®
Spring 2021
page
10
He acknowledges that some anglers jump up to an 80-pound braided line; but he has never needed anything heavier than 50-pound Seaguar Smackdown.
Lowen’s school of thought on heavier braided line is… unless you are fishing tulles and barnacles, it’s nonsense.
The kiss of death for braided line is slack line hookset.
“I’ve always been a guy that studies other anglers,” said Lowen. “If you watch the better mat fishermen like Greg Hackney or Ish Monroe, none of them boys jack ’em. I like to get everything tight and sweep set into them.”
When faced with loose hyacinth or isolated lily pad mats, he prefers 20- to 25-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon.
His bait selection alternates between a Strike King Rodent or Rage Bug in green pumpkin, black/ blue, or black/neon.
BE THOROUGH
Lowen keeps a close eye
on anglers who have fished
through areas he wanted to cover.
Sometimes, he can even spot their
errors.
“I think guys don’t make enough
casts to a spot,” he said. “I don’t
want to leave any spot in that mat
that I didn’t drop a bait through.”
At the same time, some anglers kick a gift horse in the mouth. “Once you catch one- go back in that hole because you can catch 2 or 3 from the same one,” he concluded. •