I looked at the dang eclipse and can still see! Was wearing my Costas and only did it for a few seconds, but:

My wife went nuts on me, but I was like: You mean to tell me in ancient times when everyone looked at an eclipse, all these people were walking around blind after that?? I’m sure it’s bad if you stare at it for a while, but come on man.

Actually forgot it was the eclipse til I ran outside to roll up my truck windows because I thought it was going to rain. Then I was like: oh yeah, the eclipse.

Done WAY more damage to my eyes looking at bass beds and computer screens than an eclipse could ever do mang!

So…are shallow bass blind now? Or do they at least have retinal damage so they see spots? If so, recommend everyone only fishes black baits from now on.

Guess the only bass that survived the E-clipse okay are ledge/hump/point fish that were too deep to get retinal damage, and mat fish that live in a dang dungeon all day long anyhow. Only bass fer sher not damaged by the eclipse was the Costa bass:

Mega-props to winning rookie Justin Atkins who crushed ’em all with a dang topwater, an Ima Little Stik 135 (chrome):

When’s the last time a champeenship was won on a topwater? Crazy schooling herring bite. The top 10 looked like:

Topwater = 90% — Ima Little Stik 135 = 30%, walking baits = 50%, pencil poppers = 40%

Walkers included Travis Fox’s (2nd) Storm Arashi Top Walker (ghost pearl shad), and Brandon Cobb’s (3rd) Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil (prism ghost shad), new 3DR Pencil (glass minnow) and a Yo-Zuri salwater Hydro Pencil (blue mackerel):

Soft jerkbait = 50%

Shakey head, Crankbait, Spinnerbait = 10% each

Callin’ out Wes Strader (9th) for fishing a giant popper-shaped block of wood that looks like it should be a decoration in a fishin’ lodge — aka a “prototype bone-colored pencil popper” made by PH Custom Lures: “It’s made out of real heavy wood. I call it the ‘Jabberwocky’ because it throws water like crazy and you can throw every bit of line off your Lew’s reel with it.” Believin’ it:

That’s me and my kids, man! Last week dragged — or in bassin’ese: “drug” — them and the wife up to the Niagara Reever/Lake Ontario to get on some smalls and ogle the falls…which already feels like 3 weeks ago…. Full deets, including baits and whatnot, are on BassBlaster.rocks — includin’ that triple-header — but a few feeshn highlights:

> …and I was using the back 2/3 of a YUM Dinger (ghillie suit), nose-hooked. For whatever reason, that color was the only one I could get them to bite. No purple in it, which is key in gobie-land, but it does have lots o’ other flake colors:

> …used 1/2-oz Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten Drop Shot Weights. Also caught a few wacky-rigging a full-sized Dinger in the same color on a tube jighead. Sketchy-looking rig but it works!

I DID fish wimp-sticks. Had to. Was like:

Brought one lighter casting setup which I intended to use, but had an incurable reel malfunction so…hated it (dang line twist!) except for when I had a fish on. My rig was an Alpha Angler Wrench with a Favorite Rush spinning reel.

Reel was fine, and wow what a great rod. Never used a wimp stick that in my opinion felt and performed like a casting rod.

Btw, they’ve been catching Mille Lacs smalls on another new Dinger color (camo), which like “ghillie suit” also has gold and red flake….

Check some recent lines and headlines from around the world o’ bassin’:

> World-class fishers to converge on Lake St. Clair for Bassmaster Elite

> Most Renowned Bass Fishing Tournament Will be [on] Mille Lacs….

> …[FLW Cup is] biggest prize in bass fishing

> “These guys in Major League Fishing are the best of the best….” [KVD talkin’. So…is MLF better than the Elites? Apples and oranges imo.]

Only sport I can remember with more hype than bassin’ is:

Too funny — like an action film trailer:

My bud Scott was like: Tourney jerseys on the bank are now a thing? lol game designers….