The Detroit metropolitan area of Clawson, Michigan, is the home site to some of the hottest tubes in America. Here, Wayne Carpenter operates Xtreme Bass Tackle (XBT). His success is consequential of a unique approach: “My over-arching philosophy is not just about ‘matching the hatch;’ rather, I focus on what works.”Understandably, companies and anglers traditionally focus more on “matching the hatch,” but Carpenter, an author and Lake St. Clair guide, puts forth hundreds of hours of research on his baits and has concluded, “The perfect replication often doesn’t work.”
Not only this, but he points out the success of colors that do not resemble anything natural in the water. He calls out goldfish as an example. “This color does not resemble anything living in the waters of our area, yet, it catches fish consistently.”
And who can argue with success? Professional angler Bob Mann Sr. of Windsor, Ontario, credits over $20,000 dollars in winnings to XBT tubes over the past five years and 2009 saw seven top ten tournament finishes alone for Mann. “I have such confidence in them; I keep between 50 - 100 of each color in my boat at all times.”
Mark Frickman of Grand Ledge, MI, boasts over $30,000 dollars in winnings with the same tubes. He has taken these tubes across the country and has had success in Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Ontario. Frickman also never flinches in confidence with XBT tubes, “Wayne Carpenter has done his homework on his products so I can just focus on my job of catching fish. I use them everywhere and have success everywhere.”
Sliding Down the Tube
of Perfection
of Perfection
By: Andrew Buss
Mann and Frickman are adamant believers in Carpenter’s standards and research process. They both credit his willingness to toss out a “batch” of tubes if he’s not completely satisfied after countless hours on the water studying bait and recording results.
Carpenter, a soft spoken and humble man, chuckles and shrugs this process off as just part of his job. “I won’t throw them away: that would be bad business management. But I will give them away to kids or a sponsored event. If I’m not satisfied with the outcome, I won’t sell them as genuine; I will work the design over until I am.”
--- Xtreme Bass Tackle owner Wayne Carpenter poses with a 5 pound, 2 ounce smallmouth caught, from the North Channel on Lake St. Clair, he caught with one of his own tubes.
Carpenter is proud to boast that each color has its own qualities, but high bite percentage custom laminated tubes defines his signature design style. And while focusing on what works, he is consistent with how he mixes his colors: “Dominant colors stay dominant and the highlights remain as only highlights.” This may seem like an obvious statement, but all too often companies will do the opposite in an effort to be creative.
Mann, who boasts 2 BFL top-five finishes in just eleven events, testifies, “It seems like everyone has told me, ‘I got a color close to that color’ and yet they don’t catch anything close to what I’m catching.” He reiterates, “XBT colors are perfect.”
Mann gained notoriety for his actions once in a Lakeshore Bass Anglers tournament several years ago. “I was catching fish on the Great Lakes Craw and had about twenty-one pounds in the livewell. At that time, I gave some tubes to a buddy of mine who then went down the river.” Mann was certain he had a hundred pack in his boat of the same color. “I broke off a few times and when I went to tie another one on, I realized I forgot my spare bag in my truck. Well, I wasn’t going to lose the tournament this way, so I raced my boat three miles up river to find my buddy.” His friend was shocked to see him pull up and even more shocked to hear Mann demand his tubes back. However, it paid off as Mann won the event with more than twenty-three pounds.
Frickman concurs with Mann’s focus on colors, “Canadian Mist is my favorite, but I will try all of his tubes before trying other baits.” He adds, “Wayne does not make assembly line baits. His research and development is second to none.”
Mann, who boasts 2 BFL top-five finishes in just eleven events, testifies, “It seems like everyone has told me, ‘I got a color close to that color’ and yet they don’t catch anything close to what I’m catching.” He reiterates, “XBT colors are perfect.”
Mann gained notoriety for his actions once in a Lakeshore Bass Anglers tournament several years ago. “I was catching fish on the Great Lakes Craw and had about twenty-one pounds in the livewell. At that time, I gave some tubes to a buddy of mine who then went down the river.” Mann was certain he had a hundred pack in his boat of the same color. “I broke off a few times and when I went to tie another one on, I realized I forgot my spare bag in my truck. Well, I wasn’t going to lose the tournament this way, so I raced my boat three miles up river to find my buddy.” His friend was shocked to see him pull up and even more shocked to hear Mann demand his tubes back. However, it paid off as Mann won the event with more than twenty-three pounds.
Frickman concurs with Mann’s focus on colors, “Canadian Mist is my favorite, but I will try all of his tubes before trying other baits.” He adds, “Wayne does not make assembly line baits. His research and development is second to none.”
Bob Mann Sr. spends a great deal of his time promoting the sport to children. Here he takes time out to pose with a quality smallmouth caught from a child out of Lake St. Clair.
XBT tubes come in thirteen colors, with two new colors coming in 2010, in three sizes (4 and 5 inch, plus, drop shot). The most popular colors are Canadian Mist and St. Clair Crayfish. However, 2009 saw the introduction of a new tri-color laminate tube called Great Lakes Perch. The popularity of this color soared and broke all sales records of past years. The four-inch size is by far the most popular size with all colors.
Mann, a bass and walleye guide on Lake St. Clair, has had tremendous success snapping and dragging these tubes on Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and all their connected waters. He also has success with them on smaller inland lakes and rarely alters his technique.
