Saturday, February 21, 2015

Yamamoto Senko Rigging

Yamamoto Senko Rigging Options

It’s amazing the versatility of one soft plastic stick bait. Yes, the Yamamoto Senko and its wide range of rigging possibilities are most likely endless; however, here is a detailed list of the most common ways to rig a Senko. All of the tackle mentioned in this article can be found here on our site.

Texas Rigged Senko

This is the most traditional way to rig a Senko. Texas rigging the Senko this then resting the hook point in the body of the bait provides the ultimate weedless presentation. Add a weight above the hook to cast further, get the bait down deeper or give it a different action. Go weightless for a slow, subtle, sure way to stick some fish even in the thickest of obstacles. Most worm hook variations will work for easy rigging; for example, something like a Gamakatsu Round Bend Offset Worm Hook or an Owner All Purpose Soft Bait Hook will do the job perfectly depending on your personal preference. Texas rigging is the way to rig a Senko on a shaky head, drop shot, Carolina rig or as a trailer and all can be done weedless or not.

Wacky-Rigged Senko

Wacky rigging a Senko is one of the most unique and fun ways to catch fish. Even within the technique itself there is a wide range of possibilities. To Wacky rig a Senko you can use just a Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap Hook or a Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky Hook (which has a dual-wire weedguard) and a Senko, often times you will discover you end up replacing a Senko after each caught fish due to the plastic tearing. To aid in the life of the Senko, use an O-ring as a place holder for the hook. Another hook option is the CHT Tackle Double Wacky Hook which has an O-ring already attached and provides two hooks instead of one.
Fishing weight-less allows the bait’s ends to fall slowly, roll, flap, and twitch freely depending on how you work the bait. If you add a nail weight to the head of the Senko it makes the bait fall head down, faster (depending on weight) and the action is uneven, which isn’t a bad way to fish it. This will let you work the bait more on the bottom, dragging or hopping it while still providing a lot of action. You can also add weight and get an event different action if you use a weighted jig head such as an Eco Pro Tungsten Flick Head. There are other brands, some come with a wire weed-guard and others don’t. This will allow the bait to fall at a faster rate, but maintain equilibrium and action on the fall and retrieve. When using an O-ring with any of these hooks it will rotate the hook stance parallel with the bait allowing the Senko to often times slide up the line when you have a fish hooked, without an O-ring and placing the hook in the guts of the plastic will place the hook perpendicular to the bait. Wacky rigging a Senko is very versatile, one of the techniques where this can be applied is with a drop shot for example.

GoPro Sale - Free Gift Card w/ Purchase

GoPromo Sale

GoPro Cameras Promotion - An exclusive offer to Monster Fishing Tackle customers, we are offering a Monster Fishing Tackle Gift Card with the purchase of any GoPro Hero4 Silver or Hero 4 Black Camera. This offer is only available for our members - you must have a registered account in order to receive your gift card. If you are not a registered user, simply enter a password at checkout to create your account.

Any purchase of the GoPro Hero4 Black by a registered user will receive a gift card valued at $50 and any purchase of the GoPro Hero4 Silver will receive a $40 gift card.

How Does it Work?

Upon adding the GoPro Hero4 Camera to your cart you'll see a Gift Card has been also added to your cart. Once your order ships, you will be emailed a gift card to use at your discretion. As stated, this deal is registered users only, you must have an account for your gift card to be made active. If you check out anonymously, you will not receive the gift card.

Returns?

GoPro Cameras are only eligible for return if unused in original packaging. Should you choose to return your GoPro, you will receive a refund for total cost of the transaction less gift card value.

Visit MonsterFishingTackle.com for more details.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Rapala Shadow Rap

Rapala Shadow Rap

Shrouded in mystery, the Rapala Shadow Rap is one of the most anticipated lure releases in recent memory. Rapala has leaked very little about this secret project, but we are getting some clues from the videos they released in the past weeks. 

What we know:
The Rapala Shadow Rap is some sort of jerkbait lure that will have a different action than anythign currently on the market today. Bassmaster Elite Series angler Brandon Palaniuk describes it as having a side to side shimmy that combines with the erratic action of jerkbaits to create the ideal cold water fishing lure. 

You can see more info on the Rapala Shadow Rap by visiting Monster Fishing Tackle.



