News
Crowning the 'Tournament of Champions' King
"I woke up today and it just started sinking in, the magnitude of what just happened. I'm just kind of flustered right now. It's crazy," says the West Virginia native Jody Queen as he's asked about how it feels to be a champion. Two days and 40 miles of fishable waters, Jody put in the work and was able to bring in a total of 169 inches of Arkansas largemouth at the inaugural 2019 Hobie Bass Open Series (BOS) Tournament of Champions (TOC) on the notorious Lake Ouachita. He was victorious and walked away with a 1st place finish, a $20,000 payout, irreplaceable memories, and a humble heart!
Throughout the years, we've learned that Jody Queen is quiet, determined and consistent. He's authentic and stays true to his roots, making him an extraordinary ambassador for the sport of kayak fishing. He'll admit that his fishing style doesn't have much 'pizzazz' and that he keeps it basic and sticks to what he knows, and that's exactly what earned him the crown at the Hobie BOS TOC!
Throughout Jody's tourney recaps he mentioned that he didn't have to make bait changes during the tourney and he used one bait for two days. He initially wet his line with a spinnerbait but wasn't getting any results. However, he found his golden ticket when he tied on the tried-and-true Z-Man Chatterbait Jack Hammer! The water was stained and had an abundance of baitfish in the area, so he chose to go with a Z-Man RaZor ShadZ for a trailer.
Jody found a solid pattern with a slow retrieve, bumping his chatterbait off of wood and brush, in an area that was big enough to hold several different fish, so he just continued to do what worked for him and worked the same area all day. For Jody, consistency, and confidence with what he was doing was key to continuing to land him the numbers he needed to take home the win. Here's a closer look into his set up that helped reel in the championship:
Rod: 13 Fishing 7'3" Medium/Heavy Muse Black
Reel: Lew's Tournament MB
Line: 14 lb test Fluorocarbon
Lure: 3/8 oz Z-Man Chatterbait Jack Hammer in Green Pumpkin
Trailer: Z-Man RaZor ShadZ in The Deal
Here are some other practical applications, straight from the Champ himself, to help you reel in success with some of the same approaches that he uses with the Jack Hammer:
Rocky Areas: Use the RaZor ShadZ trailer in Green Pumpkin when there's a lot of rock and moss in the area and the fish are feeding on crawdads.
Shallow Water: Try using the Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ trailer on the Jack Hammer when you're fishing shallow waters and grassy areas. The higher buoyancy of the DieZel MinnowZ, compared to the RaZor ShadZ, allows your lure to ride higher in the water column.
Although the Hobie BOS win is still very surreal to Jody, he's already looking towards the future of kayak fishing. Being a seasoned tourney angler in KBF and now the Hobie series, he's hoping to see collaboration among the trail organizations in order to continue growing the sport. 'The more information that they can share back and forth and streamline them [events] would make them [the series] better. We need to work together...to try not to compete against eachother...so anglers, such as me, that make a living doing this...can schedule both series," says Jody.
Just like the 2019 Hobie BOS Champ, we look forward to the continual growth of the kayak fishing world and can't wait to see Jody Queen defend his title is 2020!
- Erica Novak
2019 Holiday Gift Guide
Shopping for the holidays can be very difficult! Everyone wants to get their loved ones gifts that they actually love, not just gifts that prompt a polite smile and thank you, just to be stowed away and never used. If you have an angler who's landed themselves on the nice list this year, we're here to help you with the age-old question of 'What in the world do I get them for Christmas!?'
Our Holiday Helpers (aka Pro Staff) is back this year to help you find the perfect gift for your angler! Whether the angler in your life is a beginner, youth, or seasoned tournament angler, the items that our Holiday Helpers have picked out for you are sure to help you nail your gift-giving! You'll even find a list of stocking stuffers all under $15!
One last tip before you start shopping: Always remember, if you get your angler a gift that helps fuel their adventures on the water and supports their passion for fishing, they're guaranteed to love it!
