BassBlaster

Bass ‘n squatch guide service! Voted off the tour? Zona stopped fishing??

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on March 31, 2020

Was gonna have a special baits issue today but since TOMORROW IS APRIL 1, gotta take full advantage of it yo! Enjoy bass-heads!

Quick-ish Covid update: My daughter Lily is pretty much all good. “Pretty much” cuz this thing doesn’t seem to move in a straight line. Zig-zags. One day good, next day not so good. But she seems to be okay now:

Summin’ it up:

1. Not officially Corona — no test. But I believe it was/is.

2. Lily has/had it for about 10 days. We have friends locally who had about the same duration, one also a teenage girl.

3. My wife and I had a little “rear issues” (she doesn’t read the Blaster lol) and felt generally “off” — a little nauseous, a little tired, a little “spacey” for lack of a better word. I had a real weird headache for a day — if you asked me where my head hurt, I couldn’t tell you. My daughter would say the same. Overall this deal felt odd/different to me, almost like an inner-ear weirdness thing.

4. What we did on the advice of our local health gal and my younger bro in London who had it (just 4 days for him): vitamin C packs, B complex 1x/day, vit D, lots of water, Tylenol for headaches. But I am not a Dr!

5. My parents have been living a totally different life: Having their food delivered, washing every package they get, hardly going out. Very tough, and we can’t visit.

Been sharing our experience just to give you all info and maybe some hope that it won’t be terrible for a lot of folks. I mean, it’s serious for sure, just thankfully not that way for everyone. But VERY grateful for all the prayers, thank you. If/when you need some — for Covid or anything — pls shoot me a note and we’ll get on it! Hope you and yours end up okay.

Now back to bassin’!

>> If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!

Today’s Top 5

Greg Hackney announces first bassin’/Squatchin’ guide service.

Yeah Hack! Just a matter of time before someone did it, makes sense he’d be the first because:

1. He grew up in the LA woods, where ‘foots run wild n free:

Sorta? Anyhow….

2. He looks for ‘foots when he fishes cuz he knows “where there’s foots, there’s fish:”

HAHAHA!! Sign me up Hack!

Edwin Evers and Jacob Wheeler voted off the Bass Pro Tour.

Word is all the BPT guys had a for-fun social distancing deal where they voted on some stuff includin’ who they wanted out and:

> Sounds like the other guys were sick — not Covid sick — of Edwin and Jacob winnin’ too much and/or hoggin’ all the TV time.

> Vote was supposed to be fun but some cats got real offended:

That’s Boyd Duckett runnin’ in there at the end of that fight…lol. Reminds me: Lotta guys say they picked Boyd but he wasn’t even listed in the official results?

HAHAHA! None of this is true…except for one thing…okay none of it…. And yep, Boyd’s a good sport ’bout all this…so far…heehee!

Zona’s done with fishing.

Said he’s sick of catching the “same old dumb fish,” is “done” with tryin’ to make TV shows “on public lakes where fishing’s harder on your knuckles than grating cheese” (whatever that means?), and confidentially said off the record that Tommy drives him nuts and Davy tries to hog all the airtime.

I know! I was surprised by the Tommy thing too…not Davy tho…[cryin’ laughin’ emoji]

So Z’s changin’ lanes. Please join me in congratulating him on being ESPN’s new color commentator for…men’s synchronized swimmin’! Check the outfit:

Not sure but I think Shaw Grigsby’s tryin’ out for the national team?

You can now order bass direct from the ShareLunker program!

Check it, I ordered this’n:

Talked to a dude there who said they’ve got more giant bass than they can keep alive, so rather than just usin’ ’em to fertilize the field where they raise all those giant melons…

…they’re gonna start shipping ’em to regular peeps as long as you’ve got permission from your own state’s DNR. I didn’t have that permission, but I sent ’em this and they said it was all they needed:

Chuck RULES in TX man….

KVD says he’s “done” with baits having his name on ’em.

Little Q&A:

What happened?

> “It’s just too much pressure. I mean, it’s like having people out in the world with your name — they have to be awesome all the time or it’s no good.”

Uh…okay. What about Jon? He has your last name.

> “Exactly.”

Okay moving on [heehee JVD!] — what about the KVD 1.5 at least? You don’t want to keep that as a KVD bait?

