2 quick things:

1. In TX (and other places) it is acceptable and maybe even encouraged to wear camo. Like out to dinner and to church. I love it, and my wife has actually said to me, "That looks okay" instead of "You look scary" – hahaha works for me!

In NJ, if you wear camo to a public place, the cops will get called. You might think I'm exaggerating – I am not. Related: You should've heard the shocked sounds when I checked 2 shotguns at Newark airport onetime for a bird-hunting trip. Crazy place man. I feel for my peeps there.

2. Anyone disappointed they didn't get a "bread" recipe after reading the subject line typo for the last one (instead of "braid"), here you go – a GF banana bread recipe! 🤣 I laughed out loud when that subject line hit my email, hope you did too.

Let's roll!

What does Leesburg, OH have in common with bass fishing? Looking at a map, I'd have to say not much – except for Cole. He just finished his 4th year on the Bass Pro Tour with his best points finish ever (4th), after a 3rd, 7th, 4th and 4th in the last 4.

That's even more remarkable because unlike most pros, he doesn't fish hardly any other high-level tournaments. Maybe because he's too busy running an excavator, and chasing deer and turkeys.

I don't know much about him, maybe you either, so here we go:

1. You've been getting better every year on the BPT. Why is that – just getting more comfortable with the format or...?

> "Man I don't know. That's kind of a tough question because really I fish less now than I've ever fished. Kind of the opposite of what you're really supposed to do. That's the honest truth man.

> "The format kind of does play my way, but in a way I always figured I'm more of a 5-fish guy.

>"I just kind of got on a heater [this season] and couldn't do nothing wrong. Just fishing confident. I'm laid back – I really haven't had anything on the line and it's...confidence.... You get on a roll and kind of just roll with it."

Follow-up: Why are you fishing less? Is it work?

> "It's kind of been the same. I did go to a couple lakes I hadn't been to [pre-fishing] – to get a feel for the lakes – so it's not like I didn't put any effort at all into it.

> "Just being home and being where I live, I don't fish around here [and] I'm not on the water a lot [because of work]. Here in OH, we don't have much for fishing. If I had Guntersville right beside me, I'd probably be fishing a lot more."

2. Your run this year started on the TN River. Do you know that system well?

> "Yeah I lived there for probably 5 years when I went to college...at Bethel U That was basically in my back yard so I have a lot of history with that place man. I've spent a lot of hours out there.

> "I used to fish all the time, then I moved back here to OH. There's not much for fishing here. There's some big deer around here, that's about it."

3. You had a month break between a couple of those events. How do you keep your roll going, especially since it doesn't look like you fish any other circuits?

> "That time of year man I was in fishing mode. Mom and dad have a place on Lake Cumberland...I fish Dale Hollow a lot. So I was fishing. When it was full go, I was fishing...jumping around fishing places and stuff."

4. Who's your biggest fishing inspiration?

> "Man, it has to be Kevin VanDam I'd say. For sure."

What was it like fishing against him?

> "Pretty dang cool. I was lucky to be able to do that for a few years, hanging around him, being on Strike King/Lew's and being around him a good bit through that. Pretty dang cool."

5. Is it all eat, sleep and fish/hunt, or do you have other stuff you're into?

> "Yeah that's it basically. You hit it right on the nail man, that's it [laughs]."

Bonus Q: What techniques will you be working on this offseason if any?

> "I would say flipping grass. I got some tournaments this fall – that's what it's gonna be.

> "The forward-facing deal – it's what I'll be doing a lot this winter.

I assume you're comfortable with FFS?

> Yeah man I am. Us having it just 1 period, I'm not using it as much as other guys on other tours. But when we gotta use it, I'm pretty confident with it."

Ned – the co-inventor, with his bud Drew Reese, of the Z-Man Ned rig – sends out regular updates about how the Ned rig is fishing. The thing that always stands out to me is that he never fishes a black, gp or unpainted jighead. Asked him why, here's a little of what he said:

> Initially the jigheads that we used as black bass anglers were either unpainted or black, and the marabou was black. But some of us also fished for crappie and white bass, and our primary rig for catching crappie and white bass was a marabou jig....

> These jigs were made in a variety of colors. And while we were fishing for crappie or white bass, we also caught largemouth bass and spotted bass. We eventually discovered that some colors were more fruitful than others....

> ...across those many years [he has been fishing what's now known as the Ned rig for 60+ years!]...the most effective hues on the head of a jig for the way I fish for largemouth bass, spotted bass and smallmouth bass are 3 colors: baby blue, chartreuse and red.

> I do not know why those 3 colors are more effective for me than all of the hues we can decorate our jighead with. But I do know that the baby-blue hue replicates the blueish hue that colors portions of the cheek and [chest] of many green sunfish and bluegill....

