Innehållsförteckning för Classic Preview 2015 från Bassmaster

“I’ve gone down to little crappie tubes and stuff like that to catch those fish when they’ve gotten on really, really small bait.” —Elite Series pro Jeff Kriet NO SPECIAL TREATMENT I understand living rubber on a jig is good on a lake like Lake Hartwell. What is the difference between living rubber and standard silicone jig skirts, and how would you fish the living rubber jig differently? Richard White, Michigan Elite Series pro Davy Hite I don’t fish it differently. I’ve fished the jigs with living rubber and ones with a silicone-type skirt. The biggest difference is the action. It has more action, and it’s more popular on Lake Hartwell than a silicone jig. I think it’s more popular elsewhere, but they keep it a secret. Serious tournament anglers…

Packing List If you plan to hit the water and take in the Classic from a spectator boat, here’s a list of things you need to bring. Layers. Late-February weather can be fickle in this part of the country, so pack a variety of clothes and think layers. The last time the Classic visited Hartwell, temperatures ranged from the 30s to the 60s. We recommend a base layer, middle layer and outerwear. Rainsuit. You may not need it, but you’ll be glad you have it if the skies open up. Besides, a quality rainsuit is an excellent outer layer when you’re flying down the lake at 60 mph. Waterproof shoes. We tend to forget our feet, and even if you’re dry from head to ankle, you’ll be miserable with wet…

Joseph Ianzano Florida 12-0 Canal C-100, Florida ◆ Zoom Curly Tail Water clarity: clear ◆ Depth: 3 feet Weather: clear Larry Morehead Illinois 10-5 Lake Placid, Florida Zoom Super Fluke (watermelon red) Larry Scheller Texas 10-9 Lake Fork, Texas Zoom U-Tail Worm (plum) Hussein “Bam” Beydoun Michigan 6-3 Lake St. Clair, Michigan 3-inch XCalibur One Knocker Rattle Bait (Rayburn red) Jack D. Orr Tennessee 13-0 Lake Kissimmee, Florida Wild shiner Harry Lockner Missouri 11-15 Lake El Salto, Mexico 1/2-ounce Scrounger Spencer Rowell Florida 10-1 Twin Rivers Pond, Florida 3/16-ounce Rebel crankbait (silver) Carlos Zamorano Spain 11-4 Sugar Lake, Mexico Xcite Bait Craw (green pumpkin) To request an application, write to editorial@bassmaster.com or B.A.S.S., The Lunker Club, 3500 Blue Lake Drive, Suite 330, Birmingham, AL 35243. A photo documenting…

Howell’s calendar filled quickly: there were only three blank squares from the end of February to the beginning of July. “DUDE, HOW ABOUT a quick selfie with me and the trophy?” I asked reigning Bassmaster Classic champion Randy Howell the moment I saw the hardware sitting on a mantle in his home office. He was too kind to let the request become awkward … and I’m a little too dense to have let the question embarrass me. My goal was to get some details about his 12 months serving as our sport’s world champion. How did the Classic win alter his existence — change his personal and professional life (beyond random selfie requests)? “Honestly, after a 20-year career, I didn’t think winning the Classic would affect me as much as…

There are few systems of keeping soft plastics in place that are as dependable as a screw lock. These little devices attach to the eye of a hook or jighead and keep the nose of the bait secure and are especially important on fast-moving swimbaits (think umbrella rigs) or straight-shank worm hooks. You can buy them premade, but they are sometimes hard to find. Here is a simple way to make your own for the cost of a paper clip. 1 Unbend the paper clip at the outermost and innermost bends. This will leave you a U-shaped wire with one tag end longer than the other. 2 Using a pair of needlenose pliers, bend the short end 45 degrees, making the eye of your screw lock. 3 Insert the long…

The U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia threw out a lawsuit seeking better labeling at gas pumps carrying ethanol mixtures of 15 percent (E15). Experts say E15 will cause more problems for boaters than E10, which has dissolved plastic parts and other components in fuel systems. Proposed budget cuts may lead to the removal of navigation markers on Lake Eufaula in Alabama Georgia. | The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed more than 130,000 cubic yards of sediment from the lower Missouri River last fall.…

Classic Mindset With the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro just around the corner, now is a great time to quiz the best bass fishing minds on how they’ll approach Lake Hartwell in late February. “But wait!” you say. “Aren’t the best bass minds competing in the Classic, and won’t they be reluctant to share their strategies for the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing?” True enough, but three of the best and brightest fell a little short of qualifying for the big dance. And they’re not just any anglers. These are the three best performers from the 2008 Classic on Hartwell who won’t be competing in 2015. As for the lake, Hartwell was impounded in 1959. It covers 56,000 surface acres and has an average depth of 45 feet. It…

“When choosing the perfect insurance partner, I recommend going with a company that understands your needs and cares about what you do.“ Bassmaster : How did the 2014 season on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail go for you? Aaron Martens: I made some changes last year in some of my equipment, and I’m making some more adjustments in my tackle and my equipment. I’ve been working on it, but every year I do that, I make some major adjustments. Every year is a big learning curve for me. I’m trying to simplify everything as much as I can. BM : How many miles did you travel during the 2014 season? AM: On average most of us drive about the same, and I think it’s about 35,000 miles a year…

