Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
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By Louie Stout
The St. Joseph River bass population remains stable and the future looks pretty good, says Elkhart/South Bend Aquatic Biologist Dar Deegan.
In fact, he noted, the river experienced a really good bass spawn – both largemouth and smallmouth - last year.
“Maybe the best I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Deegan said. “We also had a good one in 2018, despite the record flood we had in late winter that year.”
The introductions of non-native gizzard shad and explosion in the bluegill population have provided plenty of forage and zebra mussels have cleared the river allowing for plant growth.
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Seaguar Report
Free Rig
American bass anglers owe a lot to their Japanese counterparts. Some of the most significant innovations created in Japan have entered the tackle boxes of North American anglers, with drop-shotting and Neko rigging as good examples.
So what's next? Signs are pointing to the "free rig" as the next big thing in bass fishing and some anglers are already finding success with it stateside.
One such angler is Bassmaster Elite Series pro Taku Ito, a pro that has quickly gained a large fan following for his infectious personality and unique angling methods. Ito has also found plenty of success on the water with seven Top 10 finishes, including a win on the St. Lawrence River, New York, in less than three full seasons on the Elite Series.
The Free Rig and How to Use It
The free rig is a hybrid rig that shares some aspects of the ultra-popular Texas and Carolina rigs. Using a weight with a hole at the top, anglers thread their line through the hole, tie their hook, and then rig their soft plastic bait. As the rig is cast out, the weight falls first and the soft plastic falls slowly behind it in a free-flowing and unpredictable way. Ito says this falling action is what makes it so deadly.
"The free rig is similar to the Texas-Rig, but not the same," says Ito. "The Texas-Rig is much better for heavy cover, but the free rig is the best for suspended fish. It started to get popular in Japan around five years ago on Lake Biwa, which has a lot of grass like Lake Guntersville in Alabama. The bass suspended over the grass and were hard to catch until they started to use the free rig."
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Mercury Report
One of the biggest pet peeves for many freshwater anglers is when they are having a good day fishing from a boat in a quiet spot on the lake or river and another angler comes along, pulls up beside them and starts casting in the same area without asking first.
“It happens pretty much on a daily basis,” said Mercury Pro Team member Michael Neal.
If it’s public water, everyone is welcome to use the resource, of course. In most places, there are no written rules about how far you need to stay away from other boats and anglers. It’s within your rights to fish next to someone - as long as you aren’t harassing them (intentional angler harassment is against the law in many states). It’s up to each individual angler to decide responsible behavior in terms of how much distance to put between your boat and theirs. Practicing good fishing etiquette means treating other anglers and boaters on the water with respect and giving them their space.
Neal, who fishes the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour and Pro Circuit, said it all comes down to following the Golden Rule. “Treat others the way you want to be treated,” he said.
“Communication is key. It’s the number one thing that makes your day on the water go smoothly,” added Mercury Pro Team member and Bassmaster Elite Series angler John Crews.
Here are four fishing etiquette tips from these two pros to help keep it friendly and fun for everyone on the water. Outlined here are unwritten rules that guide tournament anglers and serious recreational anglers: