Welcome to BassFan's Dock Talk section, where you will see brief, newsworthy items that for one reason or another can't be made into full-blown news articles. Despite the name, and in keeping with BassFan's editorial policy, every effort will be made to avoid publishing outright rumors.
Information about the Walmart sponsorship of FLW Outdoors seems to be guarded more closely than Fort Knox. We know that Walmart no longer sponsors the league – its logo can't be found anywhere in FLW Outdoors media. But when exactly did the company decide to move away from its sponsorship of the league?
Exact details will likely never be known, but notable is a comment from George Cochran that he didn't know until "the last minute" whether he'd have his Walmart team deal again this year, which would seem to indicate that a Walmart/FLW Outdoors partnership was still being worked on late into the fall.
During day-1 coverage of the recent Table Rock FLW Tour, BassFan asked Cochran about his sponsor situation, and whether he was able to add any sponsors during the off-season.
"No, I didn't," he said. "The only reason was I wasn't able to do anything was I didn't find out until the last minute that Walmart pulled out. Ranger and Evinrude are my team now. Ranger's always been my big sponsor. It hurt losing Walmart – that was a lot of extra money I was making. But I'll be 60 years old in May. I've had 30 years of everything going up, up, up every year. I've had a lot of good sponsors and I've made a lot of money when I won some big tournaments. So if I'm down a little the last few years, it doesn't bother me.
"But I feel sorry for the young fishermen," he added. "A lot of guys lost their (team deals) that really needed them. Guys like me and Larry (Nixon) already have everything paid for and we're getting ready to retire in a few years."
And as usual, Cochran couldn't help but jab at his best friend Nixon a little bit.
"I call him Uncle Jed Clancy," Cochran said. "They've got new gas wells all over his property. He's making more money than Carter's got bills. I'm going to retire and be his hay boy. He's still got (Team) Chevy, but I like to say that his No. 1 sponsor is gas."
Clackin' Rap gets TV time 3/11/2010 BassFan Tom Harkman of Maple Grove, Minn. passed along a link to a segment of Ron Schara's Minnesota Bound TV show that highlights the development of the Rapala Clackin' Rap. To view it, click here, and then click on the video player.
Bass Pro Shops announced today that it signed Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jason Williamson to its pro staff. Williamson, who previously ran a Triton, will now run a Nitro and will endorse the Johnny Morris line of reels.
Rick Emmitt of Bass Pro Shops noted: "We're very excited to form this partnership with Jason. Jason's an up-and-coming angler who's had great success in a relatively short professional career. This South Carolina native is a proven winner and a great fit for the Bass Pro Shops and Nitro family."
"I'm thrilled to enter into this great partnership with Bass Pro Shops and Nitro boats," Williamson said. "It's a privilege to be associated with these two solid companies that are run by fishermen who have a passion for the sport like I do and understand what it takes to make tournament fishermen successful."
FLW Outdoors today announced its newest sponsor – apparel company Wolverine.
In announcing the news, Todd Yates, Wolverine VP of marketing and GM of apparel, said: "Wolverine's extensive range of premium products including boots, shoes, apparel and gear aligns perfectly with FLW Outdoors and the outdoorsmen and women who participate in outdoors-related activities."
FLW Outdoors VP of marketing Trisha Blake commented: "We're proud to announce our new partnership with Wolverine and look forward to supporting and promoting their portfolio of products through the FLW platform."
BassFan's Jon Storm saw a lot of interesting products at this year's Osaka Tackle Show in Japan, and one of particular interest is the Neko Rig Master from Nogales. The idea is simple in nature, but opens a new world of possibilities.
The "Neko" name is in reference to the use of a nail weight in the head of a finesse bait – a rig Brent Ehrler used to win the Shasta Western FLW Series this year.
But the Neko Rig Master makes it much easier to wacky rig finesse plastics, or any other type of plastic bait. The product is a copper screw – much like the screw-locks on hooks – but on top is a rubber section that securely holds a hook. Anglers can therefore screw in the product anywhere on a soft-plastic bait for all sorts of wacky-rig configurations. Plus, there's much less plastic in the hook gap.
Wacky-rig a tube so it falls backward and into cover. Wacky rig a soft-jerkbait so it swims perpendicular to the boat and under docks. Wacky rig a Senko and save serious money without having to mess with rubber O-rings.
The Neko Rig Master comes in various sizes and colors.
Facts of Fishing this week 3/10/2010 Check out the newest episode of Facts of Fishing FYI: Host Dave Mercer tackles topics like Brent Ehrler, Bradley Roy, pond smelt and Godzilla?!
