Merry Christmas

 

Wishing all our valued readers a very safe and loving holiday!

Spy Baiting for Cold Water Bass

Late Fall and Winter is big bass time. Late fall can also be difficult to catch them as bass are in transition. Learn from FLW Tour pro David Williams as he gives some great advice on using the Due Realis Spin bait to catch lots of autumn bass.

South Carolina’s Smith Wins Bassnaster Classic Fish-Off On Lake Hartwell

Collin Smith of Anderson, S.C., has won the 2022 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off on Lake Hartwell with a two-day total of 28 pounds, 1 ounce and will advance to the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic. (Photo: BASS)

BASS PRESS RELEASE

ANDERSON, S.C. — Collin Smith has spent much of his life honing his skills on the waters of fabled Lake Hartwell

 

All that work paid off Saturday with his win in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off.

 

Smith, a 27-year-old grounds foreman for Anderson County, weighed a two-day total of 10 bass totaling 28 pounds, 1 ounce to claim victory in the final Bassmaster event of the 2022 season. With it, he earned entry into the biggest tournament of the 2023 season — the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, scheduled for March 24-26 on the Tennessee River in Knoxville. 

 

“I’ve dedicated the majority of my time to this pond (Hartwell) because all the big tournaments are out here,” Smith said. “I’m superthankful for the chance to fish the Classic. It probably won’t set in until I’m going up the road there for pre-practice ... It’s been a lifelong dream. There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears behind the steering wheel of my boat to get me to this point.”

 

No doubt there were dozens more miles added this week on Lake Hartwell, with Mother Nature throwing a variety of looks at the 500 anglers who started the team portion of the tournament on Wednesday. That two-day event was hindered by dense fog, but Smith and 5 Alive Sunday Series teammate Brady Kimbrell, also of Anderson, totaled 30-13 over two days to win the team title and the $25,000 cash prize that accompanied it.

 

Their performance set the stage for Smith’s ascension in the Fish-Off. The Top 3 teams, only six anglers in all, had their weights zeroed and then set out individually for two more days of competition. They were greeted by steady rain on Friday when Smith and Tyler Campbell of Martin, Ga., both caught 14-1 to tie for the Day 1 lead.

 

The temperature plummeted into the lower 40s by the final weigh-in, but Smith remained steady, following his Day 1 total with a 14-pound limit on Day 2 — just enough to nose him past Campbell, who wound up second with 27 pounds over two days.

 

The final day of the Fish-Off didn’t start swimmingly for Smith. The deep timber he exploited on Friday didn’t produce Saturday. Smith said that could have been due to changes in barometric pressure that followed repeated weather shifts in the region. 

 

2022 BASSMASTER TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP Smith and Kimbrell shut the door at Lake Hartwell

Even when everything goes right, it’s hard enough to hold off a 250-boat field to win a tournament like the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship.
If you cut the final day’s fishing time by nearly 50%, the task gets that much harder.
Collin Smith and Brady Kimbrell powered through a fog-shortened tournament on Lake Hartwell, however, and won the team championship with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 13 ounces. The duo caught 16-10 on Day 1 and followed with 14-3 a day later to seal the win.
While those aren’t huge numbers, they’re impressive considering Thursday’s start was delayed by three hours and fifteen minutes because of dense fog. Day 1 also started late, by some 90 minutes, further cutting into the time teams had to ply Hartwell’s bass-rich waters.

SpiderWire DuraBraid Hi-Vis Yellow

Popular braided line now offered in high visibility color option

After its introduction at ICAST 2021, SpiderWire DuraBraid continues to impress anglers that demand high performance as the most abrasion-resistant conventional braided line on the market. Now this popular braided line is available in Hi-Vis Yellow.
 
SpiderWire DuraBraid sets the standard in technical performance with an increased abrasion resistance that is 25% tougher than other conventional braids*. Whether fishing in fresh or saltwater, anglers using DuraBraid can confidently land fish in and around heavy cover. This abrasion resistance gives anglers confidence that other lines cannot. In addition, DuraBraid delivers the same easy line management and smooth casting that are attributed to the SpiderWire brand. 
 
Available from 8-pound to 80-pound test, SpiderWire DuraBraid is made with precision to set the standard for strong knots, unmatched shock absorbency, superior abrasion resistance and is now available in an easy to locate Hi-Vis Yellow line color option.
 
*Per internal abrasion test methods in a lab setting. See Spiderwire.com for details.
 
SPIDERWIRE DURABRAID
Key Feature: 25 percent tougher than conventional brands*
Spool Sizes: 150 yards • 300 yards • 500 yards • 3,000 yards
Color: Moss Green • Hi-Vis Yellow
Pound-Tests: 8 • 10 • 15 • 20 • 30 • 40 • 50 • 65 • 80
MSRPs: $13.99-15.99 (150-yard spools) • $27.99-31.99 (300-yard spools) • $46.99-$54.99 (500-yard spools) • $279.99-$319.99 (5,000-yard spools)