Bryan Thrift Wins 2012 Toyota Texas Bass Classic

Just in!
Bryan Thrift wins!
Here is the standings.

Pro Advice on Flipping

By I.M. Bradley

Any angler can go randomly flipping around grass or cover and catch a few bass. That should not surprise anyone, but why just settle for a few fish when you can catch more and better bass. The key to better flipping comes from knowing when to fish a quick-sinking lure or a slow-falling lure, and what to do after the lure settles to the bottom.

FLW Tour and B.A.S.S. professional angler Jason Christie always thinks flipping first when approaching a tournament. He’s so good at it, he even has a new signature series flipping rod coming out.

Christie has made his living fishing shallow.

Catching better bass for Christie comes down to how fast the lure falls, or “rate of fall.”

“For me, I pick the lure and weight by the water clarity,” he said. “The clearer the water; the faster I want the lure to fall.” 

Christie says that when fishing impoundments with gin clear water, like Beaver Lake and Table Rock, he wants a fast falling lure anytime the water temperature is more than 70 degrees. When water temperature gets very cold, however, he’ll begin considering a slower-sinking jig for his flipping.

The technique of flipping is done on a short line. With the reel in free spool and thumb holding the spool motionless, the angler takes the jig in his off hand (the one not holding the rod) and swings the rod to pendulum the bait toward a target in the cover, while removing the tension his thumb has been applying to the spool. The result is that the lure hits the target as quietly as possible, right in the face of the bass. Bass then strike the lure out of a feeding response or reaction strike. Christie believes that more than 75 percent of the strikes he gets while flipping are reaction strikes.

Tommy Biffle Joins River2Sea

River2Sea continues to make waves in the industry with the expansion of their product line, and now they are increasing the size of those waves with the addition of a true bass fishing legend to their pro staff. River2Sea is proud to announce the addition of Tommy Biffle, from Wagoner, Okla. to their pro staff. Biffle has a reputation for being a staunch competitor who has the ability to dig heavyweight bass from the thickest cover with his Flippin' Stick and heavy line. The combination of Biffle and his weapons has resulted in a career full of hall of fame worthy credentials.

2013 Bassmaster Open's Schedule

2013 BPS Bassmaster Southern Open

Lake Tohopekaliga   January 31 – February 2

Douglas Lake    April 4-6

Lake Logan Martin  May 16-18

2013 BPS Bassmaster Central Open

Red River   April 25-27


Arkansas River September 19-21


Ross Barnett Reservoir   October 17-19

2013 BPS Bassmaster Northern Open

James River  June 13-15

Oneida Lake   August 1-3

Lake Erie  (Sandusky)  September 12-14

Mustad Introduces New Grip-Pin Max Hooks

MUSTAD® INTRODUCES NEW GRIP-PIN MAX™ HOOKS FOR SOFT PLASTICS

Anglers take notice; two new Grip-pin series hooks are here! The Grip-Pin Max (G34131NP-BN) is a straight-shank, wide-bite hook with a sleek, integrated keeper on the upper shank to keep baits perfectly positioned without hanging in the grass. This versatile “no slip/no slide” design securely anchors baits without tearing or slipping. The hook eye is completely sealed for 100% confidence when fishing braid lines.

In conjunction with the launch of the Grip-Pin Max, Mustad has also modified the original KVD Grip-Pin® hook (38101NP) with a new smaller, sleeker keeper that holds baits securely and makes presentations perfectly weedless.

Like all UltraPoint® hooks, both hooks feature Mustad’s 4.3 Micro Sharp Point Technology for an incredibly sharp point which is ultra-durable. MUSTAD® INTRODUCES NEW GRIP-PIN MAX™ HOOKS FOR SOFT PLASTICS

Denny Brauer and George Cochran Retires

Denny Brauer

Two legendary anglers, Denny Brauer and George Cochran will retire in 2012. Between them they dominated both FLW and BASS. Brauer has won Mega Bucks, Angler of the Year and the Bassmaster Classic plus numerous BASS tournaments. He is best know for pitching and flipping.

George Cochran

Gentleman George has also won the Classic, actually he has won two of them plus the Forrest Wood Cup. He is best known for shallow water angling along with cranking.

Both have made an impact on the sport of tournament bass fishing and will be missed.

2012 FLW Open Wheeler Lake: Mark Rose Wins

 by David A. Brown
FLW Press Release
DECATUR, Ala. – It's neither fair, nor respectful to other competitors to assume a tournament is "in the bag" just because a guy brings a huge lead into the final round. But Mark Rose, at least indirectly, justified any such murmurings with his dominant wire-to-wire win at the FLW Tour Open event on Wheeler Lake.

Mark lead all four days and took the trophy with ease.
(Photos: FLW)

Ever the humble gentleman, Rose simply won't engage in that line of thinking. He'll thank God, his family and his sponsors and he'll let others draw their own conclusions. For him, it's simply a matter of being fortunate enough to fish his style of fishing during a period when Wheeler's bass were positioned well for it. Essentially, the fish are just starting to move into their fall transition of shallow migration, but the water's still on the warm side, so plenty of quality fish remain out deep. With a solid understanding of these seasonal patterns and significant experience at picking apart the deep bottoms of TVA impoundments, Rose was in his comfort zone and simply went to work methodically locating and engaging his finned opponents.
"I just felt comfortable out there – I just get in tune with it," he said. "It's a passion I have. I really like it. I like it when I'm not catching anything because I'm trying to figure them out.

King and Burns become the 2012 Berkley B1 winners

A weather shorten tournament netted Norman King and PJ Burns champion rings plus a fully rigged Charger Bass Boat. Their creel of five smallmouth for 23.51LBs took the prize from a wildly windy and wet tournament.

2012 Aaron Marens is the All-Star Champ!

Aaron displayed great fishing ability to win the
super difficult All-Star Championship.
(Photo: BASS)

By Ken Duke
BASS Press Release
This one had it all — long runs, risky strategies, run-and-gun fishing and a dramatic save of a stranded competitor. In the end, Alabama’s Aaron Martens edged out Oklahoma’s Edwin Evers to win the 2012 Toyota Trucks All-Star Week championship. Martens’ strategy of staying close to the launch area to increase his fishing time bested Evers’ choice of making a long, difficult run up the Sangamon River. Martens’ win was the culmination of four days of fishing featuring 12 of the best anglers in the sport on two lakes that presented some of the most challenging fishing in B.A.S.S. tournament history. In the end, Martens’ final day catch of 13 pounds, 8 ounces on Lake Decatur was enough to outpace Evers by 1-4. Martens total was the heaviest catch of the week.