Tag Archives: sakura @en

American Dream

20.04.2016Spineri @enbass fishing @en, bass masters @en, jean christophe david @en, largemouth, megabass @en, sakura @en, Sakura fishingSpineri

Hi Jean-Christophe, welcome to Spineri, we’re happy to finally have you here.

Bonjour ! I’m glad too, I really appreciate the energy you put in your job and your pictures are beautiful. I was supposed to answer that interview a long time ago but I’m so busy fishing that I didn’t take time for that. Sorry.

For starters please tell us how did you find such big love for bass fishing and bass fishing competitions?

I come from a small island in north west of France, ile de Groix. I grew up fishing for salt water fish. We moved on the main land in 1988 I was 8 years old. At that point I’ve started to fish for carp, chub, trout, perch and pike I was using live baits mainly and some little spoon my uncle gave me. For Christmas 1989 I asked my parents to register me to a fishing magazine. I was able to read the hundred pages of the issue in one day, I was so passionate. Then I would go to the lake or the river and tried what I read.Usually it wasn’t a success but I remember one day reading a beautiful article about a French journalist fishing in Texas and Mexico and catching huge bass. He was using a spinnerbait. It made me dream so hard about bass and that crazy looking spinnerbait. I was 11 when I owned my first one. After that I’ve never put a live bait on my line anymore, except worms for trout. I built a lot of knowledge sharing with friends and older guys, but I also spent a lot of time fishing by myself. You can’t increase your level if you are behind your computer chatting about fishing instead of being on the water. In the late 90’s I traveled in the south west of France and started to fish for bass. It was amazing, I had the feeling that I didn’t know how to fish.Bass is so unique it requires so much technique and scientific knowledge. If you don’t know the seasonal pattern and what the fish are doing it’s going to be tough to adapt and catch them. Early 2000’s I met Tanguy and we began to fish together. Lot of fun, lots of good moments. We tried to give a new vision of fishing and a different energy through a blog, articles, videos and pictures. Then we fished tournaments together with a pretty good success.I fished in France, Italy and Spain for bass, but I felt limited. Even if the landscape and those countries are nice I felt limited and frustrated. I wanted to live my passion for bass fishing and fish in Bassmaster tournaments. I had to go to United States, it was a dream, it was in my guts. I was school teacher in France and it took me five years to save money and apply for different positions of school teacher in US. I ended up in Louisiana and bought a truck and a bassboat 15 days after landing from France.I fished the co-angler side of the Bassmaster Central Open my first year. I finished in third place overall and qualified for the pro side last year. It was tough because I don’t have the knowledge of the locals and I have a lot to learn.In 2016 I’m going to fish the pro side again and as everybody here try to qualify for the Elite series. It’s a huge challenge, really difficult, but I’m going to give all that I have for that. I’m spending over 250 days a year on the water and I have a partnership with RangerBoats for 2016, it helps. It’s hard sometimes, but it’s all about passion.

What are the strongest bass tournaments in Europe and how much are they strong compared to American tournaments?

In Italy you have a strong scene of bassmen so as in Spain. Portugal is good too. In Europe we have a strong field of angler influenced by American and Japanese bass culture. The only thing is we don’t have all the variety of habitats that the bass fishing handbook can offer. Europeans are good at fishing clear water and rocky lakes, but what about grass, shallow muddy water, smallmouth bass, Florida strain, huge lakes and rivers ?

We have so much to learn from Americans and you can’t do it in couple months !

Americans have been fishing for bass forever and brought it to Europe in the 40’s. Those guys are used to catch them all over the country since they are in age of fishing. You can’t compete with that without spending a huge amount of time on the water and share.

At one point you moved to America and started to participate in big USA bass fishing tournaments. How different is it to catch bass in Europe and in America?

Before coming here I was used to clear water and rocks or wood. I needed to increase my level in each compartment of bass fishing and discover what grass fishing was. The best scenes in United States are Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California and north east for smallmouth. So I decided to move to south west Louisiana thirty minutes away from the Texas border. I’m close to Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Toledo Bend (biggest man made lake in the US), Calcasieu River, Red River, Atchafalaya Bassin and a huge marsh that looks like Okeechobee in Florida and holds giant fish.

