THE BUSINESS NEWS OF FISHING. |
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Do-it Yourself And Save Money |
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The secret is out! Making your own jigs with Do-It Molds saves you money! Invest in a mold, and make custom jigs for less than $1.50 a piece. If you are on the fence about making the investment, ask yourself...How many jigs do you lose a year? With the average jig costing $5 nowadays, you can expect a return on your investment by the 18th jig! Not to mention the fact you can upgrade to a better hook, and make them in whatever color you want - whenever you want! Start saving money today and start your jig making journey by clicking here.
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Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Banquet Breaks Organizational Records |
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The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame continues to gain momentum, and at its recent annual induction ceremonies event at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium a record crowd celebrated the induction of Tommy Biffle, Kathy Fennel, Dewey Kendrick, Aaron Martens, Steve Quinn and Lonnie Stanley. The White River Conference Center ballroom was filled to capacity as interested parties and a “who’s who” of the fishing world mingled in furtherance of the Hall’s mission. “The live and silent auctions produced more than $100,000, far exceeding our previous best efforts,” said Hall of Fame Board President John Mazurkiewicz. “All of the proceeds will be pumped back into our mission of celebrating, promoting and preserving the sport of bass fishing. We will continue to award much-needed conservation grants along with expanding and enhancing the Hall’s displays. Thanks to the bass fishing community’s extreme generosity we expect to be able to broaden our efforts going forward.” More than 20 Hall of Famers were in attendance, wearing the distinctive blue blazers that distinguish them among their peers. Bill Dance, on the eve of his 82nd birthday, spoke glowingly about the importance of the bass fishing community, and the critical need to preserve the sport’s history: “Folks will come from all around and they will tour this beautiful Bass Fishing Hall of Fame and they will see your picture and look at your plaque and possibly read about your accomplishments for years and years to come,” he said. “Many will say, ‘Hey look up there at that picture. He was a keeper’ or ‘He was a good fella’…They were here to promote the great sport of fishing and like I said, they’ll be up there forever.” For the third straight year, the majority of the auction items were available online, and winning bidders spanned coast-to-coast and also from Canada, but one highlight of the evening was the live auction featuring three one-of-a-kind prizes. The 325+ attendees bid vigorously on the assembled items, and generosity ran rampant. Rocky Kalsow was the talk of the room, as he submitted the winning bid for a two-day Bahamas bonefish trip with Hall inductees Johnny Morris and Kevin VanDam, along with noted saltwater guide Capt. Rick Murphy. VanDam and his fellow Hall-of-Famer Davy Hite assisted emcee Dave Mercer with the auctioneering duties. “It was a magical night,” said Hall of Fame Vice President Daren Cole. “Not only did Johnny Morris provide us with the venue to celebrate our progress, but the Wonders of Wildlife has now pledged to expand our footprint within their building. That will allow us to display the artifacts we’ve accumulated and to explain the sport’s significance to a broader audience.”
B.A.S.S., Major League Fishing and Phoenix Boats were the presenting sponsors of the induction activities. The event also received support from Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s, Wired2fish, PRADCO Outdoor Brands, AFTCO, Daiwa, Rapala, Shimano, Rather Outdoors, In-Fisherman, St. Croix, Costa’s Compete & Conserve program, Simms, and the Bass Fishing Archives. Many other fishing/outdoor brands contributed to the online auction, as did 75+ MLF and B.A.S.S. pro anglers in donating jerseys, signed lures and fishing trips.
Information on next year’s event taking place on Thursday, Sept. 28 will be available in early 2023. More details about the Hall and its mission are available at www.BassFishingHOF.com, or by contacting BFHOF executive director Barbara Bowman at bbowman@bassfishinghof.com
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Fluorocarbon, Braid, or Monofilament? |
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One of the most common questions asked by beginner and experienced anglers alike is how do I know what line to use for a specific technique? While you will find varying opinions on the subject, through trial and error some general consensuses have been reached to help point you in the right direction.
