Looks like we went from hoodie weather to summer here, sounds like the same in a lotta places. Not really gonna complain – let's go warmth! Hope the weather is decent where you live...more on the whole weather deal in a future BB, but for now let's git after it!
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Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this 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 your Elite points leader John Cox.
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1. Was winning AOY ever a goal for you this season?
> "When I looked at the schedule, I thought I might have a shot with the first couple being a lot of my favorite lakes. I felt like maybe it could happen, you know? ...the way the schedule is, it's probably my best chance. But I was really hoping to come out of the first 4 with a little bigger lead...so I don't know.
> "I'm thinking about it but...been really torn – the rest of the swing is kind of going to be...[Fork] there'll be a pretty decent offshore bite and Pickwick will probably be offshore. I think I'll just try to just stay shallow in 'em. I'm gonna have to kind of get real lucky in a couple to hang in there."
2. How many rods do you have on deck on average?
> "Probably like 4 on average. A lot of times I have like 2-3, then...the most I usually ever have is probably 7-8."
3. Is it true you don't fish with electronics because you want to get the handicapped parking spot at all the ramps? 😁
> [He cracked up] "Yeah that's it. Actually I screwed on the transducer [Sunday] night. After [Sunday] morning was great and then it was like they all just left, I was like, I'm gonna find them suckers. It's honestly probably gonna get ripped off before I get out there [for the tourney]."
4. Why aren't you jumping on the whole forward-facing bandwagon?
> "I don't know. I put it on one time – I think I was at St Clair. I went all day and didn't catch anything and I saw a ton of fish. For me it was too hard to process seeing the fish and seeing them run from you. That was super discouraging.
> "If I pull up and fish an area and don't get bit, I'd almost rather not know they're there. It made me lose a lot of confidence in some of what I was fishing.
> "I just really don't want to do it, to be honest with you. I just love fishing shallow. It's like pond fishing...."
5. What can you tell us about that Berkley "Shape 108"?
> "So it's new, it's a craw style. I started bed-fishing with it and was like, Oh man this works great. Then recently I've been flipping with a 1-oz, catching them with a hard-head on the bottom, using it as a jig trailer – it's super versatile. It's nice and compact – you can put on the back of a Chatterbait. It's a pretty neat bait. It catches 'em."
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Slow-rolling an underspin with spinning gear for bigs??
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Saw this pic of former pro surfer 🤙 and now West Coast stick Todd "O "Kline on Okuma's Insta:
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"Light line setups for monster bass"? Sounded crazy so I needed to ask him about it:
> "I'll fish this rig year-round.... If there's a body of water that has shad in it, you can smoke 'em on that thing.
> "The reason I slow-roll it...a lot of those bigger fish don't want to chase. When you slow-roll that thing it's an easy opportunity...a kick of the tail or 2 and it's theirs.
> "Big fish like big baits, but we have to finesse here [in CA] because they see baits all the time. We use the term 'elephants eat peanuts' – I can't tell you how many big fish I've caught on that exact setup, a 2.8 and a 3/16 Coolbaits [underspin], even at Clear Lake.
> "A lot of your better fish are going to come offshore – humps and high spots. I guarantee you could smoke them on ledges with it this time of year back East.
> "Cast as far as you can, which is why I use that 7' 6" Okuma rod and 10-lb braid which is only 2-lb diameter. As soon as it hits the water, use the water to pull a rod length of line off. Let it sink to the bottom, then wind up the slack and start slow-rolling it.
> "Keep it just above the bottom or grass, whatever it is you're targeting. If you're fishing a rockpile, bring that thing a foot over it. They'll kick up, grab it and drop right back down. That long cast keeps it in the strike zone for a long time.
> "...the bigger fish are usually underneath smaller ones....
> "...Coolbaits Underspin – there's tons of underspins out there but that's all I use. It has a double barrel swivel so at the slowest of speeds that bait still spins. A lot of the other ones might flop – it doesn't actually spin.
> "...every bait is like a tool. One day you need a Phillips, one day you need a flathead. I have 2 main crescent wrenches, a Senko and that Coolbaits."
Here's his setup:
7' 6" Okuma Dead Eye Pro Spinning Rod – It's a walleye rod: "The length allows me to throw finesse baits like the Coolbaits a long distance which keeps it in strike zone longer. It also has a fast tip which allows me to catch big fish on 5-lb test."
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Few more tidbits:
> The fish in that pic he caught slow-rolling in 12'.
