Today’s Top 5
No deets on this ‘cept caught on a Pizz Customs DDT — which is 11″ long (and $160!), so that bass has to be about 24″ making it a DD:
Here’s a 12 from TX’s Lake Palestine, caught on a jig with a Mister Twister Poc’it Craw (watermelon red):
Un otro 12, not sure where from but caught on a 6th Sense Crush 50X Squarebill:
And yet another 12+ caught on another 6th Sense bait, a Crush 300DD.
How ’bout 2 DDs in 2 days on Falcon, a 10.3 and 10.8:
Check this wide axe-head-body watermelon:
Don’t know if the dude’s a metal fan or if that’s a bassin’ gang sign again, but if the latter pretty sure that goes all the way back to Chris Columbus and the Knights Templar:
Sounds like it is in Florida anyway, though not sure they had bass-heads doin’ the holdin’ (lol):
> Research at the Florida Bass Conservation is comparing handling approaches for big bass to see how different methods affect them.
> Whether held vertically by the jaw, or cradled in two hands horizontally, there were no no problems with dislocated jaws or reduced survival.
Huh.
Folks show should know say this is a good piece. Not listing all 10, just what stood out to me:
> You get what you pay for. Cheap baits catch fish, too, but there is a reason the majority of successful swimbait anglers are using more expensive baits. They are expensive because they are well made and reliable. Buying those $10-$15 bulk imported baits is essentially like rolling down the window and tossing out a handful of singles…. Yes, you can cast off an expensive bait if you tie poor knots, use bad line, and don’t retie, but you can also spontaneously combust driving to the lake. Life is too short to use inferior tackle. [Dang straight!]
> The hooks matter. I despise having to drop $40 in hooks for upgrading swimbaits, but it is just something you have to do.
> Leave it at home. If you have a swimbait tied on and don’t get a bite for a couple of hours…most can’t resist the temptation to go back to safe, dependable lures and get in on some fish-catching action. When I began swimbait fishing, I only carried one setup and a handful of swimbaits. This forced me into early success because I had no other option than to grind it out. [This is why I will never get into swimbaits. #nopatience]
> Don’t take a knife to a gun fight. …buy a rod and reel setup bigger than what you think you will throw, because you will quickly jump to larger baits. A 6″ swimbait sounds huge, but isn’t much larger than a Heddon Super Spook. It is better to have an overpowered rod than an underpowered rod. Also, it is better to have a reel that has more line capacity than less.
Do I need to say: TackleWarehouse.com has all you need — hard body, soft body and glide baits.
A spinning reel but:
> Carrot Stix is growing beyond fishing rods with the introduction of 2-Speed spinning reels…. The new spinning reels offer on the fly shifting ability for anglers to change from 4.7:1 to 6.7:1 gear ratio….
Might love that concept (have to see how it works) in a quality baitcaster. Could be really cool.
Takeaways:
- Can’t wait for it to air.
- Ehrler sounds pretty high-pitched, guess cuz he’s excited?
- They were catching ’em on a Strike King 10XD.
News
From Apache Lake, AZ. Cliff said he had 5 for 34.29 and threw back a 20-lb bag of smallies and “several” 6-lb largies. “It’s not the biggest bag I’ve ever weighed but pretty monumental.” Vid of him pulling ’em out is here.
Past Classic winner back on the Elites = good! Good dude too.
3. Elite rookie John Hunter gets 6th Sense.
And Stanley Jigs/Hale Lures.
4. Guess Watson’s Classic weight and win.
Deets at the link. If he wins and you guess his weight, you can win. If you play, here’s what you need to know — graph on Grand from BassGold.com:
That shows low 20s per day to win in March. Cliff Pace won the last Classic there in Feb with 54-12 (18+ per day).
BassGold works stupid great — 92% accurate at PREDICTING winning/high-placing patterns AND weights, even on lakes for which it has no data (seriously) — but don’t subscribe to it yet if you haven’t. Big retool coming soon.
6. FLWer Blaukat calls out fellow anglers…
…for running through coots. To me it sounds a little much AND entirely right.
Love Randy’s activism. That used to be all over bassin’, but has almost disappeared at the national level.
7. OK: Grand report.
Report from the BB network:
> Grand is looking pretty chocolaty. The Elk River arm of the lake has clear water. Most of the rest is muddy. Water temp 48. We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks. We really haven’t had very much rain in the last 6 weeks. I’m surprised it’s taking this long to clear up. Next week looks warm, in the 70s. Not much rain in the forecast.
8. TX: College kids win TTT Rayburn.
SFA (Stephen F. Austin State University?) kids Blake Schroeder and Easton Heigley won it with 5 for 27.06. Used a Carolina-rigged Strike King Game Hawg in prespawn areas in 15-20 ft.
