BassBlaster

Obese lake record largie, Too many places to fish, More Elite baits

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on February 20, 2018

Today’s Top 3

Check this inSANEly FAT buttah-licious melon howg!

Not the time o’ the week for the melons of the week but this thing is soooooo fat just had to roll with it:

Weighed 13 even. @b_t_3 caught it on a Santone M-Series Flipping Jig (bama craw) with a Strike King Rage Craw.

New lake record for Tradinghouse Creek Rez, TX, a body of water I’d never heard of til we ran a near-DD from there a couple weeks ago. Y’all locals might wanna head on down there….

‘Smallmouth are stupid.’

That’s the headline on a recent post by Seth “I see a white Dewy light” Feider. Few things popped up when I read it:

1. Anyone who’s fished for smallmouths knows that.

2. Smallies see ANY bait and are like:

3. Seth my man, since you’re so good at catching smallmouths and us anglers need to think like a fish to catch ’em, does that mean that you can be…like them, so…. HAHAHA Feider!

More Martin Elite baits.

Just because there’s always something to learn — and…bass-heads love ’em some BAITS!

4th: Jared “I really am that scary” Lintner

> Main baits: Jackall TN60 lipless crank (spawn tiger), original Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap (delta craw), original Storm Wiggle Wart (custom paint). Covered water, 1-6′.

> For spotted bass: Fished out to 20′ with 3.8 Jackall Rhythm Wave swimbait (albino shad) and 3.3 Keitech Swing Impact FAT (1/4-oz round-ball jighead).

5th: Luke “I am not your father” Clausen

> Z-Man Fattyz worm (gp) on 1/4-oz Z-Man Shakey Headz. Unnamed stickbait (gp and shad colors) wacky-rigged with 1/0 Owner Weedless Wacky Hook, 3/32-oz nail weight in the head.

> “Fished offshore ridges and humps in the lower end of the lake in 25-50′. Threw the stickbait when casting, and the Shakey Head more when dropping on fish and fishing brush piles.

> “Used a 7′ 1″ M Phenix Feather Rod for the wacky bait, 7′ 1″ H with the shakey head. Both with 10-lb Yo-Zuri Super Braid, 8-lb Yo-Zuri Top Knot Fluoro on the wacky and 10-lb Top Knot Fluoro on the shakey.

6th: Justin “I’m bahk” Lucas

Same baits as at last year’s Smith Open where he also did well:

> Berkley Maxscent The General (gp) on a 1/4-oz shakey head, 8-lb Fireline Ultra 8 to 8-lb Trilene 100% Fluoro leader, 7′ MH Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier spinning rod with a Revo reel.

> “Main lake points, 30-50′. I had to find new points every day since they were moving so much. Even though they were focused on eating bait, it just goes to prove how much spotted bass love a plastic worm. There’s nothing better for them.”

7th: Andy “don’t call me skippy” Montgomery

> Strike King KVD 1.5 (BPS-exclusive rattling version, natural red craw) on 10-lb fluoro with a Daiwa Steez Reel (6:3) and 7′ Daiwa Tatula Elite Howell cranking rod.

> “I cranked the 1.5 around rocks, trees and ramps. I really like the rattles in cold water.”

> 1/2-oz homemade (he really made it) bladed jig (chart/white) with a Strike King Swim N Shiner (pearl). 20-lb fluoro, Daiwa Tatula Reel (6.3), 7′ 3″ Daiwa Tatula Elite Brent Ehrler rod.

> 1/2-oz Strike King Tour Grade Skipping Jig (custom brown/orange rubber skirt), pork-style trailer (gp). “I replaced the skirt with a rubber skirt because of the cold water.” Daiwa Tatula Reel 8:1 and Daiwa Tatula Elite Andy Montgomery Skipping rod.

> Chatterbait and skipping jig fished around boat docks.

8th: Mark “that brushpile” Menendez

> Day 1: 3/8-oz Strike King Jig with Rage Craw (both b/b). Fished on 7′ 6″ Magnum Heavy Cover Lew’s Custom Speed Stick, Lew’s Magnesium Reel (7.5), 20-lb Seaguar AbrazX Fluoro.

> Day 2: Strike King Series 3 crank (bleeding chart/brown — discontinued color).

> Day 3: Series 3 in (bleeding chart and orange craw — also discontinued), Strike King 1.5 crank (chili craw). Got the day’s big bass (4-05) on a 1/2-oz homemade spinnerbait: cantaloupe/red with copper Colorado blades.

> Day 4: Same 3 cranks — fished on, 6′ 6″ Lew’s David Fritts Rod, Lew’s BB1 (5.1), 12-lb Seaguar InvizX. Spools only filled 3/4 full to make baits go slower in cold water.

