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Update from mega melon land.
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Rumor outta the land of AZ that a 25+ was caught…interwebz waaaaay too quiet for a fish that size, but you never know. In the meantime, here’s ya some obese melon eye candy — 16.75 lbs of FL pond bass caught by Dominic Montalto last month:
Looks like it just swollered a possum! Funny quote:
> “When I first saw the fish, I thought it was a log with a volleyball under it — until it moved. Once I realized it was a big bass, I started targeting it and just kept trying until it took the bait.”
That bait was a BPS XPS Z9R Perch Swimbait (bluegill).
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Just lip a fish and don’t worry about it.
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Have you run into the interwebz fish-hold po-po? The “support that fish by its belly or you’ll break its jaw” folks? (Maybe you’re part of that scene….) My 2c: They’re dang fish! And they look better in pics held up vertically. So hold up your fish, then dump ’em back in, then sleep guilt-free and ignore the #haters.
But hey, that’s just one idjit’s opinion so was glad to see this, from a recent science-type study:
> Holding fish in a tilted grip by the jaw has raised concern among anglers about potential damage to jaw musculature and tendons, as they may not support the fish’s body weight out of water, particularly for trophy bass.
> We conducted an experiment with Florida largemouth bass…to evaluate the relative differences in survival, jaw mechanics, and feeding success after the use of three common handling treatments: (1) a vertical hold using a lip-grip device; (2) a tilted, one-handed grip using only the lower jaw; and (3) two-handed support to the lower jaw and body.
> Results suggested no evidence of handling-specific differences in fish feeding behavior, jaw adjustments and mortality after release.
> However, based on our results, we recommend that anglers use two-handed support to handle Florida largemouth bass, thus minimizing the mean amount of time for an individual fish to regain equilibrium after an angling event.
So the two-handed thing only helps a fish “regain equilibrium,” which is like:
Bass pic-wise, this is okay I guess…
…but this is better (plus I love the hiding behind the fish thing):
Next sason the MLFers’ll probly require padded, water-cooled gloves (eyeroll emoji) — and much as I like what those guys are doing, this treatin’ fish like kittens thing may not be wise. For the rest of us, just grip, grin and drop it in.
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I’m not sure if Shaw Grigsby is an organ donor, but if he is, I want his eyes.
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– Gerald Swindle talkin’, a great — tho a little morbid — line about Shaw’s crazy ability to see bass on beds that most people don’t. Shaw told me his eyesight was changed forever by this book:
Okay not really. Some great sight-feeshn tips in that article btw.
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You eaten up with bassin’?
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Are you so nuts about it you literally can’t get enough? Do you blow off some of the hunting you desperately want to do to fish more? If so, then you just might make it as an Elitist. Here’s what I mean, from Zona’s post about Jordan Lee:
> Whenever I call Jordan, he is on the water and the only thing he wants to talk about is when he can get on the water again. Heck, a couple of days after he won the Bassmaster Classic I called him and he was on Lake Sam Rayburn fishing!
> You can’t trick this game, man. This is not a part-time gig out here. If you try to part-time it in the Elite Series, this group will hunt you down, find the cracks in your game, expose them, eat you up and spit you out.
100% on the screws. And J-Lee is nuts about everything he does like:
E-sports…
…making EXACT replica Star Wars costumes…
…and canine beekeeping:
Heck yeah that’s a real thing! Just ask Jordan, he can’t stop talkin’ ’bout it once you get him started….
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Elite Easter bunny nightmares.
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Sometimes Elite fishermen look like they’re hunted — or haunted…when they’re trying to make it on the Elites, and sometimes when they’ve already made it. Used to think that was competitiveness or having a tough year or something like that. But after seeing some of the childhood easter bunny pics they posted on Facebook, I have a new theory:
Psycho bunnies messed up our fishermen. Believe it.
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Tip of the Day
Bobby Lane: You can catch cold-front bass.
Just gotta find ’em. Bobby says, Cold front = bass move = you move:
> They do go inactive, but that’s only sometimes. The more likely scenario is that they’ve moved and that you haven’t moved far enough to find them. Most anglers don’t move far enough.
> When I’m faced with a spring cold front…I start looking for my bass anywhere from a quarter of a mile to a full mile from where I think they should be or from where they were….
> Too many anglers limit their search to a couple-hundred yards. That’s not even close to enough. Bass swim. If you stop to think about it, you’ll realize they can swim a mile in just a couple of hours. That’s not all that far, or long, to get somewhere more comfortable.
> For the most part I’m looking for any kind of break, irregularity or contour change. Of course, the perfect situation is when I find a deep channel swing or sharp drop alongside a spawning flat that was used or is about to be used.
> That’s the perfect situation, though. It’s more likely that what you’ll find is a small drop somewhere or maybe a ledge that you didn’t see before. Your electronics are critical in this situation. Make sure they’re tuned the way they should be so that you can see every detail underneath your boat.
> Overall my best bait has been a Yo-Zuri jerkbait. I work it slow and then fast until I find what they want. I don’t fish it like it’s winter, though, with long pauses and things like that. I keep it moving even if that’s not very fast.
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Quote of the Day
My boss made the comment that if I decided to fish the Tour, he’d probably have to let me go.
– TBF 2x champ Allen Boyd talkin’ some #reality ’bout taking his TBF champ’s opportunity to fish the FLW Tour. He’s a construction foreman:
> “I might be looking for a job when it’s over, but I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to find another one. I hope it works out where I don’t have to do that.”
Dude looks thrilled to win it and do it:
HAHAHA! Seriously, tho, feel for him. Not easy to go pro.
Makes me wonder: Usually the first year on tour is a big debt year for guys. But if you don’t have to pay entries, wonder how that equation changes….
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Shot of the Day
Doin’ the bassin’ whip/nae-nae with the A-rig:
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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….
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