Insight Genesis, Pretty Awesome.....

Last year I was introduced to Insight Genesis. Until that point I thought purchasing a $150-200 chip each time i visited a different region was the only answer to the question "Just what am I looking at?". Far too often I show up at a lake having done homework to find that what I thought was a hump is in fact a hole. Now this isn't necessarily a consistent problem but it happens often enough that it taught me I didn't have all of the tools I needed to get the job done.

Below is a screenshot of one of my uploads form my Bassmaster Central Open practice at Lake Amistad last February. On the left you see contours and on the right traditional sonar log form my Lowrance HDS 9. Now I was able to find what looked like slow tapering point on my Navionics chip. It also showed a fairly accurate target depth of where I had been regularly locating fish. 

If you look closely at the sonar you'll notice 2 echos clearly sitting just on top of the hump. I shut down, turned around and fired a Livingston Dive Master 20 and caught a 6 ponder. It couldn't have been anymore textbook. However It was the only one I caught after changing up and trying multiple presentations and angles. That ended up being the theme of the entire event. You could find one or two fish and you needed to make a move. In some cases you could come back to a spot and you may pick up another fish but there were no guarantees. If you didn't mark fish you best move on.

  

Now if I would have just looked at what the sonar and my Navionics chip showed, I would have missed the boat totally on just exactly what was drawing these fish to this particular spot. When I went back to the room that evening and uploaded my data I noticed the darker shading on the hump on the opposite side of the point from the main river channel noted in dark blue above. Its a little hard but that darker shading is right on the edge of where the fish were located on this hump. This is where the light switch went off!

For the remainder of practice I was able to use Insight Genesis to record data and generate a more accurate maps. These maps helped me to pinpoint small groups of fish holding near steep break-lines of humps and points near secondary creeks and drains, just opposite of the main channel. This ultimately led to an 18th place finish in the event just one lost keeper on day one kept me from making the top 12 cut. There is no doubt in my mind that without Insight Genesis I would not have been able to locate these sweet spots.

Now I know what your thinking. "This is going to take too much time." or "It has to be expensive.". Well its honestly not. An annual subscription is only $99 and a 2GB SD card is about $10. You can use pretty much any Lowrance unit to log sonar and create your maps. The upload tool makes it really simple to load your files without even having to log in to the website and depending on your internet connection it doesn't take too terribly long to upload.

If you get a chance stop by and check it out at https://insightstore.navico.com/insightgenesis. I genuinely feel like this is truly the future of mapping. If nothing else, it is without a doubt a must have tool to help you unlock the mystery of what ACTUALLY lies beneath!

 - Mike Pharr - "The Fishin' Fireman"

2014 Bassmaster Central Open #1 Lake Amistad

We've all heard stories of tough tournaments with frozen guides, frozen fingers and toes that hurt as if frostbite is a certainty, But what's unheard of are these things happening at Lake Amistad. I mean this is a lake in south west Texas that is partly in Mexico! Byron Velvick has palm trees for crying out loud!

My first day on the water (Wednesday Jan 29th) the water temp was a balmy 48-49 degrees. Oh that's just about 8-10 degrees colder than the temps had been as little as a week earlier. I guess being pounded by rolling cold fronts some of which bring sleet & snow can tend to do that to body of water no matter where it is. The temp would warm up to about 54 degrees after a few days with the fish becoming a little more active but they still seemed to relate to deeper water with a more stable overall temperature.

One of the things I learned over the years is that under extreme conditions bass like to have a quick means of escape when conditions take a turn for the worst. This was never more true than what I witnessed with my own eyes here. I found out quickly that they were relating to the most extreme vertical drops I could find. These drops would allow for a quick escape the next time the "Polar Vortex" came to town. I found that ledges with 40'-60' of water next to a creek channel with a bluff drop 80'-100' were money almost every time. The most consistent of these locations were the ones where main creeks or large drains met the main river channel.

Once I located these fish they didn't seem to move much until they got fired up on schools of bait and moved on out into the 80-100' creek beds in which case I really had to rely on my Lowrance units to keep up. When they were active in the schools I caught fish in a variety of ways but really only had confidence in 2 primary techniques at the depths these fish were working at.