> Spinnerbait fished on a 7′ 3″ Lew’s Custom Speed Stick, Team Lew’s Lite Reel (6.8), 17-lb Seaguar InvizX.

News

1. Looks like Palaniuk’s doing some plane scouting.

2. Swindle’s new look for the Classic.

Lookin’ so young and innocent so don’t know if that’s botox or what:

3. Russ Lane is making a bass-fishing karate movie.

Looks like it’s going pretty well:

Believe the working title is “Basses of Fury.” Guessing the Lees will be cast in it — “cast” in it heehee….

4. MLFers launch new app.

Enables your phone to tell the time.

Okay not really….

5. Lowrance exclusive FLW ‘lectronics sponsor.

6. CA: City-boy rep proposes ban on lead weights.

> …a Democrat from the Bay Area whose district has almost no freshwater fishing…Assemblyman Bill Quirk…is doing somebody’s bidding with a bill that would outlaw many lead fishing weights.

Also says: “CA has seen the number of licensed anglers fall by half since 1984, from more than 2 mil to barely 1 mil who purchase annual licenses.”

Dang.

7. TX: Lower-bar ShareLunker program getting more entries.

> Through the 3rd week of Feb, TX anglers have entered almost 50 largemouth bass between 8 and almost 13 lbs…. Those fish have come from 24 bodies of water…. Lake Conroe…leads the pack with 9 entries, including a 12.65-lber.

8. TX: Zebras found in Lady Bird.

Also Lake Austin “upgraded” to “infested.”

9. OK: Fish-handling workshop Saturday.

> …free fish-handling workshop Feb 24 at 10am at the GRDA Ecosystems and Education Center in Langley.

B.A.S.S. conservation director Gene Gilliland will be there talkin’ “fish handling in boats, at tournament weigh-ins and proper ways to fizz a fish.”

Asked Swindle how to fizz a fish and he sent me this:

[chin-scratch emoji]

10. College champeenship registration open.

11. Check out who was at Vexus Boats.

I keep hitting their Facebook page to see a pic of a boat, but found this instead:

Comment from Vexus in that post:

> …among the first models we’ll be showing at the Classic will be high-performance aluminum. Very different and certainly unlike any aluminum on the market. Glass is very much in the works but will be a little later on due to the involved nature of all we’re doing there.

Dang can’t wait to see ’em….

12. Merc partners with wireless company.

> …partnership with FELL Marine, a leader in marine wireless technology, to co-develop Mercury-exclusive wireless and IOT connected products that will seamlessly integrate with Mercury’s SmartCraft suite of digital technology….

Not sure if that’s Spot-Lock-related or just for salty boats.

13. New derby side pot deal.

Word is some bass-heads behind it, I don’t know anything more than that.

14. Kidde has a big fire extinguisher recall.

In case you have one in your boat. Thanks for the heads up from a guy at the TexasFishinForum.

15. Big Rock has a new mobile ordering app.

For retailers only.

16. Looks like Tackle Warehouse got some new stuff in!!!

Tip of the Day

Do you have too many options?

If you fish the same lakes over and over, gonna say your answer’s yes. Check what Bobby Lane said in a post on how he won the Kissimmee Open:

> …you can’t get in a hurry just because you aren’t getting a bite or catching what you think you should. That’s the mistake many of the guys fishing the Open made. If they didn’t get a bite right away they moved to a new spot. As a result they struggled to catch 10 lbs.

> I was fishing so slow that it was painful. But, the thing was I only had 3 good big-bass spots so why get in a hurry. It’s not like I had a dozen other options.

> The real thing was to let the fish come to me. I knew I was in good areas so I just kept throwing and picking apart everything that was available to me. …I think it’s more likely that they were moving in, out and around.

Let the fish come to me? That works?? Dang, Bobby why didn’t anyone tell me this before? I mean, if that works my whole bassin’ life just changed man! Not sure if that’s more mind-blowin’ today or this:

Bobby’s winning baits and pattern here on the BassBlaster.rocks site.

Quote of the Day

“The basics of fishing are all the same. It’s a hook on something they want to eat along with a rod and reel.”

– That, ladies and gents, is a quote from Mike and Ike and Ellie on the Bassin’masters.com website. Now, I ain’t no Elitist but I’m thinkin’ that’s either awesome cuz peeps have forgotten it somehow or maybe we should be somewhat concerned? About something here?

Shot of the Day

@willduncanfishing figgered a pretty good way to make two small spotted bass look interesting:

Ya got me

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of the best, worst and funniest in bassin’, as curated by me — Jay Kumar. I started BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a bunch more in bassin’. The Blaster is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass so thanks for readin’!

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