> He didn't come up with this rig, he said a couple bros did but everyone's a "bro" in Cali so...😁
> He swears by Electric yellow polarized pro lenses ( he wears the Mahis). In clear water, which he fishes a lot, but particularly in ultra-clear water like Havasu and Mojave, "you can see where the fish are going, lead them, and watch them go over and eat it." About the yellow lenses all day: "Something unique to Electric sunglasses is their lenses are infused with melanin, your body's natural sunscreen. I believe that helps your eyes relax even though you're wearing a yellow lens – I don't get headaches from wearing them all day."
Wonder if it's ""ditch melanin"? 🤣
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Top 10 baits broken down for the Rayburn and Chickamauga 'Yotas.
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Carolina rig = 20%
Jerkbait = 20%
Worm = 20%
10% each = Dropshot, Swimbait, Jig, Shakey head, Swim-jig, Spoon
Shout outs
Got a bunch from this baitapalooza:
1. Keith "XD" Combs finished 2nd and yep he used the XDs but also a jig, which he said "felt weird." Okay he didn't say that...😁 He won this tourney last year.
2. LA's Kevin Lasyone (5th) fished a worm. Period. 👊 It was a V&M Wild Thang Worm (blue flex). Wonder if Kevin doesn't like any fixin's on his burgers...😁
3. TX's Cole Stewart (6th) took the skirt off his JackHammer and feeshed it with a Zoom Fluke like this:
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Wonder if Cole's bare JackHammer and bare jersey are related somehow? 😁
4. AR's Chris Jones finished in the top 10 in another tourney using the BOOYAH Mobster Swim Jig! 🤯 Dude's an absolute force of nature with that thing! Had a YUM Spine Craw on it, looks like this:
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TN's Matt Stanley won it by 1-11 by going from 69th to 13th to 1st – and by feedin' straight beasts to his wells, includin' a 9-lber on the final day! 🤯 MLF said he:
Jig = 20%
10% each = Spinnerbait, Jerkbait, Swimbait (6.75" 3:16 Rising Son), Fluke, Shakey head, Ned rig, Crankbait, Flip plastics, Swim-jig
Shout outs
1. Coolest deal was TN's Carl Gillespie's (9th) stick worm rig that swims backwards, kinda like the old Flying Lure (which did work!):
> ...he rigged Neko-style with a nail weight in the end, but rather than hooking the worm in the middle he placed the hook on the opposite end of the worm from the nail weight. "The bait actually goes backward. You skip it to the edge of the weeds or a dock and it will actually just dive back underneath the dock or tuck right underneath the grass."
Way cool – he also used "morning dawn" which I can't ever remember seeing in a top finish stick worm color:
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2. TN's Kevin Drake (6th) fished a 5" MaxScent General in "cinnamon purple" – because he said on Chickamauga soft plastics do well especially in "brownish" colors. He was fishing "dirt shallow." Fish brown in the dirt?? 🤔
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Ever hear of a 30-lb largemouth-only bag outta SD/MN?? 👀
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Maybe you have but don't think I have – tho every time I say that someone reminds me I have lol. Jesse Frost and Jeremy Franken weighed 31.75 lbs ^, a few deets:
- Big Stone Lake is on the SD/MN border and doesn't have much in the way of smallmouths??
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This Cup is the made for TV/happened a little while deal, but it's a major win. Dallas area, final Day was on Lavon, TX. How Stephen said he caught 'em:
> "Fished around standing timber and laydowns on Lake Lewisville, Eagle Mountain and Lake Lavon."
> "Fished it on Lake Lewisville around standing timber and in shallow ditches. Most of the fish came in 2-4' of water with the exception of a few crankbait fish in Lewisville that were suspended in 12' on standing timber. No I didn't use my Lowrance Active Target, just my gut."
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Man, hate to hear that. Please pray for him. 🙏✝️
Love the short underwater clips.
Check it on the YT ^.
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Sounds like it. Check Bernie Schultz's recent post to find out.
> Show hosts Aaron Martin and Kurt Dove talk with Rick about his Win last month as well as catching big bass for clients through Hill Country Hammer guide service.
> Special guest David Hahn, owner of All Aboard Marine, relays information to the listeners about Live transducer accessories and how he can assist with getting the most of your electronics....
