BassBlaster

40 lb tourney limit!! All American baits, You s’more how you fish?

Today’s Top 4

WTHeck???!!!!! 40.28-lb TOURNEY limit!!!!!!

Clayton Boulware and Albert Collins probly questioned the nature of reality on the way to the day 1 weighin at the TX Team Trail Championship on Rayburn this weekend…cuz what bass-heads would EVER think they could have a limit of 5 fish over 40 lbs??

Their obscenely melon-filled 40.28 got them a long ways to their winning weight of 64.09! 2nd was almost 8 lbs back and 3rd was almost 9 lbs in back of 2nd. At Rayburn, each of those margins is just 1 fish though.

Al talkin’:

> “Why we caught the 40 lbs on day 1, I don’t have a clue! I don’t know why those fish were there. I mean, we catch good fish off that stuff once in a while, but not like that.

> “It was just a specific depth and you had to have a drop with hard bottom. These fish were post-spawners moving into a summer pattern. They’re in transition and they’re in those little in-between spots right now.”

Fished a 12″ Mister Twister Mag Buzz Worm, a 10.5″ Mister Twister Hang 10 Worm and an 8″ Big Bite Baits Kriet Tail Worm (darker colors in the morning, then brighter colors like cranapple). TX-rigged with 5/0 Owner worm hooks and 1/2-oz Elite Tungsten weights, 7′ 3″ Kistler KLX Stump Grinder Rods, Lew’s BB1 Pro Reels (7.5 and 8.3), 22-lb Sunline fluoro (exact one not mentioned) and 25-lb Hi-Seas fluoro.

Said they occasionally used a 6th Sense Cloud 9 crank (didn’t say which one) to fire up the fish, but all their weight came on the worms.

Quick footnote: Rayburn hammer Phil Marks did fish the tourney and finished 12th. The TPWD is looking into whether it’s legal for Phil to finish so low in a Rayburn tourney…lol. That tourney was FULL of hammers mang!

Quick tour of Sabine Elite practice.

L to R clockwise:

> Alton Jr found himself a “secret” spot. Vid is hilarious.

> Not sure if Boom Boom has a digestive issue or is dragging his bass tub through some mud to find some secret fishes. Either way he looks cool with it.

> David Walker met a Lone Star Law dude, but the best part of this shot is the immaculately-timed photobomb by Brent Ehrler.

> No one else at the ramp, so…maybe Randy Howell picked the wrong area of the river to fish?

Top baits from the BFL All-American.

Always loved this tournament — has always felt like the triple-A championship that any “everyday Joe” could win. Kinda like an amateurs-only Classic.

This one happened on Cross Lake, LA, and was won by local Nick LeBrun by 2-03 (over his bud Randy Deaver) with 62-08. Huge props to him — FLW says he wants to launch into a pro feeshn career so hope it happens for him.

His main bait was a 6th Sense Movement 80X (bluegill spawn):

> “I picked that particular bait because it doesn’t seem to hang up as much, and when it hits a base or knee, it creates a hard deflection.”

Fished it with a 7′ MH Fitzgerald Bryan Thrift Cranking Rod, Quantum Smoke S3 Reel (6.1) with 17-lb Bass Pro Shops XPS fluoro.

Nick also fished the same bait in “wild lava craw,” flipped trees and duck blinds with a 1/2-oz V&M Pacemaker Flippin Jig with a V&M Flat Wild (both blue shadow), and used a SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog on day 2.

Here’s what the full top 10 fished:

Frog = 40% — ALL were SPRO Poppin’ Frogs, all different colors. Here’s Tyler Morgan (5th) with his in rainforest black and some awesome chin fur:

Other topwater = 30%Strike King Sexy Dawg, Picasso Buzzbait, Whopper Plopper.

Jig = 30% — 1st and 2nd, the two locals, fished the Pacemaker in that same blue shadow color.

