One Kraw to Catch 'em All

It has been a couple of weeks since I received my order from JDC Baits. Among the baits that I was really excited to fish (aside from the BLR Bomber was the RocKraw which has a reputation for being a real fish catcher. I got the RocKraw in two colors: Junebug and Choco Gold.

For my first trip to the lake with these baits I decided I was going to flip some matted milfoil. I rigged a Choco Gold RocKraw with a 1/2 ounce Tungsten weight and started flipping and pitching into the pockets. The fish flat-out ate it up. I caught three good fish within the first ten minutes. To make sure they just weren't on, I grabbed another flipping rod rigged the same way, but with a creature bait. Nothing - I couldn't buy a bite. I promptly put that rod in the locker and continued on with the RocKraw. I ended up catching a couple more decent fish and ended the evening with a nice 4 pounder that absolutely smashed the Kraw on the fall.

Since then I have fished the RocKraw as a jig trailer, carolina rigged, on a jig head, even weightless skipping docks and have caught fish every time. The JDC Baits RocKraw has become one of my favorite baits. There are a couple of features that really make the RocKraw stand out: The detail, the fall and the defensive posture. The detail of the this bait is pretty astounding; it looks just like a real crayfish - pretty cool and obviously convincing to the fish . Second is the fall. If you have ever been to the bait shop and checked out the crayfish tank you have seen these little buggers throw their claws towards the surface and head to the bottom like a rocket - the RocKraw looks identical on the fall. Lastly is the awesome defensive posture of this bait - I think the picture speaks for itself.

By the way - there is 20# Vicious Fluorocarbon tied to that hook and laying in the water - can you see it? If you would like to see more of the great baits that JDC Baits offers, here is a quick link to get you there: JDC Baits.com

8/2/08: Lake Chautauqua Recap

Glad to be back home from Lake Chautauqua. This was the third tournament of the season and I really don't have much to say about it except it was kind of bittersweet for me. Tournament fishing is a funny thing - there are times when you feel like you know what is going on and times when something gets in your head and you just can't shake it. For me, not catching fish in practice and not having a starting point is the kind of "brain-weevil" that is detrimental to my fishing and it showed at Chautauqua.

I rolled into camp Thursday evening, met my buddy, and made a plan for Friday morning. As the sun came up on Friday we were hammering across the lake to our first stop - a nice grass line outside of a small marina. I promptly picked up a 2 1/2 pounder on a JDC Baits Skip-n-Pop. OK, I thought, this isn't going to bee too bad. I caught a "rat" about 45 minutes later and that was it for the day - enter "brain-weevil".

My boater for the tournament was Chuck Main; a nice guy who was flat-out on the fish. We fished grass in about 8-10 feet of water with jigs and tubes and Chuck was smokin' 'em. His first two fish in the box were a 5 1/2 pound largemouth and a 6 pound smallie. It didn't take him long to round-out a limit and start culling 3 1/2 pounders.

By about 10 O'clock I was feeling like I might zero and I was definitely struggling - the kind of struggle that makes you want to quit and take up something like paintball - I was out of ideas and the wheels were coming off. My first fish came at about 11 O'clock on a 1/2 oz black and blue Jig X. It took the edge off to have a fish in the box, but it was only a "rat" so I knew I was still in trouble. For the rest of the day I put my head down and fished. I caught my two bigger fish on a JDC Baits Gibroni and a Tube X skipping docks and flipping grass. I finally managed a limit which I was happy to have, but the quality was not there. I couldn't help but think that if I had fished better I may have been able to pick up some of those 3 1/2 and 4 pounds bites. At the scales I was surprised to hear that my bag weighed 9lbs. 7oz. - I didn't think that I had 8 pounds. The silver lining to all of this is that I finished in 15th place (4 ounces out of the money which just poured salt in the wound) and moved up to 9th in the AOY points.

I guess I am over the "brain-weevil" now and am set to charge on Oneida Lake at the end of the month. I feel like if I can keep the momentum that I have and not get bogged-down with "weevils" I have a shot at AOY.

A Great Culling System

One of the most important pieces of equipment in any tournament angler's boat is a good culling system and up until now I haven't had one. I have been looking around for quite a while, but all of the systems that are available seemed to have some sort of shortcomings: They were either inconsistent or plain inaccurate with mediocre cull clips or the cull clips had a tendency to fall off, but the scale was great.

My new system, however, is fantastic; it is easy to use, accurate, and fast. It is a combination of the Rapala Pro Guide Digital Scale and the Bag-em Bass Tags.

I actually found this culling system kind of serendipitously at the 1000 islands tournament. I happened to tell my buddy John Cook that I didn't have a culling system so he gave me his extra Bag-em Bass Tags. What I like best about these cull clips is they are non-invasive. Unlike many clips that have to be pushed through the fish's jaw, these simply clip on the upper jaw of the fish and stay put. the dry-erase boards that comes with them also works very well with the scale.

The Rapala Pro Guide Digital Scale is accurate and easy to use. The best part of the scale is its memory function. Within the memory you have the ability to save the weight of up to ten individual fish; this makes culling a breeze. I simply weigh the fish, save it in memory, write the weight on the dry-erase board, and give them the appropriately colored lip-ring. After I have my five fish, all I have to do is scroll through the memory function to the smallest fish (I already know which number it is), replace it with the larger weight, trade cull clips and I am back in business. This scale will also calculate your total weight.

The combination of these two products makes an accurate, easy to use, and conservation-minded culling system. And on its own the Rapala Pro Guide Digital Scale is great for any angler who just wants to weight their fish for bragging rights.

Elite Series Eliminates Co-Anglers in 2009

The Elite Series will officially be "Elite" in 2009 when they remove the co-angler from the tour. I am not sure how I feel about this, but I can tell you that it is going to cause quite a bit of debate and send a ripple through the industry. I hope we will not see a trickle-down effect and have the co-angler removed from the FLW Tour and Series.

I was really suprised at how many Elite anglers were rejoycing B.A.S.S.'s decision, but I guess I can see their point - when a co-angler puts a fish in the box that is one more that the elite angler will not catch the following day. And if you get a co-angler who can fish (like Gander Mountain Pro-staffer, David Ottman who won the co-angler title on Lake Erie last year) that could make the difference between cashing a check and going home empty-handed.

However, I think this format really humanizes the Elite Series anglers and has keep them out of the "untouchable"catagory and more like regular guys who can really fish. Peter Thliveros makes a really good point saying that the co-anglers are the guys who "perpetuate the myth" of may of the top guys and if the stories don't get out, pretty soon "everybody knows you, but they don't know you."

Here is a link to the story: No Co-anglers In 2009 Elite Series Events