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Daiwa Introduces Laguna LT Spinning Reel Family

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Daiwa Introduces Laguna LT Spinning Reel Family

Daiwa Introduces Laguna LT Spinning Reel Family

Anglers will discover an extraordinary performance-to-price ratio in new spinning reels

Cypress, CA (August 17, 2020) – For anglers searching out their next reel that offers a high level of performance to value, Diawa’s Laguna LT was built for you. Abbreviated “LT” for “light” and “tough”, the Laguna LT offers everyone from panfish and trout anglers to bass, walleye, and inshore a solution that won’t leave your wallet empty.

In terms of application, the Laguna is available in six sizes – all the way from a pocket-sized 1000 model for panfish and smaller freshwater fish to the LAGUNA LT5000-C, which fits the bill for inshore applications and larger freshwater fish pursuits.

The reels feature a carbon frame, ABS aluminum spool, as well as DIGIGEAR® technology. DIGIGEAR means machined, digitally cut gears that are polished to increase smoothness and gear meshing. Daiwa’s Laguna LT is also considerably more resistant to wear than similarly priced models.

Anglers will also notice that the new Laguna LT family is lighter than earlier models. Likewise, the aesthetics have been improved – the reels are an attractive silver and gold, sure to match any rod choice.

The Laguna LT also features a machined aluminum handle.

Laguna LT Features:

  • LT Light Tough
  • ABS Aluminum Spool
  • DIGIGEAR®
  • Machined Aluminum Handle

For budget-conscious freshwater and inshore anglers looking for their next spinning reel, look no further than the Laguna LT, a reel engineered and manufactured with the needs of the everyday angler in mind.

MSRP $39.99 – $49.99

For Daiwa’s latest color catalog and/or information on Daiwa dealers in your area, call Daiwa’s Customer Service Department at 562-375-6800 or e-mail inquiries to: [email protected]. The URL for Daiwa’s web site is http://www.daiwa.com/us/

Davis Fishes Familiar Habitat For La Crosse Win  

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Davis Fishes Familiar Habitat For La Crosse Win  

Davis Fishes Familiar Habitat For La Crosse Win

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LA CROSSE, Wisc. — He was more than 700 miles from home, but Barry Davis of Startex, S.C., targeted a familiar scenario to win the Huk B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series at the Mississippi River powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia. Davis’ five fish measured 88 inches.

Davis’ individual fish were 18 1/2, 18 1/4, 17 3/4, 17 1/4 and 16 1/4. For his achievement, he earned a $5,553 prize package of cash and merchandise.

In the third of five regular-season events, anglers were allowed to launch at any public ramp or public access area within tournament waters, which comprised of Upper Mississippi Pools 7, 8 and 9, along with any connecting creeks and canals. Fishing from a Bonafide SS127, Davis fished Pool 9 and spent his day focusing on sloughs with habitat similar to his home waters.

“I was fishing the crossover sloughs midpool all day long,” Davis said. “I was fishing 6 feet or less on cut-back banks with wood close by. The key was I found where current was in a bend that had laydowns all in it.

“With that cut-back bank, I’m familiar with fishing that because a lot of our rivers in South Carolina are about the same size as that cut-through. When I found that on Wednesday, that felt like home to me. I felt comfortable with it.”

Davis reports a fast start that yielded 12 fish in the first hour.

“I put my limit up in the first 30 minutes and upgraded my last fish just after that hour,” he said. “Everything else I caught the rest of the day was 14 to 15 inches, but I broke off a good fish late today.”

Davis caught his fish on shaky heads with Victory Tackleworks Clutch Craws in watermelon green and green pumpkin. The former was his morning color, while the latter served him better later in the day.

“I mainly used a 1/16-ounce shaky head, but I also had a 3/16-ounce rigged up for deeper water,” Davis said. “All but one of my fish came on the 1/6-ounce.”

To ensure he got on his early morning bite, Davis recently installed a Torqeedo 1103 ultralight outboard motor. The 3hp unit gave him the edge in reaching a prime area first.

“There were 13 competitors putting in where I [launched] this morning, and later in the day six of them told me they had planned to go to the area I fished,” he said. “That was my key — the drag race was won by me.”

Joey Vanyo of Lakeville, Minn., placed second with 87 inches. Fishing Pool 9, he focused on current breaks and island sand humps. Vanyo caught fish on a shad color Storm Arashi squarebill, a 3/8-ounce silver/shad Warbird spinnerbait and a Carolina-rigged black/blue Zoom Brush Hog.

“The key was I increased current and I found a ledge on the main-river channel where the bass were keying on an undercut bank,” Vanyo said. “I was using the Carolina rig in that spot.”

Brady Storrs of Gibbon, Neb., finished third with 87 inches. Ties are broken by the single largest fish, in this case a 19 3/4-incher caught by Vanyo. Storrs committed his day to Pool 7, where he did all of his work by fishing a leopard color Spro popping frog over mats.

