BassBlaster

Best bassin’ parents ever, Name this new rig, KVD can’t fish slow!

What up??? If you missed the Late Fall/Early Winter BassBlaster Special Issue full of baits, tips and whatnot, check it on BassBlaster.rocks here!

If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!

Today’s Top 4

The greatest bassin’ parents ever??

Check this quote from 19-year-old Okie FLWer Sheldon Collings:

> “I went to public school in Missouri until my sophomore year. I was missing a couple days a week to fish tournaments, and they told me that fishing wasn’t a sport and that they were going to fail me if I kept missing class. The week after my principal told me that, my parents started homeschooling me.”

> Living on Grand Lake, Collings would fish every day and do school work in the evenings. The strategy allowed him to spend countless hours on the lake honing his skill. “I probably wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t start homeschooling.”

!!!! Maybe he was adopted by bass? Or…I guess actual bass parents wouldn’t want him fishing for their kin….

Too much fishing and too little school may cause this:

> Collings has once again taken a non-traditional route and decided to forego college in an effort to focus all of his energy on the water. “I know that a lot of people will have an opinion about my decision, but I just feel like college would take away from my fishing time.”

Let’s face it: Everything that’s not fishing takes away from fishing time. Like sleep.

Name this new-ish rig!

First of all, pulling a tube backward and then stopping it looks SICK!! Can’t wait to try it. My bud Brett rigged this up, seen similar ones on the YoubusTubus, but no real name for ’em so…what should we call it? Check the components:

Couple ideas — or in Bassinese, “ideals” — for rig names: Egg Drop, Goofy Tube, The Extry-Stupid Tube Rig (referencing Jacob Wheeler’s Stupid Tube Rig), Squidward Rig, Walkin’ Melon Rig.

Drop yer ideals on the Facebook post, will send the best one (my opinion) some baits! (If you don’t Facebook, here’s the same vid on YT.) Rig:

> 4″ YUM Tube (ultimate craw)
> 5″ YUM Dinger (chartreuse pepper)
> 3/4-oz egg sinker (biggest size that’ll fit, lighten up if fishing shallower)

> 4/0 VMC HDWG Hook (Heavy Duty Wide Gap)

Brett says drag it, almost like dragging a football jig — MH rod. Not sure about line but that hook’s got some beef.

KVD just can’t fish slow.

Kevin talks about “fishing slow, fast.” Sounds weird but if you watch him fish, you’ll know what he means. I’ve watched him do it — and one time he yelled at me for being too close to his boat…during a tourney…oops!

Check what he says in a Bassin’masters.com post on fall jerkin’:

> When I say I slow down, I don’t go as slow as a lot of people do. It’s still a very efficient technique for covering a good bit of water, so by fishing parallel to edges, I keep the lure in the productive zone throughout the retrieve.

> A lot of anglers will let their jerkbait sit for 5 seconds or longer. Not me. 1 second between twitch/pulls is plenty. However, if I have a high-percentage spot, such as the end of a laydown tree or tip of a bluff or grass line, I may let it sit longer and always make multiple casts to the same spot.

Longer meaning…1.5 seconds? Hahaha! Not sure KVD can do anything slow just cuz I’ve never seen it. Maybe Z has? But I doubt it! More fall jerkin’ insight from Kevin:

> …deep-diving jerkbait worked around dropoffs, edges, weedlines, bridge corners, riprap, bluff ends and places…that cold-water bass use.

> …Strike King KVD Deep Jerkbait in real bright colors — sexy shad and chartreuse sexy shad are my favorites, even in clear water. …it’s about getting the fish to see the bait when they are far away.

> Rather that snapping the bait, I use a solid pull a couple of times and pause briefly. When I pause, I point the rod top at the bait to give it slack and enhance the action. Also, by pulling the bait short distances vs. jerking it hard, the bait will run deeper by as much as 3-4′.

Uses a 6′ 10″ MH Quantum Tour Edition Rod and 10-lb fluoro.

Check how this Japan A-rig is rigged.

