BassBlaster

Biggest double ever, Spendy swimbait win, How to pitch spinnerbaits

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on April 20, 2017

Today’s Top 5

Biggest double ever?

Not sure, no way to tell fo sho, but could be:

Guys says “10 lbs” of double up” in the post so is that two 5s? Either way, was amazed it was on a SPRO Rat til I read further down and it said he was fishing a garbage dump pond….

Hahaha jess kiddin’! Hey listen — sometimes the truth isn’t funny, man. For some reason reminds me of the time I told A-A-Ron he could never win with a ‘stache like that…

…and he was like this after the game:

At the time it wasn’t funny but I guess now it is….

Wild-caught melons o’ the week.

Jim Simpson blasted this 12.73 and a 10.84 on Lake Alan Henry, TX with a Strike King Hack Attack Jig (gp) and Rage Bug (blue craw):

Legendary CA stick Bobby Barrack with a 10.44 caught at the Delta with an Echo 1.75 crank (Rayburn red craw):

Stevie Ragsdale banged this 10 at Lake o’ the Pines, TX on a Reaction Innovations Beaver 4.20 (Okeechobee craw):

Shoutin’ out Shawn McGraw even tho this isn’t a DD (it’s an 8.55) cuz he caught it on a Rapala J-11 (Lake Columbia, AR) — aka “jointed minnow” aka “broken-back Rapala.” Dang I’ve caught so many shallow bass on those things, I need to do dig ’em back out:

Check this yuge 3-fish limit…on a $150 swimbait.

Adrian and Daniel Barnes, 20.45 lbs including a 10.57, Stillhouse Hollow Lake Tuesday-nighter — lake rose 3′ the day before:

> …the pair did not alter their gameplan on account of the rising water. They targeted bushes on shallow points as they have been doing for the past several tournaments.

> The Barnes’ go-to bait is a pricey Japanese import called the Roman Made Negotiator. They used natural baitfish colors…to land the majority of their fish.

Derp bass say:

Lip you a fish part 2.

Didn’t hear from too many peeps about the science-type study that said lipping big bass was okay, but those I did hear from really got some interwebz passion goin’ ’bout it. Outlined my 2c on lipping fish on BassBlaster.rocks — here’s a little from it:

> We’re talking ONLY 10+ (double digit = DD) bass here. Don’t tell me you’re going to mess up a 6-lber by lipping it. If you think that…nah.

> How many DD-sized bass have you lipped? If you’re lucky, maybe one. Another way to say it: The % of the total bass population we’re talking about here is VERY low.

> How many DD-sized bass were caught and released since the whole “you can hurt its jaw” thing got going 5-10 years ago? Answer = lots. How many DD bass in the decades before that? Answer = lots. And how have our bass fisheries done before and after that “lip point?” Answer = fine, including DD fish. In other words, big bass have been lipped for decades and it’s never been a problem.

> Is it possible that truly enormous fish (like the TX ShareLunkers) get held up more and longer — and thus their jaws could get messed up because of that? Yep. Happens, comes with the territory. I don’t feel sorry for the fish and I hope you don’t either. Be stoked! They’re fish and there’s more giants out there than we’ll ever know.

> What’s worse on a bass’ jaw: holding it up for 60 seconds for pics, or slamming it with an 8-foot flip stick tied to 65-lb braid and horsing it into the boat? My point being…if the fish survives the hookset and fight fine, which it does, then the hold is no big deal….ASSUMING the hold is correct and the fish isn’t held up for unduly long, which probly is most of the time.

Just my 2c, which is subject to change without notice….

This how Hackney dresses in real life?

Corollary to that Q: Does Zona’s show count as real life?? Because that’s real fishing and he really is that way so….

News

1. Mercer is fishing the whole world.

Check it:

2. FLWer Mike Surman giving away these baits.

Ogle ya some Yo-Zuri baits here on TW.

3. LA announces state bass trail.

8 state park lakes: Toledo Bend (north and south state parks count as 2) Caney Lake, Lake Bruin, Lake D’Arbonne, Lake Bistineau, Poverty Point Reservoir, Lake Claiborne.

4. MI: Blood leak virus found in St. Clair shad.

Guess it’s common tho.

5. MO: SPRO Rock (Rk) Crawlers win HS derby.

Bull Shoals, cranked dirtier water:

> [Rk Crawlers] in the red crawfish color and ‘anything with orange on it.’ They keyed on wind-blown banks where the fish were 4-8′ deep.

6. CA: B.A.S.S. HS tourney April 29 on Oroville.

7. CA: Are Clear Lake largies dumb?

Is this proof: Dude caught this 10-03 on a **cough** fly…AND just 6-lb Seaguar InvizX fluoro:

C’mon man, FLIES?? What’s next, rodents? Oh wait…lol.

8. YUM Dinger new colors.

Word is shipping now, available soon:

Keep hittin’ it here on TW to see when they’re in stock.

Fave color is Elder’s Magic cuz I assume it’s named after the KISS album “Music from the Elder” — which honestly stunk, but the first track (“The Oath”) was good and played it many a time in bands. Haven’t heard it in years, makes me laugh….

9. Win some sick Storm prize packs!

Here’s just one:

All come with Storm 360 Searchbaits.

10. 8-yr warranty on E-Tecs.

Why do I feel like they announced that a while back?

11. Ardent reels sue distributor Maurice.

12. Ever heard of Platypus line?

Quick guess what country you’d expect it to come from. WINNAH! Yep, Australia. Know nothing about it but got onto it from this pic posted of an Okuma Ceymar C-10 wimp-stick reel (just $50!!) and had to know what that orange line was:

Favorite line from the Platypus website:

> Relying on their 117 years of excellence producing quality fishing lines for Aussie fishos….

Hahaha we’re fishos! Sounds like a cereal but…I like it!

Headline of the Day

Prizes up for grabs during sportsmen’s sucker tournament

Thought this was about a bass derby but it’s really about sucker-fish…lol

Tip of the Day

Watch Jason Christie fishing spinnerbaits…

…at the T-Bend Elite. Things that stood out to me: super-dirty water, basically pitching the bait, multiple casts to the same targets, blade has to touch the target:

That’s a double-Colo BOOYAH Blade spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) that he sometimes replaced the front blade with a fluorescent red/orange one.

Jason’s way more chatty on the water than he is on land….

Quote of the Day

If the crankbait isn’t working, I find something else instead of just dying with it.

– Crankin’ king David Fritts talkin’. Cracks me up cuz he still starts by cranking, I guess even in spawn tourneys…and he hasn’t done so bad on the Elites doing it (23rd). #crankaddict

Shot of the Day

Diggin’ this shot for 4 reasons:

> Nice feesh!
> That big black eye — “like a doll’s eye” (Quint from Jaws)
> The visor and dual console rig go together like Ritz crackers n Cheez Whiz
> Very cool name of the flip-stick that fish was caught with: the Kistler KLX Stump Grinder (here it is on TW, the 7′ 6″ XH)

Random

Here’s a headline for ya:

Sociable crayfish get drunk more easily than loners

Yes scientists are getting crawfish drunk. And I assume someone is paying them to do that…which is why I guess they’re smarter than us?

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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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