“I caught a few fish around wood that was in the mat, but for the most part, it was just straight mat,” Storrs said. “If the mat had deeper water closer to it, I felt like there was a higher quantity of larger fish there. I was also fishing mats with a lot [of] cleaner water and I think that had them in there, too.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were Mike Elsea (86 3/4), Zach Gibbons (85 1/2), Eric Siddiqi (85 1/2), Zach Humphries (85 1/4), Lance Burris (84 3/4), Casey Reed (84 1/4) and Cody Milton (83 1/2).

For complete results, visit TourneyX.com.

The tournament was hosted by Explore La Crosse.

Bass Edge The Edge Episode 331 Bryan Thrift

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Bass Edge The Edge Episode 331 Bryan Thrift

Bass Edge Radio, presented by Megaware KeelGuard features MLF/Bass Pro Tour Angler Bryan Thrift in this episode of their top-rated podcast. Bass Edge hosts Aaron Martin and Kurt Dove discuss with Bryan his success at the MLF Heavy Hitters Event and summer bass fishing tactics.

Lucas Wins Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

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Lucas Wins Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

Fresh off MLF Win at Sturgeon Bay, Alabama Pro Drop-Shots Berkley Flat Worm to Another Victory and Wins $160K in Sandusky, Ohio

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CLICK THE LINK TO WATCH WINNING MOMENTS

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 14, 2020) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the stage Friday weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie. Lucas’ four-day total of 20 bass weighing 79-2 gave him the victory by just one ounce over the No. 1 ranked angler in the world, second-place pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, and earned Lucas the top prize of $160,000, including the lucrative $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus contingency award. The victory was the first pro-level win of Lucas’ career in FLW competition.

“I’m at a loss for words because when I went out today, I was not expecting to win,” said Lucas, who pushed his career earnings to more than $1.68 million. “I expected to go out there and try to catch a big bag., but I really felt like Wheeler and Bertrand were going to put something special together.

“Then, to only win by one ounce… I’ve had that fall the other way on me before,” Lucas continued. “Early in my career I lost by 3 ounces to Scott Martin on the Potomac River, and I really needed the money back then. It was a big deal – a $90,000 difference. And this one was even bigger – a $125,000 difference. So, for it go in my favor this time is huge.”

Lucas said that he spent most of his week targeting a big piece of sunken steel off of a shoal near Kelly Island.

“I don’t know if was a sunken boat or an old channel marker or what – I’ve been calling it the space missile all week – but the fish were using the backside of it as a current break,” Lucas said. “It wasn’t hard to stay on because it was big – like 16 feet long and 5 feet tall.”

Lucas used the same bait all week, also the same bait that he dominated the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Sturgeon Bay with last month – a Berkley PowerBait Maxscent Flat Worm (green-pumpkin). He fished the worm on a drop-shot rig with a ½-ounce weight and an unnamed No. 2 drop-shot hook on Berkley X5 Braid Line Crystal tied to an 8-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon leader. His rod and reel setup was a 7-foot medium-action Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier Spinning Rod paired with a size 30 Abu Garcia REVO MGXtreme Spinning Reel.

“I really felt like I had found the right quality of fish in practice and I knew that if I could go out there and capitalize on my bites – get 5 to 7 bites a day – I could make it work,” Lucas said.

“The last two years have been a struggle. I got my butt kicked in the first four tournaments this season. So to end my season like this, cashing five checks in a row and winning this one – the most money I’ve ever won in my life – I definitely feel like I turned my entire season around,” Lucas went on to say.

The top 10 pros on Lake Erie finished:

1st:       Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 20 bass, 79-2, $160,000
2nd:      Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 20 bass, 79-1, $35,000
3rd:       Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., 20 bass, 74-10, $30,000
4th:       Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 20 bass, 74-6, $25,000
5th:       Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 20 bass, 73-12, $22,000
6th:       Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 20 bass, 72-14, $21,000
7th:       David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 20 bass, 68-7, $19,000
8th:       Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., 19 bass, 67-10, $18,000
9th:       Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., 20 bass, 66-12, $17,200
10th:     Jason Lambert of Michie, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-3, $16,000

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 44 bass weighing 144 pounds, 8 ounces caught by pros Friday. Eight of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 25 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday night primetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament at Lake Erie was hosted by the City of Sandusky and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center. The total purse for the event was more than $1.3 million, including a top prize of up to $160,000.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Thursday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, the 2019 Polaris Rookie of the Year, clinched the 2020 AOY title this week after his 34th place finish. Nelson will receive his entry fees paid for the entire 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit season for his win.

FLW anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota, the Pro Circuit championship. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota will be held on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-29.

MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit Super Tournaments will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

QUEEN CONQUERS SUSQUESANNA SMALLMOUTHS AND SUPER FIELD FOR SECOND HOBIE B.O.S. WIN THIS YEAR.

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QUEEN CONQUERS SUSQUESANNA SMALLMOUTHS AND SUPER FIELD FOR SECOND HOBIE B.O.S. WIN THIS YEAR.

QUEEN CONQUERS SUSQUESANNA SMALLMOUTHS AND SUPER FIELD FOR SECOND HOBIE B.O.S. WIN THIS YEAR.

