Tenacious Bay Bass

Alan Miller Jig Master

Passion; it is the driving force behind all we do well. It is what gets us up early, and keeps us up late. It is what separates the superb from the mediocre. We all started fishing with passion. All that we put into it was passion driven. Companies got started in garages, and home kitchens from passion driven fishing artisans. Now with the outsourcing of products overseas, and mass produced copies, that passion seems to be hidden amidst the array of mediocrity. It is all lost in the allure of making money instead of the passion of making the lure.

Texas angler, crappie aficionado, and jig maker, Alan Miller brings his passion for fishing, his love of tricking fish on metal and hair, to an art form that shows in all he does. Even better, his jigs catch fish.

I first started fishing a little jig that Alan made for me to try in San Diego Bay. Although made as a bass jig, this little Hair and Rubber combo jig with a painted football head has caught me Bonefish, Spotted Bay Bass, Sand Bass, and Halibut alike. All I can say is, Awesome. Hopefully, if it is his passion to share these jigs for sale, The Fish Icon will soon carry some of Alan's jigs. In the meantime, check out his site.

http://awmiller.wordpress.com/

Laser Lure

After just fishing a few hours in San Diego Bay with the Laser Lure, I was hooked. And why wouldn't I be? After all, I did catch the biggest Spotted Bay Bass I had caught in weeks on my third cast with a Red Crackle Firetiger Deep Diving Laser Lure. I wish I could show you everything these great baits do. The best I've got is this slide show that I put together. It's probably obvious that I am not a video production person. But, I hope you enjoy it none-the-less. The Fish Icon will not be carrying this bait, so please try Angler's Choice.

For more info, try this link: https://www.laserlure.com/index.php , or http://www.anglerschoicetackle.com/ 

Tom Pryor Series Rods

In my years of fishing, and with my brother living in Idaho, I have been blessed with fishing the Snake River. It was also the tail race of a Snake River lock that saved me from too much embarassment fishing an FLW event on the Columbia River in Washington, a few years back. So when my buddy Robert Faaborg told me about the Tom Pryor Series Rods from Snake River Anglers, I was intrigued to say the least. "Ya gotta see these rods, Jimmy," he would say. After some scheduling adjustments, I finally did.

I met Robert on El Capitan Reservoir, which pretty seems to be the one lake I've been on the most this year. I felt a bit nostalgic as Robert backed me in the water behind the wheel of his Ranger Z20. Ahh, the memories... When he got on the boat, he told me he hadn't been fishing San Diego lakes in over a year, and wondered if we should go anywhere in particular, or just poke around. I told him I didn't care. I knew where some fish were, but was kinda tired of doing the same thing.

We headed into the north arm a bit, and found a bank with almost as many birds as rocks. He backed off the big motor, and proceeded to his rod locker. There he pulled out a Tom Pryor jig rod with a Spinnerbait attached. He handed it to me, and then pulled out a Tom Pryor cranking rod with a Crankbait on it. He asked me which one I wanted, and I said, "I dunno, how 'bout the crank." My mistake. Third cast into this pocket, and Robert hooks up with a beautiful El Capitan Bass. We didn't weigh her, but both estimated 4 pound plus. Her head was that of a six pounder, but it looked like she just spawned, and hadn't filled her belly yet.

Oh wait, this is supposed to be a product review. Well, how do you know how good a rod is without getting a fish to bend it for you? So after a few more tries at a repeat for a reaction fish, we decided to try some finesse. I went to a drop shot, and although the rod felt good, the bite was not so much. I got to use a Tom Pryor spinning rod with a Quantum Tour Edition spinning reel. I did get one short fish, and Robert got one on a Scrounger. After breaking off the drop shot rig, I decided to try a Shakey. The 3 weight 7'6" rod was perfect for this technique, and I found the fish were very much into the way this soft tipped rod would make the little fat headed Robo worm dance. Robert tried about three other soft plastic rigs next to my highly effective Shakey. We both caught a lot of fish this way, but by 11:00, we were in the mood for some burritos, and off the water by 11:30.

For a product review, I should have gotten more pictures of the rods. This I can tell you, all Tom Pryor rods are made here in the USA. Stock rods come with a longer butt section than most of us are used to seeing. This is perfect for the way we like to fish our jigs in the northwest. However, they can also be custom made to your liking. All Tom Pryor Series rods are high modulous, and both the mid and high grades come with Titanium Recoil Guides. These are truly awesome rods for the price, and they come with a Full Lifetime Warranty. These rods are so nice, we just might have to start carrying them here at The Fish Icon. In the meantime, check them out at Anglers Arsenal.

Here's a link for more info: http://tompryorrods.com/products