Blackwater Fishing Blog

Welcome back all you loyal readers!  We here at Blackwater want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!  And with this new year brings a ton of great new product from Blackwater.  Be sure to stay tuned to the blog as we will be unavailing fresh new goods from our team throughout the year!

For this issue of :  ’Fish Like the Pro’s’  We have our resident pro-staff, Mr. Tony Lain here to give us some more insight on his techniques behind his freshwater expertise.  Let us know what you think!  And as always, be sure to check out our e-store for all the great products Tony is talking about, as well as plenty more!

Blue Bird Finesse!

By Tony Lain

Have you ever been bass fishing during one of those super tough “Blue Bird” days?

One of those days on the water when you fish hard and still get a “doughnut”? When

conditions are the lake water is super clear, flat calm with no breeze and super bright

skies, the bite can be extremely tough. But here is a tip that might get you some big

bites.

Sometimes during Blue Bird conditions big bass will suspend in the tops of deep trees

just off shore. I have found that sometime the only way to get these bigger finicky bass

to bite in clear water is to use light line with slow sinking finesse baits. And yes, you

have to take some huge risks and fish the light line in and around the trees.

The tackle I choose when fishing finesse baits when I target finicky bass suspended in

the tree tops in clear water is crucial. A long medium or medium light action spinning

rod is a must. My go-to set up is a 7’0” Kistler Z-Bone medium light action spinning rod,

with a 2500 series spinning reel, spooled with ten or twelve pound test braided line. I

use Blackwater Toray Bawo Finesse Braid line with a five or six pound test top shot

Toray fluorocarbon leader. I use Solaraom Superhard Upgrade for my leader, because

it is very strong and resists wear when fished in the tree tops. The medium light action

spinning rod is the best choice because you will be required to make long accurate

casts with really light baits. The lighter action rod will also take up some of the shock

when a big bass decides to make one of those powerful hard runs during the fight.

One of the most important components with this set-up is the use of braided line with

a fluorocarbon leader. The ten pound test Toray braid has the diameter of two pound

test nylon fishing line and performs perfectly on a spinning reel and will aide in making

long casts. Another key feature is that the Toray braid has “strike indicators” about

every three feet built into the line. These white marks are very visible as you watch your

line as the bait slowly sinks and will aid in the detection of strikes. I attach about a ten

foot fluorocarbon leader to the braid by utilizing a uni-to-uni knot. Because the braided

line has virtually no stretch, it is very easy to “reel set” when you get a bite, and then

immediately try to control the direction of the fighting bass away from the trees.

A few baits I prefer to use when fishing this technique are a Jackall Flick Shake worm

with Wacky Jig Head, a weightless wacky rigged Senko, or a Jackall Clone Fry nose

hooked with a small Tungsten Nose Jig Head weight. I try to locate thicker off shore

trees that are also close to deeper water. I make long casts to the outside edge of the

trees, and also right into the tree tops (Yeap, in the trees). I watch my line closely, and

as soon as I detect a strike I reel set, lean into the fish and try to direct the bass away

from the trees into deeper open water. Now, the down side… Yes, you are going to lose

some fish and get broke off in the tress. Unfortunately, this is the risk you must take

to get these finicky bass to bite in the first place (Big risk, big reward). This technique

requires a lot of skill, but a lot more luck! “I’ve gotten my feelings hurt” too, losing big

tournament winners in the trees too. But I’ve also had many top finishes using this

technique during Blue Bird days when a lot of other good anglers struggled. Give this

technique a try and you might be pleasantly surprised how many big bass you catch out

of the trees with light line. Good luck on the water!

Welcome back all you loyal readers! Today we would like to welcome a resident Blackwater / ‘Toray’ Pro-staff to the blog, Garrett Lorenzen.  A local of San Diego, Garrett takes his fishing seriously!  He uses our Blackwater by ‘Toray’ series of Freshwater lines exclusively when he hits up the competitive circuit and swears by it!  Check out his review of the lines and some great pics below!

Garrett’s Thoughts:

Hey Guys!  Garrett here to give you a brief description of how I like to use the Blackwater by ‘Toray’ series of Freshwater Lines.  I will be mainly reviewing my methods that I used with the lines after wining the National West Tournament at Diamond Valley Lake last month!

