Couple quick deals:

1. Because next week is the Greatest Bassin' Show on Earth, only gonna be able to do one Blaster. If you're in Ft Worth and see me snoopin' around, say hey!

2. Been fighting this low-level deal for a little bit. I think I finally figured out the cause: My wife has been slipping me CHICKEN breakfast sausage. I was like, "Hon, the chicken part of breakfast is the eggs. And the chickens are cool with that. Plus there's nothing about chicken sausage in the Bible so...." 😆 Pretty sure she didn't listen but I made my points!

We have a "no turkey sausage" rule in our house which I guess she's trying to get around.

Hopefully you're eating better than I am and catching some too – let's go!

Pre-spawn, no FFS, a big-fish lake – I'm sure all the NPFL guys were drooling before this one, Jason included. Looked like it was setting up great for some guys, but would it stay that way? Answer was yes, at least up-lake where Jason was fishing. Here's how it went for him – shortened a little from the full deal on the BB site.

Going in and practice

> "...really only a day and a half of practice coming off of Okeechobee. ...I was extremely tired and did go out on the lake [for that half a day], but...it just wasn't worth anything.

> "...I started on the lower lake and got some bites, but what didn't excited me was the water temperature. It'd been cold and the water temp was in the mid-50s. I was scared those fish would leave even if I did find them during the tournament...they would be going to the bank to spawn.

> "The next day I went to the upper lake and the water was actually a little bit colder – it surprised me. I got a few bites and thought it'd be best with only a day of practice not to make a long run and to stay in the colder water. Because...I felt like those fish would last throughout the event.

> "There were also some talks about canceling the first day [day 1 did get postponed – meaning those colder-water fish should stay put longer if that happened].

> "...I don't think I ever made a cast in that full day of practice with anything other than a spinnerbait. I wanted to flip a jig, but I didn't feel like I could cover [enough] water....

> "I got a few bites in an area and that was my decision. 1 day of practice, stay in the upper lake and just fish. I'd figure it out as the tournament went."

Tournament

> "It wasn't like they were biting fast and furious. I had to cover water.... I never threw anything but a spinnerbait, ever.

> "The first day I did have a couple stretches in practice where I had multiple bites so obviously I started in those areas. I think I caught a couple. Mid-morning I was kinda out of stuff I'd fished so I just started running stuff.

> "I remember at 11:55 I just had 1 fish. I knew the afternoon would be the most productive...but I felt like I had to have 3 by noon. At 11:55 I caught my second fish, 5 minutes later I lost a 10-lber and by 1:00 I had my weight.

> "I left that area and went looking for some other stuff to gain confidence...for day 2. Really day 1 was just about a sweet stretch in the middle of the day.

> "Day 2 I started on the productive stretch – it was a struggle. Day 1 I had about a dozen bites, day 2 was a struggle. I think it had to do with the direction of the wind and how hard it was blowing. Those fish just really never got set up.

> "I had 12-13 lbs with less than an hour to go, then I catch a 6- or 7-lber and it puts me up at 19. 19 lbs is not a struggle anywhere else, but on Santee that's a struggle.

> "I learned a lot that day...you're probably not gonna be able to repeat anything...have to mix in some new stuff on the 3rd day.

> "Going into the third day on Santee, my thinking was I had to catch 25 to have a chance to win. I knew it was possible because the first day I had 38-39 lbs on.

> "I started on my productive stretch...caught a couple 5-lbers and finished out a limit really quick. Then it was like had been all w eek – 2-3 hours without a bite.

> "About noon...it's time for me to just fish new stuff. I literally put the trolling motor down and took off down the bank. I was about to [move] and caught a 4.5-lb female off a tree. Then the next tree I caught a 3-lb female.

> "I kept on going, 1/4 or 1/2 mile...hadn't had a bite. So I go back [to those trees], make the same cast and catch an 8-lber. ...I have like 25 lbs and I figured at least with that I should hold my position. I needed a couple of big bites.

> "I had about an hour left and wanted to hang around those trees to see if another female would come up. I made the decision that it was best to keep fishing new stuff. I ran to somewhere I hadn't been that looked good, the wind was right, and I caught a 9-lber in the last 30 minutes to cull a 2-2.5 lber.

> "It was just one of those events fishing what was in front of me. I did repeat some stuff but that was rarely productive.

> "I think 1 day pf practice is the reason of I won. If I had multiple areas, I would've spent the whole day hunting...instead of just fishing. My trolling motor was in the water 99% of the day, just covering water."