> ...on every outing, we experiment with a baby-blue head, a red head and a chartreuse head. There will be outings when all 3 are equally effective. There will be outings when 2 are equally productive...will be outings when 1 is the most effective.

> There will be weeks and months when 1 color is the dominant color, and there will be weeks and months when 1 or 2 will be the most effective.

> Of course, there are many great and more talented Midwest finesse anglers than I am who do not prescribe to my notions about baby-blue, chartreuse and red jigs. And these anglers use black, unpainted and gp jigheads.

Note that Ned has mostly fished in KS and MO.

He also said:

> Guido Hibdon was a whale of a crappie and white bass fisherman, as were his father and brothers, which was one reason it was easy for him to become one of the great forefathers in Midwest finesse fishing. He was also a talented jighead designer.

> The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame ought to induct and honor the entire Hibdon family. Being a fishing guide in the 1960s and 1970s taught him that most people want to elicit a lot of strikes and tangle with a lot of fish, and he discovered that finesse tactics were the way to achieve that....

When Bill Siemantel showed me that thing at ICAST 2 years ago, I was skeptical man. I'm a bass fisherman, and therefore skeptical about anything that's not [my fave color] of [my fave bait] lol.

And yep Bill is crazy. But most relentlessly inventive thinker folks do come across a little crazy, so all good. Anyhow, off and on I think about it, especially because we seem to be in a "less is more" era of bassin'.

So the other day I watched their intro video on the Bio-Blade Spinnerbait, which shows the Mimic Tail in action like such:

You can see that subtle tail flap – much different than a paddletail. Wonder if in clearer-water fisheries that will be better? Or at least different, since more subtle and "the fish have never seen it before" seem to count big now.

Anyhow, check 'em at the TW here.

Some thinkin'-type stuff from the Target Crappie email – which you can sign up for here. Here 'tis:

Don't wear white or any bright-color shirt – so you can see your FFS screen better! According to Crappie Connection's Brad Chappell – here's Brad's (and AL's Jamison Carr) 2c on a recent Crappie Connection YT video:

> "White, yellow, bright-colored shirts – the glare gives me a headache so bad and I can't see the screen as well.

> "Gray, darker-tone colors is where we're gonna focus. Everybody's like, 'Man, that's crazy, you're not wearing a white shirt.'

> "I can show you a LiveScope screen and [wearing a white shirt] literally is like having a reflection off the sun shining right in your eyes...."

If you got that message but your fishing pard didn't – they advise wearing wraparound sunglasses?

> Jamison: "I don't care what sunglasses you wear, who they're by – [you need] the wraparounds on the side. It knocks out the side glare [coming off of people's shirts].

> "Because if I'm sitting there and there's something glaring on me, it's getting [in my eye] and it's distracting my focus on the screen."

Also, you will attract ticks in a white T-shirt – but that shouldn't be a concern if you stay upright and use a concrete ramp...😁

1. Ott DeFoe/Drew Gill team got gold in South Africa

Word is the other countries were never informed they would be fishing against an Otter/Drewgill team so we had that going for us...🤪 Bahahahahaaaaa – anyhow they won by having the fewest "penalties":

> The 3 US [teams] finished 1st, 3rd [Jacob Wheeler/Kyle Welcher] and 9th [Scott Martin/Logan Parks] on the day 3 standings sheet for a total of just 13 "penalties" (the sum of the duos' finishes – the lower the number, the better). The Americans trailed Italy by 19 penalties entering the final round, but ended up prevailing....

USA won, It'ly was 2nd and Australia was 3rd overall. The home team got 4th.

Not gonna try to understand that right now but congrats to 'em! Also to coach KVD, who picked the guys and made the teams.

Wonder if Canada will get serious about beating us Americans, like in hockey and lacrosse.

2. New Alton Jones Jr-designed Finesse Cue Bomb

First of all, Alton Jr is on Geecrack. I don't think he's smoking it, but he's on it. 😆 Anyhow, he designed this finesse version to have the same size body as the original Cue Bomb (1.0 and 1.2) but with "thinner and more sensitive silicone hairs."

3. Brandon Cobb's Ark rods got redesigned

2.0 Series now on TW.

4. What Josh Bertrand saw on Lake Mead (IG vid)

Floating tumbleweeds! Don't see that every day...I don't think. 😁

5. Greg Vinson's small minnow lines are...

In that IG video he says he likes fishing a boot-tail swimbait below the balls of bait using FFS, and likes 15-lb Seaguar Smackdown Flash Green Braid to 10-lb Seaguar Gold Label Fluoro Leader (lower-diameter for the same strength).

