Not sure if there'll be another BB this week because of the 4th. Should be, but either way hope you and yours have a peaceful, restful day. If you're working that day, thank you – you are appreciated! 🇺🇸

Anyone in law enforcement (and fire), please take extra care out there. Seems like there's a bunch of crazy sprinkled in a lot of people's cereal lately. Maybe set up a prayer division in your dept – not kidding.

For all you dog peeps, yesterday was D day for our older Lab, Lucky. Chokes me up man. I always feel like I betray a pet when this happens – like they're counting on me to take care of them and here I am doing the opposite.

Lucky always tried her best to do right (unlike our younger Lab!) right up til the end. Our family always talks about how pets are God's reminder of what love looks like, and we always said Lucky embodied the "fruit of the Spirit" the Bible talks about: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

She sure had more fruit than I do. And she loved me when I did not deserve it (also like God does!). What a great dog. We actually held off getting another Lab for a while because Lucky was so good – we knew the next one couldn't be like her.

Hurts bad, but I wouldn't have traded all that for anything. Thank you to all who have reached out. Always a rough deal.

One more deal: Some brown fish 🧃 coming up soon in a future BB!

Don't think Ott even made a top 10 ever in his career in a tidal fishery, so why not win one? 👀

Ott doing well on the Potomac River could make sense because the Potomac can be cranked and has been won with crankbaits, which is Ott's strength. But...this time he didn't crank. Not even 1 fish doing it.

Here's how he got his 5th Bass Pro Tour win, which puts him 3rd on the most BPT wins list – behind Jacob "Thanos" Wheeler and Dustin "yes I might run for Congress" Connell. This is shortened from the full deal on the BB site.

Going in and practice

> "Going in honestly I was just hoping for a solid finish...points to help qualify for Redcrest. That was kind of where my head was at.

> "I wanted to fish the creeks. That was my desire going in. I'm a river guy, I like being in current – it makes sense to me.

> "...I looked at the forecast and knew an extreme heat wave was coming that could make more fish go to those areas, seeking out cooler water coming in. It's been a long time, but I've fished up there a lot and know what creeks typically have cooler water in them.

> "Chicamuxen Creek was the first place I went, then Neabsco [Creek, his winning area] might have been the next one. I didn't spend much time in there. I got back in there about 10:00 the 2nd day of practice and the tide was coming out pretty good. I had 4-5 good bites on a buzzbait just burning through there...not even in the good part...."

> "It made me lock in. I looked at not every creek on the river but most of them...that day and the rest of the next day.

> "From my previous time having fished there [Neabsco Creek] – it's not far from takeoff, it's not a top secret place...I was boat #17 which I thought might be early enough that I might be the first person there. It's no wake...all the way to the back."

Tournament

> "There's a discharge deal in there [but] I wanted to fish the rest of the creek. The discharge is kinda the obvious thing. Keith [Carson] started on the discharge and absolutely burnt them down. I was like, Dang I chose the wrong place!

> "I stayed back there until around noon or so. I had some other creeks I wanted to go check. I had around 40 lbs when I left and fished 1 other place...caught 30 lbs. It was a smaller area but I had it to myself and caught more out of there than I ever would have imagined.

> "I literally fished 2 creeks the whole day and caught 70 lbs. I didn't expect the weights to be that big.

> "I caught 1 fish on a buzzbait, 1 fish on a wacky worm, a couple on a TX-rig worm, a handful on a bladed jig, and half or more on a 3/8-oz compact flipping jig.

> "Day 2...I rode back to the bridge... As I was getting to the bridge, another competitor got there before me...and then I could see another competitor already further back in the creek.

> "In my mind there's about to be 4 of us in this area and it's not very big. Mentally I kinda shifted gears – I have plenty of other places I can go and catch 20-35 lbs...."

He didn't go to the 2nd spot he fished day 1 because the tide wasn't right for it:

> "I had another creek I thought the fish would bite in [but] the whole 1st period I caught 1 fish.

> "The tide was really jacked up that day. It was a foot and half higher high tide than it had been in all of practice and day 1 of competition, and we'd had a bunch of rain the night before and that morning.