Stickworm = 30%

20% each = Crankbait, Swim-jig, Spinnerbait, Flip plastic, Shakey head.

10% = Vibrating jig

More:

> How ’bout 4 guys from GA in the top 10? What up GA bass-heads!

> Day 1 Nick killed ’em. Day 2 he stumbled. The last day: “…the random music playing from the loud speakers cued up Alan Jackson’s ‘Small Town Southern Man.’ At that moment, LeBrun felt a calming presence come over him. ‘That’s the song my family remembers my dad with. When they played that song this morning, I felt my dad step into the boat with me. It’s something that’s just hard to explain.'”

Too cool, man.

How do YOU make s’mores?

Here’s how KVD does it, from Zona. This DEFINITELY reflects who Kevin is as a fisherman so…how do you make ’em?

> …making s’mores at a bonfire. To me, it’s graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate and fire. Cram everything together, stick it near flame and bingo, it’s done, right?

> Not so with Kevin. He knows the best crackers, the best marshmallows, the best chocolate, the best order to put them in and, God’s honest truth, the exact spot in the fire that will produce s’mores that are not just brown, but brown and crispy.

Hate to admit it after reading that, but I usually just let my kids make ’em and give ’em to me — wonder what that says about my fishing…?

Also kinda want to try one of these at some point, a s’more burger. Z, if I get to your place this summer we are making these man:

News

1. TN: We lost a bass-head in the line of duty.

Sgt. Daniel Baker of the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office, and a Marine who served in Iraq, was shot and passed on last week. He was a member of the Dickson County Bass Club and left a wife and daughter behind. Dang it.

Bless you bassin’ brother.

2. MI: Kayak bassin’ mom passes on.

> Her family added that she “passed away doing what she loved, fishing for smallmouth bass on her beloved Huron River.”

> Police say she was not wearing a life jacket.

GoFundMe for the family is here. Bless you bassin’ sister.

3. Mike Iaconelli will fish the Sabine.

Remember it’s a rescheduled tourney that conflicted with a new TV show shoot he had scheduled so he wasn’t gonna fish it, but guess that’s all worked out now. Good for Ike because he’s good at catching small fish on tidal rivers…. #Delaware

Btw Ike wrote a post on the Bassin’masters called “Dealing with pressure.” Thought it was gonna be about him yelling and kicking stuff, but it’s about fishing for pressured fish…. (Hahaha Ike!)

4. Bassin’Festivus champeen Drew Benton on BassEdge Radio.

5. donny barone talks Mark Davis’ hip replacement.

Dang, sounds like that hurts — before the replacement.

6. Kriet and Watson on StrayCasts tomorrow night.

The boyz from too far up north have another wing dinger worked up for tomorrow night with Jeff “don’t wear red undies” Kriet and FLWer James “all too real” Watson. Check it at 7pm Central on Facebook Stray Casts and StrayCasts.net.

7. TX biologist thinks Sabine will fish better this year.

Relatively speaking….

8. AL: Gville fishing better than it has in years?

Hope so…better keep the Asian carp out….

9. WY state record largie was kept…

…in a garbage bag in the back of a truck during dinner and then in a bathrub filled with water overnight before being officially weighed. Don’t get mad cuz WY for sure isn’t used to weighing big bass like in CA or TX, but bet that thing lost at least 1 lb.

10. PA: LMBV killed Susquehanna smallmouths but….

LMBV = largemouth bass virus, which I guess they’ll have to rename. Question is, how did the smallies get stressed enough to become susceptible to it:

> …the Fish and Boat Commission still worries what role high levels of nutrients running off farm fields may have on water conditions and stressing fish.

> Moreover, bass with sex organs of both males and females continue to turn up with no defined cause found.

> “In the course of this investigation, we’ve uncovered a lot of other not-so-nice things in the Susquehanna that need to be cleaned up.”

11. LA/TX: Are bass eating a bunch of white crappie on Caddo?

> …the numbers [of white crappie/perch] were not what they usually are this year.