The strain of fish is different here in the south and the cold fronts affect them so bad! What is really different for me is the hunt. The way of finding fish. Those environments are so big, you have to cover a lot of water and be sure that you are doing the right thing. That’s why it’s so important to understand the seasonal pattern, how the fish behave through the year on each body of water you are fishing. After almost three years here I’m starting to have a better global vision of what I need to do.

Was it then that your friendship with Sakura start or before?

As I told you I met Tanguy and then Franck in the early 2000’s. We were close friends really quick, so when he started to work for Sakura I just followed him as a pro staff member.

I have read somewhere that, since bass, like all fish, doesn’t have eyelids it is estimated that during sunset he needs like 15 min for his eyes to adapt on the light shift. They say that is why he is so aggressive in that period for surface lures, what do you think about that?

Ahahaha! I don’t know about that and I’m not a scientist, but what I think is like for any other animal or human being before going to bed it’s dinner time, and before starting your day it’s breakfast ! Those two moments of the day are premium periods to catch fish, no matter what you are doing if you are fishing top water, crankbait, flipping or cranking. You can’t miss that !

On some videos we can see that in America bass is active under the ice… But here in Europe, specially here in Croatia, bass fishing during winter is dead. Are we doing something wrong or are the fish just inactive?

It’s no secret that when you have ice in the water bass are pretty tough to catch! In Canada and northern states of United States they have a special strain of bass created to be more tolerant to very low temperature. You can still catch fish in really cold water but don’t expect a lot of bites. You have to slow down a lot. It’s painful!

Do you prefer finesse fishing or power fishing?

I wish I could fish a topwater all day for 365 days ! But unfortunately it’s not the case, you always need to adapt to what the fish want. I like to catch them fast and with a safe and strong technique, especially if I’m fishing a tournament, you know big rod and 20 pound test fluorocarbone with a big single hook. I like to locate them with a spinnerbait and then take the area apart and use a Texas Rig.

But when I’m fishing a river system with clear water I can’t avoid to use a spinning rod and 8 pound test fluorocarbone. Fishing a weightless Senko or a wacky worm is always efficient and the fights are fun on that kind of gear.

How much difference does the color of the lure make in bass fishing?

Colors are a big factor in bassfishing like in any other type of fishing.I’m going to give you a quick pattern I use on my soft baits:First you need to base you bait color on the water clarity and the cloud cover.If the water is clear and the sky is clear I use really light colors, close to translucent like watermelon, watermelon red, watermelon black flakes. White can be good in the morning and evening If the water is clear but you have clouds cover and less light penetration I go with a green pumpkin, green pumpkin black flakes or june bug.Then when it’s stain (50cm to 80 cm of visibility), june bug and green pumpkin are still my go to. Finally when the water is really dirty I use black, or black and red. Something that can offer a lot of contrast. Also you have to observe and keep in mind the kind of baitfish you have in the water you are fishing. Shad, crawfish… Because it will be a huge indication on what the fish are feeding on and you want to try to match it.

What Sakura lures do you use most in your fishing?

When I try to locate fish I like to use the MONARC spinnerbait. I’m also a big fan of the NAJA SUB and his unique way to fall by the tail. The SLIT SHAD is also a bait I’m using in many different context.

You made a small presentation about new Sakura Players rods. Are you planning to use them for tournaments? What do you think about the new Players?

Oh yes I’m planning to use them ! I’ve been fishing with the PLAYERS since the beginning of 2016 and I’m really impressed. Lighter than the FURIOZZA, really sensitive and powerful. The talon full carbon offers a new look but mainly more sensitivity and a good loss of weight. I’m really in love with the 7’4H for flipping and the 6’8M for top water and soft jerkbait.

Thanks Jean for being here on Spineri and sharing with us your incredible fishing story. We wish you all the best in future bass competition and life. We will be following you and we hope that now you will come more often here to share with us your experiences.

Thank you so much for that interview and for the support. I’m looking forward to writing in Spineri and sharing more fishing stories or techniques with you. Merci, à bientôt.