Monofilament
Monofilament was once the main line that anglers used for virtually every technique. While nylon or monofilament as it is more commonly known is still a great line, and could certainly be acceptable to use for the majority of your fishing, there are areas where it is a better choice than others. Monofilament typically has more stretch than other types of lines, and also exhibits floating properties as well. While the floatation properties can be good for certain lures such as topwater and other surface baits, it can be a disadvantage for lures that are designed to go deeper, such as deep crankbaits. The higher amount of stretch can be a disadvantage when fishing baits such as soft plastics or jigs where a strong hookset is needed. However, the stretch can also be an advantage for certain situations such as if a fish is barely hooked on a treble hooked bait, acting as a shock absorber if the fish surges. Monofilament is generally less expensive than fluorocarbon and offers more abrasion resistance, meaning that is does well around cover and doesn’t break as easily.. Our Super Natural Monofilament is our best-selling monofilament (nylon) line, and can be purchased along with various other monofilament products on our website.
Fluorocarbon
Over the past several years fluorocarbon has become extremely popular among anglers. Some of the key properties that have made fluorocarbon so popular are that it has very little stretch, it sinks, and it has a thinner diameter than monofilament. Because of these advantages, fluorocarbon can be 2-3 times the price of monofilament, but it can be well worth it. The advantages of fluorocarbon make it good for most situations because it covers so many techniques. However, as mentioned earlier, fluorocarbon is less abrasion resistant than monofilament which means it can break more easily. One disadvantage of fluorocarbon is the amount of memory that it has, which often causes line twists that can occur in your reel spool and cause the line to kink up and eventually break. One tip to help with preventing line twist after you spool your reel with new line is to tie a hook to the end of the line, hook it to something in your driveway, walk down your driveway until all the line is out, and start reeling your line back on the spool while you are stretching it. This stretches the line some so that it won’t twist up as much. Also, another tip is to always remember to make sure your line isn’t getting kinked up way down in the spool while you are fishing. If it stays kinked up for a while it will eventually break. There are different types of fluorocarbon line you can buy that differ in their strengths. For example, our Super FC Sniper is slicker, more flexible, more durable, and has more stretch than Shooter, but Shooter is known for its superior knot strength, tensile strength, abrasion resistance, and sensitivity. Another thing to remember about fluorocarbon or any other line is to use lighter line on lighter lures and hooks, and heavier line on heavier lures and hooks. Lighter fluorocarbon can also help the bait get down deeper because it cuts through the water more easily and also offers a more natural presentation, which are just a few of the reasons anglers tend to use smaller pound test on baits such as crankbaits and jerkabits. A full selection of technique specific and general-purpose fluorocarbon linescan be found on our website.
Braid
Braided line is starting to become more popular as anglers are tying leaders to their braid with an Albright, Double Uni, or FG knot. If you choose to do this, you can learn more about how to tie these knots along with others on our website. Our FC Leader is perfect to use when tying a leader to braid because it has the strength, sensitivity, abrasion resistance, and durability to perform with the braid. There are many advantages to braid such as it is more sensitive, you have more power which leads to better hooksets, it is a thinner diameter than fluorocarbon and monofilament, and it lasts a lot longer than other lines because it has no memory. Braid also has no stretch, which gives the angler more power as mentioned earlier, but make sure to use a rod with enough taper so you don’t pull the hooks out of the fish’s mouth. Because of the lack of stretch, an angler can feel the most subtle bites from a fish when using braid. Our best-selling braid is the Xplasma Asegai Braid. This braid is made with Plasma Rise Technology, which improves slickness, abrasion resistance, and water repellency. Because braided line is extremely slick, it will improve your casting distance. Always remember to spool up enough backing line to at least cover your spool so that your braid won’t slip. Most anglers prefer to use braid in stained or muddy water situations because the braid has high visibility in clear water. Braid also floats completely, which makes it good for topwater lures. There are certain lures that most anglers would say you must throw on braid such as a frog or punch rig for thick grass mats. The typical sizes for these type situations are 50-80 pound test because of the heavy cover that these lures work best in. In fact, we make a braided line at Sunline that is specifically designed for frogging and flipping, but you can also check out our other braided lines on our website for other techniques.
