Category Archives: Fishing Tackle

Rods and reels to live bait

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Is Fishing The Carolina Rig The Anytime Big Fish Technique

Fishing The Carolina Rig The Anytime Big Fish Techniqu

from The Fishing Wire

Whether competing in a bass tournament or simply fishing a weekend afternoon, all anglers are constrained by one element: time. This time constraint has led to the strategy known as “power fishing,” epitomized by the run-and-gun approach introduced by Kevin Van Dam, who recently retired with the best track record in competitive bass fishing history.

Power fishing is not just fishing fast; rather, it’s about covering water with improved time management and efficiency in order to get a sense of how the most active bass are behaving on a given day. Once located, an angler can slow to a more methodical means to catch more bass located in an area.

What if you could utilize a technique that offered the best of both worlds: long casts to cover water relatively quickly but also a means to efficiently probe the lake bottom and surrounding cover for bass? Such is the appeal of the Carolina rig, aka the “ball and chain.”
The Carolina rig shot to the national spotlight in the 1985 Bassmaster’s Classic when Jack Chancellor dragged it across river sand bars for the winning catch. He called it the “Do-Nothing Rig,” which is appropriate given the simplicity of the technique.

The Carolina rig is a heavy barrel weight, such as Epic’s ¾ or 1 oz Tungsten Barrel Weight, separated from the hook and an 18-36” leader by a barrel swivel. Most anglers will include a series of plastic or metal beads above the swivel knot to cushion it from the heavy sinker and add an audible component to attract a bass’ attention.

If you want extra cushion and less clack, use the XL Blue-Colored Weight Peg from Epic. Place the peg right above the swivel so that when the weight comes down, it will bounce back. If Epic’s Tungsten Bead is on there, then it will have a different sound than glass beads.

Soft plastic choices for the Carolina rig are a matter of the angler’s imagination and preference, with creature baits and craws a popular choice, as are the more subtle 5-inch “french fry” worms or even the ubiquitous Senko. Choices in hooks can include a 3-4/0 EWG (extra wide gap), such as the AlphaPoint® Assault Tactical Wide Gap Hook, or the offset round bend hooks in the same size.

Typically, the Carolina rig uses 30-50# braided line to eliminate stretch on a long hookset. The leader material is usually 12-15 pound fluorocarbon to reduce underwater line visibility and increase abrasion resistance.

The Carolina rig can be fished on the bottom from shallow to deep, stirring up sediment as the heavyweight drags along the bottom with short bursts from the rod tip. The efficiency of the setup comes from the ability to bomb the rig great distances with long casts due to the heavy sinker. The sinker also impacts structure along the lake bottom as it drags, which draws fish to the commotion. It also offers feedback to the astute angler about the composition of the lake bottom. One can feel the tactile change in feedback through the rod tip as the sinker drags through the muted feel of a silty bottom to the more “crunchy” sensation of gravel or shell bottom. These little patches of gravel and shell are what is known as a “hard bottom” among accomplished offshore anglers and is considered “the juice” when searching for schools of feeding bass.

Among all the components of dragging a Carolina rig effectively, the rod is front and center. The technique requires a specialized rod long enough to heft the heavy sinker and extend leader a great distance while also maintaining the sensitivity to feel those subtle bottom changes through the rod tip. The new KastKing Assegai “Sweet Caroline” is aptly named, as it checks all the boxes for defining the perfect rod for lobbing and dragging the old ball and chain.

At 7 ‘6”, the Sweet Caroline has the needed length to fire the Carolina rig to its maximum range, as well as move a lot of line in a hurry on the hookset with a sweep of the long rod. Considered a “fast/medium/heavy” action, this technique-specific rod from KastKing also offers the tip sensitivity to feel the bottom and detect the bite, but has the power to drive the hook home on bass from a great distance.

Want a wide spool reel that eliminates backlashes and also lets you know the distance of your last cast? You can pair the Assegai rod with the new KastKing iReel, which is an incredibly smooth reel that casts the Carolina rig a country mile. At ICAST ’23, all the buzz centered around the iReel’s ability to provide audible feedback for the casting distance, as well as retrieve speed, both important metrics when fishing any lure. Should you choose to turn off the audio capability, the iReel records all the casting data to your phone via the KastKing app for your review at a later time.

The Carolina rig is a versatile technique that can be fished fast or slow, shallow or deep, regardless of the season. When searching for schools of bass away from the shoreline, drag ‘em up with the “ball and chain.”

Shark Fishing: A Beginner’s Guide

If You Want To Go Shark Fishing here Is A Beginner’s Guide To Get You Started

from The Fishing Wire

With Braided Line And Relatively Small High-Performance Reels That Pack A Punch, Learning How To Shark Fish Is Easier Than Ever Before.

Big fish, big teeth and big gear all conspire to make shark fishing an intimidating pursuit. But you don’t have to be Captain Quint, strapped into a fighting chair with a coffee-can-sized reel and a pool-cue rod, in order catch sharks. In fact, with braided line and relatively small high-performance reels that pack a punch, learning how to shark fish is easier than ever before.

Shark Fishing Tackle

Big game tackle has really evolved over the last few years. The size of the equipment that we used to use for striped bass, we now use for school bluefin tuna, and what we used for school bluefin tuna, we can now use for sharks. This is primarily due to today’s thin-diameter braided lines and the changes tackle manufacturers have made to keep up with the braided line. PowerPro 80-pound-test is the same diameter as 18-pound-test monofilament. We can spool 600-yards of 80-pound test braid onto reels that would only be able to hold 150 yards of 80-pound-test monofilament. This allows us to use smaller reels but have the same amount of line that we had on larger, heavier reels.