Thursday, February 5, 2015

Monster Fishing Tackle Signs Aaron Martens

Cotati, CA – Fishing tackle e-commerce site MonsterFishingTackle.com has added Aaron Martens as their brand ambassador for 2015. Monster Fishing Tackle specializes in bass fishing tackle and accessories for anglers anywhere on the spectrum of experience, from the beginning angler to the top professionals.

Two-time B.A.S.S. Elite Series Angler of the Year Aaron Martens said, “Not many anglers have more tackle than me; I am serious about tackle. From my time dealing with Monster Fishing Tackle, I know they are serious about supplying anglers with the best tackle. I look forward to working with them to make sure they have the best tackle: from the stuff I use everyday to the stuff only a select few know about. Through their site, I will be able to educate anglers and share secret baits, techniques, and even alterations I make to current baits.”
Monster Fishing Tackle is a family business that was started by Ken Elie over 25 years ago in a small shop in Rohnert Park, California. Today that shop has grown to over 20,000 square feet and employs many local fishing experts. Marketing manager Pat Elie said, “Working with Aaron is a dream come true. We’ve worked hard to build a store and website that offers anglers the best tackle for chasing bass or other species. On site, we’ve employed many regional experts that work one-on-one with customers to ensure success on their fishing trips. Adding Aaron will allow us to do the same for anglers all around the globe through our website. His time on the water and unique experience with fishing products also offers us an exclusive insight to the best tackle in the world, which we will utilize to educate our buyers about the latest and most effective products.”
Martens is often referred to as “the Tackle Doctor” by his peers, and while some may not agree with his enthusiasm about tackle, all respect it and appreciate it. Martens said, “I spend twice the amount of time working on tackle than I do actually fishing. Just the other day, I spent six hours working on 25 baits for the Bassmaster Classic. I’ve never been shy about sharing what I think about fishing tackle, and I know Monster Fishing Tackle will give me a platform to share these thoughts with anglers everywhere.”
As part of the agreement, Monster Fishing Tackle will become a one-stop-shop for anything Aaron uses while fishing whether the manufacturer sponsors Martens or not. Monster Fishing Tackle buyer Tim Elie said, “We’ve always strived to stock the best equipment for our customers; anything good enough to find its way into Aaron’s tackle box is definitely good enough for any angler on the planet.”
For Monster Fishing Tackle, this agreement gives them the ability to add another level of service for their customers. Tim Elie said, “It doesn’t matter if a customer is preparing for their first fishing trip or they fish five days a week; providing Aaron’s insight on various tackle will be helpful to them.”
For Martens, the agreement is about educating and offering his fans around the world a one-stop location to get the products he uses on tour. Furthermore, it’s about having an additional avenue to educate the fans on how to catch more fish. Martens said, “Fishing is a healthy and great activity, and I want everyone out there to go fishing more. If I can help anglers catch more fish by sharing the things I have figured out over my career – it’ll get them back out fishing more.”

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Florida Bass Fishing Lures - January 2015

Florida Bass Fishing Lures - January 2015

After back to back triple-a level bass fishing tournaments held in the state of Florida, we've written a brief rundown of the baits used by the top finishers from each event and a little explanation of how they utilized those lures. The first event, a Bassmaster Southern Open, took place on Lake Toho January 15-17th and was won by Bassmaster Elite Series pro Chad Morgenthaler. 

Lake Toho Patterns:

Chad Morgenthaler

Morgenthaler bucked the trend of locking down to the typically more fertile Kissimmee and instead stayed close on lake Toho. Not only did he find a good concentration of big fish, he also gained substantial fishing time by avoiding the now notorious locking process that turned into a circus costing anglers both time and mental anguish. 

Morgenthaler relied primarily on one bait during the entirety of the tournament, a Missile Baits Baby D-Bomb in the Bruiser Flash color. This color has proven its merit over the years with a few noteworthy tournamnt victories and is probably the best selling color in early spring. Morgenthaler targeted outside vegetation clumps which he punched his bait through using a 1oz and 1.5oz tungsten punch weight. His approach was very slow and methodical allowing the bait to soak on the bottom for a few moments before popping it up to the mat and then allowing it to slide back down again. In order to fish the bait through such heavy vegetation mats, he needed a strong braided line which he spooled on a Shimano Chronarch Ci4+ Casting Reel.

Bobby Lane

Lane had a tournament of ups and downs with a strong 2nd day weight that catapulted him up the leaderboard and eventually set the stage for his 2nd place finish in the event. Lane kept his approach simple relying upon two baits: a texas-rigged Zoom Trick Worm and a Vibrating Jig.

