AwareEnterrpise

3:16 Lure Company

2nd and O for 2012–Lake Okeechobee FLW Tour Open Preview

Published: 8 February 2012
Written by Alex Tech
No comments
Categories: 2012 Tournament Fishing, 3:16 Lure Company, Huddleston Deluxe, Rate of Stall, The Alabama Rig, Weedless Swimbaits
The House of the Rising Son: Okeechobee. Line thru, ball knobber boot tails, braided line and a trap hook rigging that brought me back to my days on San Vicente in the early 2000s. The 3:16 Rising Son, excellence is buoyancy and a thing I call, Rate of Stall---which are key to the grass fishing conversation--well, shallow grass anyway. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still a Vortex head, and Florida has other Vortexes that do damage besides hurricanes and tropical storms!!!

Alright, tournament time again, FLW Tour Open, Lake Okeechobee.   I haven’t said a whole lot since the Everstart.  Trying to manage information…This FLW Tour Open is my one Tour Event for 2012, and I dang sure don’t need to be helping out the list of guys who already are household names I’m fishing against!   So let me walk you thru my Everstart a little.  Day 1, I planned on throwing the bigbaits all day.  However, we had an unforecasted 15-20 MPH Wind from the NNE, that wrecked my major areas.  The wind not only seriously mucked up the water color, it was causing my bait to run funky.  Side wind and braided line swimbait fishing is no bueno.  Your bait tends to drag with the big bow in your line and there was no getting away from it.   I only had 2 fish for Day 1 and wanted to jump off the Kissimmee Bridge and just die.  My friend Roger Ray showed up at the house out of nowhere that evening.  He was down to fun fish, and it was a blessing to have a friend around and just snap me out of complete misery.  My only comfort was reading how many other guys sucked on Day 1, phew.   I mean, I drove straight home (was in first flight) fueled up the boat, and went to bed at 6:30.  Just so disgusted and angry, didn’t even check the standings until later that night.   Thanking Rodger once again for his use of time and timing.   So Day 2, I started in an area I’d seen a couple big ones hanging around beds, but not locked on, and wouldn’t eat.  Much better, calmer weather and conditions made things a little more normal and fishable to say the least.    I stopped short, set up, and made long casts to where I’d seen her and got a big bite in the first 2 minutes of fishing.  Solid 6+ pounder in the boat.  Hooray.   We moved a little further and fished on, and I made another long cast to another area a big one had been hanging around and BLOOSH, another solid 5+ pounder in the boat.  Hell yeah.  One hour in, I was back in the money and had plenty of time to fish.   I kept chunking the bigbaits the rest of the day, got another one 4+ and one about 2.5 just committing to the bigbaits all day.    Finished 21st place, and only weighed 6 fish for the entire tournament.  24 pounds in 6 fish.   Was 6 pounds from the Top 10 cut.  Kicking myself for being so one dimensional, because I could have easily made up 6 pounds in 4 fish if I knew what I know today.

There is a huge difference between the Gambler BB Cricket and the Beaver. The BB Cricket is probably 30% smaller which means it punches that much better, and the Beaver already rocks the house in the flipping and punching department. It's similar to the difference between the 6" and 8" Huddleston baits, big difference, but in small baits, the difference isn't so noticeable, unless you really stop and look and fish. The BB Cricket can be fished where few baits will punch thru, just due to simple design and super small profile.

So, to the Tour Event.  I have to credit my good friend and fellow angler, Casey Martin for helping me out a ton during off limits.  We did a bunch of fun fishing and filming on some other lakes around, and Casey showed me the finer things to grass flipping and punching. I needed to see how the latest and greatest stuff was being done.  Casey whacked ’em pretty good and showed me the advanced things about picking casts, where to hit, and how to choose and rig baits and the adjustments he made during a day.  Casey can compete with anyone out there.  Don’t let the fact he is fishing the Tour (and won 2 Tour Events and the AOY in 2011 as a Co-Angler) as a CoAngler fool you.  He fishes the Everstarts as a Pro, and is solid as a rock.

Thanking Casey for helping me with my grass flipping and punching. Casey has been living with Derek Remitz and Craig Dowling most of the last few years on Lake Guntersville, and has honed his grass fishing on the mighty G'Ville. I found myself for the first time in a long time, having to adjust the basic mechanics of what I was doing. Casey is so efficient when he flips, he mathematically beats most guys. More pitches, more clean punches, less time changing over hands (he uses a left handed reel) and keeps the rod in his right hand 100% of the time, and has mad skills in picking out the right stuff to hit. In exchange, I've been lecturing Casey on perfect proportions, Vitruvian Man, and fractal geometry. Poor Casey!!!

