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We recently caught up with Zoom pro Mike McClelland.  Below is a Q & A with Mike regarding how his season has gone so far and his thoughts on the upcoming events in Bassmaster Elite Series.

photo by: Chris Dutton, Fishpaa.com

Zoom:  Okay, Mike, we are over halfway into the 2011 Bassmaster Elite season.  Tell me how your season has gone so far.

It has just been one of those seasons, the last three have been just so good that this year just seems really tough.  I have been catching a lot of fish and we have been to a lot of great fisheries, but for some reason I haven’t either put the quality bites in the boat or I just have not gotten that many quality bites.

I have really only lost about three fish this year that I can look back on and say, man that fish cost me making the cut or cost me moving forward.  It just has been one of those off the wall years where it kind of seems like, I am zigging when I should have zagged.

So, it has been a little frustrating, but it was one of those seasons that when the schedule was released, I took a look and realized it was going to be half way through the season before my fishing strengths really could be exposed as far as the fish getting off the bank, getting offshore, or getting in that post spawn mode.

So, it is one of those years that I feel like half way through the season I have survived it well enough mathematically that I can fish myself back into the Classic and have some good tournaments when the second half of the season gets here.

Zoom:  Tell me a little more about these last four events and how they may set up better for your strengths.

There is no doubt the final four events of the Elite Series will definitely fit my style of fishing a lot better.  The first half of the season has been more about getting to the bank, and I was able to pick the jig up and flip a jig a little, but the quality bites have just alluded me.  The second half of the season should be, but I don’t want to say 100% sure, but we should be past the majority of any major spawning period.

The fish should be starting to feed out and move offshore, which definitely fits my style of fishing.  I should be able to pick up my Jewel football jig up with a Zoom Brush Hog as a trailer or a Zoom Super Chunk and really kind of get back to the way I like to fish.  The fish are going to be done with their yearly ritual and should be heading where they actually live and feed most of the year.  So, that definitely fits my style of being able to use my electronics to map and get offshore and fish the way I want to fish.

Zoom Brush Hog - Watermelon Purple

Zoom Super Chunk - Watermelon Red

Zoom:  As far as a preview for the next few events, have you fished at West Point Lake before?

West Point, to my understanding, is not a blueback herring dominated lake like Lake Murray for example.  The fish should be chasing what are traditional baitfish like Threadfin Shad and Gizzard Shad.

There could possibly be some shad spawns going on at the next two events, but I don’t mind fishing that kind of deal because it is not that you are visibly going fishing for sight fish or spawning fish.  You are looking for that Shad Spawn and you’re still fishing shallow, but you can typically fish more of a pattern rather than going back into coves and pockets visibly looking for fish . Whether it is running secondary points or main lake points, or rock banks and channel bins, wherever the Shad seem to be spawning the best, I think it will allow me to fish patterns rather than trying to go into a creek or a pocket and look for fish.

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Zoom:  Do you have much experience at West Point Lake.

West Point Lake I have never actually laid eyes on and in my opinion sometimes that is a good thing.  I think a lot of problems sometimes for us is that we go back to so many of the same reservoirs year after year that we kind of start fishing memories. I look forward to going to new bodies of water.  West Point is a lake that none of the tours have visited for a long time.

There is really no major history as far as any of the major tournament circuits being there.  It sounds like the lake has a good population of fish just based on the kind of weights that it takes to win some local tournaments over there, so I am looking forward to it from that aspect.  I can go into it with a fresh mind, try to pick out a section or two of the lake and develop a pattern. Hopefully I come out of there with a top 12 finish.

Zoom:  Talk about Lake Murray a little bit.

I have some experience on Lake Murray and really feel pretty excited about going back.  I think we are going to hit it very similar to the time of year that we hit it over there a couple of years ago.  I feel like I should have been in contention for a definite top 12 there.  I mean it was during the period when we still had co-anglers. I was fishing a strong blueback pattern, and looking back now when we had co- anglers in the boat with us, those co-anglers were able to catch two or three fish behind you.    As the pro, it took the opportunity away from me to go back over a point and catch two or three of those potential fish.

I guess what I am trying to say is, I felt like I was around enough fish to have made the top 12 and really give Fred (Roumbanis) a run for his money.  I made kind of a poor decision the third day, I did gamble a little bit.  I had found some better fish offshore; I just couldn’t get them to cooperate and bite that day, so I feel like I have got a couple of different patterns I can fish at Murray. With what I learned there the last time I believe I can take it a step further and incorporate some things into that blueback bite that I did not really quite understand the last time we were there.

We recently interviewed Zoom pro staffer Mike McClelland about organizing soft plastics and how he prepares for upcoming season.  McClelland is currently preparing for the 41st edition of the Bassmaster Classic to be held on the Louisiana Delta, February 18-20.

photo: wired2fish.com

Zoom:  So how do you start the process of organizing your soft plastics.