Milton Second, Ball Third as Iaconelli Makes Kayak Tourney Debut

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OCEANSIDE, Calif. (August 14, 2020) – In a fiercely competitive tournament that featured one of the strongest kayak bass fishing fields ever assembled, 112 anglers tested their skills against a stellar smallmouth fishery in the Hobie Bass Open Series (B.O.S.) Susquehanna River event. Included among the elite kayak anglers were Hobie B.O.S. current national champion Jody Queen, Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) 2016 national champion Mike Ball, multi-tournament winner Cody Milton, highly regarded Kristine Fischer, 17-year old bassin’ phenom Jaxton Orr, bass sharpie and host of Hooked on Wild Waters, Drew Gregory, plus indomitable bass pro, Mike Iaconelli, making his kayak bass fishing tournament debut.

Prior to the event, Queen, from Bluefield, West Virginia, predicted it would take at least 170 inches of smallmouth bass to secure the top spot in the two-day event and he was, literally, right on the money. With a tally of 171.50 inches to capture the crown, he held off a hard-charging field on Day 2 of the competition. For his efforts, Queen earned his second B.O.S. title of 2020 and a $6,400 purse. Runner-up, Cody Milton of Searcy, Arkansas, pocketed a cool $3,300 with a total of 170.5 inches of bass. Finishing third, Matt Ball, of Little Hocking, Ohio, drove away with an extra $1,800 in his pocket for his haul of 169.75 inches of bronzebacks. In total, the catch-and-release event paid out over $20,000 to the top 12 finishers. Additionally, Ball, fourth-place finisher Gregory, and fifth-place Stephen Sisto, qualified for the Hobie Tournament of Champions (TOC). Queen and Milton had already qualified.

“Man, that was one incredible field, a real ‘Who’s Who’ of kayak bass fishing legends and rising stars” says Kevin Nakada, Fishing Team & Events Specialist for Hobie. “These anglers really came to compete, and not just for the money; there was a lot of pride at stake, plus a qualifying spot for the Hobie Tournament of Champions in November, and Angler of the Year (AOY) points to be earned. With so much on the line, there was no doubt we were going to see some mid-summer fireworks.”

Hobie B.O.S. Tournament Director, A.J. McWhorter, agrees with Nakada’s assessment. “This was definitely our most talented field of anglers,” he states. “Considering the current state of affairs, it was great to see so many competitors come out on short notice to make it all happen. The bass were a little stingy this weekend, but that just further showcased everyone’s skills and talents. It was inspiring to watch these guys and gals work all weekend long on those amazing Susquehanna River smallmouths.”

As expected, Saturday witnessed plenty of jockeying on the leader board, but it was Day 2 – Sunday – that produced the most dramatic results, as several anglers made double-digit moves to finish in the money. Among some of the more notable Sunday performances, Ball climbed 17 places to capture bronze; Fischer moved up an amazing 27 spots to claim sixth place; Orr rose 19 places to take ninth; and Iaconelli jumped 14 spots to finish 12. Still, it was the steady performances of Queen and Milton that eventually garnered silver and gold. Both anglers took a shallow water approach to key on larger fish, and their game plans paid off handsomely.

“This is one of my favorite fisheries,” says a happy Queen, who has 20 top-ten finishes on the kayak bass trail this year. “I know this river pretty well, so I had a few good spots to key on heading into the action. I figured that if I fished clean, I’d be in the running.”

Queen focused on a slice of river that has produced well for him in previous tournaments, mostly working a modified spinnerbait featuring a big Colorado blade on Day 1, and a Strike King spinnerbait with an Indiana Blade ahead of a Colorado blade on Day 2.

“There certainly were some big names in this field,” allows Queen, “but no matter who you are, it’s vital to break down the water and decide how much area you’ll need to cover. A lot of people will just fish the shoreline, but on a big river like this, I like to pick a 400- to 800-yard slice of water, with rocks, islands and turns, and work it straight across from bank to bank. That way, you cover different bottom depths, structure types and currents without getting overwhelmed.”

Queen fished conservatively on Day 1, picking a few bass off each piece he sampled and leaving some stumps, rocks and bank areas for upgrades on Day 2. His bass ran a little larger the second day, but he was consistent from beginning to end in terms of getting fish to eat. “That’s often a key in very competitive tournaments,” he explains. “My Hobie PA14 with Mirage Drive and Kick-Up-Fins also gave me an edge because it has a real shallow draft. On this river, in particular, it helped get me into places some people couldn’t reach.”

At the end of Day 1, Queen was sitting in seventh place, while Milton held the eight spot. Like Queen, Milton focused on shallow bass, although he generally worked tight to shore throwing topwater lures in the hope of singling out larger bass in depths of two feet or less.

“Considering the experience of this field, I feel lucky to have finished second,” Milton reveals. “I was only able to squeeze in a few hours of practice, but I saw a couple of big bass in the shallows tight to the bank, so I went with that pattern the entire time. My hits were spaced pretty far apart, but the quality turned out to be quite good.”

