2050 Reata Walk-Through Video
Thursday, May 17, 2012
In this new walk-through video, Ranger Pro Jimmy Bell highlights the layout and features of the extremely versatile 2050 Reata.
Scott Suggs on Fishing for Suspended Bass
Friday, May 11, 2012
Ranger Pro Scott Suggs is known for his ability to locate and catch suspended bass. Scott was kind enough to share some of the secrets to his success in this week's blog entry. Hope you enjoy:
The key for fishing for suspended bass is keeping the lure in the strike zone where the fish are positioned. Since this is not on bottom or top, it is necessary to retrieve your bait at the perfect depth. To determine this depth, I rely on my Lowrance Electronics to show me exactly where to target the fish. Once I determine the location, I look for water at that same depth. I make several casts to that depth, counting how long it takes my bait to hit bottom and analyzing the retrieval speed necessary to keep the bait at the correct depth. I then apply what I have learned to the suspended fish.
Scott Suggs
2007 FLW Cup Champion
New 175T Angler Walk-Through
Friday, May 04, 2012
New for 2012, the 175T Angler is the latest addition to our Multi-Species lineup. In the video below, our own George Liddle, Jr. highlights the layout, standard features, and overall fishability of this brand new tiller model. Hope you enjoy:
Tharp Ready For Beaver Lake
Monday, April 23, 2012
Ranger Pro Randall Tharp is preparing for the FLW Tour Major coming up on Beaver Lake this weekend and was kind enough to send this update in from Northwest Arkansas. Hope you enjoy:
The 2012 FLW Tour season is well underway and I am at Beaver Lake for our third stop of the Tour Majors. Practice starts in the morning and I can’t wait to get out on the water. Beaver Lake has been good to me in the past and I am looking forward to the challenge ahead this week.
This season has had its share of highs and lows for me so far. The loss of Jimmy McMillian has had a huge influence on me and my outlook on life. Jimmy was a great fisherman and competitor and an even better husband and father. The look in his eyes when Brandon won in 2011 is something I will never forget. He had the same look every weekend when he was competing with his boys on Okeechobee and I am thankful that I was able to see and be a small part of that. You can bet that Jimmy had that same glow in his eyes a few weeks ago when Brandon won the Everstart at Lake Seminole. Good job Brandon! I hope everyone will continue to keep the McMillian family in their prayers.
Okeechobee is behind me. I am thankful to get my first Tour level win and for it to happen at a place with so much history, that I love so much. I hope I don’t have to finish 2nd four more times before I can win again! I was pleased with my results at Hartwell and not so happy with the Table Rock event. I want to make a run at the AOY and you have to have 6 good tournaments to do that. I have my work cut out for me but am looking forward to the rest of the season. I am fishing the Everstart at Guntersville then on to the Potomac, Kentucky and Champlain.
Last season, I competed in my first Bassmasters Classic and my second Forrest Wood Cup. Fishing at the Tour level is what I do and love but the feeling you get at a “Championship“is special. Early in my career, it was my goal to get to these events. Now my goal is to win one of them as well as an AOY. It’s why I work so hard and what I live for. In professional fishing it doesn’t get any bigger or more difficult and that is why it is so special. I am pumped up now. Lets go fishing!
Randall Tharp
The Umbrella Rig Evolution
Friday, April 20, 2012
We recently received this piece on Spencer Shuffield and his revamped version of the standard umbrella rig from our good friends at FLW Outdoors. With the umbrella rig being such a hot topic these days we wanted to pass it along to you as well. Hope you enjoy:
We knew it wouldn’t take long for the top FLW Tour pros to tweak the umbrella rig, we just didn’t know exactly what direction it would go. After witnessing the recent FLW Tour Major on Table Rock Lake, it appears that direction is smaller, flashier and more nimble. Case in point – Spencer Shuffield.
After a frustrating Lake Hartwell event, the younger Shuffield got to thinking on his 12-hour drive home from South Carolina to Arkansas. He knew tons of prespawn bass were staging under the numerous Hartwell docks. But they weren’t eating a spinnerbait and the standard umbrella rig was just too big and heavy to be skipped or pitched. Shuffield took these thoughts and a rough design to Rick Powell, who quickly went to work.
Three weeks later Shuffield brought a revamped version called the Swim N’ Frenzy to the Ozarks. There are presently three sizes of the Swim N’ Frenzy and Shuffield used the smallest one on Table Rock. How small was it? The rig itself was led by a 1/4-ounce hard-lure body and Shuffield used two 1/4-ounce J-Will jigheads with 4 1/2-inch Keitech Swing Impact swimbaits. Keeping in mind Missouri state law only allows three hooks, Shuffield rigged his final bait (a smaller 3 1/2-inch Keitech) with an 1/8-ounce jighead. Each swimbait also had a size 3 silver spinnerbait (willow) blade running in front for extra flash and lift in the water.