The advancements in fishing lines have pushed reel manufacturers to produce lighter, stronger, smaller and more powerful reels. The tackle manufacturers have beefed up the drags on the smaller reels to accommodate braided lines and powerful fish. On the Insufishent Funds charter boats, we traded in our large 50-wide reels for much smaller Shimano Talica 25s loaded with more than 600 yards of 80-pound-test braided line with a 50- to 100-yard topshot of 80-pound-test monofilament. This is a difference of almost 3 pounds in the weight of the reel alone! This not only cuts the weight of our outfit in half, but it also gives us the ability to set the hook with much more control and a lot less stretch than when we used straight monofilament. Now my anglers are fighting the fish and not the rod and reel.

The rod advancements have changed dramatically, as well. We are now able to use much lighter rods that have the same line ratings as the older, heavier rods. We use Shimano Terez TZCX66XXH rods which are designed specifically for braided line. These rod and reel combos, partnered with a good fighting belt and harness, have drastically reduced our fight times. That is good for the angler and good for the shark, especially if you plan on practicing catch and release.

Our standard shark rig on the Insufishent Funds is fairly simple. We use 15 feet of 480-pound-test American Fishing Wire multi-strand cable connected to a 500-pound-test AFW Mighty Mini Swivel with 10 feet of AFW 240-pound-test single-strand wire connected to the hook. For our weighted rig, we add a 3-ounce weighted swivel in between the multi-strand and single strand. If drift conditions are faster than 3 knots, we add additional weight to the rig with a rubber band. Mustad 7699d hooks work the best in sizes ranging from an 8/0 for small baits, all the way up to the 11/0 for our largest strip baits.

Where To Fish

Finding the right place to set up your chum slick is critical. When we are looking for a good place to set up, I find it to be a lot like hunting. First, we start with areas of structure – ledges, holes, and wrecks.

Once in these areas, we start looking for rip lines or any disturbances or changes in the surface waters. These can even be slick lines from a feeding frenzy that may have happened before we arrived or may be happening under the surface. Sometimes they can be small pockets of baitfish or flocks of birds in an area. We like to see any of these signs coupled with water temperatures between 65 and 68 degrees.

On the Insufishent Funds, we always drift, in order to cover more ground. Once we set our slick, we are constantly looking for sharks to engage. Sometimes you see the birds that are sitting in the water all of a sudden take flight, or you notice that the bluefish that were hanging out in the slick have all of a sudden disappeared. The birds and bluefish both know not to stick around when a shark comes to visit.

Chum Slick

Once we have located a place to fish, we set up two buckets of chum. Typically, we tie one bucket off of the bow and one bucket off the stern. This helps jumpstart the slick and gives us a constant flow of chum. After we go through the first two buckets, we switch over to one bucket set off the midship cleat for the remainder of the day. We use chum bags that are specifically designed for a 5-gallon bucket of chum. In an 8-hour day of fishing, we usually bring six 5-gallon buckets of chum. During tournament time, we bring eight 5-gallon buckets because we chum a little heavier then.

We also bring a 75-quart cooler full of bluefish or bunker to use for chumming. We add in some fresh cut bunker and bluefish chunks to spice up the slick, but are careful not to overdo it. The goal is to attract the sharks, not feed them.

Fight to Stop the Banning of Lead Fishing Products – Protect The Use Of Traditional Tackle

Protect The Use Of Traditional Tackle – Stop the Lead Ban

from The Fishing Wire

Efforts are underway to prevent the use of lead tackle for fishing despite scant evidence that using lead has a harmful impact on wildlife populations.

Please use the resources below to learn more about this important issue and how to engage your company and consumers to protect our industry.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced plans to prohibit the use of lead tackle in several national wildlife refuges. Banning lead tackle will deter fishing participation and, given the lack of scientific basis for the ban, sets the stage for future unwarranted restrictions. We need people to reach out to USFWS to support the use of traditional tackle by August 22.

While we are hoping to work in consultation with USFWS, recent legislation was also introduced in Congress to address this issue. The Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, was introduced in both chambers of Congress. If passed, this new bill would prohibit federal land management agencies from banning the use of traditional lead tackle and ammunition on public lands unless such action is supported by the best available science and has state wildlife and fish agency approval.

What’s the issue

The recreational fishing community fully supports conservation, and we have a long record of making changes and sacrifices that help the environment. However, conservation must be rooted in sound science. The USFWS provides no evidence that lead fishing tackle is harming any specific wildlife populations in the proposed areas. This proposal is a proverbial “camel’s nose under the tent” that could escalate to much broader and equally baseless restrictions on your ability to fish.

Why it matters

Anglers and hunters are America’s original conservationists. The nation depends on their continued ability to fish and hunt to maintain public lands.

Anglers around the country depend on the performance and affordability of lead, especially in sinkers and jigs. While alternatives exist, they come with tradeoffs in cost and/or performance. Protecting traditional tackle from unwarranted bans is critical for ensuring that anglers can enjoy the sport. Banning lead will also potentially impact fishing license sales and ultimately reduce funding available for conservation. It is important that our industry makes a compelling case to the USFWS that anglers should be able to continue the use of traditional tackle.