> “No. I never even use it. I like to throw a shakey head in those situations.”

You LIKE to throw a shakey head??

> “Yes — it’s my favorite bait. It feels so good to finally say that. I’m sick of moving baits. I’ve been mad at ’em for at least 5 years now. I like to wacky-rig too. And Neko.”

At this point I was feelin’ like I was in some kinda bizarro world. Guess the only thing weirder would be a grown man dressed up like a panda bear eating grass:

Well okay then…. After pourin’ his heart out like that, Kevin said we should keep an eye out for new baits he’s helping design — all soft-plastics that’ll say “KOW”….

News

1. Fork stumped KVD.

Not the stumps there, the rest. Said he’s never seen a lake that gets as much pressure per acre.

2. Fish with Gerald Swindle contest.

Black Rifle Coffee makin’ it happen.

3. Greg Hackney’s so stir-crazy he’s doing vids.

Good! That one’s on the “bass rut.” Waitin’ for the Squatch vids….

4. Edwin Evers started a new YouTube series.

New deal’s called “Project E.” Pretty sure “E” stands for either Enchilada, Epicness or Ecclesiastes. Hahaha got a little Bible in there for ya E-squared!

5. Lookit Elitist Garrett Paquette’s fave crank.

Said:

> I’ve been throwing this particular [SPRO] Little John since I was 15 and I wouldn’t be surprised if it has accounted for over 1,000 fish. Now it’s a tournament only bait.

So…it’s only 3 years old?? Hahaha! Johnny Crews, whom the bait’s named after, offered Garrett $10,000 for it but Garrett said he’s waitin’ to trade it for a blue trophy….

6. Mike Iaconelli joins the NPAA board.

NPAA = National Professional Anglers Association. Group wants to educate anglers about the biz side of the biz, started in the walleye world but has been expanding into bass.

Mike’s now down to sleeping 3 hours a night plus catnaps….

7. Tim Horton’s on Bass Pro Shops Radio.

8. What Trait Zaldain’s fishing right now.

> A lot of bed-fishing around the house right now. I like to toss a bluegill-esque setup in this situation. This particular one is the 10,000 Fish Saw Craw…on a 5/0 Trokar Pro V Worm Hook and 15-lb Seaguar InvizX.

> I add a little chartreuse for two reasons: 1) It lets me see the bait a little better, so I know where it’s at and if the fish has it and 2) If you’ve ever looked down at a bluegill in the water, their tail glows chartreuse, so it helps the imitation factor.

Fo sho. On a 7′ 4″ Pink Jig/Worm Rod with a Shimano Curado Reel (8.5).

9. Here’s what Dave Mercer used to look like…

…before he was exposed to the dark side, aka US bassin’:

He looks so innocent…which he was…before Sanders got to him…heehee nope I mean Zona. Btw that fish he’s holding is called a “fire tiger” in Canada.

10. Watch Wade Middleton and Mike Hawkes fish Choke Canyon.

On OutdoorAction.com — free. Mike used to be a Bassmaster pro.

11. TX: Toxic waste dump proposed for Rayburn headwaters.

Could politicians be corrupt enough to approve this? Of course! But hopefully they won’t ruin one of the best bass lakes on the planet…. MT company wants to do it:

> Some of the waste listed on the application that will be accepted are oil-based drilling fluids, old tank bottoms from gas, crude oil production facilities and reclamation plants, soil contaminated with crude oil, condensate, produced water, old O & G waste pit liners and other oil field waste.

WTHeck??? Peeps crazier than those Tiger King folks….

12. MO: No licenses needed thru Apr 15.

13. MO/KS: Some Bass Pro Shops open, some closed.

Sounds like the main Springfield store is closed.

14. Covid props for YUM and BOOYAH.

YUM’s makin’ hand sanitizer and BOOYAH’s makin’ face shields to help out the folks who need ’em in AR, maybe elsewhere. Pretty cool.

I really encouraged ’em to put crawfish scent in there — smells so bad (to us, not to bass I guess) that I’m sure it’d kill 2x as many viruses, but they said no so….

15. B.A.S.S. be sayin’ #livesmart #fishsmart.

16. DC: Fishing industry asked governors to support fishing.

Too late for the WA dude….

