BassBlaster

Shots of the week! Pencil popper comeback? Keith Combs odd line choice

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on September 22, 2017

Today’s Top 3

Photogenic melons o’ the week!

Just shots I dug:

Looks like your average DD fish shot…BUT this Lake Somerville, TX slab o’ buttah was caught next to a RESTROOM hahaha! Water is way up (hope everyone okay?). Caught on an Xcite XB-1 squarebill (TN shad) — nice fish dude!

AJ Slegona bag from the 1K Islands BFL, interestingly all caught outta the river — on a YUM Kill Shot and 4″ YUM Tube. Dang I’d love to catch 5 smalls that big one day (Mercer, where’s my invite man!):

Lookit those fat smallmouths needing extra 02 like these guys after a couple plays:

Hahaha! Moving on: Gonna ask Josh the next time I see him how the heck you can hold up 5 fish at once: #fingerpushups

Next one reminds me of a shot from the Amazon or something. Capt. Ricky LaPoint got his dude — at a WI lake that can’t be named (not Voldemort) — 3 over 5 on a Keitech 3.3 Fat (smallmouth magic):

Was curious about that color, here ’tis:

Pretty sure this bass wanted that SPRO Poppin’ Frowg…and very sure that bass-head has nerves of steel:

Spinbaits coming up, pencil poppers too?

We’ve seen spinbait/spybaits more this year for smallies in Elites and Costas, but also been seeing more pencil-popper baits — like the Ima Little Stik that was all over the FLW Cup, the Lucky Craft Gunfish, the Duo Realis Pencil Popper and the Evergreen SB…all of course based on the old Cotton Cordell Pencil Popper — here they all are, top to bottom:

In tourneys, guys only seem to pull out these baits when they’re at a herring lake — like the FLW Cup and in 2008 when the Elites were at Clarks Hill (they all fished the Cotton Cordell then). BUT been seeing more random bass-head posts with these baits tied on, so smellin’ a revival or whatever of these baits because:

> Can’t believe they only work on herring lakes. (No herring lakes in Japan I believe?)

> These are big-fish baits so maybe it’ll take the bank crowd to get these going.

Former FLWer and Opens angler (and guide) Michael Murphy knows a ton about baits from Japan and told me:

> “When it’s slick flat with a little bit of ripple, I like a Fluke-style soft jerkbait. As the wind picks up I like an Ima Skimmer [walking-type bait]. When there’s more wind, then I like the Little Stik.”

Btw this vid has a bass-head lovin’ the ergonomic reel seat on the Favorite Summit rod — and he has a pencil popper tied on.

Back to the spinbait deal: Ott DeFoe’s latest post talks about using spinbaits in the fall…for largemouths. Said he’s tried ’em all and digs the Storm Arashi Spin 08:

> There’s really no bad place to fish one…as long as the water’s reasonably clear. I’ve had success with them on points, offshore breaks, over channels, along riprap and over stump beds. As long as there’s enough open water to keep from snagging all the time….

> I like to cast it as far as I can and then bring it back at a “just right” speed, not too slow and not too fast. You can tell if you have it right by watching your bait. About half the time you should be able to see its back. The other half of the time you should be able to see its belly.

Misc stuff from the AOY derby.

Do we even know this was Brandon Palaniuk? Literally impossible to tell:

If it was him, looks like he has more real estate in electronics than I have in a home:

He wearing thigh pads? Nope, 1 pocket has his soft-plastics soaked in Gulp!, and the other has Vienna weenies soaked in Tabasco — better not mix ’em up man!

Here’s why Feider won it last year. Check this shot — he had one of those Stargate aliens inside him man! Found that pic on Bassin’master.com….

Did you know Feider’s ultra-famous in his home country of, uh…Minnesota? Think the people there are Latvian or something:

Is it just me or does Cliff Pirch look horror-movie scary in this shot?? #It

Here he demonstrates the most difficult way to fight a fish — 10 points for Cliffindor!

Everyone knows smallies love chartreuse, but only Ott knows they love chartreuse GLOVES too (dorado-color Buffs):

Cliff Pace is smiling! Seriously…it’s there:

Dave Lefebre does tai chi with bass — pretty sure he’s gonna have a workout video on it soon. Dave, can I be in it?