What ASA is doing

In addition to the hard work of the ASA Government Affairs team, ASA has been engaging KAF supporters nationwide urging them to submit comments to the USFWS during the open comment period which closes on August 22. We have also asked supporters to write letters to their Members of Congress in support of the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act. In addition, we are actively promoting the issue widely through podcasts and social media.

On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) made an announcement to proceed with prohibitions on lead fishing tackle throughout several national wildlife refuges in which hunting and fishing opportunities are being expanded. ASA issued a statement in response the USFWS announcement.

On August 22, 2023, ASA submitted a letter on the 2023-2024 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations for the National Wildlife Refuge System, expressing our concerns with the proposed bans on lead fishing tackle in seven refuges.

What you can do

Write your Members of Congress

Write your Members of Congress urging them to support the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act. Click here to see sample letters and text

TAKE ACTION

Share on Social Media

Post about this issue on your social media platforms and direct your followers to our Keep America Fishing action alert.

Send an Invitation to Policymakers

Invite your policymakers to your facility to help them understand the importance of our industry and your contribution to the industry. Please reach out to Mike Leonard at mleonard@asafishing.org for help.

Seven Reasons To Use Braid For Fishing

Seven Reasons To Use Braid For Fishing, but how many can you come up with for not using it?

from The Fishing Wire

The reason anglers turn to braid over mono are countless, but there are times mono is better.

Here’s the top seven reasons to choose braid over mono:

Braid does not stretch like mono, allowing the angler to feel everything touching the lure or bait. Mono lines can stretch well over 100% causing many bites to be unnoticed.
Braids typically offer 4-6 times smaller diameters than Mono of the same tensile strength (pound test).
Braids being smaller in diameter allows the angler to cast further with light lures, giving the angler the opportunity to reach productive spots not available when fishing mono.
Braids also allow the angler to use lighter reels as the braid diameter will allow for more yardage in smaller volume, at the end of the day your arms will thank you.
Braids do not develop memory like mono will so they cast without the coiling associated with monofilament which will slow down your presentation and reduce casting distance.
Braids do not deteriorate with exposure to UV light thus there is no need to change out braid until it shows obvious signs of wear which takes a lot of use. Mono must be changed more often as UV sun exposure breaks down mono lines.
Braided lines are more resistant to abrasions, making fishing easier around rocks, structures, and underwater obstacles.

How Rod Handles Are Made from St Croix

HOW IT’S MADE

Rod HANDLES

St. Croix delivers the Best Rods on Earth by combining angler-driven research and development, industry-leading design an innovation gained from 75 years of experience, the highest-quality materials, passionate and precise craftsmanship from people who care, and the most advanced rod-manufacturing facilities in the world. All of these things contribute to the pride and satisfaction you feel when you fish one of our rods, but we never assume that’s enough.

Handle design is a key factor is fishing-rod design. While a rod’s blank – its materials, length, power, and action – forms the foundation for how it will perform, its handle dictates how the angler will interface with the rod and, ultimately, experience that performance.

Being an angler-driven company, St. Croix is constantly leveraging angler feedback. Our deep and diverse angling staff – from professional guides and tournament anglers to hardcore fishing-lifestyle enthusiasts – is one of our most valuable resources. We rely heavily on these and other anglers to help increase our understanding of the nuances of how each of our rods are used in various techniques and presentations. This helps or Product and Engineering Teams design handles that maximize both comfort and performance.

Handle Materials

St. Croix uses a variety of handle materials from traditional premium cork and premium EVA, to ultra-durable agglomerated cork, cork composite, carbon fiber, and other proprietary materials like Xtreme-Skin. Many of our handle designs combine these materials. These proven materials are specified on different rod models depending on how and where the subject rods will be used. Comfort, durability, energy transmission, and a rod’s target price point are a few of the primary factors that guide these decisions.

Handle Design

Handle design – its form, dimensions, proportions, and how it blends with the reel seat and blank – is largely dictated by angler trends, meaning how a specific rod will be used.

“Handle design on a new rod starts with a product brief for that particular rod series,” says St. Croix Engineering Supervisor, Gavin Falk. “We’re looking at what the rod is and how it will be used, then investigating things like how anglers position their hands when using those techniques. The product brief also considers the price point we want the new rod series to sell at. These factors help us decide the basic handle-design parameters, as well as our options for materials. We come up with preliminary designs and then start testing those designs through production.”

St. Croix Rod Hybrid Cork and Premium EVA Grip

Falk says in-house 3-D printing technology has significantly evolved St. Croix’s handle-design capabilities. “Once we have a preliminary design, we can print a grip the same day it is modeled,” he says. “We build test rods with those 3-D-printed grips and let our team of beta testers fish them. We take their feedback concerning functionality and aesthetics and can quickly make adjustments. We check specs, refine designs, confirm fit with reel seats, then 3-D print the next versions. Once the design has been confirmed, we design accent pieces and build versions with the actual materials. Those designs are then re-tested and confirmed in the field. We repeat the process until everything is finalized.”

The handle-design process results in detailed engineering drawings for each specific rod model. Those documents also specify the materials, and procedures – order of operations, gluing, the use of any arboring materials, etc. – for assembling the handles onto the rods on the manufacturing floor. “We source our various handle materials from a handful of trusted suppliers from around the world,” Falk says. “These are relationships we’ve worked very hard to build and maintain. Whether it’s cork, carbon fiber, or another material, everything is provided to our demanding specifications, so we know exactly what we’re getting.”

