DeFoe and other Rayburn baits, Swim-jig trailers, Free Auburn bassin!

Here’s some bait deets from this’n, full meal deal is on BassBlaster.rocks:

> “My key [post-spawn] spot was in a back-channel of the river – just a cut that didn’t have water coming through it…had a little bit of grass in the back of it. But more than anything it was just a void.

> “So many trees were up there…not buck bushes or willow trees. Some type of tree that grew up when there was a drought or something – acres of them. Most of them were from no water to about 2′. This [spot] was just a void in those trees in…1.5-3′ water.

> “I think the fish just liked that open area [mud bottom], and they also liked to be in that ideal depth range. I think it was an exit route for fish post-spawn. …ton of bait – a lot of shad there but you wouldn’t see them balled up…fish would come up on the surface chasing bait and stuff.

> “I rotated through a number of different baits – a squarebill, a DT4, a bladed jig… The DT4 was the penguin color, the squarebill close to penguin – it was hand-painted. The squarebill will be in the [Rapala] OG line but a few years down the road. The bladed jig was 3/8-oz chart/white with a Bass Pro Super Shad trailer (white ice).

> “I also caught a couple on a bone-colored walking bait, and something that’s a really good cleanup deal – a Bass Pro Wacky Stick-O (black/blue) on a #1 VMC Weedless Neko Hook.

> “My plan B deal [swim-jig and frog] I was fishing in an area where the fish were still spawning…couple shallow places I could get into…[where the] trees were not overgrown…grass…flooded trees. Some of that was on an island…little islands…water was over them. Other areas were small pockets.

> “The the biggest deal with that bite was you had to get where it was shallow – where your trolling motor would stir up mud. 1.5-2′ of water was too deep. You had to get really shallow. That was more important than what cover you were fishing around or anything else.

> Swim-jig setup: 3/8-oz Terminator Heavy Duty Swim Jig (“OD” = black/blue/chart), bigger “flappy craw”-style trailer (gp/blue flake), 7′ 1″ MH Johnny Morris Platinum Rod, Platinum Reel (8.3), 50-lb braid.

> Frog: Terminator Popping Frog (cocoa camo), same setup as the swim-jig.

> “Day 4…he used the crankbaits and wacky worm “…retrieved with the current and cross-current.” He drifted the worm – Bass Pro Magnum Fin-Eke Worm (purple brown) – rigged both wacky weightless and TX-rigged with a 3/0 VMC Heavy Duty Worm Hook and a 3/16-oz weight.

> Cranking gear: 7′ MH Bass Pro Shops Cranking Stick, Johnny Morris Platinum Reel (6.8), 14-lb BPS XPS fluoro.

> Bladed Jig gear: 7′ 3″ H Bass Pro Shops Cranking Stick, BPS CarbonLite Reel (7.5), 17-lb XPS fluoro.

> That looks like too-heavy action for those baits, but Ott said they’re not as heavy as they’re rated.

> Wacky worm gear: 7′ 1″ M Johnny Morris Platinum Spinning Rod, Johnny Morris Platinum Spinning Reel, 10-lb Bass Pro Hyper Braid to 12-lb XPS fluoro.

> Electronics: “…wasn’t a major focus in this one except for the mapping.” And also Spot-Lock.

> “These are long, drawn-out events but I guess the off days kind of help with that. Winning the 1st round, I ended up with 2 off days in a row. Some people think it’s a good time to rest, but I had to stay moving…went fishing the whole day, and the next day I had to re-rig and do everything I’d put off the day before [laughs]. I kept myself busy the whole time.”

[He fished at “a small unnamed lake Kelly Jordon recommended.” Said he’ll have some video from it so sounds like it was good?]

2. Why do you fish a bunch of different baits just to end up at crankbaits to win? Shouldn’t you just maybe start with crankbaits??

> “[Laughs] It’s really about promoting all my sponsors. Rapala is a great sponsor, but there’s other stuff out there than crankbaits that I need to promote.”

[He’s KIDDING literal peeps!]

3. What role did Biggs have in this win. Had to be something?

> “The prototype OG crankbait was hand-painted by Biggs so he absolutely had a big part in this win yet again.”