I would like to thanks RangerBoats, Navicom for Humminibird and MinnKota, Costa Sunglasses and Sakura Fishing.

Keep on fishing !

Jean

It´s Trinis Neo world!

18.11.2015Spineri @enfishing @en, sakura @en, Sakura Trinis rod @enSpineri

Trinis Neo family of rods comes in wide range, we are talking about 28 different models of rods, both spinning and casting. We will introduce 3 spinning models that we at Spineri.com use for some time now and we can say we know them by soul. We are talking about UL, ML and M Trinis Neo rods, all in 2,13 m of lenght.

Range of Trinis Neo rods for UL game are dark object of desire of many UL anglers, for sure. For start, they look classy and stylish on a first sight, and when one takes any of them in hand, they feel as light as feather. Fuji reel holder and K guides only improve their modern appearance. Longer model (Trinis Neo 702 UL, 2,13 m, 0,4-7 g) weights only 95 grams and when I tried it for a first time, I was in doubt if it is a bit too delicate. First cast showed me I was wrong, and first hooked trout put up a smile on my face. It was clear that Trinis Neo is my new weapon of choice for UL fishing and more. Fast actioned, sensitive, but strong with receptive tip that transmits every bite, Trinis Neo can cope with much bigger fish than those that are common targets in UL fishing, like perch, or trout.

Trinis Neo in ML version is a true diamant in all of the Sakura range of rods, and more. In last few years many rods went thru our hands and Trinis Neo ML is one of the best. If you ask Robert, maybe even the best, since he uses it for wide range of fishing. Trinis Neo ML (2,13 m, 3-10,5 g) can be used for UL fishing too, since his tip will catapult smaller lures at far distances and enjoy fighting small perch, for example, but you can also use it for barbel fishing with soft swimbaits like Slit Shad 75 mm on heavier jig hooks and end up as a winner after rodeo that big barb usually provides once hooked. Everything between these two extremes is a pure fun when using Trinis Neo ML, and that´s what fishing should be at the end! In Robert´s hands Trinis Neo caught pretty much every fish that swimms in rivers and lakes of Croatia, together with some sea predators. ML model of Trinis Neo is a true all round spinning rod.

˝M˝ in Trinis Neo M stands for medium power, but this rod is so much more! When I saw it for the first time, black bass was first fish I thought of. After I realized this is no ordinary 20 grams of casting weight rod, I started using it in many situations, whether I am after black bass, pike, asp, chub, or barbel. Trinis Neo M (2,13, 5-21 g) handles shallow and medium running crankbaits, like those from Golem range without a problem. Topwater lures and twitchbaits I like to use a lot during a warmer part of the year suit him perfectly, as well as soft swimbaits and smaller metal jigs and vibes in colder part! Trinis Neo M is a great power fishing tool which likes the best to fight with fish around 40 cm and up. Since black bass bigger than 40 is rare here, chubs around 50, together with 60-70 cm long asps and barbs of river Sava make good replacement!

People say that money can´t buy happiness, but it can buy a nice piece of a fishing gear and that´s kind of the same thing. Trinis Neo rods are more than just nice!

Franck Rosmann

29.06.2015Spineri @enblack bass @en, casting @en, Franck Rosmann @en, megabass @en, sakura @en, sea fishing, spinning @en, twitching @enSpineri

Bonjour, monsieur Rosmann, it´s real pleasure to have you on Spineri.

My pleasure too ! Please call me Franck!

Ok, Franck, for start, tell us what it´s like to have ´your own´ fishing brand? What it´s like to be in head of Sakura? I guess your job is a great joy in one hand and a big responsibility on the other…

Well, you’re right ! It’s a real pleasure that bring many satisfactions all year long depending of our activity. This job put a lot of pressure ans stress too, like a chess game!!! But when your new product or the whole range of your brand become popular all over your country or Europe it brings you joy like victory in competition. I must thank Mr Francis Coutou, former president and owner of SERT, who hired me as product manager 10 years ago when he decided to launch a new brand, Sakura.

Sakura has really nice range of lures, from topwaters, crankbaits, twitchbaits, softbaits, etc. Lots of novelties every year and so on. How many time do you guys spend on developing one single lure? How many of them never earn it´s spot in the final selection?