* This 8.01 bass also took big bass in the tournament. We used 1/2 oz pepper jigs coupled with 14 lb Toray upgrade 100% Fluorocarbon. The big fish came off a Huddleston swim bait fished using 25 lb Toray super hard polymide.

* As the day progressed the weather got worse. We had to down size our baits as well as our line size. We ended the day throwing 6″ aarons magic robo worms in 40 ft of water using BAWO braid 10 lb with a top shot of 6 lb upgrade 100% fluorocarbon.

* All in all it was a great day!  We really had the upper hand with the competition due to the phenomenal line provided by the great people at Blackwater/Toray!!  If you want to win… there’s no other choice, FISH BLACKWATER.

Remember guys, all of our lines including those that our Pro-Staff Garrett just described are on sale at our E-store.  Be sure to take advantage of our holiday sale currently going on by typing in the coupon code:  fishblackwater upon your check out!

Happy Holiday!

-Team Blackwater

Hey there again to all you loyal readers, we are back again for another rendition of our blog series:  From Catch to the Kitchen.  Today we decided to switch up a few things for you guys and take the spotlight away from the fish that we normally cook up, to another creature of the sea that is just as delectable.  Dungeness Crab!  That’s right!  Its crab season, and as many of you know there is nothing as sweet as fresh crab in the winter.

We were lucky enough to have loyal Blackwater team member from Northern Cal, Uncle Greg, send us a few of the delectable guys to try out with one of our recipe’s.  Our heavily awarded Blackwater Chef knew exactly what to do once the crab had entered the building….. CRAB DIP!  Nothing is better than warm crab dip on a brisk California winter day.  See below for recipe instructions on how our Chef concocted  the dip!

Here is what you’ll need:

• 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, free of shells
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup green onions, minced, optional
• 5 to 6 roasted garlic cloves or 2 cloves minced
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• Salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp bread crumbs on top of the dip before putting it in the oven

Once you have combined all of the ingredients in a casserole dish and gently stirred until thoroughly mixed, you will want to go ahead and pre-heat your oven to approx:  325 degrees F.  When the oven is good and ready, proceed to bake the dip for:  40 Minutes.  You can then serve with butter crackers!

Thats it!  Simple right!  Be sure to try this recipe out over the Holiday season and let us know how it turns out on our facebook!

And for those of you who have continued on through this blog, our Holiday sale on our e-store is going on now through the New Year!  Be sure to save on your favorite Blackwater Fishing Line Items.  Simply add the discount code ‘fishblackwater’ upon your check out and receive immediate savings towards your order!

Until Next Time,

-Team Blackwater!

So.. What does

&

Get you?!

Welcome back to all you loyal readers of the Blackwater Blog!  For those of you who continue to read our blog, we here at Blackwater would like to show you guys our gratitude.  Therefore, to get into the spirit of the holiday’s, Team Blackwater is instilling a 30% discount on all items purchased on our e-store from:  Thursday (11/24/11) – Sunday (11/27/11).

Simply plug-in the words ‘blackfriday’ upon your final step of checking out and you will immediately receive 30% off of your order!

Be sure to act fast because this sale will go even faster!

Until Next Time -

Happy Thanksgiving,

From all of us @ Team Blackwater!

Welcome back all you loyal followers!  Today we have yet another treat for you guys directly from one of our great members of our Pro-Staff team, Ryan Escutia.   Ryan is fresh off a two week trip, travelling & fishing through some of the great lakes this state has to offer.  From fishing up at the Delta to local lakes in San Diego, Ryan and his teammate Garrett Lorenzen  (fellow Blackwater Pro-Staff) made a splash whilst strictly using our ‘Toray’ Lines.  Be sure to check out the video after Ryan’s thoughts below:

Blackwater by ‘Toray’ Fishing  Thoughts:  Ryan Escutia,

Hey guys, Ryan here to give you some quick background thoughts and notes on my time fishing with Blackwater by ‘Toray’ Freshwater Lines.  As you can probably see from the video below we had a pretty spectacular trip.  The lines we used this time of year (early Autumn) were:  BAWO Superhard Polyamide Plus & Super Hard Premium-Plus High Grade Fluorocarbon.  These two lines were all I needed to get the job done and to catch some of the largest bass we have seen to date!

