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Keep forgetting to mention that the pastor at our ginormous church – Josh Howerton at Lakepointe Church – is a bass fisherman, and has actually mentioned Senkos and Brush Hogs. He also put this up this weekend:
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Lol I love the fishing stuff! Interesting getting used to a church where 5K folks can show up for 1 service, but so far Josh is the real deal (Biblical).
And gitcha Blaster social fix here:
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If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing. Sorry bout that – email programs keep changing stuff.
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5 Qs with the one 'n only yella man – Skeet Reese
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Stick a fork in Skeet Reese, he's done. Retired – although he has 3 pro-level tourneys left – and literally selling all his tackle.
Had to talk to him about that and about this: If you surf through social, you'll see a lot of posts by tour-level guys – especially from the West – thanking Skeet for inspiring and encouraging them. For being a pioneer. That's big stuff man.
Wanted to talk about it all, here we go.
1. A lot of guys have been posting about you being a pioneer and huge influence. Are you at all surprised at how many people look up to your yellow self? 😁
> "Yes I am. I think that's been one of the things that has been super-emotional for me – not realizing how many people I've impacted.
> "It's very humbling because I didn't set out to be in this position. It just happened from me just being me. To know that I've made that much of impact, it's pretty powerful.
> "I'm grateful I had the opportunity to do it."
2. Is it weird that all these people have nice things to say about you? 😆
> "They just didn't the post the [stuff] that didn't have anything nice to say [laughs]."
3. KVD was about speed and aggression, Shaw was a sight-fisherman – what style of fishing would you say you are best known for?
> "I think for sure I'm known to be a shallow-water power target fisherman. But I think what separated myself was the efficiency of my casting. I just felt like I was a better caster than most."
4. Are you gonna "retire" like KVD did – meaning work even harder?
> "[Laughs] I have a feeling that's what's in store for me.
> "...I have 3 tournaments left in my career – 2 team events and Heavy Hitters is my final event next May. But I think Reese Fishing is going to consume me as much as the tournament scene has....
> "I believe that some of the sponsors, if not all, still want me on board to continue too, so I think they will be keeping me busy as well."
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5. In anything next next, other than being in the rod biz and working for your sponsors?
> "I have no other side-hustle business I'm getting into at this point in time. My focus is Reese Fishing and hopefully having a little more free time to go fun-fish.
> "My goal is to fun-fish."
Follow-up: Since you're selling all your tackle, can we assume you won't be fishing any tournaments anymore other than those 3 you mentioned?
> "I don't have any intentions to fish any more tournaments. Will I wind up maybe a fishing team tournament with my wife Kim? Possibly. But I will not be chasing any tournament trails or doing anything like that.
> "But I am putting on my own tournament. Jun 26-27, 2026 I'm putting on the Reese Fishing Big Bass Bash at Clear Lake. It will be the first big bass event held on Clear Lake. ...hourly prizes and a grand prize, it'll be a 2-day event with dinner and music and games.
> "It's kind of my way of giving back to the West, and a way to build the Reese Fishing community out here."
Bonus Q 1: Is there any fishing juice you've been holding back on that you can now tell us about?
> "There's nothing the stands out at the top of my mind. There might be little knick-knack stuff. But I've prided myself on feeding everybody all these years with just fishing stock stuff. I pull the bait out of the package and I fish it.
> "I think the secret for me has always been the efficiency of casting – precise casting and having the right equipment, and outworking everybody. To me, efficiency on the water has been what I strive for. I don't like one bad cast."
Bonus Q 2: Are you passing the color yellow on to anyone?
> "No."
🤣 I figured!
Not for nothing: The guy who inspired Skeet and a lotta folks from the West is John Murray...who last I checked is not in the Bassin' Hall of Fame but sure as heck should be. Let's get on it HOF peeps!
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Leech Lake, MN Open top 10 baits breakdown
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Big congrats to Laker Howell, son of ol' Flat Top "Randy" Howell, for winning it – and now having a shot to add another Classic trophy to the Howell mantle.
