How much will President Trump’s tariffs potentially affect the fishing industry? While the actual impact is yet to be realized many industry experts have weighed in with their opinions. Check out this interesting article on the subject here.
Best On Tour This Week
BEST ON TOUR THIS WEEK is your go-to weekly rundown of all things professional bass fishing! Hosted by BTL’s Matt Pangrac and industry veteran Dave Rush, this fast-paced show drops on YouTube every Tuesday morning, delivering sharp, unbiased insights on the biggest moments from the past week, both on the water and behind the scenes in the industry. Check out the first episode here.
New Ways To Fish The Coike
When sight fishing for cruisers, Bryan New likes to rig the Coike weightless with a Gamakatsu 1/0 G Finesse Stinger hook.. Thanks to its buoyant material, it floats, and hegives it subtle twitches to make the legs move and flare naturally. Around docks or isolated targets, New prefers either a short-leader drop shot or a jighead wacky rig, fishing them just as you would with traditional baits. Slow, slight shakes really bring the Coike to life. When using forward-facing sonar, he relies on the jighead wacky more than any other rigging. For this setup, New goes with the Gamakatsu G Finesse Wacky Jig Head—it has a sharp hook and great bite. He varies between the 17mm or Full Cast size based on the fish size, while weight selection depends on depth and wind conditions.
Designed to dive down to deeper depths on a standard cast, the Booyah Flash Point Deep Jerkbait features a large diving lip and unique reflective blade in the head to increase returns on forward-facing sonar and give anglers an edge with live sonar. Built with a slender minnow body for hard-cutting action with each twitch of the rod tip, the Flash Point Deep Jerkbait is perfectly weighted to suspend head-down at a 45-degree angle to accurately mimic dying baitfish.
Producing a bright strobe-like reflection from the blade on top of the bait, these jerkbaits shine like a beacon to give weary fish a different look compared to traditional jerkbaits that only reflect light from the sides. Armed with three ultra-sharp satin grey #6 treble hooks for rapid hook penetration, the Booyah Flash Point Deep Jerkbait includes an internal tungsten weight transfer system for long-distance casting that allows anglers to cover more water and improve efficiency. Check out the full selection here.
Major League Fishing professional Mark Rose’s sponsors include MidwayUSA, Strike King, Lew’s, Bass Cat, Lucas Oil, Bass Boat Technologies, Red River Auto Group, Mercury, Realtree, Southern Bancorp, Monster Marine Lithium, Baker Camp Arnold Capital Management, Grime Boss, Mustad, Frogg Toggs, Seaguar, Bass Boat Electronics, Power-Pole, SeaArk, DD26 Fishing, Mossback and Fish Habitat just to name a few.
First Cast Back
Bassmaster Elite Series angler Wes Logan recently underwent neck surgery to address ongoing issues that had been affecting him. The procedure involved replacing a damaged disk and securing the area with screws to ensure stability and proper healing. Despite the setback, Logan remained optimistic about his recovery and was able to start his season in February on the St Johns River. So how do you start your first tournament back after major neck surgery? By catching one on your very first cast! Logan went on to finish 11th in at the SJR and 17th the next week at Okeechobee.
The AFTCO Bass Bus release boats have had another busy season in 2024 helping ensure the safe release of thousands of bass back to the lakes and rivers they were caught in that day. AFTCO sponsors and supports two release boats that are operated and maintained by Ulrich Marine Service in Branson, MO. In 2024, these two boats traveled to dozens of events across the Midwest to aid tournament organizations in releasing fish safely, but also to help spread them out for reduced harvest in the days following an event. Spreading the release of tournament fish out across the lake also ensures that an area does not receive too many fish to safely support them in that area. The Ulrich Marine staff is trained on the proper release methods including “fizzing” and operation of the boats to protect as many fish as possible. The original AFTCO Bass Bus just completed its seventh season of releasing fish. This boat has supported 43 events in 12 states and released over 27,000 bass back into their waters. AFTCO support for a second boat was added in 2019 and the company now supports two boats in operation in conjunction with Ulrich Marine. AFTCO provides financial support for the operation of these boats free of charge at approved tournaments thru out the year. In conjunction with the release boat at many events is the AFTCO Bank Bag program and distribution of the AFTCO Bass Care 101 guide for all angler and organizations to use for successful fish care management. In 2025, both Bass Busses are already scheduled for dozens of events across the Eastern US.
BOT Trivia Answer:
Which angler holds the record for the most tour-level wins in bass fishing?
https://bestontour.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Best-On-Tour-Logo-1920-minified.png8141920Jordan Babcockhttps://bestontour.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Best-On-Tour-Logo-1920-minified-300x127.pngJordan Babcock2025-03-06 16:39:512025-03-06 16:39:51Tariffs And Tackle. What will the effect be? (Issue 314)
Kevin VanDam (29 wins)
Roland Martin
