The Internet is a pretty powerful tool. With a few simple keystrokes we can now check out the tourney records of most any competitive angler in the state. No more hiding behind patches, fancy boats and big talk. If you check out the record of our next guest, you'll see he is the real deal. With 3 BFL and 3 IBF wins to his credit, along with two points titles and a host of other strong finishes, Mike's record stands as one of the strongest in the state. Mike was gracious enough to share some of his thoughts with us about what it takes to catch bass and compete here in the Hoosier state.
BIB - You've got one of the stronger tourney records in Indiana with 3 BFL and 3 Federation wins. Was there anything similar among those 6 wins?
MQ - Four of my 6 wins were on the jig that I make. I'm primarily a jig fisherman, that's my favorite technique, some type of flipping/pitching. That's just the way that I would prefer to catch fish.
BIB - So you consider yourself more of a specialist with a jig as opposed to a generalist or "jack of all trades"?
MQ - I would suppose that would probably fit me better. What I like to do, when I practice and prepare for a tournament, is find fish that I can catch one particular way. If I can do that, I tend to do better, I think. I can be more focused on what the fish are doing instead of trying to do 10 different things and throw 4 or 5 different baits. And I don't always throw a jig. A lot of times I throw a search bait, that might be a spinnerbait or a buzzbait or crankbait, trying to find my fish, and then refine it more with the jig or possibly a tube or a worm or something along those lines.
BIB - Tell us a little about your practice routine for Indiana tourneys.
MQ - If I have a big area of water I need to look at hopefully I've got more than one day to look at it. And I might dissect that water into different sections. But if I've only got one day to practice usually I'll pick out the area of a lake or river that I think is going to be most productive and then in that area I'll try and cover absolutely as much water as I can.
BIB - Are you primarily a shallow water angler or do you venture out and fish deep water also?
MQ - Deep is a relative term, but typically I prefer to fish water in say 10" to 3'. That's my target area. When we move into summer time, typically I'll move out and I'll fish that 8-10' of water, just because that's where the majority of the fish are until the water starts to cool off, then I'll go back shallow again.
BIB - What about your thoughts on patterning Indiana bass? Can it be done?
MQ - Absolutely you can. It's amazing how much different the fish are when you go out of state. I think its a problem that we have where the fish that we do have in this state have seen so many baits that a lot of times a specific pattern doesn't work just because the fish have seen the bait so many times. You go out of state and I think one thing we're talking about is more fish. We're definitely talking about more water and therefore I think patterns seem to hold up better in other states. But i still think, and have many times...for example, if I was going to Monroe or Patoka in the spring time, I'd be throwing a black/blue jig. Now that's a pattern that probably everyone knows in the spring time, but finding a pattern within a pattern is the big key to catching fish in Indiana, because you know they're going to be biting a jig, black/blue, probably 3/8-oz., but if you can find the specific bank, you know maybe they're on the wind blown bank, or maybe they're on the bank that has some sunshine, or possibly a bank where we've had a warm rain in the last couple days and there's a small creek coming in and that water is a few degrees warmer. If you can fins those little subtle patterns within a pattern, I think you can really key on fish in Indiana.
BIB - You don't see a lot of Indiana anglers making a living on the pro circuits. I've always been of the opinion that Indiana waters tend to hurt anglers wanting to go pro? Do you agree or do you see it differently?
MQ - You are absolutely right on the money with that. I've fished out of state and been on fish that I thought was the right kind of fish. It would certainly be the right kind of fish for here in Indiana. Like you said, you're not even close. On a couple of occasions I've been on the right kind of fish and because of my lack of experience on big water and fishing better quality fish, it really cost me.
BIB - Tell us about why you created the Hawgback jig. What were you not seeing in other jigs that made you design one of your own?
MQ - Probably the biggest thing, and my claim to fame, is I use a quality hook. Many times I think that manufacturers of jigs try and mass produce them and try to do them at the cheapest possible cost, and they put a cheap hook in them. I use a quality Owner hook, and it's probably double or triple the price of many hooks. You can get all the bites in the world on a jig but if you can't get the hook to penetrate and keep the fish on the hook, you really haven't done anything at all. All my colors of skirts are colors that I have used and caught fish on, and I believe in them.
BIB - How do you select jig sizes when out on the water?
MQ - When I first got into fishing I thought the smaller jigs would catch a lot more fish, and they probably do catch more fish, but in the recent years I've gone a lot more toward 3/8, 1/2-ounce and even 3/4-ounce sometimes and I find that I'm catching better quality fish on those little bit heavier weights. Part of that is the fall is a little quicker, and that allows me to fish a little bit faster. The more pitches that I can make in a day, the more possible bites that I can get.
