Product Review; Uncovering Scent Theories

“How do you know when to use fish attractants/scents and do you think they really work?” Seems the subject of using scents comes up more often these days with my partners in the boat. If the same question came up a couple of years ago I would have said “I only use them to cover up unwanted scents the fish don’t like” a theory shared by many and written about extensively in articles. I even recently read an article that said no scent could attract fish and can only be used to mask unwanted odors/taste. But now my answer is, any and all the time I am on the water is when you should use fish attractants.

A few years ago I had the good fortune to find Bio Edge fishing products a line of powerful all natural fishing scents. I started using them extensively, experimenting with a number of different uses and disproving many theories even I thought viable. It is probably true that many of the “old school” scents such as anise, garlic, synthetic or manmade oils and fruit flavors can probably only mask unwanted odors like plastic, fuel, oil, or human scent as none of these occur naturally or are food sources for game fish. But take 100% natural extracts from real crawfish, shad, minnows, shrimp and other baits containing all the oils, pheromones, amino acids, and enzymes and you can’t help but be ringing the dinner bell for your favorite game fish. That is my theory anyway and I spent the last several years proving it.
Although I am a “most time” Professional Bass Tournament Fisherman I also happen to live on the water of Padre Island and the famous Gulf Coast bays and estuaries. If I am not practicing or participating in a tournament I am spending time on the water in my back yard, so I am intimately familiar with the importance of natural forage (bait) and how important they are for attracting fish.  Professional saltwater anglers and Guides watch for “slicks” in the shallow calm flats of the bays caused by pods of bait or other fish which is a sure sign of feeding Speckled Trout or Redfish. You also don’t need to have spent many hours fishing saltwater to know “chumming” is important to start and sustain a feeding frenzy or bring fish in from the huge expanse of water the Gulf and bays present. I have taken this experience from the saline infested water and used them as a basis for my maybe not-so-scientific experiments on my favorite lakes to prove out my theories (common sense really). Here are some of my theory’s I have proven out in tournaments and the tips and uses for this great new product.

Make your own bait fish pod/school; 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water and Bass follow the baitfish are two basic rules for fishing, but it is often tough to find both happening at the same time in the same place. Large schools of shad release huge trails of oils and scales as they move through the water and use pheromones to “communicate” danger to the school. It can be theorized that Bass and other game fish pick up on the trails to locate and track these schools of bait. You can create this same situation to pique the interest of the fish in your favorite area even in absents of bait schools or pods. When fishing your favorite “hole” or point and the fish seem to slow down or are not cooperating create your own school of baitfish to “swim” over your favorite spot. I have used this on several occasions to trigger feeding in areas I know regularly hold fish. Position your boat upwind or up current before you load up your favorite bait with Bio Edge potion in your local lakes favorite forage bait “flavor”. Holding the bait over the side liberally apply Bio Edge to your bait. The slick created on the water from the excess dripping from your bait will drift over the spot and generate interest from any fish that may be lounging around.
Bring the fish to you; This is another science project that has paid big dividends; as a matter of fact it got me a Division Championship in 2010. Many lakes have near impenetrable cover that can make it all but impossible to reach the fish holding close to the bank or deep in the heavy cover. Here in South Texas the thick Hydrilla mats often grow out several 100 feet from the bank; you can tell when the fish are holding there, out of your reach and it can drive you crazy and waste valuable tournament time trying to figure a way to get to them. Using the theories and techniques described in Making your own bait fish school you can attract (yes, I said attract) the fish to you. Load your bait with Bio edge potion working the outsides of the cover (I prefer the crawfish scent as I mainly use creature baits to flip the heavy cover). Work back and forth in a relatively small area the turbulence from your trolling motor, wind and wave action push the oils, enzymes and pheromones back into the cover. It will not take a whole lot of “ringing the dinner bell” to get the fish to migrate out to their feeding areas on the outside edge of the cover. So much for the theory that you cannot use scents as attractants.
Best invention ever or less is more… natural; Though Bio Edge may not be the original inventors of this type applicator the Wand is the most amazing scent applicator I have ever used. There is absolutely no mess or spillage, it stays where you put it and lasts much longer on your baits than other liquid scents. I talked earlier about those secrets the saltwater anglers use, the most savvy have a trick of taking the live bait shrimp and slightly splitting the back causing pheromones to be slowly release into the water that no self righteous game fish can resist. While other formulas cause an immediate huge slick when the bait is dropped into the water; the thick solid of the wand slowly leaches the oils, amino acids and pheromones into the water in a much more natural way.
Try some on your under arms ( That’ll mask some odor); The thick solid of the Bio Edge Wand not only is the least messy scent I have ever used, but also allows you to control the use/release of the scent. When flippin’ and pitchin’ creature baits apply a little crawfish scent from the wand under the “flippers/arms” of the bait. The bait falls to the bottom arms closed, every time you hop or jump the bait the arms spread releasing the Bio Edge scent at the time and amount you can control. This technique is extremely deadly on bedding fish as you can shake the bait slightly causing the arms to fan the natural oils and pheromones into the water driving the fishes senses wild.
It’s no longer just a “cover-up”. Forget all the theories and opinions you may have had and/or read about on the old “snake oil” fish formulas/scents, which may have rattled around in your boat only for those times you had to cover the odor from fueling the boat, lathering on the sun screen, or eating your bologna sandwich. The new 100% natural formulas from Bio Edge will become an important part of your fishing arsenal. Try some of these tips the next time you go out to your favorite body of water or experiment with your own ideas, it will make a believer out of you. Weather you fish freshwater, saltwater or both; Bio Edge has many attractants in dozens of bait types to satisfy whatever game fish you hunt. 

