Welcome to the BassBlaster, your daily email about all things bassin’. How ’bout forwardin’ the BB to a bassin’ bud?

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Today’s Top 3

1. WTH is going on at Oneida?

Couple weeks ago the lake was on fire – meaning fishing as usual. Now the always-reliable smallies seem like they’ve vanished. Here’s what one Elite pro said last night, which echoes what’s in BassFan’s Scouting Report:

“The weather’s perfect, the water looks great, there’s grass everywhere, but it’s [the fishing is] awful. And I can’t put my finger on what in the heck’s going on.

“It’s as if there’s not one smallmouth in here. You don’t see one, you don’t have one follow. It’s the oddest thing. You see shad in the grass and bait in the lake, but nothing’s after it.

“I’m wondering if the Earth is about to swap ends or something else I don’t know about.”

He will fish largies, and so far the scuttlebutt is most guys will be shallow. Until the smallie bite turns on, that is.  Maybe sandbaggin’?!

>> I’ll be at Oneida tomorrow through Sunday, look for me in the war room….

2. It’s hard to find stuff that’s any good. It’s either too deep and not thick enough, or there’s not good edges. A lot of it just doesn’t look fishy.

– Ott DeFoe talking about Oneida’s grass. Lot of it, maybe too much? Can there be too much or does it just take more figgerin’?

3. What Certified Bad-Ass means.

Didja see that logo in the new G. Loomis GLX rod ads? I wanted to know what that meant to the guys who use ’em, so chased down Zona, Mercer and an actual fisherman (lol), David Walker. Few tidbits:

Z: [GLX rods are] almost like a switchblade because when you bust one, you own him.

DM: It’s not like biker bad-ass. The cool thing about fishing is there’s a whole level of bad-ass we all know about and the rest of the world has no idea about it.

DW: I do feel like a certified bad-ass when I’m fishing with them, and sometimes I feel like a certified dumb-ass when I don’t catch ’em [laughs].

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More

1. Some deets on the new western circuit.

2. Lucas Oil sponsoring Strike King TV.

> …multi-year partnership, Lucas will be the title sponsor of the Strike King Pro Team Journal as well as Strike King’s Fish Hard.

 

Tip of the Day

Brian Snowden: Crank shallow…now!

> During the peak of the summer heat, Snowden vacates deep ledges and river channels and targets isolated flats where bass are chasing large schools of baitfish.

> Often located at the mouth of a river, Snowden will follow the flat until it begins to bottleneck. “The hotter it gets, the further back into a river I like to go – but only until the river really narrows down. This time of the year, a shallow running crankbait in these areas will outproduce a spinnerbait.”

> Targeting flats in 1 to 5 feet, Snowden will begin fancasting a shallow diving crankbait like a Cotton Cordell Big O, searching for schools of baitfish. The Big O not only moves a great amount of water but also provides a large profile for the bass to key on.

> “I know anglers who have won a lot of money fishing crankbaits in less than 5 feet of water this time of year,” he says. “I really believe in the technique.”

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Quote of the Day

Day one is turnin’ out alright. Gotta keep this momentum through the rest of the derby.

– From J. Todd Tucker’s Facebook page at around 1 pm EST today. I hope he wasn’t using his cell phone…or have the rules changed?

 

Shots of the Day

Shots from today at the Oneida Elite. Takin’ names (nice shot from Dave Mercer’s FB page) and the Chapmaniac catching…smallies!

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