Rojas’s Off Season Ritual Every off season Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour professional Dean Rojas spends countless hours organizing and preparing for the new year. One of Rojas’s off season rituals is changing the Gamakatsu USA treble hooks on his SPRO crankbaits. While this may seem like an intangible and possibly unnecessary undertaking for some anglers, Rojas has valid reasons for the task. “When every bite is so important you have to do everything you can to control the variables. Changing out the treble hooks on my baits prior to the season lets me accomplish several things,” says Rojas. While the obvious reasoning for replacing your hooks would be to have the freshest, sharpest hooks possible, Rojas’s thought process takes it a few steps further. “Going through all of my baits and changing the hooks lets me check the integrity of each and every bait, and the hardware on the bait. I can’t count the number of times that I may have noticed a slight crack in a bill from extensive use, or a bent split ring. All these things can mean the difference between landing fish or not when the money is on the line.” Rojas continued. Being familiar with your tackle and having everything game ready is something Rojas believes is of the utmost importance. “I have to be able to reach into a box and pull out a bait during competition that I know is at 100%. You can’t afford to waste time during a tournament day changing hooks or hardware on a bait. Put in your time during the off seasons prepping your tackle and I promise you it will pay off.” Rojas concluded. |