THE BUSINESS NEWS OF FISHING.

Best on Tour brings you a business perspective of the fishing industry in a weekly email.

1. Stat of the Day

PRESENTED BY: Sunline

With high water at Grand Lake Oklahoma forcing the cancellation of the Bass Pro Tour event, the tour returned to Table Rock Lake for Stage 7. The competition times were changed from a typical morning start to a noon start time. Here is a comparison of the top 5 finishers in terms of fish caught per round from Stage 6 and Stage 7.

2. Money Matters

PRESENTED BY: Big Bite Baits

What happened to Mad Man?

2001 saw the rise of a soft plastics company with a realistic craw fish that was the rage with many anglers for sight fishing, a jig trailer and fished on a Texas rig. The Mad Man brand rose to prominence over a several year period with an aggressive marketing campaign and selling thousands of baits. While it rose in prominence the campaign was larger than the eventual sales and the brand quickly disappeared. One store in Kansas still offers them for sale on their website, Zeiner's Bass Shop. If you are looking for something similar Big Bite offers a 4" Craw Worm that is similar, but features a ribbed tail section for easier rigging.

3. Behind the Scenes

PRESENTED BY: SPRO

Last week marked the 26th annual Skeeter Boats Owner's tournament. This year's event was held on Lake Fork, and included approximately 2300 anglers vying to take home a brand new Yamaha powered Skeeter FX20. While all the anglers were not lucky enough to tow home a brand new boat, many Skeeter owners took home their fair share of apparel from the event. Shopping for Skeeter Boats apparel has become one of the highlights of the event, with offerings ranging anywhere from branded Skeeter Boats dog collars to your more standard shirts and hats. If you didn't make it to Lake Fork but would still like to stock up on apparel you can always order online at the dedicated Skeeter Apparel website .

4. Anglers Tribune

Are you spooling braid on your casting reels correctly?

Are you spooling your braid correctly? Dean Rojas recently gave us a few tips to help you get the most out of your braided line. "First you want to make sure you are using backing 100% of the time. I pick a backing that is similar to the diameter of the braid I will be spooling up with. Typically I am only using 15 feet or so of backing, but that makes all the difference in the world. It prevents the braid from digging into the spool and slipping." said Rojas. Using more braid than you think you need to is also a big part of the equation Rojas insists. "When you first spool the braid on it will be what I like to call 'fluffy'. Once it gets wet it will lay down and become more compact, so you always want to spool a little more than you think you will need,: Rojas continued. "I prefer Sunline FX2 braid for all of my frogging and flipping. It is a line that I helped design with Sunline specifically for those techniques." Rojas concluded.

5. Baits Not Being Talked About

Double bladed buzzbaits have been available for years, yet are not often mentioned by most anglers. In theory dual blades will account for more noise and commotion, and also allow an angler to keep the bait on the surface while reeling it at a much slower speed than a conventional buzzbait. Some double bladed buzzbaits even offer floats on each arm to allow for greater flotation.

6. What We're Watching & Listening To

PRESENTED BY: Gamakatsu

Travis Manson Smallmouth Crush

Former Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Travis Manson is always up to something interesting on his Smallmouth Crush YouTube channel. Whether he is offering up tips and tactics to help you catch more Smallmouth and Largemouth bass, or rescuing a sunken boat from the Susquehanna River, Manson always keeps it entertaining. Check it out here.

7. Jersey Watch

PRESENTED BY: Denali

Josh Douglas with Scheels A number of anglers have relationships with outdoor retailers like Bass Pro, Tacklewarehouse etc. FLW Tour angler, Josh Douglas from Minnesota has a primary sponsorship in 2019 with growing retail chain Scheels . They have 27 retail locations mostly across the upper Midwest and continue to grow their presence into the bass market. Photos courtesy of flwfishing.com .

8. Regional Recommendations

Since opening their doors in 2014 Fisherman's Central's mission has been to fulfill the the need for quality fishing tackle, as well as to provide the advice to use it properly. Located in New Franklin, Ohio Fisherman's Central is your one stop shop for equipment from the top manufacturers in the industry. Whether you are visiting their impressive brick and mortar location, or shopping online at www.fishermanscentral.com, the staff at Fisherman's Central is knowledgeable and accommodating.

9. Best for Last

PRESENTED BY: AFTCO

National Walleye Tour pros Korey Sprengel and Ryan Dempsey recently won the Sturgeon Bay Open. The team rode a solid jerkbait bite to victory, fishing the baits just above Smallmouth waiting in deeper water before heading into the shallows. We caught up with Korey Sprengel to get his take on the win. How rare is it for a National Walleye Pro to come in and win a pretty prestigious bass event? This was the 5 th year that I had fished the Sturgeon Bay event. I actually prefer chasing bass in my off time between Walleye events, so to me it wasn't that big of a surprise to do well. I like the tactics involved in catching bass and how it keeps me in tune and honing my fishing skills. Bass fishing helps me be a better overall fisherman and actually helps me when I need to get dialed in on the Walleyes as well. Do you have any interest in fishing more bass events in the future? t During last year’s off season I put the option on the table, that I would try to fish both the NWT circuit and the Costa FLW circuit in 2019. As hI was putting the plans into motion I was told from my motor sponsor that I could not get the 250HP motor that I ordered to put on my boat this year. All I could get was a 350HP, and that motor option is not legal to fish Costas with, so at the last minute I had to nix the Costa idea for 2019. I am going to try and make that plan work for 2020 however.

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