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
Wow! What a weekend:
1. Brent Chapman wins AOY.
Winning the Classic is the biggest thing in bassin’, but winning the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year is the most respected thing among the pros…and thanks to Toyota and B.A.S.S. you also get a few sheckles for doing it. This year’s achiever and beneficiary is the awesome Brent Chapman, and now it’s official: He’s one of the best sticks ever.
Love Brent, very stoked for him and his family, will write a bit more about this on BassParade this week. Btw, I had the opportunity to sit in Zona’s boat with Z and Tommy Sanders on day 3, the day Brent won it, and watch Brent fish. Even though AOY was very much on his mind, he appeared calm, fished methodically (with a swimbait), and even took the time to say a few words to make my 10-year-old son feel like a million bucks. Awesome. My son is now a HUGE Chapmaniac.
Brent and buddy Randy Howell switched to cranks here and there on day 4:
2. Boyd Duckett snags Elite win at Oneida.
“Snags” because it was Randy Howell’s tournament to lose, and he lost it. Oneida was being super stingy and Randy had a 2+ pound lead going into the last day. He came up one fish and 7 oz short of Boyd’s 62-06 (amazing that Oneida didn’t give up an easy limit to everybody). It was Boyd’s third tour-level win, including a Classic, and would’ve been Randy’s second. This pic says it all:
Both guys were mostly fishing reaction baits, mostly swimbaits from what I saw though they had other baits tied on. Boyd camped out in Maple Bay and fished a 4″ Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait (blue herring) on a 1/8-oz Buckeye J-Will swimbait head.
Incidentally, BassGold was right again: At this level you have to have, and fish for, largies to win on Oneida, and Boyd definitely did that. Though with the water level way down, seemed like the shallow largie pattern wasn’t nearly as good as it has been. The smallie fishing wasn’t either.
Larry Nixon! The legend of Bee Branch rides again. While Boyd won by 6 oz, Larry won by 6 lbs at St. Clair, which fished much better than Oneida. Larry put 84-11 in the boat “dragshotting” (he cast a dropshot to the fish) Berkley PowerBait Jerk Shads and Z-Man Jerk ShadZ. He used a ¼-oz weight. Here’s a dragshot shot:
He also used a Berkley Havoc Sick Fish swimbait on a ½-oz head, but only when the wind was NOT blowing. Odd, eh?
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Tip of the Day
Boyd Duckett: Fishing confidence baits.
We’ve all heard this before, but this is a good lesson from one of this weekend’s winners.
> On the 2008 Elite Series at Lake Murray: “In practice, I was throwing a new swimbait I had only used once before. I had a bunch of fish following my bait, but I couldn’t get them to commit. I started the tournament with that same bait. I hadn’t made a dozen casts before I started questioning my decision. ‘What if they just keep following it and don’t eat it?’ I knew then that I wouldn’t be able to catch them on that lure.”
> “I picked up a Berkley Hollow Belly (soft swimbait), which I throw all the time and have a lot of confidence in. I caught all my fish on that bait because that’s what I felt I needed to be throwing.”
> “I never quit trying new products, otherwise I wouldn’t learn how to fish the new ones we hear about.”
> “If you can catch fish on specific baits in a lot of different areas, it gives you more confidence in your abilities, especially on those mentally tough days when you go long periods without a bite. Indecision wrecks you; it steals your confidence.”
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Quote of the Day
I’m in total shock. I’ve been fishing in competitions for 36 years. A lot of my body parts are worn out. I’m not a spring chicken anymore.
– Larry Nixon talking on BassFan about his 18th major win (four on FLW). Go git another one Larry!
Shot of the Day
Larry’s standing in the water! Not really, but looks like some nice swells out there….
And let’s not forget Brandon Card, the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year. Great job Brandon, let’s hope the sponsors get behind him….
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