This
page will review anything
and everything to do with
Bass fishing!
1.
For a start,
let's look at a Bass
fishing book any serious
Basser should add to his
(or her!) library:
This
is Bill
Murphy's book,
"In
Pursuit of Giant
Bass".
If you have not read it
you should! Bill
has been
catching monster Bass for
about 30 years and you
will learn about one of
his favourite techniques,
called
"stitching"
which utilizes a special
plastic worm and a spinning
tackle set-up!
You
can order the book from www.lunkercity.com
or www.amazon.com
2.
If you are one
of those Bass fanatics
(aren't we all?) wanting
to construct and/or stock
your own Bass pond or
dam, you will find a lot
of info at www.pondboss.com
It’s
one thing to catch a
giant largemouth.
That’s merely the
culmination of angling
skills, stout tackle and
a well-timed cast.
Producing
that hefty bass is quite
another. It’s clean
water, plenty of food for
the fish to eat, suitable
habitat and years of
thoughtful management.
Fisheries
biologist Bob
Lusk has
examined these factors
and broken them down to
the basics for amateur
pond owners in his new
book "Raising
Trophy Bass".
Fully illustrated with
dozens of photos and line
drawings, this
instructional handbook is
a must for the working
stiff with a weekend
place out in the country.
Lusk,
a veteran of 20-plus
years in raising fish and
managing ponds and lakes,
takes the layman through
the step-by-step process
required to produce bass
that will bend a casting
rod and test the heart
patient.
Lusk,
together with longtime
outdoor writer Mark
McDonald,
has gleaned his years of
practical experience and
delivered one pearl after
another. From the
author’s note:
"Today, we
recognize the depth of
human impact and how we
absorb renewable
resources. Under the
water surface, nature
runs its course, ebbing
and flowing, coming and
going. Water levels rise,
aquatic vegetation
flourishes and
diminishes. As part
of this grand scheme,
fish eat and they, in
turn, are eaten. Just as
these animals reproduce
their own in spawning,
they support the lives of
others when their
offspring are consumed by
predators. There's plenty
of information on this
natural underwater
teeter-totter, available
from professors, state
biologists, extension
agents, even private
fisheries consultants
like me. Each of us, in
our own way, is trying to
promote the conservation
ethic, the bedrock
philosophy that we must
take care of this planet.
It's the only one we've
got."
This
book, second in the Pond
Boss How-To Series,
stands tall on the
shelves of any
naturalist’s
personal library, but
especially the pond
owner’s. It is the
culmination of many years
experience, knowledge,
learning from ups and
downs, trials and errors
associated with literally
hundreds of ponds and
lakes across the south.
To
order your copy, access www.pondboss.com
3.
From books,
let's go to BATTERIES
...
Every
Basser with a boat
probably has (or at least
wants) a deep cycle
marine battery to run the
trolling motor,
fishfinder etc.
AC
Delco Voyager Deep
Cycle Marine
batteries are used in all
the Bassmaster
tournaments in the USA
and they have a
formidable reputation for
reliability and
longevity.
If
you have trouble locating these AC
Delco imported batteries
locally, contact Richard
Rovelli (tel.: (011) 394-1725/9 or
082-851-7019) of PROBE
for a good deal (also on any other AC
Delco battery for cars and trucks)!
Tell
him Jacques from the Big
Bass
website sent you.
For
an interesting review
article on the AC Delco
Voyager range, click on www.activeangler.com/articles/boating/articles/reed_montgomery/batteries.asp
Once
you have your prized
possession and the state
of the art in batteries,
you must be prepared to charge
and maintain
your battery properly in
order to get the best in
terms of service and life
from it. Not any old
charger will do for a
deep cycle battery, and
if your charger does not
cost as much or more than
the battery itself, the
charger is probably not
up to standard! Expensive
hobby, this Bass fishing!
For
some helpful information
on battery charging and
maintenance, visit this
link: www.batteryweb.com/batterymindercomparison.cfm
The
BatteryMINDer
charger/
maintainer is apparently
one of the best, but as
far as I could ascertain
to date, not available
locally. But you can
always order one from the
USA!
