Give ya a warm bass-head welcome to American Baitworks, the folks who own NetBait, BaitFuel, Halo Rods, Snagproof, Scum Frog, Freedom Tackle and maybe more, and sponsors a bunch of pros. They dig the Blaster which means they want to reach YOU. I look forward to learning more about their products. Anyone ever fish a Paca Chunk before? 😁

Also: My pastor stopped by yesterday and I gotta say I was stunned by the car he drove. Just mentioning it to say – maybe check in on your pastor and see if he needs anything.

One more: How 'bout this pic of 2-year-old Boone my daughter took:

50 skinny lbs of Lab! I said in the family group chat, "Wow what a great shot! Also thank you for taking care of our Christmas card for this year." My wife gave that the thumbs down lol.

Alrighty then, let's go!

J-Lee isn't a big talker and is kind of jokester, but let's take a sec to remember that this dude is a winner.

Let's start with – he's won back to back Classics which funnily enough are his only 2 Bassmaster wins. He's won MLF AOY. He's won MLF Bass Pro Tour events under both the catch 'em all and 5-fish formats. He's won stuff I'm forgetting about.

He won the Bassmaster College Bracket deal to get in the 2014 Guntersville Classic, won by Randy Howell of course. Jordan (who finished 6th as a college kid) got on some deal the last day that maybe if he had 1 more day he could've been in the hunt.

He was just following his nose/the fish, an approach that has made him a winner – and many Top 10er – and it's why he's now 2nd in the Elite AOY points. Here's more:

1. What's it like being a rookie again?

> "Man I feel like a rookie in some ways and in some ways I feel like I'm the old guy. Because I'm fishing against guys that are rookies and are 12-15 years younger than me...so I feel like the old rookie."

2. Does it ever come up that you won 2 Classics?

> "I mean yeah. That's probably the only thing that ever comes up.... It's kind of funny – it's like I didn't fish for 5 years. I just retired for 5 years and now I came back...it's just the 2 Classics."

3. Does anyone know that you won the 2018 Classic with baits that are the deal right now – a small swimbait, a jerkbait and a stick worm?

> "It's funny looking back on those tournaments and just seeing how much fishing has changed – using the same baits but just not being able to see the fish. Which is just crazy.

> "I don't think the guys coming in that grew up with this technology really understand how good the fishing was and how you needed to visualize everything. ...visualize what your bait is doing, what your jerkbait's doing down there.

> "I won that tournament and didn't know how deep my jerkbait was diving. I thought it was 7-8' but you never really knew. Now you can tell to the inch how deep it's going.

> "...just the visualizing of it is something I really do miss."

4. Your worst finish this season has been 15th. You feeling it?

> "Man I am. I'm feeling it – it's crazy. There's been days where I literally just take a big gamble and just go somewhere I've never been. ...that can work out good for you or it can work out bad for you. I don't know how many guys do that in tournaments.

> "...literally going to run to an area I've never seen before in my life, or...didn't practice there, and I go there and just start catching good ones. That's happened to me twice this year.

> "Those 2 days really helped me but it really has been a great start to the year. There's still lots of fishing left but I'm definitely making some good choices out there."

[He said after our call that he also doesn't mind failing, meaning bombing in a tournament, from taking risks.]

5. What's been your best bait or technique so far?

> "It's been all over the place. The first tournament was a Damiki-style rig and the hover stroll, the 2nd tournament was a Berkley Stunna [jerkbait], the 3rd tournament at the Harris Chain was a Carolina rig [with a Berkley Kingtail Worm], and the last tournament was a swim-jig and a MaxScent General.

> "The first 2 were FFS ActiveTarget fishing...then the last 2 were not. It's been kind of a mix and I expect every tournament to be something kinda different."

Bonus Q: Chris and Cory Johnston are 3rd and 5th in the points – you getting any threatening looks from them? 😁

> "I don't know about threatening looks...I don't feel like I'm gonna get beat up out there or anything.

> "...guys start to look at the points about this time of year [but] I know it doesn't really matter this time of year. You've gotta be super consistent.

> "I know those guys are going to be strong up north. I know my best chance...the X factor will be Wheeler and Smith, if I can catch some fish there. I know up north I'm not gonna have any kind of advantage...I'm not maybe the best with Scope as some other guys. I can still use it but I don't feel like I'm at the top of the food chain when it comes to that.

> "There's still lots of fishing...those guys are incredible...but I'm definitely fishing good right now and I like my decision-making. That's really the main deal for me."

Can't remember how long ago I mentioned that in the Blaster but it's been banging around in my head ever since. Finally got with Mr. Jig himself, Gayle Julian of Jewel Baits, to talk about it. Highlights:

Backstory

> "How that really came to be...it started with Eakinses [of the OG Eakins Finesse Jig] back in the day. Not just when we were working with them but before that.