9. T-H Marine Kong now available.
> The T-H Marine KVD Kong Extreme Electronics Mount is built of aircraft aluminum and stainless steel. It is designed for the heaviest of today’s marine electronics and has zero movement with these units in the roughest water. In addition, the arm is secured to the base with a mechanical cam-nut that allows quick installation or removal.
10. B.A.S.S. still looking for HS All-Americans.
This is one of the greatest things ever in bass fishing…if done right. Nominate someone!
Bill Siemantel shows how to use a cull clip right to avoid this:
12. 10 ways you know you’re dating a fisherman.
Pretty funny!
13. Dude catches a largie with live tilapia in its mouth.
Stuff
2. BB reader Alex V. posted the old and infamous Loudmouth Bass fighting nun sketch on Facebook. Mentioning it here because it’s amazing to me that people still talk about that show 10 years later. Not sure that’s ever been the case in bassin’?
3. From Angler’s Port Marine: Here is a beautiful “garage queen” that wants to go fishing, a like-new Dual Console 2013 Ranger Z521 powered by a 250hp Mercury Pro-XS that only has 23 ORIGINAL hours! More info and pics here.
New Baits and Gear
1. What’s Rapala got this time?
This time last year it was the Shadow Rap jerkbait and this time it’s…well, they win’t sayin’ yet but here’s a teaser vid:
Btw the key for the Shadow Rap is to let it work with some slack!
Check this vid — sick!
3. New Gliss polyethylene line now in US.
Including TackleWarehouse:
> …delivers the many of the same properties as mono in that it features single-strand construction, is super pliable, casts very well and it floats. Offering many of the advantages of braid as well…provides zero stretch, extremely thin diameters, and incredible strength.
I’d like to try some….
4. New Zoom 5″ hollow swimbait.
Looks like you’d expect.
5. Don Iovino coming out with Wart-like crank?
Tip of the Day
From TackleWarehouse tips — they have the baits the guys recommend there too:
> According to FLW Tour pro Jay Yelas, bridges are some of the best places to fish throughout the winter. Hard, rocky bottoms, adjacent deep water and vertical habitat combine to offer coldwater bass everything they need.
> “Most of the bridges you’ll find on your fishery will be large concrete bridges,” Yelas said. “But if you’re able to find old wooden bridges, such as a railroad bridge, you can absolutely wreck the bass. You won’t find them as much in lowland-type fisheries such as the TVA or Texas, but they’re fairly prevalent in the northern states.”
> “Wooden bridges are basically giant docks in my mind, so I’m going to dissect them in a very similar fashion.”
> [For all bridges] Yelas targets bridge pilings positioned on or near a dramatic depth change. “I spend a lot of time with my Humminbird Helix looking for the river or creek channels underneath bridges. Not only do both the bass and bait use them as major migratory routes, but they’re also prone to wash a lot of brush against nearby bridge pilings. Whether it’s trees or logs, they’ll act as small current breaks and ambush points for coldwater bass.”
> Skirted Jig — Yelas sticks with 1/2-oz as it forces him to fish slowly in order to maintain bottom contact. His rule-of-thumb is simple: If you can’t count each individual rock, you’re fishing too fast.
> Jigging Spoon — “When I’m fishing pilings near river or creek channels, I’ll always have a 3/4-oz silver or gold jigging spoon rigged and ready to go. This bite is at its absolute best when those schools of shad are positioned close to the bottom….
He also talks about A-rigs and jerkbaits a bit.
Quote of the Day
Almost zero percent of the time can I go back to a waypoint where I caught them and catch them again.
– Jason Christie talkin’ on Bassmaster.com. Obviously he hasn’t been hipped to the fact that THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO FISH! I mean, come on — if waypoints are useless, where do we go when we hit the water? Might as well not leave the house! Lol…but lots of folks fish that-a-way!
A little more from Jason:
> Something that has helped me over the years is my color code. A green waypoint marker indicates a spot with good potential, yellow means caution, or a spot I might want to fish and red marks a spot of highest priority — a place I will definitely stop and fish.
> Different systems may work better for other people, but no matter how you mark your waypoints, I suggest keeping it simple.
Shot of the Day
Gotta give it up to Hack and Z for having way too much fun…and getting paid for it (in Z’s case anyhow):
Random
Reminder to myself and all of you: IT’S VALENTINES DAY ON SUNDAY, DON’T BLOW IT! If you forget, that whole Snickers deal won’t help so don’t bother:
Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin’. His BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best in bassin’, and is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass. Get the Blaster on an app too:
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