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Grant,
Ala. – Heading into last year's Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake, Derek Remitz was a virtual unknown in the world of professional bass fishing.
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"Not a whole lot of people had any idea who I was," he said. "It was easy to get lost in the shadows of guys like Skeet and Kevin Van Dam."
The anonymity didn't help him, as he quietly fished his way to a lackluster 34th place finish. But any ability to fly under the radar evaporated the next month when he won the Elite Series event at Amistad and finished 2nd a short time later at the Cal Delta, en route to a Rookie of the Year title. He's now a household name.
"Now I may even get a spectator boat or two," he said. But whether or not he's recognizable, he doesn't seem any more animated about fishing for the cool half million dollars and chance at fishing immortality that a Classic title would confer.
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"It's
just another tournament to me. The only
difference is that in this one your final
place matters, but it doesn't really matter.
You fish it only to win it. I'd love to win
a Classic, but I'm just going to take it as
it comes and not get sidetracked by other
things."
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He
believes that he approached his
pre-practice period better this year
than last: "I think last year I
found some fish during practice
before the off limits and I tried to
go back in February to the fish that
I had found in November. That didn't
work. This year, I didn't hardly
fish at all. In four days, I might
have fished maybe three hours. I
spent most of my time looking for
stuff that I thought would be good
in February."
In fact, he was so laid back that he took time out of his workday to fish for stripers.
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"The conditions were just setting up horrible to learn anything for February. We had 80 degree temperatures and the fish were in limbo. I didn't know what the fish were doing, so I decided to go and catch a few stripers."
He senses that Hartwell will fish differently than Lay, largely as a result of the resident prey species. "Everything depends on the baitfish down there. If those blueback herring are schooling, you'll have to catch them on a jigging spoon or something like that. That would spell trouble for me."
He'd much rather head up into the rivers, into the off-colored water, where he could "throw a jig around the ditches and drains."
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"There's no doubt that I'd like the water to come up, but I doubt that'll happen," he said.
Despite the low water conditions, he doesn't believe there will be any major navigational hazards confronting the competitors. "You could run almost anywhere when we were there in practice, except way up in the tops of the rivers. But as for the main lake, I don't see there being any problems running at all."
He expects the deep bite to be prevalent, but holds out hope for something shallower. In order to hone his spoon fishing skills, he's considering spending a portion of the time between the official practice period and the tournament festivities on nearby Clarks Hill. Then again, he said, "I might just go back home." |
"From what I've seen , I don't think the weights will be any better than Lay," he said. "I think it'll take 16 or 17 pounds a day average. Seventeen pounds a day should win it."
The one wildcard bite that he believes may play a role would be a
jerkbait. "It could win the tournament, but conditions would have to set up exactly right."
Given that possibility, he didn't hesitate to name KVD as one of the early favorites, not just because "he's always a good bet," but also because he has " a gut feeling about that jerkbait bite and he can make it happen." Other than himself, the other angler he feels could be an early favorite is rookie Casey Ashley, "just because he's a local boy."
Additional Info:
Omega Custom Tackle’s football jig that won the 2007 Bassmaster Elite Series Battle on the Border at Lake Amistad has a new look and a new name.
The company announced this week that Derek has renewed his contract with Omega for 2008 and helped design a new signature series jig. The Battle on the Border winner will be displaying the Omega Custom Tackle boat wrap on his bass boat and will be wearing an Omega Custom Tackle jersey during the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series season.
The
new lure, the Derek Remitz Signature Series Football Jig, is a modified version of the original Omega Custom Tackle Football Jig that Remitz relied on to win the Battle on the Border tournament. The jig was also a key lure for Remitz throughout the Bassmaster Elite Series season.
Remitz favors using his new jig for crawling along offshore ledges in late winter/early spring and for stroking a jig in late spring/early summer. “There weren’t a whole lot of changes made to the jig, just some minor adjustments,” says the Alabama pro. Alterations included on this special jig include a cracked-effect paint job on the jig’s head and an improved skirt collar and trailer keeper. Omega also added red eyes (the trademark of all the company’s jigs) to its latest creation. The rest of the signature series jig has the same features as Omega’s original football jig with a perfectly balanced body and the cross line tie Gamakatsu 60-degree wide gap hook that keeps bass latched onto the heavy jig.
The signature series jig will be available in 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ounce sizes and in six tournament proven colors.
Omega will introduce the new Derek Remitz Signature Series Football Jig during the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo Feb. 22-24 in South Carolina. Remitz will be competing in this year’s Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell.
For more information on the new Derek Remitz jig or other Omega Custom Tackle products, visit
www.omegacustomtackle.com.
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