Ike was a real man for a little bit, but then went back to his wimp-stick roots…which I understand cuz I also grew up in NJ. Ike, resist the wimp side of the force:

Swindle of course was a real man too, so much so that the female smallies were jumpin’ outta the water to git in his boat. He was all, “Look, I’ll take you for a boat ride but then it’s over” lol:

These guys really do cheer each other on — sometimes. Check these guys (others Elites were too) bringin’ the stoke for BP’s AOY win. Those people in the BMP Ts were just hired for the event…lol:

Also lovin’ this shot:

Alan “Guck” McGuckin was using BP’s trophy as a Stanley-like Cup, apparently with BP’s permission.

Only drinkin’ soda so nothing too nutty, but I guess it was too much sugar cuz one of ’em — not saying who — got in a fight with this dude in the rest room:

Was ugly….

Hahaha! Yep, you might’ve guessed this is what I do to entertain myself scrolling through the 10 zillion shots of every B.A.S.S. event. Pretty sure I git ’em most of their web traffic…. Bowman I am paying your salary man!

News

1. TX: Reminder LakeForkGuy benefit derby Saturday.

Rayburn.2. Cool Christie post on losing AOY.

3. Faircloth don’t dance.

But he does like crackers, dogs and sharks. Think that’s the longest I’ve seen Todd smile, man, and it was good to see….

4. FLWer Shin Fukae only wears blue shorts…

…on tourney days. Gotta ask him why.

5. What up with Matty Lee kissing his cranks?

Don’t know if it’s superstition or a nervous tic or what? Either way guess it’s been a-workin’ for him lately:

Shoot, it’s a little weird but guess if it works I’ll try it…when no one’s around…. Wait — did someone say “kiss?” Check these fans:

6. MN: Walleye? What walleye?

The MN DNR has made a mess out of walleye at what has been the state’s biggest walleye lake: Mille Lacs. The lake’s still chock full o’ the uglies, and just like last year, the AOY derby Elites couldn’t keep the dang walleye-fishes off their lines.

You didn’t hear much about that cuz apparently the Elitists were told that the DNR didn’t want them to mention walleyes on stage. Huh. Not saying the MN DNR’s paranoid, but check the security cams outside their building:

lol — this also may be one reason they didn’t want any mentions:

What a dang ugly fish. That ain’t gonna help tourism any…lol

7. MLFers trying to get discovered on Discovery.

Gotta hand it to ’em, they’re going after their goals like this kid:

MLFers, please chew properly. Deets:

> MLF will air 2-hour episodes of 2017 Summit Cup and Challenge Cup events on Discovery for 13 weeks beginning on Saturday, Sept 30, airing 7-9 am EST/PST, and 6-8 am CMT/MST.

Cool but this makes me a little nervous — from a Discovery person:

> “Major League Fishing will be a great fit for the network as they focus not just on the event itself but importance of conservation.”

Ruh-roh.

8. DU tribute to Wade Bourne airing this week.

Wade was a Bassmaster senior writer, also a huge duck guy. So it’s a duck tribute but Wade had so many friends in the bass biz I need to include this, and will watch it.

9. Look at how stoked Brian Latimer is about 3rd place.

That’s a fer-sher bass-head yo! That was at the Douglas Lake Open. Here’s my favorite shot from it — Brian with his little dude. One of my fave shots of the year:

10. WA trying to simplify fishing regs.

Friggin’ great and I hope more states do it, including on the hunting side:

> “For years, we’ve heard from people about how our regulations are complex — even for some of the most seasoned anglers — and act as a barrier to people trying to take up the sport. So we’ve been developing a set of regulations that will be easier for all anglers to understand.”

11. TX: 2 guys DQ themselves.

Gave up a potential $5K payday. Props:

> They brought a sack full of Palestine studs and loaded them on the scales. …watched the scale weight continue to rise and stop at 19.25 lbs which was good enough for 1st place…. The gentlemen asked for the microphone to announce they were withdrawing from the tournament. They told the story of having a great day on the water but noticed towards the end that they had cast beyond their official last cast timeframe.