Ball was fast out of the gate on Day 1, catching an early limit before a mud line moved in to cloud his hot spot and dull the bite. At 11:00 am on Day 2, he had only one fish on the board when he noticed the muddied water had pinched in toward shore. “I took that as a sign the river might be clearing up further downstream” he explains, “so I made a move. It didn’t take long to find a spot with better clarity and for the rest of the morning the bass hammered my shad-colored Z-man spinnerbait with willow leaf blades and a four-inch Z-Man Diesel trailer.”

Throughout the tournament, competitors used a wide variety of approaches and techniques to score with the Susquehanna’s famed bronzebacks. Chris Blair and Chris Schafer, who finished seven and eight, respectively, used Hobie’s I11S inflatable, lightweight combination SUP/kayak to maximize their time on the water. Fischer targeted big “loner” fish cruising the riverbanks by throwing a buzzbait and big Ribbit Frog around wood, stumps and grass to accomplish her rapid rise on Day 2. Orr took the opposite approach, blind-casting a Ned rig with a Z-Man shroom head and Z-Man green pumpkin 2.75-inch TRD. “I threw that rig with my St. Croix 6’10”, medium-light power, extra-fast action Mojo Bass spinning rod,” he reveals. “It’s super-sensitive, so I could feel the slightest bite, but it also has enough stiffness to pop my rig free whenever I feel it starting to snag.”

For his part, Iaconelli was impressed with both the quality of the field and how seamlessly the tournament was run. “Like everyone else, I came here to win,” the iconic bass angler states. “With such a high caliber of competition, anyone can rule the day if they get hot. This tournament was well thought out, perfectly executed, and a ton of fun. For me, it was a great experience and an awesome couple of days.”

There’s definitely a learning curve to the kayak approach, the New Jersey bass pro notes. “For one thing, you really need to plan ahead as to where you want to fish because you can’t just rev up and run five or ten miles to your next hot spot. The angles are obviously different when it comes to setting the hook and playing your fish, too. There’s plenty to learn in this kayak game and I have a ton of respect for the competitors who do it well,” Ike concludes, adding that he’ll definitely be back to try again.

“That’s one of the things I love most about these Hobie B.O.S. Events,” says Queen. “We have the type of competition where anyone can win. You can be a national name, a local favorite or fishing in your very first tournament and have a shot because it all plays out on the water. That’s what people should take away from this event. On any day, it could be your turn.”

Next up on the Hobie B.O.S. schedule is the much-anticipated California Delta event, August 15-16, followed by Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arizona, September 12-13.

Bertrand Reclaims Lead at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

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Bertrand Reclaims Lead at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

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SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 13, 2020) – The stage is now set for a dramatic regular-season finale Friday at the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie. The top 10 is loaded with former FLW Cup champions, Anglers of the Year, and an accomplished local pro with a vast wealth of experience on Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair.

MLF pro Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Arizona, who led the tournament after day one, weighed a five-bass limit Thursday totaling 22 pounds, 14 ounces to reclaim the lead with a three-day total of 62-12.

Pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, (60-9), who has finished 1st and 2nd in the previous two Super Tournament events, vaulted into second place after bringing in a limit weighing 22-5. Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, (59-8), Arkansas’ Spencer Shuffield (57-14) and Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, (57-0) round out the top five. Local angler Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, (55-4) sits in sixth place.

The four-day event featured 187 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) angling for a piece of $1.3 million, including the first-place prize of up to $160,000.

With the field now cut to 10 and a 2-pound, 3-ounce cushion heading into the final day, Bertrand is ready to see how it all shakes out on Championship Friday.

“This morning I caught two fish early that really helped me slow down,” said Bertrand, who finished the MLF Bass Pro Tour season ranked No. 20 overall. “I had six hours to get just three more bites, and it turned out to be a great day of fishing. I even made a couple of culls, and that’s about as much as you can ask for in this tournament right now.

“Every day, as guys fall off it opens more water up,” Bertrand continued. “Yesterday, I was sharing a spot with 7 or 8 guys. Today, it was three. Tomorrow, it’ll likely be just one or two of us in the area. There is less fish, for sure, but we have the freedom to move around now and that at least gives me a chance.”

Bertrand said that his key baits and spots have remained the same all week – he’s drop-shotting a small island shoal with a Berkley PowerBait Maxscent Flat Worm.

“I’m definitely excited to be leading going into the final day,” Bertrand said. “We’ll try to get a good night’s rest and prepare for anything tomorrow. I’m hoping to go back out to the same spot and burn it up. But it could be blowing 20 miles per hour in the morning and I might be fishing for largemouth. Who knows what’ll happen, but either way I’m super excited and ready to see how it all shakes out.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake Erie are:

1st:       Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., 15 bass, 62-12
2nd:      Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 60-9
3rd:       Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala, 15 bass, 59-8
4th:       Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 57-14
5th:       Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 15 bass, 57-0
6th:       Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 55-4
7th:       Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., 15 bass, 54-6
8th:       Jason Lambert of Michie, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-3
9th:       David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 52-11
10th:     Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., 15 bass, 52-2

Finishing in 11th through 30th are:

11th:     John Cox of DeBary, Fla, 15 bass, 52-2, $14,000
12th:     Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa., 15 bass, 51-8, $14,000
13th:     Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif, 15 bass, 51-4, $14,000
14th:     Boyd Duckett of Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 49-14, $14,000
15th:     Joseph Webster of Winfield, Ala., 14 bass, 49-11, $14,000
16th:     Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 49-4, $14,000
17th:     Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 49-3, $14,000
18th:     Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, 13 bass, 48-11, $14,000
19th:     Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, 14 bass, 47-15, $14,000
20th:     Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo., 12 bass, 47-10, $14,000
21st:     Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio., 15 bass, 47-9, $11,000
22nd:    Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala., 13 bass, 47-8, $11,000
23rd:     Fred Roumbanis of London, Ark., 14 bass, 47-4, $11,000
24th:     Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., 13 bass, 45-13, $11,000
25th:     Mitch Crane of Columbus, Miss.., 15 bass, 45-1, $11,000
26th:     Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 45-1, $11,000
27th:     Jon Canada of Helena, Ala., 15 bass, 44-15, $11,000
28th:     Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., 15 bass, 44-0, $11,000
29th:     Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., 15 bass, 43-8, $11,000
30th:     Joshua Weaver of Macon, Ga., 14 bass, 43-6, $11,000

Full results for the entire field can be/ found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 181 bass weighing 567 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 44 pros Thursday. The catch included 26 five-bass limits.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament at Lake Erie is hosted by the City of Sandusky and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center. The total purse for the event is more than $1.3 million, including a top prize of up to $160,000.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Thursday. Now, only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, the 2019 Polaris Rookie of the Year, clinched the 2020 AOY title this week after his 34th place finish. Nelson will receive his entry fees paid for the entire 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit season for his win.

FLW anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota, the Pro Circuit championship. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota will be held on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-29.

MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit Super Tournaments will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

The final 10 anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EDT Friday from the Shelby St. Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby St., in Sandusky. Friday’s championship weigh-in will be held at the Paper District Marina, located at 611 W. Shoreline Drive, beginning at 4 p.m.

Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage at FLWFishing.com.

Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 25 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday night primetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water broadcast will air on all four days of competition, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran is joined by Toyota Series pro Todd Hollowell and MLF’s Marty Stone to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Giant Smallmouth Will Determine Outcome Of Bassmaster Elite Series Event At Lake St. Clair

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Michigan smallmouth mecca Lake St. Clair will host the Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair Aug. 20-23, 2020. 

Photo by B.A.S.S.

August 13, 2020

Giant Smallmouth Will Determine Outcome Of Bassmaster Elite Series Event At Lake St. Clair

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MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — Tucked between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair may live in the shadow of its Great Lakes neighbors, but these bountiful waters will offer plenty of opportunities when the Bassmaster Elite Series visits Aug. 20-23.

Renowned as a smallmouth powerhouse, the lake shared by the United States and Canada has a history of impressive tournament showings, including last year’s Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, which Minnesota pro Seth Feider won with a three-day total of 77 pounds, 15 ounces.

Daily takeoffs will be at 6:30 a.m. ET from Lake St. Clair Metro Parks in Harrison Township. Weigh-ins will be held back at the park each day at 3:10 p.m. A first-place prize of $100,000 will be on the line, along with valuable AOY points that will help anglers earn berths in the 2021 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic.

Texan Clark Wendlandt took third in that event, and he’s looking forward to another shot at the waters known by some as “the Sixth Great Lake.”

“Going by local tournament reports, I think the fishing’s going to be great,” Wendlandt said. “A lot of fish are going to be caught and I think some big weights. Seth (averaged over) 25 a day, and I think we can expect something like that.”

At 26 miles long and 24 miles wide, St. Clair covers 430 square miles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a shipping channel that reaches about 27 feet deep, but the lake averages only about 11 feet.

Due to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions, anglers are limited to the U.S. waters of Lake St. Clair and all connecting rivers, creeks and canals, including Lake Huron. Anglers will not be allowed to travel south of the Ambassador Bridge (Hwy. 3) spanning the Detroit River.

Wendlandt believes all of the U.S. tournament waters could be in play. Most of the anglers will disperse across St. Clair’s main body where they’ll seek isolated rockpiles with scattered weeds, sometimes a little of both. Also, channel markers, particularly their anchor chains, have been known to give up sizable smallmouth.

“I think guys that spend time in the Detroit River will have a chance, but there will be plenty of tournament waters to fish,” said Wendlandt, who currently ranks sixth in the Bassmaster AOY standings. “Lake St. Clair is just perfect for smallmouth. Gobies and maybe perch are going to be the main forage. But just like all the Great Lakes, it has come on like gangbusters since the gobies entered the system.”

An invasive species that reached the Great Lakes during the 1990s, the round goby has played a significant role in the quality of St. Clair’s smallmouth fishery. Anglers will target their fish with drop shots, tubes, Carolina rigs and crankbaits.