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> Travis Wendt...hooked the massive 23.5" smallmouth bass while fishing Dworshak Reservoir on May 10. After a quick photo, Travis released the bass back into the lake, and secured a new catch-and-release state record. His trophy bronzeback eclipsed the previous record of 22.75" set by Dustin Shepard...in 2020.
> A quick review of certified weight records, and you can see that Travis' new 23.5" fish easily competes with some of the heaviest bass recorded from Dworshak Reservoir, and may have been close to the existing weight record of 9.72 lbs (23.75").
- Don Schiefelbein - 7.35 lbs - 20.75" - Sept 4, 1982
- Dan Steigers - 8.3 lbs - 22" - Oct 14, 1995
- Dan Steigers - 9.72 lbs - 23.75" - Oct 28, 2006
Better gitcha a 3-letter first name startin' with D! 😁 The other innerestin' Q is – how could you not weigh that thing!
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11. WI: Biggest bag at Sturgeon Bay was 29-07.
All smallmouths of course. That was the day 2 bag caught by Jody Robillard and Chad Delfosse who finished 2nd by 11 oz with 10 fish for 52-01. Winners were Adam Neu and Grant Ehlenfeldt with 52-12. Can't tell if they have a big fish award.
Walleye pros got 3rd place?? Can't link it, it's at: northamericanbasschallenge com
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Lots of big fish get caught by crappie jigs! This one was caught by Joshua Gibbons on Stillhouse Hollow:
> The men were fishing along a vertical stand of hydrilla in about 20'... A Garmin 126SV sonar unit equipped with LiveScope....
> The pair was using 1/2-oz Southern Slab red and white hand-tied crappie jigs...with 8-lb Berkley Vanish [fluoro].
> The jigs were cast out and allowed to fall slowly near the hydrilla. After catching several white bass, Gibbon's trophy struck his jig around 11 pm.
Thought I had this in the BB already but did not so here 'tis:
> Missile Baits is having Roboworm manufacture their new, all-purpose, finesse, hand-poured soft-plastic bait called the Magic Worm.
6" straight worm and 12 colors, none of which are called "Fat John," "Little John" or "Pumping Iron John." 😁
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- Sardis Lake (OK)
- Lake Buchanan (TX)
- Canyon Lake (TX)
- Lake Granbury (TX)
- Stillhouse Hollow (TX)
- Lake Waco (TX)
Also Possum Kingdom (TX) and Toledo Bend "feature detailed improvements to existing high-resolution relief shading coverage."
Make sure your knees and back are good to go:
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I recommended they change the name to the "Chocolate Chipola" but have not heard back...😂
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> An OH woman who sold hundreds of marbled crayfish online has pleaded guilty to offenses under the Lacey Act, a US law preventing the transport of certain wildlife across state lines, after raising the crayfish in a huge tank in her home and selling them to people across 36 different states.
> ...[allegedly] used eBay and Craigslist to sell various species of guppies and crayfish bred in her aquarium...and faces a maximum penalty of a year in prison and up to $100,000 in fines, although a federal judge is set to consider a lesser penalty under a plea deal.
Dang!
Who knew. Looks like it's for real??
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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> ...Taku Ito coaxes bites from spawners with a unique lure made in his home country, the Fujin Spider Trailer from Imakatsu. This tiny 3" bait may have been intended for smallmouth bass, but Ito has found it to be just as deadly on "difficult" bedding bass.
> With a narrow midsection and multiple thin appendages, the Spider Trailer resembles an oversized ant.
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> Ito wacky-rigs the bait dropshot style with a 1/8-oz weight and a #2 dropshot hook. When it's worked with short, quick, staccato twitches, you have to see this bait in action to believe what it can do.
> "It has a small size but a very strong action," Ito said. "Actually, it is a very funny action. The small legs move very fast."
> ...Ito has used the Spider Trailer to trigger bites from sizeable spawners. ...in the 2021 Elite Series tournament at Lake Fork, TX he hoodwinked a 6-lb largemouth with the bait.
Says he uses 15-lb braid to a 14-lb fluoro leader on spinning gear.
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"...as visionary as Ray was, I don't think [his] dream included creating all of the friendships that came as a result of it all. And many of those friendships have evolved into success stories of their own.... The dream started out having nothing to do with friendships, but it did, and that's how our industry became successful."
- Jimmy Houston talkin' 'bout Ray Scott and the effect he had on everyone in the bassin' world. The older I get, the more I really like Jimmy. A good man.
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Guess the snoring coming from under the floor was a tipoff??
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest stuff in bassin', 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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