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Today’s Top 3

1. Berkley intros non-lead jighead.

Is the writing on the wall in the battle between waterfowl/greenies and fishermen (and do that many people STILL use splitshot?!). Maybe so since Berkley just announced the non-lead Gulp! JiggHead – yep, two Gs in Jigg.

> The jigs are made from what Berkley calls a Tundra composite. I don’t know what that is other than being non-lead.

> 3 styles: minnow, darter and a new “BDS” style taht has a more-centered weight balance said to make baits fall more horizontally instead of nose-first….

> These jigs are more expensive than common leadheads. All are priced at $4.99 for either a 2-pack (BDS style) or a 3-pack (most minnow and darter styles) in a variety of colors. Weights range from 5/8 to 1/16. These jigheads, by the way, are sold under the Gulp! brand, but are not themselves made of Gulp! soft-bait.

> The new Gulp! JiggHeads will start reaching tackle-store racks sometime in September.

2. Coolest fishin’ kicks yet?

Don’t know if’n your with me on this, but I’ve always thought fishin’ kicks – made specific-like for fishin’ – were kinda dorky. Well, not these Columbia Power Drains seen on Bassmaster.com. Here’s the down-low:

> These kicks will keep your feet cool and dry no matter how wet it gets. The upper is made with Columbia’s Omni-Freeze ZERO sweat-activated cooling liner, mesh and a quick lace toggle system, so they never come untied. The midsole is cushioned with Techlite material, and the sole is non-marking Omni-Grip material that grips when wet. Expect to pay $90.

Only question: Can they handle multiple days of crazy heat and resulting stank foot?

(And btw, didn’t see any of the new G. Loomis wear in that slide show, like this shweet shirt. Want!)

3. Oneida fishing situation: WWYD?

I watched the pros try to overcome the unusual bite at NY’s Oneida lake last weekend. On a lake where 30- to 50-fish days are the norm, these guys were catching around 7 keepers a day…but had a TON of follows.

Swimbaits, topwaters, crankbaits – they could see the fish, but couldn’t get them to commit. Randy Howell, who finished in 2nd by 6 oz and with just 4 fish, was the toughest example of what was going on there.

More on the conditions at the link, and I wanna know: What Would You Do? I listed a few ideas that came to me out in that boat, but lemme hear it from you.

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Tip of the Day

Scuff up your cranks?

Many pros let the sun fade the colors of their crankbaits before they use them, but how ’bout a more direct approach? Do bass recognize new/shiny baits as “bad?”

> After tying on a new Rapala, my bite went from hot [with a beat-up old crankbait] to not. Seems something had changed drastically.

> Suddenly fishless, I sat there perplexed, trying to figure out what had just happened. My partner kept catching fish, but I’d gone dry. After plenty of…contemplating, I realized my “new” lure was just that—new. It had a pretty, new shiny paint job in contrast to my ugly duckling favorite bait that was [recently lost].

> Deciding to experiment, I took my fresh bait and ran it over the aluminum gunnel of my Bass Tracker III. The pristine paint suffered horrific disfiguring. I threw my bait back out and immediately went back to catching fish on nearly every cast.

> Since that day, I’ll never use a bait without first taking some sandpaper to it and scarring it up.

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Quote of the Day

Casey said he fished a tournament out there that time of year and had to chip ice off his livewell lid to put fish in.

– Elite Series rookie Cliff Prince, talking about what fellow pro Casey Scanlon told him re: fishing OK’s Grand Lake (site of the ’13 Classic) in February.

 

Shot of the Day

Looks like this crawdaddy was hoping to escape. Almost made it! (From the Lurenet Facebook page.)

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