Jeff Lugar rallied on the final day of the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship to come from behind for the title – much the same way he did to win the Mid-Atlantic division title in July.
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Jeff Lugar of McGaheysville, Va., only wanted for his sons to be able to say that their dad made it to the Bassmaster Classic.
And now, after Lugar’s win at the 2013 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship on Arkansas’ Lake Dardanelle, they can.
“I wanted to leave them a legacy and make them proud,” said Lugar, father to Travis, 18, and Tyler, 13. “They both love to hunt and fish, and when we go fishing together, they only want to outfish their dad.
“At this point, it doesn’t even matter to me if I catch a fish in the Bassmaster Classic,” he continued. “Just the fact that I made it means everything.”
Lugar will be joining other B.A.S.S. Nation anglers at the Classic. Five other men qualified on Saturday after winning their divisions. Doug Thompson of Arkansas for the Central Division; Paul Mueller, Connecticut, Eastern; Mark Dove, Northern; Coby Carden, Southern; and Tim Johnston, Western.
The six anglers will compete against the best anglers in the sport of bass fishing in February on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.
Take a listen as John Crews gives us a great look at the Baby Fat John by Spro. Then if you like what you see follow the link bellow and order some today.
RIDGELAND, Miss.—Touring pro Randall Tharp was the epitome of consistency at Ross Barnett Reservoir during the Bass Pro Shops Central Open.
After catching 13-pound-plus limits the first two days of the tournament and holding the lead each day, Tharp followed up today with a 12-pound, 11-ounce limit to win the Open and the top prize of a Triton 19XS/Mercury 200 Pro XS package worth $40,000 and $6,315 in cash. His three-day catch of 41-15 also earned him a berth in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic and the Central Opens point standings title.
“Ninety percent of my fish this week came on a 1/2-ounce Randall Tharp Signature Series 4 x 4 Jig, and almost all of my big fish came from around isolated docks,” Tharp said. “I weighed in two fish on an Alabama rig off the riprap and I weighed in one fish on a Chatterbait.”
This is going to be a 7 part series discussing 7 different ways to effectively fish the 5” Sick Stick. And to keep it simple, each technique can be performed with the same rod, reel and line. This way the only thing you have to worry about is swapping out the “business end”. We’ve decided to break this series up into 7 individual articles because we want to keep it simple and we don’t want to overload your brain with too much information all at once. Each of the 7 parts will be kept short and sweet to make sure everyone is taking full advantage of the versatility that the 5” Sick Stick has to offer, and of course catching the most bass on it as humanly possible. One of the coolest things about the Sick Stick is that it can catch bass regardless if the fish are aggressive, neutral or just shut off. If you know multiple ways to fish it, you can effectively catch bass during any 3 of the mentioned moods. Enough of the introduction, let’s move on to the meat and potatoes of The Bass Never Get “Sick” of it: Part 1.
To start, let’s go over the rod, reel and line for the 7 techniques. Everyone has their own personal preference for all 3 so I’m not going to preach to you on which brands you should use. I’ll just tell you my personal set up for simplicity reasons, and from there, you can just apply your own favorite brands of rod reel and line. My personal set up for the 7 techniques is the following; Rod – 7’3” Medium action Omen by 13Fishing, Reel – Shimano Stradic CI4 3000, Line – 20 lb. Spiderwire Stealth, Leader line – 12 lb Yozuri H2O Fluorocarbon. The knot I use to attach Fluoro to Braid is called the Crazy Alberto knot. Click here to watch a video on the Crazy Alberto knot. I use it because it’s one hell of a strong knot and it goes through rod guides with ease.
Now that we have the basic set up out of the way, the first technique I’m going to go over is finesse Texas rigging (I’ll save the obvious Wacky rigging for the last of the 7 part series). Now most of the time when I’m fishing the Sick Stick I’m doing so because I want to give the bass a slow and simple presentation to drool over. Therefore, when I’m finesse Texas rigging, I keep my weight light (1/16 – 3/16 oz.) and my hook small (2/0 EWG) to get the slowest rate of fall I can get away with depending on the winds. I also use a bobber stop but I don’t peg the weight to the top of the hook. Instead, I set the bobbr stop about 5 inches above the hook so that the bait has a natural unrestricted fall, but yet the weight stays close enough to the hook if I happen to come through brushy cover.