We try to reach a rate close to 100 % between projects and final commercial lauching. Because of the needs of current market we develop new products all along the year. The main phase is during winter between september and may but some projects need more time.

When you´re developing new lures in Sakura, do you make them to suit you, or you have the final consumers- fishermen in your mind? Or one goes with another?

Yes I can say both ! Some lures or other fishing tackle are “must have” in a complete range to match the market and consumer needs but we already have proven that we have made real innovations based on personal ideas.

And when it´s all done, do you know you have a killer lure that will be accepted worldwide? What it´s like to see that something you made catches fish all over the world?

In this kind of “game” you must be ready to face to all situations and stay humble and modest! But sometimes you think your lure will be a killer and nothing happens, sometimes it´s the opposite. But when developing rods, for example, it’s easier to think in advance what will be the future of your creation. Perhaps it’s because there’s less competition and because Sakura is very popular and has one of the best reputation for building good and affordable rods.

You know our products and we are lucky enough to offer some worldwide class lures, that’s a great feeling of joy and proudness when you see big fish that produced big smile on fisherman’s face ! It’s probably just because we are fishermen too !!!

Now, a little something about Franck Rosmann the fisherman. When Etienne visited us last year, we talked about you quite a lot. He said your style of fishing is power fishing, among other things. What are the advantages of power fishing, why do you prefer it?

I must say I like this kind of fishing because it’s active and often brings surprising and violent strikes. Power fishing allows you to have success even if you don’t know a place or if you’re not equiped with hi-tech sonar and fish finders. When I started fishing this kind of electronic devices were not allowed in France so that’s probably why I learned lure fishing with this efficient style. One more important point is that Power Fishing make you move a lot and ask you to adapt your strategy depending of the new spot you discover. It’s sometimes mechanical, but not boring !

What would you say, when is power fishing most efficient? Time of year, conditions, etc?

I can say that Power Fishing is efficient all year long. You must adapt the depth, the speed and the kind of lure you are using. There’s no only one style to practice Power Fishing. You can use topwater lure as well as heavy spinnerbaits or even rubber jigs. I remember one tournament in Spain we have not won but finished it on Top 3 thanks to shallow water Power Fishing with 3/4 Oz football jig with soft crawfish trailer.

Finesse fishing? How do you stand with finesse fishing and do you use finnese baits only when it´s absolutely necessary?

I like Finesse fishing too. I like fishing weedbed edges with small rubber jigs, targeting schools of perch or trying to find bass with light texas rigged softbaits. But you’re right, I use Finesse only when conditions are hard and fish inactive.

We know there is no such thing as a best lure, but there are some better than others. Do you have your favourite(s)? Lures you believe more than the others?

If we talk about bass lures, I like very much using rubber jigs, spinnerbaits and stickbaits or poppers. I also like buzzbaits beacause of the explosive strikes they can produce sometimes. One year I fished bass during all along the summertime only with a special buzzbait I have modified. For pike, spinnerbaits and spintails (Divinator from Biwaa) are my favorite lures. With my fishing buddy of the 90′, Laurent Poulain, we won many tournaments with spinnerbaits. These victories helped us to promote lure fishing in France thanks to the good results we had fishing versus natural bait anglers.

What kind of lures are in your fishing box when you`re after a black bass?

I have all kind of lures from topwater to bottom. Hard, wired or softbaits ! The only lure I did not use at all for bass is jigging spoon.

Favourite fish? Black bass, or?

Hahaha ! I think you already know the answer! Yes, Black bass stays my favourite fish because he’s a great part of my life. Even if I fished him obsessively for years, he impacted me not only my fisherman life, but he followed me since my teenage and help me be what I’m today. I did some small action for him compared to what he gave me during all these years. Now I have a new relation with him and don’t fish him as intensively as before. I discovered tropical fish both in saltwater and freshwater and I must admit I like GT and Peacock bass too… But it’s not the same story!

Fishing scene in France? What are you guys after mostly, what do you catch, with what gear and so on? Boat fishing, bank fishing, sea fishing?

