Hope you've been out ketchin' 'em! Kumars are still trying to get our legs under us here in TX, but we're a-gettin' there. Hope you and families are well, let's get after those feesh!

This finesse football jig has been popping up more and more in big smallmouth tourneys, and is being fished by guys who are not sponsored by Beast Coast Fishing. Has to be something different about it, so went and asked the 2 guys responsible – Beast Coast frontman Derek Carr (left ^) and Smallmouth Crush's Travis Manson. Here we go:

1. Why do you think more and more guys fishing the OW Sniper Jig?

> Derek: "Because it is right from a product perspective. There've been other tungsten finesse football jigs, but none with no weedguard, a quality hook, great keeper and a hand-tied skirt. Skirts with collars bulk up the jig too much.

> "We didn't design this jig to be a scoping jig, but with the release of FFS that's what it has become. It's a low-key presentation. The fish are often locked on the bottom, and they will eat this jig really well. It's a non-intrusive...it catches spots and largemouths too."

> Travis: "I grew up in WI fishing Lake Winnebago. No one was catching smallmouths consistently – except one guy, Paul Schiefer. Paul opened up to me one day and told me about a bait he made called 'The Magic Bug.' It was a homemade football jig with 6 strands of jig skirt material. He would go out on these flats/points/humps and drag that finesse football jig around.

> "Fast forward, I'm on the St Lawrence River and want something like the Magic Bug, so I asked Derek to make a jig for me. Here were my criteria: no weedguard and not a lot of skirt strands. We set out to make the ultimate finesse football jig that you can throw any place you would throw a tube. We created a finesse jig that was not on the market at that time.

> "Right now the huge craze is shaking a minnow. [But there's] times you can mess up the retrieve and the fish come up, look at the bait and swim away. I find the finesse OW Sniper football jig gives me a better percentage of bites than minnow baits. As a guide, I fish almost daily. I'm catching 70% of my fish on this jig every day."

2. Why did you go with the 2/0 BKK hook?

> Derek: "I tried their hooks and fell in love with them. 3 1/2 years ago, BKK was not in the US. I reached out to them.... The quality of their hooks is what the hardcore angler expects. You can touch the point and know they're sharp and strong.

> "Guys fish our 3/8- and 1/2-oz jigs on casting gear with 15-17 lb fluorocarbon. They don't bend this hook."

3. What's the difference between your standard skirts and the MB skirts? And why no weedguard?

> Derek: "The 'MB' stands for 'Magic Bug.' The Magic Bug skirts have very few strands – only 22 strands of skirt. Travis wanted some color options with less skirt material. It's for clear-water pressured fish that have seen tons of jigs.

> "We wanted the jigs to be small and nonintrusive. Fewer strands accomplish this. Our standard skirts are more traditional with 58-65 strands of skirt."

Here's the color "MB sexy melon":

> "Travis didn't want a weedguard either. He fishes lakes where there's 20' visibility. No weedguard makes the jig more natural. The jig is designed to fish around rocks, sand and areas with not a lot of grass – not in wood or heavy grass. If the jig snags, you can snap it free without the weedguard.

> "What is a weedguard really doing around rock? Nothing!"

4. What are the best techniques and trailers for it?

> Travis: "We drag this jig in current, drop straight down on them, and see them on FFS and pitch to them. All 3 sizes [1/4, 3/8, 1/2] are rigged on my rods all the time.

> "When pitching to suspended FFS fish, the jig will often never make it to the bottom. The fish will notice it if you make an accurate throw. If it's close enough to them, they will follow it to the bottom. When they do this, let it fall on semi-slack line.

> "If it does make it to the bottom, don't move the jig for at least 10 seconds. Usually the fish will bite it while it is just sitting there. If not, give it light shakes or drag it.

> "The trailer I choose depends on what I'm doing with it. If I'm dragging a football head in current, I use the 3/8- and 1/2-ounce sizes with some sort of twin-tail grub, a Ned-style bait such as a Berkley Lil' General or Z-Man TRD, or something with claws like a Berkley Lil' Trooper or a Strike King Rage Chunk.

> "I use the straight Ned when I don't want a ton of action, like when I throw the 1/4-oz size. The 1/4-oz plays in shallow water – 10' or less. Or if I'm fishing 20-40' of water and it's dead calm, then I like the slower fall in deep water. It takes patience but your fish catches go up if you can get away with the lighter weight."

5. Why is a TRD-like bait a good trailer since it has little or no action?

> Travis: "I like them because there's something about less action that's better.

> "Most of the time gobies are roaming around the bottom or darting around. I think they often don't travel too far from cover – little cracks, crevices and holes. When they feel threatened, they often dart quickly to cover. Sometimes when they can't reach the cover, they will freeze – and that's why dead-sticking is so important at times.

> "Smallmouths know that when a goby freezes, even though the goby thinks he's hiding and safe, that's the time to suck them in. I think the OW Sniper Jig looks like a goby darting across the bottom, and the TRD as a trailer is the perfect profile for this."

