Ned Rig for Smallmouth with Z Man Pro Dave Chong

The Z-Man Ned Rig is one of the most effective finesse presentations an angler can cast. Listen to Dave Chong as he explains how he uses the Ned Rig for  smallmouth. Dave Chong has won tournaments throughout the smallmouth range and knows how to make bass bite.

G Loomis Redesigns E6X

NEWLY-DESIGNED E6X BASS RODS

Providing bass anglers with both performance and value, G. Loomis launches a redesign to its popular E6X Series to make them more durable and even lighter. Available to anglers for the 2018 fishing season, the new E6X bass rods includes 33 models offered in both technique specific, along with G. Loomis’ universal ‘Mag Bass’ (MBR) casting and ‘Spin Jig’ (SJR) spinning actions.  

Built around a performance platform with a focus on weight, balance, sensitivity and action, “our E6X bass rods are the perfect choice for anglers who have never experienced what it’s like fishing a G. Loomis rod,” said G. Loomis senior planning manager - and noted bass angler - David Brinkerhoff. “And for those anglers who want to add specific actions to their rod arsenal - say a big swimbait rod or a dropshot spinning rod for some finesse fishing - the E6X series will have it covered.”

The slight weight reduction on rods was done while also increasing overall durability. “When you can go light and stronger, along with providing a smaller sized guide train for better balance, it was the right time for this nice upgrade to the E6X bass rods,” said Brinkerhoff. “Plus with the 14 spinning rods offered in the line-up, anglers will appreciate the added in-hand comfort from a more streamlined reel seat.”

Berkley's Squarebull Crankbaits

Squarebill crankbaits are amazing for shallow water. Berkley has a great ones called the Spuarebull. The Squarebull is available in 3 sizes: 3.5, 5.5 and the big 7.5 crankbait. Listen as Richard Brouwer as he explains how this plug has a super hunting action and deflects so well off of cover. Designed by Bassmaster Classic Champ David Fritts, you cannot ask for anything better.

Shimano Launched New Bantam Baitcasting Reel at Bassmaster Classic

BANTAM 150 BAITCASTING REELS FROM SHIMANO NOW OFFERED -

THE REEL THAT BEGAN SHIMANO’S PERFORMANCE LEGACY

Going back 40 years, Shimano introduced anglers to Bantam - its first low-profile baitcasting reel. It began Shimano’s connection to bass anglers. A new chapter for Bantam reels begins with the introduction of the Bantam 150 MGL, now being offered in six models - the Bantam MGL150, 151, 150HG, 151HG, 150XG and 151XG.

           

Suggested Retail: all sizes - $349.99

“With the new Bantam MGL reels, we went back to the legacy we built with the original metal construction reels, and took advantage of 40 years of ever-expanding technology,” said Trey Epich with Shimano’s product development staff. “Anglers will discover the entire concept behind the Bantam MGL reel is all about rigid, solid, and sensitive. We incorporate specific design elements and technology to focus on that concept.”

            Bringing the rigidity of a machined round reel to a low profile reel, anglers will experience the Bantam MGL’s ‘CoreSolid Body’ design. “We are able to combine multiple parts and integrate the B-sideplate, frame and levelwind guard into a solid one-piece aluminum platform,” explains Epich. “After a day on the water casting and retrieving, anglers will notice the familiar, rigid feel of round reel design, along with appreciating the ergonomics, comfort and sensitivity of this low profile reel.”

           

Jerkbait Refinement for BASS with Megabass Pro Nick Cousvis

Megabass pro Nick Courvis has been a big jerk for over 20 years. Never! He's a cool guy who knows tons about why a jerkbait is an amazing bait for bass. He's a master with the Megabass Vision 110. Listen as he explains some of his knowledge on how to make bass eat a jerkbait even when they're not interested.

Jordan Lee Wins the 2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell with 47-07lbs!

Lee Repeats as Classic Champ 
By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Lee comes from behind again to win!
(Photo: BASS)

After three magical days on Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, Jordan Lee now belongs to one of the most exclusive fraternities in professional bass fishing.
 
Lee, who began Sunday’s championship round in sixth place, caught five bass that weighed 16 pounds, 5 ounces and won the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods with a three-day total of 47-1.
 
Lee, who won last year’s Classic on Lake Conroe, Texas, joins fishing legends Rick Clunn and Kevin VanDam as the only anglers in history to win the Super Bowl of professional bass fishing two years in a row.
 
“That part of it hasn’t set in for me,” said Lee, who pushed his career earnings with B.A.S.S. past $1 million with the $300,000 Classic win. “I’m still just freaking out.
 
“It was just a perfect week for me. I caught fish on five different baits and a lot of different techniques.”
 

2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Day 2: Christie Leads with 37-04!

Christie leads Evers by 5!

