12/22/04

The tour season gets started in less than a month with four events scheduled for Florida lakes, (two FLW and two BASS.)  The Florida phase of the pro tour means thick vegetation, and that means finding a way to penetrate the heavy grass matts that Flordia Bass love to lay under.  These grass matts, are the dominant cover for bass in Florida, providing shade, a good food source and even heat during the cold fronts that can be brutal in Florida, (water temperatures have been known to drop 20 degrees in a week, due to the severe cold and relative shallow water that many Florida lakes are known for.) Everyone knows they are under there, but getting to them is a totally different concept.

Penetrator Weights began gaining popularity back in 2000 when Florida Anglers started dominating the tournaments with the biggest slip sinkers on the market. Back then Penetrator's 1 oz. tungsten was it's heaviest  model. Now, they offer 1 3/8 and it's newest addition, the jumbo 1 3/4 ounce.

“We knew we needed a little more weight for certain areas, but we weren't exactly sure how the 1 3/4 oz. model was going to work.” Says Dave Lefebre, Kellogg's Fishing Team member and FLW Tour, Old Hickory Champion. “Once you start getting so big, you really start to worry about your hook-up ratio. But really, to me, it's just like anything else in fishing, if you don't get the bait to where the fish is, you're not going to get the bite anyway. I'd rather get the bite and take my chances.” As it turned out, the hook-up percentages with this beast of a weight were about the same as that of the 1 oz. size..., surprisingly good. “The 1 3/4 oz penetrator will also go through just about anything”, Lefebre said.

“I like the fact that they look natural and just like part of whatever bait your fishing with,” Lefebre said. “I prefer colored weights and always have. I don't want my bait to look like it's got a small stainless kitchen appliance on it's head. Not only do they come painted in several colors, but also because of their shape, they really look good with the bait. The paint is important because of it's slickness as well.” adds Lefebre. “The combination of the shape and paint helps the weight penetrate the super thick cover better the others. I've compared them, painted verses not painted, and the glossy paint finish definitely helps.”

“The main thing is getting the bait through the cover. I like baits that are compact, like a small craw or a Palm Tree (made by Kinami). I cut about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch off the top of the Palm Tree to not only make it shorter, but to make a flat top that perfectly matches the bottom of the weight I'm going to use. I then super glue the bait to the weight. I mostly rig it Texas style with a 3/0 Gamkatsu super line hook. It worked really well for me at Okeechobee last year in the FLW.”

“As far as I'm concerned, I'm all stocked up and ready for the FLW Tour season to start.”, said Lefebre. “ I've got three Florida tournaments in six weeks, so I want to make sure I'm prepared. I hope Sam runs out of weights, then I might have a chance at Okeechobee. If nobody can get the goods, I'll definitely have an advantage,” he joked. Seriously though, the high weights last month really has me fired up to get out of the snow and onto the the Big O in my new Z boat. I just hope it thaws out on the way down.”