December 13, 2011
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B.A.S.S. Reporter’s Notebook: Out of Africa Part 1 … Fishing for tigers; Top B.A.S.S. stories of 2011; The Red is now off limits; and … Martens ready to run
Out of Africa Part 1 ... Fishing for tigers: Make no mistake: the bass is, as always, No. 1. But an African native commonly called the tiger fish now ranks as the No. 2 gamefish for both Fred Roumbanis and Derek Remitz.
Their taste for tiger fishing stems from an early December tour of South Africa. The two Bassmaster Elite Series pros were guests of their mutual sponsor, soft plastics maker El Grande Lures, which has offices in South Africa as well as in the United States.
During a span of eight days, the two pros traveled 1,500 miles across South Africa. On their trek, they encountered various big game, slept in luxury bush camps and resorts, were treated to several braai (barbecues) and met people they now consider good friends. But their sharpest shared memory was the time spent fishing at the Nkonkoni Tiger Fishing Camp on the Jozini Dam’s Lake Pongola.
The tiger fish’s reputation had both bass pros eager to lay eyes — and hooks — on one.
“A tiger fish has a body that looks like a striper’s, and a mouth like something you’ve never seen in your life,” Remitz described.
Roumbanis’ definition of tiger fish: “Piranha meets largemouth.”
The tiger fish is named, of course, for its ultra-sharp teeth. Picture the pointed fangs you’d see when a tiger yawns. Now imagine a full mouth, top and bottom, of those enameled knife points (albeit shorter teeth than a tiger’s long incisors). That’s a tiger fish. But formidable teeth are not the reason Remitz and Roumbanis wanted to face this tiger.
“They are tarpon on steroids,” Remitz said. “They hit so hard, then jump 6 feet out of the water and for 20 feet across the water.”
Braided steel leaders are standard tiger fish tackle. But other than that, Remitz and Roumbanis used bass tackle: medium-heavy casting outfits, 15-pound test fluorocarbon so they’d get some stretch, and jigs with soft-jerkbait trailers. Both said a trailer that worked consistently was the Boom R Ang, a 6-inch El Grande product that is a Roumbanis signature lure.
Good thing he can easily get more. When a tiger hits, it rips a lure apart, Roumbanis said.
“Their first hit is to bite the bait in half. Then they come back, and hit like a train. If you don’t hold on tight enough, the rod can come right out of your hand,” Roumbanis said. “Soon as you set the hook on them, they make their jump.”
That’s when the hook usually pops out. The hookup ratio is poor because the tiger has a mouth of hard bone.
“You get, maybe, 10 percent of what bites,” Remitz said. “Landing one is playing the odds.”
For those that were boated, it was catch-and-release.
“You have to be pretty careful,” Remitz laughed. “You net them, and there’s a certain way to grab them. Kind of like you’d handle Northern pike or muskie.”
The tiger fish they were into were not huge, but Roumbanis was justifiably proud of landing a 5-pounder. Remitz did as well, and almost had clear title to braggin’ rights.
“I lost one that was 10 to 12 pounds, a good-sized one,” Remitz.
They both watched that one as it went airborne. The fish tossed its head. Close to the boat, the bait popped out of its mouth. The lure sailed toward them with such speed that it hit Roumbanis before he could get out of the way. He said he felt the lure slam him on the back.
“That was pretty funny — the fish throwing the lure back at us,” he said.
Ed note: Go to El Grande Lures and Nkonkoni Tiger Fishing Camp for more information. Then watch for next week’s Part 2 on how the two pros met what might be the world’s most avid anglers, as well as hippos and lions, among other African wonders.
Top stories of 2011: Over the course of a fishing season, the triumphs and trials of tournament anglers create hundreds of good stories. Which ones rank as the best stories of 2011 is always debatable, but few could argue that the following five stories aren’t (shouldn’t it be are?) at the top of the Bassmaster list:
* Win and you’re in: A new rule in 2011 awarded a 2012 Bassmaster Classic entry to winners of tournaments within the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens. On Jan. 22, 2011 — before the 2011 Classic — Gerald Swindle became the first Open winner to lay claim to a 2012 Classic seat. His victory was all the sweeter because it was his first Bassmaster tournament win. To collect on a Classic entry, an event winner had to compete in all events within their chosen circuit, and Swindle went on to do just that.