Product Review – 2012 St. Croix Legend Tournament Series (Part 1)

Now that I have had the new 2012 St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass rods for about 4 months and have put them through their paces it’s time to talk about how they performed. I purchased the new TBC73MHF Carolina Rig, TBC74HF Slop-N-Frog/Swim Jig, TBC71MF Plastics (my absolute favorite all ‘round rod), TBC71MHF Spinnerbait/Jig-N-Worm, and the TBC710HM Magnum Cranker models and the new improvements are readily apparent right out of the tube. The new NSi (Nano Silica), 3M matrix resin provides for 30% more strength with no added weight to the already super light rods  (a great bonus but I have never had any issues with strength in the St Croix’s and the latest video posted to my You Tube Channel will show evidence to that).  The new small-sized Fuji® K Series tangle-free guides and the slightly different paint scheme give impressive aesthetics as well as function. The new Fuji reel seats on all the 2012 models was an instant winner with me,while mounting my new Ardent Edge Elite reels the reel seats seem to be tougher, easier to handle, with bigger grips for us old folks. I had to think twice about mounting reels and using the new rods as they were so impressive looking I wanted to put them in my trophy case to impress the fishin’ buddies when they come over. But in South Texas pretty don’t cut it with the biggest average Bass in the country and some of the harshest, toughest cover and conditions it takes only the best equipment to cut it.


First stop was Coleto Creek, a power plant lake in the dead of winter with cold temperatures, raining sideways, and 20 to 30 MPH winds. (It was tough on me even if the rods did not feel a thing.) Couple the weather conditons with thick hydrilla mats and pre-spawn conditions the perfect arena to give the new Spinnerbait and Plastics rods a workout. The attributes of the closely spaced small guides was apparent right away in the screaming wind. Around these parts braid is the primary line which has a nasty habit of getting “blown out” from the space between eyelets, bowing the line in multiple places along the rod slowing the cast and increasing backlash issues (even worse when wet). The closely spaced small Fuji® guides held the line along the rod with no “blow out” and I was impressed by the noticeable additional casting distance. The first fish came on a spinnerbait as it crept across a small pocket in the heavy hydrilla. The 7 lb plus bass smashed it and dug straight into the thick weeds. Despite the braided line screaming under the strain of the fish and 50 pounds of hydrilla the Spinnerbait/Jig combination power of the rod pulled the fish out without breaking a sweat. The TBC71MHF Spinnerbait/Jig-N-Worm has the backbone you need for powerful hook sets or winching fish from heavy cover coupled with right amount of speed at the tip to accurately cast spinnerbaits even in tight places. 
As I said earlier my favorite all around St.Croix rod has been the Plastics model, I have 4 in the MOJO BASS series (MBC70MF). Again right out of tube there are some noticeable differences the (Bass Series) Legend Tournament TBC71MF Plastics is 1 inch longer than its predecessor and seems to have an overall thinner diameter blank and very nice “long” taper. The 2012 model seems to be noticeable light and feels slightly “stiffer” to me resulting in much better feel/sensitivity.

