Old School Bassmaster Win for Jason Christie

Last weekend’s Bassmaster Elite Series event on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway had an old-school feel that made it really fun to watch, and Jason Christie epitomized that as he took down the title with a spinnerbait rod in hand.

For this Elite Series season, for about half the events, chosen preseason by random drawing, no forward facing sonar may be used. Tenn-Tom was one of those. Add a dirty, cover-laden river system with volatile conditions, and the situation dictated working trees, stumps and weeds with spinnerbaits, swim jigs, frogs and flipping baits. And old-school fish finding and patterning.

I should note up front that I am not an FFS hater. I’ve done a bit of it, mostly for crappie, and think it’s a lot of fun. And I’m not one who thinks it’s cheating and should be disallowed in every tournament. Success doesn’t require less skill. It’s just a different skill set. And I enjoy watching pros who understand what they are looking at read the fish’s mood and figure out how to catch the biggest ones.

That said, watching top pros make decisions about similar looking backwaters, strategize long runs vs extra fishing time, adjust for changing conditions and meticulously pick apart mostly-visible cover in dirty water was just plain fun.

Jason Christie is one of the most intuitive fish patterners on tour. He quickly figures out which cover to go right past and which to hit and the ideal angle and presentation for every piece of cover. He’s also a master with a spinnerbait and supremely confident when he’s throwing a BOOYAH Covert Spinnerbait (a series he designed).

Winning last weekend took more than cast and retrieve execution, though. Decisions about locations and adjustments were paramount, and Christie made several key decisions that helped him finish on top.

Interestingly, Christie commented some point that the Tenn-Tom felt familiar because it looked just like the Oklahoma section of the Arkansas River, which is about 20 miles from where Christie lives and where he largely honed his spinnerbait skills. Guess where the Elite Series is headed next!

 

Jerkbaits for Winter Fishing Success

 

I spend quite a bit of time with a suspending jerkbait tied to the end of my line from late autumn through early spring for the simple reason that these lures produce very well when the water is cool to cold. Jerkbaits effectively imitate winter-chilled baitfish, and presentations can be slowed way down, but with the lure kept in the strike zone.

In truth a good jerkbait has year-round appeal. Anglers fishing with forward facing sonar who can watch how fish react to different lures and presentations have increasingly realized the versatility of this style of bait. I use them mostly during the cool months, though.

Part of a jerkbait’s high value to me is the broad appeal to different species and in various situations. I mostly fish them for bass in waters around home, but that could be largemouth bass, spotted bass, shoal bass or something else, and I could be on a pond bank, out on a major reservoir or wading a rocky river. The BOOYAH Flash Point Jr, my current favorite suspending jerkbait, is at home on any of those situations.

Beyond bass around here, a jerkbait is tough to top for winter brown trout in waters where browns grow large, and there’s nothing I enjoy throwing more than a jerkbait in inshore saltwater areas for speckled trout and redfish. It’s also great pick for stripers, walleyes and more.

 Jerkbait Presentations 

Through the cooler months, a jerkbait’s suspending pause in the key to its productivity. With jerks or twitches of the rod tip the lure darts, dances and dives to its running depth. Paused, it doesn’t pop back up. Instead, it hangs in place enticingly or drifts suspended in the current.

This looks natural to predator fish, which are used to seeing baitfish that are moving slowly or holding in place. It also keeps the lure close to interested fish, which don’t want to waste calories chasing would-be meals.

The basic presentation is to snap the rod tip to engage the action, often with two or three consecutive snaps, and then to pause and let the lure suspend. The key to maximizing success is figuring out the right sharpness and length of tugs, the winning cadence and the best length of pause, which can be painfully long this time of year. It’s critical to experiment and pay attention to what prompts the fish to respond.

4 Top Suspending Jerkbaits

• BOOYAH Flash Point Jr
• Smithwick Suspending Rattlin’ Rogue
• BOOYAH Flash Point Deep
• Smithwick Pro Rogue 

Oh So Ready to Make Some Casts

Since leaving home five days ago, Nathaniel and I have spent a tremendous amount of time watching other people fish, taking photos of fish and fishermen, eying waterways and talking about lures, rods, reels and fishing trips. Today we were even waterfront in Lake Charles, supposedly with redfish and speckled trout within casting distance of the shore.