Well, essentially, you know how we are, we go through the course of the year and we shove all of our plastics together.  Soft plastics especially, seem like they are the biggest thing that get away from us.  But, through the year, I end up with probably 4 to 5 Hefty One-Zip bags of some size either a quart, a gallon, or 2 ½ gallons full of various Zoom plastics, whether it be brush hogs, baby brush hogs, or Finesse worms.  I just try to go back and re-sort through every one of those bags and reorganize everything so when the tournament year gets started this year, I have got everything, in order and know where it is all at times.

Zoom:  When you say reorder, tell us what that actually means, a bag of 50 brush hogs in it or what does that really mean as far as you and your boat?

You know, that is what is kind of funny.  A lot of guys, I guess the average consumer out there, probably thinks we have these big bulk bags of product, different than anyone else.  But essentially we work out of the very same Zoom product bags that anybody goes and buys off of the shelf.  I organize those bags into larger Hefty one gallon and 2 ½ gallon bags.  There are so many good products that Zoom has like the Finesse worms to the baby brush hogs to the Super Chunk Jr’s.  Through the course of the year, you know there is going to be some of those products used somewhere across the country at these events, so being organized and being able to go through my truck and get to what I want without having to dig through things is important to me.

Zoom: Do you look at the schedule and figure out what you think you are going to need or is it that you already have an idea of what your strengths are and you just stick with that stuff?

photo: bassmaster.com

There is no doubt that you stick with your strengths.  There are certain baits and I have mentioned some of those that are always a mainstay.  You know, the Zoom Lizard, a  Speed Worm, a Finesse Worm, and a Trick Worm are things that you are going to use, without a doubt, throughout the course of a year.   Now, we have events every year that kind of fall into that specialty category.  This year was the Classic taking place in New Orleans in the Delta.  We are going to be looking at probably a lot of flippin baits.  I really went through the Zoom website this last couple of weeks and really tried to decipher which flipping baits are going to be the most effective for me in New Orleans.  I’ll be throwing everything like the Ultra Vibe Speed Craws to Super Speed Craws to Super Hogs.  The typical flippin bait, you know the punching type baits is really what I have had to stock up on.

Zoom:  How many colors do you generally carry with you, like at the beginning of the year?

That is a chore in itself.  The thing about the Zoom is that there are no bad colors, but essentially you as an angler have to kind of determine what your confidence colors are and what your strengths are, and kind of go with that.  I am going to say that I probably carry a variation of about 4 or 5 colors. I always have some Junebugs or Red Bugs and Black Neon, and things of that nature, so I essentially try to kind of categorize it in darker water lures, which would be those Junebugs and Black Neon’s and Black Emeralds, and then I like to vary the shades a little bit, but then you know you have your midrange water, which would be your Green Pumpkin’s, and you know variations of Green Pumpkin, and then you typically need a few of the watermelons.  I do not try to order every Zoom color available, but variations of colors that I feel confident working into my own arsenal.

Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw

Zoom:  What type of water clarity or color do you think to expect to see down in New Orleans.

Well you know, the thing about New Orleans is it could vary everything from a black tanic looking water to some relatively clear filtered out water through the grass areas, and you know, we could be faced with some really dingy water depending on what the diversionary is on the Atchafalaya basin and the Mississippi River.  A person has got to go down there with every water color in mind.

Zoom:  Any other thing that you can think of as far as spring housecleaning, getting your baits ready or tips you can think of as far as getting soft plastics ready?

Yeah, the biggest thing in my opinion,  I try to organize my stuff usually on a Gator Board or Pegboard type system here in my shop.  The biggest thing to me, is organization probably in the boat is as key as anything.  Rather than trying to carry 3 or 4 bags of your favorite color in the boat, you know, I typically try to narrow it down to 1 or 2 bags of 4 or 5 different colors of different baits that I am going to use rather than trying to carry a bag that’s got Green Pumpkin Brush Hogs, Finesse worms, you know, everything in it.  I would sort it out, I guess, more individually by specific bait in color.

photo: wired2fish.com

Zoom:  So you would say, for example, I want to carry these 4 or 5 baits and then I am going to have 2 or 3 colors of each of those baits?

Exactly, and that is how I organize it.  I basically take a Hefty One-Zip, one gallon bag and I will put, you know, 6 or 8 colors of Brush Hogs in one of those bags, and then I will put 6 or 8 colors of Baby Brush Hogs in one of those bags.  Essentially, when you get to a tournament, you may start off with, you know, a variety of those things in your boat, but as the practice wears on and as you get into competition, you know, you just simply take those bags out of your boat and keep the ones that you know you are going to be using in.

Zoom:  Do you do anything special to your soft plastics as far as dipping them or scents?

I do not treat any of the products prior to use, but if I know I am catching them on a Green Pumpkin Brush Hog and, you know, I feel like scent is important, you know, I may take a drop or two of scent and squirt it in a bag of Green Pumpkin Brush Hogs so as I utilize those through the course of the day they are already seasoned up a little bit.

Zoom:  Thanks Mike – Good luck at the Classic!

by David A. Brown – Bassmaster.com

During most of the year, a simple rule influences bass fishing: Find the bait, and you’ll find the fish. Winter throws a knot in that line by making it much tougher to locate the chow. Without a definitive game plan, cold days can turn into a whole lot of looking with not a whole lot of fishing.

