Okay bassin’ peeps — Weather permittin’, I’m leavin’ for the Classic early Thursday. So…this may be the last Blaster until I get it together sometime on Friday or this weekend, but look for stuff on the Blaster Facebook, Insto-gram, Tweeter and occasionally Bassmaster.com. I’ll be walking around the show, backstage and weigh-in so if you got any burnin’ questions, hit me up and we’ll see what I can do. Have a great week yo!
Almost forgot: Like to welcome Sunline to the Blaster!
Today’s Top 5
Say hello to the Shadow Rap.
It’s a jerkbait! (Actually 2.) Here are some deets, more at ShadowRap.com. The big deal is the action — both the workin’ it action and the killin’ it action. Talked to some folks who have fished it, they say it really is all that. So check it:
Tx all for sharin’ it, here are the weeners of the Shadow Raps:
Josh Ogden (Ogdog)
Davin Grau
Pinky Gibson
Don Harris
Gerrie Stols
Micah Read
Darrick Bos
Anthony Burns
Chang Thoj
Stephen Gossman
Hit me up on Facebook with your mailing addy. Here’s the thing: I’m leaving for the Classic, so if you don’t get me asap, you’re SOL until I get back…and recover….
If you see me at the Classic, I SHOULD have some more Shadow Raps (and a few other goodies). Look for this neon green BassBlaster shirt and gray/neon orange UA cap…
…Stevie Wonder could see me in that. I will run out, so don’t wait too long to find me.
Actually local Ray Hanselman won with 50-14, 5.5 lbs over 2nd (#stout). Had 20 dang rods on his deck but:
> …caught more keepers on a Wahoo Lures Wing Ding Tail Spinner than any other in his boat…. Hanselman cast it out and hopped it back to the boat, ripping it out of the grass any time it snagged.
> …fishing farther down the lake in a series of grass-lined ditches and drains where bass were staging alongside spawning flats.
> [His big fish spot was] located in the back of a canyon [up the Rio Grande], the springs warmed the water in this area up into the low to mid-60s, while most other parts of the lake hadn’t hit 60 degrees. To get there, Hanselman had to “jump rapids” and snake through some narrow waters.
> The springs are just visible due to a slight surface disturbance where they bubble up from the rocks. Hanselman cast a Top Shelf swimbait to big boulders and trees in 2 to 10 feet of water near the springs.
> “It’s great when it’s cold. It’s a small bait and a dang good reaction bait. We don’t get to throw it much when the lake’s at normal pool because there’s too much brush in the water. But at low pool it gets those ‘dead fish’ fired up, and then I can throw a crankbait out there and catch them.”
> Hanselman’s best crankbait was a Bill Norman DD22 in a color that he says resembles a baby carp. Other productive baits were a dropshot and umbrella rig.
Anyone recognize the dude who finished 3rd? Dennis something or other??
> “My deepest fish came from a little more than 30 feet. It seemed like a lot of the good ones were around that depth. My spots were steep — practically cliffs.”
And:
> Denny described as by FLW as “the Missourian who moved to Del Rio a few years ago.” Uh yeah, but that’s like calling Eddie Van Halen “a guy born in Holland who moved to California.” C’mon man!
Check this:
Forget for a sec what they represent…why is the bass on the Classic trophy so small? What up with that?
Either way, they beat the snot outta these tennis trophies:
Classic News
1. How Erhler would fish the Classic.
This is the best FISHING story written on the Classic so far…and not because I wrote it (haha!). Seriously, Brent has finished 1st and 2nd at Hartwell FLWs in March, and would be a favorite to win this one if he was fishing it. So I had to call him. Read it on Bassmaster.com.
2. Swindle fishing for revenge.
Not hard to root for the G-man, even easier after reading this. God bless you bro, and git ‘er done!
3. Wear a PFD…
…if you go out on Hartwell. It’ll be cold, and David Walker may have saved a guy’s life there the other day — a big dude wearing a kid’s PFD.
Wear your snowmobile suit! Check the Classic weather prediction:
I’m confusioned by this ESL line: “There is no entry form or fee that needs to be filed.”
But hopefully this makes more sensification: “All it takes is showing up to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on February 22nd around 3 p.m. ET for your shot at the Berkley PowerBait Cast for Cash.”
News
2. Mustad gets Short and Evers…
…not on the Mustad FB page (doh!).
…which sounds pretty cool.
4. Dennis TJ gets Grosse Savanne Lodge.
5. TN: Chick kicks out a record.
Chickamauga — pronounced “chicken-magwa” (heehee) — is doing it again this spring.
That’s 15.2 lbs of big mamma-jamma ketched by Gabe Keenrig use a Tennessee rig (fewer hooks) made by Dixie Custom Rods rigged with four baitfish-colored Zoom Swimmin Super Fluke Jr.s around the perimeter and one Zoom Super Fluke (white ice).
Ignition Bass derby, 35.23:
Cool. #notsurprised
9. WA: Feb. 28 Berkley-only derby.
10. Gander hires non-angler/hunter as VP.
In marketing. Good luck with that.
Tip of the Day
> “The body shape is like an elongated minnow-style body with flat sides, which allows it to have a pretty tight wobble to it but also allows it to glide really well. It has kind of a flatter bottom to it which gives it really good horizontal movement.
> “It can pretty much spin 180 degrees [on each jerk/pause] if you get the right cadence down – from one side all the way to the other side – it’s crazy! And it might only move 3-4 inches forward. So just allows it to create a lot of side to side movement without leaving the strike zone.”
> “…right when it stops, it has a little shimmy right before it comes to rest. I think that’s a huge key. That little shimmy when it stops triggers a lot of strikes.”
Quote of the Day
My wife doesn’t work, so one of her hobbies is entering sweepstakes.
– Dude who won the Fish wif KVD sweepstakes. More:
> “We are pretty diligent about entering some of the bigger (sweepstakes) as many times as we can per day or whatever the contest allows. She has always been real, real lucky, so I thought why not give it a shot.”
Luck?? Sounds like work to me. Anyhow, it worked. Not only does he get to fish with Kevin:
Shot of the Day
What 20 lbs of Clear Lake, CA largies look like: #dangwishiwuzthere
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:
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