His OW Sniper Jig gear deets: St Croix Legend X XLS70MF Rod, Shimano Vanford Reel (3000), 8-lb Cortland Master Braid (hi vis yellow) to 8- or 10-lb Cortland Fluoro Leader.

The OW Sniper Jig everyone is using is tungsten but it also comes in a lead version.

Is the Rapala CrushCity Hedgehog your garden variety critter bait/lizard profile? Is there even such a thing anymore? I would say no if the pros are involved in designing a bait, and in this case as we all know Jacob is the primary guy (along with some Rapala folks) designing the CrushCity soft-plastics.

Since Jacob is OCD about the deets, had to find out what he was thinking on this bait so here we go:

> "...I cannot handle doing another 'me-too' scenario. My mindset is always, How can I do something better? Or can I invent something unique and different that makes me more efficient on the water?

> "Growing up in IN I've thrown a lot of different creature baits. And one thing that I've always had an issue with is the appendages would not move at slow speeds, especially the back end. 1/8, 3/16 oz weights on a river system, not pegging your bait – there's not as much weight to make those appendages move.

> "...when you really look at these things in a pool and analyze stuff, a lot of these appendages don't do what they're supposed to do.

> "...my mindset is first I need to make this bait do what I need it to do. I wanted it to...have a lot of different actions.... The back appendages will kick like they should, the side [reversed] appendages quiver – like the Bronco Bug and Cleanup Craw, but a little bit larger in size so they have a little more action...a little more resistance to impart....

> "...there's times I do not want all of the appendages on – times when I'm flipping in heavier cover I literally rip off the top appendages because I want it to slide in and out of cover better. If I'm flipping cedar trees or pines, I need the bait to go through the cover a little more efficiently. Punching is when I take those front 2 appendages off so it is as slender as possible.

> "The next thing is hookup ratio. It's a thin-enough profile bait that I use a traditional VMC Worm Hook – 2/0 or 3/0 when I'm Carolina-rigging with that bait – but I'm also able to use a 3/0 flipping hook on that as well. So it's what applications and what hooks will I use for this, and what will bass fishermen look to use it for.

> "The raised ribs that the Cleanup Craw, Bronco Bug and Hedgehog have give you an opportunity to Texpose your bait for a really good hookup ratio.

> "From a river fisherman to a heavy-cover fisherman to a dragger and a shakey head, I wanted this bait to do everything...."

Why did you pick that length (4")?

> "I wanted something that was a good size that could be used for smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. A Baby Brush Hog [which is 4"] would obviously come to mind – it's just a good profile.

> "I wanted to where I could use it all over the country...a profile that works in a lot of different situations.

> "I didn't design this bait make it super-durable. I made it to be as efficient as possible and the hookup ratio is the #1 priority. Can you catch multiple fish on it? Absolutely. But it came down to hookup ratio...when money's on the line.

> "The clamshell aspect of this bait is truly one of the most important parts – that helps the consistency of the kicking action. Having the baits not kinked up, the appendages not messed up, you get the best action out of every CrushCity bait when you pull it out of the package."

Why do you have so many 2-tone colors?

> "It's just personal preference. They're just colors I personally love in that profile.

> "'California craw' or b/b gp – those 2 right there I like when the water's not muddy but not clean, that foot and a half visibility. ...I want something to contrast. And honestly that's a lot of the water color around the country at some point in time throughout the year – a little bit of stain to the water.

> "I just think it adds more presence...more contrast and more realistic. A crawfish has a dark back and lighter belly, a shad, bluegill – they're not just all 1 seamless color. Contast is important...."

Asked him to give 2 hooks for 2 Hedgehog applications:

> 2/0 VMC RedLine Worm Hook – "I use that in a Carolina rig. Why I use a 2/0 is I want that bait to sort of linger and swim around – not float, but hang and slowly descend to the bottom....

> 3/0 VMC RedLine Straight Shank Hook – That's the hook I use whenever I'm punching. The fish see a lot of Beaver profiles punching, but I can go behind people [with the Hedgehog]. ...flipping – heavier-cover situations."

He did say you can use an EWG with this bait but personally he doesn't use 'em much at all.

- You're thinking yeah I know that, but that's Brandon Palaniuk talkin' fishing JERKBAITS in CLEAR WATER. From an outrageously long, detailed 'n good post on the Bassin'masters. Believe he's found this stuff out through FFS.

That's a closeup from this:

98.8 meters is 324' and that surface water temp = 57 degrees.

Hey Hack, don't book your ticket out there til we talk! 😆

Semi-random: Here's what sonar looked like in 2018:

1. We lost FOM's Ron Duffy

Ron was a Fishers of Men member for over 20 years, a former division director, division chaplain and national chaplain. Service will be tomorrow at 2pm at Ridgecrest Baptist Church (I think in NC). Bless you bassin' brother. ✝️🙏

2. US 4th, Canada 7th at Bass World Championship

Went down in Italy. I'm a little shocked, but stoked for our Euro bass bros who must be over the dang moon beating the hammers. Here's more about the US and more about Canada, which had no tour pros on the team.

