70% of the top 10 at the Lake Fork Elite Series used this type of bait (Issue 324)

Issue #324
BOT Trivia Question:

What company introduced the first forward-facing sonar for fishing?

Garmin, Lowrance, Humminbird, Raymarine?

See the answer at the bottom of the newsletter!
PRESENTED BY: Sunline

Jordan Lee Rods & Reels: Buy 1, Get 2 Free!
Don’t miss out on our fantastic Buy 1, Get 2 Free Offer on Jordan Lee Rods and Reels! To redeem, simply add three qualifying Jordan Lee rods or three qualifying Jordan Lee reels to your cart, ensuring everything is part of the same order. Enjoy this unbelievable deal whether you need rods, reels, or fully maximize your savings and order both! There’s no better time to get equipped for summer! Check out the full selection here.

Gore Puts A Fork In Bonus Bucks
Seven just might be Wesley Gore’s lucky number on Lake Fork, as he has finished in the No. 7 spot both in 2024 and now the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series event on the iconic fishery in northeast Texas. Gore’s seventh-place effort this past weekend was enough to earn him a $3,000 payday from Toyota Bonus Bucks, making an already good week even better. Gore employed a three-prong approach that focused on an early morning shad spawn, a mid-day pattern targeting offshore schools, and then ended competition days using forward-facing sonar to locate bedding bass in deep water that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. Whether he was boat flipping 8-pound beasts in shallow water or picking Lake Fork bigguns off the bank, Gore proved having multiple productive patterns to be profitable this week. Check out more details about Gore’s impressive week at Lake Fork here.

The Frys Have It
As the spawn wraps up, fry guarders become prime targets. These aggressive male bass hang close to shallow cover, protecting their fry from predators. With Garmin LiveScope, anglers can spot the shimmering clouds of fry and the adult bass guarding them in real time. Look around docks, laydowns, or grass in 2–8 feet of water, and you’ll often see a lone fish hovering near a tight ball of movement. LiveScope takes the guesswork out—you’re not just fishing likely spots, you’re fishing exact targets. Cast past the fry and bring your bait into the zone. Watch how the fish reacts. If it flares or charges, you know it’s game on. Sometimes a subtle twitch is all it takes to trigger a bite. Targeting fry guarders with LiveScope turns a post-spawn grind into a precision game, where watching the bite happen is half the thrill.
An incredibly unique and highly-sought-after JDM finesse offering, the Hideup Coike 17mm Creature Bait is an urchin-style soft bait made from durable high-floating elastomer to withstand catching bass after bass. Slotting in just below the larger Coike Fullcast, the Coike 17mm is designed with a 17mm center ball and long tendrils that shimmy and quiver to tempt highly pressured fish to bite. Capable of being rigged in many different ways, including on a drop shot or jig head, the Coike 17mm can even be fished unweighted on its own for an out-of-the-ordinary surface presentation. No matter how it’s presented, if you want to show the local bass a bait they’ve likely never seen before, the Hideup Coike 17mm is a standout choice. Check out the full selection here
PRESENTED BY: Gamakatsu
The Hideup Coike is a versatile soft plastic that can be rigged in several effective ways depending on the situation. In this video, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Drew Cook will show you how to rig it properly to get the most out of its unique action and design. Whether you’re targeting bass in heavy cover or open water, the right rigging technique can make all the difference. Check out the video here.
PRESENTED BY: Denali

Zack Birge

Photo Courtesy Of Major League Fishing

Major League Fishing angler Zack Birge’s sponsors include Monster Marine Lithium, Yo-Zuri, Mercury Marine, Flambeau Outdoors, Power-Pole, Lowrance, Bass Cat Boats, Alpha Angler Rods, DD26, and Top This Outfitters just to name a few.

Big Bass On The Horizon
Built with the smallest possible head shape and increased weight on the hook shank, the Gamakatsu Nano Alpha Horizon Head LG Jighead achieves perfect horizontal balance even with bulky hover-strolling soft plastics. Armed with a razor-sharp 90-degree hook to ensure rapid hook penetration, the unique hook shape and light tournament-grade wire create a small entry angle to reliably penetrate the hard mouths of giant bass. Enhanced with Gamakatsu’s Nano Alpha technology, the innovative coating is twice as slick as traditional finishes for improved penetration and better hook-up ratios and offers 4x more corrosion resistance to reduce rust and ensure long-lasting performance. Offered in lightweight sizes that allow them to easily suspend in the water column, the Gamakatsu Nano Alpha Horizon Head LGJighead locks slender soft plastics firmly in place with a molded double-barbed bait keeper. Check out the full selection here.
PRESENTED BY: AFTCO

This State-Record Bass Won’t Make the Books Because Oregon Doesn’t Recognize It as a Game Fish

Bass fisherman Joshua Buller caught one of the heaviest black bass in Oregon history on April 27. Buller’s spotted bass weighed a little more than 9 pounds, just 2 pounds shy of the all-tackle world record that came from a California lake. But as things stand now, Buller’s fish won’t be certified as a state record because Oregon doesn’t recognize the spotted bass as a legitimate game fish species. Check out the full article here.

Issue #324

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