In France, if we only talk about lure fishing, I can say that there’s two different major kinds of fishermen practicing in our country waters. Saltwater anglers targeting seabass and freshwater ones looking after Pikes or Zander. For sure you could find big catfish, bass, trout or perch fishermen but these first ones are the trendy. More and more anglers use semi-rigid inflatable boats or “bass boats” fully equiped with updated electronic fish finders and sonar. They use spinning and casting gear with all kind of lures and they are very skilled now if you compare the fishing level to the one we had in France 15 years ago, it’s amazing.

You traveled a lot, right? Visited some remote places and caught some nice fish. Do you have some place you would like to visit again?

I traveled a little bit more in tropical destination that’s right. It’s to balance the lack of time to go fishing during the year because of hard work. I pay attention to save some weekends to be with my family. I traveled many times in Madagascar and I really fell in love with this island for many reasons. It is not complicated to travel there and it’s a safe country with nice people…and good sized fish ! I’m sure to be back in the very next years. Same for Brasil and the great Amazon rivers. I had a nice trip 2 years ago but fishing was very hard. I need to go back there also to meet more Tucunare than during this first trip.

Peacock bass? You caught some.. What it´s like? Power fishing to the bone, I guess?

Peacock bass or Tucunare is a concentrate of muscle and hi-energy power. We can call him “Fast and Furious”. You’re right, it’s pure Power Fishing!!! I had never seen such a powerfull fish before. I sincerely recommed to your readers to try it once… or twice!!!

If you had to choose one characteristic that makes a good fisherman, which one would it be?

The most important for me : being respectful to nature and fish.

And bigger picture? What does it take to call someone a good, even great fisherman? Quick adjustment, open mind, lots of hours on the water, lots of gear, persistence, ..?

Nowdays, facing to high pressured fish, of course you need to have a wide range of lures and gears but it’s not the most important in my mind. The skills that make a good fisherman in terms of efficiency could be : open mind and sense of observation and being able to think like a fish. In french we call it “le sens de l’eau” that means to understand how the fish environment works and how the fish reacts to changes (daily, weekly, monthly, etc). When our population was more rural than urban this skill was common because people were fishing for eating. Now, mainly practicing catch and release, our fishermen put more confidence in tackle and electronic to help them to connect with fish! They are a new kind of good fishermen!

When we interviewed Tanguy, he said, simplified, sharing is a great way of learning about fishing. Internet made it so easy to share things these days, how do you feel about social networks, forums, blogs, etc? Is it easier now to learn something new, or there are too many infos that can make someone who just started fishing all confused and lost even before he started?

I agree with Tanguy and definitly think sharing from one to each other is the best way to learn. Not thru a machine, but live ! That’s one of the reasons why I founded Black Bass France in 1994.

Spinning vs casting. In intro for this interview, for which we are grateful, you said lure fishing for pike, bass and zander is 60% baitcasting and 40% spinning. Here in Cro spinning gear is much more present. Baitcasting gear has it´s share in pike fishing and sea fishing from the boat. Only small part of bass fishermen use baitcasting gear. Maybe the reason is that we mainly catch bass from the bank and most of the time with some of the finesse fishing methods. What it´s like in France and how would you bring closer advantages of baitcasting gear to the (bank) bass fishermen here?

Yes, bank fishermen mainly use spinning gears everywhere because of simplicity to use and efficiency to cast far effortless, that’s why it’s still very popular around the world, and in France too. When I (with my friends) did promotional actions with BBF we talked about comfort and quality of lure presentation. When you do close range cast like pitching (and this is easy to explain during fishing show or exhibition in shops) the people understant that you cast is accurate and delicate, so you can catch more fish and longer thanks to the ergonomics of casting rod and reel. Bass are very often hidden in the cover close to the banks so you don’t need to cast so far. But if you want to do you can buy a longer casting rod and it’s done ! Nowdays we (Sakura and other fishing brands) offer baitcasting gear able to cast finesse lures. For me, it’s clear when you must use light lures (< 7-10 g) it’s better to switch to spinning gear. I have nevers said that everybody must let spinning tackle down and only use casting one because it’s trendy or more fashion. A fisherman must be adaptative and use the best gear at the right time.

