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What up! Been watching more stuff on YouTube than I ever have. Turned into kinda a deep dive. Some stuff is really good, some not, view count doesn’t always match up – couple things I got from it:
1. How many DIEHARD bass-heads are in the US? Always the mil-$ question in the biz because there’s no way to tell for sure. Here’s 1 data point I found innerestin’: Zona fishing with KVD has 3.6 mil unique views. It’s on the Bassmaster channel. Bassmaster doesn’t have near that many members and both those guys are known for the tourney scene so I gotta assume fans of that scene are most of who watched. Either way a solid number. Like I said, innerestin’.
2. The 2 jobs on YT I am diggin’ are this Stonnie Dennis dude who trains Labs in KY, and folks who get to shoot iguanas in FL with air rifles. I mean, what could be more fun than hanging out with Labs all day or getting paid to shoot ugly invasive lizards…besides bassin’ I mean. Would love to be a pro bass fisherman but I couldn’t even beat myself in a 1-on-1 derb so….
If we don’t have an iguana topwater yet, only a matter of time…. |
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Today’s Top 5
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“Grandma was better than your average bass fisherman.”
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– On Em “Matt” Robertson talkin’ ’bout his where he gets his feeshn talent from I guess. Pretty dang cool:
> …fished his first tournament at 11…a Lake Malone Bass Club event on Kentucky Lake in early March. His partner was Grandma Dossett…. “The high temperature that day was 35 degrees The 20-mph winds kept us in the bays.”
Wow man how cool is that!
Whole granny topic reminded me of this pic: |
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What John Cox found out about braid.
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> The 2 most common categories are 4-carrier and 8-carrier braids. 4-carrier braid is made with 4 strands woven together, and 8-carrier is made with 8 strands. Berkley…released X5 Braided Line and X9 Braided Line, with 4 and 8 strands…wrapped around a central fiber….
> Generally, the more strands, the rounder and smoother the resulting braided line, which is great for long casts and techniques where a more supple line is important. In other words, not punching.
> “Berkley’s X5, which has 4 strands wrapped around 1, is thinner in diameter and more sensitive to me than an 8-carrier, or something that’s smoother. It’s not as smooth as an 8. It’s a little more rigid, but it feels like it has a lot more cutting power. It seems like when that fish moves it actually cuts a lot better through the vegetation. It’ll open up more, and the fish will come out, and you can get it.
> “…a slick 8-carrier. That smoother line doesn’t cut. It won’t be able to rip through it.”
> Cox believes the braid with fewer strands is more sensitive, which is much more critical when punching…. “You’ll feel stuff under that mat. Bass do this thing where they’ll come up with their mouth closed and brush the bait, almost not wanting to eat it, but to come up and see what it is. You’ll feel that with the 4-carrier and not with the 8. It’s night-and-day to me.”
> Cox adjusts line size based on the weight he’s using: 40-lb for a 1/2- or 3/4-oz weight, 50-lb for a 1-oz weight, and 65-lb test for a 1 1/4- to 2-oz weight. “The smaller the braid you can get away with, the better the cutting power you have.”
How interesting is that man wow. I guess fishing 380 days a year and 7 tourney trails gives you that kinda insight…. Btw his fave punch plastics are a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Creature Hawg and Berkley PowerBait Chigger Bug on a 3/0 Berkley Fusion19 Heavy Cover Hook.
Also gotta include that John uses an Abu Garcia REVO X Inshore Reel (7.3). Here’s that post, worth a read.
He also started an online petition to have an 8-day week so he can fish 8 days a week…. |
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Lipless ‘n punch fest at the Toho, FL ‘Yota.
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Sounds like it was a little chilly when MD’s Bryan Schmitt won by 8 lbs with 66-10 over 3 days. How he caught his fish:
> …a long, narrow vein of grass that ran out across a vast flat of bare sand and shell in about 6’…thin strip of hydrilla was about 1/4 of a mile long and terminated into a huge and shallower grass bed….
> “The band of grass grew up about 2-3′ off the bottom and it was clumpy the whole way. When I first found it in practice, I knew fish had to relate to it in some way. I graphed the entire length of that narrow strip several times and finally found the motherlode where the strip ran into the shallow grass flat.”
> …he figured that when the cold front hit in practice and the water dropped into the high 50s, many of the bass that had been up in the shallow flat funneled out to deeper water using the thin strip as a travel route to more stability.