The things Casey helped tune me into, combined with some old skills I used to use on Lake Havasu back in the day before it was a smallmouth fishery have come back to me.  I’m fishing a healthy combination of flipping and pitching and punching and swimbait fishing tomorrow.  We have bad wind and weather, however, I’ve found an area I believe, if I can get to it (meaning if the wind isn’t so bad we cannot run to it) I can get in, and be safe from the wind.   So, one major swimbait area, and a lot of places I’m flipping and pitching and punching.   I’ve gotten into a pattern to narrow down the endless amounts of grass and overwhelming nature of Okeechobee, with regards to flipping and pitching, and can sorta bounce around and just fish the moment with that deal and feel good about catching some fish, and some of them can be good ones.   I needed a good way to fill up a limit because the Everstart showed me that even on a good day, I won’t get 5 in the boat, and I cannot afford to make any mistakes like that at the Tour Level.  These boys are incredible anglers and have whipped me badly before, and I cannot beat myself by being one dimensioned out there, especially since we have 15-20 MPH NNE  (just like on Day 1 of the Everstart where I struggled with the bigbaits so badly) forecast for tomorrow.   I need 5 and tomorrow is my long day, so I gotta use that time wisely.

The mighty Medlock Jig, double weed guard, 1 ounce and a the biggest baddest hook you ever seen on a jig. Brandon won the Okeechobee Everstarts the last 2 years in a row on this jig. I think it's safe to assume they are eating it.

I am boat 147 tomorrow.  Due in at 5 pm!  Long day, but the weather is going to be brutal windy and rough, but heck, I feel a whole lot better about catching a limit and maybe getting 1-2 big bites, no matter what happens with the weather or wind tomorrow.   Please know I am so overwhelmed and behind on so many things that I’m paralyzed at times.   I spend my daylight hours fishing, and evening hours getting the footage off the cameras and haven’t even hardly gotten to the editing.  The editing is the major heavy lifting, and I’ll be honest, I just haven’t had the focused time to spend on it all, yet.   I spent the majority of off limits fishing, filming, working on the boat, doing normal stuff, and some days just resting.    I have been filming A LOT since I’ve been down here. I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to be doing with the all footage.    Thinking of working on another DVD project, thinking of just some mid-length YouTube series, and definitely have commitments to various business partners I’m obliged to fulfill, so therein lies my challenge.  So, when I don’t know what to do, the best decision is no decision, meaning, hang loose and the right paths will eventually reveal themselves.   Time’s a Revelator.    So bare with me, have a lot to share and show, bigbait fishing and grass flipping and punching stuff.  First things last, I’ve got to focus, keep it simple, make good decisions, and make the most of this event.

Okeechobee will not be won on the Alabama Rig, not even the Trip Jig, the modified castable rig, with 2 blades, a skirt, and 3 wires. I enjoyed 'field testing' multi-rigs for grass applications, and my work is not yet done, but it wouldn't be right to not mention that the Alabama Rig WILL NOT WIN on Okeechobee. More to come on the Trip Jig and various weedless setups I've been using (vs. exposed jig head and Hammers). Underwater photography and video is so filthy awful sickening.

The 3:16 Mission Fish v2.0 Prototype

Published: 6 January 2012
Written by Alex Tech
1 Comment
Categories: 2012 Tournament Fishing, 3:16 Lure Company, Weedless Swimbaits

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfBLj-5r8kE]

Mickey sent me a couple prototypes of his new Mission Fish, the v2.0 Mission Fish.  This is just a prototype, and I haven’t had near the time or experience with the bait to come up with any final conclusions.  Mickey let me know he’s definitely still working on the bait, and this is just a prototype, but you can see where this bait is going.   Here is what I can tell you about the new Mission Fish:

