Bassmasterの January/February 2024 の目次

January 7 Old Rock Day. Not to be confused with a new series starring Dwayne Johnson, Old Rock Day is an excellent excuse to brush up on your winter jig techniques. 13 Make Your Dream Come True Day. It’s never too late to book that dream trip to El Salto or investigate what it really takes to catch those peacock bass in the Amazon. February 2 Groundhog Day. Take a lesson from Bill Murray’s 1993 comedy classic and do a good deed for someone else without expecting anything at all in return. We recommend taking someone fishing. 3 The Day The Music Died. Take a break from your favorite playlist to find a new fishing podcast. Tell ’em Bassmaster sent you.…

A decades-long love affair that began at a bass club in the mid-1990s was honored by a gathering of state wildlife agencies from around the country recently when Virginia B.A.S.S. Nation member Joan Blankenship received the John L. Morris Citizen Conservationist Award. For much of the past three decades, Blankenship has been an integral participant in the Virginia B.A.S.S. Nation, working with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, anglers and nongovernmental organizations to enhance and support fisheries management in the Old Dominion. Blankenship is a former president and conservation director for the Virginia B.A.S.S. Nation whose work has focused on habitat improvement designed to rebuild the state’s black bass population.…

B.A.S.S. fans react to the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series roster. Trevor Schalk Hunter Shryock! He gonna get him a trophy this year whether it be the classic, a blue one, or an AOY Sam Mountjoy Watch the Virginia Boys this year! Crews, Loughran and Powroznik. Josh Shearer Go get em, Professional Angler Scott Martin!!! Been watching your videos since your FLW days. Would love to see you get a blue trophy in 2024 Casey Ray Schultz Looks like you’ve got a new guy from Cooperstown NY, and from Maine…. Kyle Patrick, and Tyler Williams… love seeing guys from the North East showing em, it’s not all Small Mouth fishing up here… Go Get Em’!…

What’s the best do-it-yourself way to repair small scratches and chips on a white fiberglass hull? @Gregwaldenfishing, Instagram Much depends upon the severity, says Brock Enmeier, general manager of Shoreline Boat and RV Repair in Tulsa, Okla. If the damage is through the gelcoat and into the fiberglass, you need to see a professional. If the scratches are very shallow, a good wax and buff may well make them disappear, at least for a while. “If there are small scratches, you can go online and purchase a patch kit from Spectrum Color, a Florida company,” he said. “They make a patch paste kit for nearly every boat out there and with specific colors. It’s a paste that helps you to touch up small scratches.” Or, he added, you can contact…

MORE ANGLERS THAN ever participated in the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX in 2023, with over 100 anglers from across the country competing in each of the five tournaments. It was a season of big bass and big bags, and at the end, Rus Snyders claimed the 2023 Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Kayak Angler of the Year award. Here’s how the top competitors got it done. Lake Guntersville, March 4-5 Through his Bassmaster Elite Series career, Greg DiPalma has been to Lake Guntersville several times, but he notched his first career Bassmaster win at the historic fishery in his first-ever kayak event. His 189.75-inch two-day total edged out South Carolina’s Ryan Thompson by over 2 inches. “I just like bass fishing. I burn to fish tournaments, and this…

CAN YOU RECALL your very first fishing memory? If you are my age, over half a hundred, it might be tough. But, for some reason, mine stands out. I was with my aunt on the bank of a small park pond in Wichita Falls, Texas, where I was born. Pretty sure I was still in diapers. She was helping me hold a small rod that had about 15 inches of line tied to the tip, a tiny hook holding a piece of corn on the terminal end. We would dip the corn in the water, and I would giggle as minnows and tiny bluegill came to peck at the kernel. I don’t remember catching anything, but I do remember loving to watch those tiny fish nip away at the bait.…

January 26-27 Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Lake Murray, South Carolina February 1-3 St. Croix Bassmaster Open, Lake Okeechobee, Florida 1-2 Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Clarks Hill Reservoir, Georgia 4 Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Clarks Hill Reservoir, Georgia 4 Bassmaster Junior Series, Clarks Hill Reservoir, Florida 7-9 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Southeast Qualifier, Lake Eufaula, Alabama 15-17 St. Croix Bassmaster Open, Lake Ouachita, Arkansas 22-25 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite, Toledo Bend Reservoir, Louisiana 24-25 Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Lake Murray, South Carolina 29-March 3 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite, Lake Fork, Texas…

The images below were submitted by Bassmaster readers, and our antique tackle expert, Rob Pavey, appraises the value of each fascinating find. To submit yours, email editorial@bassmaster.com. Moonlight Single Hook Pikaroon Russ Greenley, email $850 to $1,000 The Moonlight Bait Co., established in 1908 in Paw Paw, Mich., is a perennial favorite among lure collectors. The company produced a long line of innovative and gorgeous lures, including the Pikaroon that was made in many sizes and configurations from the late teens into the early 1920s. The example shown here is one of the best — the single-hook model with glass eyes and a scale finish pattern — and is in excellent condition, too. Pikaroons have a sleek, slender shape and a pointed head with a slightly upturned nose. They are…

