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John's Journal... Entry 210, Day 3

BEST NEW LURES OF THE PROS

I Like Skirts, And Pointing The Way To More Bass

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each year, tackle manufacturers and fishing pros develop new lures and new tactics for catching bass. Most companies employ professional fishermen to tell them about problems they find throughout the year while competing and to help them create new lures to solve these fishing problems.

The 2000 BASS Angler-of-the-Year, Tim Horton of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has had 10 top-10 finishes in Bassmaster tournaments and has won two of them. With four Classic appearances, 31-year-old Horton's total BASS winnings have reached $395,300. One of the newest lure companies on the market today, the Booyah Bait Company, a new division of PRADCO Outdoor Brands, has a Booyah jig with an ultra-fine silicon skirt that Horton calls his confidence lures.

"I'm an avid flipper and pitcher, and I'm convinced these new skirts enable the jig to come alive in the water," Horton says. "I like to flip the jig in really-heavy cover and use either 15- or 30-pound-test ReaLine copolymer nylon line. I believe this lure is a target-specific bait, and I'm primarily fishing it on the fall. The black-and-blue color works the best for me. "I'm also excited about the new Booyah spinner baits. This company and their new skirts are so new that I haven't had the opportunity to fish their spinner baits in tournaments. But from what I can tell from practice, these new skirts will add a lot of life to the spinner bait."

Swindle Points The Way To More Bass:

Gerald Swindle of Hayden, Alabama has won $181,100 with BASS during his professional-fishing career. Thirty-four-year-old Swindle has finished second in two Bassmaster tournaments, has had 10 top-10 finishes and has competed in the Classic four times.

"This year, I've started fishing some of the new finesse baits coming out of California," Swindle reports. "I like Yamamoto's Senko soft baits. I caught a lot of fish in the California delta on the Senko. I like the black with red flakes and the green-pumpkin colors. On this lure, I'll use P-Line 20-pound test.

"I also enjoy fishing the Lucky Craft LivePointer, particularly in the American shad color with its life-like scale pattern. One reason I like this bait so much, is because it's versatile. It can be used either as jerkbait or as a swim bait. I'll fish this lure on 20-pound-test line. The LivePointer is a lure I use for a search bait. When I have to cover a lot of water, and find fish in a hurry, then this is my go-to bait. Once I've located a school of bass and the bass quit biting, I can often change lures and continue to catch bass. Although you can fish the LivePointer in many different ways, I've found that a jerk-jerk-stop rhythm seems to work best for me. I've also learned that when I'm swimming the lure, if I swim it faster as the weather gets hotter, I'll catch more bass. The LivePointer won 'Best of Show' in the hard-bait category at the 2003 ICAST Show. I believe this a lure you'll be hearing a lot about in the future because it's so versatile and can find and catch so many bass."

TOMORROW: BIGGUNS LIKE LITTLE BAITS

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about BEST NEW LURES OF THE PROS ...

Day 1 - New Lures and Needing Speed
Day 2 - Yelas's Gulp!
Day 3 - I Like Skirts, And Pointing The Way To More Bass
Day 4 - Bigguns Like Little Baits
Day 5 - The Little Creature, And The 3X Lineup


John's Journal