> "What made it different was the way it was balanced...as much weight down the shank than is in the head. That caused it to fall flatter...."

What a trailer does

> "...trailer choice also has an effect. The more appendages...behind the hook and the more plastic you have...the more the jig will fall nose first. It's a parachute.

> "It's just simple physics. If you jump out of an airplane, you can fall flat. But as soon as you pull the rip cord, you are floating with your head up and feet down.

> "...your weight is all in the front and your bulk, the mass, is then in the back – and lead is going to fall faster than plastic. So it will cause it to nosedive more.

> "That's why when we started our whole thing with [the Eakinses]...that little Finesse Craw was the deal. It had less effect on it nosediving.

> "The [Eakins] Finesse Jig – that was the first time it was ever discussed. That was a selling feature, that it would fall flat, fall like a crawfish."

The flattest fall

> "If you really want it to fall flat, take you a Zoom Chunk and hook it like a pork frog – or use a pork frog...those will fall flat. Nothing falls flatter than a jig with a #11 [Uncle Josh] Pork Frog. It will fall flattest with that or no trailer at all.

> "When you want it to fall flat...using our Finesse Jig, which is the only thing I have any experience with – take our 5/16-oz Finesse Jig, then take our Finesse Craw, [bite it down and] leave no more than 3 [segments]."

> "Line and all that also has a role to play. Line can help that nose of the bait to suspend as it's falling. The more line drag you have, the flatter it will fall. Fluorocarbon is what I use exclusively for jig fishing – because it transmits the feel better, it's clearer, less visible.

> [For a flat jig fall]...take that craw, shorten it up on that jig, 10-12 lb line with the right jig rod, and it's good as it's gonna get."

When's the best to flattin' 'em

> "...works year-round. Typically the best time or the most advantageous is when the water is cold and you want it to have a slower fall, and also working it off ledges and channel swings, things like that.

> "Obviously you can use it anytime, but cold water jig-fishing situations [50 degrees or less] are probably where that technique does its best.

> "...another time would be post-spawn. The fish just got done spawning, they're starting to move back toward some of their offshore deeper stuff, and for whatever reason [they like a flat-falling jig]."

Gayle noted that Chris Johnson, who recently won that B.A.S.S. Nation tourney on the Arkansas River, just did a YT vid on fishing pretty much this exact bait for post-spawners.

Heard about this deal? Was under the radar for a while, then got out, have had it in the Blaster a time or 2. I still don't hear about it much outside the pros, maybe because the other guys are keeping it quiet.

John Garrett mentioned alternating between braided line split rings and double conventional split rings on the crankbaits he fished in his Harris Chain Elite win, so let's take a brief dive into it.

Ott DeFoe has a good YT vid on it showing how to tie them, and he doesn't do it just to lose fewer fish:

> "...it allows your hook to swing more freely...but something that honestly to me means as much in my line of fishing as anything is the fact that it actually makes the bait more quiet.

> "...a crankbait, and just how pressured our fisheries are anymore...a crankbait with split rings makes a lot of noise. This is a way to take a bait without any built-in rattles and make it just that much more quiet."

The bait he shows how to do it with is a Rapala OG Slim in I believe "copper green shad":

Mark Davis posted an IG vid about how much he loves the new 3/8-oz Bill Lewis Hammer Trap in "Rayburn red" and says he uses bladed "split rings":

> "...split ring is only gonna let that hook turn so far, and that's when you lose a fish – when that hook gets twisted [and stops rotating], they get leverage and come off. But when it's braided, that hook...can [twist] all the way around...and all the way around again.

> "It's really hard for a fish to get leverage and throw a hook that's braided.

> "Tournament situations...especially tournaments I fish where every fish counts, every 2-lb bass that I lose – jumps and throws it – a 5-fish limit that's no big deal.... But in my tournaments, that 2-lber that you just lost? That goes right on your bottom line. That's 2 lbs less than you should've had for the day."

Here's a quick vid with Austin Felix talking about using double split rings. Warning: He is not wearing plaid. 😆

- Heck yeah! 👊 That's OK's Leo Osborne talkin' to Al "Guck" McGuckin. Mr Leo won the 1999 Bassmaster Central Invitational on Eufaula, OK. Full deal:

> "There'll be a bunch of them too busy staring at that sonar screen to consider flippin' bushes, but I'd tell them to get in those flooded bushes and don't come out until your boat carpet is covered in stray limbs and willow leaves. That's when you know you were fishing as thorough as you need to."

💪🤙

Check the rest of the top 10 in that derbE – recognize any names?

2. Gary Yamamoto (post-Senko but did not fish it here)

3. Scotty "geetar man" Rook

4. Sam Newby

5. Brent Chapman

6. Mark Goines

7. Mike Auten

8. Bryan McNeal

9. Kelly Jordon

10. Doug Gohr

- Gary Klein talkin' 'bout MLF's Fisheries Management Division. 100% agree. THIS is the deal the DNRs need to a) realize and b) get on board with in my 2c.