Wish I could understand the vid (click the pic to see it):

Looks like a line-through swimbait in the middle, surrounded by bigger ribbed swimbaits with keel-weighted, TX-rigged hooks! Could that possibly work?

Would you need Tommy John surgery after lobbing that beast out there a few times??

News

1. Help support a bass-head’s family.

William Rose used to work at Missile Baits, has passed on leaving 3 daughters:

> There has been an account set up with his daughters being shared beneficiaries so Missile is donating ALL profits from this 9-day sale to the girls’ account. The sale will run from Nov 23 through Dec 1. Missile customers get great deals and William’s girls will get the benefit. PROMO CODE: ROSE20 [on missilebaits.com]

2. Not sure what happened to Brock Mosely’s boat…

…but doesn’t look good:

Sure hope all people and critters are okay.

3. Bid on a Gville guide trip with Matt Lee.

That’s one of the Future Fisherman Foundation eBay auctions. You have 4 more days to bid on Matty, and if you don’t bid I will and then challenge Matty to a 2x-or-nothing charity deal. Of course, bein’ an irrational bass-head, I expect to win….

Hahaha! Some great deals on baits and guide trips in those auctions.

4. J-Lee gets Mossy Oak.

Jordan’s gittin’ all Mossy and whatnot. Bass peeps be like, “You lookin’ pretty Mossy in that camo yo!”

Or not.

5. Ott DeFoe was ruin’t by Okeechobee.

Says ketchin’ that lake’s big basses as a kid hooked him for life — which we can understand! Said it in a REAL good new vid Mossy Oak vid. Only thing is, he’s hard to see in it — you know, cuz of all that camo:

Narrator sounds a little like B.A.S.S.’s Dave Precht…which makes me think he should do some narratin’ for B.A.S.S.

6. FLWer Brian Latimer running a Falcon.

Social media follerin’ factored into it….

7. Wild West Bass Trail sold.

Rumored for a few weeks, now official:

> At the guiding hands of Gary Dobyns, Matt and Angie Morgan the Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) was formed. It is with mixed emotions that Dobyns and Morgan announce the sale of WWBT.

> Dobyns: “With my wife’s health conditions and the move of my family and business to TX, it was going to be very challenging to devote the time and energy that the customers of WWBT deserve. I battled and deliberated with many alternatives. But I came to the difficult realization that someone else needed to take WWBT to the next level.”

> Morgan: “From the beginning, Angie and I wanted to do something truly special for West Coast anglers. When Gary and I first began talking about WWBT, I was excited for the challenge. With Gary moving to TX, The American Crappie Trail taking off, and us living in IN, it was the right time…. We will work closely with the new ownership group to ensure that WWBT transitions into 2018 seamlessly.”

No word on who the new owners are except: “The new ownership group are natives from the West Coast and have been in the industry for many years.” Maybe they’re…salmon? lol

8. WV: Bass-heads wondering why bass not stocked.

> “The [DNR] stocks trout all over the state,” said Mike Dandois of St. Albans, an avid [bass-head]. “Why don’t they ever stock any [green] bass?

> “We don’t have the numbers we used to have, and we don’t have the size. In some of our tournaments, we’ve dropped our minimum size limit from 12″ to 10″ just to have enough fish for a weigh-in.”

Pretty soon it’ll be all Flanders rigs and fairy wands in WV. Give ’em some help, state boys! Oh wait: the state just announced plans to increase fishing tourism…by stocking trout….

9. FL: New record shoal bass.

Shoal bass = big dang deal, right? But lookit this monster:

Looks like a painted taxidermy bass, don’t it? 5.95 lbs , 22.4″ long, caught by 14-year-old Sheldon Grace from Headland, AL on the Chipola River — nice feesh dude! Was fishing from some kinda boat that rhymes “pie rack” or “sky yak” or something…lol. Said he fought it for 30 minutes??

10. Alpha Angler cyber sale!

11. Distributor Maurice $100 mil in debt.

Dang, that’s YUGE. Filed for bankruptcy, restructuring, a deal may be in the works. From an email sent by gri-solutions.com to “unsecured creditors” (companies Maurice owes):

> …Maurice Sporting Goods faced several challenges that impaired their cash flow, investment in new distribution center, several bankruptcies including Sports Authority, Michigan Sporting Good Distributors, Gander Mountain, and Sport Chalet. This also overlapped with a weakening Canadian dollar [Maurice is Canadian] and poor management.

