Anglers say underwater scouting keyed victory at Canadian Bass Open
By Ted Pilgrim
Anyone whoâs fished North Americaâs big bass lakes in recent seasons has seen the signs: Clearing waters. Schools of trophy smallmouths shifting deeper and deeper. Tournament game plans evolving to spot-lock, sweet-spot festsâanglers mining small, specific sections of underwater real estate.
At the recent Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Mille Lacs, Minnesotaâan increasingly clear mega smalljaw waterâindividual boulder piles in relatively deep water produced prodigious sacks of bronze bass.
Not two weeks later, at the Berkley B1 Canadian Bass Openâ Canadaâs premiere fishing eventâRyan Flaro and Scott Lefebvre walked away with a big victory, once again extracting big smallmouths from deep structure.
Flaro, a walleye guide by trade, has been on a roll this year, winning an FLW Pro Bass 150 event and several other tournaments around Lake St. Francis, Ontario, which forms a portion of the St. Lawrence River. Following his teamâs win at the B1 Bass Openâand countless regional wins spanning several yearsâ Flaro finally decided to divulge the secret to his fish-finding success.
âI donât use sonar like most anglers,â Flaro admitted. âWhen Iâm searching for fish, I use an Aqua-Vu underwater camera one-hundred percent of the time. The only thing I use my graph for is following depth contours and structure on the digital lake map. When I find an important school of fish with the camera, I drop a waypoint.
âIt is absolutely the best way to locate and know youâre on tournament-winning schools of bass. A week before the Bass Open, I spent all my prefish time scouting with the Aqua-Vu. We never even fished before the tournament started. On the final prefish day, I checked on my fish with a quick drop of the camera and then headed right back to the ramp.â
Pre-tournament camera work helped Flaro and Lefebvre narrow down their strategy to five or six key spotsâchoice rock piles and current breaks in 20 to 40 feet of water.
âThe camera gave us the confidence to park on our spots, knowing we had big bass below us. Weâd spot-lock in place with the Minn Kota, and put green-goby pattern tubes and dropshot rigs in the strike zone. Every 30 to 40 minutes, weâd move on to the next school of bass and catch several more.â
As a refreshing departure from traditional pay-to-play sponsorships, Flaro and Lefebvre admitted they believe so strongly in the power of Aqua-Vu cameras, that theyâve displayed the logo on their tournament jerseys out of goodwill alone. âFor the past eight years, Iâve paid for every one of the Aqua-Vu cameras I use for my guide service and tournament fishing. The customer service at this company has treated me so well. Itâs the only camera brand thatâs built by people who actually fish; the only one that tracks straight and stable underwater. Itâs super durable, and has an intelligent sunshield that lets you see the screen in bright sun.
âPeople talk about trusting your electronics,â Flaro adds. âI trust my Aqua-Vu. Sonar can show fish. But the camera reveals the species and size of fish in the area. Gives me confidence and the patience to stay put. Eventually the fish always bite.â
Like other lakes throughout the U.S., Flaro says the St. Lawrence River system is clearing. âA lot of the bass in these lakes used to be on sand flats, but these shallow water fish get extraordinarily pressured. The clearer water has played a role in pushing them deeper, too.
âAt a lot of these bass tournaments now, most of my friends are using an Aqua-Vu to find their fish. Anglers are learning that a camera is the absolute secret to uncovering unknown schools of big fish. Itâs an overlooked technology, but one thatâs given me a ton of fun and fishing success.â