Working the bait; Make a long cast and let the bait slowly free fall to bottom. Let it sit for 10 to 30 seconds, or even longer when the bass are really negative, before you begin to work it back to you. Working it back to you should consist of a mixture of slow short drags with pauses, little hops with pauses, and a couple sharp snaps of the rod tip (and yes, each snap is followed by pauses). Fishing the Sick Stick rigged like this is super easy, it’s virtually snag proof which means you can fish it in various types of cover, and most importantly, it’s extremely effective. As a matter of fact, when I’m teaching complete newbies how to fish, this is the rig I set them up with because you really can’t mess it up (unless of course they work the bait too quickly). But it’ll catch them fish and I don’t have to spend time trying to get them unhung from snags…it’s ”win win” for both parties!
So that’s it! The 1st part of the 7 part series is in the books. Soak it up, apply it, and go stick some bass with this easy technique. You never know, it might just become one of your favorite ways to fish the Sick Stick…It’s definitely mine.
JACKSON, Miss. — Police have a teenager in custody in connection with the shooting death of a bass fisherman at a Jackson motel.
Jackson police said in a news release that Shun Brown, 17, “confessed to being responsible for the death” of James “Jimmy” Johnson. See full story at WAPT.com.
BASSMASTER OPENS ANGLER ANGLER SHOT TO DEATH AT MISSISSIPPI HOTEL
By Dave Precht
October 14, 2013
JACKSON, Miss. — James “Jimmy” Johnson, a 56-year-old B.A.S.S. angler competing in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open tournament on Ross Barnett Reservoir this week, was shot to death Sunday night at a motel in Jackson, police confirmed.
Jackson Police Department spokesperson Colendula Green said Johnson of Ganado, Texas, was fatally shot at the Motel 6 at 7145 Interstate Hwy. 55 North in Jackson, where he and his wife were staying during the tournament. Police received the call at 7:48 p.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
App for Missile Baits and Bomb Squad Openings Salem, Va. – October 14, 2013 – With the handheld smart phone devices continuing to account for a bigger and bigger portion of the Internet traffic, Missile Baits has created their own App. It is a quick way to access product videos, the catalog with all the colors, a list of dealers, connection to Missile Baits social media, a place for customers to post pictures, and a way to order direct. It is available on iPhone, iPad, and Droid operating systems. Company owner and professional angler, John Crews, says, “Society is being driven by handheld devices for everyday life. I know that I use a smart phone everyday to make my life more efficient. Our Missile Baits app will hopefully be a dependable app for anglers to use to see our videos on the water, check out color choices, or even find a dealer. We feel like it is another way we can help anglers catch more fish in addition to making fish catching baits.” Missile Baits is again looking for anglers to fulfill their regional pro staff, which will be called the Bomb Squad. The program, named after the hot D Bomb bait, is for any avid angler or guide that can promote the brand properly, speak intelligently, and catch fish. Missile Baits will be taking 1 or 2 page resumes from now until November 1 for their 2014 Bomb Squad. Please send the resumes to bombsquad@missilebaits.com. The deal will include product, apparel, media exposure, and potential bonuses. Demand was very high last year and is expected to be higher this year. Only a limited number of slots are going to be available. # # # MISSILE BAITS is a small company dedicated to creating SERIOUS soft plastic baits to help anglers catch more fish. The designs are straight off the top-level professional bass tour. Based in Salem, Virginia, MISSILE BAITS works relentlessly to make the best baits, show their customers how to use them, and stay on the cutting edge of bass fishing. New products and videos will continue to blast offinto 2012 and beyond. Log onto www.MISSILEBAITS.com for videos, tips, forums, and more. For information: www.MISSILEBAITS.com, or Contact: John Crews at MISSILE BAITS PO Box 1045 Salem, VA 24153 Phone: (855) HOOKSET (855-466-5738) www.MISSILEBAITS.com john@missilebaits.com
