Megabass swimbait spark shad smallmouth Zaldain

Swimbait Tips for Big Smallmouth Bass

Chris Zaldain shares his finesse jighead approach on Minnesota’s Mille Lacs, where his Spark Shad 3″ and Orochi XX Shaky Head powered him to a five-fish limit

Megabass Dropshot Swimbait Zaldain

A Swimbait Solution to Dropshotting

Thin, wiggly worms, soft stickbaits and little goby imitators are the workhorses of the dropshotting world, but when California pro Chris Zaldain heads north in

Finding Brush Piles

Locating and Planting Brush Piles

One of the keys in competitive bass fishing is learning to focus on catching better than average-sized bass. The skill level of anglers has accelerated

2017 NEW PRODUCT: VISION ONETEN SILENT

The VISION ONETEN SILENT jerkbait brings deadly stealth to the undeniable performance of the VISION ONTEN, unleashing a fierce new weapon upon tournament waters. By consolidating the moving

WALKING THE DOG WITH STYLE

Ever since bass anglers first learned to “walk the dog” with a cigar-shaped topwater, it has been the Holy Grail of bass bites, a way

DEEP CRANKING WITH PRECISION

Once the bass move out to their deep water summertime haunts, some anglers are lost. They flail around, fishing the same crankbaits as everyone else,

Early Post-Spawn Topwater Fishing

The transition from pre-spawn, spawn, to post-spawn is not an exact science. When it comes to topwater techniques, these periods overlap and are far from

Thoughts on the Spawning Cycle

One of the valuable byproducts of the passage of time is the fact that fishing myths are dispelled on a regular basis. Two of the

GARUDA – ACTION VIDEO

Wide, powerful lip stiff-arms gnarly timber and submerged structure, allowing GARUDA to be deployed where other big baits so often foul. With rod tip held

SQUAREBILLS IN LATE SPRING

While square billed crankbaits are deadly in the pre-spawn, and again in the fall when voracious bass are herding shad to the backs of creeks,

DARK SLEEPER – UNDERWATER ACTION

The Dark Sleeper is built for contact, delivering key bites with its bottom-bouncing, snag-less design, and alluring tail-kick. Supple paddle-tail design kicks into gear even at slow,

VATALION – UNDERWATER ACTION

The Vatalion is a combination big vibration bait and glide bait. Slow retrieves will show off its rolling, snaking action. Pause the retrieve, and Vatalion harnesses its

CRANKING IN COLD CLEAR WATER

There’s no better tool for covering water in the early season than a square bill crankbait, but sometimes in cold springtime water the four-wheel-drive approach

DESTROYER® RODS ARRIVE IN NORTH AMERICA

Drawing upon decades of Japanese design evolution and expertise, the long-awaited Destroyer rod begins its journey anew in the United States. First released in Japan

When Small Jerkbaits Shine

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen many anglers make is that they get locked into throwing only a standard-size jerkbait like the Vision 110. If

Best Wintertime Jerkbait Locations

Jerkbait fishing may be one of the most difficult techniques to master, but on those occasions when you put the puzzle together there’s almost nothing in

HOW TO CHOOSE JERKBAIT COLORS

  Cold weather jerkbaiting is an effective way to catch lethargic and non-committal bass, but it also sits on a fragile precipice – any failure

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO GLIDEBAIT FISHING

Bassmaster Elite Pro Chris Zaldain shares his approach to glide bait fishing. From his background in California to bodies of water across the country, Chris shares

Jerkbaits in 40-degree Waters

Traditionally, most anglers have viewed winter as the prime time for jerkbait fishing. The conventional wisdom indicated that suspending jerkbaits were only effective for sluggish

Understanding Jerkbait Conditions

In my opinion, jerkbait fishing can be one of the most complicated techniques in bass fishing, but if practiced correctly it can also be among

2017: NEW VISION ONETEN COLORS

Introducing four new patterns for the vaunted Vision Oneten Jerkbait! From the semi-transparent metallic finish of the MG SEXY STREAM to the deep, multi-faceted pearls of

Zaldain Lake Fork Ito Shiner

Four Seasons of Jerkbait Fishing

While it’s true that jerkbaits are the dominant prespawn lure throughout much of the country, subtle and not so subtle variations in design make them

KANATA: ACTION VIDEO

The Kanata is a large, slim-profiled jerkbait, perfect for those predators targeting larger forage. With a Triple Tungsten Moving-Balancer System (PAT.), the Kanata is capable of tremendous

Fishing the Dot Crawler

Chris Zaldain shares his favorite ways to rig the Dot Crawler 4.8″ and Dot Crawler 5.8″ soft plastic stick bait! From rigging shaky heads with

S-CRANK: HUNTING CRANKBAIT

Born of our STW (Support To Win) development program, the S-Crank was built to do two seemingly impossible things: combine true square-bill action with an

I-LOUD IN ACTION

The i-LOUD’s patented Rudder Action Balancer System (RAB) throws weight from the left to right side with a resounding ‘knocking’ sound. This creates a ton of noise,

Finesse Swimbaits with Chris Zaldain

Bassmaster Elite angler Chris Zaldain shares how he fishes 3″ swimbaits like the Spark Shad for key bites. From rigging to hook set, Chris shares the tips

A Guide to Replacing Jerkbait Hooks

The world of treble hooks can be a confusing one, even to the experienced angler. Manufacturers offer a wide range of models, including round bends,

How to Fish the Bottle Shrimp

Bassmaster Elite pro-Chris Zaldain shares his tips on how to rig and fish the Bottle Shrimp, a craw imitation softbait perfect for Texas rigs, jig