BassBlaster

DeFoe baits and pattern, Make your own Tinkle frog, Japan Flanders rig

Couple serious things gotta get off my chest first (thank you):

1. Confession: I haven’t dealt with 9/11 yet. Lost a bud in it, other folks around here lost a lot more. Haven’t been to the site in NYC, won’t go, won’t watch the video of the planes hitting the towers. Will say that I have SERIOUS issues with the producers and networks that air those vids of the towers getting hit. It’s like they don’t think real people died in there. Sickening and dumb.

2. Giant MEGA thank you to our military who have done and are doing their dang best to take care of those nutcases overseas. We’re all blessed you choose to do the hardest job in the world.

3. Hope all you folks in FL and TX are okay.

Back to the wide world o’ bassin’:

Guess you bass-heads are really digging the vids of me in the boat with the pros, so will do more of that — thanks for the feedback! I was a little stiff, but will get back in the on-cam groove….
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If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!

Today’s Top 5

Ott won another river derby.

Well dang-a-lang it Ott DeeeeeeeeeeFoe did it again! On a river again! On Douglas Lake again! (Won a spring Open there in ’14.)

Word is after ’14, Ott dared B.A.S.S. to have another derby at Douglas. Told them he wouldn’t practice for it, and if he won it by more than 10 lbs they’d have to give him 50 grand and a nice trophy. And that’s pretty much what happened….

That monster 10-lb margin can be summed up like this:

Lookit those feesh! Here’s his winning stuff:

> 1/2-oz Terminator Pro Series Jig (unreleased color: black/blue/a little chartreuse) with Bass Pro Elite Chunk (gp blue flake). Ott says the jig is a great all-around jig — grass, wood and open water. Check the head shape:

> Bass Pro Bull Hog (summer craw), 3/8-oz Swagger Tungsten weight (pegged) 4/0 VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook.

> For both: 7′ 6″ H BPS Johnny Morris Platinum Rod, Platinum Reel (8.3), 20-lb BPS XPS fluoro.

> Fished wood and rock or wood and mud in 1-3′ out of a tin boat because he was fishing skinny water upriver.

“Axed” him a few questions:

> Why wood upriver: “The lake is being drawn down for winter pool. When it’s full there’s a lot of willows, buck bushes and stuff, but it was about 10′ low already so not much cover was in the water. [That plus] current in the river — it’s always a good place this time of year.

> “When I get home from the Elite Series [every year], that’s one of my first trips, up there in that river — to go fun-fishing. I don’t hunt, so my fun is to go up those rivers in an aluminum boat and have a good day.”

> He did NOT retrieve his bait with the current, but instead flipped cross-current to the bank: “If you throw directly up-current, no matter what your bait is, and bring it directly down-current, it will go very fast. If the fish aren’t just chomping, I want to try to slow my bait down a little bit. The easiest way to do that is to sit off the bank, throw straight to the bank and allow it to swing down-current. I can control the speed much better.”

Pretty dang innerestin’ eh? Little trivia for you: Remember the whole rivet swimbait deal Ott won with at the upper Mississippi River? He first figured that out upriver on Douglas.

Check what won a Japanese smallie derby.

Kinda a Flanders with a blade, believe called an “Imosupin” or maybe “Imospin:”

Google translate said it’s 0.5-1.0 oz, but sure doesn’t look like it. Dude who came up with it is Ao Igarashi, won 3 derbies in a row on the same lake so guess it works:

On the other hand, looks like Ehrler wants to win this week’s derby on the first day:

I was like, “Dude if you shop in your tourney jersey everyone will know it’s you.” He said, “Good, I’m gonna throw them off the scent.” I was like, “Ooooooookaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy.”

lol

Potomac Costa baits breakdown.

Back a couple weeks, VA bass-head Mike Hicks (aren’t we all “hicks?” hahaha!) won it by a healthy 3 lbs using Lobina Rico and Daiwa TD Pencil (in the pic):

Here’s the top 10 finishers’ baits broken down — some old-skoolin’ but mostly what you’d kinda expect on a grassy river:

Swim-Jig = 40% — trailers: YUM Christie Craw, Strike King Rage Bug and Rage Craw, Berkley Chigger Craw.

Topwater = 40% — Walkers, frogs, Plopper.

Vibe Jig = 30% — Gotta shout out Bradley Staley (4th) for using a 3/8-oz Dave’s Tournament Tackle Vibrating Jig in the “Potomac killer” color, Speed Craw for a trailer:

Spinnerbait, Senko, Flip Plastics = 20% each — Unspecified Terminator spinnerbait, both plastics were Missile D Bombs, sounds like 1.25-oz weight was key.

Buzzbait, Trick Worm = 10% each — Shoutin’ out Greg “wildman” Wilder for channelin’ Woo Daves cuz he fished only weightless Zoom Trick Worms in merthiolate and bubble gum:

One mo’: How ’bout these outliers making the top 10 on a mid-Atlantic tidal river?

Does your dropshot bait float?

In this vid, Jordan Lee says the reason he (and his bro Matt) used the Strike King Z-Too dropshotting on St. Clair wasn’t just the bigger size — it’s cuz that bait floats. Important in that derby because of the grass on the bottom but got me thinking about floating dropshot baits…

…then I saw this, the Gandy DropUp. Cool-looking rig that presents like a dropshot but fishes like a Carolina rig:

A bass ever do this to your hook??

