The Starting Spot: Balancing Bassmaster and Family, Mat Punching Tips, and Fuzzy Bait Rigs

The Starting Spot Daily Bass Fishing Headlines are the perfect way to start your day with some of the top bass fishing articles on the internet. It’s the quick, informative, how, where, and who you need to know. So, rub the sleep from your eyes, pour that first cup of the day, and head to your Starting Spot.

-Bassmaaster Elite pro Brandon Palaniuk Talks About Balancing Family and Fishing, Late-Summer Mat Punching Tips, and the Top 5 Fuzzy Bait Rigs | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

In this edition of The Starting Spot:

-Bassmaster Elite pro Brandon Palaniuk has long been a fan favorite for his fishing skills but also for his approachable nature and positive outlook. This thoughtful article takes a look behind the scenes as he discusses his search for balance between his top-level fishing career and his loving young family.

-Late summer is the time of year when aquatic growth is at its maximum density creating thick mats of floating vegetation—a safe, comfortable canopy of cover for prowling bass to hunt beneath. With heavy gear and a few pointers, you can punch these bass right where they live.

-If you saw any coverage of new lures from ICAST this summer, you know fuzzy baits for bass are all the rage. But do you know the best way to rig these new twitchy-legged lures?

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Brandon Palaniuk: Family And Fishing

by Dynamic Sponsorships

In a story on Bassmaster.com: The dawn breaks over the lake, a thin veil of mist hanging low over the water and Brandon Palaniuk is already out there, his Skeeter boat slicing through the quiet. His mind and eyes are steady, constantly scanning on the search for fish but his heart is elsewhere—back at the camper, where his two daughters, 3 and almost 2 years old, are likely stirring, their soft voices filling the air with the kind of chaos that makes him smile.

His wife, Tiff, is there too, the unyielding force who keeps their world from unraveling. For this Team Toyota pro, the road from sleeping in the bed of his truck in his early days to building a life with his girls is a raw, emotional journey; one that’s reshaped his soul as much as it has his days…MORE.

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Break on Through: Punch Mats for Great Dog-Days Bass Fishing

by Ken Duke

From an article on GameAndFishMag.com: In summertime, the living may be easy, but the bass fishing is anything but. The easy options are either long gone or weeks away. You won’t have much success burning lipless crankbaits across flats or winding spinnerbaits and squarebills through blowdowns or along riprap. You can try dragging a Carolina rig across points. You’re likely to pick up a few fish but probably nothing to brag about—nothing to get you fired up to come back tomorrow or next week.

All those things paid dividends in the spring, and they’ll likely pay off again in the fall. However, if you’re doing them in-between—during summer—you’re either wishing for fish or passing up on some of the most exciting and productive fishing of the year.

It’s time for bass fishing’s version of hand-to-hand combat—two different methods that rely on heavy gear and all but guarantee heart-stopping action in shallow water and opportunities to battle some of your lake’s biggest, meanest, gnarliest bass…MORE.

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Top 5 Ways to Rig Fuzzy Baits

by Shaye Baker

According to a story on Wired2Fish.com: In case you’ve been under a rock for a while, fuzzy baits have become all the rage. Fuzzy baits — that’s the term we’re going with as a catchall for the fuzzy dice, fuzzy stick baits, and all other fuzzy wuzzies. The OSP Dice and other baits like it have picked the bass fishing world up like a tornado and spun it on its head. 

The effectiveness of these goofy-looking baits has left many of us scratching our heads and rethinking a lot of what we thought we knew about bass fishing. What’s next in this evolution of bass baits? Who knows. But one thing I know for sure, after walking the floor at ICAST this year, we aren’t in Kansas anymore. These fuzzy baits are here to stay, and here are five ways to rig them…MORE.

Thanks for starting your day with Fishing On SI. Lines in!