Locally,
the best option in
chargers for deep cycle
batteries seems to be
found in the Hawkins
range. Either
the 12V
Auto Pro 10
or the Smart
15,
would be the way to go. AC
Delco also
offers a range of
excellent battery
chargers. Your battery
will love you for it!
4.
You will
probably need a pair of
good sunglasses
to protect your eyes
whilst on the water - and
to spot those elusive
Bass! The thing to look
for is polarized lenses
preferably in glass!
Can't find anything
suitable locally? Then go
to:
 
I
can particularly
recommend Ocean
Waves sunglasses
in Boca
Grande style
with the glass mirrored
lenses in "backwater
green" colour! The
"unfair
advantage"!
For
great value and style in polarized
"Blublocker"-type
sunglasses eminently
suitable for fishing, try
the Blublocker
Super Viper
Pola
(see pic below):
Highly
recommended "shades" for
sightfishing are Kaenon
polarized sunglasses:
Try
the Kaenon in the Kore style
with the Large lens (pictured
above) , but with the yellow
colour high-contrast lens #35.
You probably won't find these locally
and they are very expensive,
but if you are interested, you can order
them here (1)
or here (2).
Check
them out!
5.
OK, on to some
general remarks about
tackle ...
Ever
heard of 
Castaway
Rods?
Not
very well-known in these
parts (yet!), but an
excellent product, highly
recommended by all who
have had first-hand
experience fishing these
rods. Not available
locally, you will have to
go the Internet mailorder
route.
Try
www.temescaltackle.com/castaway.html
for a full
range, or www.usatackle.com
for a more limited range
of the more popular models, BUT thankfully,
also now
(since 2003) offer a great range of Castaway Standard
Graphite and HG 40 rods
(already built up on Shikari
blanks with quality Portuguese cork
grips and Fuji reel seats and Fuji
guides at good prices). I would
go with Cabelas which offer a
great range at a good price and their
service is prompt, professional and
excellent in every respect!
Check
out the great new Castaway flippin'
stick range all available from Cabelas
too!
Another
excellent make of fishing
rod, which I can
personally recommend, is 
Most models are readily
available locally -
enquire at your favourite
tackle shop.
Regarding
fishing reels
for Bass, you can't go
wrong with ABU
(my
personal favourite) or  .
Both
these manufacturers don't
make bad rods
either!
Currently,
I am using Berkley
Whiplash
braid (spectra fibre)
on both spinning and
baitcasting reels with
great results - I
probably will not go back
to mono. Berkley also
makes fishing rods
which offer very
good value for money -
another plus is that they
are available locally. My
favourite soft plastic
baits are also to be
found in the Berkley
Powerbait
range.
If
you want to try flourocarbon
lines or if you want to
use a fluorocarbon leader
with braid, then don't
look further than Seaguar.
Nothing else
comes close. I would go
so far as to say you
would be wasting your
money on anything else -
even Berkley Vanish does
not make the grade! So
if, after you read the
previous paragraph, you
thought Berkley was
sponsoring me, you
obviously missed it!
Two
brands of fishing hooks
have really impressed me
lately and I cannot
imagine fishing
confidently without Gamakatsu
or VMC
hooks. Both
brands are available
locally and probably
worth the expense.
6.
For
those of you who are
yearning for an affordable
soft type of tackle
bag, Pieter
Lombard (the
guy in the eastern Free
State who breeds Florida
Bass fingerlings
and who is also an
accomplished Basser) has
a great, practical idea
which beats the exchange
rate.
Get
one of those royal blue
soft Cadac coolers
with the yellow trim for
under R120. 
You
will find that 6 Plano
3600 transparent
tackle stowaways
(generally available for
around R50 - R70 each)
and 1 Plano
3500 will fit
nicely. The various
branches of Sportsman's
Warehouse also have
similar sized generic
transparent tackle
stowaways for around R30
each.
Now
you will have something
comparable to the
imported tackle bags at a
fraction of the price!
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