His areas

> "The first day I caught 'em really shallow...the 3rd day I caught them deep (4-6'). It all had to do with spawning areas. In my opinion, Santee is nothing but a spawning area.

> "If I wasn't fishing a spawning area, I wanted a spawning area in sight. My thinking is they were coming up, and I wanted to be there when they got there. A lot of the big fish I caught were snow white. I really felt like they hadn't been there 10 minutes when my spinnerbait come by."

Baits

> 1/2-oz BOOYAH Covert Series Single Colorado Spinnerbait (chart/white/blue and when it was cloudy chart/blue with a red head) with a white trailer.

> 22-lb Sunline Power 2C FC – "That's the color-banded fluoro and was extremely important because of the water color. In pracitce I still had [Sunline] Shooter on but couldn't see my line. It blended in with the water color. Some of the bites in the morning would be subtle, and with Power 2C I could see it [and] could walk my bait through the trees.

> Seeing spinnerbait bites with that line: "In the mornings...some were in the 20s [air temp] and some of the bites would be so subtle. They would engulf the bait so it was subtle. It was hard to feel it – your hands are cold, the wind is blowing, it's hard to feel those baits. Also casting into those trees you can see it better. It helps in a lot of ways.

> "Whenever I tie it on, I cut [that line] right at the top of the orange so I have 3.5' of clear above my bait."

> 6' 10" Falcon Cara Head Turner Rod, SPRO Jason Christie Elite MG Reel (5.6:1).

> "That [gear ratio] was as important as the bait. [Other than his super-shallow day 1 bite] they wanted the bait out of sight. When the tournament's on the line, $100K, and you're not getting a lot of bites, the tendency is to move quicker. I needed to force myself to keep that bait down there. The slower retrieve [ratio of that reel] helped with that.

> "Also those fish on Santee are the meanest...and they're big. That 5.6 gives me the most power...like a low-geared truck. The high speeds give you a lot of speed but you lose power. A 5.6, it's just like winding a big crankbait...it doesn't work you to death because you have more power to crank that plug. It's the same way with the fish – it gives you more power, more leverage."

Electronics

He is all Garmin:

> "I don't want to get into details because we will have another tournament there, but I feel like the last day I put some pieces together. ...being able to recognize subtleties on the map, and also with not having LiveScope on the front I chose to use side view – I have that on my trolling motor.

> "I was able to see a lot of the structure out there – rocks, which trees have roots and which are slick. So it absolutely did play.

> "The mapping, especially with 1 day of practice and thousands of trees that all look the same – you have to be able to use the mapping to figure out where you've gotten bites and what you want to look for next."

Hahaha you know he is! He just proved it again! Let's go:

1. When you get into a tournament and you see everything lining up for your favorite way to fish, do you just want to burst out laughing? I mean, is it like Santa comes to your house in a helicopter and shoves everything on your list out onto the lawn??

> "[Laughs] No, laughter wouldn't be the way I would describe it. I would say more excitement.

> "To get up and go fishing every day is fun. I take nothing for granted, but whenever it's pre-spawn big fish time, my alarm doesn't even have to go off. I jump out of bed, I'm the first one at the boat ramp, I'm excited to get out there because I know under those conditions I feel comfortable and want to be out there.

> "It's just a fun time. It's like the same feeling as the first week of Nov in deer season – you want to be out in the woods."

2. Are you surprised at how many bass fishermen are completely stoked that you went out and won a tournament on a spinnerbait?

> "Well I did a couple shows this winter, and one of the Qs that seemed to pop up a lot was, 'Why don't you throw a spinnerbait all the time?' ...20 or 30 years ago, we didn't have a lot of options...now we have a lot of options – better baits for different situations.

> "...whenever the conditions line up – pre-spawn, colder water, off-colored water, wind and especially big fish – there's just not a better bait, in my opinion.

> "...I'm kinda known as the spinnerbait guy...I've won a lot of tournaments on a lot of other baits. [The ones he did win on a spinnerbait] – even the close calls – they all have the same conditions: pre-spawn, big fish, dirty water.

> "The other time when a spinnerbait is awesome is in the fall, and we just don't fish tournaments in the fall.

> "I don't really know what to say about everybody being stoked. The best thing for me about the event is I've never won a slugfest. I'm always a 60-75 lbs guy over 4 days, so to win a slugfest and on a bait that I designed...that's what's special. And to catch some freakin' big ones, that was a lot of fun."