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Jason Christie ready for Day 3 and the win.
(Photo: BASS)

Once again, Jason Christie is on the verge of winning the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
 
And once again, his good friend — and occasional nemesis — Edwin Evers, has a chance to take it away from him.
 
The Oklahoma anglers occupied the Top 2 spots in the standings for the second straight day at Lake Hartwell, and they will lead the remaining 23 anglers into Championship Sunday with a chance to win the $300,000 first-place prize and the most coveted trophy in professional bass fishing.
 
Christie caught 16-6 during Saturday’s second round to push his two-day total to a tournament-best 37-4. Evers had a much tougher day than he did on Friday, landing only 13-0. But he remained in second place with a two-day mark of 32-9.
 
“It was the same deal today where you just had to weed through them until you found a good one,” said Christie, who also led the first two days of the 2016 Classic on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, only to lose the title to Evers on the final day. “I had a chance to have a really good day, but I lost some fish. I don’t know if it was the lightning we had this morning or if the water’s clearing up or what, but they’re biting funny.”
 
Those funny bites led to some ragged hook sets that cost Christie on several occasions.
 
“I lost a 5-pounder and a 3- or 3 1/2-pounder,” said Christie, who won the GEICO Everyday Leader Award of $2,500 for the second straight day. “I also broke one off that was my fault. I hit a cable on one cast, and I didn’t retie. Then later on, I broke one off setting the hook.
 
“I caught a 4-pounder on my last cast, but I’m not getting enough of those kinds of bites. I can’t afford to booger those up when I get them.”
 

2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Day 2: Mid-Morning Report.

Change is good for leaders

By Luigi De Rose

Evers working a typical Grand Lake Pre-spawn pattern.
(Photo: BASS)

Sometimes you get what you wished for. That is the case for many of the top anglers in the 2018 Bassmaster Classic on Day 2 who prayed for an overcast morning but it doesn’t seem to have helped.  They wanted a darker, misty morning to prolong the bite unfortunately, it has hindered the fish catches instead of accelerated it.  The deep-water spotted bass have been smaller than yesterday and many of the anglers do not have a 5-bass limit as of 10:45am. 

One key pattern has emerged over the last day and a half; capitalizing on largemouth moving shallow. Even though Lake Hartwell is spotted bass heaven, big largemouth are critical to winning any spring tournament.

Largemouth are making a move toward the back of pockets, coves and flat banks to start the spawning ritual. Christie, Evers, Elam, DeFoe and a few others are fishing grass, rocks, wood but the docks seem to be the best at holding the larger females. Largemouth will migrate to the truly shallow water if the conditions change, and they’re changing. The corners and especially the back corners, closest to the bank are the best. Much of the Top 10 caught their larger bass yesterday after 11am as it became warmer. If it continues to warm up, anglers on this pattern will be waiting for them.

The vibrating jig, jigs and even spinnerbaits are key baits today and yesterday to the largest bass being caught. If it gets super sunny, rising the water temperature, it might produce a strong bite that could launch an angler back in the Top 15 into the lead just like what happened to Jordan Lee when he won the 2016 Classic on Lake Conroe.

Top 10

1. Edwin Evers  32-3
2. Jason Christie 29-12
3. Jordan Lee 29-6
4. James Elam 29-05
5. Jacob Wheeler 27-13
6. Brent Ehrler 27-12
7. Casey Ashley 24-0
8. Jacob Powroznik 23-14
9. Aaron Martens 23-8
10. Dustin Connell 23-9

2018 Bassmaster Classic Lake Hartwell Day 1: Jason Christie Grabs Lead with 20-14lbs.

Christie leads with 20!

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Christie ready to win first Classic!
(Photo: BASS)

After one day of fishing on Lake Hartwell, the leaderboard for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods has a familiar look.
 
Oklahoma angler Jason Christie leads the way, with Edwin Evers — a fellow Okie and Christie’s roommate on the Bassmaster Elite Series — sitting close behind in second.
 
Christie said a change in strategy near the mid-point of Day 1 helped him to his tournament-best weight of 20 pounds, 14 ounces.
 
“I’ve got two little deals going, and I did the first little deal for the first three or four hours,” said Christie, who claimed the GEICO Everyday Leader Award of $2,500. “But then it just kind of ran out.
 
“I changed it up and actually caught a 5-pounder — and that gave me a clue. So, I just ran with it and ended up culling everything I had.”
 
Christie said he caught fish all day, but patience was required for finding the type of big fish that helps an angler win the Classic.
 
“They’re all on the same kind of stuff, but you just don’t know where the big ones are going to come from,” he said. “You’ll catch a 2-pounder, a 2-pounder and then finally a 5-pounder.”
 
Evers, who brought in 19-9 Friday, got off to a fast start with a good early-morning bite that he said might have been due to bass feeding on blueback herring.
 
