Although the Season is not quite "Over" Many of us are heading to the deer stand instead of the boat ramps... All except Those of us hardcore folks.
As many of you may know, or at least i hope you know, i started Sasquatch Soft Plastics in December of 2009, so this season really was the "inagural" season for the company...
I had a Good Tournament Season in 09 fishing BFL's And Stren Series Events as a Co-Angler, Made My First Top-10 in only my 4th ever tournament and cashed a respectable check. but took this year off... Bought my first bass boat, a 2001 Triton TR-20 and Did what anyone SHOULD do when buying there first bass boat and spent some time Learning how to drive it...
I myself caught my first Sasquatch Bass in early april ( Green pmpkn 3/4 oz football jig with matching SSP 4" Edah Craw) but the year really started off with a bang in March when i asked a former boating partner and friend, Steve Ives, to try some of my 4" E-Dah craws in a FLW AFS touney he had coming up on Lake Of the Ozarks. Steve Ended up Placing 4th overall in the Event...
Now in 2010, my plan was to not only spend time learning to get used to my new boat, but also learning some new techniques i had learned from some respectable anglers in my 09 season. Being a Hardcore spinnerbait & flipper i knew this would be quite the task. While these techniques do win tournaments, lets be honest... Being versatile wins more! So i spent some time offshore, which is not easy when not having top of the line electronics mind you.. I took some time carolina rigging, deep cranking, finesse fishing and even, with the introduction of the Sasquatch Soft Plastics 5.25" Spooky Fluke, fishing docks with a fluke instead of a spinnerbait... Belive me, it was hard!!
Now saying that i am a die-hard spinnerbait angler obviously rules out most plastic baits for me, as i do NOT like any trailers or trailer hooks for that matter in the way.... So it wasnt until the Triton Owners Tournament in June on Kentucky lake that i really got to see my Product line really shine..... As most of you may know already, June + Kentucky Lake = Offshore. So time to ditch the Sniper Spinnerbait rod and do what i had been working on all spring ( when not in less that 1 ft of water sight fishing ) and bust out the cranks and football jigs. With the first cast it might as well have been my first day using a baitcaster... Im feeling things with my rodtip ive NEVER felt before... shellbeds, dropoffs from 6 ft straight to 30 ft.. I didnt know what to think, but i knew it had to be a haven for large fish.. I used a watermelon red, green pumpkin and black and blue 4" Edah Craw and 3.5" Skunk Ape on all of my jigs and the bass inhaled them! Also got into a school of fish on the second day that wouldnt let my double fluke rig hit the water without gobbling it up. That trip made me more confident in my own product than i can even write about. And while not doing so well in the tournament i still learned valuble lessons that i will never forget.
Upon returning home from Kentucky Lake i began to have a new respect for those offshore guys and spent a good deal of the rest of the season studying Navionics Maps on my iphone and really learning how things work offshore. But i always had my spinnerbaiting and flipping background to fall back on if the offshore game did not pan out the way i planned. And i will admit that most of my fish this year were caught while fishing in my comfort zone which brings me to this...
Growing up we learn to recognize & idolize anglers by there strengths, for me KVD was the guy who could sling a spinnerbait faster than anyone in the game, Dion Hibdon is the Jig Fishing king and Larry Nixon was a Worm fishing wizard.... So at what point do i ditch my comfort zone techniques and move offahore to play with the rest of the guys whose strengths are just that, offshore fishing. This trip i took to kentucky lake in early october proved to myself that even with a kentucky lake stick in the boat, i can still catch quality fish the way I fish... My heart tells me to go with what i know, and be proud of the outcome. And im comfortable with that, its just....... Idk...... 2011 will show me if i need to rethink things. This is a Game of learning and even Bill Dance said himself that he still learns new things while on the water.
As far as Sasquatch Soft Plastics goes, i couldnt be more happy! I have amazing prostaffers. I thank you all for your continued support of some guys dream to bring something new to the plastics market. I recieve prostaff offers weekly and to all of those who apply, i thank you! I am astounded by the interest you all have in my products. I have a record of all that have applied and hope to add everyone someday.
Be sure to Look for me and my prostaffer, Allen Hackert as we fish the 2011 Bassmaster Weekend Series on Kentucky Lake!!!!
By Derek Kaalberg
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