If you were there in person, or you saw Russ Lane in the Bassmaster Classic day 3 episode on ESPN 2, you surely felt the emotional dejection he felt on the final day’s weigh-in stage. Well, life just got a little brighter for the Lane family.
Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks officials just took a little of the sting away for Lane by informing him that he won a $7,500 bonus for being the highest-finishing eligible Toyota Truck owner among the Classic participants.
Lane, a three-time Classic qualifier, was seen as one of the home-field favorites at this year’s event as well as at the 2007 Classic on Lay Lake, based on the hundreds of amateur events he competed in at Lay when honing his skills for the Bassmaster Elite Series. Lane’s beefy day-3 catch was impressive, but left him in a heart-wrenching 4th-place finishing position. He earned $30,000 in prize money versus Kevin VanDam’s winning $500,000 pot.
Still Lane, who became eligible for the Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks program last year when he purchased a Tundra as his tow vehicle, can use the $7,500 in Bonus Bucks to buy roughly 2,630 gallons of boat and truck gas, a hundred or so nights worth of hotel room rental fees, or a portion of his 2010 Elite Series entry fees.
Cliff Pace, who purchased and tows with a Tundra along the Bassmaster Elite Series trail, also cashed-in at the 2010 Bassmaster Classic as an eligible member of the Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks program. He earned $2,500 for his 14th-place finish in Birmingham as the second-highest eligible Bonus Bucks participant. Ironically, Pace was the second-highest Bonus Bucks participant behind Toyota Sequoia owner Alton Jones at the 2008 Bassmaster Classic.
Bonus Bucks is simple: Drive a 2007 or newer Tundra, Sequoia, 4Runner or Tacoma, send in your registration form, become the highest-finishing eligible participant in your BASS or FLW affiliated tournament – and you win the Bonus Bucks. To find out more, and to make sure you’re signed-up visit www.ToyotaTrucksBonusBucks.com or call Kendell at (918) 742-6424.
The Berkley Experience Trailer will be at the Bass Pro Shops store in Hanover, Md. this Friday through Sunday (March 12-14). The 60-foot trailer of fun and activities brings fishing education to all skill levels of anglers.
The trailer has new videos and interactive demonstrations on line and bait. The Berkley Experience Team will present seminars scheduled throughout the day to cover the four main components of fishing: line selection, rigging techniques for bait, reel maintenance and rod selection.
Each stop has special retail promotions on line, bait, rods, reels and combos only available while the trailer is at the location.
“We are excited about having the Experience Trailer on the road in 2010 and stopping at many new locations across the country,” said senior marketing manager Andrew Marks. "Our Experience Trailer staff is ready to help anglers of all ages and skill levels learn about fishing, our products and how best to use them to catch more fish.”
Other elements include a knot-tying contest and demonstration, where participants can learn new knots and even win a prize. Under the tent, there will be racks filled with the latest products and big screen videos that help you experience the adventure with Berkley. The Berkley Experience staff is always on hand to answer questions.
The store is located at 7000 Arundel Mills Circle.
The trailer's next stop will be at Effinger's Sporting Goods in Bound Brook, N.J. from March 19-21.
Dobyns Rods has introduced its new Savvy Series line of rods to appeal to both beginning and cost-conscious bass anglers. The 13 models join the company's Champion and Champion Extreme lines.
Included are four spinning rods, seven casting rods and two flipping/pitching models that retail for $149.99.
Company founder Gary Dobyns, the West's all-time leading money winner and reigning U.S. Open champion, said backbone is the trademark of the Savvy Series, and that begins with the rod blank.
“A high-quality, top-end blank is essential to a great rod," he said. "I really centered the design of the Savvy Series around the blank. I will not sell a rod that I cannot personally fish with, and it was a very lengthy process of refinement just to get the feel of the rod just right.
"As a result, I can now say with absolute confidence that the Savvy Series blank blows others at the same or even more expensive prices completely out of the water.”
Quality cork encompasses the rod blank on all Savvy models. A split rear grip is incorporated in all but the 766 flipping model, in addition to a no-foregrip design. The grip arrangement reduces overall weight, assures balance, and helps to facilitate direct hand contact with the blank.
Savvy spinning models range in length from 6-foot-9 to 7-foot and include medium-light and medium power ratings. The 6-foot-6 to 7-foot-3 casting portfolio includes most popular medium-heavy to extra-heavy power and length combinations. Two flipping and pitching models round out the Savvy line.
Utilizing the same family of components as other Dobyns Rods, the Savvy Series boasts Kigan Alconite guides, a custom-painted reel seat with Fuji hood, and low profile hook keeper. Those features, highlighted with decorative wrapping and rod end cap, are included in each model to introduce new anglers to the Dobyns line.