When fishing from the bank for black bass, what do you use most often? Spinning, or casting gear, reel, rod, lures?

To be linked with the previous answer, I always bring 2 rods when I go fishing from the bank for bass. 1 spinning combo like a Shinjin Neo 6’6 ML or Trinis Neo 6’3 M with a size 2008 5,1:1 Siryx reel filled with 8 X Sensibraid 0,12 mm and a casting one Furiozza 6’8 M or MH and a 6,4:1 casting reel like an Oxio or Calix filled with 0,16 mm braid line or 0,33 mm Aya mono. I always use fluorocarbon leader. With these combo and a small assortment of lures, I can stand many conditions.

I put in my box some bags of soft stickbaits like Gary Yamamoto Senko, Grubs and Crawfish or Flappin’ Hogs. For sure, I select some clear and 2 tones Slit Shads in size 10 cm (very versatile) and I take some hooks, glass beads and bullets in various sizes to Texas rig or weightless rig my softbaits. Some rubber jigs in 1/2 oz in black/red and watermelon colors are perfect. Never forget 2-3 spinnerbaits in hot and natural colors in 10-17 g (Monarc) and 2-3 medium sized jerkbaits (8 cm) and 2-3 in small size (5 cm), they are here to match the fry, so I prefer natural colors (Akaru Minnow and Phoxy Minnow). To be complete I pick-up some topwaters in small to medium sizes (4-10 cm) in mixed natural and hot colors (Pop’n Dog and Naja) and 2-3 shallow to medium runner crankbaits in the Golem and Bomba crank models.

I find that many fishermen here neglect the shore when they are after bass. Do you search for bass out in the open water straight away, or you work the bank first?

I agree with you. I always start to fish a new spot fishing the bank under my feet! Sometimes there’s some caves and bass like to ambush here… So be quiet when apprcoaching new spot and start casting some meters before the edge of water.

RH baitcasters.. They´re big in USA? What do you think of that, did you try it?

Since I started baitcasting I alwayas ask why american anglers mostly use right hand baitcasting reels!!! After years of investigation I have the following answer : US angler (at least in the past) were mostly Power Fishermen with big crankbaits and spinnerbaits and because this technic need physicial stamina and strength, they used their stronger arm, wrist and hand (if they were right handed) … the right one for casting and cranking ! Their weaker left arm was not sollicited as much to move the lure, just holding or jerking the rod. In Europe because of our fishing technics using lightest spinning gear to cast and move accurately the bait or the lure, we only use our stronger arm to cast and animate the lure. The cranking motion done with spinning reel is not so powerful and fast as with a casting reel doing Power Fishing! When I discovered the casting gear, I naturally tried to find left hand reel to keep my habits!!! I tried some RH reels but I don’t want to change.

Back to Sakura.

What can we expect in 2016. from you guys? New Ruty Minnow is an absolute killer, I fell in love with Phoxy HW at the first sight, Slit shads are still our favourite softbaits.. What´s cooking for new season in Sakura´s kitchen?

Hé hé ! Many, many news are cooking ! To give you a quick overview : we will widen the Phoxy Minnow HW range and colors, bring a new lipless crankbait with 3 different sound patterns, a metal blade, some intersting saltwaters lures like pencil popper and surface skipping spoon, new sizes of Crazy Anchoa jigs and Mister Joe, etc.. We have designed a super mini-monarc for finesse spinnerbaiting and different models of swimming jig and chatterbait, etc. Rods and reels ranges will be changed or completed as well (3 new series and new multi-piece Mitsio Travel).

Modern lure fishing in the future? Where do you see it, in what direction will it go? Real life decors on hardbaits, softbaits that look, feel and smell like the real thing, UL fishing, down-sizing of the gear, scents, ..?

I think fishing tackle must keep limits in terms of capacity to fool the fish by themselves! I think human action must be kept, that’s the thrill of fishing… If it’s too easy it’s not fun nor intersting ! I really wish that we could use more and more environmentally safe products to make lures and packagings.

And for the end, something that many people asked us already.. Sakura UL tournament 2016.? You were so generous last year, can we count on your support this year too?