> "Before you know it, the creeks I'm fishing are blowing mud...and I'm spinning out a little bit because I can't catch anything.

> "I actually fished the river. I went to the Leesylvania boat ramp to try to catch some released fish to try and get my day going. And I was able to do that. I caught some fish there on a bladed jig...got the ball rolling. I was close [to qualifying for the Knockout Round] at that point but I didn't have quite enough.

> "...I went back to where I started and ended up catching 4-6 to get myself in."

Knockout Round

> "After the 1st day having been so good...I started in there and it was really good. Just fishing my way in I caught some.

> "Each day we had more incoming tide...so it gave you the ability to fish further and further back.... The very 1st day...a beaver dam there, the high tide was even with the top of the dam. After that big rain...I could troll right over the beaver dam [and fish further back].

> "On that day I expanded my area.... I caught fish for another 200 yards, and fished another 200 yards and didn't catch any.... So I came back out and stayed in the Neabsco til I had about 48 lbs [on a jig].

> "I checked another place and caught 4 in 15 minutes, all on a bladed jig. Now I have another place in my pocket if I need it."

Championship Round

> "[In his primary creek] after 2 days I knew I had beat on them in there, and Keith had been in there a good bit. I've got those other places in my mind because I knew they had potential. But...because it'd been so good to me...I decided to [start in the Neabsco].

> "I felt if I had that whole creek to myself, I probably had a legitimate shot to win.

> "I fished a different section of it. I went across the beaver dam and caught a couple. The next 100 yards I didn't catch any, but in the next 150-200 yard stretch I caught some...and they were nice ones.I got back there almost to where I turned around the day before and caught 2 more.

> "...up the creek there's a pretty 90-degree bend. I didn't go up there the day before. [This time he did and] caught a 3-06, a 2-04...I caught 8-9 lbs out of that hole. I went up a little further and caught another one. It was absolutely loaded."

Baits

All his fish the final day were caught on a jig (about 2/3 of them) and a wacky rig:

> Jig: 3/8-oz compact flipping jig (gp with a little orange) with a cut-down craw trailer (gp and tails dyed orange). The whole rig was maybe 3-3.5" long total.

> 7' 4" H Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris CarbonLite Tech Series Draggin Rod, BPS CarbonLite Tech Reel (8.3), 20-lb BPS XPS Fluoro.

> Wacky rig: BPS Wacky Stik-O (sooner run), #1 VMC RedLine Weedless Neko Hook, 10-lb BPS XPS Braid to 12-lb BPS XPS Fluoro, BPS CarbonLite Spin Reel (3000), 7' 2" M BPS CarbonLite Tech Series Wacky Rig Spin Rod.

> Why that 'sooner run' color: "It's like a dark watermelon with red flake. I always like watermelon/red in clear water. It's a darker watermelon but is more transparent than a lot of watermelons.

> "I also put Thump Gel on both those baits. I just felt like on pressured fish, sometimes you can get a few more of them to eat it a little better. I used green, then chartreuse [after he ran out of green]."

Fishing deets

> Why he settled on the jig: "It was just working. A lot of the day the tide was rising so the fish were going up into the cover more. And we had pretty good color because of that rain we had. So [some places] it was too much color for a wacky worm, and too much current.

> "I could've caught fish on a bladed jig. The fish weren't really that particular, you just needed to be efficient. The jig was just the most efficient option. Every cast I made with it was a useful presentation."

> Jigging in the pads: "90% of the bites came when you'd pitch the bait in, and one of the pads...would rattle, and the fish would take off and go toward your jig. 1 hop or it might be a 2 hops, but he was gonna bite it right then."

> Jigging in the back of creeks: "Fishing the wood stuff [up the creek] the water was real clear. I had fish where I would hop it [several times], then 'bonk'. If I thought it was a really good spot, I would soak it."

> Wacky worm: "At least half were sight-fish [roamers]. I'd let it drift with the current – wiggle it down through there with very little movement."

Electronics

> "...the first day I used it a little bit, but after that I never turned my front graph on.

> "The Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST is real quiet...I caught a lot fish that I saw first. [When he saw one] I put my [Minn Kota] Raptors down, I put my bait in front of it, and caught a bunch of them being quiet and stopping the boat like that."