[Biggs is Ott’s secretive weapon!]

4. Other than the letter T and a bunch of awesome redneck bass-heads, what do TN and TX have in common that you’re so comfortable there?

> “Sweet tea. You can bet anywhere you go in TN or TX you can order sweet tea.”

[You heard it tourney bass-heads, start gettin’ your Ott ‘n Uncle Si on with the tea!]

5. Do you have a lucky BUFF and why do you wrap yourself up in one all the time?

> “I actually don’t have a lucky one. I have a rotation I go through. I’ve always got a few in Mossy Oak Elements I wear and try to coordinate that. But some do smell worse than others.

> “‘Why’ is definitely the functionality. At Eufaula this year, RedCrest, our only day of practice was the first time I’d seen the sun since Oct. I thought I’d be cool and not wear one and get some sun, and I paid for it dearly. So I relearned the lesson I already knew…because I want to do this for a long time and you just can’t rub enough sunscreen on.”

> “It definitely was a fun week. TX has been really good to me. March has been a really great month for me – 2 Bass Pro Tour wins and a Classic win in 3 years in the month of March. As good as that is, what we have coming up – Easter and what we celebrate there with Christ’s resurrection…I love this time of year.”

3rd: Gerald Spohrer

> 7′ H Quantum Smoke Rod, Quantum Smoke HD Reel (8:1), 50-lb Seaguar Smackdown Braid, 3/8-oz homemade white swim jig with a Missile Twin Turbo Grub (white).

> Fished cypress trees and bushes on the north end, 2′ water, 66 degrees.

> Flip plastics: Biffle Bug (smoke silver) and YUM Dinger (gp chart), 4/0 flipping hook, 5/16-oz Elite Tungsten weight for the Bug and 3/16 for the Dinger. 7′ 6″ Quantum Flipping Stick, Quantum Smoke Reel (8.1), 25-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro.

> Spinnerbait: 1/2-oz BOOYAH Covert Series Spinnerbait (white/chart, double CO, #5 silver, #4.5 gold). 7′ 2″ MH Quantum Smoke Rod, Quantum Smoke Reel (6.1), 20-lb Sunline Shooter.

> “Cover was buck brush…some kind of big bushes, I don’t know what type, and cypress trees were the key. Fished in 1-3′ water – it was dirty, 6-8 inch viz.”

> 4.5″ paddletail swimbait (white), 3/8-oz jighead, 17-lb fluoro, Abu REVO STX Reel (7:3), 7′ 6″ H Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier.

> Dropshot: 6″ worm (gp), 6-lb Berkley X5 Braid to 10-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, Abu REVO Premier 30-size spinning reel, 7′ MH Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier Spinning Rod.

> Grass edges in 3-4′ close to spawning areas.

Is this deal unfair for the team? You bet it is. Does it make sense, especially given all the other team sports happening there (and those “non-violations”)? No. Is it dumb? In my 2c yes, for several reasons including the fact that younger people are at almost no risk with this deal…which I think the other sports at Auburn have proven.

AND – here’s the biggie we all know – a lot of folks fished over the past year exactly BECAUSE it does the whole stay apart thing…in the healthy OUTDOORS.

Someone at Auburn – like Keegan Ashbee, Auburn’s asst director of campus recreation competitive sports – might wanna think hard about climbing down from their tree stump and realize who the paying customers are.

Confession: I say that with a little ticked-offness because I have a kid in college too (and know many), and these healthy young people are persecuted – I think that word fits – for no good reason in my 2c. If you don’t have a kid in college and found out what the colleges were doing, I really think you’d be shocked. It’s way more strict than literally anywhere else except maybe hospitals. One example: Stuck in a room by yourself for 14 days after a NEGATIVE test. That is not unusual. Crazy.

It’s super hard on these young people, for their parents too (yep me included at times). For sure the whole deal is heartbreaking….

Anyhow, Auburn please get over yourself, stay in your lane and LET THEM FISH. Thank you.

Love this pic because Matt seems to be like, “Shoot yeah I’m cooler!”

If any other schools aren’t LETTING ‘EM FEESH, pls lmk.