The Mojo series has 9 eyelets (including tip) and the 2012 Plastics has 12 small-sized Fuji® K Series tangle-free guides (a true work of art). During the tournament that day I had to transfer a reel to the new rod and with freezing wet hand the new Fuji reel seat was worth its weight in gold. This rod got the most workout as I used it to “Rip” a rattle trap, crank a square bill and my secret weapon on Coleto a swimmin’ worm. Usually wary about changes in my favorite tools the new Plastics rod far surpassed my expectations and is now even more versatile than before with added power and lighter weight. I fished this new St. Croix for over 6 hours that day with little to no fatigue, a tournament win, with no fish losses or missed strikes, and the majority of the fish coming out of super thick grass. St. Croix has truly oudone themselves with the great improvements in the new 2012 rod series.
Next stop legendary Lake Falcon watch for the second part of this Rod Review and If you find yourself in South Texas check out the selection of St. Croix Rods at Roy’s Bait and Tackle Outfitters.

Tech Tip - Livewell/Fish Care

Are You Ready to Catch Fish? The title question may seem to have an obvious answer to most of us but, are you really ready to catch fish. Most serious fishermen spend countless hours preparing for the next tournament or other fishing expedition from map recons and fine tuning our tackle to checking the tire pressure on the boat trailer. But the question was not are you ready to go fishing rather are you ready to catch fish. One of the most important things in preparation and unfortunately, usually the most overlooked is, are we prepared to catch fish and properly take care of them to ensure a limit of healthy active fish are returned to the water and more importantly survive the hours after the release from the high stress environment the fish have endured for the last 4 to 8 hours. Further are you prepared for the eventuality that you may have to cull fish on the water? The next few paragraphs will give you some insight and tips on how you can be prepared to catch fish, take care of those fish, and get credit for every ounce of weight you worked so hard to get in the boat. Make preparations for catching fish as diligently as you now make preparations for going fishing. If you’re fortunate enough to own a Triton Boat there is a custom made place for all the materials you will need to maintain a healthy limit of fish and have an efficient culling system. The tray in one of the rear stowage compartments located next to the live wells is a prime place to have everything at your fingertips. The basic items you will need include; a “flat board”/ measuring board, a hand held fish scale, culling tags, Rejuvenade replenishment solution, needle for “fizzing” or deflating the swim bladder of fish caught in deeper water, balance beam, and a bonus would be to carry a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (with a small measuring cup) and a quality weight bag for transporting your catch to the scales. Proper care of the water in your livewell is paramount to keeping a limit of fish alive for the weigh-in (especially in the coming summer months) and more importantly to eliminate post release mortality often reported at tournament sites. Again it starts with preparation, it is just as important if not more important to clean your livewells just as you clean the boat before or after a tournament. Always rinse your livewells and cycle fresh water through your re-circulating pumps and hoses after each event. Wash your livewells thoroughly (soap and water) at regular intervals as well, bleach for cleaning and eliminating mold and fish injuring micro-organisms is key to the cleaning process. I recommend a powdered scouring powder (with bleach) as it has a visual residue so you can ensure you thoroughly rinse all the bleach from the wells. Prepare some fish energy drinks; using empty water or sport drink bottles (16 – 20 oz.) add one cap full of Rejuvenade, fill with water, cap, and place in the freezer (details to follow). When you get to the lake fill your livewells at least half full immediately upon getting to that first fishin’ hole (away from the launch area where oil and fuel accumulate). Immediately upon catching your first keeper get it to the livewell as soon as possible, turn your livewell pump on (manual) to finish filling the well, add one cap full (per 20 gallons) of Rejuvenade and ¾ cup of hydrogen peroxide.