3. Why are so many good spinnerbait fishermen from OK? Is it something dirty in the water? 😁

> "[Laughs] I think yeah it's just the lakes we learn on. Eufaula – that lake is 95% muddy, and then Grand Lake and the AR River. Those are just spinnerbait lakes. I think it's just kinda in our blood out here.

> "We've got guys like Jimmy Houston and guys like that from OK that a lot of us watched when we were younger – we probably picked up some of that and gained some confidence in that.

> "But I would say mostly it's just the water we have here."

4. Did you use that BOOYAH Covert Heat Map you helped design to pick your baits or did you kinda figure that out on your own? 😁

> "I'm not gonna say that I used it, but I built it so it's not like I have to refer to it. If you go to that heat map right now and you see 50-55 degree water, which is what I was fishing, and you select the water visibility, I promise you it's gonna give you 2 choices – and those 2 choices are what I threw. It's as simple as that.

> "That heat map is ridiculously accurate when it comes to water temperature and water clarity and which spinnerbaits I throw. You can look at that heat map and it will give you the right bait, blade combinations, colors, everything."

5. Why are you fishing the NPFLs?

> "So in 2013 I fished FLW and B.A.S.S. and that was my best year ever. I think I won 3 events and was extremely tired but I was focused. After the mediocre performance last year, I wanted to fish more. I wanted to fish more and I wanted to fish $100,000 events.

> "...I'm a LiveScope guy. I won with it, with PanOptics – I won the Classic with it. I think fishing the NPFL will make me a better LiveScoper. I know that sounds weird. It will let me make that decision quicker – do I need to be on the bank our out in the middle.

> "Over the last few years, my fishing has changed. I think everybody's has with LiveScope. On the Elite Series, we only have 3 days of practice...I'm torn between do I go out and Scope brushpiles or groups of fish, or do I go to the bank. I feel like fishing the NPFL, I'm gonna be getting really dialed into the bank. So if I do need to go to the bank...I'm going to be able to do that quicker and more efficiently than I have in the last few years.

> "I've spent a lot of time working on LiveScope and have kinda gotten away from the bank a little bit. The NPFL gets me back to being versatile. It'll make my bank game sharp again. It's gonna give me more confidence...."

Just a few Qs with the blade Jedi master:

1. Why do you say that single-CO spinnerbait is a big-fish bait?

> "I think for anybody it goes down to confidence. I'll just throw Greg Hackney in there. Probably in the same conditions he'll throw a jig because he has 100% confidence in that bait. [A spinnerbait is] what I have confidence in.

> "My thinking is in these pre-spawn events, a lot of these big fish have been out off the bank for a while. When they come to the bank, they're mad. They want to eat something, do their business and get out. I think that big [Colorado] blade just makes them mad and gets their attention.

> "I feel like their strike zone in the pre-spawn is 10' wide. After the spawn the strike zone gets small and they get picky. So if you get their attention in the pre-spawn they're going to bite.

> "But the main thing is confidence. I have a lot of confidence in that bait under those conditions. I wouldn't want to throw it in gin-clear water like it was on the lower lake [at Santee]."

2. Spinnerbaits, maybe wrongly, aren't known as being the most technical bait to fish and yet you dominate with them in the right conditions. What do you do differently than anyone else?

> "I'll answer that with a story. When I checked in the last day, Patrick Walters was next to me. He asked me what I had, I told him – he asked me what I caught 'em on and I said, "A spinnerbait." [Patrick said] he threw it for a couple hours and didn't get a bite [so he put it down].

> "If I'm gonna throw it, I'm gonna throw it all day long. It's kinda like a frog...peaks and valleys throughout the day... If I've got it in my hand, I'm gonna throw it all day because I only need 5 of the right fish to bite it.

> "When you have a lot of confidence in it, your eyeballs are glued to it, you put action to the bait in the right places.... Understanding and confidence. It's as simple as that – I put it in my hand...and very seldom do I lay it down."

3. Why is it always a single CO blade for you in the early spring and when do you change to a 2-blader?

> "When I won at the Sabine [the Apr 2021 Elite] it was a 2-blader. ...some fish had already spawned, but the fish I was fishing for were pre-spawn because of the water temperature where I was. So I would say water clarity.