My thoughts on the line:

BAWO Superhard Polyamide Plus:  Although this line is super soft and supple, the strength is unmatched by any line I have used to date.  It offers a great knot strength and has a great watermelon (camo) color that offers great presentation no matter what type of water you are fishing.

From throwing light 8lb. line on the crank bait, to chucking a 2 oz.  swimbait all day on 30 lb., this line makes casting effortless which is super unique in many ways that I have come to really rely on when fishing tournament style fishing.

The diameter of this line is unbelievable!  The 12lb. line looks like a 10lb. line, but fishing like a 20lb.  Just AWESOME!  So if your looking for a small diameter line that can be used in a variety of applications, this is YOUR LINE!

Super Hard Premium-Plus High Grade Fluorocarbon:

When you think of finesse fishing, most think Fluorocarbon.  Blackwater by ‘Toray’ has developed a great fluoro that has superb qualities.  This supple line is soft yet still provides a stiffness like no other.  When using a Carolina Rig, this is the line I shoot for.  The structure of the line can handle the tough pull, fight, and drag, we put it through and still manage to bring the fish to the boat.

Quagga Mussels:  prone to this part of the nation, have made for a different type of fishing for us in the San Diego area.  This line now allows us to present small baits in these Quagga infested lakes and still come up successful!  Prior to using this line, I would break off my line much before the fish even got near the boat.  With some spectra to back my reel, and this line  - I am never worried if my fish won’t get to the boat!

Be sure to check out both these lines the next time you are on the water!

-Ryan Escutia

Blackwater Pro-Staff

P.S. Be sure to check out my video below shot with my buddy Garrett Lorenzen over-viewing our recent trip!

Blackwater Presents Freshwater Fishing with Pro-Staff Ryan Escutia

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Welcome back to all of  our loyal followers!  We have a special treat for you all this week and as you know, YES! it’s that time of year again.  That time where the good people at Fisherman’s Landing San Diego put together one of the most awaited events of the year, ‘Tackle Day’.

We welcome all of you loyal Blackwater fan’s to come out to the show and hang out with us at our booth as we will be having serving seminars, and talking shop all day!  Who knows you may even catch a glimpse of some new top secret items we are working for release in the new year..  Oh and.. I can’t forget the good guys over at Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop will have our complete line of Blackwater goods at a special rate for this weekend only!!  So if seeing our shiny faces wasn’t enough for you, now you have an added bonus!!

Check Below For Show Info:

Location: 2838 Garrison St. , San Diego, CA 92106

On:  Saturday Nov, 5th 2011

Time:  9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

We look forward to seeing all of you there!  And for those who can’t make it… Don’t worry, we have setup something special on our e-store just for you.  This weekend ONLY, be sure to type in the keyword ‘fishblackwater’ during your check out and receive a 15% off coupon on your entire purchase!

Until Next Time!

-Team Blackwater

Welcome back all!  It’s been a while since our last post and for good reason.  We have been busy tinkering away at some new product releases we have for you fishing junkies coming out early next year!

In the meantime we have our honored Pro-Staffer, Tony Lain here with some great techniques that he would love to share with all of our Blackwater/Toray Lines fans out there.  So listen up all you freshwater fools!  Tony knows how to get the bites that counts!

“Yo, throw the Football!”

Late Fall and early Winter is Football time! Not on TV, I’m talking about fishing deep water with football jigs.

Football jigs are by far one of the best techniques to employ when targeting big bass in deep clear water, especially in the Fall and Winter months. There are many lure companies that manufacture good quality football jigs. Revenge Baits football jigs are at the top of my list. These are high quality football jigs with very detailed painted heads with a double keeper, matching true color silicon skirts, and strong sharp hooks. The head of the Revenge jig features a recessed eye located on top of the head which allows the jig to easily move along the bottom with less snags. My favorite Revenge football jig colors are Black, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Craw, and Sprayed Grass.

Now let me explain a critical component when fishing football jigs in deep clear water. Using premium 100% fluorocarbon line is “CRITICAL”. Fluorocarbon line is critical when it comes to presenting the bait properly, getting more bites, and landing more big bass. When I fish with football jigs my line choice is simple. I use Blackwater Toray Solaroam Upgrade 100% fluorocarbon line. Its’ the best fluorocarbon line I have found for this technique. Unlike nylon and most braided lines, fluorocarbon line sinks, helping the football jig get to the bottom faster with no bow in the line, and then stay on the bottom. With less stretch from fluorocarbon line, it is easy for you to give the football jig the proper action with less effort and allows for better hook-sets. The line’s sensitivity also allows you to feel the bottom structure better and aids in the detection of strikes. Because 100% fluorocarbon line is also virtually invisible, those bigger more cautious bass focus on the presentation of the football jig, not the line.

