FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Right
Rod Proves Paramount
Stephen
Browning performs swimmingly with Legend Tournament Bass Swim Bait rod
Park Falls, WI (May 14, 2018) - The right
place, the right time, the right bait. Sounds like the formula for the type of
success that leads to a major tournament victory, right? Well, Stephen Browning
certainly had all those elements lined up, but to close the deal on his Bass
Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open at Ross Barnett Reservoir he needed one final
piece of the puzzle — the right rod.
First, the background:
warming weather had spurred a pre-spawn movement on this central Mississippi
reservoir and that meant the bass were staging in prime feeding areas near
their spawning grounds to bulk up for the forthcoming spawn. Browning targeted
an eel grass flat because this type of vegetation grows on the firm bottom that
bass prefer for spawning.
His bait of choice was a
3/4-ounce Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBait with either a Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ or
RaZor ShadZ trailer — a provocative package that allowed him to cover a lot of
water and create a lot of vibration that helped the fish identify and locate
his bait in the vegetation. Using a black and blue DieZel MinnowZ early to best
fish the morning’s low light conditions, he later switched to a white RaZor
ShadZ in brighter conditions that best matched the shad that pre-spawners were
targeting.
So, Browning fished the
right place at the right time with the right bait; but still, something was not
“right”. And here’s where his knowledge of rod design afforded him a
game-changing adjustment.
“The key was a 7’10”
heavy-power, fast action St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Swim Bait casting rod (LBC710HF),”
Browning said. “The first day of the tournament, I used a 7-foot
medium-heavy-power, moderate fast Legend Tournament Bass Sweeper Spinnerbait
rod I just didn’t feel like I was getting a very good hook set. I was trying to
make long casts and cover a lot of water and I missed several fish that first
day.”
“Going to the longer rod not
only allowed me to cast my Jack Hammer ChatterBait farther, it also allowed me
to move a lot of line on a hook set. I think the biggest adjustment I made
throughout the course of the tournament was changing to that longer and a
little heavier rod.
“The longer rod gave me a
huge advantage on days two and three.”
Browning could have adjusted
his bait selection, but for pre-spawn fish, a ChatterBait is one of the most
effective offerings for shallow vegetation because the combination of noise,
flash and tantalizing tail wiggle is a deadly combination for bass with a heavy
feeding priority. ChatterBaits may not be truly weedless, but the design bumps
and plows its way through the grass better than the treble hook baits commonly
fished during this pre-spawn season.
“A ChatterBait is a
reaction-style bait,” Browning said. “Those pre-spawn fish feed up pretty
heavily before moving into the spawning areas. The ChatterBait represents the
shad, bluegill and sunfish that they feed on right before they do the spawning
ritual.”
ChatterBaits do most of the
work for you, but Browning described a presentation technique that he believes
helped him trigger strikes. “I like to reel the bait steady and when I kill the
bait with the reel, I’ll use the St. Croix rod to pull it and then I’ll start
my sequence again. It gives the bait a little dying flutter.”
“The other thing I do is use
my reel to vary the retrieve cadence. Every four or five turns of the reel
handle, I may reel it a just a little faster to give that bait a different look
than the standard retrieve.”
Did it work? Browning’s
winning three-day total of 44 pounds at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster
Central Open on Ross Barnett Reservoir certainly indicates so.
His winning Legend
Tournament Bass Swim Bait casting rod is St. Croix model LBC710HF and retails
for $290.
#stcroixrods
About St. Croix Rod
Now in its 70th year, Park
Falls, Wisconsin based St. Croix Rod remains a family-owned and managed
manufacturer of high-performance fishing rods with a heritage of USA
manufacturing. Utilizing proprietary technologies, St. Croix controls every
step of the rod-making process, from conception and design to manufacturing and
inspection, in two company-owned facilities. The company offers a complete line
of premium, American-made fly, spinning and casting rods under their Legend
Elite®, Legend® Xtreme, Legend Tournament®, Avid Series®, Premier®, Wild
River®, Tidemaster®, Imperial® and other trademarks through a global
distribution network of full-service fishing tackle dealers. The company’s
mid-priced Triumph®, Mojo Bass/Musky/Inshore/Surf, Eyecon® and Rio Santo series
rods are designed and engineered in Park Falls, Wisconsin and built in a new,
state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fresnillo, Mexico. Founded in 1948
to manufacture jointed bamboo fishing poles for a Minneapolis hardware store
chain, St. Croix has grown to become the largest manufacturer of fishing rods
in North America.
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