East Coast Giant!

Last week I was out on Clearlake enjoying a great day on the water with a client. He had just gone on a tear, landing a 4, 5, 6, and a 7 lber in just a handful of casts. I'm idling to the next spot feeling pretty good about the day and my phone beeps. I pull it out and what do I see? A text from Josh Fan. (See East Coast Swimbait Advice ) It was hard to see the picture at first in the bright sun but as my eyes started to focus they about popped out of my head. Here I am in California enjoying a great day, then Josh drops the photos you now see. Talk about an East Coast reality check! In Josh's recent video he encouraged East Coast fisherman to throw bigger baits and to focus on catching bigger bass. He went on to say that he was heading home to start throwing big baits himself in pursuit of a personal-best largemouth. Let these photos be further encouragement to you East coast anglers. Big baits work nationwide. I get a steady stream of emails asking questions about the size of baits that guys are using and if they're too big for a particular part of the country. In almost every circumstance the answer is no, they aren't too big. You just need to listen to what is being said here, take the advice to heart and put in some time on the water. Once I got off the water I had a chance to talk to Josh about this fish.

He caught her on an ROF 5 Huddleston 8" swimbait. He went on to explain that prior to this fish he was beginning to doubt if his big bite was coming. He said it had been nearly 2 years without a truly "big" bite to show for his efforts. He also gave some credit to the Southern Trout Eaters DVD.

This isn't the first time I've heard an angler who is relatively new to big baits praise this video. I watched it right when it came out and I too have to admit that if you're fishing in the Eastern United States you need to watch it. You may not watch it more than a few times but in that time you're going to learn a great deal about how to approach your local waters with a big bait. Whether it was the DVD, the trips to California, or just pure tenacity that kept Josh on track, the commitment paid off. Though he didn't have a scale the bass was 26.5" long and was clearly a new personal best. Did I mention it was caught in the North East? Way to go Josh! I'm confident this is the first of many big bass that will come your way in the near future.

Jeremy Lin

Since the rest of the world seems to have “Linsanity” I thought it wouldn’t hurt to let it infect the TacticalBassin community a bit as well. I had the pleasure of fishing with Josh Fan and Jeremy Lin (The NBA’s newest star for those of you who may have been living under a rock) last fall. I thought the sports fans in the crowd might enjoy a quick clip from that trip. Here is Jeremy catching a nice Clearlake bass on a River2Sea Bubble Walker in the 128 size. There isn’t a lot of knowledge to be gleaned from this video but its still fun to see a guy like Jeremy getting out on the water and relaxing in the off season. Enjoy!

East Coast Advice on Swimbaits

When the fishing is going really well it’s easy to become jaded and forget how good we have it. It’s important to take the time to stop and consider just how blessed we really are. One of the best ways I can think of to get that “reality check” is to watch the reaction of someone who isn’t used to fishing our local bodies of water.
Allow me to introduce Josh Fan. I had the pleasure of fishing with Josh for several days on some of the best fisheries Northern California has to offer. Josh was here during a prime time when wakebait and topwater fishing was at its peak. While we didn’t catch any true “giants” we caught a bunch of quality fish and had a great time on a fishing adventure that neither of us will soon forget. As the trip was drawing to a close Josh took the time to sit down and share some tips that were born out of his experiences in the West.

These tips will help you regardless of where you live but if you’re fishing in the East you really need to hear what Josh is saying. He talks about the fish we were catching on a Lunker Punker and a Wake Jr. but the key is the belief in his voice about the effectiveness of these bigger baits. Josh now has a clear understanding of how powerful true big baits can be, regardless of where in the country you happen to be.

Finesse Topwater Fishing

While driving into town this morning I grabbed my water bottle off the seat of the truck and attempted to take a swig. I was caught off guard when nothing came out and it took several seconds for reality to sink in. Something about that solid block of ice staring back at me from inside the bottle got me thinking about how much I missed the warmer weather. It bothered me so much that I soon found myself flipping through old footage of flip flops, shorts, and topwaters.
I know that many of you are in the same situation. For some of you it was cold when you launched the boat last weekend, for others you wish you knew exactly where your boat is under all that snow. Either way, we’re a long way from topwater season.
Instead of tearing up and thinking about how far away the topwater bite is I suggest you get proactive and start preparing your tackle for the coming year. I’ve talked about frogs, spooks, and wakebaits in the past but I’ve never really touched on poppers. I absolutely LOVE fishing a popper on a spinning rod on a quiet morning. Year in and year out the popper comes to my rescue when the topwater bite seems to be falling apart on a tournament day.
My favorite aspect of the popper is its versatility. When the fish are aggressive you can work the bait fast and in the case of the River2Sea Bubble Walkercan even get it to walk-the-dog much the same as a spook. When the fish are moving slow you can turn to a Yellow Magic or a Rico (I’d suggest the “20th Anniversary Absolute” color) and get those critical bites during off peak times. The key to the Rico on a cold morning is to work the bait so softly that it splashes without making the “bloop bloop” sound that poppers are known for. That subtle approach consistantly gets bigger bites for me than the more aggressive retrieves.

Another great aspect of popper fishing is that unlike most other baits, the higher-end poppers come equipped with great components and are ready to fish out of the package.
The only modification I make at all is to change the front hook out for a red one when the fish aren’t fully committing to the bait. I know it sounds silly to a lot of anglers but that really can help your hook up ratio on a slow day.
I know we’re a long ways away from a wide-open topwater bite but I thought it would be nice to take a break from all this cold weather and focus on something a little less draining. I hope your dreams of big bass, small topwaters, and explosive strikes keep you company until warmer weather arrives for good.