“I honestly don’t know what they were doing,” he said. “I got really lucky and found a place that had a bunch of fish in it. It was an early-morning deal. I caught them every cast.”
 
Like Christie, Evers caught his biggest fish — two largemouth that each weighed 4-10 — in the afternoon hours.
 
“Those fish came around 12:30 or 1 o’clock,” he said. “It made for a better day than I thought I was going to have. I thought I was going to catch 16 or 17 pounds and maybe get a couple of big bites to push that up — and that’s what happened.”
 
The last time these two anglers waged a close battle in a Classic was 2016 on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in their home state. Back then, Christie led the first two days, only to see Evers overcome him with a giant catch on the final day.
 

2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Day 1: Christie Sacks 20-14lbs for Lead!

Oklahoma room mates land 1 & 2!
By Luigi De Rose

Considering the hype about Lake Hartwell prior to the start, the fishing was slow for most. Even the top anglers complained about long lulls between bites. Oklahoma anglers Christie and Evers, room mates on tour, sit first and second after Day 1. Both explained that Hartwell fishes very similar to Grand Lake. The site of the 2016 Classic, Grand Lake is where Christie led the first two day but later succumbed to a heroic last day limit by Ever which vaulted him in the winner's circle. This event could be a repeat of 2016.

Tomorrow will see increased cloud cover and warmer temps. This might give shallow anglers or anglers targeting spotted bass with moving baits the edge.

1	Jason Christie		5 / 20-14
2	Edwin Evers		5 / 19- 9
3	Jordan Lee		5 / 18-10
4	Brent Ehrler		5 / 17- 8
5	Ott DeFoe		5 / 16- 8
6	James Elam		5 / 16- 7
7	Jacob Wheeler		5 / 16- 1
8	Mark Daniels Jr.		5 / 15-14
9	Gerald Swindle		5 / 15-13
10	Jamie Hartman		5 / 15-12
11	Dustin Connell		5 / 15- 5
11	Jason Williamson		5 / 15- 5
13	Jacob Powroznik		5 / 15- 4
14	Casey Ashley		5 / 15- 0
15	Alton Jones		5 / 14- 9

2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Day 1: Mid-Morning Report.

Morning blitz shorter than expected

By Luigi De Rose

Elam fishing almost by himself in a creek and in the lead.
(Photo: BASS)

Anglers are using a variety of techniques on the first morning of the 2018 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell. Many tried for the herring bite in the low light of the early morning but few really hammered the magnum spotted bass. 

A few to watch are: Edwin Evers, James Elam, Kevin Van Dam and Ike.

Evers

Evers caught bass after bass about an hour ago and jumped up the leader board. It is speculated that he caught several limits all from one place without moving. Not just one location but one spot with his poles down. 

Elam 

Is way up a creek and fishing for largemouths and doing well. If the weather continues to warm up, the worry for many spotted bass anglers is that the largemouth might becoming shallower and more likely to bite. Locals will tell you the spots are the real player but a few big largemouth go a very long way. 

KVD

He is deep cranking and catching big largemouth. He is working on larger bass than numbers of bass. He is fishing the mid-to-lower section of the lake which is historically a very good place to fish. It is better know for spotted bass but if KVD can catch big green bass with several good spots he will be a killer. 

IKE

He has a cove loaded with spotted bass. He did well in the morning and got a good limit quickly. Now he is targeting brush and specific spots and catching individual bass but they are fairly large.   

2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Starts Today!

The 2018 Bassmaster Classic is a 3 day event that starts today.  IBASSIN.com has you covered for this event. Visit us for daily standings, mid-day reports and photos to help you enjoy the greatest tournament in bass fishing.

Megabass Dark Sleeper

If you love swimbait fishing then you have to check out the Megabass Dark Sleeper. This cool and unique finesse style swimbait is a killer on smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. Learn from Megabass pro Nick Cousvis as he explains the features to all the IBASSIN.com

Shimano Launches New Stella FJ Reels

Like its counterparts in automobiles and electronics, Shimano is constantly evolving its products, and now showcases the ‘next’ in technological advancements in the new Stella FJ reels. The flagship in Shimano’s spinning reel line-up, the five new models - in sizes for everything from trout and panfish, to bass and walleye, to tarpon, stripers and sailfish, include the Stella (STL) 1000FJ, STL-2500HGFJ, STL-C3000XGFJ, STL-4000XGFJ and STL-C5000XGFJ.

Setting it apart from past series, anglers will quickly notice new Shimano technology, including MicroModule II gear system, enhanced HAGANE concept constructed gear and body, X-Protect and SilentDrive.

“With Stella, anglers around the globe know we are always pursuing perfection,” said Trey Epich with Shimano’s product development team. “As our reel manufacturing abilities evolve and improve almost constantly - the Shimano way - we’re able to share that technology in new reels like the Stella FJ series.”