The Open was shortened to 2 days after a day of flat calm weather scared the heck outta everyone. 😁 Alright...not a fan of shortened high-level tourneys – there's been several this year – because of course the more days, the harder it gets, which is the point.
But whatever man – we have a winnah and some top 10 (actually 9) baits! Here they are broken down, but first gotta note that Laker's winning bait was a discontinued color of SnagProof Bobby's Perfect Frog in 'mossback. The red hooks is a deal he got from his dad:
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> Howell [made long casts] to a wild rice field where he discovered...largemouth in 5' or less of water. Clean bottoms and deeper pockets set up obvious ambush points around mixed growths of rice, milfoil and lilypads.
Top 9 baits breakdown
Jig 'n minnow = 40% – 7" Z-Man Jerk Shadz, 6th Sense Shindo Shad 20%
Dropshot = 30% – Megabass Hazedong Shad, Berkley MaxScent Flat Worm, 6th Sense Glitch
Frog = 20%
10% each = Finesse jig with TRD-ish trailer, Swim-jig, Dice bait (Neko'd Yamamoto Uni), Flip plastics, Ned rig
Shoutouts
1. Elitists Emil Wagner dropshotted into 4th and Kyoya Fujita finished 10th.
2. I checked and last year's Leech Open winner – MN resident Easton Fothergill – did fish this one but finished...145th?? Another dude named Easton also fished the tourney so maybe they had to split the Easton fish? 😁
3. Bassmaster also showed the baits of the 12th- and 14th-place finishers, which included a homemade fuzz bait and a Teckel Sprinker Frog (with the paddletail tail).
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Bobby Barrack talks his Perfect Frog and Leech Lake
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Bobby has a frog problem. So much that he's been refining frog construction and frog fishing for decades. It's so bad that his parents said that one Christmas Eve they found little Bobby downstairs skipping a frog all over the plate of Santa's cookies yelling, "Eat, dang it!"
Or something like that...😆 Anyhow, here's a quick 3 Qs with the frog mastermind behind Laker Howell's winning frowg at the Leech lake Open. Note that Bobby was not at Leech – he's just lookin' at it with his froggin' mind:
1. What's different about the Perfect Frog?
> "Hookup ratio. The hook that's in it, the collapsability in it and the evac hole so you don't have to keep squeezing water out of it. All combined [means] a fantastic hookup ratio."
[Laker was fishing the original version which is no longer available. Here is the current version:]
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2. Why do you think that would be a good frog for that situation?
> "...I can almost tell you how he had to fish that thing.
> "I guarantee you a bunch of guys thought they would win catching 4-5 lb smallmouths on beds, but all that deteriorated. [Laker] captured lightning in a bottle. He could not have won a week before that, and could not have won a week after that. He was doing the right thing at the right time.
> "That takes supreme confidence, which he has. He's a Guntersville frog kid. He fished his strengths and it worked out for him."
3. Is there anything else about that frog you think is important in this case?
> "...the balance of the frog. The name is 'Perfect' – everything about it is perfect. The balance of the bait is perfect, the link...that holds onto the hook is the best there is.
> "...what he was doing – I guarantee there's times when that frog lands upside down. Every frog [will]. If that cast he really needed to make lands upside down, if it's any other frog it will grab vegetation because it's not completely weedless.
> "With the perfect frog and the curvature of the hook point...you can fish the heaviest cover there is...and get it out. If it's in open water, it will right itself.
> "The reason that kid won is because he's that good with it. You have to be one of those...it's gotta be in your blood – to win a tournament in that moon phase with a frog.
> "You better know what you're doing and maximize every opportunity. He pulled off a masterpiece. Good for him."
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Feast your eyes on a 31-05 limit of RIVER smallmouths!
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Caught by one of the newest Canadians to be coming on strong, Erik "2K" Luzak, at this weekend's St Lawrence MLF Toyota. Insane! 30+ of lake fish is huge too, but way more doable. Just river fish is bananas! The big one weighed 7-14.
