Fall Is Lipless Time

When the leaves start to turn color that means that the shad move back into the shallower water in the back of creeks and pockets of river channel. This is the best time to use something with treble hooks hanging from the belly. While shallow flat bill crank baits work fine, I have found that lipless crank baits are deadly during this time. I always have at least two tied into a spinning reel. There are so many to pick from, but the in that that bass love is the Strike King Red Eye Shad. This lure is a fish catching machine, but you better learn how to get it unstuck when he gets hung on the bottom.

Also I have found that my Fishin Tool Bag comes in real handy to keep my pliers in because the hooks on this lure get stuck into the fish really well.

How to mount your bass boat electronics

There are about hundred places you can mount a fish finder/chart plotter on a bass boat. A industry trend is to mount several of these near the driver. While I have fallen victim to this trend also,  I have found that one unit can server as GPS unit and only show my map in realtime. Another unit is fish finder and now a third can only show side imaging.
While some of these unit are as large a 13" computer monitor, and it seems bigger is better. The problem is still how to mount them. Bass Boat are made of fiberglass and if you have ever drilled a hole in fiberglass after a while it tends to crack and the hole opens. The people from Ram Mounting Systems have solved this issue. They have several mounts that are for bass boats and chart plotters. The one I like to use is their RAM-111U  UNIVERSAL ELECTRONIC MOUNT, with its powder coated marine grade aluminum mount, consists of a double socket arm, one 2.5" diameter round base with 1.5" rubber ball and flat 6.25" x 2" rectangular plate. The rectangular plate contains different combinations of pre-drilled holes which will match up to many Lowrance or Humminbird devices.


While these mounts keep your electronics in one place while you are driving your bass boat. Always remove the electronics when your boat is being stored or at a hotel. I have heard so many stories about people have these stollen from their boat. While the mounts are only about $50 the hardware they hold can cost thousands.

Veritas Rods

Lightweight is all the rage in rod design, yet many rod designers ignore the most important factors of balance and strength. Abu Garcia has done an excellent job at this with the new Abu Garcia Veritas rods. This rod is very light but priced under a $100 which you can't find many rods within this category. It feels like it should cost much more than $100.  The Veritas series of rods provide extreme lightweight design and focus solely on the balance and compression strength anglers must have. The new Nano Technology manipulates graphite on an atomic level for improved compression strength.


Depending on which flavor you like either spinning or bait casting, you can't go wrong with this rod. I happen to use both styles, and like to use Abu Garcia Revo reels with them.

Victory 621 Skeet Reese Reel

At this year’s ICAST show in Vegas, one of the biggest announcements was that Skeet Reese via Wright & McGill would have a whole new line-up of reels that not only had all the characteristics of the high dollar models but would come priced around $100. 
Most premier reels are gauged by smoothness and typically more ball bearings means it will cast further and be smoother on the retrieve. The Victory has 10 stainless steel ball bearings (9 plus 1) and is very smooth operationally. Even with factory settings, out of the box, the reel spins freely and is super quiet.
Another deciding factor is always weight. With the all aluminum frame not only makes it light but aluminum is a tried and true frame technology that is durable as well. A nice add-on feature of the Victory is each reel comes with a neoprene reel cover, handy for storing in the rod box or on the deck.
The 6.2:1 gear ratio is suited for most techniques, and the oversized handle with slick and enlarged paddles gives the feeling of power on the retrieve. An unlimited anti-reverse combined with a Teflon drag systems, brass gears, and centrifugal anti backlash system gives the Victory has added features usually found only on high-dollar reels.

Although what I have found is that with this reel you don't have to go into your Fishin Tool Bag as much for a line pick to undo backlash. This makes fishing much more fun.