Available April 2018

Bradley Hallman Wins 2018 FLW Tour Lake Lanier Tournament with

Gustafson 7th with  62-3lbs 

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Bradley Hallman has been fishing FLW events since 2002. According to him, none has been better than this one.

Hallman wins wire to wire.
(Photo: FLW)

It started with his jaw-dropping 23 pounds, 11 ounces of spotted bass to set the pace on day one. But for Hallman, his proudest achievement was the fact that he had to completely change patterns each and every day to meet the conditions, culminating in his second Tour victory at the FLW Tour presented by Ranger on Lake Lanier. His total of 68 pounds, 4 ounces beat out fellow Oklahoman Zack Birge by roughly 2 ½ pounds and he earned $102,700 for his efforts.

“I fished the best week of my entire life,” says Hallman, who hails from Norman, Okla. “I caught them four different ways; changing every day.”

Hallman’s best week hardly could’ve started better when he had “one of those days” when everything went right. Fishing the clear water below Brown’s Bridge, Hallman ran more than 45 points with a Megabass Vision 110 +1 jerkbait and a swimbait on a ½-ounce head. He had more than 20 pounds by 1 p.m. and even when he went to try and help his co-angler catch a limit, he caught another giant to cull him up again.

Best of all, he knew he had a second pattern he’d barely touched sitting in his back pocket in case of emergencies. As it happened, he had to break that glass on day two when classic post-frontal conditions of high winds and bright skies changed the game.

“I only had one fish at 1 p.m.,” says Hallman. “So I had to go to my ‘fence panda’ pattern.”

2018 FLW TOUR Lake Lanier Day 3: Hallman Eyes Win with 55-03lbs!

Gustafson 3rd with 48.10lbs

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Bradley working his magic on Day 3.
(Photo: FLW)

Back in 2016, Bradley Hallman went into the final day of the FLW Tour kickoff on Lake Okeechobee with a 13 ½-pound lead. His main pattern seemed to be fading, and he ended up catching only two bass the final day. Yet, it didn’t matter. His lead was too great for anyone to overcome.

Fast forward to the FLW Tour presented by Ranger on Lake Lanier, and once again Hallman has a sizable lead. It’s not double digits, but his 55-pound, 3-ounce total is still 5 ½ pounds more than fellow Oklahoman Zack Birge. And once again, his patterns seem to be fading – he had to switch to a completely new pattern today – and his weights keep dropping, as he only brought in 13-1 today. Yet, he’s hoping he can hang on once again.

“I’m trying everything,” says Hallman. “Neither of my two patterns happened today. So I completely changed to a new deal to catch most my weight.”

Hallman has basically changed patterns every day, though he knew he had the first two going into the tournament.

He started today with his key pattern from Thursday, running dozens of deep structure spots, but it didn’t pan out and he ditched it after only an hour, saying he knew it wouldn’t go if it didn’t go early.

The Passing of a Legend: Guido Hibdon loses battle with cancer

Legendary angler Guido Hibson has died due to complications from cancer. A true legend in the bass fishing world Guido is best know for popularizing finesse and tube fishing in eastern America. Guido won two BASS Angler of the Year (1990 & 1991) and the 1988 Bassmaster Classic on the James River. Thoughts and prayers for his family and his thousands of grieving fans.

2018 FLW TOUR Lake Lanier Day 2: Bradley Hallman Leads by 7 Pounds with with 42-02lbs!

Gustafson 15th, Cory Johnston 67th, Chris Johnston 92th & Richardson 172th

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Hallman on a big roll.
(Photo: FLW)

Everyone needs a backup plan. Bradley Hallman sure was glad he had one on Friday.

At around 1 p.m. Hallman only had one small fish swimming in his livewell. Fortunately, he’d been sitting on an ace in the hole – a secondary pattern that just so happens to get better later in the day. That pattern got him right in a hurry, as he quickly sacked up another 18 pounds, 11 ounces of spotted bass to extend his lead at the FLW Tour presented by Ranger on Lake Lanier. His 42-2 total is a little over 7 pounds more than second-place angler David Williams.

“I’ve got two deals; well, maybe three, but two main deals,” says the Norman, Okla., pro. “They’re totally different deals.”

Hallman started out on his first pattern Friday – running dozens of deeper structures – because he knows despite being high risk, it’s also high reward. The high rewards showcased themselves on day one when he crushed 23-11, but the risk reared its head on day two, as Hallman only connected with one fish all morning.

He wasn’t the only pro to struggle, however. Weights were down across the field, as many pros said the bluebird skies and post-frontal conditions had completely moved their fish or at the very least changed how they were biting.

Hallman managed to catch two small keepers shortly after 1 p.m., but then he decided to try his second deal. He’d sampled it on day one, quickly catching a 4-pounder and leaving. Today he leaned on it a bit more to help extend his lead.