April 2009 Volume 6.4

Transcription

1 Pro Staff Team News April 2009 Volume 6.4 A Problem Solver Named Paul Part 4 If a new lure doesn t produce exactly as it comes out of the package, don t give up on it. There may be ways of using it you ve not thought about. I started this column series on that subject by telling what my friend Paul Wright, of Indiana, did with Mack s Lure s new HummBait. In my last column in this series I told how I had asked my friend Mike Pedersen, of Longview, Washington, if he could exchange the treble hook the lure came with to a single hook. I knew I d get much more use out of the lure with an upright riding single hook. Mike did come up with a HummBait that now has a fixed I know largemouth will bust a HummBait used as a spinnerbait because I ve had it happen.. single hook. And the hook does right upright behind the body of the lure. As I mentioned in my previous column, not only does that cut way down on potential hang-ups, it also provides opportunity to use a plastic or pork rind trailer along with the lure. But Mike didn t stop there. A couple of the HummBaits he altered will be of special interest to bass anglers who especially like to fish spinnerbaits or buzzbaits. What Mike did for starters was to first remove the hook from one of the smaller HummBaits. Then he removed the spinners from a spinnerbait and replaced them with the HummBait body. He did the same thing with a (Continued on Page 2)

2 Our Mission Pursuing excellence in business through... marketing innovative fishing products and supporting our customers with superior service. Corporate Purpose To honor and glorify God by being good stewards of all He has entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on everyone who comes in contact with Mack s Lure. Making money must always be a by-product of building the character of men and women and the rendering of essential service to mankind. Contact Information Phone Order Desk FAX Postal address: 2514 Easy Street Wenatchee WA Addresses General Information: mackslure@mackslure.com Sales/Customer Service: mackslure@mackslure.com Web Site: al@mackslure.com re. Submitting information and articles for newsletter Pro Staff Team members are encouraged to submit articles and product evaluations for publishing in the newsletter. We at Mack s Lure would like to hear about your techniques of fishing with our products, along with your stories and pictures to go with them. Please send your articles and product reviews to: Mack s Lure 2514 Easy Street Wenatchee, WA Attn: Editor Or to: bob@mackslure.com (Continued from Page 1) The HummBait can also be used on the arm of a buzzbait. buzzbait. He simply removed the big blade from one of these lures that s designed to be fished on the surface and replaced it with a HummBait body. If you ve thrown a HummBait yourself, you know the lure has a good bit of sound and vibration as the body rotates on the retrieve. Using the HummBait body on a spinnerbait or buzzbait arm the way Mike has done also gives you something else. It provides an opportunity to show the fish you re after something they ve not seen before. I expect some of those same thoughts went through Paul Wright s mind before he took the treble hook off of his HummBait and hung a worm harness behind it. If you read my first two columns in this series (if you didn t you ll find them in my column archives here) you know that approach paid off for Paul for Lake Erie walleyes. The spinnerbait bite wasn t red hot when I was at Mexico s famed lake El Salto last summer. The bass in that wonderful lake follow patterns there just as they do elsewhere. When Bob Schmidt and I were there in late June we did our best by hanging a Smile Blade in front of our plastic worms and then fishing them right along the bottom. But while the Smile Blade equipped plastic baits were by far the best, I did take time to show those El Salto fish the spinnerbait my pal Mike had rigged with a HummBait on the arm instead of the usual spinners. I didn t catch a boat load of fish with it. I did nail one of 5 or 6-pounds. That fish sailed into the revised lure like it was trying to knock the paint off of it. We also asked our Mexican guide to fish with one of the Hummbaits Mike had rigged with a single hook. While we fished our plastic baits up front, the guide fished the HummBait like a buzzer from the back of the boat. He also caught fish. (Continued on Page 3)

3 (Continued from Page 2) What I ve seen done with a HummBait reminds me of how years ago I wound up altering my Arbogast Jitterbug lures. The bug is one of my favorite surface lures for bass. I m not going into details of what I did, but be assured I m convinced I made better bait out of it with just one slight change. As I ve mentioned before in this series about Mack s Lure s HummBait, now and then successful anglers wind up using new lures a tad differently than the guy who designed them had in mind. And why not? I m convinced fish are often keenly interested in lures or attractors they ve not seen ten thousand times before. If you get fish on a new lure just the way it comes out of the box---great. But don t give up if it doesn t. Sometimes just a small change or a different method of presentation makes a big difference in the amount of success you ll have with it Paul Wright did that with the HummBait for walleyes. Thanks to my pal Mike, I ve been able to do the same for bass. I m hoping that this gives you a few ideas you might want to try yourself. Why Me? I can t believe how many of my friends and families of friends are under physical and spiritual attack. Maybe it s a sign of my age. Maybe it s the result of the sin- filled world we live in. I don t know. I do know that there are many people suffering and being challenged. Job had a season in his life when everything went wrong. When Job ask God - Why? God s answer to Job s questions was Hush, child. You wouldn t understand if I told you. Scripture gives us some understanding as to why some suffer so much. The God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Peter 5:10) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17) You speak always like someone who has suffered, says Arctura, one of George MacDonald s characters in his book Donal Grant. Who has not that lives at all, is the response. Someone once said that, Indeed, life is suffering: contradiction, misfortune, disappointment and heartbreak surrounded us. Why must we enter the Kingdom of God through many tribulations? I used to know the answers to that question, but life--now that I m much closer to its end than to its beginning--has knocked most of them right out of my head. God chided Job and his friends, as Jesus chided his disciples, when they drew unwarranted conclusions from suffering. In the face of affliction, I m learning now to be more or less silent. When my friends tell me their lives are difficult, I answer Of course. When they ask me why they re suffering, I shrug and tell them, I don t know. Why life should be this way, I cannot say, but I do know this: It will not always be this way; there will be an end. Eternal glory lies ahead, as Peter promised, after we have suffered for a little while. There, in that eternal school room, our Lord will explain each separate anguish, but I doubt, then, that we will care. In the awesome flood of His wisdom and love, and in the beauty that will be ours for all eternity, we shall forget our present, light, momentary afflictions and discouraging trials. My friends, it s a matter of perspective. I Shall know Why By Emily Dickinson I shall know why-when Time is over-- And I have ceased to wonder why-- Christ will explain each separate anguish In the fair schoolroom of the sky-- He will tell me what Peter promised-- And I--for wonder at his woe-- I shall forget the drop of Anguish That scalds me now--that scalds me now! Have a grace-filled week! Sincerely, Jim Grassi

