The Starting Spot: Is Bernie Schultz Happy?, Bubba Scales New Derby Format, and a Soft Plastics Revolution

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.

The Starting Spot: -Schultz and Mercer. Great fishing conversation! -Bubba Scales introduces a new tournament format. -Unique Nomad Design soft minnow bait. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

In today’s 7-25–25 edition of The Starting Spot:

-I listened to the podcast version of this with Bernie Schultz and Dave Mercer and genuinely loved the conversation. Wise and insightful fishing talk.

-This is the start of a new way to fish tournaments. You don’t even need to be on the same lake…or in the same state.

-Nomad Design has introduced a really interesting soft minnow design with a truly unique weight system.

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Bernie Schultz “Are You Happy?”

by Dave Mercer

In a video on the Dave Mercer YouTube channel: Bernie Schultz is a 9-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier and truly one of the most complete pros in fishing-not just on the water but off. Schultz’s resume includes success as a writer, an illustrator, lure designer and an angling educator. However, the most important lesson in his life may have come in his early 20’s when he asked a friend, “Are you Happy?”…MORE.

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Bubba SFS Lite Tested in Multi-State Friendly Match

by Jeff Weakley

Per an article on In-Fisherman.com: My first fish was a doozy. Six pounds and change on the Bubba Smart Fish Scale Lite. Minutes into the tournament, it took a 5-inch Berkley PowerBait General in green pumpkin on 10-pound-test fluorocarbon leader. I was fishing in a kayak on my 2 ½-acre backyard pond.

It’s one of those things—you sign up to compete in a Florida bass tournament, you’re liable to see a big fish on the board. You hope it’s yours.

But what if you’re fishing in Florida and simultaneously—by way of technology—on a deep, rich Midwestern reservoir?

Thirteen hundred miles away on Grand Lake in Oklahoma, a couple of hot sticks were about to put me in my place!…MORE.

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Revolutionizing soft plastics: The Nomad Design

by B.A.S.S.

Per an article on Bassmaster.com: Nomad Design has once again redefined innovation in fishing baits with the introduction of the Live Ops Soft Plastic Minnow Range, now equipped with the Adjusta-Ball Tungsten System. Designed to give anglers unprecedented control over weight distribution, sink rate, and presentation, Live Ops soft plastics bring together cutting-edge technology and meticulous craftsmanship to mimic the behavior of real baitfish like never before.

Traditional soft plastics sink head-first, creating an unnatural presentation that wary fish often ignore. The patented Adjusta-Ball Tungsten System solves this by allowing anglers to insert tungsten balls into internal chambers within the bait. This enables precise tuning of the bait’s balance, angle, and sink rate, delivering a natural, horizontal sinking action
that replicates real baitfish behavior…MORE.