“I wanted to make the Savvy Series good enough that fishermen considering a less-expensive rod will look at the Savvy Series and say, ‘For an extra couple of bucks, I can get a Dobyns Rod with so many more features.’”
For more on Dobyns rods, visit the company's website at www.DobynsRods.com or send an email to dobyns@dobynsrods.com.
Many BassFans know the Japanese government isn't too fond of black bass. Several years ago, anglers were barred from releasing bass on famed Lake Biwa – they were supposed to kill each one they caught. Some pros and guides on Lake Biwa got special permission to catch and release bass, but for the most part, anglers ignored the rule.
However, the government's campaign against black bass appears to have reached a new height. Hideyuki Nomura, editor of Japan's Lure Magazine, spoke with BassFan this week and said that starting next month, officials will destroy bass spawning beds in southern Lake Biwa located in 4 feet of water or less. The budget for the project is approximately $10 million.
Biwa, of course, recently produced the largemouth bass that tied for the world record. It's a sprawling (165,000 surface acres), fantastic bass fishery, and the birthplace of many Japanese angling techniques and advancements.
The government has taken the side of commercial fishermen in the black-bass debate. Biwa is home to a pond smelt and comparatively large freshwater shrimp that are both prized Japanese delicacies. At the same time, bass angling at Biwa has a tremendous economic impact on the surrounding Shiga prefecture. Influential bass anglers don't necessarily disagree that bass have some influence on the prevalence of native species, but they seek a balance between the commercial and recreational interests, as well as a focus on the habitat-degradation issues that stem from shoreline development.
Today was cut day at the Table Rock FLW Tour, and it marked the first time the FLW Tour cut to the Top 5 under its new cumulative-weight format. Scott Martin posted a strong finish, but ended in the unenviable position of 6th – first out of the cut.
"The bright side is, these highland reservoirs in the past have really given me fits," he said. "Obviously I'd like to be in the Top 5, but I'm happy to be getting the confidence of knowing I can catch fish in highland reservoirs in cold water. I'm excited about that."
He noted he was around good-quality fish – his 10 fish weighed 35-14 (a 3 1/2-pound average). But the only day he caught a limit was day 1. And he lost a big fish today on a jig, which was a departure in technique. His primary bait had been a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad swimbait, but he threw a jig in the trees a little today. He caught a 6-pounder on the jig, then threw back in, got bit and lost a 5-pounder.
He fished the main lake near Kimberling City.
When asked to look back and see if there was anything he might have done differently to make the cut, he referenced mechanics.
"I missed a couple of fish yesterday. The swimbait bite's such a subtle bite, and you have to really focus when you're fishing that deep. When the fish bite it, you barely feel them. And a lot of times you think it's a tree, but it's a fish. Yesterday I had a thick coat on, gloves, and I wasn't paying attention 100%. A couple of fish came and mouthed the bait, but I didn't have the rod away from my body and I waited too long to set the hook. I barely hooked them and they got off.
"That's a mistake. Looking back, this is the type of deal where you have to be 100% 3 days in a row. It's not that I was goofing off, it's just one of those things where you have to get yourself in the right position to feel every detail."
The Big Bite Lookback is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
Power Minnow returns 3/5/2010 Berkley listened to anglers who wanted the company to bring back the Power Minnow, and the versatile bait has returned with some new size options. To read about it and get a couple of tips on fishing it from Mike Iaconelli, head on over to the Catch More Fish page.
Skeet Reese, Mike Iaconelli, Aaron Martens and Steve Kennedy each have three of them. Kelly Jordon, Dean Rojas and Paul Elias have two each and more than a dozen other anglers – including a few who don't fish the Bassmaster Elite Series anymore – have one apiece. But Kevin VanDam has none.
What are we talking about here? Century Club belts, given out for topping the 100-pound mark for total weight in a tournament. Scott Rook, one of KVD's road roommates, has done it, but the world's top-ranked angler, five-time and reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) and three-time and reigning Bassmaster Classic champion has not.
"A hundred pounds is a great goal, but I don't know where that whole thing came about – why it is what it is," VanDam said. "I guess it's because it's a nice, round number.
"My main goal is to win, and some of the places we go, that takes 100 pounds. I want to be in contention to win, and sure, I'll take a belt, too."
He's about to get two more chances at one as the Elite Series pulls into California next week for back-to-back stops at the Delta and Clear Lake. Steve Kennedy caught 122-14 to win at Clear Lake in 2007 and the Delta is also capable of surrendering triple digits if conditions are right – and they just might be this time around.