From the proprietary Xtreme Skin handles found on Legend Xtreme and Legend Xtreme Inshore and the carbon handles on our various Onchor models, to our GRASP-equipped handles on Legend Tournament Musky and select bass-fishing swimbait models, St. Croix is continually innovating handle design for the benefit of anglers. Combining materials – like premium cork, premium EVA, and soft rubber gimble butt caps on select inshore spinning models – is another way that we’re pushing the limits of rod-handle design to better support the ways anglers fish. Additionally, new materials like St. Croix’s agglomerated cork used on Skandic Ice and new Avid Inshore rods deliver all the benefits of traditional cork but with greatly increased durability.

“Xtreme Skin is designed not only for angler comfort, but also for maximum energy transmission,” Falk says. “Similarly, the carbon handles on select Onchor Salmon and Steelhead models are very lightweight and durable but are also easy to keep clean and come in and out of rod holders easily by design,” he adds. “GRASP helps anglers fish longer by minimizing wrist fatigue during physically demanding presentations like musky fishing or while casting heavy swimbaits. And we’re seeing how our new ultra-durable agglomerated cork material keeps handles looking and fishing like new in demanding environments like those experienced during inshore saltwater and ice fishing.”

Introducing TRIGON

St. Croix also carefully considers ergonomics. Ergonomics is a science focused on the study of “human fit” through what’s known as anthropometric data – the various measurements of the human body. In the case of St. Croix’s handle program, the latest example of ergonomic design comes in the form of an all-new TRIGON handle and accompanying Dynamix reel seat, carefully conceived to improve angler control while decreasing fatigue and discomfort.

“Our unique TRIGON handle recognizes that the human hand does not form a circle when closed, so we’re no longer limiting our handle designs to cylindrical forms,” says St. Croix Brand Manager, Ryan Teach. “TRIGON features a curved, triangular profile with a rounded inner apex and a flattened top curve to better fit the human hand. The results are a more comfortable grip so anglers can fish longer while exercising increased control to maximize power and accuracy.”

Teach adds that St. Croix’s use of the word ergonomic in its description the TRIGON handle is both valid and earned. “TRIGON’s design is based on actual anthropometric data of the human hand,” he says. “We went to one of the foremost experts in the field to make sure we got it right.”

St. Croix engineers partnered with renown industrial designer, Paul Richardson of Rise Creative, over the past two years to perfect the TRIGON handle design and accompanying Dynamix reel seat. “TRIGON’s inner apex – the triangular point on the lower part of the grip promotes greater hand-to-blank alignment for dramatically improved control,” Richardson says. “Meanwhile, the flattened top curve of TRIGON creates greater hand comfort, which ultimately reduces fatigue and supports longer, more comfortable fishing. And the design’s benefits are further increased in the way of control when the angler moves his or her thumb to the flattened top curve. The accompanying Dynamix reel seat has been specifically designed to fully support TRIGON’s benefits by meshing perfectly with its unique profiles.”

“In order to accomplish the aggressive design dimensional points in the TRIGON design, traditional cork forming could not be used,” Teach says. “In addition to being ultra durable, agglomerated cork is completely customizable and represented the ideal material to support TRIGON’s complex dimensional specifications.”

Think of TRIGON as a bionic extension of yourself – the ultimate interface between an angler and their most important tool. The new TRIGON handle and Dynamix reel seat will be introduced this month at ICAST 2023 on St. Croix’s popular Mojo Bass Series, which has been updated, refreshed, and expanded for 2024. New Mojo Bass TRIGON rods will be available to anglers at St. Croix dealers worldwide beginning August 1.

BERKLEY “CULLS” POWERBAIT CULLSHAD SWIMBAIT, OFFERING CONSUMERS FREE REPLACEMENT BAIT

Due to manufacturing defects, BERKLEY “CULLS” POWERBAIT CULLSHAD SWIMBAIT, OFFERING CONSUMERS FREE REPLACEMENT BAIT

COLUMBIA, S.C. – In Spring 2023, Berkley Fishing introduced the CullShad to a great deal of fanfare and success among top-tier tournament anglers. After releasing the first batch of product to retailers, the quality assurance team at the company identified that this run of product did not live up to the company’s high standards and the Berkley promise to help anglers catch more fish. The issues include inconsistencies in the bait’s hardness and some deformities, both of which have negatively compromised the bait’s action which does not allow it to work as designed.

Berkley’s commitment remains to provide anglers with scientifically-backed baits that surpass expectations, so the company is enacting a plan to get a new batch of properly manufactured baits in the hands of anglers as quickly as possible.

To accomplish this, anyone who has purchased a CullShad is being asked to help the company “cull” them. Berkley will replace any purchased CullShad at no cost with one that performs as it should. There is no need to return anything but rather follow these simple and straightforward instructions to receive a replacement CullShad in the same color and size that meets the high standards established in the design process:

Take a picture of your CullShad(s) on or next to a piece of paper detailing your name and the date you’re submitting the photo.
Visit www.berkley-fishing.com/cullshad-replacement or use the QR code below to initiate the replacement process and upload your photo.

Fill in the required information and click submit. You should receive a confirmation email from Berkley.
All replacement requests must be received by July 31, 2023.
Replacement CullShad(s) will be shipped by the end of August.

The team at Berkley has identified the cause of the issues and are already in production of the next round of baits that meet our stringent standards. By the end of August, the new round of baits will be sent to consumers to replace the previously released baits and we will resume shipping to retailers.