> "If the water was clearer [at Santee] – if I could see a foot, 18 inches – I probably would have been throwing a tandem CO. But the water I was fishing was 6 inches of water clarity. That limits that fish's visibility so I have to make up for that. I want to tap on his lateral line and that's what that single CO does.

> "When it goes by 3' out there and he can't see it but he can feel it, he's gonna come find it. It's kinda the same as fishing at night, in that dirty water."

Japan's Yui Aoki won this one by 1.5 lbs over IL's Ethan Fields. How Yui caught 'em:

> He used a variety of swimbaits...in white or smoke colors to mimic the threadfin shad...key lures included a Dstyle Virola Tail Swimbait 145 [top below] and a Dstyle Virola 4 or 5 rigged with a 3.5-gr jighead.

Here's a breakdown of what the Top 10 finishers fished – bearing in mind that over the last few years the Opens have been very FFS intense:

Jighead minnow = 70%

Soft swimbait = 30% – winning bait, Berkley CullShad, Keitech Fat

Jerkbait = 30% – Jackall Rerange 110, Megabass Vision 110 20%

Bladed jig = 30% – all were Z-Man ChatterBaits of some kind

Crankbait = 30% – all flatsides – Strike King Chick Magnet, Berkley Frittside, Evergreen Flat Force 4

10% each = Hair jig, Lipless crank (Berkley Jack)

Shoutouts

1. The one 'n only On Em Robertson got 3rd:

2. Randy Howell's son Laker got 7th. Fyi just like his dad, Laker is as quiet and shy as a church mouse. 🤣

3. Sonar "Miles" Burghoff finished 10th.

Posted by WON, CA's Gary Collins of GCJ Custom Baits caught that 15.92-lb ditchmongosaurus with a 12" prototype swimbait that I believe he made. He thinks the 17.5-lb Clear Lake record is fixing to be broken someday soonish...on a big swimbait.

Also at a derby there last weekend, 1st and 2nd had 30+ and 8th was 25+.

1. Zaldains kinda hosting kids benefit craw feast on MONDAY

Benefits St Jude and Cook Children's Health Care. Sounds Zaldaingerous so be careful...😁

2. New Academy Jacob Wheeler clothing line

Should be out Monday the 17th. Guess this means Jacob will also be using Ike's cloning machine...not enough of him to go around either!

3. Murray BPT FFS stats FYI

> ...day 1 FFS use accounted for 33.6% of the total weight. That number increased to 41.8% on day 2, 42.3% during the Knockout Round and...52.4% during the Championship Round.

Interesting.

4. Quick shoutouts from the Rayburn Toyota slugfest

Won by TX's Riley Harris with an A-rig, a Neko and swimbaits. Shoutouts:

Dylan Thompson, the guy who's on those unusual Reneau jigheads, finished 3rd – and one of his baits was a Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow on that 1/16-oz Reneau Minnow Helmet Jighead.

Todd "me and Russ Cecil will take your money here in TX" Castledine got 4th.

New Elitist Dakota "fuzz" Ebare led it for a bit 'n finished 6th.

Lee "big baits + big fish = big money" Livesay got 7th fishing this stuff:

Said one giant came from the bottom in 10-14' and blasted his 6th Sense Draw glide bait 5' from his trolling motor. Insane! And...he already had more than 30 in the well.

5. Here's your Top 10 at the Santee "Claus" NPFL

Do you recognize any names:

1. Jason Christie 82-12

2. Corey Casey 73-0

3. Caleb Kuphall 73-0

4. Bill Lowen 71-12

5. Hank Cherry 71-3

6. Patrick Walters 71-0

7. Keith Bardolf 68-12

8. Greg Hackney 67-13

9. Buck Mallory 67-12

10. Buddy Gross 67-4

6. Gitcha Vexus demo rides at the Classic

VXs21, VXs20, AVX2100 and AVX1980 demo rides at "Arrow S Park" on Lake Worth, Mar 22 and 23, 8:00 til noon. Bring the wife so she'll fall in love with it too! 😁

Sign up on the Vexus homepage or in person at the Vexus booth (#2708) at the Classic Expo.