We really appreciated to see such motivated people like you and all croatian anglers enrolled in this event, doing a very good promotion for our brand. For sure, we will support the 2016 Sakura UL tournament.

Monsieur Rosmann, thank you for everything, I hope I didn´t ´smother´ you too much and we´ll talk again when you make the final line up of the gear for 2015.

Merci beaucoup encore une fois!

Spinning vs casting

29.05.2015Spineri @enbass @en, casting @en, fishing @en, Franck Rosmann @en, megabass @en, sakura @en, spinning @en, twitching @enSpineri

I fish for bass with lures and became a true addict of this fish since I was a teenager, I mean from the beginning of the 80s. During all my school course I avidly fished for bass with traditionnal spinning tackle we could find in french shops. Since I started to work as fish farmer at the end of the 80s, I got some american fishing tackle catalogs and discovered the modern era of lure fishing. After a year of study and practice I tried to bring baitcasting fishing and tackle closer to the French fishermen through different media and animations field. I was an author in a wide spread fishing magazine so it was easy for me to share with other fishermen.

From the second half of 90s, I decided with some friends to found Black Bass France, a non lucrative association, to protect the Black bass french population and promote this game fish offering to anglers the joy of an amazing catch.

In the same time, the presence of specialists such as Hiroshi Takahashi, amplified and reinforced my goal to popularize modern lure fishing tackle. We created a real movement thru all the country and proved many times in predator tournaments that this tackle is even able to win versus natural baits, in various conditions.

Today we can see and affirm that the use of this technique is perfectly mastered by many fishermen, regardless the age and initial level. This technique has become so popular that we sometimes even tend to forget or even denigrate traditional spin rods and spinning reels in France for fishing as they did in USA. Because of the tough conditions, Japanese bass anglers never forgot to use spinning gear, when necessary.

However, my message has always been clear : One technique does not exclude the other one, but are totally complementary. Depriving yourself of one of those two would be a technical foul, in sports terms, it’s like starting a golf course with only one club!

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Let’s go straight to the point and leave aside the exceptions: spinning is better recommended for delicate presentation called “finesse” and/or to cast light and teeny lures with thin lines. When you need to cast far or fish deep and vertically, spinning should be the best choice too. Zander fishermen know that very well when they use soft baits, like shads, close to the bottom in more than 15 m of water. As a bass fisherman in rivers and lake with heavy shore cover, I really like to skip my lures underneath the tree branches to reach hidden spots where the biggest bass like to ambush. Even if some fellows use casting to do that, believe me it’s far more easy with spinning tackle (talking about soft baits, hollow frogs).

One more thing you must know about spinning advantage is that under high winds (saltwater fishing or bad weather in freshwater) you could throw your lure with minimum difficulty while with casting equipment it’s nearly impossible or you may spend most of your fishing time to untangle the bird nests made in your reel due to spool overruns. On the other hand,you will better use a baitcasting equipment for heavier lures and stronger lines, practicing a run and gun strategy named “power fishing”. You will be able to make repetitive and quick casts to different targets, keeping your boat or float tube in ovement.

Some lures I like to use for power fishing are deep crankbaits and spinnerbaits, but both pull on your rods and offer big resistance when you crank the line. That’s why, here again, baitcasting gear is a better choice. The multiplier and compact baitcasting reels can handle the efforts applied to mechanics while a spinning one can’t.

Let’s come back to the heavily covered banks we talked about before and let’s notice that baitcasting rod and reels perform more accurate and discrete presentation of rubber jigs or texas rigged lure in small pockets of reeds or close to dead trees. To do this properly when fish are inactive and stay close to cover, you will use short pendulum casts named pitching or flipping, to send the lure just in the nose of the fish. Because casting equipment is often more powerful and stout than spinning one, you will be more comfortable to pull a fish and extract it from heavy underwater cover with thicker line. That point gives you another advantage if you catch a bigger fish than you imagined, for example catch a big catfish when fishing for bass !

To sum up, if you want to own a complete equipment for bass, perch or pike, the proportion is generally shared like 60% in baitcasting gears and 40% in spinning. We are not so far from parity, keep this in mind … The pleasure and the results depend on it !

Franck Rosmann