Todd Auten

Auten was a threat to win all week and heading into the last day of the event remained an angler many thought could pull out the victory. Unfortunately, like many of the anglers, his bite cooled with the shift in wind. While Auten showed the bass a bit of everything, he credited a black/blue vibrating jig for many of his fish throughout the tournament.

Lake Okeechobee

Val Osinski

Osinski is no stranger to the Florida tournament bass fishing scene. In addition to being an accomplished angler, he is also the owner of the popular fishing tackle company, Gambler Lures. His knowledge of the ever-changing conditions would prove to be an essential component in his strategy. Osinski came out of the gates hot with a solid bag of 26lbs on day one of the tournament punching a Gambler Why Not paired with a Gambler KO Punch Skirt through reed heads around matted vegetation. He believes the bass were relating to this type of cover because they were staging to spawn, but this wave hadn't made their way to the beds yet. 

On day two of the tournament, he struggled early after his area was discovered by a larger number of competitors so he decided to make a change and move to some other productive water. After catching a small limit, he returned to his primary location and made a key adjustment to his presentation. As he was pulling his bait out of the vegetation to make another pitch, he was bit. The bite was vicious and surprising. This one bite clued him in that the fish were more prone to strike out of reaction and he therefore upped his weight size and changed his bait to present a quicker fall rate and more claw action. After this crucial change, he made it look easy bringing another big bag to the scales day three and winning the event by 12lbs.

Brandon Medlock

Medlock is another familiar name when it comes to Florida bass fishing. He's a regular at the big Florida bass tournaments and always a threat to bust a big bag. This event saw him bring one of the largest stringers of the competition to the scaled on day two which propelled him up the leaderboard and put him within striking distance on day three of the event. Despite his best efforts, Osinski's dominance was just too much for him to match and he ended up finishing 2nd. Medlock relied upon his namesake Medlock Double Guard Flipping Jig for every bass he caught during the week. He targeted prespawn fish as they began their move into spawning grounds.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Roboworm Monster Shad - Alive Shad

Roboworm Monster Shad Alive Shad

The newest addition to our Monster Shad family of baits is the Roboworm Alive Shad, a 3" soft plastic shad imitation that is primarily used for the drop shot technique. Anglers all over the country have developed a loyal following of our Monster Shad color available in a number of popular lures and plastics. Monster Shad has become a best seller because of it's unique color pattern that mimics all types of shad and baitfish that bass feed upon. 


Spotted, smallmouth or largemouth bass - the Monster Shad color doesn't limit itself to one species of bass. Anglers from California to Maine have found success with our exclusive colorway and the scope of fishermen keeps expanding as we develop the color in a wider range of baits. 

The Roboworm Alive Shad Monster Shad is certain to become one of the best selling dropshot worms and will prove especially effective for spotted and smallmouth bass due to the chartreuse and gold used in the bait - two of the most popular colors for the previously mentioned bass. 

Get yours today!

Friday, January 16, 2015

Yeti Coolers - We See SeaFoam

Yeti Limited Edition Seafoam Coolers

Yeti Limited Edition Seafoam Coolers
The cat is out of the bag, the Yeti Limited Edition Seafoam Coolers have been announced with a release date scheduled for a Spring 2015 release. Fans of the Yeti brand may remember the pink coolers that were offered in September/October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That limited edition production sold out almost instantaneously and created a pretty crazy black market for the product on auction sites such as eBay.This year, Yeti is seeing green, well, Seafoam green that is. Coming to Monster Fishing Tackle in April 2015, the Yeti Seafoam Coolers will be available in four of our best selling sizes: Roadie 20 and Tundra models 35, 45 & 60.
Yeti Seafoam Coolers
As mentioned, this run will be very limited, however, we have secured the largest order in the entire United States with hundreds of coolers allotted to our store. Our customers have spoken and Yeti Coolers is far and away their favorite ice chest for all outdoors activities.

Where to Buy Yeti Seafoam Coolers?

While we are typically opposed to pre-order sales, we at Monster Fishing Tackle have set up a waitlist for customers interested in purchasing this very limited edition Seafoam green cooler. Our waitlist will receive notification of arrival before anyone else and have 24 hours to purchase their coolers before we release them to the general public. So, what are you waiting for? Add your name to the list at www.monsterfishingtackle.com.