  • FATTER
  • Rounder
  • Bulkier
  • Better swimming version (the Rising Son Tail gives the bait added swim, thump, rock & roll of the head and body, and just livens up the overall swim).   This version still fishes Texas Rig style, can be pitched, flipped, snatched, and dropped, but the Rising Son tail makes you want to keep it moving.
  • More Weedless:  Improved split belly design, step-up reinforced rubber where the hook goes thru the bait, making the bait a bit more durable and fishable in the thick stuff.
  • Better Hook-ups:  Okay, stop what you are doing, and invest $6.50 in a pack of 8/0 Owner Beast Hooks, and retrofit you old Mission Fishes (6-7-8″ Mission Fish for the 8/0 Beast Hook) and remove the CPS (Centering Pin Spring)–very easy to do.  I believe this hook, with the hook point way above the line tie, in a better jig hook setup and the overall size, bite, gap and reach back of the 8/0 Beast is going to significant improve hook-up ratios.  Its so far a better hook and system than the G Folks and their Mag Gap 5/0 bent out at 45 degrees.   Please help me test this out, but I believe this 8/0 Beast Hook will make a huge impact on old and new Mission Fishes.   It’s like a perfect worm hook setup for a big magnum bigbait.  Check out the 10/0 Beast for your old 9″ Mission Fishes!    Save your CPS.  Don’t throw them away or cut them off.   They are good for other rigs and rigging.

I’m in tournament practice and preparation mode on Okeechobee at the moment, so I don’t want to say too much about too much anyway. I just wanted to share the prototype, and provide a view of what the next generation of Mission Fish will look like and where Mickey is headed with it.  I have a lot of fishing yet to be done with the Mission Fish, both new and old versions, but believe me the Owner Beast Hook + PowerPro will be part of both approaches.   I’m not fishing for a world record or heavy teen fish. I’m looking for 4-7 pounders and I’m looking at the the tournament potential of the Mission Fish.   It’s just a really unique bait in that it swims, flips and pitches, and can be texas rigged outside and sorta snatched and ripped and just has a lot of versatility, sort of like a swim jig does.  A bigbait version of the swimjig.

This story is to be continued. Way too much yet to fish and explore with this bait before we say anything further.  No clue what Mickey has in store for the general release of this new version.   We might still be months away before he’s ready for a release. I’m going to keep fishing and taking notes and trying to progress and document what I do.   Stay tuned.

2nd Generation of the Mission Fish
Fatter, Rounder, Bulkier and a better swimmer a la Rising Son Tail. Matched with the 8/0 Owner Beast Hook, this is going to get bit and hook the fish. Approach with 65# braid, and stout moderate fast medium action swimbait rods and whatever reel you've got. Weighs approx. 2 ounces. Texas, Flip, Drop, Snatch, or just grind it along.

Lost and Found: Mickey Ellis and the 3:16 Lure Company

Published: 18 December 2011
Written by Alex Tech
1 Comment
Categories: 2012 Tournament Fishing, 3:16 Lure Company, Weedless Swimbaits

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y-6LcRaVQQ]

southernswimbait.com  proudly presents, an inside look at Mickey Ellis and the 3:16 Lure Company.   I was in Southern California the Summer of 2011, and had a chance to reconnect with Mickey Ellis while I was there.   I hadn’t seen or talked to Mickey in almost 10 years.    I sat down with Mickey and got a lot of his perspectives, insights, and thoughts on a range of topics. The first and most important thing I realized, was an attempt to educate folks on who is Mickey Ellis and the 3:16 Lure Company? How did he start getting into creating swimbaits and why?  The Mission Fish is a literal product of this journey as you’ll hear.

You will have to be patient, because there is a lot of footage I’m trying to process and synthesize that I’m going to be including in my future projects.    For example, wouldn’t it be interesting to hear Mickey Ellis, Ken Huddleston, and Scott Whitmer respond to the same question(s), to get 3 different points of view from 3 very accomplished bigbaitsmen?  Or is that too dramatic and controversial?   There are other folks I’d like to engage, but I haven’t gotten there yet.    These things take time.

My 2012 tournament season gives me a great opportunity to focus on some things that have been on my mind for some time.   Add the  8″ Huddleston Deluxe Weedless Trout (I hope) and Mickey’s Version 2.0 Mission Fish (I hope), and we are on new ground.    Whether or not you believe in salvation, or believe in the idea of ‘Providence’ —it doesn’t matter, what matters is the conversation about catching more and bigger fish and taking bigbait fishing to new places, or applying bigbaits in new ways,  and contributing to the “conversation”.

Take a look at Mickey’s baits:  316lurecompany.com

Mickey Ellis 3:16 Lure Company Hard Baits.
How can I have a conversation about bigbait fishing, realism, softbait vs. hardbait, grass swimbait fishing, baby bass, bluegill, frogs, terrestrials, trout baits--- and not include 3:16 Lure Company and Mickey Ellis? "He who does not see the hand of God in this is blind, sir, blind!" Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.