Evergreen Flat Force Crankbaits with Justin Kerr

Glenn: Hey, folks, Glenn May here with BassResource.com and I am here today with my buddy, Justin Kerr, FLW Pro. Also WON Bass and B-A-S-S and all...he's up and down the West Coast. He's a crazy phenom. You guys have got to - if you don't know him - look him up. But we've been fishing here at Lake Havasu here in November and we've been slaying them on this new bait I haven't seen before. Justin has been privy to be able to use these when they first came out. So, Justin, tell me a little bit about these baits here and how we are using them. What kind of rod and reel and the line that we've been doing here.

Justin: Yeah, this is an Evergreen International, new Flat Force Crankbait. It is a flat-sided crankbait and it has a computer chip bill which is very popular when, you know, when you're using a flat-sided bait. And it is an extremely good bait. Like you said today, we've been catching them and it wiggles a lot. When you wind it super fast, it's one of those baits that you can fish in different areas, different water columns, strike zones, different, you know, like, for example, like, a couple months ago, they were schooling in 25 feet of water and I'm out there throwing this thing in 25 feet of water. So, you know, I am running it between 10 and 14 pound line, fluorocarbon. So, obviously, it varies on the depth. Today, we're using a 10 pound line.

Glenn: Right. I noticed it was getting down a little bit deeper than that.

Justin: Yeah, it will hit about six to eight foot on 10 pound line and I'm using a Combat Stick 71M - it's a medium rod. And it actually says Topwater Jerkbait on the rod but we use it for cranking a lot for a shallow crankbait. I find it working really good for a crankbait but it also does work for jerkbait and topwater and then Daiwa’s seven to three reel. And it's, I think, it's important at fall this time of year to keep your bait moving as fast as you can. So that's just kind of how we fish it and it's been an unbelievable bait.

And, just, you know, couple different colors I've been using. I don't know if the camera can see them but this is a Ghost, Wakasagi Flash, Cold Shad in chartreuse blue, but today, obviously, this color, I mean, it's a staple everywhere. So it's a fish-catching machine and we've been catching them.

Glenn: Yeah, fishing it really fast and giving it some hard jerks. It's not pausing it, it's actually ripping it really hard. And they clobber it when you give it that quick change. That's what triggers the bite. So sometimes, guys, it's great. You can cast straight out and just reel it back in. You'll get bites that way. But if the fish aren't biting, you can force them or trick them into biting by giving it erratic action. In this case, we're just giving it a good hard yank every once in a while, randomly, and that's usually when you get the bite.

Justin: Yeah, we have some grass right now so that's the big key. And, like I said, we are using a little lighter line for the grass situation. We are using that 10 pound test. A lot of places, we can get away with 20 pound in the grass, but Lake Havasu is such a finesse fishery that we're using a little bit lighter line - that 10 pound - and we're still keeping it moving and ripping it out of that grass. And a lot of times, like you said, the fish aren't really feeding. They're just sitting up in the grass and this bait comes by them and it gets them.

Glenn: And we've been hitting them. Of course, it's the fall feeding frenzy. But I can see this working really well in the spring and even in the summertime when they are in the grass.

Justin: Yeah, there's really no limit to the bait, obviously. And any bait in any situation, you got to keep an open mind to fishing. So there's not really - I'd say for any type of baiting situation where this is the only bait to throw - but, you know, year-round, I've seen this bait. I've been using it for about a little over a year now.

Glenn: You have? Okay.

Justin: Yeah. And we, you know, used some prototypes and stuff. So this bait, like I said, I mean, I've used it. This summer was one of the best years I've had with it so it's just a versatile bait.

Glenn: Now where can guys get this?

Justin: Tackle Warehouse, I'd say, is the number one. Anglers Marine, Tackle Warehouse usually carries most of our stuff or pretty much everything.

Glenn: All right. Check it out guys, you're going to like it.