12. TN: Small fire at Phoenix boats plant.

Sounds like all okay = good. Heard Gary Clouse was shooting bottle rockets at problem squirrels, but could not confirm it.

Just kidding…tho I could see Gary doing that…hahaha Gary!

13. This bait’s getting some buzz.

Greenfish Tackle Ploppin Toad Toter:

Looks like (I haven’t fished it yet) a Plopper-type blade in front of a Horny Toad/buzz frog-type bait. Word is it casts way farther than a buzzbait with a Toad and is a new look for the fishes. Comes in different color combos too….

14. Trey Kistler working on another new type of rod.

Love how he’s always after what’s next. Don’t know anything about what he’s working on, but will make it my biz to snoop around….

15. Simms hires former FLW marketer for bass market.

Patterson Leeth, recently replaced at FLW by Kelly Oettinger.

16. Costa has new marketing honcho.

Can’t tell if the dude fishes but he went to West Point = cool.

17. Buck Knives promotes two in sales.

18. Big west Canadian hunt/fish retailer going out of biz.

Looks like, and people think, everything is going online but I’m not so sure. Believe the retailers who have been slow to adopt new ways of doing things are going under, not all. My 2c.

19. Nestle paying peanuts to extract millions of gallons of water.

For bottled water. Like a couple hundred bucks per year in some states for all the water they can extract, including in CA?! WTHeck???

20. How is the Lions OC not a bass-head??

Maybe he is? Check that name — got bassin’ wrote all over it mang!

Doh!

More ‘n a few of you pointed out BP’s worst finish this year on the Elites was a 105th at Okeechobee. Missed it, thanks bass-heads!

Giveaway: Gitcha Alpha Angler rods!!!

In congratulationness (for-real word!) of Brandon Palaniuk winning Angler of the Year, Alpha Angler is giving away THREE dang rods worth like 700 bones!!!

> Alpha Angler Slasher rod — Jerkbait/Topwater

> Alpha Angler Mag-Rebound rod — Deep S2-Glass Cranking

> Alpha Angler TAC-Mag rod — Finesse Power Spinning

Pretty insane! Link to contest is on the BB Facebook here.

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You’re a bass-head ain’t ya?? Just click the YT logo to get there and make sure you sign up! Same as here: No junk, just beef. Other YouTube bassin’ channels be like:

Tip of the Day

Keith Comb’s odd (?) line choice at Mille Lacs.

Real innerestin’. He could’ve — and some would say should’ve — used braid with a fluoro leader, or with zebra mussels a concern used Seaguar AbrazX fluoro. But he used Seaguar InvizX fluoro instead:

> “One of the things that was necessary was to make a very, very long cast. InvizX is the same type of line I’d crank with…castability. AbrazX is a little-stiffer line…it’s good but I’d rather use InvizX.

> “I could have used braid with fluoro, but I don’t use braid unless I have to. Only time [he uses it is] frogging, throwing a topwater, or flipping big mats or real thick wood. Especially with a heavy setup, I feel like I land more fish with fluoro. Just personal preference.

> “At the end of those really long casts, if one ate it way out there I didn’t really feel a bite. Just a heavy, mushy feeling. I’d increase my reeling speed and just pull.

> “Almost every smallmouth had the whole jig in their mouth…the fish had it for a while before I set the hook. It was almost a little embarrassing, but they weren’t going to let it go so it didn’t hurt to delay my reaction. With braid I’d have probably wanted to jerk a lot sooner.

> “Sensitivity [from braid] is good because it keeps you on your toes, but at the same time you have to be 100% concentrated on making sure you don’t set the hook too soon.”

A-HA! Setting the hook to soon = yep. Done that more times than I can remember. Quick story: I actually switched away from braid for deep saltwater fishing because I caught fewer fish than with mono. But I caught few fish to begin with…lol

Quote of the Day

The last thing I want to do is limp into a Classic.

– Interesting perspective from Johnny Crews. We usually hear guys would sell their dogs and give up meat for a year just to squeeze into a Classic. I like where Crews is coming from on this one.

You might ask: But what if he sprains his ankle? All a bass-head needs is some ice pops and duct tape:

Shot of the Day

Think I need these shades:

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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.

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