Staying at the top of the game

ICAST is the place where most of our industry announces and displays their latest and greatest products that are due out later this year or in 2016.

Fishing is a lot more than jumping in a boat and catching fish. Our sport, more than most, changes a lot in several ways. Imagine if golfers had to face a course that changed every time they showed up to play. Or one day the ball they play with always sliced (turned right) and the next day it always hooked (turned left) without the golfer doing anything different. Or imagine if the quarterback of a football team had to deal with a different shaped ball every time he took the field. Or a baseball player that had to figure out which base was first base every time they hit the ball.

For the most part, sports are played fairly consistent and the equipment changes are fairly minor – minor enough that Tom Brady doesn’t need to research new leather for footballs or new turf for the field. In fishing, we don’t have that luxury. Our playing field changes, our competition (the fish) change, and the equipment we use changes so much that anglers of all levels are constantly researching and learning about better ways to catch more fish. If you aren’t educating yourself on new products, new techniques and the changes in the sport of fishing, then you are hurting your chances to succeed, at least as a tournament angler. 

At the level I fish, the Bassmaster Elite Series, every angler is a great angler. While every year there are guys who end up at the bottom of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) standings, rest assured if they headed home and focused on their local tournaments they’d probably be hard to beat. We can certainly agree that there are great anglers who are not fishing the Elite Series, but for the most part, this is the top of the food chain.  When it comes to fishing against these guys week in and week out, I need every advantage I can get. For that reason, most of us out here pay close attention to the advances in technology, the development of new techniques, and educate ourselves on the use of it to catch more fish. 

I’ll start with technology, and it seems as though the technology we are using is changing at a more rapid pace than ever before. The electronics we use today aren’t even comparable to the electronics from just a few years ago. First, the detail in the electronics is vastly improved. Second, the addition of Panoptix, Sidevu, and Downvu (Garmin terminology) makes it easier to find fish. Lastly, mapping, with 1 foot contours puts us ahead of the game before we ever get on the road and head to the lake. 

Beyond boat electronics, baits have come a long way. I’ve spoken about both Tightlines UV enhanced products and Livingston Lures EBS (Electronic Bait Sounds) a lot over the past few years. Both of these technologies are an advantage over baits without this technology. Are these technological advances necessary to catch fish? Of course not, but as I mentioned before, every small advantage is a big deal at this level of fishing. 

When it comes to fish, they change as well. They get accustomed to baits and aren’t as easy to catch. You don’t have to look too much further than an umbrella rig to see that. When it first came out, they were winning every local event, now they are just another bait. They still catch fish, but not at the rate they did when they first hit the scene. As fish become accustomed to the popular baits, anglers have to look for new baits or tweaks that can once again give us an advantage. UV and EBS are part of that equation, but we see new improved baits and techniques often. Of course, not every so called “new” and “improved” product on the market actually helps catch more fish. Being able to figure out which ones provide an advantage and which ones don’t is part of the competition. 

It wasn’t hard to look at an umbrella rig and shun it off as a non-factor, but Paul Elias didn’t and it paid off for him on Lake Guntersville. Now everyone owns a few. It might be just as hard, and just as important, to figure out new products on the market as it is to figure out the fish in the water. And just like the fish, the success and advantage is short lived. Elias won that event on Lake Guntersville in mid-October 2011. The following week at the TTBC tournament in Texas more than half the field had an umbrella rig in the boat and most had it tied on. 

The reason I am getting into all of this is that next week is the annual ICAST show. ICAST is the place where most of our industry announces and displays their latest and greatest products that are due out later this year or in 2016. As a pro angler I need to be there to support my sponsors and show off their technology to media and buyers from tackle shops all around the country. However, it’s just as big of an opportunity for me to see and learn about new technologies and find that small advantage over my competition. It has been easy to look right past claims of “new” and “improved,” but now more than ever it’s important to take every technological advance seriously – you never know when you’ll find the advantage that takes you to the winner’s circle. 

We are also proud of our first Pro vs. Joe episode which is online now here. It’s been a lot of fun shooting these episodes with anglers from around the country, and we look forward to filming many more before the year is out. Let us know what you think in the comments below.