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5. Baits Not Being Talked About |
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Redesigned and better than ever, the Keitech Tungsten Football Jig Version 2 was made for deep water fishing. The Keitech Tungsten Football Jig Version 2 features a tungsten compound head is thirty percent harder than lead and dramatically increases sensitivity. The head has also been left raw and unpainted to provide a neutral matte finish and enhanced durability.
The hand tied one hundred strand skirt of the Keitech Tungsten Football Jig Version 2 is produced using Keitech’s exclusive SR-40 silicone. This silicone material is super soft and has comparable action to traditional flat rubber skirted jigs. A double barbed keeper system also holds soft plastic trailers firmly in place and eliminates the need for any messy adhesives. The ten strand fiber weed guard is hand glued to ensure perfect alignment to the custom Gamakatsu 2/0 hook. Offered in an assortment of carefully selected colors, the Keitech Tungsten Football Jig Version 2 delivers quality and performance that is a cut above the rest. Check out the full lineup here,
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6. What We're Watching & Listening To |
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Bassmaster Elite Series pro Gerald Swindle takes us along as he puts on a big worm clinic on Lake Fork in Texas, and shares some great tips on targeting bream beds for big bass! Check out the full video here.
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Photo Courtesy Of WON BASS
Recent WON BASS U.S. Open champion Josh Bertrand's sponsorship lineup includes Smokey Mountain Snuff, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Anderson's Maple Syrup, Nitro Boats, Mercury Marine, Nines Optics, TrueTimber, Bling Sauce, Green Mountain Grills, Hercules Tires, A&M Graphics, and Garmin just to name a few.
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Located in Lansing, IA River N Ridge Outdoors is a full service outdoor store right on the Mississippi River. They offer live bait, tackle, boating accessories, snacks, beer, soft drinks, ice, guns, scopes, knives, and all types of hunting accessories. River N Ridge is a fully licensed FFL dealer, and buy sell and trade all types of firearms. Feel free to pull up to their docks and stop in to get all your river needs. They are open 7 days a week during the summer months, and are always glad to fill you in on the latest river conditions and what the fish are biting on. Check out their Facebook page here.
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New Boat Sales Dip Below Pre-Pandemic Levels Through July |
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In last week's Best On Tour poll we asked our subscribers whether or not they planned on purchasing a new boat in 2023. An overwhelming 77.8% of respondents replied that they were not planning on making a purchase. While the bass boat market appears to be softening slightly other categories sill remain strong, and boat sales as a whole are still above pre-pandemic levels. The NMMA reports new powerboat sales year-to-date were at 187,000 units through July, down 18 percent from the same period in 2021. While overall new powerboat sales decreased 11 percent compared to January through July in pre-pandemic 2019, several categories continue to outpace pre-pandemic YTD sales levels, including new pontoons, wake sport boats and yachts.
“In the first seven months of the year, new boat sales have dipped below our 2019 pace demonstrating that the combination of economic uncertainty and the expected return of competition for consumers’ attention are starting to show their impact,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, NMMA president. “This is not unique to boating as most industries are experiencing pressures as inflation, a volatile stock market and talk of a global recession have grown. NMMA will be working to keep boating top of mind for consumers and the business community through the industry’s Discover Boating efforts, including boat shows launching this January. Now is the time to closely manage pipelines, credit availability, and consumer demand and lean into customer engagement and marketing following record interest the past two years. And, while we proceed cautiously, when looking across the 20-year trend-line, 2022 is expected to be a healthy year for our industry.” Read the full article here.
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What type of line do you fish your buzzbaits on?
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