Fully rigged, the Swim N’ Frenzy could be fished shallow or deep. Early in the week, the Bismarck, Ark., pro threw it in 8 to 15 feet of water around standing timber with his Spiderwire Ultracast Fluorobraid helping to get it deeper. While we already knew umbrella rigs work out deep on suspended fish, we didn’t know that it could be fished shallow. In fact, the talk before the Table Rock tournament was that umbrella rigs simply don’t work for spawning bass. Shuffield proved that wrong – catching a 22-pounder stringer from the bushes on day four that was full of battle scars and bloody tails.
The 2011 Co-angler of the Year was surprisingly forthcoming with this information. After day two, he flat-out admitted that his dad’s huge comeback was the result of downsizing.
“My success is definitely due to the rig; I promise you that,” he said at the time. “Dad (Ron) threw a bigger one yesterday and caught 11 pounds. He threw the smaller one today in the exact same areas and caught 19 pounds.”
After the tournament Shuffield was even surer about the impact of the new design.
“I know the downsizing made all the difference. I had co-anglers throw the standard version behind me and they weren’t catching nearly the same amount I was.”
There we have it. The umbrella rig can in fact work on spawning bass. And the recent trends point to more compact designs with additional accessories that allow the rig to be fished slower and shallower.
In hindsight, the Swim N’ Frenzy Shuffield threw hardly resembles the original Alabama Rig that Paul Elias used on Guntersville last fall. In fact, it looks more like a 1-ounce spinnerbait and that’s essentially how Shuffield fished it the final day. In the future, I’m guessing we’ll see many more sizes and variations until a standard stable is defined. Perhaps each size will be measured by wire length? Or total weight? Or a combination of both?
Until then, the evolution continues with the next chapter unfolding on Beaver Lake, where the million-dollar question is, “Will the A-rig work on the shad spawn?”
Brett Carlson
FLWOutdoors.com - Editor
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Spencer Shuffield's Swin N Frenzy rig (Photo by Rob Newell) |
After a frustrating Lake Hartwell event, the younger Shuffield got to thinking on his 12-hour drive home from South Carolina to Arkansas. He knew tons of prespawn bass were staging under the numerous Hartwell docks. But they weren’t eating a spinnerbait and the standard umbrella rig was just too big and heavy to be skipped or pitched. Shuffield took these thoughts and a rough design to Rick Powell, who quickly went to work.
Three weeks later Shuffield brought a revamped version called the Swim N’ Frenzy to the Ozarks. There are presently three sizes of the Swim N’ Frenzy and Shuffield used the smallest one on Table Rock. How small was it? The rig itself was led by a 1/4-ounce hard-lure body and Shuffield used two 1/4-ounce J-Will jigheads with 4 1/2-inch Keitech Swing Impact swimbaits. Keeping in mind Missouri state law only allows three hooks, Shuffield rigged his final bait (a smaller 3 1/2-inch Keitech) with an 1/8-ounce jighead. Each swimbait also had a size 3 silver spinnerbait (willow) blade running in front for extra flash and lift in the water.
Fully rigged, the Swim N’ Frenzy could be fished shallow or deep. Early in the week, the Bismarck, Ark., pro threw it in 8 to 15 feet of water around standing timber with his Spiderwire Ultracast Fluorobraid helping to get it deeper. While we already knew umbrella rigs work out deep on suspended fish, we didn’t know that it could be fished shallow. In fact, the talk before the Table Rock tournament was that umbrella rigs simply don’t work for spawning bass. Shuffield proved that wrong – catching a 22-pounder stringer from the bushes on day four that was full of battle scars and bloody tails.
The 2011 Co-angler of the Year was surprisingly forthcoming with this information. After day two, he flat-out admitted that his dad’s huge comeback was the result of downsizing.
“My success is definitely due to the rig; I promise you that,” he said at the time. “Dad (Ron) threw a bigger one yesterday and caught 11 pounds. He threw the smaller one today in the exact same areas and caught 19 pounds.”
After the tournament Shuffield was even surer about the impact of the new design.
“I know the downsizing made all the difference. I had co-anglers throw the standard version behind me and they weren’t catching nearly the same amount I was.”
There we have it. The umbrella rig can in fact work on spawning bass. And the recent trends point to more compact designs with additional accessories that allow the rig to be fished slower and shallower.
In hindsight, the Swim N’ Frenzy Shuffield threw hardly resembles the original Alabama Rig that Paul Elias used on Guntersville last fall. In fact, it looks more like a 1-ounce spinnerbait and that’s essentially how Shuffield fished it the final day. In the future, I’m guessing we’ll see many more sizes and variations until a standard stable is defined. Perhaps each size will be measured by wire length? Or total weight? Or a combination of both?
Until then, the evolution continues with the next chapter unfolding on Beaver Lake, where the million-dollar question is, “Will the A-rig work on the shad spawn?”
Brett Carlson
FLWOutdoors.com - Editor
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