CONTENTS PG.3
FISH TALES – HOW’D YOU CATCH YOUR PERSONAL BEST? August’s magazine is all about big fish! Hear 5 stories from Lucky Tackle Box influencers about catching their PB.
PG.5
KEEPIN’ IT REAL Realism is so important when you’re chasing bass feeding on baitfish. Find out three times of the year that you can use a shad imitating swimbait to target big fish. FISHHOUND BREAKDOWN:
PG.7
LIVETARGET THREADFIN SHAD
PG.9
BEST BIG BASS TECHNIQUES
Match-the-Hatch is at the center of every LIVETARGET product. We breakdown all of the fish catching features of the new, ultra-realistic, Threadfin Shad from the LIVETARGET Swimbait Series.
The baits from the August Lucky Tackle Box were handpicked to help you catch your own personal best! Find out why these four presentations are so effective.
TEAM LUCKY PROFILES:
PG.11
SOCIAL FEEDS TO FOLLOW Find out who LTB’s social media movers and shakers are this month and who you need to be following online.
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1. Nick Smith YouTube – InformativeFisherman Largemouth Bass – 12.40 lbs. “One of my all-time favorite methods for catching giant California Delta bass, I refer to as ‘swinging my elephant gun.’ It consists of a Strike King pure red .38 special with no trailer and pin-ballin’ it through tulle flats. March of 2012, I hooked into my biggest largemouth. It was my 7th double digit bass out of the 9 that I have currently have. I’ve since hooked and lost two much bigger. My teener is coming!!”
2. Alex Rudd YouTube – Alex Rudd Fishing Smallmouth Bass – 5.08 lbs. “I caught my personal best while fishing with fellow LTB angler, Ben Nowak, in Northern Michigan. We were targeting large rock rows that had deep water access. This allowed these big pre spawn smallies to move up, feed, and then go back down and rest in the deep water. I was ripping a 110 size suspending jerk bait.”
3. Andrew Schadegg Editor – Fishhound Magazine Spotted Bass – 8.20 lbs. “A 5 pound spotted bass is considered a trophy in much of the country, so having caught one over 8 pounds was an amazing experience. It was Thanksgiving weekend 2013 and unseasonably warm temperatures made the fishing really tough. I fired out a DUO Realis Spinbait 80, not far from a laydown tree near a main lake point and counted it down to the right depth. Three slow cranks and I hooked her. After my buddy got her in the net, my hands shook for about 10 minutes!”
4. Willie Schwanke Instagram - @DonkeyBassCo Largemouth Bass – 5.56 lbs. “I caught my personal best using baits from the June ‘Best Summer Baits’ box! Rigged up a 3/0 Kitana hook, Beast Coast peg and weight combo, and a Riot Baits Mini Fuzzy Beaver. I was flipping grass mats along the bank and it hit after the first pop of my rod tip. Thanks Lucky Tackle Box!”
5. Travis Moran Host – Lucky Tackle Box/FLW Live Largemouth Bass – 11.50 lbs. “About 4 years ago, I was going down the bank fishing senkos and spinnerbaits. Weather changed a bit, so I picked up a Spook topwater bait and got bit the first cast. Caught a ton of fish, but the highlight was this giant! I had bragging rights in my family for about a month, when my brother beat me with a 12.50.”
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KEEPIN’ IT REAL 3 TIMES TO TARGET BIG BASS WITH THE LIVETARGET THREADFIN SHAD Written by Andrew Schadegg
The much anticipated Swimbait Series from LIVETARGET released in 2017 has been taking the industry by storm. With the signature LIVETARGET “Match-the-Hatch” philosophy, the new swimbaits are designed to look identical to the forage they are imitating. As anglers, the goal of targeting the biggest bass in the lake is always top of mind. There are three times of the year that focusing on the Threadfin Shad bite (and fishing with the LIVETARGET swimbait) might land you a personal best.
