BETTING THE HOUSE, NASHVILLE MAN SANK ALL OF HIS ASSETS INTO A NEW LURE THAT HAS BASS FISHERMEN BEATING A PATH TO HIS DOOR!

June 3, 2007
Section: SPORTS
Page: 9-C
MIKE BOLTON News staff writer , Birmingham News

Scott Smith flipped the black and blue Longshank buzzbait he invented into the thick brush on the structure-rich lake at Old Spring Hill Plantation and began cranking the reel handle as soon as the bait hit the water. The young Nashville resident had made only a half-dozen turns when an explosion occurred that stunned everyone in the boat. A fish's vicious buzzbait strike is often described as having the sound of a commode flush. This one sounded like a Volkswagen had hit the water after being dropped from an airplane. Smith's rod bowed and the bass jumped, causing gasps from all three fishermen in the boat. ''Please God, don't let this one get away,'' Smith begged. ''This is a monster.'' It was at that point that Smith realized he was in a borrowed boat and had no landing net. The big bass ripped, dragged and ran underneath the boat in an attempt to escape. Smith finally steered the fish beside the boat and his fishing partner got two thumbs inside the bucketsize mouth of the bass and lifted it aboard. Smith was trembling from the adrenaline. ''I wish I could stand here and be cool and say this happens all the time on my bait but I really believe this is the biggest bass I've ever caught,'' he said. ''My biggest one was 9 pounds a couple of years ago.'' Assured that this bass was significantly bigger, Smith headed to the bank for a set of digital scales. The fish weighed 11 pounds, 3 ounces. Smith posed for a few photos and then released the bass unharmed. ''I'm going to have to sit here for a minute,'' Smith said, his hands still trembling. ''Unbelievable. That's unbelievable. Did you see how that fish was hooked right there on the edge of the lip? A regular buzzbait would have probably missed her.'' Smith's files are full of letters of testimony from bass fishermen singing the praises of his baits that are catching on big across the South. A fisherman in his boat on this day stated the obvious. ''What you did with these lures is so simple that you want to kick yourself for not thinking of it yourself,'' the fisherman told Smith. Smith finally managed a laugh. ''Just about every letter I get and everybody who stops me to talk about this bait says the same thing,'' he said. ''If I had a dollar every time somebody told me that, I would be rich now and I'd be retired.'' Bass are notorious for shortstriking buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. They swirl at the baits and often attack them but somehow miss the hook. Bass fishermen have long countered by attaching a trailer hook, placing the eye of one hook over the hook of the lure to in essence make the lure longer. It is a successful setup but it has flaws. The trailer hook pulls nicely in line with the lure as long as it is being retrieved in open water, but once the lure strikes an object such as a limb or log and the bait slows, the trailer hook falls and becomes entangled easily. What Smith has done is extend the wire the bait is made from, thus placing the hook two inches farther back on the lure where a trailer hook would normally be. The hook works like a trailer hook, but pulls through brush and other debris like a traditional buzzbait or spinnerbait. ''I wish I could take credit for this but my granddaddy came up with this 50 years ago,'' Smith said. ''He made a lot of his own lures with stuff he got from a mail-order catalog. They sent him the wrong stuff one day and he got looking at it and decided it just might work.'' Smith is such a believer in the principle that he decided to risk it all. With his wife's blessing he sold their home and invested everything he owned in the lure business. He says it has been a tough road the past two years, but it is finally paying dividends as his baits are getting rave reviews from fishing publications across the nation. Bass fishermen are now beating a path to his door. ''My wife is nine months pregnant and about to have a baby any day now,'' he said as he dialed his home number on his cell phone, his hands still trembling 30 minutes after the big catch. ''I couldn't have done this without her support. She's going to be tickled to death to hear about this.'' Different marketing Smith has broken through the ceiling that usually stops most individual lure makers thanks to his unorthodox marketing plan. Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on magazine advertising, he goes to big fishing tournaments and fishing shows and gives away tens of thousands of fishing lures. ''People see a lure in an ad and they wonder if that might work,'' he said. ''I give people a bait and let them see that it does work. All I ask is that they send me a letter or e-mail telling me what they think and to tell their friends.'' Smith, whose lures are available at many Birmingham area sporting goods stores, said he didn't risk it all without doing his homework. He went to Florida to visit renowned underwater film expert Glen Lau and his underwater filming facilities to get a first-hand look at how bass attack buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. He was surprised to learn that bass don't always attack those baits because they are hungry, but often because they are mad that the lure has the audacity to come through their area. ''A lot of time they come up and swipe at the bait and their mouth is completely closed,'' he said. ''They just want to hit it. ''A lot of times they don't get the hook,'' he said. ''They get the trailer hook some, but it gives so often they just knock it out of the way. ''Our baits catch a lot of fish on the outside of the mouth when they are just swiping at it because it's sitting back there so far and it's stable because it's part of the lure.''