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- Erica Novak
Fishing the SteelShad Blade Bait
Introduction
The SteeShad blade bait is a super versatile lure that you need to add to your arsenal. Coming in multiple colors and 3 different sizes ranging from 3 and ¾ inches down to 1 and ¾ inches, this lure can be used to target any of your favorite species. Although this bait was specifically designed for vertical jigging, it can be used in a variety of ways that we will discuss in this blog.
Setup to Use
First, let us start off what rod, reel, and the line we like to use:
Rod: 6'10" 13 Fishing Muse Black Medium Heavy with Moderate Action (cranking rod)
Reel: 13 Fishing Concept Z (7.1:1 or 8.1:1)
Line: Sufix 10 lb. Fluorocarbon
The cranking rod is forgiving for the treble hooks so they don’t pull from the fish’s mouth and the high-speed reel allows you to work this bait as fast as you can while still being able to slow down if the fish call for it.
When to Fish It
Many anglers only throw blade baits in the colder months and in freshwater and we’re here to say, those anglers are missing out on some prime opportunities! Predatory fish eat baitfish all year round and this lure mimics baitfish, in other words, they will always hit a SteelShad! For those that fish saltwater, where treble hooks are illegal, switch out the SteelShad’s trebles with single J hooks. This is also a great trick for freshwater anglers to help work this lure through weeds more efficiently.
How to Fish It
The main way to fish a SteelShad is to vertical jig it in deep water however, anglers should vary their retrieve up. You can work this lure like a crankbait, a lipless crank, a worm, a spoon, and more. You’ll notice on the SteelShad that there are two holes in the top of the lure. When using the front hole as the attachment point, the lure runs a bit flatter with less vibration. This is ideal for working the bait in a cast and retrieve style, like how you would work a lipless crankbait. When using the default back hole, the SteelShad has a more dramatic wobble with a ton of vibration which is ideal for vertical jigging. Other ways to work this bait are to throw it out and let it sink to the bottom. Then, work in short drags and hops, similar to how you would work a worm. Whether you are fishing pressured fish and want to give them a new look or fishing a school and want to get them fired up, the SteelShad is a great choice!
Customize It
The SteelShad is a blade that can be fished effectively in any depth of water. From 6" - 60", it can truly do it all! If you're fishing shallow rivers and creeks, you manipulating your blade to get it to swim on its side. With your fingers, simply bend a 45-degree angle in the blade, roughly at the 'D.' Cast it out and let it sink to the bottom. When you start to reel, the blade will come up towards the surface of the water and swim erratically to one side, perfectly imitating an injured baitfish. After a few casts, if you want it to swim straight and true again, simply rebend with your fingers.
As an added bonus be sure to check out Dave Lefebre's top 5 baits for fishing Presque Isle Bay where he says the SteelShad blade bait is one of them!
- FishOn ProStaff
Fall Baits You Need to Try!
Fall is coming and so is the Fall feed. That means bass will be moving back up to shallow waters and honing in on bait to stuff their faces in preparation for the cold weather and water. Here are our top baits/methods for this early fall transition that you need to try!
TOPWATER
First and foremost, let’s talk topwater. Everyone loves fishing topwater and Fall is prime time. From the anticipation of a bass crushing your lure as you retrieve to the sound mix of the pop and water breaking to the satisfaction of one skyrocketing in the air with your bait hooked in its mouth, topwater is one of the most exciting ways to fish hands down. Topwater baits are a great way to mimic fleeing baitfish on the surface and trigger a bass’s competitive instincts to get in on the action. Heres our favorite baits for Fall topwater:
We really love the 75, 90, and even the 110 sizes for Smallies and the 110 and 130 sizes for Largemouth. We like using Monofilament line due to the stretch that gives us a little forgiveness as the fish jump and fight. A lot of anglers will simply steady retrieve this lure, don’t be afraid to throw in some pauses or some jerks to splash some extra water.
Walk-the-dog style baits, such as the Heddon Spook, Spook Jr., or Megabass Giant Dog-X, are a little more subtle than Ploppers and put off a different style of action but are proven to trigger big bites.