Having the right rod and reel is also important, especially when fishing football jigs in deep water, because many bites will come at the end of a long cast. I use two basic tackle setups when fishing football jigs in deep water. If I’m fishing in water deeper than 30 feet or fishing in a strong wind, I use football jigs in sizes from 3/4oz – 1oz. My go-to football jig set up is a 7’2” Kistler Z-Bone medium-heavy action casting rod, with a high speed casting reel, spooled with 12 or 14 pound test fluorocarbon line. The longer length medium-heavy action rod performs perfectly with football jigs, aiding with longer casts, and helps pick up more line when setting the hook when your jig gets bit at the end of a long cast. The fast sensitive tip helps give the football jig the proper action and allows me to feel what the jig is contacting on the bottom even way down to depths over 50 feet. When I’m fishing in clear water 15 – 30 feet deep or need a finesse presentation with a smaller profile football jig, I downsize jig sizes to 1/4oz – 1/2oz. I use basically the same rod and reel combination, but a 7’0” medium-heavy casting rod, and go lighter with eight to ten pound test Toray fluorocarbon line.

Pro Tips: If you are fishing the football jig correctly, you will be dragging and hopping the jig through some nasty bottom structure. Even with the best fluorocarbon line, if you don’t check the line for nicks and frays, you are asking for trouble. Retie often. Fish your jig “uphill”. Present the football jig in a way that allows you to cast past/deeper than the strike zone, allowing you to pull the bait through the strike zone keeping better contact with the bottom. When you do hook a fish in deep water, try to bring bass up from the deep water to the surface as slowly as possible, so not to cause the bass to inflate from the change in pressure. If you don’t already know how, learn how to “needle” bass caught from deep water. And lastly, I strongly recommend using some type of line conditioner spray. Line condition sprays will increase your casting distance, reduce line memory, and will help fluorocarbon line perform better and last longer.

So next weekend, instead of sitting on the couch eating “cheesy puffs” watching football on TV, get on the water and “Yo, throw the football!”

Tony Lain is a bass tournament angler, competing in Pro/Am events and professional team tournaments in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon. He enjoys introducing new fisherman to our sport, and he has been a competing professional angler since 2003. His sponsors include Anglers Marine, Blackwater Toray Fishing Lines, Jackall Lures, Kistler Custom Rods, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Optima Batteries, Phillips Fishing Products, Ranger Boats and Revenge Baits.

Until Next Time Guys!

P.S. For all of you trick or treaters’ our there – You can go ahead and pick up some of our Blackwater/Toray Upgrade 100% Fluorocarbon line at 15% this whole weekend! Be sure to get on this deal because its going fast!

-Team Blackwater!

Hey there guys!  We know it’s been a little while since we have posted an update on how our products are performing, so we figured now is as good a time as any to give all you fish junkies out there an update on how things are going with the best Fluorocarbon in the world!

Last week our great pal and long time pro-staffer, Kent Iwata set sail on our annual 1.5 day trip on the Legend Sportfishing boat on the hunt for some fine catches.  And, boy did he get what he wished for!  The group on this short trip really made their mark on the open waters.  They came back with a variety of fish including:  yellowtail, dorado, and the all mighty bluefin!

Kent, along with the other hardcore anglers on the boat were rigged up with only our finest Shockleader and Hi-Tech Braid combo thats always sure to kill!  Be sure to buy yours here!

Check out the pics below and as always be sure to send your pics and we will post em’ up on our facebook!!

The best part of living in So-Cal!  Check out the beautiful view…

Be sure to check out our website for updates of our annual charters with going out of San Diego.  You could be the proud raffle winner of some of that goodness you see above!

Kelp bed FTW!  Its time to break our those poles!

As you can see this group of angler’s really made some great efforts for the time they were out on the water.  Congrats guys!!

Until next time…

-Team Blackwater

Hey Guys!  We’re back for a quick blog to let you all know that we are having our annual Labor Day sale on our e-store from now (9/2/11) through Monday – Labor day (9/5/11) .