“It gets a lot harder to follow the bait in the wintertime,” says Alabama pro Gerald Swindle. “This is the hardest time of year to follow the schools.”

Granted, baitfish numbers expand greatly once warm weather returns, but there’s still plenty of finned forage to be found in the year’s first quarter. For Swindle, it’s all about dialing in the spots where baitfish will feel most comfortable.

In reservoirs, his prime winter targets are the bottoms of creek channels. Anywhere he finds a creek dumping into the main channel, Swindle expects to find bait gathered at the lowest point of that drop. On warm days, baitfish may move up to the shallow channel edges, but the rest of the time, they’re hanging low.

Click here to read the full story at Bassmaster.com

Hi Everyone,

Drew Gregory from RiverBassin.com just posted this video on the Zoom Ultra-Vibe Speed Craw.  He got some real nice under water shots of the Speed Craw.  Thanks for sharing Drew!!!

And just in case you missed it, Drew was recently attacked by a goose on one of his river trips and its hilarious. You can see it (sorry Drew) here.

Hi everyone!

Zoom Pro Marty Stone describes how he rigs the Zoom Ol Monster and Mag II. He gives a real neat tip on how to eliminate line twist when texas rigging these worms.

Many of you have discovered the Magnum Shakey Head worm that was brought out last spring by Zoom.  But for those of you who haven’t, here are few techniques that are proven producers.

The standard technique that most assume is on a shakey head jig.  Use a 1/4, 3/16, or 1/8 oz jig head, depending on how deep you want fish, and work it around structure and humps.  The Magnum Shakey has a little bit longer profile and more tail action than the regular shakey head worm.  This worm is very effective when the fish are still in a summertime pattern and not really chasing bait yet.

Another great way to use the Magnum Shakey Head is to fish it like a trick worm.   Rig it weightless with a swivel, cast it out and let it sink just a few inches below the surface and jerk it or “trick” it back to the boat.  This is a very effective technique in the spring during the spawn, as well as the fall, when shad starting heading to the backs of creeks and the bass are on the move.

The Magnum Shakey Head is available in 12 Zoom colors.  Here is a purchase link for Magnum Shakey Heads at Landbigfish.com

Hi everyone!

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about the terminology and sizes of certain flukes. So… I decided to create a little chart that shows off our current line up of flukes. There are two kinds of flukes and five different sizes in Zoom’s lineup. Check out the chart below to see breakdown of Zoom flukes.

Click on the images above to enlarge them.

To see the color charts for all of the flukes, click on our fluke page link below:

http://zoombait.com/trickflukes/flukes/

Zoom pro Terry Bolton suggests putting summer-time plastics on a diet

Summer time worming for bass is an art form and few know it better than Zoom pro Terry Bolton. Bolton lived and guided on Kentucky Lake for many years. During the summers he laced miles of the lake’s infamous ledges with a wide variety of plastic worms.  Through those years of experience, Bolton has developed a routine to slim his plastic worms down as water temperatures go up.

“Basically, as the summer wears on, I go smaller, skinner, lighter and with less action in my worm selection,” Bolton explained. “It’s a trend that definitely works on TVA lakes throughout the summer and in a lot of other lakes, too.”

When ravished post-spawn bass first hit the ledges on TVA impoundments around the end of May and first of June, the fish are extremely aggressive and will eat anything that moves, including large worms.

“Not only are the ledge fish more aggressive that time of year, but we generally have more stained water, more current and less fishing pressure,” Bolton revealed. “That’s when I go to a bigger worm with a lot of action like a Magnum Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm with a paddle tail or a 10-inch Ol’ Monster.”

During this early-summer-time frenzy, Bolton tops his big worms with heavier 1/2- or 3/8-ounce weights.

“I employ a lot of lift and drop action to the worm early in the season,” he revealed. “The fish want something falling past them with a lot of vibration.”

But by July, Bolton starts altering his worm selection, slimming them down a bit.

“Once the water starts getting up past 82 degrees, it clears up and the fishing pressure begins to take its toll, I resort to smaller worms with less action,” he said. “The Mag II is awesome for the mid summer months – it’s a little thinner and its tail action is more subtle. I’ll drop down to a 5/16- or 1/4-ounce weight to give the worm a slower, more tantalizing fall.”

By the time late summer and early fall arrive, Bolton says “thin is in” and he goes to Zoom’s straight-tail worms including the original Trick Worm and Magnum Trick Worm.

“For some reason, the later in the summer it gets, the more sluggish the fish become and the less action the fish want in the worm, so I’ll back way off to the Trick Worms with a ¼-ounce weight,” he explained.

As for line size, Bolton employs 10- and 12-pound test fluorocarbons a majority of the time, regardless of the worm size or action.

And for colors, he lightens up as the season progresses, too.

“I like the plums, red bugs or junebugs early in the season with the bigger worms,” he said. “But by late summer and fall with the clearer waters, I move more towards the green pumpkins and watermelons.”

“Just remember, the later in the summer it gets, think smaller, skinnier, lighter weights, lighter colors and less action,” Bolton added. “And that should help get you a few more bites during the dog days of summer.”