Entry 247-2

Austin Banks – Fishing His Way to the Big Show

Editor’s Note: Austin Banks of Madison, Mississippi, a regional Strike King Pro, fishes numbers of state and regional tournaments. Banks’ dream and goal is to make it to the BASS Elite Series and possibly to the Bassmaster Classic. He attended the 2008 Bassmaster Classic and worked the outdoor show in the Strike King booth. Banks has learned the secret to finding and working with a sponsor, and he’s working hard to work his way up through the ranks of tournament fishermen. Banks also is learning to fish new lures and techniques. This week, Banks will tell us how and where he fishes, and what he’ll have to do to be a participant instead of a spectator at the Bassmaster Classic.

Part 2: The Rage Tail Shad

Question: Austin, about which one of Strike King’s new lures are you most excited?

Banks: I really like the Rage Tail Shad.

Question: That’s a goofy-looking bait. What do you like about it?

Banks: The Rage Tail Shad is a soft-plastic, weedless buzzbait that can effectively go across any type of grass or water weeds, and even lily pads. The Rage Tail Shad is a fish-catching machine when you need a soft, yet effective, buzzbait, but you don’t want a really-noisy clanking-type buzzbait.

Question: What color do you like the best?

Banks: I prefer the gold color. In Mississippi, we have a lot of muddy water. I’ve noticed that the gold-colored Rage Tail Shad is extremely effective in that muddy water.

Question: How do you rig the Rage Tail Shad?

Banks: I rig it Texas style without a weight on 50-pound-test braided P-Line.

Question: Around what kind of structure do you cast the Rage Tail Shad?

Banks: Fallen trees, grass, lily pads and on the edges of lily pads.

Question: How do you retrieve it?

Banks: I retrieve the bait on a steady retrieve and pull it straight back to me. When the bass takes the bait, I wait about 3 seconds, or until I feel the fish on the line, and then I set the hook. Fishing the Rage Tail Shad is much like fishing the Rage Toad. If you don’t wait for the fish to take the bait and make sure the bass has the bait in its mouth before you set the hook, you’ll miss the fish. Oftentimes the Rage Tail Shad causes the bass to blow up on the bait, and you’ll have a natural tendency to want to set the hook when you see the strike. However, if you do, many times you’ll pull the lure out of the fish’s mouth before it has a chance to close its mouth and allow you to get a good hook set.

Question: How did you teach yourself to wait until you feel the strike to set the hook?

Banks: When the bass attacks, I’ve learned to say, “1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, Now.” “Now” is when I set the hook.

Question: What kind and size of hook do you use when you fish this lure?

Banks: I like the No. 5/0 Mustad hook.

Question: What’s the biggest bass you’ve caught with the Rage Tail Shad?

Banks: Since I’ve only been fishing it about 2 or 3 months, the biggest bass I’ve caught has only been about 3 pounds. But you have to remember that I’m pretty-much fishing this bait during the pre-spawn. The Rage Tail Shad will be much-more effective when the weather warms up, and the bass are either in the spawn or the post-spawn mode.

On calm days and early in the morning, you can fish this bait anywhere you’ll normally fish a buzzbait. But the Rage Tail Shad has a different type of action, sound and swimming motion than a buzzbait. That’s why I’m so excited about it. All other buzzbaits look pretty-much alike, but the Rage Tail Shad is different, which gives me an advantage when I’m fishing in competitions.

Austin Banks – Fishing His Way to the Big Show

Part 2: The Rage Tail Shad

Next: The Red Eye Shad

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