What’s New In The Fishing World For 2003?
By Mike Frisch

Though winter seems to have a pretty good grip on us now, it won’t be too long before the weather starts to warm and open-water appears again. This transformation of winter to spring also signals the beginning of another open-water fishing season. With a new season on the horizon, it seems like we anglers have lots of options when it comes to new equipment designed to help make us more successful anglers.

What would a discussion about what’s new in fishing be without a look at the latest in fish-catching lures? It seems like the current trend in lures is to take forms of present-day lures and try to make them even better. A couple of popular ways of doing this are by adding rattles to the lures and/or by painting them in glow colors. Both of these modifications are designed to help do a better job of attracting fish. For example, my long-time favorite jig when fishing live bait for walleyes has been the Fire-Ball Jig. New to the Fire-Ball line for 2003 is the Rattlin’ Fire-Ball which features a brass rattle chamber designed to “call in” fish from a distance. I heard excellent reports about these jigs from anglers who got a chance to fish them last fall, and am anxious to try them myself this spring.

Baits with rattles and glow paint finishes are hot right now in the fishing world. Another lure modification with a similar goal of attracting more fish might be the next big thing. New to the PowerBait line of soft plastics are the Bubble Up baits which feature a pellet that inserts into the bait and fizzes in the water. The fizzing causes a commotion in the water that helps attract fish to the bait. I had a chance to sample these baits last fall when fishing for bass and was impressed with their fish-attracting abilities.

Not only are lures and baits undergoing design improvements, but so are the rods, reels and lines that are used to present these baits. Rod manufacturers are designing technique-specific rods that help anglers when deciding which rod to purchase for use with various lure presentations. Though I still like to have the chance to see and hold a rod before I buy it, knowing a rod is designed for a certain purpose helps me when selecting the exact model to purchase. The Lightning Rod Pro Series rods offer models designed for a wide range of bass and walleye fishing techniques.

Choosing the right rod to use for a specific fishing situation is important, but so is selecting the right fishing line to fish on that rod. With all the new monofilament lines on the market and the multitude of “super lines” available, selecting the right line to use seems to be getting more difficult. The simplest way to determine which line is best for a situation is to read about the advertised qualities of a line and see if those qualities fit your needs. From there, it’s probably a matter of trial and error in choosing your favorites lines.

For my fishing, I still prefer traditional monofilament lines like XL and XT for much of my live bait fishing for walleyes and panfish. When flipping and pitching for bass holding in heavy cover, or when trolling crank baits for walleyes, a superline like FireLine is often spooled on my reels. However, last season I started using IronSilk a new low stretch, abrasion-resistant monofilament line with good success for these techniques as well. Again, however, with all the line options available, I think the best advice is for anglers to try different lines and see which work best for them.

Finding new rods, reels, lines and lures that work best for you is an enjoyable part of the fishing. Though it’s still winter, spring and open-water aren’t that far off and now is a good time to research and acquire some of the new gear and equipment that can help make your open-water fishing trips more enjoyable and successful this coming year.