Start Cheating... on Yourself

Fishing forums are filled to the gills with people talking about fishing, catching and the baits they are using to do it. Among those baits are certain ones that you have heard about for years and constantly pass over when tying on a new lure while on the lake. I've been doing it for almost 30 years.

I don't like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and until recently jigs. I've never had a lot of luck on them and they just gave me no confidence. I see friends, family and famous people throwing spinnerbaits but when I do it, it's...well...it's a suck fest. Chatterbaits are just weird to me. My dad likes them and caught his biggest bass ever on one but for me, again, suck fest. Jigs, the same story. Until last week.

I've had limited success previously on jigs. That translates to one six pound bass in the dead of winter. One time. It was a great fish but I quickly went back to my favorite confidence baits (Hag's Tornado Baits). I am sure we've all done it, told ourselves we would branch out and try a new bait that works well for lots of people and is great in lots of applications. We buy some of those new to us baits and take them with us. And then when the opportunity arises, the new tool never gets used.

Speaking personally, I've sold scores of baits that were out of package and merely chauffeured around in my kayak.  I hate that but I just wouldn't cheat. I wouldn't cheat on my confidence bait. I wouldn't cheat on myself. As a creature of habit and seeking to actually catch fish I had to break my mindset. Completely. When you take personal pride in outsmarting nature and convince a fish to eat a non-food item, it's hard to break that. Fly fishermen understand this even more when they tie their own flies. I remember my first fly I caught a trout on that I had personally tied. It was amazing!

So what did I do? I set myself up for success. To gain confidence, you need to locate water with actively feeding fish. Then, you need to cheat on yourself. You need to quit taking your confidence baits. It is much easier said than done and it feels wrong. Only take the bait you need to get to know. Take several of them but stay within that category. For me, the first item was the jig.

I had received a boost of confidence from friends on the forums who already know the fish catching power of the jig. I followed their advice and went to work. Within 15 minutes of launching, I had my first jig fish of the year in the kayak. My Commander 140, nicknamed "Winter Soldier" was proving a great platform for this type of fishing. I could stand, sit or crouch and lay into the hookset to get these fish out of the cover. With early success, I continued to percolate confidence and land several more fish. All on the jig. The other bonus was all of the fish were 14 inches or larger.

Planning for success coupled with forcing the situation made it happen and now the jig has a permanent place in my bait rotation. To me that makes me a better fisherman.

Now I just need to cheat a little more and learn to love a spinnerbait.

Three Fishing Techniques Everyone Should Try

Almost any fisherman you talk to has a confidence bait. Give them two hours to catch a fish on a lake they have never fished and usually, the first thing they throw will be the confidence bait. I have one. It's a four inch soft plastic from Hag's Tornado Baits, the F4. People who have fished with me know I throw this bait a lot. I really like two colors but the bait is the same (Watermelon/Chartreuse and Purple Haze for those wanting to know). I fish it on a split shot rig and have caught fish just about everywhere doing so. When conditions are tough I'll throw it and of course even when they aren't I'll throw it.

This year and last I have branched out some and started fishing baits and styles I had been hesitant to try in the past. All three of them have produced fish for me and I find myself using them more and more often. I am now of the opinion that everyone should give these a go if they haven't. With a little patience and time on the water, these three techniques will put fish in your kayak.

#1 Jigs

Lots of people fish jigs already but I am always surprised by how many don't. It takes some research, some patience and time on the water but jigs can produce big fish year round. There are several different types of jigs designed for different types of structure. For reference you can check out this article: Jig Styles

Find a good trailer that will help slow the descent in the water or cause a disruptance/gain attention. I use the Hag's Jr Undertaker with great success. It stands on end when submerged to imitate an attack stance of a crayfish. Others use similar craw imitations. If you are going to be swimming it, more like a spinnerbait, add a paddle tailed trailer.

What I have learned is to find an area that has good structure, right temp and depth for that time of year and bang your jig on every single stick, rock and piling in the area. Usually the fish will hit it on the fall or the first twitch. Don't lose faith. Keep practicing. You will catch fish.

Warbaits Slayer Swim Jig

#2 Drop Shot

Not too far removed from split shot rigs, this was an easy one for me to pick up. It is more finesse than a lot of people fish and if you are a cast and burn type of fisherman, this will take some getting used to. Put the weight below the hook, tie a special knot, add a small plastic and cast. Keep your line tight and either dead stick or lightly twitch. That's it. We could talk about it for days but in all actuality, look at the diagram below and give it a shot. Chances are you've got most of the stuff already.

