Zaldain’s mega-rod

Chris Zaldain has this season treated us to some fantastic bonus coverage on Bassmaster LIVE. In an on-water, realtime seminar from Lake Lanier he demonstrated to viewers how blueback herring set up on windblown points for the spotted bass bite, pointing out underwater features on his Humminbird electronics. This morning he pointed to the 6- and 9-inch Megabass Magdraft that he is fishing on a rod specifically designed for the swimbait. That is the Megabass Destroyer USA.

First released in Japan in 1996, the Destroyer rod series is now available in the U.S. Zaldain is using the Destroyer 7’ 8” Mark 48, which fundamentally is a flipping rod. Another key part of his swimbait package is the 20-pound Seaguar InvizX Flourocarbon. “It’s supple and is perfect for making long casts.”

Zaldain is using precision matched tackle and maximizing it’s potential with his pattern. That is targeting windblown points. Coincidentally, he did that at Lake Lanier. In retrospect, he talked about how the wind prolonged the shad spawn. What is more, his presentation style maximized the swimbait’s natural effectiveness in the strike zone.