17. Coast Guard: How to clean your Covid PFD.

18. Peta gets upset with fishing in a video game.

[Not gonna link it just cuz — you can find it at peta.org/features/animal-crossing-new-horizons-vegan]

For real deal, ’bout the Nintendo game “Animal Crossing.” Dig the nonsense:

> You shouldn’t fish in real life, so you shouldn’t do so in the game, either.

> Sure, unlike in real life, the fish in the game don’t feel pain, but fishing is harmful to animals and the planet. This is your island, and it’s your job to protect it. Tearing the wildlife right out of their ocean homes so that you can “donate” them to Blathers for museum exhibits is not only cruel but also bad for the environment.

[Just hit me: Jesus was 100% cool with fishing so…where does the Peta junk come from spiritually-speaking? One guess.]

> In the real world every year, anglers leave behind a trail of tackle victims that includes millions of birds, turtles, dolphins, and other animals who sustain debilitating injuries after they swallow fishhooks or become entangled in fishing lines.

Nuts, kooks, weirdos — we need a new word to describe these poor folks, wow. Don’t think “lost” is good enough….

19. CT: You need an Aquatic Invasive Species Stamp on your boat…

…if you run it in CT waters, whether you’re a resident or not. New requirement this year.

20. AR: Champion jockeys like to bass-fish.

Dang straight!

21. VA: Northern snakehead caught in Pamunkey River.

First one….

Headline of the Day

Time on the water will get you a 24th-place finish on an 80th-place practice!

Headline fer a pretty dang entertainin’ post by Wes Strader, in which he refers to himself as “ol’ W” and “the W.”

On BassBlaster.rocks right now…

> Pig melons of the week! Weighting frogs, More top pro baits

> DeFoe’s and Daniels’ baits, 41-lb limit!! What baits should be banned…

Note: The TackleWarehouse links in this email are affiliate links, meaning if you go through them to make a purchase I might earn a commission…at no cost to you. Click here if you want to learn a little more about links in the BB.

Tip of the Day

Andy Morgan talks junk-fishin’.

Not sure if this is an April Fool’s tip or what but here you go — legit excerpts from the MLFers site:

> “Junk-fishing is what you do to burn through the day. Through junk-fishing, you will develop a pattern. Eventually, the lightbulb comes on. For me, tournaments always start with junk.

> “A lot of times, no pattern ever develops. This is when you just fish what’s in front of you.

> “You keep your head down and fish hard, then burn through something and move on to the next playground.

> “It’s the same rule of thumb in archery hunting for a whitetail as it is for bass. You go through all of the scenarios and situations from your past experiences, but sometimes, it doesn’t work out.

> “There are days you don’t run into them. Sometimes, you just don’t have it. Junk fishing is extreme power fishing. This is when you switch to power finesse junk fishing. Then, that may not work. Sometimes the bass just aren’t cooperating. Sometimes you don’t throw where they live.

> “It’s the junk fishing mindset that has won a lot of money and tournaments for me over the years.”

My man Cube was like:

Quote of the Day

“I’d rather concentrate on playing a game that inspires people to play it rather than inspires people to be cynical.”

– Former New Zealand All Blacks rugby head coach Steve Hansen talkin’ on the “All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks” documentary on Amazon Prime. Love the quote — he was talkin’ to the media ’bout the media. Word.

If you don’t know, the All Blacks have been the best rugby team in the world for much of recent history. Dudes play HARD man.

Shot of the Day

Why is this the shot of the day? Cuz I’ve never seen a shot of a bait in midair before that wasn’t attached to a line…I think? @vmchooks shot

Random

Lookit this note that’s on the bottom of every (I believe) article posted on theguardian.com, a British newspaper’s website — maybe just for folks readin’ from the US?

That bizarre or what? Does this mean media in other countries are campaigning against the US president? It’s the “US [presidential] administration” that’s driving “anger, cruelty and lying”??

C’mon man, wow. You might not know that our current opinionated tabloid/muck-raking media is a style that started in England…which is where animal rights started too….

Btw, this whole deal’s APOLITICAL to me. Just seemed reeeeeeeal strange…

Ya got me

Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup

of the best, worst and funniest in bassin’, as curated 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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