SPRING – Shad Spawn In lakes around the country that are populated with shad, an annual event occurs that is well known to seasoned anglers. Typically, the shad spawn takes place when the water reaches the mid to upper 60’s. Shad will school up in the shallows, predominantly at night, to lay their eggs against cover. This can be things like weedlines or reeds, retaining walls, rip-rap, rocks or other structure. Since shad spawn at night, during low-light hours, it’s imperative to get on the water early. Use your eyes and ears to find the school. They’ll be up shallow, flickering on the surface. Many times the bait birds will alert you to schools in the area. Cast the baitfish imitating swimbait into the schools of shad, retrieving it right through them. Bass love to target the easy meal and big bass especially like to key on the bigger shad that get away from the school or have been injured.
SUMMER – Shad Schools Once the water warms up over 70 degrees, shad will start to settle into their summer patterns in much the same way bass do. They will go deep in the warmest parts of the day and shallow during low-light parts of the day or when there is cloud cover. If you have the benefit of electronics, you can really pinpoint the deeper shad this time of year. What you’re looking for are tight balls of bait, not loosely scattered shad schools. Bass tend to become aggressive, following the shad schools and feed when the bait balls become very tightly packed.
Target the shad schools shallow in the morning and evening or on cloudy days. Once the sun comes up, target those deeper areas. Let the swimbait go to the bottom and retrieve it underneath the schools. Big bass love to sit on ledges or ambush points in deeper water, waiting for a wayward shad.
FALL – Backs of Creeks Fall can be one of the most exciting times of the year and a great time to catch a big bass. Baitfish in general, but shad specifically, are a major factor in bass migration in many lakes. As the temperatures begin to drop, the nutrients in the main lake die off. This pushes the shad into the backs of creeks where the water warms up quicker and plankton doesn’t die off as quickly. Naturally, bass will follow these schools of shad into these coves, creeks and shallow areas to feed on them. This makes the angler’s job a lot easier, as you can narrow down highpercentage parts of the lake easily. Big bass feed up heavily during this time of year, as they’re preparing for winter. Targeting the baitfish they are eating is essential to getting these bigger fish to bite. Try getting your swimbait down underneath the school to avoid catching the more aggressive smaller fish.
FISHHOUND BREAKDOWN FH | 7
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BREAKING DOWN THE BEST
BIG BASS TECHNIQUES by Andrew Schadegg
The August Lucky Tackle Box is all about catching your BIGGEST BASS EVER! Every angler is constantly striving for their next personal best (or PB) and we want to help make that happen. Whether it’s a 5 pounder or a 12 pounder, the only number that matters is yours. So to make sure you get ultimate bragging rights for landing that monster the next time you hit the lake, here’s 4 techniques based on the products in the LTB Bass XL Box, that are known for catching giants.
1. Swimbaits It is impossible to write about targeting big bass, without talking about swimbaits. More giants have been caught on swimbaits, than probably any other technique. What makes them so effective fish? It’s realism. Swimbaits are to look like what the bass anyway. Shad imitating swimbaits because that is what the big ones eat The Threadfin Shad and all of the Series are designed to be the size, shape, every type of forage they imitate.
for big designed are eating catch giant bass, on shad filled reservoirs. LIVETARGET Swimbait color and texture of
2. Squarebill Crankbaits In the spring of 2017, a major FLW tournament was won on
the California Delta with a squarebill crankbait (paired with Trapper Tackle’s new treble hooks). This is an example of one of the biggest bass factories in the country, with some of the best fisherman on the west coast, throwing every traditional big fish bait on the market, and the biggest bags came on a squarebill. With a bait like the Xcite Baits XB-1 in your box, you can cover a ton of water, which allows you to put it in front of more fish. As it bounces and bangs off of rocks or other structure, it doesn’t give those big fish much time to react, so it draws vicious strikes and can put them in the boat in a hurry.
3. Lizards Certain plastic bait profiles are proven to catch bigger bass. One of those is the lizard, like the Bass Attacker in the August Bass Box. The visceral reaction that bass have to something like a lizard entering their house, can be unbelievable. It is not just for spring bed fishing either, it works fantastic year round. It is a menacing profile and a meaty treat, which resembles a number of aquatic amphibians like newts, salamanders and other 4 legged creatures. Flip it in heavy cover, around structure or drag it deep on a Carolina rig. It can be a great alternative to your traditional creature baits, worms or jigs and seems to attract that bigger bite on a regular basis.
