Title: The "Rich Tauber Fishing" Christmas Wish List 2016
Here it is the holiday season so I thought I would go over some of my top choices for best gifts for 2016.
Without question the # 1 selection on my personal Christmas wish list is the Daiwa Tatula baitcasting reel. I have told my bass fishing guide clients so many times over the last several years how I am completely taken aback by how wonderful this fishing reel is and how affordable it is at the same time. For the first 20 to 30 years of my fishing career it was mandatory that you had to spend $200-$400 to have anything that was even vaguely acceptable to use at the professional level. Manufactures in the reel business had completely engraved in all anglers minds that they had to spend $250-$350 to get something they could use for tournament fishing. And I have to admit when I used my very first Tatula reel several years ago I thought there is no physical way that this reel will hold up with me putting it to work 300 days a year. I figured the reel might last a couple of months but for $100 that would be fine. Boy was I wrong. Without question this is the greatest baitcasting reel I've ever used and that's at ANY price point. Let me repeat that…any price point. I just use the Daiwa Tatula 100H. I don't even own any of the nicer versions I just have the basic 6.3 to 1 gear ratio 100H and it is still absolutely the greatest fishing reel I've ever used. We're so busy with my fishing guide and charter business that I don't have lots of time so I'm getting ready to leave for this year's U.S. Open…I grab the rods that I believe I will use during the tournament and I just grab five or six Tatula reels off of the rods that my clients use in our fishing business. What I mean by this is at "Rich Tauber Fishing" we provide all the rods reels and tackle you'll need for the day. These are basically boat rods. These are baitcasting rods that people use every single day of the year and I'm taking the Tatula reel off of that fishing rod and using it myself in the U.S Open. These reels have taken a tremendous amount of abuse and here I am using these same reels on my personal rods fishing the most prestigious tournament in the history of Western fishing. And as always they performed perfectly. I know I go on and on about this but when I find something that is a good value that I can pass on to the readers and they can have a great experience with the product I'm so happy to pass that along. Any of you that don't have a Daiwa Tatula baitcasting reel need to make a point this holiday season to try one and I'm sure you will be like me you will probably cross over and need to have five or six of them so that you feel comfortable and you're getting the most out of your fishing day. And what's really great is instead of like the old days where you would spend $600 and get yourself two $300 fishing reels you can now purchase six fishing reels for $600 and they perform better than any $300 reel on the market.The biggest difference is the T-Wing system. On the reel you will see TWS. This is the abbreviation for their patented T-Wing system and this is what makes this reel different than anything else in the market for fresh water bass fishing. When you press the thumb bar to make your cast your level wind pops open which allows for a cast that is easily 10-20% further than any other baitcasting reel on the market. All other bait casting reels have a fixed or Fuji line guide that has been around for 50+ years and totally inhibits the distance of your cast. For me it has completely eliminated me considering using any other reel for freshwater fishing. When I look at a fishing reel from any company and it has a fixed line guide or Fuji style line guide I have no interest. Now you can completely focus your attention on T-Wing system reels.
The next completely amazing gift on my holiday list is the brand-new Minn Kota 112 Ultrex trolling motor. It also comes in a 80 pound version for those of you that would like a 24 V trolling motor. Now most of us in the bass fishing world have little to no experience with remote trolling motors. They're definitely the wave of the future. But the most important feature on these trolling motors is "Spot-Lock"Once you use a trolling motor with "Spot-Lock" you absolutely cannot go back to what you used in the past. I own 3 boats for my fishing guide and charter business, 21 foot phoenix bass boat, a 20 G3 fishing pontoon boat and I just purchased a brand-new Ranger 22 foot center console from my great friend Rick Grover and all of his fantastic people at Anglers Marine. Rick spent a lot of time speaking with me about how much I was going to love "Spot-Lock" and being able to press a button and allow my boat to stay put in all kinds of weather, wind, current and tide conditions. Like I said "Spot-Lock" has been out and been used by walleye fisherman and a great number of salt water anglers for a few years now but the first ever freshwater trolling motor completely geared toward the bass angler is going to be coming out in the next few months and the new Minnkota Ultrex is going to revolutionize the trolling motor business and the bass boat business. I mean I have a beautiful Minn Kota Fortrex 112 trolling motor on my Phoenix bass boat and now that I've used this new "Spot-Lock" trolling motor that's on my Ranger center console it's absolutely a night and day difference. Being able to press a button and your boat stays right on the spot your fishing is absolutely amazing. Once you use "Spot-Lock" you'll never ever want to go back to using a regular standard foot controlled trolling motor. The Ultrex had all of the best features of a foot control but it also incorporate "Spot-Lock" so that you can press a button and stay on the fishing spot as long as you like. Many have you watched BASS Pro Brent Ehrler just a few weeks ago on the Bassmasters TV show as he fights a 6 1/2 pound smallmouth bass in 4 foot waves and they caught the whole episode on film. As soon as Brent hooks the bass he uses his right foot to tap the "Spot-Lock" button which is on the foot pedal and he is able to fight this monster smallmouth for five or six minutes as the boat holds itself perfectly on the spot. He walks around the boat a couple of times times fighting the fish, land the fish, talk to the cameraman, re-rig his bait walk to the front of the boat and he's right there on exactly the same fishing spot where he hooked that monster fish. We use my center console boat for fishing stripe bass and fishing the Ventura coastline and the Channel Islands. When you're fishing in the ocean and heavy current and watch how these trolling motors perform first hand and you utilize the "Spot-Lock" feature you go can't go back to your standard bass boat trolling motor, you don't even want to run the foot controlled trolling motor anymore. Now let's be clear I'm a huge fan of the Minn Kota Talons especially their new 12 foot model. The new 12 foot Talons are going to allow western anglers to utilize a shallow water anchoring system that will be without question the best for us based on the deeper water we have here. There is no substitute for being able to put the "sticks" in the water and basically turn your boat into a boat dock. Dropping the talons and being able to turn off your electronics and go into a "stealth mode" and sit in a particular spot in shallow water is second to none. There will always be a place for Shallow water anchoring systems like the Minn Kota Talon for all bass anglers but what's unique about "Spot-Lock" is it allows us to do the same thing in deep water. It's crazy, I don't think that my Minn Kota Fortrex is more than a year old and already it's now obsolete as once the new Minnkota Ultrex hits the market place every serious angler will have to have one.
Well I guess that's about it for the 2016 season. I hope that you all have enjoyed the many years that I've written this column I wish you all the best for the coming 2017 fishing season and as always if you'd like any more information you can always reach me at www.richtauberfishing.com.