“We take great pride in the Berkley CullShad and firmly support its innovative design, which provides consumers with a fresh perspective on swimbaits,” said Berkley’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Jon Schlosser. “We have a responsibility to anglers nationwide to guarantee that each product performs according to its intended design. Therefore, we are proactively taking steps to address the concerns related to the CullShad by implementing a replacement program for affected customers, aiming to ensure their utmost satisfaction in light of the inconsistencies found within the first batch of baits.”

Our commitment to our customers and anglers is to continue to develop and introduce the world’s best baits. We appreciate your help ensuring that only the best CullShads survive.

About Pure Fishing

Pure Fishing is a collection of the world’s favorite fishing brands. Every day, all around the world, someone experiences the joy of catching a fish with one of our products. From gear for epic battles at sea to a relaxing day with family at the lake, our portfolio includes the most recognized and admired brands in fishing tackle, lures, rods, reels and storage. Abu Garcia®, All Star®, Berkley®, Fenwick®, Fin-Nor®, Frabill®, Greys®, Hardy®, Hodgman®, Johnson®, JRC®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Pflueger®, Plano®, Shakespeare®, SpiderWire®, Stren®, Ugly Stik® and Van Staal®.

EARLY SUMMER MUSKY STRATEGIES

St Croix Rod Pros Offer EARLY SUMMER MUSKY STRATEGIES

June 13, 2023

Top musky sticks share tips on finding and hooking more fish during June and July

While anglers in states like Indiana and West Virginia have been targeting Esox masquinongy since ice out, others in key musky states like Wisconsin and Minnesota have been anxiously awaiting their season openers. Musky season opens June 3 in Minnesota and between May 6 and June 1 in Wisconsin, depending on location.

St. Croix pros Rob Manthei of Wisconsin, Brad Hoppe of Minnesota, and Chase Gibson of West Virginia all make a living chasing muskies. We asked each of them to share their insights and strategies for finding and hooking muskies during the months of June and July.

Rob Manthei, Northern Wisconsin

Rob Manthei has fished the fabled musky waters of Vilas, Oneida, and Iron Counties in Northern Wisconsin all of his life and has guided clients there for 28 years. He says specific strategies at season open depend on the weather and water temperatures.

“Every musky angler in Wisconsin is at the mercy of our May weather patterns,” Manthei says. “In a normal year we’ll often have a mid-May spawn here in Northern Wisconsin, but it’s been a late spring so I’m expecting we may still have some spawning going on into early June.”

Muskies are broadcast spawners, meaning they pair up, spawn, and lay their eggs in shallow, soft-bottomed areas when water temperatures reach the mid-to-upper-50-degree range. “During a late spring like we’ve had this year, everything with the spawn tends to happen more quickly once it starts,” Manthei says. “The spawn will last from five days to two weeks, then the fish move out of the shallow spawning bays and into adjacent key transition areas. I’ll be looking around those shallow spawning bays for any emerging weed growth, wood, or boulders along the shoreline.”

Manthei says the general rule is smaller presentations for post-spawn muskies, but he regularly bucks that trend. “I let the fish tell me what they want,” he says. “If I see muskies grabbing my 13”-15” walleyes prior to the opener, that tells me I can come out of the gate with a bigger presentation. Generally, though, I’m sticking to 6”-7” minnow baits and smaller ¾-ounce to 1-1/2-ounce single-blade bucktails. I really like twitching small minnow baits and small gliders in the early days of the season.”

Manthei says an 8’ or 9’ medium-heavy power rod like the St. Croix Legend Tournament Musky LMTSC90MHF GRINDER or LMTSC80MHF TOP-N-TAIL excels in these smaller-bait presentations. “These Legend Tournament models are well balanced and cast even a ¾-ounce bait a mile,” says Manthei, who completes his downsized bait system with a 6.4:1 reel spooled with 65-pound or 80-pound Seaguar Threadlock braid.

“By late June, I’ll typically also start looking to bigger lakes with healthy cisco populations,” Manthei says. “A lot of muskies will move out after the spawn and suspend, fattening up on ciscoes. I use side imaging or Active Target on my Lowrance to look for the suspended bait and predators in the first open basins adjacent to the spawning bays. “They’re easy to find with electronics, but if you don’t have them, just focus on the top ten feet of the water column,” Manthei advises. “Most times the bait will only be 5’-9’ down, and it may push even closer to the surface in the evening.”

Some of the baits Manthei regularly employs in such situations include a Musky Innovations Magnum Swimmin’ Dawg swim bait or a suspending, diving crank like the Drifter Triple D or Livingston Rachel.

“You’re basically just using an open-water retrieve with the swimbait; just count it down to your target depth and start cranking steady with some occasional brief bursts with the reel handle,” Manthei says. “With the lipped diving baits, you just want to crank it down to depth, then give it a big twitch and pause. Make the bait appear injured.” For these open-water presentations with full-sized baits, Manthei casts a heavy power Legend Tournament Musky LMTSC86HF SLING BLADE or LMTSC90HF BIG NASTY rod.

He says the suspended basin bite on the lakes he fishes remains strong through mid-July, although the fish may push deeper depending on temperatures and the thermocline.

Weed flats and edges also come into play for Manthei by the end of June and the start of July. “The cabbage beds have matured on most of my favorite lakes by then,” he says. “I always fish the 7’-to-12’ green cabbage beds first, but the coontail will hold a lot of fish once it matures as well.” Manthei studies the composition and contours of each bed, looking for prime, predator-holding ambush spots like inside turns, points, and pockets. He may fish big bucktails, large jerk baits, glide baits, or other offerings in and around the weeds, depending on the situation at hand.