Variables include:

Weather — St. Clair is notorious for turning brutally rough when strong winds blow. Big waves increase running time and decrease fishing time. With drifting a common tactic, inclement weather could limit opportunities for some.

The playing field — Much of the field has fished Lake St. Clair before, but with tournament waters reduced, some will find key waypoints are no longer in play.

Lake Huron — Traversing the west side of the St. Clair River, anglers have access to Huron’s west side, in particular, the fertile Saginaw Bay area. A long run could yield opportunity with little to no competition, but it will chew up a lot of valuable fishing time. Feider said he’s not expecting a lot of Huron reports.

“St. Clair is on fire and the good stuff in Huron, with the exception of the mouth of the St. Clair River, is too far to go,” he said. “Saginaw Bay is 70 to 80 miles from the mouth of the river.”

Wherever anglers fish, the weigh-ins will likely see most bringing five-bass limits to the stage. Several are likely to break the 20-pound mark each day, and the elusive Century Club (100 pounds) is not out of the picture.

After Chris Johnston came close during his win on the St. Lawrence River in late July, a triple-digit weight would mark the first time an angler has caught 100 pounds of smallmouth in a B.A.S.S. event.

That’s no easy task. But there are only a handful of fisheries where such a feat is conceivable, and Lake St. Clair is definitely one of them.

Real-time action from the Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair will be carried on Bassmaster LIVE at Bassmaster.com and ESPN3 beginning at 7 a.m. ET. Coverage will also be broadcast on ESPN2. Check your local listings for details.

New York Bassmaster Elite Events Reel In More Than 7 Million Viewers

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New York Bassmaster Elite Events Reel In More Than 7 Million Viewers

Bassmaster Elite Series angler Jamie Hartman treats a live audience to one of his many fish catches during his four days on Lake Champlain. 

Photo by B.A.S.S.

August 13, 2020

New York Bassmaster Elite Events Reel In More Than 7 Million Viewers

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Historic victories, record fish catches and dramatic finishes during back-to-back events proved to be must-watch television for sports fans as the Bassmaster Elite Series’ New York swing drew in a combined audience of 7.2 million viewers over eight days of coverage on ESPN2.

Between televised coverage on ESPN2 and the livestream on Bassmaster.com and ESPN3, fans watched more than 214 million minutes of live tournament coverage during the two events.

The action started at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at the St. Lawrence River, where on Day 1 of the event Paul Mueller, of Naugatuck, Conn., produced on-screen fireworks when he landed a 7-pound, 13-ounce smallmouth bass — believed to be the biggest smallmouth ever caught in an Elite Series tournament. On the final day, Mueller and Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario, battled treacherous waves and 20 mph gusts on Lake Ontario as both anglers fought to reach the 100-pound mark. After coming from behind to capture the win, Johnston fell just short of the century mark but took home the coveted blue trophy with a whopping four-day total of 20 smallmouth bass that weighed 97 pounds, 8 ounces and made history by becoming the first Canadian to win an Elite Series tournament.

Heading into the tournament, Johnston was ready to provide anglers and fans a much-needed enthusiasm boost. “It’s been a weird year, and I think we need to be out there on the water doing what we love to do. With ESPN2 covering the events, it was a great couple of weeks for the fans watching there and on Bassmaster LIVE.”

Savvy fishing enthusiasts knew weights would be close on Lake Champlain, but with less than 3 pounds separating 10th place from first, Championship Sunday was set up perfectly for viewers craving another exciting finish. ESPN2 coverage had just kicked off for the afternoon when Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk went on a 45-minute flurry that helped him leapfrog from fifth place to claim his fourth B.A.S.S. win.

In the midst of this action, Palaniuk took time to explain to viewers how he used electronics to locate and catch large bass, continuing the trend of explaining techniques and offering tips to new anglers that viewers have seen over the past three events and have traditionally found on Bassmaster LIVE.

“I want our broadcasts to be entertaining and educational for anglers of all levels whether it’s the first or 100th event they have watched,” said Palaniuk. “That’s why I do my best to explain what I’m seeing out there in the moment.

“With more people working from home we have more people enjoying fishing, so being able to share our tournaments with many of those people through a network like ESPN2 is huge!”

B.A.S.S. worked in conjunction with local hosts to ensure the tournaments adhered to guidelines issued by the State of New York for professional sports competitions, which included diagnostic testing as well as protocols for daily health screenings for all athletes and staff via the CrewMinders safety check platform and a host of other safety and social distancing measures. Under these guidelines, no fans or spectators could attend the tournaments.

“We are thankful to all of our local hosts as well as our partners at ESPN, who have helped B.A.S.S. safely bring the fun of competition and beauty of these fisheries into the homes of millions of fans during our three most recent tournaments,” said Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO.

The 2020 Bassmaster Elite season continues on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair Aug. 20-23, with live coverage on Bassmaster.com, ESPN2 and ESPN3. Weigh-ins will be aired on Bassmaster.com. Check local listings for ESPN2 broadcast times.

A complete schedule can be found at Bassmaster.com/tv-schedule.

