1. BPTer Jacob Wheeler gets Duckett.
Rods and reels, was Okuma. Look out for J-Wheels signature stuff out this spring.
2. BPTers Todd Faircloth and James Elam get Gamakatsu.
Todd also is now with Denali rods.
3. BPTer Keith Poche gets Abu/Berkley.
All the PowerBait you can sniff!
4. BPTer Freddy Roumbanis gets Six Gill reels.
Not sure if 6 gills means 3 fish or what, but here’s the website.
5. BPTer Justin “Time” Atkins gets Falcon Boats.
Believe he was Ranger.
6. Can BPTer Mike Iaconelli get cooler?
That’s a definite no (hahaha Ike!) but he did get A cooler…company: Wyld Gear. Never heard of it — here’s the website — but for a sec I thought it said Wylde and had to do with southern NJ homie Zakk Wylde:
7. BPTer Brandon Palaniuk got hisself a cold one.
Wasn’t thru the ice but was sho-nuff a “too dang cold to fish” one — water T 37-38. Smackered it on a Zoom Z3 Swamp Crawler dangled on an Alpha Angler DSR Rod.
Here’s how BP’s preparin’ for the BPTs.
8. BPTer James Watson likes the new Hail Mary.
New beefy Luck E Strike lipless crank:
> “The best thing about the new bait is the profile is the same for 3/4- and 1-oz, so now the 1-oz lipless crankbait isn’t too large. Another great quality is I can bomb it 100 miles wether it’s on fluorocarbon or braid.”
9. AFTCO signs BPTers and Elitists.
Josh Bertrand, Jeff Kriet and Wesley Strader on the BPT, and Cliff Pirch, Garrett Paquette, Drew Cook, Micah Frazier and Greg Dipalma on the Elites.
AFTCO already has Jason Christie, Dustin Connell, Todd Faircloth, Shin Fukae, Anthony Gagliardi, Russ Lane, Jared Lintner, Scott Martin and Michael Neal.
10. Elitist Jeff Gustafson gets Z-Man.
Gussy’s one of the Canadian invaders, much like these guys back in the day:
Gussy’s post “How I warm up for the season” can be summed up: Drive south.
11. Meet n Greet the pros info.
> Susquehanna Fishing Tackle (Columbia, PA) this Fri-Sat Jan11-12, listen to learnin’s from Ish Mornoe, David Fritts, Greg Dipalma and Jamey Caldwell (Big Bass Dreams dude Oliver Ngy will be there too).
> Bass and Saltwater Expo in Raleigh, NC, this weekend Jan 11-13, meet Brandon Palaniuk, Johnny Crews “Missile,” Tim Horton and Jamey Caldwell (he’ll be at JB Custom Rods on Sunday).
> Meet and get seminared at Bass U — this weekend in scenic NJ, the bassin’ capital of the world yo! I might go to get my bassin’ brain expanded and to check out the stylin’s of new Bass U emcee Pat “Travers” Renwick of StrayCasts fame/infamy.
12. FLWer Miles Burghoff gets Fitzy Rods.
13. Donny Barone un-retired.
Good! The don’s like:
14. Here’s you your MLF/BPT live-streamin’ hosts.
> For the play-by-play coverage, MLF veteran announcer Marty Stone will team with former pro angler JT Kenney, outdoors communicator Rob Newell, college sports announcer Chad McKee and social media personality Natalie Dillon.
No idea on the last 2, but the first 3 should be good…except for Marty. Gotcha Stone! Dude is way too serious…to which he’d say, straight-faced, “Jay I’m really not.” Hahaha love it!
15. Pure Feeshn/Berkley has a new CEO.
Dude says he fishes but nothing about bass, tho of course their biz ain’t all about the basses. He’s also on the Costa board.
Berkley and Abu have really gotten it together over the last 6 months or so. Hope the new owners don’t mess it up.
16. Missile Baits having no-entry derbies this year…
…with a 100% payback. HAHAHA kiddin’ Crews! Deets:
> The 1-day team events will feature a guaranteed $2,500 total payout with the winning team walking away with a guaranteed $1,000. The teams will only be allowed to have Missile Baits soft plastics and Missile Jigs skirted jigs in their boat, but any brands of terminal tackle will be allowed.
> The first event will be held on Lake Lanier, GA on Feb 24. The second tournament will be May 11 on Old Hickory Lake, TN.
Like getting the local dealers involved.
17. NetBait got a private equity shot.
Seems to be the thing nowadays, hope it works out for ’em. Got an email says the investment (doesn’t say it was a buyout) was by the Fingle Flagen Group, a “private equity company” which has no website I can find, includin’ the @hookset.com domain the email was sent from.
Hmm. Only other time I’ve heard that name is the first 2 seconds of the Def Leppard tune “Rock of Ages.”
HAHAHA! Jus’ messin’….
18. Garmin announced 2 things today.
Budget-friendlier Panoptix LiveScope transducer, and new merge of Garmin and Navionics maps.
19. New Ranger promo deals.
20. Merc $10 mil testing center is done.
At Fondue Lake, WI. Fondue? What’s up with the whole WI cheese thing?