> …fishermen who have fished Caddo all their lives are seeing that they have never seen before and I have never seen or heard of before. …they pull up to a tree, pole fishing 2-3′ deep on shiners or jigs, and catch a medium-sized white perch [crappie] — and before they can pick the perch up out of the water, a black bass hits the perch.

12. AR: DNR public meeting about Ouachita on THURS.

In Hot Springs.

13. MO: Charity derby on Bull Shoals SATURDAY.

Benefits the MO Special Olympics.

14. TX: Full moon bite is on at Travis?

Sounds like it…but maybe get the BassForecast app and see what it says….

15. IN DNR gives grants to fight invasive veggies.

16. Canada wants peeps to use less lead.

Canada’s got their eye on us man:

17. TN: Bethel U wins SOY.

Cabela’s School of the Year, props:

> Coach Garry Mason: “The Lord has blessed us. We’ve been able to recruit…some really great student-anglers. These guys work hard all year long. Not just when they’re on the water…. It’s just a blessing to get to come to these tournaments and do well.”

18. GA: Bro-sis team competing in FLW HS champeenship.

#stout A little jealous of the parents cuz my two are like:

Hate to say it, but in that way they take after me…a little….

19. KS: HS kid started his own soft-plastics company.

This quote says it all:

> “I have always had a love for fishing and the outdoors, and started really getting into fishing after our school added a bass-fishing team.”

Gitcha a HS team folks!

Line of the Day

It’s as if a little pixie wearing a fishing vest goes around sprinkling magical dust on our favorite bass spots….

– Dude talkin’ ’bout a former acid trip spring feeshn in ID. Wonder if one Brandon Palaniuk has access to these pixies…or maybe IS a pixie…or maybe is like:

Tip of the Day

Mark Davis: Post-spawn big wormin’.

> “…mostly I look for big flat points that gently slope from the spawning areas out into the main lake — those are the best post-spawn transition areas to throw a big worm.”

> He then searches the point with his electronics…in search of cover…stumps, rocks, shells or grass….

> Davis said that the most important consideration when throwing a big worm is rate of fall. …he adjusts the size of the sinker he is throwing based on the temperature of the water. “The cooler the water is, the slower I want it to fall. The warmer the water, the more active the bass will be, so I want it to fall faster…I adjust my sinker size accordingly.”

> He bases his hook choice on water depth. For water as deep as 15′, Davis uses a 5/0 to 6/0 EWG Superline hook…in deeper water, he turns to a thinner diameter offset shank, round bend…”in deeper water…I want a hook that penetrates with less force.”

> “If there’s thick grass or a lot of deep brush…I’ll choose a ribbontailed worm like the Strike King Rage Tail Anaconda. But if the cover’s not so thick, I use the Rage Tail Thumper Worm because it has a little more subtle action.”

> …when the bass are really aggressive immediately after the spawn, he prefers plum and red bug worms. “The brighter colors in that period really seem to trigger an aggressive response.”

> “I usually catch most of my fish by just dragging the lure along the bottom, and shaking it as I come into contact with a piece of structure or cover,” he said. “If the fish don’t respond to that, then I will start hopping the worm and letting it fall back down on a semi-slack line — strikes occur on the fall.”

Read more on AdvancedAngler.com.

Quote of the Day

“I’m trying to catch that bass. That thing was huge!”

– Georgia QB Jake Fromm provin’ he is fer sher a bass-head since he was talkin’ ’bout fishin’ for the fish that went after the Whopper Plopper that was then stuck in his calf muscle:

Find it hilarious and weird that this minor incident got so much nationwide media attention, but whatever. Jake:

> “The story would have been a whole lot better if I had caught the fish.”

Yep, a bass-head.

Shot of the Day

Cool @vm_fishing shot, ‘specially if yer a yakker. But…looks a little complicated to me. I’m all about standing up on carpet lol:

Ya got me

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