There are two schools of thought on live well water care/circulation; continuous refreshing with clean water and/or re-circulating “treated” water. The goal in either case is to maintain a high concentration of oxygenated water. Under normal circumstances a volume of water will contain a certain amount of dissolved oxygen, the larger the volume the larger amount of dissolved oxygen it will contain, further the colder the water (within reason) the higher amount of dissolved oxygen it can contain as well. Since our livewells contain a limited volume of water the use of the hydrogen peroxide will “cheat the system” and maintain up to 30% more dissolved oxygen in a given volume of water. From January to May (in south Texas) I will normally use the continuous fresh water circulation (I feel it maintains better water quality with a large number if fish in the well), after all the lake is a pretty large volume, this requires re-treating the water as described above several times during the day. After about the first week or so of May water maintenance requires drastic action here in South Texas! I simply reverse the process, by treating the water and only “topping off” with fresh water as required (after running) and use the frozen Rejuvenade (fish energy drink) to retreat the water and lower the temperature, just take off the cap and drop it in the live well. The key at this point is to maintain the livewell water temperature cooler than the lake. Rejuvenade will neutralize chlorine from the water which allows you to add ice from your cooler in order to help maintain lower water temperature. Now that your livewells are ready it’s time to add some fish!

Proper, efficient culling can make or break you in a tournament situation and will also ensure your fish’s survival/healthy release for future events. Limited, careful handling of your catch is important to maintaining a healthy creel and there are several innovations on the market today to help with this. A good set of culling tags is a must there are several types of the new “dial in weight” tags on the market today. These tags let you set the weight of your fish right on the tag/ball which reduces handling of the fish and time wasted on recording information. I highly recommend the Ardent Smart Cull which is easily set one-handed, does not slip (numbers) and have outlasted all dial in weight type cull tags I have used. Clip on type tags are better for the fish and do not damage the fish’s mouth but often slip off in the livewell. However, when using wire “poke through” the lip type tags you can greatly reduce the amount of jaw and lip damage by properly attaching the clips. After boating and un-hooking the fish (always use wet hands) attach the tag first, pierce the bottom lip just behind the thick, cartilage like part of the lip as close to the forward most (center tip) portion of the fishes mouth (next to the little “ball” in the center of the lower lip), this allows the fish to hang straight under the scale and does not rip the lower jaw. Again Ardent Smart Culls use a large oval type stainless steel clip that can easily be opened and closed one-handed. Hook your scale on the attached tag clip (never behind the gills or poke through the lip), dial the weight in on the tag, and immediately get the fish in the livewell. Always double check fish close in weight with the balance beam using the same process (hook the balance clip to the centered cull ball clip). Proper preparation and the right tools are the keys to a healthy limit of fish and keeping the competitive edge on the highly competitive circuits, be ready to catch fish. George Kunkle

Fishing Report - Laguna Madre, 2/9/12

Water is of course cold but clear and had the good fortune of hitting the tides about right. My son and his wife were visiting from Augusta, Ga so my neighbor and I took them out for some of the fishing they miss so much these days. The weather was absolutely horrible very cold, windy and raining sideways. Started by hitting some of my old (winter) standby spots in the canals and my neighbor hooked a nice keeper Trout and some small Reds. The plan was to go out to Emmords Hole but as the rain seemed to be moving in more and more we opted to stay close. Ran up into the Packary Channel and beached the boat on a spoil island. Almost immediately started catching Specks but with no keepers. We started with plastics, Gulp and some live shrimp on popping corks but moved out of desperation to bottom fishing shrimp. Much to my surprise we started boating keeper Trout with the rig as well as some small Flounder. Started running low on shrimp so I took some cut bait and used a BioEdge shrimp wand to try and tempt more fish. First cast out caught a Flounder the size of a trash can lid. By the end of the day despite some lousy weather came home with a dozen nice Trout three Flounder, and some Whiting. Needless to say my neighbor and I are going out again in the morning, no matter how bad the weather.