IF YOU’VE FISHED the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Ind., then you know about Tanners Creek. It has plenty of shoreline flipping targets, but Tanners is also a deeper-water creek, so it’s one of the most popular tributaries on that part of the Ohio. Most tournaments launch there, which is why Bill Lowen was in Tanners one fateful day 20 years ago. The trouble is, he’d been going down the bank flipping a jig all morning but hadn’t had a strike. Then, when he came to a particularly big laydown, he flipped his jig in as he’d been doing and let it sink to the bottom. Once again, nothing happened — until Lowen reeled the lure up to make another flip. A solid 3-pounder raced up out of the branches but…

Drop shot wrap I’ve only recently gotten into drop shot fishing, but have caught some nice bass on this method the few times I’ve tried it. However, trying to keep that long drop line running from the hook to the sinker from tangling around everything in my boat was proving to be a hassle, because the spinning rod I use for drop shotting doesn’t have one of those little sinker keepers built into the lower end of the handle. I’ve managed to corral the sinker and leader line with a Velcro cable wrap intended for use with electric guitar cords and microphone cables, available at most music stores for a couple of bucks. When I’m not casting the rig, I just pull the sinker and drop line tight against…

When he punched the brakes, the heavy rig ... jerked him out of the truck and dragged him a few feet across the gravel lot. IT DOESN’T MATTER how often we fish, our bellies still fill with butterflies each time we arrive at the lake on a new day. So many, in fact, that we often get careless launching our boats. We’ve all been in such a hurry that we’ve forgotten to unhook the bow winch or unstrap the back of the boat. Embarrassing? Yeah, but it’s no big deal. But when we go fishing alone, mistakes often become dreadful “uh-oh” moments. Take a buddy of mine, for instance. He backed his flat-bottom aluminum down a primitive ramp into a channel one morning, only to have it sail off the…

Casey Ashley Birthday: Feb. 1, 1984 Hometown: Donalds, S.C. The GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro is coming to Greenville, S.C., not far from your hometown. How excited are you? The closer it gets, the harder it is to sleep. Any time you get to fish a tournament close to home it’s great. You get to be close to the people who pull for you, and if you do well, it’s an added bonus. And the Classic is the mac daddy of ’em all. How sweet would it be to win the Classic in front of a hometown crowd? That would make it much more special. My first Classic was on Hartwell in 2008, but I was still pretty green. I’ve done my homework. I’m ready. To hold that trophy…

“Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through analley.” Authorunknown Greenville’s dining scene is gaining notice from foodies across the Southeast — and beyond. Visit these selected restaurants — and many more — and taste for yourself. ❶ Tupelo Honey Café. One of Greenville’s top brunch spots, this place is known far and wide for its sweet potato pancakes. You can also make a meal out of the Queen Mary, a bloody mary made from roasted yellow tomato juice and garnished with lemon, lime, pick-, , grilled shrimp, pepper bacon, celery, asparagus, pickled jalapeno and a cherry tomato. Open Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-10 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m.-9 p.m.; 1 North Main St., Suite T…

The GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro returns to the Palmetto State, visiting Lake Hartwell and host city Greenville. Like the city’s travel and tourism website says, “Yeah, that Greenville.” 2 Anglers from South Carolina in the 2015 Classic (Casey Ashley from Donalds and Andy Montgomery from Blacksburg) $25 million Estimated economic impact of the Classic 6 Years since Greenville last hosted the Classic 2 Number of times the city has played Classic host 15,000 Seats to be filled with fans at Bon Secours Wellness Arena…

IT’S PART SOUTH Carolina, part Georgia, with a state line that runs underwater through the center of the lakebed. It’s part aristocrat, with sprawling lakeside homes, a golf course and more than 11,000 active permits for high-priced boat docks. But it’s also part wild child, with thousands of undeveloped shoreline acres that support whitetail deer, wild turkeys and wild hogs. Its banks are home to Clemson University, where serious minds expand their knowledge base in some of the country’s most respected public research programs. But downriver from the Clemson campus, you’ll also find a white-sand beach area nicknamed “Lake Havasu,” where laid-back boaters from around the area often raft together during the summer to be anything but serious. This 56,000-acre lake that will serve as the site for the 2015…

OVER THE PAST three years, more than 165,000 rabid bass fishing fans have walked the aisles of the Outdoors Expo at the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro. To an angler, this conglomeration of manufacturer booths, seminars and family activities is what Disney World would be like if a bass fisherman had designed it. It is not unusual for exhibitors to completely sell out of items, especially if they are new. This trend has inspired many companies to use the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods as a launch pad for new products. Hopefully, you will be in Greenville, S.C., Feb. 20-22 to see these items first hand, but just in case, here is a first look at gear from the Classic launch. ABU GARCIA ORRA POWER…

Just because we don’t hear about acid rain anymore doesn’t mean the problem has gone away. GENE GILLILAND, B.A.S.S.’S national conservation director, is a knowledgeable biologist and skilled fisherman. And he’s an able writer, as you’ll see in his article, “5 Crimes Against Conservation,” on page 84. If you love our sport, you need to heed his warnings and act upon them. Unfortunately, because of Crime No. 5, “Apathy and Indifference,” I have little confidence the other four will be overcome soon. Experience is on my side. A quarter-century ago, we were singing a similar song, with the same refrain. On Earth Day 1990, B.A.S.S. issued its first “Living Waters Report,” an ambitious and thorough white paper discussing the seven greatest threats to fisheries resources in America at the time.…