Shoutouts

> "I give God all the praise and glory for it, above all. This week is pretty special. The 1st day of the tournament 6 years ago, I had heart surgery. And Sunday was the day I came home from the hospital after the surgery. So it was a pretty special week and a reminder of that time in our life.

> "That's how important our faith is because it's a reminder that you're gonna spend eternity somewhere, and that choice is up to us."

Wait – did I just reveal Otter Man's secret identity? 😁 Here we go:

1. Did 3 years between wins feel like a long time?

> "It did. It definitely did. Because once I had that first one, they kind of started rolling. So it definitely did feel like a long time between wins."

2. Did it hurt not fishing a crankbait – especially since some Potomac tournaments have been won on a crankbait? 😁

> "Man it truly did. And I've caught a lot of fish at the Potomac cranking, but it was just not suited for where I was at. I had crankbaits in my boat and was planning on catching fish on them, but it just wasn't in the cards.

> "I have to assume this is the 1st win I've had where I didn't catch any fish on crankbaits. Not a fish. Not one."

[Crazy! On Facetime he made this face after he said that:]

🤣

3. At any point did you wish you had your illegal tunnel-hull tin boat? 😆

> "Yes – before I ever left the house."

4. When you're looking at acres of pads, how do you know where to start?

> "It had to be low tide because there wasn't a place to start [when the water was high] in those acres of pads. You weren't gonna catch many. That's why it was the time of the tide...[when the water was dropping] the defined creek was where I needed to be...."

5. Does Andy Montgomery have an off switch or is he always on? 😂

> "The only time he has an off switch is when he's snoring."

Hahaha I'm not so sure because it sounds like's loud then too! Check the Ott/Andy/Eddie Evers "After the Cast" YT channel for some funny wholesome stuff.

Did not get Cole "pink" Floyd (4th).

2nd: Ron "half" Nelson

> Punch rig: Reaction Innovations Beaver, 3/0 Owner Jungle Flip Hook, 1-oz weight, 50-lb Sunline Asegai Braid (dark green). "I punched through grass and flipped some pads."

> Swim-jig: "I cast a homemade Fletcher Swim Jig with a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper on 12-lb Shooter." [He would not reveal the color.]

> Wacky rig: 5" Yamamoto Senko, Gamakatsu G-Finesse Brent Ehrler Stinger Hook, 16-lb Sunline Asegai Braid to 12-lb Sunline Shooter Fluoro, Shimano Stradic Spin Reel, DXS704F Douglas XMatrix Spin Rod. "Used the Senko to get fish that wouldn't commit to the swim-jig."

> "I fished a bunch of everything – creeks, docks, laydowns, pads, grass – everything that the Potomac had to offer."

3rd: Bradley "Leeroy" Roy

> 1/2-oz vibrating jig (chart/white) with a white Zako-style trailer, 17-lb Seaguar InvizX Fluoro, Ark G7 Reel (7.1), 7' 4" H Ark Invoker Pro Rod. "Fished around docks, laydowns and shallow grass, depending on the tide."

> Flipping: Beaver-style bait (gp/bb), 4/0 flipping hook, 3/8-oz Ark Tungsten Weight, 20-lb Seaguar AbrazX Fluoro, Ark G8 Reel (8.1), 7' 6" H Ark Essence Rod. "Fished around shallow laydowns."

5th: "That's a fact" Zack Birge

> 3/8-oz bladed jig (ghost gill) with a Missile Spunk Shad (bombshell), 20-lb Yo-Zuri T7 Fluoro, Ark G8 Reel (8.1), 7' 6" MH Alpha Angler Mag Rebound Rod.

> Swim worm (watermelon/red), 5/0 worm hook, 3/32-oz tungsten weight, 20-lb Yo-Zuri T7 Fluoro, 7' 3" Alpha Angler ZillaVaader Rod.

> Fished the backs of creeks.

- BFL All-American winner Mateo Turano talkin' 'bout lookin' at this:

He clarifies that it's not really bait – it looks like a bait ball but it's fry and that bass is guarding them...in 13.5' on the bottom. Sounds crazy to me.