Fishing Report - Coleto Creek, 01/21/2012

Water is normal clarity (clear to slightly stained) with about 2 to 3 feet of visibility in all areas  fished this weekend. Lake level is 95.52 which is almost 3 feet below normal. Surface temp has gone up almost 10 degrees in a week and is 67.6 degrees in main lake and 64 to 66 up the rivers. The weather conditions were fantastic with light winds and mostly cloudy in the morning giving way to breezy partly sunny in the afternoon.
I fished the South Texas BASS Federation Nation season opener this weekend with a pretty good crowd of about 37 boats. The previous week while pre-fishing caught a lot of fish with Rattle Traps, Shallow Crankbaits and a couple of nice fish on spinnerbaits. I tried some deep water fishing with Carolina Rig and Jigs with no takers.
Saturday was indeed not the same with a slow start and mostly small fish until a nice 5 pound fish grabbed my Secret Weapon spinnerbait. I had a new Ardent Elite reel I had just put on my new 2012 St.Croix Bass Tournament Series Spinnerbait rod and I made a rookie mistake by not checking my drag and he decided to leave at the side of the boat (never really got the hook in him). But that gave me confidence to stick with the spinnerbait pattern and I started putting fish in the boat every other cast. The fish were coming up out of the grass to grab the spinnerbait running above (just ticking) the top of the grass. I must have boated at least 30 keeper fish and had a blast but could not get but 2 fish over 2 pounds. It was a great day for boating lots of fish but 13.40 was only good enough for 6th place (one place out of the money).
I was using a Gold Shad Quickstrike Spinnerbait from Secret Weapon in 3/16th ounce. The trick was to run it a slow as possible above the grass while jumping/jerking it to trigger the strikes (this seemed to be important as I saw many fish look at it but they would not hit it until I twitched it). While many people were fishing the mid-depth grass around me I was targeting the grass as shallow as I could get to. I had a new Ardent Edge Elite 6.5:1 reel loaded with 30 lb. Power Pro on a brand new St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Spinnerbait Rod (more on this awesome rod in another report) which allowed me to make very long casts to reach close to the bank while staying off the grass.
Sunday the fishing was extremely slow but I stuck with the same pattern and like Saturday I hit several areas in the lake and up the river multiple times with the confidence that if there the fish would hit the spinnerbait. By noon I was getting concerned with a limit that was certainly smaller than the day before. I noticed several Talapia swimming above the grass beds I was fishing and added some Bio Edge potion in Talapia to the spinnerbait and immediatly got several large fish to follow it to the boat, one twitch of the wrist and they would grab it. 17.26 pounds got me a check for 2nd place, less than 2 ounces behind the winner.
So if you want some fast action and lots of nice 2 to 3 pound fish get out to Coleto while the bite is on.

Fishing Report-Choke Canyon 12/28/2011

Choke Canyon 12/29/2011



Water is normal clarity (clear to slightly stained) with about 2 to 3 feet of visibility in all areas we fished today. Lake level is 220.5 which is almost 12 feet below normal. Surface temp is 55.6 degrees in main lake and 56 to 58 in backs of coves. The weather conditions were fantastic with light winds and partly cloudy in the morning giving way to mostly sunny by noon. Fishing has been reported to be slow to fair in the last few weeks with fish being widely scattered between deep and shallow areas. Grass is currently sparse and in water 4 feet or less but is still fairly green.
Mike S and I took advantage of the beautiful December weather to wet a line Wednesday. Spent the majority of the morning fishing deep ledges, humps and points with Carolina and Texas rigged lizards, Mag worms, and Brush Hogs getting only very soft light bites/bumps and no takers. Had a small flurry off the point/roadbed off Huisatch (Wee-satch) Island with a few misses by myself and Mike boating a nice keeper. Moved to some secondary points and shallow grass and tree areas in the afternoon with “no joy” except a few small fish hitting baits on the way in (seemingly suspended). Gave Naylors Tank Dam a try just prior to going in with no better success than anywhere else, the top of the dam is about 6 feet below the surface right now with the tops of the trees visible. I would defiantly rate the fishing as slooow, but it sure beat a day at work.
Coleto Creek is slow…Choke is slow… looks like I am making the trip to Falcon Friday, watch for the report.

Texas Fishing Net Blog Grand Opening

Hello Everyone,

This is my New Blog! for "everything fishing" in the great state of Texas...

Looking forward to posting Texas Lake Fishing Reports, information from the Bass Fishing Tournament Trails, Tech Tips, Fishing Product Reviews, How To's for freshwater and saltwater fishing, and my personal insights into the Fishing Industry in general.

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Tight Lines.