Fishing’s Hot Trends for 2007
December 28, 2007 by Don Zaegel
Filed under Sports Rumors
If I say 2005, you will probably think chatter bait or shakey head. If I say 2006 you might think about the re-surgence of the jig, and looking back on 2007 there should be three separate baits or styles that immediately come to mind. I am going to quickly take you back.
Swimbait- With the 2007 season giving way to a pre-spawn season in both Texas and California, swim baits proved to be a wise choice for anybody in need of a check or a good finish. While other baits worked well in some situations, none gave way to the sheer quality offered up by large swim baits. Steve Kennedy says, “In order for the swimbait to be most successful, you need deep clear water and big bass feeding on baitfish”. Something the fisheries in Texas and California have a lot of. With the success the swim bait proved to have in the beginning of the year, it found its way to deck of many boats as the trails made their way back out east and some showed luck again in the clear grassy waters of Oneida and Potomac. The 2007 year gave the swim bait national attention to the anglers who weren’t already in the know.
Sexy Shad- If you had to choose one angler to learn or heed advice from, hopefully Kevin VanDam is one of those people. More than once we heard KVD say those two magical words throughout the year, “Sexy Shad”, as he unhooked it from the mouth of his fish. This bait was attributed to 2 wins this year for KVD and many other final day cuts. Although the crank bait has been around for a while, Strike King’s Sexy Shad color has enough flash and backing by KVD to make us believe that this thing is a new creation never seen before.
Drop-Shot - You could probably add this to your 2005 and 2006 list as well, but as long as this method continues to be a pre-dominant factor in winning tournaments, it will stay on the list. As the season went on and the summer months rolled around, the schedules brought the anglers back east where the waters are a little more pressured and the spawning cycles were over. High pressure situations like this call for finesse offerings; however the drop-shot didn’t wait until it made its way back east before proving successful. First, Aaron Martens had to seal a win with it in California on the Delta. Once back out east, the drop-shot again proved useful as it found success with Fred Roumbanis, Edwin Evers, Boyd Duckett, Skeet Reese, and Terry Scrogins for most of the year on lakes like Smith Mountain, Dardanelle, Erie, and Townsend.
There are already some new baits that look promising after seeing the 2007-08 icast show. It will usually take a helping dose of success before it gains national attention, but I can guarantee that whatever it ends up being, it won’t show it’s face until the guarded secret has put some cash into the pocket of its user.
Potential Predictions for Baits of 2008…..
Scrounger
Big Spoon
The scrounger is interesting and Jordan brought back the spoon. Wish Martens would have had better finshes than he did cause i know he was using his scrounger head.
Scrounger?
~It is a new lure by Aaron Martens. Some of the same consept as the chatter bait from what I gather. You can see it at http://www.tacklewarehouse.com I will be getting a few to try during the post and pre spawn.~
its funny…. all the new baits today and i still wackem with a texas rigged worm almost anywere. swimbaits cost way to much.
keepem wet
Bryno
You can check out the Scrounger here – http://basstournament.blogspot.com/2007/06/aaron-martens-scrounger.html
New tools for the job, that is what I have to say about the spoons and the swimbaits. Cost of the lures leaves a sore spot in your pocket book, but it does the job for larger fish. Getting left behind at Clear Lake in California on swim baits, and watching KJ catch monsters on both the spoons and the swim baits on Lake Fork you will forget about the cost when your fighting those monster bass. There are plenty of tips on how to get the most out of lures like the swim baits, or how to get those big spoons out of snags.
Here is a quick tip on saving some bucks on swim baits,”MoneyLures.com”. Takahiro Omori and I threw them in his pool, they have better action then the high dollar bass trix but cost less and work just as well. Remember you have to thow it all day, you can’t pick it up and throw it every two hours you have to throw it all day. If your catching fish on a rattle traps or spinner baits, it is time to throw the swim bait. Now the spoon, good luck in finding a company that makes it in a five to six ounce in that body style.
Your right about the worms and other baits, but venture out and maybe catch a fish of a life time you can’t put a price on that. Good Luck!
Great advice Ben. Thank You very much. I agree with you 100% I had heard about the Money Minnow back before it went on retail. A retailer (not to be mentioned) had told me it was going to be a great alternative to the Basstrix and they don’t tear as easily. I called Fred Ward to get the low down on these baits. I had great success with them this year on the Potomac.
Thanks Again and continue to ‘Get Reel’!
Don Zaegel
Editor-www.gettingreel.com
Ben,
Its great to see your comments & perspective here! The Spoons are not that hard to get, I got some here – http://bassinblog.richlindgren.com/2007/12/29/adding-to-my-bass-fishing-lure-addiction.aspx
Rich
Hey Ben, Thanks for adding to this great article. I too agree to everything you are saying. I hope everyone that reads your comments understand the importance of the advise you are giving. You even took the time to mention testing a bait in a swimming pool. I think that every angler should utilize the swimming pool as a practice and tweaking period. You can truley learn alot from standing poolside. Thanks for the reply and I truley appreciate your input.
TANK-
http://www.Teamdiamondstrike.com
I’d have to agree with the Big Spoon being a big hit for 2008. It’s alot easier to get the original Big Joe’s spoons now that Lake Fork Marina is selling them. All you have to do is call them and they’ll send them out. http://www.lakeforkmarina.com/store.htm The people on ebay are probably buying them from LFM and they’re selling them for almost twice as much.
Talon Lures makes Big Dandy Custom Lake Fork Spoons in a wide selection of colors and finishes. Our paint is tougher than the others and WILL NOT peel. Our spoons are the exact size and weight of the others – they’ve been around for years. Easy to order, fast shipping. Check ‘em out. http://talonlures.com/bigdandycustomspoon.aspx