From the MLF "Day 5" YT vid for that tourney. Those Day 5 videos always have nuggets.

Z-Man is about to roll out the fuzz

Posted this on their IG:

> Pumped to show off the new FuZZy NuggetZ, FuZZy TRD and FuZZy BugZ at ICAST this year!

Gitcha glimpse:

1. Easton Fothergill fishes each time like it's a new lake

> Whatever I'm targeting, I try to approach each day as if it's my 1st time on the lake. Even though I fish these lakes a lot, I do my best to treat each trip as if I'm fishing a new lake.

Don't fish in NJ Easton because it might feel "too new" – no fish! 🤣

2. Here's what jig colors Jay Przekurat likes

Looks like b/b, PB&J, gp/brown, AL craw? Like several younger peeps he likes the Strike King Structure Jig, aka the Denny Brauer Structure Jig. I guess ol' Denny really did know a thing or 2 about jigs...😆

3. Tyler Rivet got Ellipse Rods

Never heard of 'em but Tyler says they're oval in cross-section instead of round. Check 'em on their FB.

4. Here's your top 10 in the BPT AOY points

Just before heading to smallmouth land...I mean water:

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 436

2. Jake Lawrence -- 409

3. Drew Gill -- 407

4. Ron Nelson -- 396

5. Alton Jones Jr -- 394

6. Cole Floyd -- 389

7. Justin Lucas -- 383

8. Zack Birge -- 375

9. Justin Cooper -- 372

10. Michael Neal -- 368

5. TX: Outlaw Outdoors trail banning FFS in 2026

But not MEGA 360. That FB said they just want to even things out for the folks fishing their tourneys, and I believe they think they will get more entries. Like the NPFL, they also refer to other sports not allowing all tech.

6. New Lunkerhunt pro-level Black Series baits

Announced 2, said they're designed by pros. Click the oics to watch the vids:

> The Twytch Witch...is a precision tool for the FFS generation designed for Damiki, hover or dropshot rigs, with a whisper-soft tail action that fools even the most pressured fish.

> The Stryka Worm...made from premium salted PVC soft-plastic that sinks slow and natural....

They said 2 more are coming soon, not sure about availability yet but I will find out at ICAST at the latest!

7. Sneak peek of the FishLab BBZ Wake Rat

Will be released at ICAST, 2.5" and 3.5", and you can wake it or walk it:

8. MN: First Drew Gregory yak tourney July 11-12...

...on the upper MS River. Divisions are individual, team and "micro bag" for the 5 smallest bass.

9. TW's fave swimbait rod is...

The Okuma Guide Select Custom Swimbait series. Several sizes that will handle anything from smaller line-thrus up to magnum glides. Today on TW it's on sale for $160:

10. Minn Kota Kayak Terrova backordered already

Better gitcha on the TW notify list for some Spot-Lock!

11. Big KastKing reel sale on their site

Several real good ones – I like anything that says Kestrel, MG12, Speed Demon and maybe Skeet Reese reels! 😁

PSA

TW's Bargain Bin sale is still on!

Auto settings for FFS = no bueno

Probably old news to some of you but not others. This deal is talkin' 'bout AR tourney angler Matt Baker, who wants to make the Elites – post by AR outdoor writer Bryan "Jimi" Hendricks:

> ...he sets his sonar to throw a beam out to about 100' and to a depth of about 50'. That covers almost every situation he encounters in AR.

> At this setting in shallow water, the screen compresses so images appear only in the top 3" of the screen, but it maintains crisp image clarity.

> A mistake that novice users make, Baker said, is to run their FFS on automatic. This causes the screen image to expand and contract, and since it calculates an average in this mode, resolution suffers.

"We've noticed that even when people aren't able to catch...panfish, bluegills and perch, they're almost likely to catch a bass with whatever they're fishing with."

- Northern WI bait shop owner talkin' either crazy talk, or the bass there are as dumb as a bag of hammers...which is good!

Even bass are getting weird now? Check out this fish with a dang lip ring! 🤔 They need to ban that stuff in schools man – schools of bass too! 🤣 Posted by T-Rey McKinney:

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