Our full fishing day doesn't come until Sunday, but I think there might be a window or two tomorrow where we can get out for a few hours locally and cast from the shore or wade a little. Just in case, I'm rigged and ready with my starting offering and have a whole line-up behind it. Rumor has it Lake Charles is rich with baitfish that the trout like to chase around, so my starting pick is a BOOYAH Boo Rig matched with Strike King KVD Swim-n-shiner a on a 1/4-ounce Egret Baits jighead. Lures waiting in the wings include a Bomber 14A, an Egret Baits Bayou Chub and a Vudu Shrimp.

Early Sunday we're moving just south of here to spend a day on Lake Calcasieu with Calcasieu Charter Service. Word has it that Big Lake, as Calcasieu is often known, has been producing great mixed catches of redfish, trout, sheepshead and more, with some good quality fish in the mix. I've fished there before, but it has been several years, so I'm eager to fish it again.

Back to Back Classics for Lee Brothers

Matt and Jordan Lee. B.A.S.S. photo by Seigo Saito.

In truth, I probably can't add much that hasn't already been said about Jordan Lee once again making it all the way to the Carhartt College Series Bassmaster Classic Bracket finals and this time winning it. Still, I wanted to offer my congratulations and a few thoughts.

A year ago brothers, teammates and lifelong fishing buddies Matt and Jordan Lee stood side by side on a weigh-in stage in Arkansas, knowing that one would fulfill the dream of competing in the Bassmaster Classic and the other would not. Matt, the older of the two brothers won the Classic bid. Yesterday in Muskegon, Michigan, Jordan stepped up to the same situation, this time standing beside his longtime best friend and another Auburn teammate, Shane Powell, again as the last two standing with a Classic bid on the line. This time Jordan prevailed, and soon after brother Matt joined him on stage to congratulate him and hand over his keys to represent the Auburn University wrapped Toyota Tacoma and  Yamaha 250-powered Skeeter FX20 bass boat that Jordan will drive and fish from for the next year.

It's kind of hard for me to wrap my mind about just what an accomplishment it was for Jordan to make his way all the way back to the bracket finals and win, but a couple of things mentioned on stage yesterday add some perspective. The Auburn fishing team was one of 143 programs in the Carhartt College Series last season, and Jordan was one of more than 600 anglers on those teams.

After a full season of fishing and the series championship on Lake Chatuge, only members of the top four teams from the championship made the Classic Bracket. Those anglers fished head to head in a bracket-style competition, with eight fishing on Friday, four on Saturday and the two that remained on Sunday. For the past two years, the final two standing have been Jordan Lee and an Auburn teammate.

Mighty impressive.

Making the opportunity to fish the Bassmaster Classic even more exciting for Jordan -- if that's possible -- it will be held on Alabama's Lake Guntersville, which is where he and Matt have learned the most about bass fishing and the lake  they consider "home waters."

Jordan said that his primary bait yesterday was a BOOYAH spinnerbait. On Day 1, he brought in the tournament's biggest catch and caught most of his fish on a BOOYAH Poppin' Pad Crasher. He caught the bulk of his fish around docks.

Oldest & Youngest in Forrest Wood Cup

Jimmy Houston

While looking over details about the Forrest Wood Cup, I couldn't help but notice that two of the anglers I'd most like to see enjoy success in this year's championship stand out as the oldest and youngest in the professional field. Jimmy Houston, 69, is the oldest. Jacob Wheeler, 23, is the youngest.

I can't deny that I'm pulling for Jimmy Houston above anyone else in the field. I started watching him catch bass and hearing that giggle when I was 12 years old, and his show undoubtedly played a part in my career choice, along with providing valuable early fishing lessons. I appreciate his work ethic, his smile, his love for his wife and most of all his eagerness to share God's love. Working with Jimmy on photos or a story is always a delight.

