BassBlaster

Lipping big fish ok, Move to find cold front fish, Elite bunny nightmares

Today’s Top 5

Update from mega melon land.

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).

Just lip a fish and don’t worry about it.

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.

I’m not sure if Shaw Grigsby is an organ donor, but if he is, I want his eyes.

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.

You eaten up with bassin’?

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….

Elite Easter bunny nightmares.

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.

News

1. Practice non-hooksets hurting Chris Lane?

> I don’t think my hooksets are right. I’m out of position. It seems like I’m making my own problems by not driving the hook home quickly enough or hard enough.

> That might be caused by too much practice time shaking fish off. I think what’s been happening is that I’ve gotten into the habit of not setting the hook. In practice I want the fish to get off. That’s the idea. But if that gets to be a habit…

Reminds me a little of not allowing kids in sports to score when they’re leading by a bunch. Bad habits, man. Every kid should get a beat-down or 10….

2. Skeet charity tix still available.

3. Gary Klein on Stray Casts tomorrow.

4. Elite rookie Jamie Hartman on BassEdge Radio.

5. Robison charity derby story and shots.

Full story on the Brian Robison K9s4cops.com deal is here, pic gallery with famous bass-heads and football dudes here (click the pic):

6. TN: Chick fishing hot.

This week’s Open should be killer?

7. B.A.S.S. gets Advance Auto parts.

8. AR: FLW needs co-anglers for Beaver Tour event.

Gitcha finesse on.

9. PA considering spawn fishing…

…on lower Susquehanna because they can’t enforce the current rule. If so,m I like the logic.

10. WI: Two bassers rescued on Altoona.

11. IA spawning temps.

> Smallmouth bass spawn at between 60-65 degrees, and largemouth bass spawn at 63-67 degrees. Panfish such as bluegills spawn at about 70 degrees.

12. IL: Great post about HS All-American basser.

Smart kid too:

> “…wanting to be a professional bass fisherman, my career goal is to become a radiologist.”

13. South Africa: 40+ boats per tourney…

…makes the biggest trail in the country? Hear that Chad Potts of Bass Champs?? You could be a king there man! Made you a logo, just pay me later:

14. BPS buying Cabale’s for $500 mil less.

Chump change to Johnny Morris mang….

15. Tackle Warehouse tax sale ends TODAY!

This evening I believe:

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.

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….

Shot of the Day

Doin’ the bassin’ whip/nae-nae with the A-rig:

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!

If you’re getting this by email and want to comment on anything in this BB issue (you know you do!), just click here to go to BassBlaster.rocks where all past issues are archived.

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.

Click here to see all the ways to get the BassBlaster, including by text!

See the shweet new BassBlaster apparel right here!

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Gitcha Bassin' Fix

To Top