* KVD shines at 2011 Bassmaster Classic: On Feb. 20, 2011, on the Louisiana Delta, Kevin VanDam rewrote several records when he won the Classic for the fourth time. He not only tied Rick Clunn’s record for number of wins, VanDam also matched Clunn’s claim as the only angler to take back-to-back Classic wins (Clunn in 1976-1977, VanDam in 2010-2011). VanDam also busted the Classic weight record with his three-day haul of 69 pounds, 11 ounces; surpassed the $5 million mark in Bassmaster career earnings; and repeated his feat of holding the sport’s top two titles concurrently: Bassmaster Classic champ while being the reigning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
* Best friends go after one Bassmaster Classic berth: In July, Andrew Upshaw of Hemphill, Texas, became the first angler to claim the new Bassmaster Classic seat reserved for a collegiate champ in the College B.A.S.S. program. Upshaw’s accomplishment came with a gut-wrenching twist: To win, he had to beat out Ryan Watkins, his best friend and teammate from Stephen F. Austin University. They toiled together for the 2011 College B.A.S.S. National Championship trophy. The very next day, it was Upshaw vs. Watkins in a competition for the historic 2012 Classic entry. Upshaw bested his best friend.
* Rookie Ott DeFoe comes out on top in unique postseason: Over two weeks in July on two Alabama fisheries, Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Ott DeFoe of Knoxville, Tenn., fished his way through a new bracketed format to emerge with the winner-take-all postseason prize. The then-25-year-old Elite rookie had experience in other circuits before the 2011 season, but he’d never competed before on the tough postseason playing fields of Lake Jordan and the Alabama River. It was DeFoe’s first Bassmaster victory.
* A woman gets close to the Elite Series: In October, Janet Parker of Little Elm, Texas, was one tournament away from qualifying for the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series, but Table Rock Lake in Missouri stumped her. She had led the points race going into that final event of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open season. She vowed to try again in 2012 to become the first woman to compete at the sport’s top level.
The Red is now off limits: For the competitors in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic, it’s now hands-off and boats-off the Red River.
With the scouting cutoff of Dec. 11 come and gone, the 49 Classic qualifiers will have to wait until the official February practice days, about a week before the competition, for another crack at the Red. Then they’ll see the water Feb. 22 for a final run-through on strategies and spots before the three-day competition begins Feb. 24
The 2012 Classic will take place in Shreveport-Bossier City, La. Anglers will launch at Red River South Marina and weigh their catches at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City. The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods will be open Feb. 24-26 at the Shreveport Convention Center in the city’s downtown area. Spectators are invited to watch the launch presented Red River Waterway Commission, and there’s no admission fee for the weigh-ins or Outdoors Expo.
Martens is ready to run: His months of training almost over, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Aaron Martens says he is ready.
He’ll take on a 21-mile share of a 199-mile relay run from Miami to Key West, Fla., on Jan. 6-7, as a member of the Racing Fish Heads, a team registered to take part in the Ragnar Relay Series event. His wife, Lesley Martens, who ran last year in the same event, is another member of the 11-runner team captained by Eric Lopez, director of site operations for B.A.S.S. — and an avid runner.
In his new Bassmaster.com blog, Martens said that to benefit a charity, he’ll be set up next week to ask for people to sponsor him in his debut as a runner. The charity he’s selected is Tackle the Storm Foundation, to which many Elite pros have donated jerseys for auction.
About B.A.S.S.
For more than 40 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.
The Bassmaster brand and its multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications — Bassmaster Magazine and B.A.S.S. Times — comprehensive website Bassmaster.com, ESPN2 and Outdoor Channel television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Federation Nation events presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.
B.A.S.S. offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members and remains focused on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.
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