I'm also very impressed by Jimmy's place in the FLW Angler of the Year standings that earned him qualification, given the frantic schedule he runs, and I'd love to see him excel in the Cup -- which he might. Jimmy may be the most accurate and efficient caster I've ever been in the boat with, and he brings an extraordinary knowledge of bass behavior. He's also a spinnerbait specialist, and the Red River lends itself mighty nicely to tying on a BOOYAH spinnerbait and working it through a lot of thick stuff.

Jacob Wheeler - FLW Photo

I won't claim to know Rapala pro Jacob Wheeler, last year's FWC champion, very well. In fact, I met him in person for the first time last month at the ICAST show in Las Vegas. I've interviewed him for stories a few times, however, and can say that he's among the best in the business at helping with stories. He's quick to return calls and thorough with answers and seems to have a knack  for explaining why he does what he does. His helpfulness as a story source, similar to his fishing success, defies his young age and limited years as a pro. Jacob also has been a grand champion and would serve FLW well were he to bring it up another notch and become the first FWC champ to successfully defend the title and bring home another Cup.

Gear: Boo Rigs Open Many Options

At a glance you might think, "Another umbrella rig." Take a closer look, though, and you'll see that the BOOYAH's new Boo Rig family of rigs offer something completely different. These rigging accessories, which were just revealed last week at ICAST, open a wealth of new options for fishermen, and they really are quite different from anything else I saw at the show or have seen in other places.

For starters, there's only one place for a lure. These are not multi-hook rigs, and they therefore should be legal in most places, if not everywhere. The blades or grubs (depending on the specific rig model) are only teasers to draw fish's attention and to create the look of a school of bait or of a chase taking place. As importantly, though, the back wire, which leads to the lure snap, is highly flexible. Because it's not stiff, you can rig it with a crankbait or jerkbait or virtually any other lure without concern about the wire hampering the action of the lure. These rigs also aren't big and bulky, which means you don't need a magnum outfit or a triathlon-competitor's endurance to fish one all day.

Beyond the attracting value of the blades or grubs, these rigs provide added weight, which allow you to fish crankbaits or jerkbaits deeper than they run on their own. Just count 'em down before you start retrieving. That added weight also allows you to use a small bait to mimic smaller forage without having to turn to ultralight gear. That's valuable when big bass or even larger gamefish such as stripers are eating small stuff.

The rigs come in four styles: The Boo Rig has four blades on stiff wires spread around with flexible wire; The Boo Teaser has four hookless grubs that spread similarly, the Boo Spin has spinnerbait blades in  couple of different configurations in front of the lure wire. The Boo Flex has no teasers. Each runs behind a weighted spinnerbait-style head and comes in 1/4-, 3/8- and 1/2-ounce sizes.

I've not gotten to fish these yet, but the word I've gotten is that they swim really well and have preformed exactly as was hoped (from a fish catching standpoint) during testing times and on photo trips. I'm eager to try 'em myself and to join in the fun of discovering applications.

Fish Where the Fish Are

How do you catch more fish when conditions are tough?  Fish where the fish are.

That's the simple answer of Brad Wiegmann, a guide on Arkansas' Beaver Lake. A highland impoundment of the White River, Beaver has miles and miles of rocky, riverine banks that at a glance look very similar. Not all rocky banks are created equal, though, and Wiegmann showed me that today. Despite the fish being in a definite transition between summer and fall patterns and the day shaping up calm and gray but not distinctively dark or rainy, we caught a few dozen bass by hand-picking stretches of bank to work and bypassing a lot of non-productive stuff. Wiegmann pays close attention to swings in the inundated channel and changes in the banks slope and make up. Within any given stretch of bank, he concentrates on rogue boulders and wood.

Wiegmann has learned the types of banks that hold the fish on Beaver, so he spends his time fishing where he knows the fish are. That allows him to experiment with baits and presentations and to let the fish say what they want and how they want it. Today the bass wanted BOOYAH spinnerbaits burned tight to the bank.