BassBlaster

Crays have personalities? Line diameter = distance, More top Elite baits

Today’s Top 4

5 Qs with the points champ.

AOY Scott Canterbury o’ course — and the Qs are dead serious o’ course:

1. Since the highest you ever got in the points on the FLW Tour was 8th, can you say that the Elites are a bunch of wusses and deserved to get a beat-down from you this year? (Heehee!)

> “Most definitely not. I think it was a super-humbling field. I had some really good years at FLW and had been in the hunt for [AOY] with couple tournaments left…[then] had a bomb. You just can’t do that.

> “There’s no wusses out here on this trail. They’re all a bunch of hungry guys, and I think it made me step up my fishing a little more. I just had a lot of things that went my way this year too.”

2. With 5 top 12 finishes in 9 tourneys, can you explain that 49th at Fork — were you even trying in that one? Did you check in early??

> “No I didn’t check in early [laughs]. Guntersville and Lake Fork were the 2 I looked forward to the most because I’d been to them before and had preconceived notions on how I was going to catch them. But I tried to force it, and you can’t do that.

> “Over half [the Elite lakes] I’d never been to, so I had to fish what they looked like that week. I fished the moment and it seemed to work out better that way. Like at Winyah — day 2 I struggled so bad…I caught 7 lbs…. Day 3 I just went fishing up the river and caught 17 lbs….”

3. How many times did you think about gang-tackling Zaldain and shaving his mustache?

> “[Lol] that’s pretty good! None! He had that mustache going and he had his vibe going — he called it the smallmouth mustache. He had one of the best years anyone could ever have. I looked to see how in the world he didn’t win AOY…he had one of those bombs. But he had an outstanding year for sure.”

4. What kind of food disgusts you the most?

> “Anything with mayonnaise on it, or cream cheese. I don’t eat much that’s got white stuff on it. The only thing white I eat is whipped cream.”

5. Okay then what’s your favorite kind of donut?

> “I don’t eat a whole lot of sweets. I stayed with Jay Yelas [on tour], and we stopped at Krispy Kreme, which is my favorite. I had a Reese’s peanut butter donut and it was the best I’ve ever had…peanut butter-flavored and chocolate icing. It was unbelievable. I had 2 — wish I’d have gotten 4.”

Love it! Nice influence Yelas…lol. Couple actually serious Qs:

Were you nervous at any point about the points race?

> “I’m sure I was, but not like I have been in the past. …halfway through the season I knew I had a chance at it. It felt weird — I felt at peace with it all year. Even during the final tournament I felt at peace with it.

> “It worked out that way all year. Things don’t always go your way but they did this year.”

I read that you had a Bible verse for the year — what was it?

> “Psalm 16:8 — I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

> “My rookie year on the FLW Tour…my wife came down with cervical cancel [while he was at] the 2nd tournament. I came home…didn’t practice the last day and half…. She wanted me to fish, and I ended up finishing 2nd place in that tournament — I won $50K in the 2nd [FLW] I’d ever fished.

> “The 3rd tournament was at Lake Norman…surgery was scheduled for the day after the tournament…. I finished 3rd at that tournament…a lake I’d never been to.

> “That was her verse. It got her through a lot of things. She’s doing well. She’s been cancer-free ever since, 12 years now….”

Congrats to ya man and bless you both. Awesome.

2nd-5th St Clair Elite baits.

2nd: Stetson Blaylock

> Top bait = Norman Deep Little N (chartreuse killer). 12-lb Seaguar InvizX fluoro, 7′ 4″ 13 Fishing Envy Cranking Rod, 13F Concept Z Reel (7.3).
> Bottom = Norman NXS (chart blue). 12-lb Seaguar InvizX fluoro, same rod and reel.

> “Open water with scattered grass in 14-18′.”

[Wow a Norman cranks sighting on a top trail. Still crazy-good baits….]

3rd: Clark Wendlandt

> Crankbait: Strike King 5XD (chartreuse sexy shad) with Owner ST-45 Trebles. 14-lb Sunline Sniper fluoro, Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Series Reel (8.3), 7′ MH Bass Pro Shops Crankin’ Stick.
> Dropshot: Strike King Baby Z Too (the deal), #1 Owner Mosquito Hook. 1/2-oz Strike King Tungsten Drop Shot Weight, 12-lb Sunline Sniper, Johnny Morris Signature Series Spinning Reel , 7′ 1″ M Johnny Morris Platinum Rod.

> Fished 13-17′, scattered grass. “Threw the crankbait when searching for fish, and if I found a group I slowed down with the dropshot.”

4th: Cliff Prince

> “The reason I used mono is I wasn’t trying to hit bottom, and I feel like I had a better chance of landing the ones that were hooked outside the mouth when they made a surge at the boat due to the little bit of stretch with mono. The small things make a difference sometimes.

> “I fished in 15-18′ cranking fast, not making contact with the bottom. Most of my strikes came as soon as I started cranking it in or when the bait changed directions as it got close to the boat.”

5th: Paul Mueller

> Secondary baits: Rapala DT-10 (Caribbean shad) and Duo Realis Spinbait 90 Spybait (indigo blue).

> 13-16′ mixed grass with some hard spots for dropshot and Spybait, 6-10′ isolated rock and grass in the mornings for the DT-10.

“I’ve always been a 20+ lb line guy, so I had to ask for help…I couldn’t even feel the 4-lb line between my fingers.”

Rick Clunn talkin’ ’bout “tying on tiny flies” for fly feeshn. Can’t believe I’m saying this but:

a) There’s a post about fly fishing on Bassin’masters.com.

b) Written not just by someone but by RICK CLUNN.

c) It’s good and worth readin’.