ACTIVE ANGLER Drew Benton needs stealth. The Florida local, Bassmaster Elite Series pro and shallow-water savant often leans on silence to sight fish for big bags. And though he’s been practicing the art for decades, Benton says today’s brushless trolling motors are adding an extra level of ninja-like features to his quiver. The days of spooking shallow-water bass with the whir of a high-powered trolling motor are dwindling, he says. “Your trolling motor is in the water the whole time you’re fishing,” he continues. “So anytime you can be more quiet and keep your presence down, you’re going to get closer to fish that are going to be less disturbed and more apt to bite.” BLUE-COLLAR BREAKDOWN The first gear-driven electric trolling motors were made in the 1930s on the…

READ THE ROOM. Know your audience. Play the angles. Strategic networking is all about understanding behaviors and tendencies. Same goes for wintertime spotted bass pursuits. Feisty and deceptively powerful, spots have kept Bassmaster Elite Series pro Matt Herren engaged for decades. The seasoned pro from Ashville, Ala., spends a lot of the year’s colder days tracking down these rapacious rascals and, in his experience, opportunity runs high when air temps run low. “I think spots get easier to catch in the winter because they really like cooler water and they tend to group up, so it’s easier to locate large schools of them,” Herren said. “The cooler water doesn’t slow their metabolism, so they tend to stay active.” Elite champion Will Davis Jr. agrees and offers this caveat: “They’re harder…

Water type: Postfrontal pullback on a Southern grass lake Water temp: Mid- to upper 50s Clarity: 1 to 2 feet Depth: 2 to 10 feet Structure: Laydowns, standing timber, shellbars, rocks Cover: Grass, docks, overhanging trees Forage: Shad, bluegill, crawfish Weather: Sunny, cold Wind/current: Flat calm with afternoon wind increasing Experts: A trio of Elite Series pros explain how they locate catchable postfrontal fish 1 DON’T SLEEP IN Greg DiPalma Millville, N.J. First move: “No matter what the conditions are, fish are typically active first thing in the morning until the high pressure sets in. The fish are going to be active from the night before, so for that first hour, I want to cover water.” Baits/tackle to use: For finessing grass or cover, DiPalma uses a drop shot with…

IF YOU’RE PART of today’s tournament bass fishing world, you absolutely know the name David Fritts. The only question is, what do you know him for? If you’re under the age of 35, chances are you know him more for the selection of multicolored Berkley Frittside crankbaits you have in your tacklebox. Those baits, which were invented by and named after the soft-spoken North Carolina native, have been among the most popular in the world the past few years. But if you’re more in line with my age, you remember that Fritts was so much more than just a lure designer. For the entire decade of the 1990s, he was no doubt one of the best anglers in the world — and for at least part of that time frame,…

Let’s talk about the smallmouth record. You set a new B.A.S.S. smallmouth bag record with 29-5 on the St. Lawrence. Would you consider that the highlight of last season? Actually, I would say qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic was the highlight for me. The record was kind of a bonus, but qualifying for the Classic is a dream come true. That was the whole goal going into all of this. It’s the one tournament I’ve wanted to fish my entire life, and I think anyone who gets into this feels the same way at some point in their life. Do you have any expectations of what your first Bassmaster Classic is going to be like? I have no idea, honestly. You know, I’ve talked to a few guys and they…

The legendary stomping grounds of larger-than-life bass fishing legend Roland Martin, Clewiston sits on the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee and the northern fringes of the Florida Everglades. In decades past, the town might have been found clad in palm wood cracker houses. Today, however, Clewiston is a booming destination for anglers heading to a resurgent Big O (ranked 10th on Bassmaster’s 2023 100 Best Bass Lakes list). 15-5 Record largemouth bass in Lake Okeechobee 467,000 Acreage of Lake Okeechobee…

Would you like the chance to ride along with one of the world’s best bass anglers? Sign up to be a Bassmaster marshal during the 2024 season, and you’ll get the opportunity to learn tips and techniques from Elite Series pros while they compete on some of the nation’s top fisheries. All Elite marshals are guaranteed at least two full days of experiencing Elite Series competition from the best seat in the house. For more information, you can read the marshal guidelines on Bassmaster.com/elite under “Elite Series Resources” or scan the QR code to register now. Don’t wait, as these coveted spots go quickly.…

Feb. 16-19, SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee Oddly enough, it was crappie fishing that led Tyler Rivet to his first Elite Series victory. Rivet ran up the Kissimmee River to catch crappie during practice and began seeing quality bass on his Garmin LiveScope. That’s where he spent the competition, in an area he had all to himself, and wound up winning the tournament. He fished hard-bottom areas that attracted prespawn bass that moved in and out throughout the event and caught 86 pounds, 15 ounces. Key baits: Berkley Stunna (stealth shad); Xcite Baits Sucka Punch (black/blue and junebug) with a pegged, 3/4-ounce Rougarou tungsten weight and 4/0 Owner Jungle Flipping Hook. Conditions: Fish were caught in both prespawn and spawning phases, and a cold front on Day 3 made…

YOU CAN’T BLAME Northern anglers for thinking that Mother Nature isn’t fair when it comes to late-season fishing. While Southern brethren get plenty of “nice” days to extend their fishing season deep into the winter, Northern dudes have a short window that tightens with some pretty brutal weather. And then ice blankets the lakes. But there is a bright side, at least for the weathered, hard-core anglers who have learned that winter bassin’ can be pretty incredible from late fall to freeze-up. The bass will bite when your fingers are numb, when it’s snowing or the wind is blowing. The angler who can withstand the weather has a good chance of loading the boat with quality bass. “Once you get that cold snap in the early fall, the fish get…