Are your treble hooks catching too many weeds? Good old fashion buzzbaits are tried and true topwater lures that can be worked around lily pads, grass and timber without snagging into them. We love the Cavitron Buzzbait from Megastrike that advertises as “The Slowest Buzzbait” and a slow retrieved Buzzbait is often exactly what the fish want!
SWIMBAITS
Swimbaits, swimbaits, swimbaits! We’ll go over 2 options, a hard-bodied and a soft plastic style swimbait. If you are trying to mimic baitfish, swimbaits are perfectly designed for just that. We like fishing our swimbaits in clear to slightly stained water and really love spots that have some current. One of the best tips for swimbait fishing is to slow your retrieve down. If you think you are reeling slow, reel slower and see if that helps.
Bull Shads
It’s no secret that these swimbaits catch big fish. However, a lot of angler’s associate Bull Shads with BIG swimbaits and rightfully so. With the new Baby Bull Shad measuring in at just 3.75 inches long, anglers don’t have to be intimidated by the 6”, 7”, 8”, or even bigger sizes. The Baby Bull Shad will get more bites than its bigger brothers but if you are on the hunt for a big bite, give one of the bigger sizes a shot. Fishing Online's Noah Heck gives some tips and tricks on how to successfully fish the Baby Bull Shad:
Keitech Swing Impacts
Swing Impacts are one of the most popular soft plastic, boot tail style swimbaits that are proven fish catchers. They come in a variety of sizes and colors but our go-to is the 4” in Green Pumpkin. We like to rig it on an Owner Ultrahead Finesse Jig in the 1/16th ounce 2/0 size. For river/creek Smallies we like to drag this setup across a rocky bottom.
SPINNERBAITS
Spinnerbaits are a great baitfish imitator! The blades put off a lot of flash and vibration that trigger some big bites. We love throwing spinnerbaits in slightly stained water when there is some wind to break up the water’s surface. We’ll vary our retrieve speed but we like to get the bait just below the surface. This way, when a bass is looking up and sees your spinnerbait reeling over her, she doesn’t get a good look at it, just sees the flash and reacts! We love the Z-Man SlingBladeZ and 412 Bait Co.’s Phase IV and we’ll use a Keitech Swing Impact as a trailer. Don’t be afraid to mix your trailers up, you don’t always have to use a swimbait style trailer. We have caught some really nice fish using Craws as trailers. Including this gator of a Pike that John Harley caught on a 412 Bait Co Phase IV with 412 SmallJaw Craw trailer.
FINESSE
Let's talk Bottom Baits. When the tough gets going, the going goes finesse. It’s fishing, and no matter what time of the year it is, there will always be slow days when a bite is hard to come by. When that happens, bust out the spinning gear and try out these 2 well-known methods. Shaky Heads and Ned Rigs are known to catch numbers with some quality fish mixed in. Z-man has introduced two new baits that we love to use.
These baits are 5.75 inches long and look like a stick bait but with some added flair on the end. These added appendages can make all the difference between getting a bite and not getting bite. Matt Randolph, a member of our pro-staff, likes to add a rattle and scent to his so the fish can really dial in on it, especially in dirtier water.
Z-Man TRD TicklerZ
Basically, a smaller version of the Bang StickZ, these little guys are an excellent Ned Rig bait. Small, subtle, and perfect to trigger bites on the toughest of days. We like to rig them up on a Z-Man Finesse Shroomz Weedless or an Owner Ultrahead Finesse hook. For both the Shaky head and Ned rig we like to use 8 lb braided line to an 8-foot/8-pound fluorocarbon leader.
We hope this information helps fuel your Fall fishing tactics. Now get out there and get fishing!
- FishOn ProStaff
Four-Season Bass Fishing Secrets from Jaxton Orr
The Shock Blade Tungsten Knocker Football Jig by Picasso Lures is a four-season trophy bass slayer! Bass angler Jaxton Orr shares his tips and tricks on how to reel in success with the Shock Blade.- FishOn ProStaff
Father's Day Guide: Top 10 gifts Dad will love!
We've got you covered!
P.S: These ideas are great for Grandpas, fathers-in-law, brothers and all the other amazing Dads in your life, too!
- Erica Novak
