CONTENTS FISHHOUND BREAKDOWN:
PG.3
WINTERIZE YOUR JERKBAIT TECHNIQUE
When you learn a little about bass and baitfish biology, along with a few specific wintertime jerkbait techniques, you can start catching chunky, cold water fish in no time.
PG.7
SPRING BED FISHING
PG.9
LUNAR CHARTS
There is something about a lizard that drives bass crazy! We compiled some easy tips on fishing your Strike King Rage Lizard for shallow spawners this spring.
Use the Sun/Moon to catch more fish!
TYING THE KNOT:
PG.10
THE SEAGUAR KNOT Strong, easy to tie and slip proof.
BRAND NEW FOR 2017:
PG.11
RIGGING TRD TUBEZ Versatility is always important. We break down three ways to rig the TRD TubeZ from Z-man that will teach you three diverse fish-catching presentations.
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FISHHOUND BREAKDOWN:
WINTERIZE YOUR JERKBAIT TECHNIQUE by Andrew Schadegg
Lucky Tackle Box subscribers got the Livingston Stick Master jerkbait in their box this month and understanding the core concepts below will allow you to take that bait on the water and catch fish, even in the coldest months of the year. When the topic of winter or cold water bass fishing comes up, inevitably someone is going to discuss how their specific jerkbait technique of ripping and pausing is the best. Get ready to roll your eyes when they talk about “cadence” and “letting the fish tell you what they want.” Lots of
clichés and phrases that are dropped that
lakes all over the country start to slow down
sound astute, but tend to lose their meaning
and die-off. This causes the bait to be scarce
after being rehashed over and over again.
and creates opportunity for a hungry bass to
Particularly in the winter, getting to know your
feed on weakened prey that might have drifted
target (and the food they target) is essential
away from the school or swimming irregularly
to putting fish in the boat. So what does it all
in the water column, as it is dying.
mean? How can you make the adjustments in the wintertime that will help you make your
Understand Jerkbait Methodology
jerkbait fishing more effective? Knowing about how bass and baitfish react Understand Bass Biology
in the winter is the key to presenting your jerkbait properly. When the metabolism of the
Bass react in the winter in much the same way
bass is low, they become lethargic and feed
as people do. They’re cold, they’re hungry and
sparingly. They are not interested in using a
they don’t want to move very far or very often
lot of energy, so your jerkbait presentation
to get what they need. Being cold-blooded
has to be slowed way down. This is where it
animals, bass’ body temperature matches that
gets tough for many anglers, who struggle with
of their environment. In the winter months,
being patient enough to wait it out. After you
the lowering of their body temperature also
make your initial cast, give the jerkbait a couple
lowers their metabolism, so they don’t have to
of rips to get it down to the desired depth. Then
feed as often as they do in the warmer months.
wait. Wait some more….and then keep waiting.
As a result, opportunistic feeding is the name
Letting that bait sit in the water column for up
of the game. Bass will exert the least amount
to 20 seconds, 30 seconds and even a minute.
of energy possible to get what they need and
Then give it one small twitch, maybe two and
then go back to their sedentary winter lives.
then wait some more. This makes the bait look
Imitating the way natural bass forage acts in
natural, like that dying shad or minnow.
the winter is the way to get those finicky, cold fish to react to your jerkbait presentation.
This is where the clichés come in. Adjust your cadence to how the fish are responding to the
Understand Baitfish Biology
bait. If you catch a fish after popping it twice and letting it sit for 10 seconds, try repeating
When fishing a jerkbait, the entire concept is
that same rhythm the next time. Mix it up and
based around mimicking a dying or distressed
see what works the best. Visualize that every
baitfish. In the summertime when the water
time you have your bait stopped or paused,
is warm, you can get aggressive and bring the
that there is a bass nearby rising up from
bait back quickly to the boat. Schools of shad
the bottom and looking at it. Underwater
or minnows, are more likely to be faster and
cameras have shown this very thing occurring
will naturally swim away when approached by
frequently in the winter. Bass will sometimes
a speeding predator ready to eat.
stare at a suspended jerkbait for minutes, before finally deciding to commit.