Of the 35 times the 100-pound feat has been accomplished in the five-fish limit era, 34 occurred at one of six tournaments – Santee Cooper in 2006, Amistad in '06 and '07, Clear Lake in '07, Falcon in '08 or Guntersville last year. The lone anomaly was Rojas' 108-12 total from Toho in 2001, a record that stood for 5 years.
It's virtually a requirement that an angler fish all 4 days (i.e. be among the Top 12 after day 3) to surpass the mark, and VanDam did that only twice in the aforementioned events – he was 6th at Amistad in '06 with 97-00 and 5th the next year with 90-13. At Santee in '06, he was one of several anglers disqualified for having someone else drive the boat while he looked for bedding fish.
He finished 19th at Clear Lake the following year, 45th at Falcon in '08 and 20th at Guntersville last season.
"The greatest opportunity to do it was at Falcon," he said. "There's no telling how many people would have broken 100 if everybody fished all 4 days."
Maybe he'll join the club on this trip.
"It's definitely something I'm interested in. The thing I'm most looking forward to at these two stops is that any cast you make could result in a fish in the teens, and 10-pounders are fairly common."
Here's a list of modern-era Century Club members:
1. Paul Elias, 132-08 (Falcon, 2008)
2. Terry Scroggins, 132-04 (Falcon, 2008)
3. Byron Velvick, 131-15 (Falcon, 2008)
4. Aaron Martens, 129-07 (Falcon, 2008)
5. Mark Davis, 128-15 (Falcon, 2008)
6. Scott Rook, 125-10 (Falcon, 2008)
7. Steve Kennedy, 122-14 (Clear Lake, 2007)
8. Scott Campbell, 120-01 (Falcon, 2008)
9. Jason Williamson, 118-02 (Falcon, 2008)
10. Skeet Reese, 117-06 (Clear Lake, 2007)
11. Preston Clark, 115-15 (Santee Cooper, 2006)
12. Ben Matsubu, 114-13 (Falcon, 2008)
13. Casey Ashley, 113-03 (Falcon, 2008)
14. Mike Iaconelli, 112-06 (Falcon, 2008)
15. Derek Remitz, 111-07 (Amistad, 2007)
16. Dean Rojas, 108-12 (Toho, 2001)
17. Rick Morris, 108-07 (Falcon, 2008)
18. Aaron Martens, 108-04 (Santee Copper, 2006)
19. Greg Gutierrez, 108-01 (Clear Lake, 2007)
20. Skeet Reese, 108-00 (Santee Copper, 2006)
21. Aaron Martens, 107-08 (Guntersville, 2009)
22. Gerald Swindle, 105-08 (Clear Lake, 2007)
23. Ish Monroe, 104-08 (Amistad, 2006)
24. Skeet Reese, 104-04 (Guntersville, 2009)
25. Steve Kennedy, 104-02 (Santee Cooper, 2006)
26. Mike Iaconelli, 103-11 (Amistad, 2007)
27. Kelly Jordon, 103-03 (Santee Cooper, 2006)
28. John Murray, 103-01 (Clear Lake, 2007)
29. Dean Rojas, 102-10 (Santee Cooper, 2006)
30. Kelly Jordon, 102-10 (Clear Lake, 2007)
31. Paul Elias, 101-15 (Clear Lake, 2007)
32. Fred Roumbanis, 101-13 (Amistad, 2006)
33. Steve Kennedy, 101-10 (Amistad, 2007)
34. Mike Iaconelli, 101-01 (Guntersville, 2009)
35. Todd Faircloth, 100-05 (Amistad, 2007)
BassFan friend Joe Balog wants to spread the word that he's looking to fill a position for his company Millennium Promotions. A bit of bright news in an outdoor job market defined largely by cutbacks and layoffs.
Here's the description of the position, as well as info on how to apply:
Millennium Promotions, Inc., headed by promoter Joe Balog, is a full-time marketing agency in the fishing and hunting industry. Clients include industry giants like Ranger, Mercury, Daiwa and others. In addition to his well-known Great Lakes work, Balog is expanding the business this year to include work in the ice-fishing and waterfowl-hunting sectors. Most of Millennium's activity centers on media work and outdoor writing. Millennium is looking to hire an individual to work on a number of Internet and graphic-design projects. Requirements include a strong background in website design, experience with graphic work, as well as Internet sales knowledge. If you've ever wanted to work in the outdoor industry, and would like the chance to grow with Millennium's increasing business, contact Balog by email at JoesOutFishing@aol.com.
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