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

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Today’s Top 3

1. It’s the right thing to do. A Classic berth means a lot to all of us, including Jared and his sponsors.

– Chris Lane talking about fishing the current Smith Lake, AL Open so he can triple-qualify for the Classic and thus get fellow Elite pro Jared Lintner a spot. Very cool. Chris was 10th after day 1.

2. Auburn long-lined to win FLW SEC.

Long-lining’s kind of a craze now ain’t it? Wonder if any tourney org will seriously look into whether this should be against the rules. In the meantime, the Auburn team won last weekend on Lake Wylie doing the following:

> The shallowest fish we caught was probably 20 feet deep. Our key bait was probably the swimbait; we were using a 1-ounce head so that we could get it deep. We caught a lot using crankbaits too, but the big ones came off the swimbait, Berkley’s Hollow Belly.

> “We would cast the crankbait, let out like 300 yards of line off the spool, leave the bait on top and then make sure we were in exactly the right spot. Then we’d burn the crankbait as fast as we could – just digging it off the bottom. Once the school was fired up with the crankbait, we’d come back with the swimbait for the bigger bites.”

> The team indicated that the fish would reposition every day and they used their graph to locate the fish and then take 10 to 20 minutes idling to key in on the bass.

Alabama ended up 4th.

3. AL bass reg changes.

These became effective Sept. 25 OF THIS YEAR:

> Statewide smallie creel limit went to 5 from 10.

> Guntersville Reservoir and Town Creek:  Illegal to possess any largemouth or smallmouth less than 15″.

> Pickwick and Wheeler:  Illegal to possess any smallmouth less than 15″.

> Wilson and Big Nance and Town Creeks:  Illegal to possess any smallmouth less than 15″.

> Chattahoochee River tributaries Little Uchee and Osanippa Creeks:  Illegal to possess shoal bass.

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Tip of the Day

Swimbait tweaks at Smith Lake.

Interesting stuff from NC angler Hank Cherry (below, dig the white shades), who was 2nd at Smith Lake after yesterday:

> “I’m mostly putting the boat in 60 feet and making long casts on 4- and 6-pound-test-line with 3- and 4-inch swimbaits. The key seems to be making a really long cast and getting the bait out away from the boat.”

> Cherry’s swimbaits are homemade soft-plastic models, poured by some friends in North Carolina. “They’re curly-tail and boot-tail models. I use the boot-tail baits when there’s some wind and throw the curly-tail when the water surface is slick.”

Amazed that fishing in 60′ it matters what the water surface is doing. Need to find out more….

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Quote of the Day

In ancient Polynesian societies, hooks were made from shell and bone, the only hard materials that could be carved into strong circles and worked into sharp points. The bones of the largest local land mammal, man, were the most highly sought-after, and bald men topped that list. Bald men were rare, and their bones were considered to have magical powers.

In about 10 years guess I’m moving to Hawaii. Gonna ask don barone if he wants to go too…. (Quote from here.)

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Shot of the Day

Marc Beyers, co-angler at Smith Lake, sportin’ the black light, Phish food, “purple haze all in my brain” bassin’ shirt.

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