Courtesy of netknots.com

#3 Swimbaits

When I say swimbaits, I am NOT referring to those little four inch, paddle tailed, hollow bodied soft plastics. While technically those are swimbaits, it's not what I am referring too. The swimbaits I am talking about are big, heavy and catch monsters. Well, at least they don't catch dinks as often (though they still can). It takes a special discipline to throw swimbaits. They range from $10-$400 in price, require special rods and reels to handle them and you could go weeks without a single bite. Some popular baits are the Huddleston Trout, 3:16 Wake Jr, MS Slammer, 21st Century Triple Trout, Spro BBZ, and Mike Bucca's Bull Shad. Of course there are others but most of these are very well known. Forums of people talking about nothing but swimbaits are becoming more and more abundant. The bait looks so big in your hand you wonder how some bass would ever eat it. You'd be surprised at what a bass will try to inhale. In the video below you'll see one of my first swimbait fish. I was throwing a white 7" MS Slammer. The bass crushed it after the first big twitch. It was only 13" long. I had reservations about throwing big baits until this happened. I found this creek on Lake Belton that wound way back and the only access was by foot. I decided to try it and bam! Fish on. Here is the video:

Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone a little bit. Try new things. Keep your confidence baits at home. One day one of these three may become your confidence bait!

Have another technique you think others should try? Tell them! Spread the love!

Santa Claus Knocked Me Out

Santa Claus knocked me out. More specifically, The First Annual Santa Claus Classic. I'll have a full tourney report later next week for Cap City Kayak Fishing but for now, here is my story. 

I knew Saturday was going to come early. This weekend was my son's birthday and we wanted to do it up right so we went to his favorite restaurant and then to see the new Hobbit movie. The movie got out and we arrived home Friday night at 11PM. I had a 3AM wake up call to get loaded and down to Austin by 5AM. Unfortunately at 1:30 alarms started going off and it wasn't my clock. It was my back. I had a burning, searing pain between my shoulder blades. I couldn't turn my head and I had to roll carefully to get up out of bed. This was not good. I had Robert Field down from Dallas, already set up in Austin and I couldn't let him down. I gulped some Aleve and Tylenol and closed my eyes for a few minutes. The alarm went off again, this time an actual clock, and I got out of bed in more pain than previously. 

I struggled. 

I ran through my mind whether or not to keep stretching and hope the medicine would kick in or call Robert and admit defeat. After 35 minutes of agonizing physically and mentally I decided to load up, fight through it and go. It was for charity after all. 

I sent the red bearded Aggie a text saying I was about 30 minutes behind schedule and he said no problem. 

We checked in, chatted for a minute and headed to the launch spot. I took forever to get unloaded and the sun was starting to peek out before we launched. Thankfully Robert has a lot of gear to set up as well.  

The weatherman predicted gusts up to 30 mph and cold. As we launched we chatted about the cold part being right but the wind seemed to be a non-factor so far. I know better than to say that out loud.

We headed for a well known creek and started tossing baits. I adjusted and fussed at my seat and my back for over an hour. I also got a face full of water and some water down the front of my waders when trying to get out for a shore break. Cold and miserable I battled on for another hour. With little to show for it and a boat parade already formed we decided to move. As we rounded the corner at the mouth of the creek the wind proved the weatherman right again. We paddled for what seemed like six years against the wind to go try some deeper water. We wasted an hour before regrouping. 

At this point I was biting my lip from the pain. The medicines I had taken seven hours previous were useless. We decided to grind out the rest of the tourney in the creek, out of the wind. As we ventured back into the mouth we saw we weren't the only ones with that plan. 

The plan paid off pretty well. We landed five keeper fish in the creek that measured for the tournament. The Hag's Tornado F4 in Purple Haze was my go to. I used my Smith Optics Tenet Glasses to sight cast all of the fish I caught, including the keepers. The five were good enough for 5th Place which was pretty cool. What I didn't count on though was the other fish I caught. I thought at the time it was a big bluegill. It turns out it was a redear. It wasn't the state record I thought it was (and subsequently made myself look like a fool) but it was big enough to qualify for a big fish award from Texas Parks and Wildlife. I'll send off the paperwork this week to get it documented. The redear measured 13.5" long. It was released unharmed and feisty!

The after party at Joe's Crab Shack was festive and merry as always. Boxes of toys for Toys for Tots overflowed and the Lone Star beer did as well. (I can't have it because of my celiac but many others enjoyed it.) A lot of good happened but at the weigh in I was spent. I probably seemed like a scrooge and a bit aloof but I felt like Freddy Krueger had julienned my back. Paddling against that heavy wind twice, meds not working and being cold all day meant for a Grumpy Cat looking Chris at weigh in. Sorry fellas. I feel awful I wasn't more talkative but I was done. 

I'll get the full recap with some video from Robert up in a few days but until then, check out the only smiling pics of me known to exist from Saturday.

Want to Be Sponsored? Think About This...

A topic that comes up all the time with fishermen is sponsors. Some people are for it, some people against it and others are curious. These are my thoughts on the subject. Love them, hate them, add to them or don't. It's all ok because we are talking fishing. This is one of the most frequent things I am asked about so here is my take on getting "sponsored".

We've seen it since we were little. The Bill Dances and Roland Martins of the world in tons of commercials, patch heavy shirts and boats with only the best of the best on board. My thoughts seeing that growing up were of envy. I would love to have all that. Then someone told me they don't pay for any of it. As an early teen I guess that stuck in my brain. It seemed like the ticket was to be sponsored. Lots of free stuff and go fishing all the time, who wouldn't like that?