In calm conditions Mann recommends an 1/8 ounce jig. “I dead stick it in calm conditions as slow as can be. When it hits a weed, I will lift the tube just the height of those weeds and lift it over them. From there I let it fall naturally.” This is when Mann receives the majority of his bites.
Mark Frickman and his wife, Laura, proudly hold up the winning check from the 2008 FLW Tour event on the Detroit River
However, in windy conditions Mann will increase the weight to 1/4 ounce and drift his boat with the wind. This goes against conventional wisdom of facing the boat into the wind for better boat control. He tosses his bait as far as possible with the wind. He explains, “I want to replicate the pattern employed in calm conditions. I can’t do that facing the wind. So I’ll slow the boat the best I can (trolling motor & drift socks - often two).” Years ago Mann won his first tournament in windy conditions executing this pattern.
Interestingly, Frickman rarely drags or snaps tubes; rather, almost religiously, he drop shots the tubes. He has good reason to; he won the FLW Tour Event as the co-angler on the Detroit River in 2008 drop shotting a St. Clair Crayfish tube. The same year he won the big bass award in the Michigan BFL on Sandusky Bay with a Canadian Mist tube.
The drop shot tubes are made smaller in size (2 3/4 inches) to accommodate smaller hooks, but are identical in every other way.
Mann also encourages anglers to put XBT tubes on a Carolina rig. “Soak some ear plugs in scent and stuff them inside the tube.” This will give fish a different approach they don’t see nearly as often.
Unfortunately with Carpenter’s success, he has become vulnerable to copy-cats. Refusing to cite names or give specifics, he acknowledges that his baits have been copied on more than one occasion. Consequently, he has learned to employ speed to his marketing strategy. “My goal is to get my name on my new baits at the very first show of the year (January 7 - 11, 2010 at the Detroit Ultimate Fishing Show in Novi, MI). But even still, I have to keep my new colors a secret until that date.” (Staying true to himself, he refused to reveal his two new colors of 2010 for the release of this article.)
The drop shot tubes are made smaller in size (2 3/4 inches) to accommodate smaller hooks, but are identical in every other way.
Mann also encourages anglers to put XBT tubes on a Carolina rig. “Soak some ear plugs in scent and stuff them inside the tube.” This will give fish a different approach they don’t see nearly as often.
Unfortunately with Carpenter’s success, he has become vulnerable to copy-cats. Refusing to cite names or give specifics, he acknowledges that his baits have been copied on more than one occasion. Consequently, he has learned to employ speed to his marketing strategy. “My goal is to get my name on my new baits at the very first show of the year (January 7 - 11, 2010 at the Detroit Ultimate Fishing Show in Novi, MI). But even still, I have to keep my new colors a secret until that date.” (Staying true to himself, he refused to reveal his two new colors of 2010 for the release of this article.)
As an author, guide, tackle owner & creator, while maintaining multiple websites, Carpenter is successful to anyone's standards. But Carpenter steers from the norm, “I measure my success by how many people I reach out and connect with.” With this definition of success, his level of success will grow exponentially.
But with this, Carpenter acknowledges that copying, to a degree, is standard in this business, “In all fairness, hybriding is part of the industry.” He adds, “I am not insecure. I take care of my customers and I just focus on doing my job the best I can.”
Even with the attempts of copying, he admits they are never exact; color, flake distribution and quality of plastic can be different. "We use the best plastic you can get. And all my baits are double-dipped and laminated. They are, without a doubt, tournament quality.”
That includes tubes in the Michiana area. Carpenter is quick to point out that anglers using XBT tubes in Michiana will likely be using colors that the fish haven’t seen.
Mann fishes professionally for both bass and walleye. His choice of partners while pursuing walleye is his wife, Jackie.
And although Carpenter does the majority of his research on Lake St. Clair, results on inland lakes have been equally productive. He insists, “I know they work on smaller inland lakes. I sell a lot of my product on Ebay across the country and I get a lot of positive feedback. Most telling are the returning customers. Most, who make an order, make future orders.”
Carpenter’s research shows the most productive colors on inland lakes, and potentially the Michiana area, are Canadian Mist, Formula G3 and Slither. Mann believes the Great Lakes Perch color would be productive anywhere there is a healthy sunfish population and Michiana boasts this.
Frickman, a participant in both the BFL and Stren Series, points out that crayfish are plentiful everywhere including the Michiana area. And where there are crayfish, there will be bass eating them. He adds, “The tube is the best crayfish imitator on the market.”
Frickman, a participant in both the BFL and Stren Series, points out that crayfish are plentiful everywhere including the Michiana area. And where there are crayfish, there will be bass eating them. He adds, “The tube is the best crayfish imitator on the market.”
Tubes are not secret baits to Michiana anglers. They play a pivotal factor in many tournaments annually. Thus the challenge is to identify the most effective colors under the best conditions. XBT makes what many consider the best tubes today and they are just spreading to Michiana now. But Carpenter already has customers in twenty-four Indiana cities and they will surely grow in popularity. So before they are in every angler’s tackle box, now is the best time to purchase XBT tubes and gain an advantage over the competition. Place your confidence in a product created after extensive research, and made with top-quality plastic and ingenious colors.
Xtreme Bass Tackle staff member Dave Misaras (left) and Wayne Carpenter at the Combat Fishing Invitational.
--- Bob Mann Sr. (left) with Wayne Carpenter at the Detroit Ultimate Fishing Show. January 7 - 11, 2010, at the same show, XBT will release two new colors.