/16 ounce tungsten weight.
In theory, we have a few weeks off before we have to go to Escanaba, Michigan, for the final event, but we’re starting construction on our house at Table Rock and I’ve spent the last few days busy with plans and contractors. After making the swing through the northeast on my own, it will be good to have Debbie with me in Michigan and then after that at Lake Norman.
Right now, I’ve got big smallmouths on my mind. This final Elite event is going to be fun – we should crush them in just about every way you’d want to catch them – and we’ll all get to fish for three days. I like the way that my season has progressed and things continue to look good in front of me. By Chad Morgenthaler
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