As the water temp dips down to winter levels, however, the shad and baitfish populations in
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COMING SOON
SPRING BED FISHING by Andrew Schadegg
One thing that Lucky Tackle Box always tries to accomplish is providing baits in the box that are ready to fish for the season that the box is shipped in. Not a lot of anglers are fishing with big, metal spoons in May so you probably won’t see them at the bottom of your May Bass Box. This month, you received the Strike King Rage Tail Lizard. First of all, let’s make something perfectly clear. LIZARDS ARE FANTASTIC TO USE ALL YEAR LONG! Ok, got that off my chest. Carolina rigged, texas-rigged, wobble head, drop shot, you name the technique and you can catch fish with it year round. With that being said, lizards are most well-known for their effectiveness in catching bass in the pre-spawn and spawn around their bedding areas. There is something about a lizard that elicits a mind-numbingly aggressive reaction to a lizard near their babies. Not really too hard to understand why, is it? A lizard looks menacing. It looks like the kind of thing that would eat little baby bass or disturb the rhythm of the bass’ spawning process. There are a lot of things like newts, salamanders, snakes, frogs and other similar animals that cause a bass’ warning lights to start going off and emergency alarms to sound. So what does mama and papa bass do when they see a lizard near their house? They attack it! As we start to get into the months of March, April and May (sometimes June up north and even January down south) bass start to move into their spawning areas, where they will be up
shallow making beds and guarding nests. Here’s a handful of quick tips to fishing the Rage Lizard on your local body of water this spring: 1. Keep Your Distance When Sight Fishing – Nothing can mess up a perfect cast with your lizard than scaring off a spawning fish by getting too close. Whether you’re fishing from the shore and you see a bed or in a boat, back off as far as you can while still being able to cast a little past the bed. If the bass doesn’t see you, he is much more likely to eat what you’re throwing. 2. Gentle Casts Past the Bed – This is a really important part of fishing for spawning bass. You don’t want to land your big lizard with a big ol’ splash! This will spook that fish and make her much more difficult to catch. Try to gently lay your bait in the water 3-4 feet past the bed. Let it go to the bottom and ease it up to where that fish is sitting. 3. Let it Sit and Jiggle it – Pausing that Rage Lizard on the bed can be absolutely maddening for a big female guarding her eggs. The longer you wait the more that fish will get agitated. It will move closer and closer to your bait, nose up and almost “kiss” the bait. This is when you know you have her. One twitch or slight jiggle and that fish will pounce! Have a big wide gap hook so you can really rip that hookset and get that fish in the boat. 4. Don’t Waste Too Much Time – Spawning bass can drive any fisherman crazy. You spot a 6 or 7 pounder sitting on a bed in 2 feet of water, you cast your Rage Lizard onto the bed ready to set the hook. 10 minutes later...nothing. 20 minutes later…. nothing. That big bass is ignoring everything you’re doing. You can try switching up techniques or baits, but many times you should just move on to the next bed. If they’re ready to be caught, typically they will give some signs. It might still take a while to get her to bite, but if she’s interested she’ll let you know with small circles, big circles, short strikes or nosing down on that bait. This is the start of some of the best fishing of the year for many lakes around the country. Take these tips to your local body of water with your Strike King Rage Lizard rigged up and get to catching those big springtime bass.
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
FEB 2017
VALUE
BEST DAYS POOR FAIR GOOD EXCL
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BETTER FISHING TIMES
Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4
45 44 47 53
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
63 52 46 44 52 59 67
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
70 57 44 31 23 23 22
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
27 38 29 25 27 40 53
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
26 27 28 29 30 31
66 75 68 61 55 52
25 50 75
AVERAGE
For more, visit primetimes2.com
TIMES OCCURRING AT NIGHT ARE SHADED MOON RISE
8:42 am 9:21 am
10:03 am 10:49 am 11:39 am
12:33 pm 1:31 pm 2:31 pm 3:33 pm 4:35 pm 5:35 pm 7:35 pm 8:32 pm 9:29 pm
10:25 pm 11:19 pm
12:13 am 1:06 am 1:57 am 2:46 am 3:34 am 4:18 am 5:01 am 5:41 am 6:20 am
6:58 am 7:37 am 8:17 am 8:59 am
10:28 pm 9:44 am
PRIMARY
MOON OVERHEAD
1:50 pm - 4:222pm 2:36 pm - 5:22 pm 3:24 pm - 6:24 pm 4:14 pm - 7:24 pm
MOON SET
9:38 pm
10:44 pm 11:50 pm
