SoftScience A New Sole Mate for Angling Adventures

SoftScience  A New Sole Mate for Angling Adventures

This season I finally stopped using cheap waterproof shoes that rip, break, un-tie, and take forever to drain and dry. This year, I’ve discovered some great fishing footwear from SoftScience and I have picked up two different pairs for the 2017 season. The Terrafin and the Fin 2.0.

The Terrafin is an awesome wading boot for walking the waters and kayak fishing. I wear these in cool and cold weather with dry suits, waders, and rain pants. These boots are lightweight and I mean shockingly light.  Also slip-resistant on moss-covered rocks and when pulling your yak up an embankment. Both have a soft Trileon™ sole that conforms to uneven surfaces. This lace-up wading boot, with its self-draining system and all-synthetic mesh upper, dries faster than any other fly fishing boot.

The Fin 2.0 could possibly be the most comfortable performance fishing shoe. These lace-up fishing shoes with a self-draining system and all-synthetic mesh upper, dry quickly and offer best-in-class foot support and traction on wet and slippery boat decks and kayak plastics. These are so light and comfortable that I wore them around the house instead of my gym shoes! I will be using these in the hot days of summer when I need to stay cool and dry off quickly. The material is breathable, comfy, and the they are roomy.

SoftScience is doing some truly amazing things in fishing footwear. With just the self draining technology and the light weight alone. These things truly rock. You can find them at www.softscience.com 

Fishing's Magic Armor from Sun, Heat. and Invaders

Fishing's Magic Armor from Sun, Heat. and Invaders 

 I am glad to see the awareness of being prepared while fishing and being safe has taken a big stage on the angling scene. Protection from the heat and sun have always been important for your health. But the fishing world is finding that the right protection not only protects but can help you score more fish on any outing. When it comes to having the right protection there is one simple truth. If you are NOT hot, wet, and tired you fish longer. This translates in to more time on the water, more casts, more opportunities, and more landed fish, of any species! 

 Lets talk about your torso and face. T-shirts work on mild days and some vitamin D is good for you. But if your going to be out for hours you need something better. I got involved with GILLZ because I sweat like crazy and being Irish and pale my first few trips I tend to burn. i needed to cool things down. Their Tournament Shirts have built-in Cross-Breeze VentilationTM. These mesh side vents run on the inside of the sleeves and down the side of the shirt, keeping you dry and cool – even on the hottest days. I wore my GILLZ shirts on a bunch of trips in a row. One day I just grabbed one of my black guide t-shirts. Once the sun came up I could not figure out why I was so hot and sweating like a sprinkler. I realized the GILLZ shirt made a huge difference especially when the breeze came by! Man I missed those vents!!! 

 The GiLLZ mask is vented as well and has front breathing mesh! Everyone is selling buffs these days and they do protect from the sun. However I wanted more function. I am always wearing Pivothead glasses and with the other face buffs the glasses always fogged. They may look nice but they are thicker and hotter. During a bass competition I found just how good my mask was. The tourney was hot, no wind, and there was a bug hatch that day. I quickly learned to cover my nose and tuck the mask in my shirt after a few unwanted visitors invaded!!. I locked those little jerks right out. MY EYES, EAR, NOSE, and NECK were totally protected. Lastly I should mention the stain protection of the GILLZ products. I go after slimy carp and cut bait for cats for 6 hours at a time. All stains, especially the shoulders were I wipe my hands came out!! I would recommend these products for any angler. 

 Stay cool and don't let bugs in your nose.

 http://gillz-gear.com/

Kayak Bass Tournament Angling Adventure

My First Kayak Bass Tournament of 2016

After a fantastic kayak season last year including a huge Kayak Wars win, I decided I was going to mix things up this year. Try new water and experiences. So I decided to join the Kayak Bass League. I will be fishing four tournaments this year just for bass which is not the multi-species experiences I have become accustomed to.

I was a hardcore bass fanatic in the past but since I have not been chasing them constantly I was honestly nervous about my ability to go toe to toe with guys living and breathing bass.

The tournament was at Jim Edgar Panther Creek. I was hoping to practice with a day of pre-fishing but a better option came along as I watched my beautiful little niece get her first communion. Our family are Irish Catholics and this is not a thing you miss.

My good friend Josh was fishing the tourney as well and we decided we would fish together and share and info that may give us an edge on the competition. Josh got the chance to pre-fish an unfortunately found the fish to be on beds and not in a biting mood. After I got this bothersome news I stopped at a sports store and bought baits for us we thought would help in this situation.

I drove the three hours down to Panther Creek the night before and we stayed at a wonderful lodge called Ghost Hollow Lodge. Jc a staff member for KBL hooked us up with this wonderful place only minutes away from the launch. We spent the night laughing and trading stories with the KBL guys. Including the story of the snake that visited Josh's kayak!! Which he thought was no big deal. I DID.

We had our morning checks and meeting and we left for the farthest corner of the lake. With my asthma going against the wind, paddling long distances, and being able to keep up is becoming an issue so peddles or a trolling motor may have to be a change I make if I continue to fish big water. I am not getting any younger.

We were pre-pared to fish bass beds the whole day every rod rigged differently with the same goals either to get them mad or get them to remove our baits off their clean nesting spots. However a strange thing happened our beds were empty!!!

What the heck do we do now? Josh started throwing a small crank and scored several fish with just 2 just big enough to count. Then I started finesse fishing plastic and started catching fish I caught about thirteen for the day on this technique seven or 8 came on a Crabby Bass Lures Zipper Worm! But they were all just to small.

We looked back to the beds and a few fish were back! But for some reason they wouldn’t stay on them. It was like the were just swimming by every few minutes to check on them. These big fish were not playing today and refuse to even notice anything we put out.

I decided to go up into the shallowest water with piles of dead wood and weeds. On my way I fan casted with a custom chatter frog keeping it just under the surface. That is when I struck gold! SMACK! “Fish on!” I yelled. I grab the net frantically and landed the 16.75 inch bass as fast as I could. Things happened so fast I forgot to turn on my Pivothead Glasses! Another couple of casts and in less then a foot of water SPLASH!!! A second 16 inch fish came shooting out of the water!! After that fish I made so many casts I broke a blood vessel in my finger.

We ran out of time and each with only two fish we thought we would be at the bottom of the leader board. When they said bring in your fish I noticed not many guys walked up and yet I thought I would be the last. They called the second place winner and called my name!! Holy %$#@!!! I GOT SECOND!!!!  It was awesome!!!

What is great about Kayak bass tournaments is you don’t need thousands of dollars in boats and motors. The average angler can afford a kayak and for a small entry fee can go get their own tournament angling adventure.

I would like to thank my sponsors Pivothead, Notchgear, and Daves Tangle Free Weights and for this adventure a special thanks goes to GillzFishing Apparel and Lori Gosewisch for getting me my custom jersey just in time ! I LOVE IT!! Also to Crabby Bass for always coming through and catching fish even if they were short. I caught a decent amount of fish when many fisherman came up empty.