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Old 02-15-09, 01:41 PM   #1
TRUMAN BASSER
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Default A Sit-Down with Jason Baxter

I had a chance to catch up and talk with Missouri’s Heartland Trails Pro Jason Baxter. Jason Baxter considers Table Rock Lake to be his home lake. Last year he spent roughly 225 days on Table Rock. Jason was the 2008 Heartland Trails Pro-Am points champion. Jason is well known for his success with a jig.

Jason talked about the new jigs that he has designed with Pig Sticker Bait Company. Jason and Pig Sticker Bait Company teamed up to create Livid Jig. Jason was having a hard time catching fish at one of his tournament stops. Jason knew the fish where there but they just would not cooperate. He was fishing clay banks with a jig and wanted one that would stand up even on a smooth bottom. After putting on his thinking cap and going to the drawing board with PIg Sticker Bait Company the Livid Jig was created. Jason says that the Livid jig produces so well because you can give the bait a ton of action while just soaking it. The jig will turn itself over into the stand up position with the slightest drag producing an action that the fish just can resist. Jason described how the jigs head utilizes a triangular concept that makes the jig stand up no matter what angle it comes in contact with the bottom.

Jason Baxter and Pig Sticker Bait Company have also just recently introduced the Baxter Jig. Jason wanted smaller eyeball jig that he could use under post-frontal conditions. Baxter often uses this jig for flipping boat docks and for giving deep pressured bass at Table Rock a different look. Jason talked about how a lot of people have caught onto throwing the heavier football jigs and that sometimes a lighter jig will produce better if you are patient enough to fish it correctly. Jason often throws the Baxter jig in depths of 20 feet of water on dropoffs, rock, and brushpiles. Jason recommends his jig for swimming boat docks. When the dock pattern gets hot at the Ozarks in the fall Jason likes to tie on one of his Baxter Jigs in white and cover a lot of water. He says that the bass will come out from under those docks and just crush it.

One of the newest Jigs from Pig Sticker Bait Company that Jason has learned to utilize is the Scrawler Jig. Jason describes the Scrawler jig as one of the most innovative jigs on the market in that it utilizes two clips that allow the jig to rest on the bottom in a stand up position. The wires also when pushed to a 180 degree angle with the head keep the jig from slippingin the the rocks. Jason firmly believes that the clips produce a scratching sound when the jig is dragged along the bottom that the fish have not heard before. When the jig falls on its head the wires help to triangulate the jig with the bottom and cause it to stand up in the verticle position.

Jason also went on to talk about his equipment choices for jig fishing at Table Rock Lake. Jason said that he seldom goes below 8 pound test fluorocarbon and that he hardly goes above 12 pound test fluorocarbon. He really feels comfortable with 12lb test line. He chooses Falcon rods for all applications. His jerk bait rods double as a spoon rod and they are Cara mh 6′5″ 8-17 lbs. test, 1/4 to 1/2 oz. He uses a 6′10″ Med Jig rod with a fast tip for jigs, square bills, chatter baits and spinner baits. Jason utilizes a 7′Mf for football jigs, Carolina rigs and flipping situations. All of his bait casting reels are the same, Daiwa Zillion 6.3:1 and all of his spinning combos are the same 7′Cara 6-14 lbs. test 3/16 to 5/8 oz. with symetre 2500 Fl Shimano’s. Jason’s selection may be small by most pros standards but it proved to be the most effective for him last year. He use’s the same rod style and reels with the same gear ratio for one simple reason, they all feel the same and one tournament day it could take 15-20 minutes to get the feel of a different reel and that is time that you are not catching fish. He says that people often ask him why he uses the same higher speed gear ratio for everything and that his answer is that you can always slow down, but you cannot speed up when you need to or have the cranking power that you may need if you are fishing a slower gear ratio. He said his experience has been to keep it simple and not to worry about having or not having a rod and reel combo for every lure combination. He offerend the advice of spending a little more money for a few rods and enjoying the quality they offer especially when fighting really big bass.

When Jason has an upcomming tournament he starts watching the weather about two weeks in advance. He tries to gain as much information as possible on the lake and its conditions. He also says that you can learn a lot about how a lake fishes by studying other anglers and how well they do in tournaments on its waters. For instance he noticed that a lot of the guys who are experts at catching bass on deep structure typically struggled on his stop to Grand Lake. He figured that if those guys were struggling fishing to their strenghts then maybe it was time to try to look for bass shallow. His decision payed off and he was able to earn valuable end of the year points to claim the Points Champion title. Jason also studies the changes in water level as well as the water temp. During practice Jason concentrates on finding several good schools of tournament size fish. Jason is very confident that as long as he utilizes his electronics and follows seasonal patterns he can find fish on any body of water. Jason doesn’t concentrate on finding out what bait the fish like the best during his practice sessions. Jason leaves the details to tournament day.

Jason has learned some valuable lessons from his years of tournament experience. He says that too many anglers loose big fish because they try to horse them in the boat. He says that a lot of times its not the line, the hook, or the rod that causes you to loose a fish its just bad decisions while landing it. He says that its best to move the fish away from the cover and take your time. Also he talked about how a lot of times on his spots it might take him 20 to 30 casts to get a bite. He says that too many anglers fish over a productive spot because they make only a couple of casts without a bite and then move on to another spot. When Jason gets one bass to commit he is often able to excite the whole school and limit out on his spots. Jason also can’t believe the amount of anglers that catch a fish from a spot and move on without fully exploring it. He says that a lot of times you might have to throw a variety of different baits on the same spot to catch on the fish in the area. He says too many anglers can get caught up in fishing just one bait while they should be willing to mix it up a little. Most of the time he feels confident when fishing behind other boats because he knows that they won’t fish the area thoroughly enough. He says that he’s noticed a couple of trends on the Ozark lakes as well. Jason says that on Lake of the Ozarks its best to keep your bait moving at all times. He says that the fish for some reason hate when your bait comes to a rest. On Table Rock he says on the other hand a lot of times you have to move your bait slow and work really hard to get a bite. He says that it has been his experience on Grand Lake that you just have to get the bait around the fish for him to try and eat it. He also has noticed that on a lot of your darker lakes the best bite is in the afternoon while on clearer lakes such as Table Rock the best bite seems to be from start till around 10:30. For some reason he says you can typically just mash on the fish at Table Rock all morning long until that sun gets up around the middle of the day.

Jason had a great season last year but he is also working hard to improve his game for this year. He spent a lot of time in the winter months learning the intricacies of flipping docks, throwing square bills, and throwing a deep diving crankbait. Last year he said that he struggled a bit at getting on the deep crankbait bite that some of the other pro’s were able to find at the trails stops. He said that after a lot of trial and tribulation he realized that he was using the wrong kind of line and the wrong retrieves. Jason is excited for this years season and plans on deep cranking becomming a part of his tournament game plan. Successful anglers like Jason are always looking to improve some asset of their game.

Jason’s fishing reports and Tips can be viewed at www.pigstickerbait.com
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Old 02-15-09, 02:10 PM   #2
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Nice article Truman.
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Old 02-15-09, 06:12 PM   #3
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nice article.... seems like a knoweldgable guy
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Old 02-15-09, 08:18 PM   #4
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Very good article.
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Old 02-16-09, 09:00 PM   #5
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I think that the misspelling of Pigsticker on thier "Day on the Water" contest advertisement could give a whole new meaning to the company!
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