Been assured this was a bass:

CHOMPED a YUM Dinger….

Fave comment on that post: “Actual picture of what happens when you set the hook on a log.” lol! BUT, no way a hook would contort like that from a log.

News

1. Jacob Wheeler raised some Harvey $$.

Love to see the effort = love.2. Combs Rayburn derby Oct 7.

Keith, J-Lee, James Niggemeyer, Matty Reed will be there. Already auctioning off stuff on his FB page.

3. Here’s Ott’s tunnel-hull.

From a good post on t-hulls by Craig Lamb.

4. Seth “I speak Mille Lacsian” Feider has a new color.

Nope, not Mntn Dew green — it’s called “Feider shad:”

That’s a BioSpawn ExoStick. Not dissing BioSpawn at all, but how some major plastics co doesn’t have Feider by now is beyond me, man. But props to BioSpawn for coming out with that color just in time for Mille Lacs.

5. Feider has a ‘scimitar-shaped’ boat??

That’s what a writer called it but do you see any resemblance:

6. Jason Christie’s tube jighead was…

…a Bite Me Tackle Big Dude Goby Head:

Head actually designed by Zona, way back when he had a blonde mullet and cleaned pools for a living. Wait — I might be geting that confused with a movie. Hahahaha Z!

He said the deal with that head is “a goby has a fast dart/stop, and that head does that. And it falls like a rock — key.”

After that we proceeded to disagree on NFL football…not that it matters with him being a Bears fan and me I guess having to like the frickin’ Giants. My kids root for the Vikes cuz of #96.

Tx to all the bass-heads that IDd that jighead mang!

7. Alton Jr. talks non-penetrating cull system.

Says next year the Elitists won’t be allowed to have penetrating cull-clips:

That’s the T-H Marine G-Force Conservation Cull System.

8. Will Wes Strader move to the Elites?

Has the Open points to do it plus is a fo-sho stick….

9. FLWer Michael Neal gets Denali.

Good dude, good rods, all good. Check Denali on the TW.

10. Peter T’s favorite swimbait/swimjig/speed worm rod.

The Lew’s Mach — the 7′ 3″ MH:

Only $79.99 on TW!

11. Is Zona okay?

In a word: no. Not never. Props to J-Lee for hanging with the inZanity:

Love the Braveheart-type music, too funny.

12. Well, here’s what Winston’s been doing….

Been trading emails with Favorite rods head dude Winston Tucker, said he’s been on planes to foreign countries. Then checked their Insta, saw this and was like — dang good reason to be gone dude! Some international bass derby — nice trophy!

13. Some history on Louie the Legend.

Aka Louie Stout. Never knew he used to be a cantaloupe farmer….

Okay…that’s because he never was. But he likes ditch melons hahahaha!

14. TX: Big Bass Splash on Fork this weekend.

15. 2018 BFL and FLW College champeenships.

2 at 1 time:

> The 35th annual BFL All-American will be held May 31-Jun 2 on Cross Lake in Shreveport, LA, while the College Fishing National Championship will take place on the Red River on May 30-Jun 2, also in Shreveport.

16. WTHeck: four new Wiggle Wart colors!

Here they is, clockwise from top L: phantom green copper craw, phantom copper craw, faded molting craw, brown mustard craw:

Cold-water baits ain’t just for spring yo!

17. You seen the Lunkerhunt Dragonfly yet?

Gonna be a must-have for me, when those fish just ain’t a-gittin’ anything else:

18. Buff makes a red shad lid!

That’s a Red Shad Trucker Cap and Red Shad UV Buff…lookin’ all bassin’ gansta, which I sorta like. Props to stuff that’s a bait color!

19. Check this sick ‘Trap color.

Speaking of red shads, check this out — believe it’s the “bloodline” color:

Not on Tackle Warehouse, but is on the ‘Trap site.

20. Sonar wars: Navico beats Garmin.

21. Cool Bull Rat vid, crawls over sticks.

Not sure how that’s possible with trebles, but cool:

Line of the Day

Unlike the northern bass, the southern bass eat throughout the year.

So…northern bass don’t eat the whole year and…die?

Tip of the Day

How to make your own Sprinkle Tinkle frog.

If you absolutely have to…tinkle (heehee), Johnny-Boy Crews shows you how he made one in this vid. I fished with that exact frog in his boat a couple weeks ago and it’s the realy-o dealy-o:

That’s a SPRO Bronzeye Frog (clear chartreuse?), spinnerbait wire, swivel, screw lock and split ring.

Quote of the Day

I really don’t consider myself a professional fisherman because I don’t make my living fishing.

Dude who wants to be an Elitist. Wellllllllll…some Elitists don’t make a living at bassin’ either, which is a huge bummer. Find it kinda bizarre that it was easier to make a living in pro bassin’ like 20 years ago then it is now…. That’s NOT a dig on any fishing organization. Just odd is all.

Shot of the Day

How ’bout this sunrise shot by my B.A.S.S. bud Stevie “shut up Kumar” Bowman:

Amazing right? But…he also shot this one:

Sign up another bass-head!

If you’re forwarding every Blaster to other bass crackheads, tx much — or you can email me the addys and we’ll take care of it! We’ll never send spam, sell the list or anything else crazy….

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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