5:08 pm - 8:24 pm 6:06 pm - 9:22 pm 7:02 pm - 10:18 pm 8:01 pm - 11:11 pm 8:59 pm - 11:59 pm 9:56 pm - 12:42 am 10:52 pm - Midnight
12:54 am
Midnight - 2:24 am 12:45 am - 3:03 am 1:37 am - 3:43 am 2:28 am - 4:20 am 3:19 am - 4:57 am 4:09 am - 5:37 am 4:59 am - 6:17 am
7:34 am
5:49 am - 7:01 am 6:38 am - 7:46 am 7:27 am - 8:35 am 8:14 am - 9:26 am 9:01 am - 10:19 am 9:47 am - 11:13 am 10:31 am - 12:09 pm 11:15 am - 1:07 pm 11:59 am - 2:07 pm 12:43 pm - 3:09 pm 1:30 pm - 4:10 pm 2:17 pm - 5:13 pm 3:09 pm - 6:15 pm
1:56 am 2:55 am 3:48 am 4:35 am 5:18 am
5:58 am
8:08 am 8:41 am 9:14 am 9:48 am
10:23 am 11:01 am 11:42 am
12:27 pm 1:15 pm 2:08 pm 3:04 pm 4:03 pm 5:05 pm 6:09 pm
7:15 pm 8:22 pm 9:30 pm
10:38 pm 11:46 pm
PRIMARY
MOON UNDERFOOT
1:32 am - 3:48 am 2:15 am - 4:47 am 3:01 am - 5:47 am 3:49 am - 6:49 am
Perigee
4:39 am - 7:49 am 5:33 am - 8:49 am 6:31 am - 9:47 am 7:27 am - 10:43 am 8:26 am - 11:36 am 9:24 am - 12:24 pm 10:21 am - 1:07 pm
HALF
12:17 pm - 2:49 pm 1:10 pm - 3:28 pm 2:02 pm - 4:08 pm 2:53 pm - 4:45 pm 3:44 pm - 5:22 pm 4:34 pm - 6:02 pm 5:24 pm - 6:42 pm
FULL & BEGIN DST
6:14 pm - 7:26 pm 7:03 pm - 8:11 pm 7:52 pm - 9:00 pm 8:39 pm - 9:51 pm 9:26 pm - 10:44 pm 10:12 pm - 11:38 pm 10:56 pm - 12:34 am 11:40 pm - Midnight Midnight - 1:32 am 12:24 am - 2:32 am 1:08 am - 3:34 am 1:55 am - 4:35 am 2:42 am - 5:38 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
Apogee
HALF & SPRING
LOW
NEW
Perigee
TYING THE KNOT Sponsored by
THE SEAGUAR KNOT // Strong, easy to tie and slip-proof, the Seaguar Knot, allows you to attach a fluorocarbon leader to a monofilament line with ease and proficiency. Use while topwater fishing in clear water, or while fixing small diameter braids to fluorocarbon leaders, when fishing with shaky heads and drop shots for bass. Follow these 6 basic steps below to learn how to tie this great knot!
STEP 1
STEP 2
To start, overlap the ends of two lines of about the same diameter for about 8 inches. Then take the ends and form a loop.
Twist the loop three completed turns.
STEP 3
STEP 4
Pull the loose end of line through the loop.
Hold the lines on either end of the knot..
STEP 5
STEP 6
And pull tight.
Clip the tag ends, and your done!
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THREE TUBULAR TIPS TO
RIGGING THE TRD TUBEZ Written by Andrew Schadegg
Brand new in 2016, Z-Man’s TRD TubeZ is a different kind of soft plastic tube bait. With a solid nose and the Z-Man patented ElaZtech technology plastic, the new TRD is perfect for unique rigging options and is practically indestructible (which is great for your pocketbook!). At 2.75” it is the right finesse size for fishing in the harder cold-water months, but will undoubtedly excel in the spring when the fish are on beds and getting territorial. With an original design that is unique to Z-Man, the TRD TubeZ can be rigged and presented in some different ways than your standard tube. Here’s three tips for how to rig and throw this tube:
Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ Jighead The “Ned Rig” as it’s called, has become an absolute money-maker for thousands of anglers around the country. They may not want the secret out, but if you’re not using this simple system, you’re missing out. It’s really basic. Take the flat-headed ShroomZ jighead, stick the hook point through the top of the head about a ¼ inch and bring the hook point out the side. Super simple. Cast it out and let it go to the bottom and bring it back to the boat in small little hops, pausing and letting it sit still for varying periods of time. That’s it!
Non-Weighted Offset Tube Hook With the benefit of the solid nose, the TRD TubeZ can be fished with a regular offset, wide-gap hook in a traditional Texas-Rig style. This allows you to throw this tube completely weightless for that slow, enticing fall that is critical for getting fish to bite, particularly in the wintertime when bass want to watch a bait for a while before they eat it. The Mustad Ultra Point Big Mouth Tube Bait Hook in around 3/0 size is a perfect pair for this bait. The wide gap allows for the hook to penetrate the plastic, while also getting the hook point through the fish’s mouth.
Traditional Texas-Rig with a Bullet Weight The first two options excel in open water and deep water, fishing rocks, ledges and walls. Although they can be used in other applications, if you’re fishing shallow water, brush and heavier structure, you’re going to want to rig this bait like you would a traditional Texas-rigged soft plastic. Slide a small bullet weight up your line (size depends on the cover you’re fishing), rig your TRD TubeZ with the Mustad Tube Hook mentioned above and bury the hook point back into the plastic (to make it weedless) and flip this around anywhere that fish hangout. Try pegging your weight for more control of the bait and better feel when you’re fishing. This allows a direct connection between you and your TubeZ and cuts down on missed strikes.
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