Brad Hoppe, Minnesota

Brad Hoppe has owned and operated Musky Mayhem Guide Service in the waters of West-Central Minnesota for the past 23 years and owns Musky Mayhem Tackle with his wife, Carrie. He also hosts Mayhems 10K Casts TV on KOTV, Roku, and YouTube along with co-host Chase Gibson.

“Musky season opens the first Saturday of June in Minnesota,” the St. Croix pro says. “This year, that’s June 3, and the spawn should have happened by then. When we get this late but rapid warm-up, spawning usually only lasts for 7 or10 days, so even if it’s still happening during the opener, chances are it won’t last long.”

Hoppe says he typically looks for two things in the month of June. “As fish wrap up spawning, I’m looking for transition areas close to those shallow spawning grounds,” he says. “Those first breaks towards deeper water, early cabbage lines, sand and gravel… stuff like that.”

Like Manthei, Hoppe says he often cuts against the grain of conventional early-season musky thinking and opts to cast big baits. “Right after the spawn, those fish haven’t eaten,” he says. “So, I’ll go big and slow down to offer them a really big and easy meal.”

Hoppe most often finds himself casting giant spinnerbaits like Musky Mayhem Double Cowgirls and Detonators, as well as large rubber baits on a St. Croix Legend Tournament Musky 9’6” heavy power BLADEMASTER II rod (LMTFC96HFT). “I’ll slow the retrieve way down on the blade baits and minimize speed and action on the rubber lures as well… really just small hops on a slow retrieve,” he says, adding that the full cork and EVA handle and GRASP reel seat on the BLADEMASTER II help to alleviate the fatigue that can otherwise limit efficiency when casting and retrieving such large, water-resistant lures. “This rod is incredibly light in the hand for such a big, powerful stick,” he says. “And the ergonomics of the GRASP reel seat and hybrid full-handle design only add to its unique capabilities.”

The second thing Hoppe looks for in June is suspended fish. “I always look forward to this, especially with some of my older clients who have trouble casting for long periods of time,” he says. “Open-water trolling is very effective in lakes with whitefish and cisco populations during the early summer. The muskies push out after spawning and set up around the schools of suspended bait.” Hoppe says a variety of lures are effective for open-water trolling and often chooses baits based on forage species and the depth where they’re located. “We’re usually dragging bigger plugs like 10” and 12” Supernatural Headlocks and Matlocks, 13” Grandmas, or 10” Phantom Hex on St. Croix Mojo Musky Trolling rods. These heavy and extra-heavy power moderate action rods are crafted from a hybrid of SCII carbon and linear s-glass, so they are incredibly durable, which is what you need when a big musky crashes a giant plug that’s already got the rod loaded up. I’ll run the shorter 7’ rods as down rods and the longer ones on the planer boards.”

Hoppe says the thermocline starts to develop in many of the lakes he fishes around the beginning of July. “Once that happens, I stop targeting suspended fish, because they often come up to hit the plugs from a little too deep and I don’t want to compromise a safe release,” he says. “Instead, I’ll position the boat in 20’ of water or so and start casting to 8’-12’ primary break lines. Sideview or live sonar will show you when open-water fish start moving in towards these weed lines, but the transition is usually complete by mid-July.”

Hoppe says baits vary from day to day, depending on the cover, the mood of the fish, and available forage. “If the muskies are hanging deeper, I’ll use a Musky Mayhem Grenade,” he says. “This is a 13”, five-ounce weight-forward tail-bladed spinner specifically designed for fishing deep weed edges. The depth is key; Using my electronics I can confirm where fish are hanging and use other lures like Red October tubes, Cowgirls, Bulldawgs, or Medusas to cover any part of the water column I might need,” says Hoppe, adding that he effectively presents all these offerings on the same St. Croix Legend Tournament Musky BLADEMASTER II (LMTFC96HFT) rod. “I’ll switch to the new BLUE OX (LMTFC90XHF) model if I’m fishing really big rubber,” he adds.

Tactics change again when the fish disappear completely into the weeds. “Look for the freshest, greenest weeds,” Hoppe advises. “Cabbage first, coontail second, and speed up your retrieves. You can downsize your bait when fishing over or through the weeds to lures like Rapid Squirrels, smaller Double Cowgirls, or tubes. Grenades go through the weeds well, too,” adds Hoppe, who pairs his BLADEMASTER II rod with a 400- or 500-size mid-speed Tranx reel.

Chase Gibson, West Virginia

Chase Gibson of Bridgeport, West Virginia is a fishing guide, co-host of Mayhem 10K Casts TV with Hoppe, and owner of Muskiebumper Bump Boards. There’s no closed musky season in West Virginia, so Gibson starts fishing at ice-out and stays in the Mountain State – also fishing in Ohio – before moving up to Minnesota from mid-July through October.

“Our West Virginia reservoirs are loaded with shad, crappie and standing timber, so these are some of the factors that make musky fishing here unique,” he says. “Our thermoclines set up by mid-June, and muskies will suspend in deep, timbered coves, as well as out in open water.”

Gibson says jigging with Bondy Baits is a staple presentation in June and July. “The 9-foot BLUE OX is a great jigging rod,” Gibson says. “Its shorter length makes it easy to maintain control while moving around the trees.”

