HydroWave Poised To Make Bigger Splash In 2012

By Lynn Burkhead
Special to BassFan

After making introductory ripples at last year's Bassmasters Classic and during the 2012 tour seasons, HydroWave units are now poised to make a much bigger and more noticeable splash in 2012.

In fact, most of the anglers on the Bassmaster Elite Series and a good number of the pros on the FLW Tour will have the units aboard their boats as their respective seasons begin over the next few weeks.

Why? Because they work.

"Bass are like any other predator," said Jeff Kriet, who along with Kevin VanDam, helped in the design of the unit. "If you can get 'em a little fired up, then they can be a little easier to catch.

"The HydroWave can help speed up the process. If you see fish on the graph but they are not active, you can turn it on and it's like everything's mood kind of changes."

Quite a Wide Range

By using the company's Lateral Reactive Technology (LRT) and Vibration Reactive Technology (VRT), HydroWave units can deliver six different stimulating sounds to bass that range from a "passive shad" noise to the music of an all-out feeding frenzy.

While some might have initially wondered if the units (which retail for about $400) were a gimmick, FLW pro Brent Ehrler wasn't one of them. He used the unit last year, will do so again this year, and says he was hooked from the beginning.

"The very first time I put it on my boat and tried it, I saw some shad on the graph," Ehrler said. "I hit the button and literally, the water came alive with shad flicking around my boat. It was kind of weird and something that I had never experienced before."

Ehrler says that one reason he is sold on the HydroWave is that it helps conceal and mask unnatural noises that emit from his trolling motor, his sonar unit, etc.

"So in the worst-case scenario, it helps hide you and your boat," Ehrler said. "And the best-case scenario, of course, is that it produces that natural type of sound that shad make, the kind of sound that gets fish fired up.

"So it's a win-win thing."

Apparently so. In the last few months, longtime bass pros Kevin Short and Paul Elias have both credited the HydroWave units on their boats with helping them secure wins on the B.A.S.S. and FLW circuits.

Not a Cure-All

While he's not surprised at such comments, company head Gene Eisenmann points out that no angler – pro or otherwise – should think that a adding a unit to their bass rig will be an end-all ticket for success.

"No, it's not that kind of a difference-maker," he said. "That would be an arrogant statement for me to make because these guys are so great already. But it will be a help to them."

Elias, the 1982 Bassmaster Classic champ, is one example who Eisenmann touts.

"Paul won the FLW event on Lake Guntersville last fall and after he did so, he gave a portion of the credit to the HydroWave," he said. "But his use of the now-famous Alabama Rig, his skills to locate suspended fish on the sonar and his use of side-imaging all came into play, too."

While some anglers have openly opined that a HydroWave is nothing more than a glorified electric chumming device, Eisenmann begs to differ.

"It is not that powerful," he said. "It isn't going to make them jump in the boat. You still have to go out and be a predator (and catch them)."

In fact, he says that a unit's greatest effectiveness may not be when the fish are already somewhat active and can be triggered into feasting on balled-up shad and making a ruckus.

"The guys who will be the most effective are going to be the ones most aware of the current environment they are fishing in," said the Dallas-based businessman and tournament angler. "When the sun is straight up and it's 105 degrees and slick calm, then the fish aren't going to be in an active mood. And if the fish aren't going to be very aggressive naturally, the guy who is successful will be the one who figures out that he needs to use a more passive sound to mimic the current environment.

"After all, what we're trying to do here is simply find the right trigger."

While Eisenmann isn't shocked that his product works or that it is drawing the attention of pro anglers and amateurs, he does admit that the speed of acceptance that the HydroWave has received in its first year is a bit surprising.

"We have no pro staff," Eisenmann said. "To know that these guys are buying them, that they are using them, and that they are having success with them, that's the biggest way of legitimizing this that we could ask for."

Kriet is one of those anglers – so much so that he invested in the company.

"Does it make a difference all of the time?" Kriet asked. "No. But I've seen it work enough times to go 'Wow.'

"(And because of that), I think it's a tool that can help give you an advantage and obviously, most of the guys on the tour now believe in it too."

Notable

> For more about the HydroWave, click here.