One of my primary and most consistent techniques was the drop shot. I caught the majority of my fish vertically presenting a V&M Shaky Shad in either "Smokin Shad" or "Arkansas Shiner". There were a few key things that I really relied on to make this successful. I used 6lb test HiSeas fluorocarbon, Mustad #2 Drop Shot hooks and Elite Tungsten's new 3/8 or 1/2 oz teardrop weights. I used spinning tackle as a good smooth drag was essential with the pound test line I was using. The sensitivity and control I had with my new TFO Gary Loomis Tactical DSS 733 was absolutely amazing. In 40'-60' of water feeling a bite is normally out of the question. Not the case with this rod. All I felt was a slight tick and the fight was on. Fatigue was also never an issue as it's the lightest spinning rod I've ever had in my hands.

The other technique that worked well when the time was right was the old trusty A-Rig. As an LSU fan I refuse to say what the "A" stands for but most of you already know so we'll leave it at that. I did well with the rigs with willow spinners but the main ingredient was the 5 V&M "White Ice" Thunder Shad swimbaits in tow. They are extremely soft but durable and present a very lifelike kicking action that the fish just cannot resist! I ended up with 3 keepers on this setup with my biggest of bout 3 3/4 lbs. on day 2. I did lose 1 jig on day 1 and probably the 5th keeper that day because of clip failure when I had two hooked up in 1 cast. Oh well that's one of the risks. This rig worked well on a Lews Super Duty 5.4:1 with 50 lb braid on a TFO Gary Loomis Tactical 7'11 Mag Heavy casting rod. The long rod and smooth reel helped with long casting and the slow ratio allowed me to crawl the rig at depths of 30'-40'. Also the lightness of the TFO rod helped to cut down on fatigue.

Of all the techniques and equipment I used to catch fish throughout practice and the tournament I CAN NOT brag enough on my Lowrance HDS Touch 9 and Elite 7 units. The 9 is mounted at the console with StructureScan and the Elite 7 is flush mounted in the bow with DownScan. They were so spot on that one day in practice with a Coangler, I marked a fish on the StructureScan and touched the fish which allowed me to mark a waypoint. I then shut down, trolled up to the waypoint with my Elite 7 as it was connected via Ethernet, and I marked the fish that was by itself. I then (with a bet I couldn't from my Coangler) dropped strait down and caught that fish on the first drop out of 50' of water. I definitely made Justin Perry a believer in Lowrance that day. Without a doubt I couldn't have had success without my graphs.

Even though I couldn't get that 5th fish in the boat on day one I can't complain about a top 20 under those conditions. I was less than 2 lbs from the cut and I feel very strongly that I could have caught a limit Saturday, but that's the name of the game. You win some and you lose most! Well something like that. All in all I feel very good about this year and I know I am off to a great start. I have decided that I'm not going to drop my shoulder and swing at the fence on every event anymore. After 13 professional level events and only 3 checks I need to focus more on solid finishes from here on out. Now a WIN, a 9th & an 18th aren't bad but I have learned that it is very possible to obtain a top 10-20 in every event if you stay grounded, make good decisions and maintain "realistic" expectations. Don't lie to yourself when you know your not on the fish to win. Bring the best 5 you can everyday and let the cards fall where they may. More times than not I've seen events fall short of the weights guys predict and 8-10 lbs a day can go a long way. Took about 27 for me to win Texoma.

I really want to thank all of my sponsors that are behind me this year and hope that those of you who read this will give their products a try. Without their help, dependable products and service I couldn't do what I do. Legend Boats, Mercury Outboards, Lowrance Electronics, V&M Baits, Despino's Jim's South Tire, Elite Tungsten, TFO Rods, Power-pole, LB3 Outdoors, Livingston Lures, Bob's Machine Shop, Hamby's Beach Bumpers, Jack's Quality Collision, Jerry's Complete Car Care, and Commercial Power Equipment of Shreveport thank you. I can feel a good year coming on and I'm glad you're all behind me!

"The Fishin' Fireman"










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Location:Lake Amistad Del Rio, TX