After readin’ it I feel weird…like I need to speak Latin and have a cucumber sandwich. Guess a cold shower’s in order….

Anyhow, here’s why fly feeshn is all that:

HAHAHA no thanks! #baitfish #swimbaitmodels

Crayfish have ‘personalities’??

First this, from here:

> …their personalities can shape how well they can escape from their predators, such as largemouth bass.

> Research…explored how a common herbicide [atrazine] found in rivers and lakes can affect “bold” and “shy” crayfish….

Okay, few things:

1. Pretty sure a critter can’t have a “person”ality. So in this case I guess it’d be a “crayonality,” which makes me think of:

2. “Bold” and “shy” — None of ’em are angry, happy, weird or funny?? What up with cray world bein’ so boring?

3. What happens when they turn red or blue? Does their crayonality change?

So many questions, all…cray.

News

1. The W means Seth Feider will have a long career.

What he said:

> The other thing that this victory means for me is that it probably cements me into doing this for the next 20 or more years. The sponsor support from companies like Daiwa and Rapala has been there since day 1, and I’ve picked up other solid partners along the way. All of them make the dream work.

Btw Pat Renwick from StrayCasts gave Seth some Dews on day 3 of the St. Clair deal (vid). Looked like 3 (!!) to add onto what I’m sure was a good base. No idea how Seth doesn’t have slammin’ headaches…. Love that B.A.S.S. put the vid up.

Here’s what Seth looks like at work vs real life (hahaha!):

2. How The Real Worldwide feels about…

…the little feeshes:

Hahaha love that pic man!

3. FLWer Chad Grigsby gets All Terrain Tackle.

4. Billy Dance just turned 79.

Wikipedia says his birth date was Oct 7, 1940. Still walkin’ the walk, pretty cool….

5. MO: This 6.42-lber won $100K at Okzarks Big Bass Bash.

Kevin Jones caught it “near the Little Niangua Arm of the Lake, using a jig made by his friend….”

Dude your bud might want a little biz, if you wanna out that deal….

6. KS youth bassin’ has grown 400%.

#stout — BASS Nation youth director Richard Heflin is retirin’ tho….

7. Lunkerhunt Flash sale TODAY only.

50% off the Yappa series. Follow their Insta to make sure you know about their sales.

8. UT: Ling cod/burbot have hurt smallies in Flaming Gorge?

9. Watch out for online fishing license scams.

Dude in that link got scammed. Some of those legit-looking sites aren’t cool. ONLY buy from the DNR sites.

10. How to ID various carps, including Asian ones.

While all carp do suck (lol), they’re not all the same. Good guide at that link.

11. PA: That Mon River snakehead was a big one.

First one caught in that river and fo sho an adult:

12. LA: $24 mil to restore coastal wetlands.

It’s a start just gotta make sure fishermen can access ’em….

13. DC: Administration wants even more ethanol.

> …seeks to pump more than 15 bil gallons of ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply beginning in 2020….

Wonder if it will then build huge artificial reefs with all the trashed outboards….

14. How to revitalize your outboard.

Good vid from Wired2Feesh’s Walker Smith on how he uses Sea Foam Marine PRO to help his 20-yr-old outboard run right and other things:

Tip of the Day

Smaller line diameter = more casting distance.

Canadian fishin’ feller JP DeRose is a gear nerd. Guess we all are, but JP is one of those folks who can’t leave well enough alone — ever — which is good for us cuz we get to learn from it.

In this vid he proves that smaller-diameter line casts significantly farther — doesn’t show the measurements great on camera but not sure why he’d fib. So if the fish are skittish and/or pressured, this might be the deal.
I know you already think that makes sense, but have you ever adjusted your fishing/gear because of it?
Bottom line:

> Identical bass gear except 65-lb PowerPro braid vs 30-lb

> Casting distances were 163′ vs 189′ — pretty significant

Asked JP if Canadian feet are different than American feet, he said yes:

Quote of the Day

“In the old format…you can have 7 hours of terrible fishing and then salvage your day in 10 minutes. On this tour, you have to be your best as soon as lines are in the water.”

Randall “Ima stubborn honey badger dangit” Tharp talkin’. Full quote from the MLF site:

> “In the old format, where your goal is to come in at the end of the day with the 5 biggest fish you can find, you can have 7 hours of terrible fishing and then salvage your day in 10 minutes. I’ve seen it happen too many times to count. But that doesn’t happen here. On this tour, you have to be your best as soon as lines are in the water.”

Of course by the “old format” he means old for him but still current in 99% of bassin’ derbies…. Still innerestin’, here’s more:

> The Bass Pro Tour has forced me to become better at pattern fishing, and to understand not only the general idea of where fish will be during the time of year we’re fishing, but all sorts of subtle things that help me catch more fish that I may have overlooked before.

Better at pattern fishing — interesting statement. Gonna check in with him about it at some point.

Shot of the Day

Josh Douglas lives in some mythical place where all the bass are big and no other boats are on the lake — pretty sure it’s either Heaven or another planet:

From what I can see in that pic that’s a BioSpawn ExoSwim (with an I believe an Outkast Goldeneye Swimbait Head), and SIMMS raingear and beanie.

Random

Dude in FL made a boat car.

Word is it’s street-legal and he built it in 3 days:

> …by combining the family boat with the bottom part of a Ford Expedition.

Love to see a lot of old bassin’ rigs on the road…without trailers….
Ya got me
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of the best, worst and funniest in bassin’, as curated 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’!

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