6. Mark Rose is selling his '25 Bass Cat Puma STS

Merc Pro XS with 124 hours, Garmin, custom cover.

7. KVD's show is on amazon Prime

And so is Zona's. Who knew – good to see!

8. Widow from Smith Lake crash sues MLF and Boyd Duckett

Also Flint Davis and Gary Holcombe of Smith Lake Striper Guide Service, the post ^ says. Mentioning it because this could potentially open up a can of worms – an unfair one, in my 2c, from this:

> According to the lawsuit: "Defendant MLF, including its president, defendant Boyd Duckett, knowingly created a culture in its fishing tournaments that encouraged, incentivized, and caused participants to negligently, recklessly and wantonly operate their fishing vessels in a manner that endangers...public safety...."

> The suit further alleges that "MLF and Defendant Duckett had no boating safety plan in place for this tournament that would have provided rules and regulations for safe travel on the lake that would protect the public in general and the anglers in the competition. ...MLF failed to consult with local law enforcement officials, marine police and/or boating experts to develop a safe boating plan for this tournament."

> Lawsuit documents also state that the tournament should have implemented speed limits for competitors and it alleges that Davis did not have a valid boating license in his home state of GA nor did he have a Non-Resident AL Boater Safety Certification.

9. TX looking for HOF nominations

Alton Jones? Jay Yelas? Harold Allen? Takahiro Omori?

The application ain't the easiest – I don't know these guys' addresses and I don't have references for 'em!

10. Lookit this little dude!

Yo-Zuri 3DR-X X-Series Vibe in the new sunset shad' color – lookin' real good and shad-like!

2 3/8" long, 1/2-oz , insanley good colors, some with that prism finish.

11. New Crush City Bronco Bug colors

In case you didn't know:

TW has 'em.

12. TODAY only 25% off Kistler Z Bone premium rods

Don't think they've ever gone on sale before?

13. New Rapala USA prez coming

As of Jan 1. Current prez Marcus Twidale is going back to Europe to be VP of Rapala Brand Group Strategic Brand Management. The new Rapala USA prez will be Travis Tuma who is currently head of sales.

14. National Walleye Tour took some heat...

...after it canceled the 2nd day of its 3-day championship, and didn't extend it 1 day, and cut the field to 10 anglers for day 3. I think that's how it shook out.

Mentioning because we saw several Opens this year get canceled to 1 or 2 days. If this is a trend, big tourney organizations might need a backup plan – because a) that's a ton of travel and $$ for the competitors, and b) the top levels are all about multiple days.

PS: Jay Przekurat's dad Jason fished it.

Kyle Patrick's wacky wacky with straight fluoro (YT vid)

Yep Kyle's known for bing wacky so this might fit the profile? 😁 From a YT vid where he talks about why he does that – couple highlights:

> ...12-lb Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon...I'm used to it, I like a little bit more stretch when I'm fishing this technique....

> "A lot of times when you're around brush, rock, cover, docks..."I don't want the smallest little place where this can get cut [dock post, zebra mussels, etc]. Wher you tie the braid to the fluoro leader, that's the point that pulls across that [sharp stuff] and gives it the most amount of rub. I don't want to have any of those variables....

> "My hook to land ratio is significantly better than a lot of other people that I've talked to that use braid to fluoro."

"I'm not a hater, I just don't know that it's fishing. To me it's something else entirely."

- Mike Ike talkin' 'bout FFS. Full quote:

> "For me, fishing has always been about casting into the unknown. You could be analytical, but you had to use your senses, your intuition and interpret the clues that nature offered. FFS is a completely different animal. I'm not a hater, I just don't know that it's fishing. To me it's something else entirely."

Other Elites quoted in the deal:

> Brandon Palaniuk: "The past few years so much of our confidence has been put into being able to see fish in real time. Confidence and momentum are huge factors in tournament fishing, and this will affect that confidence for all Elite anglers.

> "Age is not a determining factor. Every angler on the Elites is capable of catching bass with or without the technology and winning events. Period."

> Matt Arey: "The purpose of any pro sport is to see who trains the hardest. Who has the best work ethic. Who uses their instincts, natural abilities and the tools available to them to outperform the competition. 

> "From my perspective, nothing in the history of fishing has been as dominant or changed how the game is played more than FFS, or live feedback through your electronics. I don't believe that's necessarily a good thing, and I think it's fair to question whether it has a place at the highest levels of competition within our sport."

All of them, plus Gerald Swindle, also said that FFS is a great learning tool and if it helps peeps get into fishing more, great.

If your "cabbage" is dying out, it's a good time for a Lunkerhunt Furenzy Mouse – though cuz it's a mouse I guess anytime is good for it! Posted by @lunkerhunt:

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