7. Check the new NetBait Prop Duster

This is all I have on it, looks like it's not out yet:

8. New, redesigned Plano StowAway boxes

Don't see them for sale anywhere yet but they should be soon. Saw and handled 'em in person, they are WAY better than the current StowAways – and Plano says they will cost exactly the same...amazing. Some highlights:

• One way more durable latch, and you can open it with one hand
• Latch has a big labeling area
• Extra-rigid lid like the Edge boxes
• Better dividers and divider system
• Stackable so they don't slide
• Available with and without a waterproof seal
• Chemical in the plastic helps prevent rust
• All made in the US of A

9. AR: FFS hasn't made much of a difference (sorta)

Small sample size but:

> "We did track one tournament series last winter that had 3 tournaments allowing live sonar and 3 that the technology was banned. The weights increased but only slightly.

> "Winning weights were an average of 3 lbs heavier and the average weight per bass caught was 0.5 lbs heavier, but the number of fish caught and number of 5-lb or larger fish was consistent between the tournaments.

> "Timing, location, weather and local conditions have so much impact on tournament weights that it's nearly impossible to make a blanket statement without a lot of data points to compare."

10. AR: Few bassin' lake updates

Millwood was #1 for tourneys (# of fish caught and weights), Beaver lake is getting better (flooded habitat), Bull Shoals is getting worse ("...too many high-water years in a row...too many mouths to feed and overall growth has slowed as a result").

Wasn't Millwood one of the Blues Brothers? 😁

11. VA: Weigh in on the smallie management proposals

You can do it thru mid-Apr here.

12. MN decides to lower perch limits in Mille Lacs

From 20 to 5 just thru Nov 30. First low walleye limits, now this – gotta wonder what that will do to the number of smallies kept.

13. ID: Brownlee ramps might be dry this spring

14. Great Lakes water levels lowest in a decade...sorta

> Lakes Michigan and Huron were 9" lower and Lake Superior is 6" lower than the historical average....

But:

> "Some of that evaporation is going to be immediately turned into snow and lake-effect precipitation, but that's not going to feed back into the lake until you get in the melting season."

Also Lake Erie had a higher than normal algal bloom last year.

15. DC: ASA says 60% of fishing stuff is imported from China?

2019 figure, talking about the new tariffs.

16. BRP's "undermounted" electric motors are less...fearful?

> ...diminishes the fear of injuries and tangled lines....

🤔

They also talk about carbon. Here's some US gov't stats on that – not saying they're accurate or worth anything, just fyi:

• Personal vehicles = 58% of CO2 emissions
• Commercial trucks and buses = 25%
• All the rest combined, (air rail, boats including commerical shipping and boats = 17%

Gonna guess based on that that outboard motors less than 1%. BRP used to make Evinrudes.

17. Keep an eye on...

MD: Charter captains and fishing assns file petition with US Supreme Court

Seeking to block the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's large reduction in the allowed striped bass take.

At some point I hope someone takes a hard, apolitical look (possible??) at everything in that Magnuson-Stevens Act.

CA: "Bio-based" solutions for aquatic nuisance species?

They don't say exactly what it means but it supposedly avoids the use of chemicals (manufactured chemicals?).

TW PSAs

1. Bulk Abu Jordan Lee rod 'n reel deals – save up to 60%

2. Donate your rods/reels and get up to a $150 credit on new

Scotty Suggs on FL vs northern-strain pre-spawners

Interesting tidbits from the MLF site:

> "I'm mainly catching northern-strain females on the bottom. I'm using a casting jig, which is something that I can fish through brush and grass with ease. I also like using a swimbait out deep....

> "In my experience, northern-strain largemouth stage themselves on long-running points and flatter areas right before they go into spawn. I'm looking for grass and brush as well.

> "A lot of these fish that I'm catching aren't going to spawn in 3' of water, they're going to do it in 8-10'. So I need to look for places that are going to hold those females in that deeper water.

> "If I'm on a lake that has a lot of grass and a lot of FL-strain largemouth in it, I'm looking for drains. Those FL largemouth migrate just a little bit different.... The fish use those drains as kind of a highway to migrate back into big spawning areas.

> "I like big flat areas that have drains and a lot of grass. The fish like to sit on the edge of that grass before heading to the drain.

> "I like using a Carolina rig [lizard] on places like Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend.... Both of those places are known for those big FL-strain females. I also like a 3/4-oz Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap for targeting that 10-20' foot range."

"A swimbait is not defined by its relationship to a gym shoe."

- Stumbled over that Byron Velvick quote in an older post by him about swimbaiting. Believe he's saying that swimbaits don't have to be big, but one never knows with Byron...😁

Okay I'm not into the ice deal – and not sure if this is ice or just a snowy bank – but dang lookit that one!! Posted by @zerostagram2020 from somewhere way out east:

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