Welcome to Jay Kumar's BassBlaster, your daily-ish email of the best o' bassin'!
Lookin' for line, electronics, swimbait, premium bait (Japanese-type), mebbe others interested in bein' part of the ever-growin' BassBlaster. Git in touch if'n innerested.
Today's Top 5
1. 5 smallies for 30 lbs!
Sturgeon Bay, Bassmaster's #1 water body, lookin' pre-ty good at the North American Bass Circuit’s season opener last weekend.
Had to get down to 10th place to find a limit less than 25 lbs!
Unrelated shot of a 7.6-lb smallie, too stout not to include:
From the observer/judge on Mark Rose's boat on the last day:
> …with two hours left [on day 3…Mark] and Keith Combs had shared this particular spot all week and Keith pulled up needing good fish. I believe at this time he was not leading the tournament. Mark knew he could not win, and was hoping to move up three spots (he moved up two).
> Mark told Keith just to fish and win the tournament and he would fish around him. Keith was grateful and went to work with his crankbait catching fish, but not the quality that Mark had been catching on the swimbait.
> Mark called Keith over, and threw him a couple of pre rigged baits that he was catching them on and Keith closed it out on that spot between the swimbaits and his crankbait.
> Keith Combs can flat out fish and is a deserving 3-time champion. And Mark Rose is one of the best guys on the water and just a genuine good person and an outstanding fisherman.
Mark finished 6th. Way cool.
Forgot to unplug the toaster:
Bummer, lucky he's already in the Classic. Also in case you see him in Boon-Boom's boat:
> Lane competed Thursday out of a boat owned by Jodie Haralson, who was Kevin VanDam's marshal on day 1. Haralson's boat was previously owned by Fred Roumbanis and still has the wrap and decals on it. (BassFan)
4. The Ricky Green Memorial Bassmaster Elite.
What the current Elite event on Dardanelle should be called, name suggested by "Steamin' Steve" Bowman, who credited his career to Ricky in this very cool piece.
Many folks have NO IDEA how much we owe the black-and-white photo era guys. Pretty much everything.
Not basses, but uh…yeah that's a problem! Caught over 10% of the fish stocked! #TroutHoarder
BassBlaster Top Shot!
Kissin' a bullhead is kinda gross but it's a good Top Shot entry fer May! Upload yer bassin' pics to the BB FB page or hit @bassblaster or #bassblaster on Instagram.
Elite pro Mark Menendez's wife Donna recently lost her battle with cancer. She was an awesome person. If you can help Mark and his two young kids, please do so:
Menendez Family Benefit Account
Paducah Bank
PO Box 2600
Paducah, KY 42002
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News
1. Elite-requested 'Trap floaters.
> …special run of the SuperNatural patterns in the Floater model. This stemmed from some conversations with Elite pros Cliff Crochet and Boyd Duckett about how effective our Floater Rat-L-Trap is but how few colors we make it in.
> This model is perfect for fishing over shallow wing-dam cuts on rivers, grass just under the surface, and all shallow waters.
Limited run, git 'em while ya can! Jess click here-like:
Martens designing Solar Bat sun goggles. Can't wait to see 'em.
4. IN: HS footballer quits to bass-fish.
(Mazurk, is this your kid or nephew??)
5. MS: 170K FL bass into Barnett.
6. AL: 200 college teams on Pickwick…
…for Boat U.S. Championship next weekend.
7. OK: New assistant fish head.
Lines of the Day
1. Fishing enthusiasts are descending to Lake Havasu City for the 32nd Annual Western Outdoor News (WON) Stripper Derby….
– So much stripper talk this week hahaha! Gotta love spellcheck…. (Source)
2. Regardless of what drove them into the river and ultimately killed them, the dead and dying fish were a sad sight to behold.
– *sniff* Talkin' 'bout a bunch of dyin' menhaden baitfish in NJ. No one cared. Weenie alert….
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BP on the Storm Arashi Deep 10:
*|FACEBOOK:PROFILE:152313681470315|*
Tip of the Day
Smallest deets matter peeps:
> Denny Brauer, possibly the most-accomplished flipper in all of bass fishing, knows that preventing his sinker from sliding up his line enhances precision by keeping that weight centered over the bait.
> Brauer accomplishes this by sliding a Strike King tungsten weight onto his line, inserting a rubber nail peg through the weight and pulling it snug against the line. He’ll trim the back end of the nail peg, and then pull it farther into the sinker so he only pegs the top third of the weight.
> Brauer finishes by snipping the peg as close as possible to the weight’s top edge. “By doing it that way, it frees up the back of the slip sinker where the line’s coming out so the line can re-center,” Brauer said.
> “Be as careful as you can be in trimming that nail peg. There’s still a chance you might nick that line, so I’ll go ahead and pull (the weight) up a few inches and cut off that (bottom section) of my line so I’m absolutely certain I have not interfered with the line at all when I trimmed the rubber nail.”
> Brauer said the benefit of this rigging technique is preparing a bait that maintains optimal alignment for an effective presentation. Old-school pegging with toothpicks, he noted, leaves the line cocked to one side of the weight, and that mars the bait’s appearance and fall angle.
Quote of the Day
I’m ready to win an Elite.
– Stephen Browning to don barone after winning the recent Red River Open. He also talked to don about a magic tree he has, so let's hope Browning ain't lickin' his frogs before he fishes 'em….
Shot of the Day
You decide: Fish with a pro for a day, or fish with…? (from Instagram)
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