Lucas Moves into Lead, Nelson Clinches AOY Title at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

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Lucas Moves into Lead, Nelson Clinches AOY Title at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

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SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 12, 2020) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Wednesday weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces, to take the lead after day two of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. Lucas’ two-day total of 10 bass weighing 41-5 gives him a slim 3-ounce advantage heading into day three of the four-day Super Tournament that features 187 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals from FLW and MLF angling for a piece of $1.3 million, including the first-place prize of up to $160,000.

The 2016 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champion Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Missouri, sits in second place, just 3 ounces behind Lucas with 41-2. Pro Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, has a two-day total of 40-13, good for third place, while day one leader Arizona’s Josh Bertrand fell to fourth with a two-day total of 39-14. The field is now cut to 50 for Thursday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to Championship Friday.

“It looks really good on the scales, but it was not easy,” said Lucas, who won the final MLF Bass Pro Tour event of the season last month in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. “I only had seven keeper bites today, and I lost two of them. I only put five keepers in the boat and I never culled one time. So, it looks good but it was really tough to get there today.”

Lucas said that he spent the day hunting for active smallmouth that are ready to feed.

“They’re hard to find, but there are a few out there,” Lucas said. “Most of mine are coming on my 2D sonar. I think they’re attracted to the boat. I see them come up under the boat and then I drop straight down onto them. It can be awhile, between bites, though. Today it was hours.”

Lucas said that all of his fish came on a Berkley PowerBait Maxscent Flat Worm, and that he is “all in” on his spots.

“I don’t really have a backup plan,” Lucas said. “I do have one other area that I haven’t hit yet, but I don’t think the fish are as big there. I think 18 pounds would be a good bag there, but I think it’ll take 20 pounds a day to win this thing.

“I’m trying to stay away from the crowd – there just isn’t enough fish out there to go around,” Lucas went on to say. “I have a lot of confidence here in the summer, though. I know I can find some little sweet spots out there.”

The top 20 pros after day two on Lake Erie are:

1st:       Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-5
2nd:      Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 41-2
3rd:       Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 10 bass, 40-13
4th:       Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., 10 bass, 39-14
5th:       Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 38-11
6th:       Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 38-4
7th:       Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, 10 bass, 37-9
8th:       Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 37-4
9th:       Fred Roumbanis of London, Ark., 10 bass, 36-5
10th:     Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., 10 bass, 36-2
11th:     Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 35-4
12th:     Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-1
13th:     Boyd Duckett of Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 34-15
14th:     Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-12
15th:     Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 34-12
16th:     Joseph Webster of Winfield, Ala., 10 bass, 34-6
17th:     David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 34-6
18th:     Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 34-4
19th:     Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 34-4
20th:     Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa., 10 bass, 33-11

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Anglers were also vying for the prestigious 2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) title that is determined by the most points accumulated over the six Pro Circuit events in 2020.

Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, the 2019 Polaris Rookie of the Year, clinched the 2020 AOY title Wednesday, after bringing in a limit and ending the day in 18th place. Nelson can finish no worse than 50th place, which clinches the title for the Michigan pro after bringing a 73-point lead into the event. Nelson will receive his entry fees paid for the entire 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit season for his win.

Nelson also won the $500 Berkley Big Bass award Wednesday in the pro division after bringing a 6pound largemouth to the scale.

Overall there were 754 bass weighing 2,206 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 174 pros Wednesday. The catch included 121 five-bass limits.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament at Lake Erie is hosted by the City of Sandusky and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center. The total purse for the event is more than $1.3 million, including a top prize of up to $160,000.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, the top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Thursday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

FLW anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota, the Pro Circuit championship. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota will be held on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-29.

MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit Super Tournaments will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EDT each day from the Shelby St. Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby St., in Sandusky. The weigh-in each day will be held at the Paper District Marina, located at 611 W. Shoreline Drive, beginning at 4 p.m.

Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage at FLWFishing.com.

Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 25 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday night primetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water broadcast will air on all four days of competition, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran is joined by Toyota Series pro Todd Hollowell and MLF’s Marty Stone to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Bassmaster Elite Series Anglers Talk Underwater Cameras

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Bassmaster Elite Series Anglers Talk Underwater Cameras

Bassmaster Elite Series Anglers Talk Underwater Cameras

“A lot of anglers still mistakenly believe underwater cameras are only for ice fishing,” says Bassmaster Elite Series angler Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson. “But if you don’t have a camera in your bass boat, you’re definitely missing out on big bass in a lot of waterbodies.”  

Crosslake, MN (August 12, 2020) – This past month, as the Bassmaster Elite Series, FLW and MLF / Bass Pro Tours have shifted to northern U.S. and Great Lakes venues, successful patterns have revolved around offshore structure, clear water and smallmouth bass that heft like sacks of sugar.

At the late July Elite Series event at the St. Lawrence River, eventual champion Chris Johnston spied on smallmouth bass through the lens of an Aqua-Vu HD7i Pro, borrowed from his buddy and fellow Canadian angler Jeff Gustafson. “I’ve used an Aqua-Vu for probably the past ten years,” noted Johnston, who earned his first Elite Series win, following years of near-misses, and the first ever for a Canadian angler. “To confirm fish species, size and their position without putting hooks into them in prefishing, a camera is invaluable.”