He mostly fished a 3/4-oz SPRO Aruku Shad 75 (“wild shiner”). When the fish wouldn’t get it, he dropped a Neko-rigged Missile Quiver Worm (junebug) on a Hayabusa Weedless Spin Muscle Wacky Hook (does not have a spinner). Here’s what the full top 10 used:
Lipless crank = 60% – Aruku Shad, 6th Sense Quake, Yo-Zuri Rattl’n Vibe (silver/black back – gizzard shad?), 13 Fishing Magic Man Single Pitch, XCalibur XR50 (gold/black = same bait as the BOOYAH Hard Knocker)
Punch rig = 60%
Texas rig worm = 30%
Vibrating jig = 20% — JackHammer (10%)
10% each = Neko rig, Jerkbait
Shout-outs:
1. Chad Morgenthaler finished 15th.
2. I think the most often-mentioned soft-plastic was Missile. |
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Guess what was key in his win – rhymes with “jive rope.”
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Surprised? What Bryan Schmitt be sayin’:
> “The benefit of that LiveScope in grass is unreal. First of all, you can see the actual grass out there before you get to it – that alone is huge. Normally you’re trying to see it with your eyes or get on it with your graph and you get too close. Staying way back and making casts to it is a big advantage.
> “Second, you know where to spend more time making casts, because you can see the fish. Finally, you can see how fish react to your lures.”
> …guesses that he saw about 70% of the fish he caught on LiveScope before casting to them. On several occasions when he saw fish…close to the boat, he pitched the Aruku Shad to the fish, let sink, ripped it up and watched the fish annihilate it on his screen.
> He also watched fish take a swipe at the rattle bait on the screen but never touch it. When that happened, he would resort to a couple of back-up lures….
Bob was like: |
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How to take off your sunglasses…the hard way.
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Guy behind the wheel didn’t slow down so I’m guessin’ he had a full box o’ feesh lol! Sounds like the dude’s are okay but is down 1 pair of Costas….
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News
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Delayed MLF deal on Lake Winnebago, WI. Interesting pattern info – and another MaxScent plastic win:
> …wacky-rigged 4″ Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General. All of his bites in the period came off of 3 docks near the main lake. “It was a very specific pattern – it had to be docks that were on a point. It had to have clean water, with a rocky bottom – not sand – and fairly clean with not a lot of grass around.
> “…48 miles of shoreline and more than 23,000 acres of water…. I fished every possible scenario where there would be a bass and I caught all of my fish off of just 5 docks.
> “Everything I caught came on that Berkley General. I would have liked to catch them on a spinnerbait or with a vibrating jig, but it just wasn’t working for me. I learned early in the day I had to slow way down and just let that worm soak.”
> Evers is now tied with 2 other anglers for the most Cup wins in MLF history with 3: Kevin VanDam and Jacob Wheeler.
2. Interesting Jeff Sprague comment about ScoreTracker.
> Through much of the day he prefers nothing more than the mandated 15-min updates. However, early in the day he wants more updates so he knows when the bite starts around the lake.
3. Matt Herren ready to go after recovering from shoulder surgery.
He also said he’ll no longer fish jigs or Beavers.
Kidding man hahaha!
4. Bill Lowen going into ’22 IN Sports Hall of Fame.
Word is it’s for catching a limit of fish 2 DAYS IN A ROW on the OH River. Kidding, congrats man!
5. Kelly Jordon got dropshot lessons from Klein and Davis.
Gary and Mark told me they had him fishing with a 1-oz weight and a wacky-rigged creature bait…for 3 straight days….
Just messin’
6. MLFLW pro Casey Scanlon gets Wholesale Batteries.
No link 🙁
> Wholesale Batteries in partnership with Ozark Batteries…. Wholesale Batteries is a full-line battery distributor that has served the Midwest since 1977. Ozark Batteries, located in Casey’s home region….
Is it me or does it seem like lots of battery folks are getting reeeeal innerested in bassin’?
7. AL: Logan Martin got 80 new fish attractors.
8. WV now also concerned about spotted bass spread.
Like VA, which I think is east of WV (lol).