1. Skeet Reese got a gold reel...

...because he sold 500,000 copies of his new album! Okay nope, KastKing presented it to him at the BPT angler meeting for Skeet going into the Bassin' Hall of Fame this year:

2. Alton Jr talks the Owner Range Roller jighead he's been using.

👀 👉 on TW.

Don't doubt Jr! He's getting a well-deserved rep for being on the cutting edge of baits/tackle.

3. Here's the site for Drew Gregory's new yak trail.

Believe the first one is this week and word is Steve Kennedy is fishing it?

4. FL DNR allows tropy fish possession for TrophyCatch.

The big bass program:

The new regulations will allow an angler to temporarily possess, in live condition, 1 largemouth bass over the legal length and bag limit for that waterbody in 2 situations:

• The bass weighs more than 8 lbs and the angler is in the process of obtaining photographic or video documentation of the fish for submission to TrophyCatch.

• The bass weighs more than 16.5 lbs, the angler is participating in the certification of a potential state record, and the angler has notified the FWC of their catch by following directions on the state record web page.

5. WV proposing no more catch/release on 4 lakes.

> ...North Bend, Woodrum, O'Brien and Elk Fork lakes. [The DNR] will consider a change at their next meeting in July to establish a 6-fish limit, but only one could be over 16"....

6. GSM bought Dobyns Rods.

GSM is Yamamoto, Bill Lewis, Big Bite, Phenix Rods, etc. They're gettin' after it!

> Gary Dobyns: "I will now be a shareholder of GSM and will remain involved with the company's product development initiatives."

Folks at GSM be like:

😁 They're baggin' some big game!

7. New "sunrise" color of Sufix 832 Braid.

Believe Jacob Wheeler has been using it among others:

It is on TW.

8. Garmin Marine Q1 revenue up 17% year over year.

> Revenue from the marine segment increased 17% in the first quarter primarily driven by the acquisition of JL Audio. Gross and operating margins were 55% and 27%, respectively....

And guess who made their Q1 report:

> Garmin-sponsored angler Justin Hamner claimed the championship title at the recent Bassmaster Classic on a boat exclusively equipped with our ECHOMAP Ultra 2 chartplotters, Force trolling motor, and LiveScope Plus [LVS34] sonar system.

9. OK: Big logjam on the Neosho closes Twin Bridges ramp.

10. FL DEP will okay oil drilling in the Apalachicola River basin.

11. TX: Big tarps were used to kill zebra mussels in Lake Waco.

Headlines of the Day

Boat coming into Colorado intercepted with devastating and invasive species on board

C'mon man. Do the quaggas make inflammatory social posts and own AKs? 😆 [Can't link it, it's at denvergazette.com]

Okay seriously: What are the shipping companies that brought these mussels to our inland waters paying for remediation? You know the answer...😡

Where to see migrating birds in Utah this spring

I'm guessing – the sky! 🤣

Speed-cranking for post-spawners

Good stuff from the guys at Tactical Bassin. 12-min YT vid, here's a little juice from the description:

> This technique works incredibly well this time of year. It doesn't matter if your fish are 20' deep feeding on outside ledges or 2' deep on shallow rock bars. ...you just need to adapt the specific baits to maintain the speed at different depths.

> We find that carrying a variety of squarebill crankbaits, mid-divers and deep divers will allow you to adapt to changing conditions.

> ...traditional knowledge would encourage using ghost colors in clear water, but we've found that during this period you can see incredible results fishing bold colors like chartreuse or chartreuse/blue, even in gin clear water.

Matt says in the video that his cadence is burn, burn, burn, pause. Gitcha wrists/forearms in shape!

"I felt like I was on a tidal river when you got to certain areas."

- VA MLF Bass Pro Tour rookie Martin Villa talkin' 'bout how he figured out how to catch 'em at Eufaula, OK yesterday. Always interesting when guys can find something they're familiar with in a totally different place. More:

> "They're letting water loose now, and so that red mud is moving miles each day. And when the wind blows with the current, it seems like it just flies out of there. I felt like I was on a tidal river when you got to certain areas."

However – he also said:

> "I hope that I can do my job as a professional angler and put 5 fish in the boat."

Wonder if some of the MLF vets convinced him it's still 5 fish? 🤔😁

Lol you think Chad Grigsby was stoked to catch this yuge Coosa River spot? Got the stoke on camera, love it!

Fishers of Men Tournament Trail

Bass Chaplain podcasts

Contact Chris Wells the Bass Chaplain

CullGear.com - Versaweb

Advanced Angler

StrayCasts crazy web show!

BassEdge Radio

Champion Jigs

Trophy Bass Co.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.