He caught that, ended up leading after 2, finished 3rd after 3 when his few bites/big fish deal faded. How he caught 'em according to MLF:
> "Day 1, day 2, every single fish came on the minnow. But then on day 3 I did catch a few on the jig on the bottom. They were starting to not come up on the minnow, and I would throw the jig at them and then just try to drag the jig by them, then sometimes they'd go down and bite."
> Fishing the Cape Vincent area, Luzak plied a few minnows on 3/8- and 1/4-oz heads, using a Lunkerhunt Black Series Twytch Witch (👇) and others. For his jig, he used a Lunkerhunt Finesse Skirted Jig (gp) with a Ned-style trailer.
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Insane deal, congrats man!
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MLF goes with 3 hours per day of FFS on the Pro Circuit
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Several changes to the MLF PRO CIRCUIT for next year – yep, back to that name instead of the Invitationals. You can read a little more here, here's a few highlights:
> Forward-facing sonar and 360 imaging limited to 3 hours of each competition day, similar to the fan-favorite Bass Pro Tour format (1/3 of the day), using new tracking technology.
[Not sure what that last part means but I think it's an ankle bracelet lol. Serious – Is it any 3 hours per day? Didn't have time to find out but I will.]
> Lower $5,000 entry fee (down from $5,500 in 2025).
> $100,000 guaranteed 1st-place award at all 6 qualifying events and the no-entry-fee Championship – plus a $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus that pushes the top award to $135,000 for qualified pros. Biggest payouts per event outside of the Bass Pro Tour.
> 7 direct berths to REDCREST 2027 – The winner of each tournament, including the Championship, advances.
> Top 5 anglers in AOY standings advance to the 2027 Bass Pro Tour, with no double-qualifying restrictions.
> $50,000 Fishing Clash AOY award.
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Make bass look at your frog
Love this frowgin tip from NJ homie Arthur D on Bassmaster.com:
> Find a dropoff and locate any cover at all near it. Hydrilla mats, riprap, weedbeds and lilypads...will all work fine. Cast your frog out about 10' past the dropoff and somewhat close to the cover.
> Fish your frog very violently but slow for approximately 20'. Twitch it and make splashes, hop it up off the water, and for the best effect, add a propeller and a few splitshots to your line to churn up the water. Walk it in the rest of the way.
> Repeat a few times. This will attract the attention of the bass, who at this point is watching from the cover. [Note that he said "bass" singular because we're talking NJ here lol!]
> Now cast your frog into the cover. Walk the frog in the cover and soon enough the bass will attack. If you don't get a bite, persevere – eventually the bass will bite out of frustration.
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"Part of our reliance on aluminum boats started with the fact neither John nor I came from money."
- Keith "stinky hats and stinky baits" Carson talkin' 'bout him and best bud Johnny Cox. More from this Vexus post:
> "...aluminum boats were always more affordable, but when we discovered we could take them into water others couldn't access in a heavier glass boat, and that we could catch fish they couldn't get to, our love of aluminum grew even greater.
> "...the biggest factor in my recent top 10s on both the Potomac River and Saginaw Bay was the boat. My AVX2100 floats about 4 inches shallower than most pros' fiberglass boats. Not to mention, I'm not afraid to drive it over top of things they wouldn't dare drive over in a glass boat."
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This 'pink jawz' color Teckel Sharker Frog is 1 of 2 colors sold out at TW. 👀 I would for sure fish it – you? The Sharker is a different shape than your regular frog:
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest stuff in bassin', hand-picked by me – Jay Kumar. I started BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a bunch more in bassin'. The Blaster is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o' bass so thanks for readin'!
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If you're forwarding every Blaster to other bass crackheads, tx much – or you can email me the addys and we'll take care of it! We'll never send spam or whatever....
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GITCHA HANDS ON THE BEST STUFF!
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Gitcha BB social at these links
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