Today’s Top 5
…at Havasu. Check it:
1. Joe Uribe Jr. — 67-03 (15)
2. Josh Bertrand — 52-05 (15)
3. Scott Hellesen — 48-03 (14)
Joey Fresh crushed it by 15 lbs man! On a lake where 15 lbs is like 2 days of fishin’!!
In case yer wonderin’: Bertrand’s beard was at the derby:
> His plan was to seek out spawning pockets with ample amounts of habitat – a combo of brush and wooden structure…where big females could stage.
> “On the first day of the event I noticed a lot of guys ran south a ways, so it left some places closer to the ramp open. I saw some birds chasing shad in an area, so I stopped and caught some stripers. I kept fishing it and caught some decent largemouth, so I kept running other coves nearby that I knew of and had them all to myself. I just stuck with that, and they kept reloading every day.”
[Dang, that sounds easy mcpeasy.]
> He worked shade lines in the pockets, and when gizzard shad were present he could quickly load the boat with 4-pound fish. One key for Uribe was bumping his bait off of the habitat to trigger a strike.
> He threw a homemade jig with a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper swimbait trailer. A Z-Man Original ChatterBait tipped with the same Skinny Dipper (he dyed the tail chartreuse)…along with a Basstronix A-rig also paired with Skinny Dippers…he used 20-pound-test Sunline fluorocarbon.
2nd-4th fished swimbaits and U-rigs, but check this re: 5th place:
> JJ Gibbs [a local, flipped river] backwaters and main-lake tule patches….
Heck yeah this is a big deal! More deets here, but some highlights:
> Under $200 = $179-$199
> Same multi-taper technology used on all Loomis sticks.
> Same lifetime warranty.
> Rods are American-made in Woodland, WA, same as all Loomis rods.
> 30 models, both spit grip and full cork handle.
> Fuji guides and reel seats (the best!).
> Coolest-looking Loomis rods yet — BassBlaster neon green wraps yo!
Grab em here on Tackle Warehouse.
Back in the early BassFan/ESPN B.A.S.S. days — when so many top pros were fishing both — it made sense to sort of equate the tours. Does it now?
> Lots of FLW Tour top sticks have moved to B.A.S.S. (Ehrler, JLu, J-Pow, etc) while guys who want to fish less have gone from the Elites to FLW (Yelas, Nixon, etc).
> This story and this one are about folks with very little experience suddenly fishing the boater side of the FLWs. Does that happen on the Elites too? It did, not sure it will anymo’.
Is it just me, or does this ad remind you of the Star Wars LEGO dudes? #darthspider
News
1. Yelas takes over at C.A.S.T.
Running that charity, still fishing too. Very cool. Might be a first for a pro fisherman?
…so does Erhler. Btw, Huk started by a bunch of former Under Armour dudes.
3. Kriet running HydroWave wrap.
Jeff’s got a piece of it so = smart.
Mayhem part reminds me of the crazy Red Bull Crashed Ice sport I saw on the tune the other day. #iwannadoit
6. Aussie gets Amphibia specs.
7. OK: Gentleman George in Owasso.
Bass class tomorrow night plus Feb. 18, 25 and March 4.
8. SC: Classic worth $20-24 mil locally.
9. CA rez levels.
Click to see it bigger:
10. AZ: Auditions at Mesa BPS…
…for angler show thingy “with a prize including new fishing gear and free entry to the Bassmaster Opens.”
[If you do it, quote some Anthrax: I am the man! I m so bad, I should be in detention!]
11. KY: Killing shad at Carpenter.
12. IA: No longer stocking farm ponds.
Of Buck Knives. Great guy.
Tip of the Day
…for JIGS…from FLWOutddoors.com:
> I think rubber skirts are superior overall, especially in the winter when the water is cold. Rubber skirts aren’t as affected by cold water and still have quite a bit of action, while silicone skirts tend to stiffen up more. The biggest advantage silicone skirts have is that they are produced in so many different colors.
> In the winter, I’m not as particular about the color of a skirt as the action it imparts…. A fairly long rubber skirt still has that billowing flare to it in cold water, though it’s more slow motion that’s a good thing when everything under the water is moving slower.
> In the summer, when the water is warmer, I prefer a trimmed rubber skirt because it really “poofs out” a lot quicker.
> …in winter…in a full-sized jig, I’ll go with a brown skirt if the water is fairly clear. In Southern lakes, usually I’ll fish a black skirt or a brown-and-black skirt. As spring rains become more prevalent and we get more rain and the water gets dirtier, I like a black skirt with a little chartreuse in it.
> Besides the regular-sized rubber skirt material, there is also a finer size that is great for finesse jigs. A 1/2- or 3/8-ounce football-head jig with the finer skirt material is a great smallmouth bait. I rig it with the smallest Yamamoto Craw or Flappin’ Hog.
Quote of the Day
I found and caught my fish…throwing the new Rapala Shadow [Rap].
– T-Roy Lindner talkin‘ ’bout throwin’ the new Rapala Shadow Rap at the Havasu Ray-o-Start, where he jumped from 40th to 16th…after clarity from an intense workout after day 2. Take that A-Mart!
Oh yeah: C’mon with the Shadow Rap already! #hurryupRapala
Shot of the Day
Check this 15.73 from CA’s New Melones. Guess that lake has more than giant spots…#iwannago
Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin’. His BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best in bassin’, and is the #2 or #3 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass. Also available as an app:
StrikeKing.com | BassGold.com | Rapala.com
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
