By Steve Weisman

(photo submitted) Spengler with a big largemouth bass taken on the Stunna, the jerkbait that helped Hank Cherry Jr. win the 2021 Bassmaster Classic.

Lots of excitement and anticipation is occurring as the Okoboji Blue Water Festival, scheduled for Saturday, August 7 at the Preservation Plaza green space in Arnolds Park. Billed as the premier clean water event in Iowa, the Festival offers events and activities for both youngsters and adults.

Anglers are looking forward to the annual fishing seminar set for 10:30 a.m., under the Big Tent. Clinician will be Dan Spengler, Senior Project Manager-Bait Development with Berkley/Pure Fishing. His topic will be “The Science of Fishing Lures,” and Spengler will offer a three-part seminar.

Part one will be a personal perspective, as Spengler shares his life-long interest in fishing and early lure development. Here’s a sneak preview of each part of “The Science of Fishing Lures…”

In Part 1, Spengler will share how fishing has always been in his blood, and ever since he was a youngster growing up in Ocheyedan, he’s been designing lures. Growing up, his dream job was to design and develop fishing lures for a company like Berkley and other Pure Fishing brands. Even after earning a master’s degree in Fisheries, Spengler sought to develop fishing lures at the highest level. That dream became reality in 2010, when he was offered a lure development position at Pure Fishing. Spengler will share the importance of following your dreams.

The second section will feature Berkley science and lure development. Spengler says, “This section will focus specifically on how we analyze, develop and study baits in the lab and field test products to ensure they catch more fish.” Topics will include how baits are developed like the highly popular Berkley Hit Stick and now the lure that is all the rage, the Berkley Stunna, which recently helped Hank Cherry Jr. win the 2021 Bassmaster Classic (aka the “Super Bowl” of bass fishing). “It might be the most rewarding thing I have experienced in my 10 years of developing fishing lures professionally,” Spengler said of the victory. “I’ll be explaining how we develop a lure like this, giving the audience a “behind the scenes look” at bait development.” There is certainly a story to tell there!

The third section will contain the how-to or fishing section of the seminar. In this section, Spengler plans to cover the following topics (as time allows):

• Jerk Bait Fishing (ft. Berkley Hit Sticks, Stunna and Shallow Cutter 90)
• Topwater Fishing (ft. Berkley Choppo, Bullet Pop and HighJacker)
• Shallow Water Crankbait Fishing (ft. Berkley Frittside, SquareBull, Digger)
• Deep Water Crankbait Fishing
• Jig Fishing
• Downsizing Presentations/Panfishing with Small Plastics

Spengler elaborates on Part 3. “During the fishing section of the seminar, I will bring rods to demonstrate how I fish the baits to the audience. In the end, I want people to walk away and feel like they gained insight on not only how to fish, but feel it is possible to land the dream job!”

Spengler hopes that lots of youngsters will attend the event. “Kids are the future of fishing, and I want to get as many kids fishing as possible.” Spengler is currently working to round up free product to give out to all attendees, including larger products for door prizes. “One of my goals is reaching anglers of all ages with our product. If I can convert even a single kid to a lifelong angler by giving away some product then that’s a win in my book.”