9. LA: Bundick lake got 1,200 FL bass.
10. MN wants to ban all lead tackle due to bird deaths.
Okay but they say they’re pushing for “environmental justice measures” and:
> As part of the 3-year campaign, they are passing out lead-free fishing tackle in schools, as prizes at fishing tournaments and at a handful of government waste collection sites.
> “We have a really great opportunity to get them started on the right foot and to really embrace a stewardship ethic that encourages them to go lead-free from the beginning.”
Can’t peeps just stick to the 3 Rs at schools or what?
11. KY: North Laurel HSer signs with Campbellsville U.
Congrats!
12. MO: New marina coming to Fellow Lake.
Little lake north of Springfield.
13. John Mazurkiewicz no longer working with Shimano.
Wow end of a 30-yr run. Mazurk is good people, some other peeps will benefit from his services no doubt.
14. Europe peeps know what TX rigs and Carolina rigs are now?
Use ’em for perch?? Sounds like artificials are being used more over there….
15. Europe looking at lead sinker ban.
Says 127 mil birds at risk, which sounds overblown, but a different deal sinker-wise over there:
> …called for an immediate ban on the use of lead sinkers when they are deliberately dropped to the waterbed – a technique commonly known as lead drop-off and popular with carp anglers.
16. Johnson Outdoors fiscal Q1 way up.
Nov-Jan:
> Total company operating profit was $23.6 million…vs $6.8 million in the prior year 1st quarter.
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Headline of the Day
Fishing’s Gotta Be The Worst Part Of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
That’s weird cuz I was gonna say Assassin’s Creed is the worst part of bass fishing…?
Line of the Day
> “A crappie jig is really a great way to catch crappie.”
– Brent Chapman talkin’ in his new crappie vid about crappie fishin’ with crappie jigs for catching crappie around crappie structure for crappie meals.
Brent’s next vid will be called, you guessed it: “A bass jig is a great way to catch bass.”
HAHAHA just messin’ Brent! |
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PSAs
Baits I called out at “ICAST” are showing up on TW – no particular order:
Norman Speed N crankbait – Might end up being a must-have.
VMC MTJ Moon Tail Jig – Head shape supposed to give it a faster drop.
Storm Arashi Swimmer – Does Brandon Palaniuk know swimbaits?
Z-Man Pro Crawz – Bigger size of the TRD Crawz.
Strike King Rage Ned Craw – Smaller Rage Craw with a French fry-ish body.
Also:
SeaFoam Motor Treatment is on sale.
10,000 Fish Yoto Worm – Maybe a way to try out the ribbed grub/worm deal that’s been real big in Japan.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now…
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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.
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Tip of the Day
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3 Texas-rig tips.
Yep, the ol’ TX rig you’ve rigged up 100K times in your life. I was like, Can I find anything we don’t already know? Still not sure but here’s a few innerestin’ little deals:
1. Matt Allen from Tickle Tactics Bassin’ uses an EWG hook almost all the time because he goes through fewer baits thataway (YT vid).
> If you fish a lot, that makes a big difference.
Says the hook angle/hookup ratio kinda hurts him tho vs a straight-shank hook.
2. Tackle Warehouse head-slapper for me:
> …in muddy or stained water, adding sound can be a real advantage and the Brass n’ Glass weight system can really help.
> Do not peg the weight so that both pieces can slide up and down the line. Make sure the eye of the hook is just exposed from the nose of the worm to give a hard place for the rig to strike against instead of the soft nose of the worm which will just dampen any sound produced.
3. Flukemaster “Gene” Jensen talks about (YT vid) TX-rigging a Fluke (of course) and making it swim/jump off the bottom rather than dragging it like with a worm. I’ve honestly never thought one time about TX-rigging a Fluke…. |
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Quotes of the Day
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“I found the experience counter to the reasons I fish, which include relaxation and a reprieve from the hustle of everyday life.”
– Dude talkin’ ’bout fishing a tourney. Guessin’ he didn’t win or even come close? |
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That pic doesn’t look like Denny Brauer but it sounds like him…lol Denny!
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Shot of the Day
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Not real sure what’s going on here but I’m pretty sure Brandon Palaniuk is gonna fall off the boat in a sec:
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Random
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Bahahahahahahahaaaaaa! That cracked me up…. |
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Ya got me!
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Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best and funniest (sometimes worst) stuff in bassin’, picked 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’!
Check out BassGold.com! (It’s FREE!)
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Use the best stuff mang!
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