Gussy credits his underwater camera and Z-Man soft plastics for back-to-back Top-20 Bassmaster Elite Series finishes.

To earn his St. Lawrence win, Johnston keyed on several rockpiles in 20 to 50 feet of water along a 500-yard stretch of river. He noted that certain areas held big 5-pound bass, while plenty of other areas contained drum or walleye—easy to identify on camera, but much more difficult if not impossible to discern with sonar.

“An Aqua-Vu is a huge player on that river system and people are just starting to realize its value and the power of what it can show you,” added Johnston.

Earning a respectable 12-place finish, Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson credited his console-mounted Aqua-Vu for finding big bass hiding amid vast stretches of river. “The camera is such an efficient search tool in big rivers because you drop the optics below your boat and just do long drifts,” observed Gussy. “As you drift, the camera’s 90-degree optics reveal a wide swath of water in front of the lens. A special stabilizing fin keeps the camera facing whatever direction your boat is travelling. It’s a pleasure to work with in the current, allowing you to canvass a ton of water, dropping (GPS) digits on all the little sweet spots, such as each big boulder holding a 5 pounder.”

Gussy noted that while many river areas contained boulders that were easy to spot on side imaging, the bass themselves had a knack for hiding from the sonar beam. “In a lot of these current situations, smallmouths tuck right in close to bottom and you can’t see them on sonar. But they can’t hide from the camera lens. And you get to see how each fish relates to different rock and sand spots, which gives you little clues about how to catch them.

“The key in the tournament was to find which boulders held the 5 pounders. Seemed like the spot either held a few big ones, or it had ten smaller bass but no bigs. Also, lots of spots held drum, which look almost identical to a bass on sonar, but stick out like a sore thumb on the camera screen.”

Interestingly, while first-time underwater viewers adopt the mistaken notion that the optics spook fish, smallmouth bass almost always display the opposite behavior, swimming over to investigate the lens out of curiosity.

“Yeah, it’s pretty funny to watch bass and their reaction to the lens,” says Gussy. “They’ll swim right up to the camera, try to bully it like it’s a living thing. We see some pretty interesting stuff with the Aqua-Vu, including bass with jigs still in their jaws. We’ve also seen plenty of old boats, sitting half-buried on the bottom, encrusted with mussels. Some areas are absolutely filthy with gobies—you see dozens of them flying around, fleeing. For whatever reason, we’ve learned that these heavy goby areas rarely offer good fishing for smallmouth bass. Here, the camera helps us eliminate even more unproductive water—and gobies don’t show up on sonar, either.”

Bassmaster Elite Series angler Chris Johnston has relied on an Aqua-Vu underwater camera for the past ten years. (Photo by B.A.S.S. / Seigo Saito)

A week after the St. Lawrence event, Gussy lent his underwater cam to fellow pro Carl Jacumsen at Lake Champlain. “Gussy showed me just how powerful the Aqua-Vu can be,” noted the native Australian bass pro. “At Champlain, I learned more in one day using the camera than I could have in a year with other search tools.”

Notching his second-consecutive top 20-finish, Gussy spied big deepwater smallmouths at Champlain hovering near select boulders. “I learned a lot of the big boulders held two to eight smallmouths on them. In practice, I figured out that I could mark a boulder on side imaging and then circle back and drop the camera to check for bass presence and size, and not burn them with a hook in the jaw. If the boulder held bass, I’d lay down a waypoint and return during the tourney. If it was some other species, I could immediately cross it off the list. Eventually, I learned that drum, for example, were hovering a little higher off bottom than the bass, which proved to be another key detail that could’ve easily been overlooked had I not had the Aqua-Vu on board.”

Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson says an Aqua-Vu unlocks the underwater secrets of the country’s top bass fisheries.

To weigh nearly 55 pounds of Lake Champlain smallmouths, Gussy deployed a dropshot rigged 5-inch Z-Man Jerk ShadZ in 28 to 35 feet of water. As an interesting side note, eventual tournament champ Brandon Palaniuk observed several competitors using the camera and became intrigued by its potential.

“In the past, we weren’t allowed to use underwater cameras in tourneys,” noted Palaniuk. “But after the last couple events and listening to Gussy and Carl (Jacumsen) talk about the things they see on the camera screen, I realize it’s time to start using one. Just gaining a better understanding of exactly what I’m seeing on sonar and learning how to interpret the underwater terrain is super exciting. I’m excited to try the Aqua-Vu at St. Clair.”

“Safe to say, a majority of the top 20 anglers at these events—especially on the St. Lawrence—used cameras,” adds Gustafson. “Certainly, a lot of us will be dropping the lens as we roll into the Lake St. Clair Elite event.

“Yeah, an Aqua-Vu is a cool ice fishing tool. But I think a lot of anglers are realizing it’s just as powerful for breaking down water while sitting in a bass boat.”

Until recently, use of an underwater camera has remained a well-guarded secret among elite bass anglers.
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