I’m in Green Bay, Wis., this week filming a TV show with Mark Zona for his Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show. We’ll be targeting smallmouth bass in Lake Michigan near Washington Island. This area is hot right now. In fact, it’s probably one of the best — if not the best — places in our country to catch them.
The area also gives you a sense of history. Washington Island is part of a dangerous strait between Green Bay and the main body of Lake Michigan. There’s a bunch of old shipwrecks down under the water. It all gives you a perspective on life on the Great Lakes and a realization of how important (not) we humans are in the grand scheme of things.
Despite all of our technological advances, we’re still at the mercy of Mother Nature. That’s the long and the short of it. It’s intimidating when you stop to think about it.
The wind is a little nasty so I’m thinking we’ll have a rough ride for a couple of days but we’re not likely to end up being one of the shipwrecks. We’ll just roll around and have a good time. It’s a lot of fun to work with Mark. I really enjoy it. He’s one of those guys you can get along with, laugh, tease and joke but at the same time still get a lot of work done.
His show is real, too. It’s not one of those ones where the editors put film clips together to show nonstop action and then expect you to believe that’s the way it really was. When you watch his show, you learn something and come away with a real understanding of what was going on at whatever location was being filmed.
Anyway, you can watch the show sometime in January. I don’t know the exact date yet but I’ll let you know in plenty of time to watch or record it. I’m guessing it’ll be worth your time.
On another subject: Did you see what Paul Elias did with his Alabama rig on Lake Guntersville last week? It was almost unbelievable. He won a major professional tournament by over 17 pounds using an Alabama rig.
It’s designed much like a striper umbrella rig. It allows you to wind several baits through the water at the same time. I think it’s supposed to mimic a school of baitfish and make suspended bass bite.
Elias used swimbaits but I’m thinking a lot of other stuff will work, too. I’m sure we’ll know come next year when we see it used in some of the tournaments. Elite Series anglers will use anything that catches more bass and the Alabama rig seems to do that.
I think you can buy them but they wouldn’t be all that hard to make, either. If you want all the details check out, Alabama Rig: Hottest technique in years! (Make sure they’re legal where you’re fishing.)