BIB - Do you use pork or plastic trailers on your jigs?
MQ - Pretty much the rule of thumb I use on pork is that I use real pork until about the spawn. After the spawn a lot of times there is a brief period there where I'm throwing topwater, maybe a spinnerbait trying to catch some fish that are cruising that have come up, done their business and have moved back out to kind of feed. A lot of times right after the spawn the jig isn't always the right bait to be throwing. Then we hit mid-summer, it gets hot and the fish start locking back up on cover and I go to a plastic frog and pretty much fish that plastic frog the rest of the year.
BIB - Do you downsize at all on a body of water because of a 12" limit, or have you found sticking to the larger sizes regardless to be more productive?
MQ - Well, it can work both ways. The river can be the animal where you're just trying to get bites and therefore you might downsize. Typically I'm going to throw about the same type of tackle that I'm going to throw anywhere else. Probably the big thing is I've got a little bit different colors I throw at the river than I might throw at either Patoka or Monroe. Particularly dark colors like black neon, black/blue are colors I'd throw at the river.
BIB - What is your current jig fishing outfit?
MQ - No matter whether I'm fishing an 1/8-ounce jig, or a half or three-quarter ounce jig, 99.9% of the time I'm going to be using a MH, 7-1/2 foot flipping stick. The rods I'm using now are Setyr rods with Shimano Curado’s, typically spooled with 25 pound test monofilament.
BIB - Have you experimented with fluorocarbon line at all?
MQ - I have thrown fluorocarbon, and from what I can tell its a great casting line, but I'm not super satisfied with it for heavy flipping situations. Now I do love braid when I run into situations like we had last year where there was a lot of flooded bushes. I hooked a lot of big fish in bushes where they got wrapped up and I'd actually have to reach down in the water and get them with my hand whereas if I'd been throwing a monofilament or copolymer I think they might have broke me off. So there's definitely a place for braid in my tackle box and certain situations where I think it's really good.
BIB - When you're not throwing a jig, what are some of your other favorites we'd see tied onto your rods?
MQ - I make an 1/8-oz buzzbait, and I do something a little bit different than everybody else. Instead of using a rivet on the back of it, I put a ball bearing. It gives it a different sound. I also throw an 1/8-oz. buzzbait with an over-sized gold blade. It's an anodized gold, not a gold plated, so it's got just a different sound, a different look, and I catch a whole lot of fish on it.
BIB - "Fishing to win", tired cliche' or is there something to it?
MQ - I feel I'm as competitive as the next guy, and I am fishing to win, but winning is not foremost in my mind. Catching fish is most in my mind. I'm always out to catch a limit first if I can do that. Sometimes it's kind of hard. And then when I get my limit, I'm always thinking what can I do to upgrade my limit? Most of the time when I have been lucky enough to win, I didn't even think I would be close. That's something extra, and it's great to win a tournament, but I'm really out there to catch the fish and have a good time doing it. Winning is a by-product and I'm thrilled every time I win one, when I've been lucky enough to do it, but probably when I'm out fishing winning is the last thing from my mind. I'm really out there to catch the fish.
BIB - Occasionally blanking is part of life in Indiana bass fishing. You've had some of them yourself in competition. What are your thoughts there?
MQ - I think I find myself fishing a little bit more conservatively now, trying to get that limit. Trying to do what I think will get me in the money, get me some good points, and then try and go out and catch some better fish, where in the past, I might have went idling 2 hours up the creek, being committed, and then when you get up there you find the waters messed up or muddy. So I think I'm fishing a little more conservatively now. That's probably why I won the points championship last year.
BIB - Coming off the Boat, Sport and Travel Show, anything new bait-wise on the market that caught your eye for 2009?
MQ - There's a new bait from Jackall called Cover Craw and it looks like it's going to be a neat flipping style bait. That's what I like to do and probably the #1 bait I see I want to try. It's something new and just a little bit different.
BIB - What advice would you give to Indiana tourney anglers new to the sport?
MQ - Try to start out in a pro-am style tournament (Federation or BFL) and just try and fish as many tournaments as you can with the idea that you're out there to learn. I think that the guy that's just getting started goes in there with that attitude. Cause I've seen so many guys go in there with the attitude that they're going to win some money and sometimes it doesn't happen for a few years. A lot of guys get discouraged and quit. If you'll just go in with the idea that I'm going to learn some water, I'm going to learn some places to fish, some techniques, the wins will come later on.
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