4. Frogs Locating those lunkers in your lake can be difficult. Once summer rolls around, there is one way to find those giants on a regular basis and that is a frog style bait. Whether you’re using a traditional hollow-body or the narrower frog bait, like the Lunkerhunt Froglet, if you find the matted grass or shallow submerged vegetation, you’ve found a recipe for your next personal best. Mix up your retrieve. Slow it down. Speed it up. Pause it. Eventually, you will find the right way to fish it. Look for shade pockets and heavier blankets on the surface. This is where the big ones live and a frog is an excellent way to find them.
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SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT
6 SOCIAL FEEDS YOU NEED TO FOLLOW! by Fishhound Staff
Since it was founded, Lucky Tackle Box has been partnering with some of the biggest and best social media influencers in the fishing industry. The game is changing and anglers around the world are using their online platforms to post amazing pictures, talk about new products and discuss all things fishing. Whether it’s anglers catching giant bass in Florida, walleye in Wisconsin or a flycaught Rainbow from a river in Idaho, each month the Fishhound Magazine will be introducing you to the best of the best Instagram pages and YouTube channels that you should already be following and if you’re not, you better start!
Thomas Farlow
Robert Acoca
Age: 42 From: Robbins, NC How did you get into fishing? A friend of my family started taking me pan fishing when I was 7 or 8. Fun Facts: I do most of my fishing now from my Hobie Outback kayak fishing freshwater and saltwater. My top fishing strengths are topwater fishing, Carolina Rig fishing and kayaking fishing.
Age: 57 From: Kirkland, Quebec How did you get into fishing? My father started taking me fishing when I was 3 years old, fishing the ocean, lakes and rivers. Fun Facts: Founder of 7 social media fishing pages. 25 years married with 2 Kids. Social Media Consultant for the last 2 years. I fish between 65-85 days a year.
Follow Thomas on Social Media! @southernoutdoorsfishing
Follow Robert on Social Media! @smallmouthnation
Cameron Peters
Ashley Underwood
Age: 17 From: Oak Creek, WI How did you get into fishing? My Dad and brother. Fun Facts: I have my own company called WhitetailSportsTv. My PB for a Largemouth Bass is 5 lbs. I’ve bagged 4 Whitetail Bucks, and 2 does. I’ve played basketball Since I was in 2nd grade. Follower of Jesus Christ.
Age: 34 From: Boynton Beach, FL How did you get into fishing? 5 years I took up fishing. I taught myself by wadefishing in front of the house. Fun Facts: I was a high level, competitive, gymnast. I accidentally sucked my hamster up the vacuum cleaner, but it lived....I don’t eat seafood! I hold Bachelor’s Degrees in Broadcast Journalism & Special Education.
Follow Cameron on Social Media! @whitetailsportstv
Follow Ashley on Social Media!
Erica Brown
Jackson Hughes
Age: 39 From: Cornwall Ontario How did you get into fishing? At 24 I landed my first smallie off a worm and it was then I got hooked. Fun Facts: I have lupus which doesn’t get in the way of fishing. I’m also an artist. I work at Home Depot My brother Kevin taught me how to fish. I’m getting married to my best friend, who I met fishing
Age: 14 From: Jacksonville, FL How did you get into fishing? I started out fishing for bluegill and catfish when I was kid. Fun Facts: I love bass fishing! I play baseball and basketball. I love animals and all wildlife. I caught my Personal Best on a Black/Blue Jig and it was 8.3lbs. I love using moving baits.