We have two sales going on throughout this holiday long weekend to help get your tackle boxes full:

1.  On our Saltwater Catalog – We are Offering 15% off all purchases.  Just simply use the discount code ‘fishblackwater’ during the end portion of your checkout process and your new amount will instantly show up!

2.  On our Freshwater Catalog – We are offering 30% off certain cataloged items seen below.   By simply typing in the discount code, ‘bwfreshwater’ during your check out you will receive your discount!

We are making way for some new top secret lines from ‘Toray’ Japan, and since we are the exclusive U.S. distributors of all things ‘Toray’ fishing, you know its going to be awesome!

Therefore, this could be your last time to pickup these award winning lines!  All of which have been used frequently on all major BASS pro-circuits.

1.  

2.  3.  4.  There you have it!  Remember, this may be the last time you see these great series of lines from ‘Toray’ / Blackwater Japan!  Make sure to pick em’ up at this great price, because they won’t be here for much longer.

TOP SECRET.. SHHH!

Rumor has it.. that Blackwater / ‘Toray’ Japan are working on bringing out some fresh items to bring to you loyal supporters yet again!  Stay tuned to the blog for some forthcoming news!

In the meantime enjoy the sale and have a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend!

-Team Blackwater

Hello all you Fluorocarbon fanatics!  We’re back again for yet another installment of our favorite blog segment of the site, From Catch to the Kitchen.  And this time we are really happy to hook you guys up with a special treat!

Our R&D team had some rare spare moments to hit a 1.5 day trip on the Gorgeous Legend Sportfishing boat to not only test out some of our new top secret products, but to also get in on some of that Bluefin that seems to biting all over the Southland recently.

When these bad boys were brought back home, luck had it that our amazing Blackwater Chef had been dreaming up some fresh recipes specifically for Bluefin season!

Today we bring you – Blackwater Bluefin Nachos!

Our Chef was really looking to bring something different to the table with this recipe and she did just that!

Here is what you’ll need:

(1)  Bluefin fillet’s

(1)  Green Onoins

(1)  Avacado

(1)  Sesame Oil

(1)  Hawaiian Salt

(1)  Chili Flakes

(1)   Wonton Skins

(1)  Corn Oil

(1)  Mayo

(1)  Sriacha

(1) Wasabi Powder

(1) Teriyaki Flavored Nori (Seaweed)

(1) Tobiko Eggs

Step One:  Time to prepare your filet’s!  We were lucky enough to have the great crew on the Legend help filet up our fish for us, so all we had to do was give them a quick rinse and prepare cutting them up in to “poke” sized chunks.  Be sure always to use good ‘Sushi Grade’ Knives.. Anything else won’t suffice… Just like our Shockleader  See below..

Step Two:  Once you have your bowl of “poke” sized tuna cut up, start preparing the rest of the ‘Nacho’ toppings:  Avacados, green onions, nori,.  Cut them up and place them into the bowl of Tuna accordingly.

Step Three:  Time to spice it up!  To your mixture – Add:  1 1/2 Tablespoon of Seasame Oil (To taste, becasreful not to add too much because you could overpower the mixture), 2 Pinches of Hawaiian Salt, 1 Tablespoon of Chili Flakes.  And its time to mix it up with your tuna!  At this point you can also add in your tobiko eggs.

Step Four:  Prepare your wonton skins.  Preheat your oil pan with enough corn oil to fill up the pan 1 quarter way.  Throw in your wonton skins until they turn light brown.  Be careful as they tend to cook fast.  Once browned let them drain on a paper towel on a plate.

Step Five:  Its time to break out our favorite part, the MAYO!  Place 1/2 cup of mayo into a bowl and work in 2 teaspoons of Sriacha chili paste into it.



Step Six:  Place 1/2 cup of mayo into another bowl mixing in 1/4 teaspoon wasabi powder.



Step Seven:  Time to plate!  Lay down the wonton chips on a plate and place a scoop of poke on each chip.  Then dress with both mayo concoctions .  Add the sliced nori for garnish, and your ready to eat!

There you have it!  A perfect end of summer treat sure to please you and your friends.  As always be sure to shoot us pics of your rendition and we will put them up on our blog!

Until the next one..

-Team Blackwater