Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
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St. Croix Report
St. Croix to Introduce Frog Rods at Classic
Catering to the growing trend of bass anglers fishing swim frogs, St. Croix will introduce two new rods at the upcoming Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville, Tn.
But the rods are no one trick pony. Not only are the rods designed to work specifically for topwater “buzz frogs,” they are equally adept at managing swim jigs in the same waters that swim frogs excel, as well as traditional topwater frogs, big swimbaits, speed worms, and more. Truly, the rods excel throughout the entire water column, from swim frogs thrown around docks and cypress trees knees to working a keel-weighted swimbait in sparse cover, the Mojo Bass MJC75MHXF and Legend Tournament Bass LBC75MHXF are must-have rods.
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Z-man Report
New Z-Man TRD SpinZ Adds Bling to Soft Plastics
Z-Man’s new TRD SpinZ Tail Spinner adds bling to soft plastic baits with subtle flash and vibration.
A simplified alternative to screw-in style tail spinners, the TRD SpinZ employs a single, stainless centering wire and exclusive keeper design that’s easy to rig with all softbaits, including Z-Man’s state-of-the-art ElaZtech.
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VMC Report
VMC Finesse Neko Hooks Feature Bait-KeeperThe hooks that grab bass and won’t let go are grabbing attention again with a new feature finesse anglers will love - the adjustable bait-keeper on new VMC Finesse Neko Hooks hold finesse worms firmly in place.
“Once you slide your bait over that little resined keeper, your worm is not going anywhere,” says VMC and Rapala Pro Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, who uses the new hook to secure small drop-shot baits and Texas-rigged finesse worms. “It will keep it threaded or Texas-rigged without that bait ripping through. Pretty amazing.”
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Provided by Sufix
New Abrasion Resistant Sufix Advance Line Offers Best of Both Worlds
MINNETONKA, Minn. (July 10, 2018) — For a mono, new Sufix Advance Monofilament hits a triple — it’s supple, sensitive and strong. It’s the monofilament line anglers have always sought but never found, until now – a mono that thinks it’s a braid.
“Sufix Advance is easy to handle and fishes smooth — like mono always has — but it shares some of the qualities of braid too, like enhanced sensitivity and abrasion resistance,” says Al Lindner, legendary co-founder of In-Fisherman and host of the influential “Angling Edge” and “Fishing Edge” TV shows.
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VMC Report
Land More Bass in Thick Grass with VMC Tokyo Rig
Punching through grass mats with heavy tungsten weights is sometimes the best way to get bass to bite and the hardest way to keep them buttoned up. The new VMC Tokyo Rig does both jobs better, triggering more bites and bringing more bass into the boat.
VMC's Tokyo Rig is a premade set-up for punch-shotting, a technique Rapala Pro-staffer Michael "Ike" Iaconelli, who played an instrumental role in developing VMC's groundbreaking new offering, first learned on the waters of Japan. Punch-shotting is like heavy-duty drop-shotting through thick vegetation. Imagine a drop-shot rig on steroids - with a big hook and indestructible metal leader - and you've got the picture of a Tokyo Rig.
The VMC Tokyo Rig features a VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook, barrel-swivel, welded O-ring and rigid wire dropper arm to which anglers can attach a weight or two of their choice.
"I can't tell you how many times I've been flipping or punching, had a killer bite, set the hook and came back with nothing. I missed the fish because I pried its mouth open - that big weight on the rig hurt me on the hookset," says Iaconelli. "But not on the new VMC Tokyo Rig. It's one of the hottest, brand-new techniques around."
The Tokyo Rig can dramatically increase an angler's hook-up ratio when targeting bass under hydrilla mats or in other thick vegetation. Its key design innovation is a heavy weight positioned below the bait and away from the impact zone. This nuanced feature helps ensure nothing gets between a bass and the hook during the hookset.
"Your weight doesn't get in the way," Iaconelli says. "The hook is unimpeded, so there is nothing there to stop that instant hookset."
The VMC Tokyo Rig also allows favorite soft-plastic baits to impart much more action than with a punch rig or Texas Rig.
"It's free-flowing, side to side, up and down," Iaconelli says. "It's not obstructing the action of the bait."
Easily customizable, the VMC Tokyo Rig can carry enough weight to punch through a mat of vegetation or just enough weight to get down fast to bass buried in thick grass. To keep weight(s) in place, anglers can simply use narrow-nose pliers to bend back the end of the rig's rigid, 2 1/2-inch dropper wire. Iaconelli favors two back-to-back VMC Tungsten Worm Weights. They slide in and out of heavy vegetation easily and "tick" when they collide.
"I love to fish this thing as a punch-bait," Iaconelli says. "That big, heavy weight below the bait is going to act as a ball and chain and it will suck it under that mat. Once it's under the mat, that bait is free-flowing - something they've never seen."
Iaconelli typically favors flipping a Tokyo Rig and also targeting laydowns, bushes and stumps.
"You can set it in place and shake your rod and that bait will stay off the bottom in one spot, with a tremendous amount of action," he says.
The VMC Tokyo Rig has increased Iaconelli's hook-up ratio. He's confident it will improve the outcome for bass diehards nationwide, too.
"If you want to stay ahead of the curve - if you want a cutting-edge technique - try this punch-shotting technique," he says. "Grab one of the new VMC Tokyo Rigs and modify it however you want. I guarantee you're going to present a bait to the fish in a different way and you're going to catch more bass."