For those who don’t know, basically a distributor is the middleman between manufacturers and retailers.

12. TN: TVA says it discovered a new fish species.

Thankfully seems to live in clear streams:

13. “Northern hog sucker” is not a bass club name.

But it should be. Instead it’s this:

Yet another innerestin’ Blaster item hahaha!

Gitcha sale stuff!!

1. Tackle Warehouse Black Friday Sale is still on!!!!!

Til 5 pm this evening, so git after it! Also a bunch o’ stuff on clearance….

This is me on TW — dead serious:

2. BassBlaster apparel sale yo!

New stuff in the works, get this stuff at a major discount: 30% OFF til Friday! Use code: CYBER

I wear a bunch of that stuff all the time…srsly. Comfy and representin’!

BassBlaster needs…you?

Lookin’ for any peeps who are DEEP into any one o’ the following bassin’ scenes. In ’em, does ’em, knows what’s happenin’. If you think that’s you or someone you know, hit me back be replying to this-here email:

> Swimbaits
> Diehard bank anglers
> Cali – what’s catchin’ ’em, who’s hot
> Texas – same
> Kentucky Lake – same
> Florida – same

 

Tip of the Day

Misc late fall/early winter “tippin’ nuggets.”

Super-size yo’self with these trolled-up nuggets from the Bassin’masters.com:

> Casey Ashley: “A lot of times, when I’m skipping a dock, the fish will like to hang up high. So, rather than letting it go all the way to the bottom, I’m swimming it through that mid-depth range. …if you do let the jig go to the bottom and you have one follow it to the boat when you wind it in, that tells you the fish are suspended.” [Likes a 3/8-oz Shooter Lures Jig with a Zoom Fat Albert Twin Tail Grub, and uses a shakey head to catch more from the same docks.]

> College kid John Garrett: “The other thing I’ve noticed is topwater fishing last longer and is more dependable as water temps cool in the fall, compared to similar cooler water temps in early spring. So tie on a topwater, and take advantage of bass fishing’s most exciting bite before pumpkins are out of season and the snow starts to fall.” [Likes a Strike King Sexy Dawg.]

> Jason Christie: “We always talk about staying in front of the fish, and I feel like if I fish that wintertime pattern, I’m fishing where they’re coming. Even though there are already fish in that area, there are probably more fish that are coming. If you’re fishing that fall feeding pattern, a lot of the fish are going away from you.” [Says he likes a 3/8- to 1/2-oz Booyah Finance Jig with a YUM Craw Papi, a Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue and a Bandit 300 crankbait.]

Quote of the Day

I don’t want to sound arrogant, but there’s not too much out there that scares me.

2018 Elite rookie Bill Weidler talkin’…after sayin’ he’s shooting for a top 20 in each event…after sayin’ he put too much pressure on himself in the Opens and spun out.

Couple things:

> There’s no way to know what the Elites are like til you get there, and it’s way harder than you ever thought. #grind

> Pretty sure if Bill spent time with me and Hack lookin’ for Mr. Squatch, he’d be scared a somethin’:

Shot of the Day

Nice shot of swimbait guide Manny Chee (believe in AZ?) on what’s lookin’ like a salty rig with I believe a heeler that’s strangely not biting his heel:

Reminds me: One time I went trout fishing in AZ with former B.A.S.S. Times editor Matt Vincent. Our guide had a heeler in the boat that bit our heels the whole time we fished. Didn’t bother me, but the look in that dog’s eye was like it knew it was messing with us.

That night we camped on the Kaibab Plateau. Just before we hit the sleepin’ bags, Matt said: “Ever see that movie Fire in the Sky’ about the UFO abduction? That happened here. They’ve seen Bigfoot here too.” I listened to him snore all night, man…. #nosleep

Sign up another bass-head!

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Use the best!

Git on these yo!

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Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin’. Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best in bassin’, and is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass.

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