S.O.A. PRESIDENT, SCOTT SMITH, AND THE LONGSHANK MAKE BIG SPLASH AT 2007 LAKE EDDINS BIG BASS TOURNAMENT

It was a great day on the lake in Central Mississippi for Southern Outdoors America President, Scott Smith this past Saturday, although it wasn’t without its setbacks. In the wake of looming storms and tornado warnings, he was able to best the field of nearly 100 boats with his first and biggest fish of the day, a pre-spawn lunker that tipped the scales at 7.67lbs.
“We shot our promotional video on this same lake, and I had fished this exact spot with huge success, so I had a feeling that we would find fish there,” says Smith. “She (the bass) jumped all over my spinnerbait after just a couple of cranks and hit it like a freight train. It was just incredible.”
Smith was also paired with a familiar face for the day in Slade White of Challenger Rods. “I was really happy to have Slade with me for the day,” said Smith. ”Challenger is one of my most valued sponsors and after a day like today, the quality of their rods speaks for itself. Slade is also a really good fisherman.” White added a six-pounder to the day’s catch that came on the same spinnerbait Smith was throwing from a different spot. “Scott had pre-fished there, and caught a couple so we had a good idea that we would do well there again,” says Slade. “It was a very fun and memorable day.”
The tournament was a lunker-styled tournament in which a weigh-in is conducted each hour for the largest fish. Smith won the 10:00 AM hour, while White won the 11:00 AM hour. Smith also took home the prize of the day for the largest fish.
Both fish were caught on a 3/8 oz white Longshank spinnerbait, using Challenger Pro Elite Rods. The Longshank spinnerbaits and buzzbaits were invented by Smith’s grandfather Frank Smith in the 1960s, and were brought to the national marketplace in February of 2007. In its first thirty days of national exposure, Southern Outdoors America garnered over 70,000 orders.

SOUTHERN OUTDOORS AMERICA PRESIDENT SCOTT SMITH TO FISH B.A.S.S. CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN OPENS IN 2007

Southern Outdoors America (SOA), makers of “The Longshank” spinnerbaits and buzzbaits announced today that its President, Scott Smith will be competing in both the Central and Southern divisions of the B.A.S.S. Open Tournament Trail. “This (fishing the professional tour) is just a dream come true for me personally.” said SOA President, Scott Smith.  “Thanks to the support of several fine sponsors such as Triton Boats, Challenger Rods, The Xtreme Outdoor Network, and Carolina Chips Custom Lure Company, we will really have the opportunity to promote not only their products, but our own new innovative line of spinnerbaits and buzzbaits as well.  I really look forward to competing against some of the best anglers in the country.” The B.A.S.S. Open Trail will begin March 1st on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida and will be making stops at Lake Texoma , Texas , Santee Cooper, South Carolina , Red River , Louisiana , Lake Amistad , Texas , Lake Wheeler , Alabama , and concluding with the Wild Card event on Lake Okeechobee October 18th.