Welcome to the BassBlaster, your daily email about all things bassin’. Hey – forward this Blaster to a bassin’ bud, willya?

*|FACEBOOK:LIKE|*

Today’s Top 3

1. Best bass tag ever.

Check out that new KY smallie license plate. Does it get any better than that? Don’t you want one? (Wonder if non-residents can get one….)

> “The new license plate commemorates David L. Hayes’ world record smallmouth bass caught in Kentucky from Dale Hollow Lake in 1955,” said Chad Miles, director of the KY Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

> Hayes caught the 11-15 world record while trolling a Bomber crankbait…at Dale Hollow State Resort Park on July 9, 1955. The center of the new license plate is a reproduction of renowned wildlife artist Rick Hill’s painting of the world record.

> The plate costs $25. Preorders are now being accepted. “You get a $25 credit and will receive a postcard in March of 2013 to pick up your plate,” Miles said. “Early signups will be taken until Oct. 20. Our goal is to sell 900 plates by then.”

> “Proceeds from the sale of this plate support conservation education efforts in Kentucky, mainly the summer conservation camps at Camp John Currie on Kentucky Lake, Camp Earl Wallace on Lake Cumberland and Camp Robert C. Webb on Grayson Lake.”

Just $25?! Order one here.

 2. Hibdons’ bassin’ school coming up.

Oh man would I love to be learning from the Hibdons….

> The two-day school is slated for Laurie, MS – Saturday, October 20, 9:00 am-5:00 pm and Sunday, October 21, 9:00 am-2:00 pm

> The initial course takes anglers through the process of how to prepare before getting on the water and being successful once they begin fishing.

> Intimate class sizes will allow the Hibdon’s School of Fishing students opportunities to interact and ask questions….

> The initial course covers breaking down a lake or tidal river, map study, patterning a lake, selecting rods, reels, and fishing line, lure selection, when to change lures, basic lure building, skirt making, fishing boat docks, fishing plastic worms, fishing aquatic vegetation, how to fish cold fronts, winning tournament techniques and sponsorship and business side of pro bass fishing. The Hibdon’s are also going to talk in-depth about techniques like Carolina rigging, drop shotting, and Texas rigging.

> For more information on enrolling go to www.hibdonsschooloffishing.com or email info@HibdonsSchoolofFishing.com.

3. Ron Weber dies.

Ron was the guy behind Normark Rapala, which brought Rapalas to the U.S. and is now one of the biggest bait companies in the world.

> He joined fishing tackle giant Pflueger, moved to the Twin Cities and became a sales representative traveling the Upper Midwest.

> In the late ‘50s, he formed his own sales representative agency, the predecessor of the Normark Rapala Group. During a fishing trip to Canada he was introduced to a handmade Rapala lure, which he began importing.

> Weber worked at Normark daily until 1997, leaving the firm in 2000. The company eventually grossed more than $150 million annually under his reign.

> “I enjoyed my work and loved what I did,” he is quoted as saying in his obituary. “It was like playing a round of golf.”

*|FACEBOOK:LIKE|*

Tip of the Day

Ike: Learning at Douglas Lake.

> The one thing I didn’t try was a crankbait. It wasn’t that I didn’t think one might work. I did. It was that I had no confidence that I could get one down below 20 feet and my bass were between 25 and 30 feet deep.

> I’m 40 years old and have been fishing professionally since way back when. I’d never heard of strolling. OK, some guys talked about it being used on Lake Fork or whatever but not in a serious tournament context, and certainly not with the big motor running, backing up, stripping all the line off your spool. I had no idea.

> So here are the two lessons we should all learn from my mistakes at Douglas Lake. First…you can find all the fish in the lake but if you don’t show them the right bait, and present it in the right way, you’ll never catch them. Forget that and you’ll end up like I did — frustrated and half mad.

> Second, pay attention to what the other guys are doing and learn every technique you can. I’m not saying you should always copy the other guys but I am saying you should have a sense of what they’re doing. If I’d known they were strolling with their outboard I might have figured out that I could do it and get my crankbait down where it needed to be.

*|FACEBOOK:LIKE|*

Quote of the Day

Now that I’m retired, I’m looking at my television opportunities and trying to come up with the best format. Whatever I do, it’ll be the best program I can make.

– Denny Brauer talking about a possible new TV show? If so, hope it’s like the old “Schooled by Denny Brauer,” still one of my favorite bassin’ shows ever.

*|FACEBOOK:LIKE|*

Shot of the Day

Ya’ll happy now?! (From here.)

*|FACEBOOK:LIKE|*

Comment on any of these items here.