Keith Combs' Crankbait Tips
Keith needs no introduction but for those Western anglers who may not follow professional angling as closely as they should, he's won the Texas Big Bass Classic on Lake Fork 3 times, fished the Bassmaster Classic 5 times, and set the record for the heaviest ever tournament weight with a 3-day total of 110 pounds! He's a legend with a crankbait, especially when it comes to Lake Fork, Texas.
We were thrilled to have the opportunity to fish with Combs last month at the Shimano Content Creator's Conference on none other than the famed water he has made his name on. Watching Combs fish Lake Fork was very rewarding but watching him operate his Humminbird Onyx electronics was mindblowing! When we got back to our rooms we compared notes and were both agreed we were most impressed with how he fine-tuned his electronics, located fish, adapted his baits accordingly, and immediately put the fish on the screen onto the deck of the boat.
If you ever have an opportunity to fish with an "Elite" angler, you should take the opportunity. It was a very eye opening experience!
Tim spent much of his time fishing with the Shimano Antares reel and was blown away by the performance! Its not for the faint of heart with a price tag of $599.99 but to our amazement, its worth the $$$ if you can afford it. However, for those that live within a budget, the Shimano Casitas at $119.99 held up extremely well, even when slinging a giant 10XD Crankbait all day. We'd both overlooked the Casitas in the past but will be taking a better look going forward.
Combs on the other hand keeps his arsenal very simple. He preferred to use a Shimano Curado in 7:1 gear ratio, even when throwing a 6XD and 10XD. He explained that he can slow it down if need be but when he gets a big bass on he's able to power up that 7:1 reel and really keep control of the fish.