3. Kevin VanDam is on the Unified Pros board

The board of retired pro athletes for that state of AL-sponsored Ultimate Championship deal. Check this: for all the other board members it says they're retired. But they did not use that "R" word for KVD...🤔

4. Here's your '25 Opens schedule

Division 1


Clarks Hill, GA – Jan 23-25


Tombigbee River, MS – Apr 16-18


Upper Chesapeake, MD – Jul 23-25


St Lawrence River, NY – Jul 31-Aug 2

Division 2


Sam Rayburn, TX – Feb 13-15

Kentucky/Barkley, TN – Mar 6-8


Norfork Lake, AR – Apr 3-5


Leech Lake, MN – Aug 14-16 [aka the Fothergill Christmas Fund Derby lol!]

If you fish Div 2 but bulk up and get faster you might be able to fish D1...lol. Hey B.A.S.S. – name the divisions! Per Brian the Carpenter's idea – it's a good'n!

B.A.S.S. says the Opens are "enhanced" and "diverse." 🤔

5. NPFL announced a '25 partial schedule

Looks like the only things not final are the location of the Jul 31–Aug 2 tourney and the dates for the Hartwell Champeeship.

Looking forward to seeing who's fishing 'em next year.

6. AL Bass Trail Championship on Lay won junk-fishing

Sounds like the 2-day weight was just 31.43? Won by locals Nicholas Turner and Joe LAY – was the lake named after his family??

> They used a variety of baits, including soft plastics, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and trick worms....

> "This lake has lots of timber in it. The lake is up a little right now and you can not see the timber above the surface, and the only way to learn it is to just go fishing. The guys that do that will learn there are sweet spots in the timber and can be very productive."

7. LA: Flukemaster won a yak tourney without a Fluke

Flukemaster, aka Gene "splicing" Jensen, won the Bassmaster yak derby there with a Nichols Pulsator Spinnerbait with white willows. Not a white Fluke Gene?? 😁 Congrats to him.

8. New Alpha Angler Rebound 2.0 Rod

7' MH Mod F. Alpha says it's the lightest glass crankbait rod in the history of the world, has Alpha's "Low Drag" guide system, increased sensitivity, custom reel seat, trimmed threads.

If people love it, it was designed by Brandon Palaniuk. If not so much, it was designed by Alpha head man Jake Boomer...😆 Just messin' fellers!

9. Check the new Gambler Live Rocker Jighead

> ...hybrid jig designed by Mikeybalzz Fishing...in 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 and 3/8 oz sizes [unpainted and shad].

> ...offers...the ability to mid-stroll a jig and minnow and the capability to drop the bait to the bottom for a subtle stand-up Ned-like presentation.

It's on TW here.

10. TN DNR wants folks to stay off Douglas

A lot of debris from Helene.

11. 200 hp motor with that $$$ Sharrow prop...

Yamaha 200 on a Grady White 208 Adventure salty boat was "9.6 mph faster at 3,000 RPMs" with "improved fuel economy at all speeds." Bass Cat might want to have it as an option for those 400-hp rigs!

12. TN: Could overdevelopment dry up the Duck River?

Sounds like it's happening to this smallmouth river – utilities and developers getting permits for its water, local hearings, etc.

13. Garmin bought boating lights co Lumishore

Headline of the Day

'Illegal fishing den' found with rod in water and pint of beer on Coventry canal

- Lol amazing the things that get peeps stirred up in England.

Line of the Day

Big Bass Halloween 2...dives deeper into the murky waters with its Halloween-themed symbols such as infected bugs, dead bass, and eerie chainsaws.

- Talkin' some kind of casino game.

Doing the original bait shake

Terry Scroggins in an older Bassmaster deal:

> When bass forage on shad in the backs of creeks, Scroggins skips a shakey head worm to stumps and underneath docks to the pilings in shallow water. He favors a 1/8-oz shakey jighead...because it skips well....

> When fishing the shallows around cypress trees he sometimes scales down to a 1/16-oz head. "You want a shakey head just heavy enough to get down to the bottom. If you're fishing in 6 or 7 feet of water, you don't want a 1/4-oz shakey head. You want a 1/16- or 1/8-oz head."

"The fish fought so hard. I was thinking, is this real life?"

- Susquehanna River fishing guide Joe Raymond talkin' 'bout the insane 7-lb smallmouth he caught there recently. Joe, hate to tell you this man but no, it wasn't real! 🤣 Congrats man! I only hope I get that feeling one day....

Okay who's throwing this color? @yuniquebaits 8" bait in the color "purple crystal":

Woman pleads guilty to trying to smuggle 29 turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak

> The agents searched her heavy duffle bag and found 29 live eastern box turtles individually wrapped in socks, the affidavit states. Eastern box turtles are known to be sold on the Chinese black market for $1,000 each....

Dang!

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