Follow Erica on Social Media! @Fishinggirl1122
Follow Jackson on Social Media! @TheFreshwaterKing
@soulfishingash
FOLLOW US: @LuckyTackleBox
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BETTER FISHING TIMES USING THE SUN/MOON TO CATCH MORE FISH What are Astro tables and how does it work? Astro Tables are far more effective than moon tables because they take into account critical solar energies as well as lunar. PrimeTime data is based on solar/lunar research at a leading college of astrophysics and our own research pond/wildlife area. Annual data is supplied by the U.S. Naval Observatory. All lunar times are adjusted to the center of your time zone and for Daylight Saving Time. LUNAR PERIODS
VALUE
POOR FAIR GOOD EXCL
BEST DAYS
SEP 2017
TIMES OCCURRING AT NIGHT ARE SHADED MOON RISE
PRIMARY
MOON OVERHEAD
MOON SET
PRIMARY
MOON UNDERFOOT
Fri Sat
1 2
24 25
4:43 pm
9:22 pm - 10:302pm 10:09 pm - 11:21 pm
2:20 am
8:59 am - 10:07 am 9:47 am - 10:55 am
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
38 49 60 68 61 55 48
6:10 pm
10:53 pm - 12:15 am 11:37 pm - Midnight Midnight - 1:09 am 12:18 am - 2:04 am 1:01 am - 2:59 am 1:41 am - 3:57 am 2:23 am - 4:55 am
4:06 am
10:34 am - 11:46 am 11:18 am - 12:40 pm 12:02 pm - 1:34 pm 12:43 pm - 2:29 pm 1:26 pm - 3:24 pm 2:06 pm - 4:22 pm 2:48 pm - 5:20 pm
FULL
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
46 48 56 68 58 51 49
10:33 pm
3:32 pm - 6:18 pm 4:19 pm - 7:19 pm 5:09 pm - 8:19 pm 6:04 pm - 9:20 pm 7:00 pm - 10:20 pm 8:00 pm - 11:16 pm 9:00 pm - 12:10 am
HALF & PERIGEE
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
56 62 69 71 58 45 32
4:08 am
10:00 pm - 1:00 am 10:59 pm - 1:45 am 11:56 pm - Midnight Midnight - 2:28 am 12:52 am - 3:08 am 1:46 am - 3:48 am 2:39 am - 4:27 am
NEW
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
24 21 25 36 27 23 25 25 50 75
AVERAGE
For more, visit primetimes2.com
5:28 pm
6:49 pm
7:26 pm 8:03 pm 8:38 pm 9:14 pm 9:52 pm
11:18 pm 12:07 am 1:02 am 2:01 am 3:04 am
5:12 am
6:15 am 7:17 am 8:17 am 9:16 am
10:13 am 11:09 am 12:04 pm
12:57 pm 1:47 pm 2:36 pm 3:21 pm 4:04 pm
10:28 pm
3:07 am - 5:53 am 3:54 am - 6:54 am 4:44 am - 7:54 am 5:39 am - 8:55 am 6:35 am - 9:55 am 7:35 am - 10:51 am 8:35 am - 11:45 am 9:35 am - 12:35 pm 10:34 am - 1:20 pm 11:31 am - 2:03 pm 12:27 pm - 2:43 pm 1:21 pm - 3:23 pm 2:14 pm - 4:02 pm 3:05 pm - 4:41 pm 3:56 pm - 5:22 pm 4:48 pm - 6:04 pm 5:39 pm - 6:47 pm 6:26 pm - 7:34 pm 7:14 pm - 8:22 pm 8:00 pm - 9:12 pm 8:46 pm - 10:04 pm
3:11 am
5:03 am 6:02 am
7:02 am 8:04 am 9:07 am
10:11 am 11:16 am 12:21 pm 1:26 pm 2:29 pm 3:28 pm 4:22 pm 5:11 pm 5:55 pm
6:35 pm 7:12 pm 7:47 pm 8:21 pm 8:54 pm 9:29 pm 10:06 pm 10:45 pm 11:27 pm 12:12 am 1:01 am 1:54 am
3:30 am - 5:06 am 4:21 am - 5:47 am 5:13 am - 6:29 am 6:04 am - 7:12 am 6:51 am - 7:59 am 7:39 am - 8:47 am 8:25 am - 9:37 am
ANY LUNAR PERIOD IS ENHANCED WHEN IT OVERLAPS A KEY SOLAR PERIOD. THE BEST OF THESE OVERLAPS ARE DESIGNATED BY THE SUN SYMBOLS: = HIGH NOON = DAWN = DUSK
WHILE THE LESSER MOONRISE AND -SET OVERLAPS (ABOUT 30 MIN. BEFORE AND AFTER THE LISTED TIME) ARE DESIGNATED BY BOLD BLACK TYPE.
For more information and samples of PrimeTimes products, visit www.primetimes2.com
HIGH
Fall
HALF & APOGEE
LOW
NEW