How to Catch the Fish of a Lifetime

I recently had the opportunity to do two seminars at the International Sportsman's Expo in Sacramento. From swimbaits to jigs, even going so far as fishing a chartreuse spinnerbait with willow leaf blades at night, I laid out my tricks for fooling big Winter and Spring bass.  There was a great turnout and a lot of positive feedback. There were also quite a few requests from anglers that live outside the area, that we record the seminar so they could listen and learn as well. The show was extremely loud and there is some background noise but Tim did everything he could to bring you the complete seminar.

From start to finish, here it is! Below you will find a breakdown of the various baits I discuss in the seminar with quick links to see them on Tackle Warehouse.

We hope you're able to glean some knowledge from the seminar and put it to work on your local fisheries. If you have any questions, we're here so feel free to ask.

The following baits were used in the tank:

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Photo Courtesy of Sean Moffett

Trout/Kokanee eaters:

• Huddleston Deluxe 8" Swimbait
• River2Sea S-Waver 200
• Gan Craft Jointed Claw Magnum
• Dirty Jigs Tackle 3/4 oz Pitchin Jig with Sweet Beaver or Pork Trailer

Bluegill/Baitfish Eaters:

• JSJ Prototype Swimbait (Not yet available)
• River2Sea S-waver 168
• Dirty Jigs 3/4 oz. California Swim Jig with Roboworm EZ Shad Trailer

Night Fishing:

• Huddleston 8" Trout Swimbait
• Osprey 7" Tournament Talon Swimbait
• Dirty Jigs 3/4 oz California Swim Jig with 4.8 Keitech Trailer
• Revenge Heavy Duty Spinnerbait (Double Willow)

Night Fishing with Infrared Cameras

This past week we attended the International Sportsman's Expo. Instead of fishing we were meeting anglers, shaking hands, and doing seminars on the bass tank. The seminars were recorded so you should expect to see some of the content uploaded here very soon. We know some of you live out of state, and even out of country so we did our best to capture it for anyone that wasn't able to be there in person.

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Since you'll have to wait on that footage we thought we'd share something unique with you this week. To our knowledge this has not been done before by bass fisherman. Tacticalbassin used Infrared technology and  highly modified GoPro cameras to record a night of fishing. This allowed them to capture very clear images without the use of lighting so that you can have a true, first person view of what goes on out there in the dark.

The footage is very well lit from the camera's perspective but remember, without the headlamps the anglers cannot see anything. Enjoy the footage, good luck out here this week, and keep an eye out for more infrared fishing clips in the future!

Night Fishing 101: Jigs

This video is what the entire “Night Fishing 101″ series has been building toward.
For well over a month, I’ve been mulling over what should be covered and how much detail to include. In the end I decided to give you everything. With that in mind there is no way to cover “everything jigs” in a short clip so you’re about to see 18 minutes on how I believe a jig should be fished in the dark.

I’m going to be covering:
-What jig styles to use
-When to fish each jig
-Matching trailers to jigs
-Different retrieves

You’ll probably have to watch this video more than once to glean all the details. Read between the lines and you’ll probably find a few bonus tips as well.
Right away you are going to notice some wind interference with the sound. I apologize for this, but this video was shot as one cut in order to keep the information genuine. If I were to remove the wind segments I would also remove a few extra secrets I hadn’t planned to include. Continue to listen and almost immediately the sound quality will improve.
To me, this video is what TacticalBassin is all about. I want you to hear what I believe to be truth. It is uncut, unrefined and unfiltered. You may not agree with my sentiments and that is perfectly alright. Regardless, I don’t anticipate anyone watching the entire video and walking away without new insights.

Regarding the gear mentioned in the video, you cannot find it all in one place. Tackle warehouse is going to be the best source but even they don’t carry all of the products mentioned. You may find other products that work great for you, these are what you will find on the end of my rods.
Here are the links to the various sources I use for my products:
California Swim Jig
Dirty Jigs Pitchin’ Jig
No-Jack Flippin’ Jig (available soon at tacklewarehouse)
Roboworm EZ Shad
Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver
Uncle Josh Phantom Craw
Uncle Josh Maxx Pork Phantom Finesse Craw

Night Fishing 101: Swimbaits

A few short years ago the word “Swimbait” was virtually non-existent on the web. Today swimbaits are a hot topic on virtually every bass forum and the interest continues to rise. With all of the information out there its shocking how little has been spoken about fishing soft swimbaits at night. While I may not be the world’s leader on the topic I have seen my share of success and feel that I can shed some light where others have chosen to remain silent.
I intended to keep this video short and give a basic overview of the topic but as is often the case, I got to sharing information and the time went by quickly. The key tip to remember from this segment is that virtually any swimbait will work at night if you can cause the tail to kick at ultra-slow speed. Do not be afraid to modify your baits to achieve this and don’t get stuck on a particular brand.

While most of my largest night fish have come on swimbaits that are 7″ and longer, I have seen some absolute giants caught on smaller 5-6″ baits as well. Do not be afraid to experiment but remember that when all else fails, slow down. If you go slow enough, the bass will come to you.
If you’re in need of a few baits to help you get started with your night fishing adventure I recommend tackle warehouse. Four of the five baits I mentioned are available here: Swimbaits at Tacklewarehouse