Gibson jigs with100-pound Cortland Masterbraid spooled on a Tranx 500 high-speed reel and generally follows one of two alternate jigging cadences. “Less popular is the taller stroke,” he says. “That means lifting the tip of the rod from the surface of water up to about eye level… maybe a five or six-foot stroke. More often a shorter, faster, snap-jigging technique is most effective. This more aggressive motion moves the rod tip from the surface of the water up to about waist level, then you drop it back down as fast as you can on a tight line. You’re looking to just make them eat it… it’s more of a reactionary-type strike.”

Which jigging cadence Gibson uses ultimately depends on the fish’s activity level. “Using live sonar is very helpful in adjusting your presentation to match the fish’s mood,” he says.

If jigging isn’t working, Gibson will back out and bomb casts into the timber with a black nickel colored Detonator. “I’ll start with a medium-fast retrieve and once the lure gets about halfway back to the boat I’ll speed up and burn it the rest of the way in,” he says. “This gets a lot of follows and they’ll usually eat it on the first turn at the boat.”

Gibson says Cowgirls, Medusa, and Bulldawgs work well for timber-casting, too. “A lot of times I’ll put an extra 1.5 ounces of weight on the front hook hanger to get those rubber baits down faster and keep them running a bit deeper,” he says. “I fish these rubber baits on the Legend Tournament Musky BLUE OX rod and snap-rip them as fast as I can.” Gibson adds that a Musky Innovations Dyin’ Dog has a great dive-and-rise action that works great when muskies are neutral or negative.

Like Hoppe, Gibson is also a fan of trolling when muskies are suspended in open water and terrorizing balls of abundant shad. “We’ll run a planer-board rod, an out rod, and a down rod on each side of the boat and just follow the river channel at 4-4.6 MPH,” he says. Gibson runs bucktails with an eight-ounce weight on the leader in front on the down rods, about 8-10 feet down right in the propwash. He prefers Llungen Lures .22 Short crankbaits on the out rods and planer-board rods.

“Rod choice is a key consideration when trolling,” Gibson says. “You’re pulling big, heavy lures at high speed, so those rods are already under a significant load before a fish even hits. You need extremely durable rods to stand up to the abuse. St. Croix Mojo Musky Trolling series rods have tons of power and strength with a moderate action that really helps absorb shock and keep hooks where they belong throughout the fight.”

Wherever you’re located within musky country, the months of June and July signal game on for pursuing North America’s top freshwater predator. Follow the advice of our pros to more fish-holding locations, more follows, and more fish boatside in the net or cradle.

St Croix Rods Says We’re Giving Away 75 Premier Rods!

This Saturday, June 14, so register for one of their spinning rods to be given away online!

Northland Fishing Tackle PRO SLINGS NEW PLASTICS TO WALLEYE TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

PRO SLINGS NEW PLASTICS TO TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

from The Fishing Wire

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Recent exposure via tournament websites, social media, and TV has created a wildfire of interest in a brand-new line of walleye soft plastics from Northland Fishing Tackle. Aptly-named “Eye Candy™,” an extensive team of tournament pros, guides, influencers, and product designers put the paces through countless iterations of shapes and actions to provide walleye anglers with the best new soft plastics on the walleye scene.

Fact: Northland Tackle’s Eye Candy™ wasn’t intended to launch yet. However, given the success Northland team pros have been fishing the baits, the company decided to ramp up production to provide anglers of all walks with the winning walleye baits.

“We’ve been fishing the snot out of these plastics for over a year and feel super confident in the designs. Given what Tom Hunyh has been doing with them on the NWT and AIM trails and Jason Mitchell is doing via TV and social on the waters he visits, what Brad Hawthorne, Bro, and Nick Lindner are doing with them between Mille Lacs and the north, we knew we had to get them into the hands of walleye anglers everywhere now,” says Northland Fishing Tackle’s Marketing Director, Mike Anselmo.

Huynh Dials In Winnebago NWT Bite with NEW Northland Eye Candy™

Case in point, top-placing NWT/AIM tournament and Northland Tackle walleye pro, Tom Huynh, has been using Eye Candy™ since the first NWT event on the Illinois River this past March. Since, he’s used the new soft plastics to top-finishing tournament success.

“The recent NWT tournament on Lake Winnebago was my first introduction to the lake. The day before I got there I looked at my maps and put a plan together, but my plan to fish the big lake soon changed. Our Airbnb was on one of the upper lakes and there was a little two-boat launch right across the street, so I used that during pre-fishing,” says Huynh.

“Rather than trek over to Winnebago, I got sidetracked in a shallow, tea-colored lake attached to Winnebago by a river—and decided to look around. I caught a few random fish here and there without a pattern until I found an old river channel that looked almost like a shell bed on my SideVu. I was marking fish like crazy: catfish, drum, white bass, walleyes, and sturgeon. With that many species, running LiveScope wasn’t easy. I had to cast at every single fish I saw to gauge their reaction and figure out what they were,” notes Huynh.

“After a couple of days, I learned to recognize the reactions of the white bass and drum. The two species that seemed to act about the same were catfish and walleyes. So, for every two or three 10-12 pound catfish I’d catch, I’d hook a 3-pound or better walleye. After I figured that out I was catching 5 or 6 walleyes a day during pre-fish without even entering the big lake. I knew the historical weights for Winnebago tournaments, and since what I was catching were good fish, we decided to stay there. On the Monday and Tuesday before the tournament we had between 13 and 15 pounds each day, so we figured if we could do that in the tournament we’d make the top 10,” adds Huynh.

Huynh says it took him until the last day of pre-fishing to really dial in his presentation.