4 Do I Smell Food? Juicy Shrimp with Roasted Chile and Avocado Sauce Serves: 4 to 6 Prep time: 20 minutes Way to grill: direct medium heat (350 to 450 F) and direct high heat (450 to 550 F) Grilling time: 10 to 16 minutes Special equipment: 8 to 10 flatsided or round bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes. Sauce 3 Anaheim chile peppers, each about 6 inches long 1 medium Haas avocado 1/4 cup sour cream 1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh dill 1 large garlic clove 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Rub 1 teaspoon granulated garlic 1 teaspoon paprika 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 pounds large shrimp (21/30 count), peeled and deveined, tails left on Extra-virgin olive oil 1. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the chile peppers over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until they are blackened and blistered in spots all over, 8 to 12 minutes, turning occasionally. Put the chiles in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam for 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the stem ends, skins, and seeds. Drop the chiles into a food processor or blender. Add the remaining sauce ingredients. Process to create a smooth dipping sauce. If the sauce seems too thick, add a little water. Spoon the sauce into a serving bowl. 2. In a small bowl mix the rub ingredients. 3. Lay 5 to 7 shrimp on a work surface and arrange them so that the shrimp on one end lays one way and all the rest lay in the same direction. Choose shrimp that are the same size so that you can nestle them together with no empty spaces between them. This will help to keep the shrimp from spinning and prevent them from drying out on the grill. Pick up and skewer each shrimp through the middle, pushing the shrimp together on each skewer. Repeat the process with the remaining shrimp and skewers. Lightly brush or spray the skewers with oil and then season them evenly with the rub. 4. Increase the temperature of the grill to high heat. Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the shrimp over direct high heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until slightly firm on the surface and opaque in the center, 2 to 4 minutes, turning once. Remove from the grill and serve warm with the dipping sauce. Pro-Staffer Ted Beach giving a seminar on walleye fishing at the Big Horn Sport Show in Spokane, Washington. After his seminars Ted helped pro staffer Larry Mc- Clintock work the Mack s Lure booth and assist the people in purchasing the right products.

5 The booth at the Spokane Big Horn Sport Show was a huge success. Not only did the organizers of the show compliment us on the booth but also many of the vendors, security and the public expressed their gratitude that we were there. We are planning to be back next year with a triple booth instead of a double and hope to have more of an impact on the public then we did this year. It was a great show! Too bad it is only for 4 days instead of 5. Pro-staffer Ted Beach also worked in the booth along with his partner Scott Piper and Ted s wife, Cathy. Ross Robertson also assisted in selling products on Thursday and Friday. Thank you for all your help. Larry McClintock

6 A Message from Bobby Loomis As we all know, the lakes are thawing, birds are singing, and the fish are going to be on the spring bite. I have had a great end to winter, going to shows, working on a new catalog, and putting together some new and innovative products for the upcoming season. Now it s time for all of us to start putting our lures where our mouth is, so to speak. There has been plenty of change over the winter months here at Mack s Lure and we are already beginning to reap some of the benefits. Those changes include hiring some new sales representatives across the U.S., as well as picking up some new markets internationally. One big push is to add on more Guide and Pro Staff in those inadequately covered regions of the country; helping to create new business and a presence in areas we are not well known. If you are aware of anyone who would be a good addition to the team as a sales representative, guide staff, or pro staff member, please let me know. At the Portland Show this last February we worked with several well known guides developing a new Wedding Ring Prawn Spinner for the big Spring Chinook fishery here on the Columbia River. So far it has gone over extremely well. The Smile Blades are creating a huge hit for this fishery. Those who are using them say they are doing extremely well with 1.9 Smile Blades in front of whole herring. If you are going to use a cut-plug herring, you will need to drop down to a 1.1 Smile Blade in order for it to not deter from the roll. The guides that have been doing this are actually catching more fish than anyone around them, (they are excited)! These guys are finally discovering something that most of you have known for a long time - Smile Blades work for a lot of different fisheries. Surprisingly many of the guides we worked with were not familiar with a lot of the innovative products that we produce. I know sometimes we are a little slow out here in the NW, but it is rewarding to see a product that is designed to catch fish, and actually catches fish, vs. another gimmick lure to catch the fisherman. We are still feverishly working on a number of new products that most of you have either heard about, or have been involved in creating. Hopefully we can finish them for the new catalog by late May. We will let all of you know about the details of the new products before we put them out in the market place. By the way, all of you will be happy to know that I am making Bob S. go fishing a little more often. (Even though I fear it might be like having a banana in the boat). I asked Stan Fagerstrom to mentor me on how to handle having a big banana in the boat. I am looking forward to reading all of your 1st quarter activity logs and learning what you are doing within your own fisheries. Remember to direct everyone you can to the Mack Attack and the Forum on our website. The more people looking at Mack s Lure website, the better things will be for the entire team. Well, that is all for right now. If anyone has any questions or needs any help from me do not hesitate to call me. Take Care, Bob Loomis