The Week That Was in Fishing

The Week That Was in Fishing

Not a bad start to the professional fishing year, especially for us fish geeks stuck in the ever-changing middle band of the country. Here in Virginia it was in the 60s on Saturday, and then we had snow on Super Bowl Sunday. Because I’m effectively boatless bank trash until my new one is built, that doesn’t really impact me – I’m working inside at the computer for 10 to 12 hours a day, and my biggest decision of the day is whether to wear shorts or sweatpants to “the office.” That’s OK. I’m a big fan of getting all of the extra work down now so that when the bite heats up here I can spend more time on the water while only feeling minimally guilty about it.

Howell’s Back-to-Back Bigs

Have you caught a true 10-pounder? I’m not talking about a looks-like-a-ten-to-me-but-I left-the-scale-at-home fish, but a true bug-eyed giant. Many of you probably have – after all, you’re likely a hardcore fish head if you’re reading a tackle company’s in-house blog. But how many of you have caught it in a tournament? That’s what Randy Howell did in last week’s Louisiana Bass Pro Tour event. I know it was truly 10 pounds 11 ounces because they weighed the sucker on camera. Laissez bon temp roule, indeed. OK, I’m guessing a small subset of you have done that, too, but did you go out and beat it again the next day? That’s what Randy did, with a 12-14 freak fish, which was not only enough to topple his short-lived PB, but also to set a new record for the lake. I mean, it’s not like the flat-topped Howell fell off the turnip truck yesterday. He’s been guiding virtually since he was in utero, and he’s had a few big moments – like winning the 2014 Bassmaster Classic with a monstrous Day Three bag – but this has to rank right up there with anything else he’s accomplished on the water.

Senko Shows Out

While BPT was over in Louisiana, BASS was just a few states across Highway 10, turning up 20-pound bags of their own. No one latched onto a double-digit like Howell, but it was remarkably exciting to watch, even though winner John Crews held the lead from wire-to-wire. That’s because – as John Cox showed with a 30-pound bag on Saturday – no lead was safe. Crews weighed in 17 pounds on Sunday and Bob Downey didn’t let him rest on that. What I took away from the tournament was how much the Senko has changed my life. No, it didn’t produce the win in this instance, but it was remarkable how often anglers near the top came across the stage and reported that they’d done work just by flicking the simple bait around. If you tried to describe this to someone who didn’t fish, after telling them how complicated it is to manipulate a lure and fool a bass, what would you say? “Here’s a lure with nothing wiggly, no appendages, and you don’t need to do anything to it to make it work. They just bite it. Everywhere. Twelve months out of the year.” Take that as an advertorial statement if you must, but I shudder to think of how many more fish I would have caught in the 80s and 90s if I’d had Senkos in just about any color. It has changed the game everywhere, but perhaps nowhere more than in Florida, where the fish are just weird.

Guatemala Bound

While I’ve got bass tournaments and a soon-to-arrive boat on my mind, I’m doing hardship duty in Guatemala this week, taking six newcomers to what has become one of my favorite places on earth. I lived in a bass tournament silo for decades, so I understand why many anglers don’t leave their comfort zone, but I truly believe that I’ve become a happier and better angler since I spread my wings a little to embrace new species, new venues, and new techniques. Guatemala’s the perfect place to do it because it’s the best sailfishing in the world, but even if you want to stay closer to home, it pays to do something to keep yourself fresh. Go somewhere new, or fish an old place a new way. It’s energizing.

Classic On Deck

BASS is headed to the Harris Chain this week – more Florida fishing, in a venue that’s more traditionally Floridian (round, bowl-type lakes) than St. Johns, but I already have my sights set on the Classic. I missed the 2021 version because I “had to be” at Lake El Salto on the rescheduled dates (a true first-world problem) and the 2020 iteration was right before the world shut down. I hope we’re back to some semblance of normal. I also hope that we don’t have a redux of the 2015 Hartwell derby where we had single-digit temps at take-off. In fact, take-off was delayed because several boats were frozen to their trailers. That was February, and this is March, so we should be better off. My Spidey sense tells me to look for a Patrick Walters or Brandon Cobb to be in the hunt on all three days, and I suppose that’s not all that clairvoyant because they’re known SC hammers, but I also think that at this point in time the talent is more level than ever before. Home staters may still win on occasion, but it’s never surprising when someone comes out of left field, especially at the Classic where they’re pretty much left alone the first two days.

Underrated Color of the Week: Watermelon Moondust