Paddletales BASS TALK 2008 HighlightsBy Tim Allard www.timallard.ca On Saturday March 8, 2008 roughly 30 hard-core anglers braved one of the worst winter storms of the season. They assembled at Paddletales Tackle ( www.paddletales.com ) in Winchester to listen to six pros talk fishing at Eastern Ontario's BASS TALK 2008 ( www.basstalk.ca ). I was one of the anglers sitting in the audience, soaking up the day's informative and entertaining angling seminars. Here are just a few highlights and lessons from the day to get you stocked for this year's bass season.
Kulik, co-host of Extreme Angler TV and hard-core tournament angler, kicked off the day's discussion and focused on drop shotting. Key points included: Use drop shotting as a finesse approach for largemouth bass by Texas-rigging baits to work weedy areas. A suspended, horizontal bait presented on a drop shot rig can often tease largemouth to strike when a power-fishing approach with big profile baits, like flipping jigs, isn't producing. David Chong: Tournament Lessons, Learn from your Wins & Losses Chong, 2002's Chevy Mercury "Angler of the Year", shared tournament tips and blunders to drive home some key messages, including: "Know the rules" - Different tournaments have different regulations with regards to things like: blast off, weight in times, fish limits, and culling procedures. Chong explained many anglers eliminate themselves from competition by unknowingly breaking the rules. Don't be one of them this season. Of course, Chong's tip also transfers nicely to stress the importance for all anglers to read and follow the 2008-2009 Fishing Regulations Summary. Wins and losses provide teachings to become a better angler" was another of Chong's themes. Winning requires calculated decisions. Sometimes you make mistakes, misjudgements, or risk too much and loose. What separates long-term success from a few fleeting wins is learning from your experiences to grow and become a better tournament angler. Charles Sim: Does Size Matter? When is Bigger Really Better? Sim, the 2006 CFT Super Series Big Rideau Lake winner, focused on a variety of angling situations, asking if "size matters" and "when is bigger better". The answers ranged depending on the subject. Here are two of his tips regarding size when it comes to fishing. Four inches is his benchmark for lure size when it comes to smallmouth bass (e.g., the Lucky Craft Pointer 100 jerkbait). He'll go bigger or smaller at times, depending on conditions, but he's found four-inches is often where he starts when targeting bronze backs. Bigger is better to Sim when it comes to many craft products, giving you a competitive advantage or better craft performance. When buying a boat, it's important to max out your engine horsepower, for example. He also advocated going with the biggest sonar and GPS screen you can afford to maximize the information you receive from electronics. Karl Kalonka: Removing the Luck Factor Kalonka, the host of the nationally syndicated television show Extreme Angler TV ( www.extremeanglertv.com ), focused on tips for hunting trophy largemouth bass. A no-nonsense angler he had a variety of tips for landing trophy-sized bass. Fish water where the largemouth bass is king, he says. In other words, find water bodies lacking other large predators. This removes competition from bass, encouraging their growth to trophy sizes. Hit high-percentage spots throughout the day. Kalonka often returns to zones he knows have big-bass potential multiple times. He says this increases his chances of putting his bait in front of a fish that either wasn't there on his previous visit or wasn't in the mood to feed the last time he cast the area. Paul Shibata: Rigging Your Bass Machine to Win Shibata, a Renegade Bass Classic Champion, provided the audience with detailed and straight-forward advice on how to rig fishing boats. Shibata's tournament mantra is "Chance favours the prepared mind". Taking the time to rig, organize and prepare your boat mitigates the risk of problems when fishing. It also offers peace of mind knowing you're in a well-maintained rig, letting you concentrate on fishing and not worry about "what if", boat-failure scenarios. Shibata had many rigging tips. Here's just one suggestion on using a transom tie-down strap to secure boat batteries. Run the strap underneath the wiring and properly secure it to the sides of the compartment (You may need to install "D" rings to hold the straps). Put spacers in between batteries to prevent them from tipping in on each other under the pressure of the strap. Stacking multiple small, plastic cutting boards between batteries works well, he says. Doug Brownridge: How Fast Can You Fish? Brownridge, CFT's 2005 Angler of the Year, delivered straight-forward advice on speed-fishing during tournaments. To him, fishing fast is an effective way to cover water and quickly determine a pattern. He stressed the two points below. Speed fishing doesn't mean sloppy fishing. Brownridge says there's a cadence to fast angling and it takes time on the water to master quick but effective fishing. Accurate casts to high-percentage spots is critical. Moving fast is only effective when you're presenting lures to the best areas. Otherwise, it's just sloppy angling on a high trolling motor setting that's unlikely to produce many fish. Chris Tieber: The Canadian Professional Anglers Association (CPAA) Tieber, CPAA's president, gave a quick presentation to the crowd. He explained CPAA is a not-for-profit association aiming to improve professional anglers' profile through development, community and environmental initiatives, and implementing a code of conduct. More information is available at www.fishcpaa.com Consider attending a BASS TALK in 2008 or in the years ahead. The presentations will shake off your winter blues, get you pining for season opener, and leave you with some great angling know-how. Two BASS TALK events are still planned for April. On Sunday, April 13, 2008 Fishing World in Hamilton hosts an event for the Niagara Region. On Sunday, April 20, 2008 Quinte Outdoor Sports in Belleville presents the last event in the 2008 BassTalk series. For more information on BASS TALK visit www.basstalk.ca .
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