Lots of guys are good at fishing. It's a science and once you practice it enough, you become more and more consistent. Luck plays into it but in any trail you have very consistent performers. Everyone knows who they are. Lots of those guys, if they want it, are sponsored. But here comes a curveball. Sponsored is a bit of a misnomer. It's like saying bring me a Kleenex. Kleenex is a particular type of facial tissue. Sponsored is a particular type of vendor agreement. In the world of product lines, manufacturers and vendors there are many tiers of involvement with anglers.

Some common agreements include field staff, pro staff, team member, ambassador, Pro, sponsored and many others. The terms have different meanings for each manufacturer if they even have multiple labels. To be on a staff might include angler benefits of 10% - 50% off, free gear, free hats, free stickers, free boats and all the way up to a check that arrives at your door monthly or yearly. So how many guys score that ever sweet, get a check and a bunch of free stuff type deal? Very, very , few. Think of it like this. Think of how many people have ever played quarterback on every level of football. Now think of how many guys get to start at quarterback for a Super Bowl winning team. That's an approximate snapshot of your odds here.

So, if it is so elusive, why does it seem that guys who don't win every tournament keep getting agreements with companies? Curveball number two. Marketing and advertising play a big part in a company's willingness to work with an angler. Well, I'll wear my jersey with their logo and tell everyone at the ramp they should use Dr. X's Magic Reels and Baits; isn't that enough? Frankly, not for most companies.

If you are working with a company, they need a good return on investment. Here's another analogy. If I want to open an online shoe shop and I have set aside $1,000 to put up a billboard, where do I want to put it? Do I want to locate it on South Highway 70 just three miles north Blackwell, TX? Probably not. Would I put it on Southbound I-45 in Houston just north of Nasa Road? Very likely. Do you know why? Exposure. To be a good return on a companies investment, you need to be able to talk to lots of people in lots of different platforms, places and settings. Slinging baits on the ramp won't do much, especially for larger companies. Have you ever thought about why lots of full time guides on Lake Fork have big name sponsors? One reason is because of the exposure number. Not only are these guides meeting 600+ new people per year, they are also speaking at various events, fishing in tournaments, have a website, a Facebook page, make videos that lots of people watch and are in the public eye. That can generate a lot of buzz.

Buzz is nice but it's not the only ingredient needed. You also have to be a salesman. Until Facebook likes and positive reviews on websites start generating dollars, actual sales and free tv time are among the only ways a company can recoup its investments. At 10% off, it won't take much. At the "here's a check and a boat" level, it's going to be a little harder. If you can speak positively about your manufacturers, not disparage the competition, present yourself and your company with a positive attitude and outlook and sell why Dr. X's Magic Reels are the best you've ever used in a way that people can understand, you can be successful.Just keep in mind, it may not be at the KVD level.

Every company I have dealt with is interested in the deliverables. Not what they deliver to you but what you can deliver to them. A wise man (and company owner) once told me that big companies get thousands of requests per year to be "sponsored". Most of them are asking for free stuff because they won their local bass club's Angler of the Year. These letters and emails find the round file pretty fast.

So what can you do? If you really want to have a relationship with a company, what can you do?

1. Start with a product you already use. Start small. Soft bait companies, small apparel companies etc. You need to be able to speak to why you love their product and you should already be telling people about why they should use it too. Don't do it expecting to get a pro deal. Do it because you can't help yourself. You are a much better sales person when you can describe in great detail the features you like and also add feedback about changes you would like to see or additional offerings. I love Hag's Tornado Baits.Anyone who has fished with me knows this. If I had one bait and only one bait to fish with the rest of my life it would be an F4 Tornado in Watermelon Chartreuse. It has won me money, it catches fish on the toughest of days out there and I ALWAYS have a bunch with me on the water. Tommy and Barbie Hagler saw the passion I had for their baits and called me. I was ecstatic to be able to represent Hag's. Still am. My car and kayak always smell like garlic because of it.

2. Have a gameplan in writing. Talk is cheap. Lots of people can talk a good game but knowing what you are wanting to do, promote, how, and your expected results will speak volumes to your potential partners. What is your three year and five year plan? If you don't know, spend some more time on the game plan.

3. Represent. When you put on a jersey, a hat, hold Dr. X's Magic Reels ready to show the world how far it will cast, you are an extension of that company. If you act like a fool, get in a cursing match with a hot head who wants to challenge you or look like a slob, the company mirrors that too. No company wants to be those things.

4. Be patient. Lots of the bigger companies want you to have an established track record with other companies before considering you. It doesn't happen over night. At least not for us normal folks. The important thing is to keep fishing and find products you are passionate about. You might start at the ground floor but believe me, the sky is the limit. The only fuel is your passion.


If you want stickers or a jersey, buy one. If you want to help a company you are passionate about to grow their business, get to work and make it happen.


Do you have some additional thoughts? Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page.