“Basically, I used the same black Northland Eye Candy™ Grub I used on the Illinois River—actually still the same bag of baits—and threaded it on a 1/8-ounce black Northland Tungsten Jig. It just seemed to cast the right silhouette in the stained water to get bit,” divulges Huynh.

This isn’t the first tournament that Tom has relied on black to either win or place in the Top 10.

“Every single fish I’ve caught in a tournament this year casting has been on a solid black Northland Tungsten Jig—either regular shank or short-shank. Not one fish has come on anything else. For Winnebago, I paired that Northland Eye Candy Grub in black with a black Northland Tungsten. I thought I had an extra bag of the plastics in my boat, but I left them in another tote at home, so I had to rely on the few baits I had. Luckily, they’re made of a super-tough and spongy TPE plastic that holds up to dozens of fish on just one plastic. You don’t burn through ‘em. So I had just enough to do the job. I also caught a couple fish on a minnow and Northland Tungsten, too,” laughs Huynh.

“However, if it hadn’t been for the Eye Candy™ plastics and their crazy ability to hold the scent I use, I don’t think I would have been able to dial in the first two good bites of the tournament that put us into 2nd place,” adds Huynh.

Huynh adds that the Winnebago NWT tournament May 17-18 was the first event this year where he and a partner were able to catch decent-size walleyes.

“I ended up catching two 4’s and a 5-pounder with my other fish. It all came down to the entire system—a black Northland Tungsten jighead, the new Northland Eye Candy™ Grub in black, 10-pound high-vis Daiwa J-Braid Grand X8 to 8-pound Daiwa fluorocarbon, and a Daiwa Kage 1000 spinning reel on a Rosemore rod. The 1000 size reel keeps me from horsing big walleyes in on small jigs and hooks.”

Huynh says he “couldn’t be happier” with the 2^nd Place NWT finish that he ended up with, especially considering he figured out a system with no prior knowledge or experience on the Winnebago system coming into the event. Huynh cashed a $24,122 check plus a Garmin contingency award.

Northland Short-Shank Tungstens Crack Leech Lake ‘Eyes

Following the Winnebago NWT, Huynh bee-lined to Leech Lake, Minnesota, to fish an AIM Tournament—and admits the timing was “completely out of his element” although he and co-angler Nate Wolske have a history of top finishes there.

“We’d never fished Leech that early in the season,” says Hunyh. “We’d won there in the summer and knew how to seasonally pattern those fish, but cold water was completely out of our wheelhouse.”

“The water was 48-49 degrees in the morning so I knew our chance of fishing plastics was fairly slim, but we did get a few bites on Eye Candy. So we switched to minnows tipped on 1/8-ounce Northland Short-Shank Jigs—again, in black,” says Huynh.

Huynh notes that partner Nate Wolske hadn’t fished black Short-Shank Tungsten Jigs to date and was mystified by what happened with a simple change in jig color.

“Nate turned to me and said, ‘I just don’t get it. They’ll hit these black jigs a lot quicker and way more often.’ So, we both used black Short-Shank Tungsten Jigs for every single cast of the Leech Lake Tournament—and it put us in 2^nd place at the end of the event,” shares Huynh.

Hunyh says the difficulty was getting the big females to bite, which had been squirting eggs only a few days prior to the event.

“The big girls were in a funk,” says Huynh. “They don’t come off the spawn and just start eating. They’re exhausted. So they go and stage somewhere. If something comes right at them and it’s convenient, they’ll eat it, but they’re not going to chase anything down.”

Huynh explains: “So we had to slow our presentations way-way down. And the fish weren’t positioned on our electronics like they typically are. They were really close to the bottom making it hard to differentiate walleyes from rocks. Then you’d see a rock move on the screen and we’d get bit and set the hook, but a lot times the jig came back clean, no fish, even though we were fishing our typical routine. They were biting and eating so light that the dense Short-Shank Tungsten was absolutely critical, especially considering we were casting 40- to 50-feet out. With the tungsten you could actually feel the walleyes put the bait in their mouth, a sensation that would carry up through our fluoro leaders, braid, through our rods, into our reels, and up into our hands. With the tungsten—as well as the rest of our gear—we could feel those subtle bites 50 feet away,” concludes Hunyh.

Currently, Northland Pro Tom Huynh is pre-fishing in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, for the AIM National Championship Shootout to be held on Friday, June 2. You can bet Northland Tackle Eye Candy™ and Tungsten Jigs will be very much in play…

ABOUT Northland® Fishing Tackle

In 1975, a young Northwoods fishing guide named John Peterson started pouring jigs and tying tackle for his clients in a small remote cabin in northern Minnesota. The lures were innovative, made with high quality components, and most importantly, were catching fish when no other baits were working! Word spread like wildfire, the phone started ringing… and the Northland Fishing Tackle® brand was in hot demand! For 40 years now, John and the Northland® team have been designing, testing and perfecting an exclusive line of products that catch fish like no other brand on the market today. Manufactured in the heart of Minnesota’s finest fishing waters, Northland® is one of the country’s leading producers of premium quality jigs, live bait rigs, spinnerbaits and spoons for crappies, bluegills, perch, walleyes, bass, trout, northern pike and muskies.

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Huynh Dials In Winnebago NWT Bite with NEW Northland Eye Candy™

This isn’t the first tournament that Tom has relied on black to either win or place in the Top 10.

Northland Short-Shank Tungstens Crack Leech Lake ‘Eyes

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