BassBlaster

Ditch hog melons! Post-spawner tips, Changed up flip locations?

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on May 21, 2020

Today’s Top 5

Substantial ditch hog melons of the week!

Dude named Vance had the audacity to fish an 11″ Bull Shad and here’s what happened — 14 lbs of large Marge depth charge:

@LunkerChasers’ uncle caught this ultra-substantial 12.12-lber — not sure where but he was slow-rollin’ a War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chart) in 15′:

Steven Prudhome tripped over this 10.57-lb melon in the Toledo Bend patch pitchin’ a TX-rigged Zoom Ol’ Monster worm (black/red flake) in duckweed in 6′:

Doug Austin caught this 10.43 at Oroville, CA yesterday on a nailed Senko (gp red flake):

Shoutin’ out Nate from MotorGuide for catchin’ his PB while “working,” usin’ the new MotorGuide Tour Pro and sportin’ the ultra-lucky BassBlaster tee! Jack Hammer (bruised gp) with a Yamamoto Zako (zako). Says the G. Loomis IMX 906 Cranking Rod is key for the Chatter:

Chad Warner took Bruce, the PRADCO head man, out fishin’ — Bruce swore he had one big enough to make this list, here’s what he pulled out:

Guess it’s good he wasn’t fightin’ a branch that whole time…lol Bruce!

Couple post-spawner tips…

…from BPTers John Murray and Kelly Jordon.

John says the fish move OUT TO deeper water, but they might not move INTO deeper water:

> “I always thought there was one big spawn then all the fish moved out. But that’s not the case. And the one thing I’ve learned is that transition areas before they reach the ledges are usually where you will catch them best. Find the subtle things and you will have really good fishing.

> “The way the bass came in is the same way they come out — the secondary points, the first points behind the spawning areas. They are not out deep just yet, and they may well be suspending out there.”

So he likes topwaters — “a buzzbait, wakebait, a walking bait” — then swim-jigs and spinnerbaits.

Kelly likes to go out deep to summer holes:

> “…the biggest bass, the females…are the first ones out, the first to show up in summertime areas.

> “I’ve had stretches on Lake Fork where I’m catching double-digit fish deep while there are still fish on the beds. The numbers may not be great, but post-spawn is a great time to target big fish…and they are hungry. If you have a lake with really big fish and that lake offers good structure, start looking deep.”

Bait colors that grabbed me.

Maybe you too:

Clockwise from top L:

1. Ken Iyobe posted this “green iguana” color for stained water — believe a new crankbait too.

2. Check this new “MM [Mark Menendez] pineapple smash” color now on a bunch o’ Strike King cranks. Color ain’t exactly a secret in the KY/TN area, but now making its way around the bassin’ world, on a few other baits too.

3. Insanely amazing Tackle Kraft custom color. Even I would eat that….

4. If you wanted a swimbait in the SPRO BBZ Rat color “morning dawn,” here you go — painted (or dyed?) by @habitualanglers.

If Senkos could dance…

…they’d look like this?

Not sure WTHeck’s going on there, but the longer vid’s on the MI Fishing Nation TV Facebook. Kinda creeps me out….

Tide out? Np.

Crazy! Don’t think that’s workin’ with a bass tub, even with only 1 dude in it, but it might be better’n checkin’ in late lol. Full vid’s here on FB.

News

1. Aaron Martens was on Stray Casts…

…lookin’ and soundin’ good! If you missed it, including my guest appearance, here’s the YT vid link. Aaron’s most memorable line for me:

> “I can’t have my bowl of Grape Nuts.”

Pretty sure that’s the first time that was ever said in the history o’ bassin’….

Please keep prayin’ for Aaron, Lesley and the Martens.

2. Real good Matty Herren post on the virus…

…and how the lockdown’s hurting everyday bass-head type folks.

3. Ott DeFoe’s cold-front deal.

> …fish a crankbait at a faster speed. This creates a reaction bite when slower things might not work.

Worked for him at the Athens BPT so….

4. Mark Rose says you don’t need white around shad?

> “You really don’t need to. I was scraping the paint off my Strike King tungsten weight and giving it a little flash that way while still having my black-and-blue Strike King Menace. That little flash from the weight might be all you need.”

MIGHT be? Not sure if Mark’s maybe sandbaggin’….

5. Did Skeet Reese out the Berkley Speed Boss?

I think that’s what he calls it? Not out yet:

6. Randall Tharp says Sufix Advance Fluoro is limp.

> “It’s extremely durable, but for the first time ever we’ve got a fluoro that’s extremely limp. …makes it last a long time and come off your reel good.”

Check it here on the TW.

7. How Brandon Cobb de-strings his twigs.

#multitask

8. Country stah Morgan Wallen got ’em at Percy Priest, TN.

Lookin’ like a Mullet Militia member, smallmouth hunter and no-spinning-rods-on-decker:

9. Kerry Campbell is the new prez of TTI-Blakemore.

Wife and sister in law of Wes and Steve Campbell, both of whom recently passed within months of each other.

10. B.A.S.S. going Live at Opens, BASSTrakk too.

Plus:

> Names of folks fishing all 8 Opens that stood out to me: Jason Christie, Trait Zaldain, Randy Blaukat, Todd “Pad Perch” Castledine, Josh “Mr Smallie” Douglas, John Garrett, B-Rad-Lee Hallman, Charlie Hartley loves to fish, Classic “kid” Cody Huff, Brian Latimer, Scotty Martin, On Em Robertson and Andrew Upshaw.

> G-Swin and B-Pal are fishing all 8 to “help ensure” sure they requalify for the Elites.

> Big shout-out to the 4 guys from Japan tryin’ to get to the bigs.

> Chris Bowes is the Opens TD — word is B.A.S.S. got him lessons to be “less scary” on camera…hahaha Chris!

11. Vexus is now matching boats to truck colors.

Ain’t that all our dream. Check this’n:

Kinda wish that was in my driveway…BUT got my Vexus ordered! 19′ of friggin’ awesome comin’ soon!

12. How the BioSpawn ExoPod was designed.

Not sure I’ve ever seen a post like this — very cool and hope everyone else does something like it in el futuro:

So far you can only get those baits here.

13. Didja know you can buy Jerry McCutchen’s spinnerbait?

Jerry was/is an Ozark hammer who designed a legendary spinnerbait he destroyed grown men with in the ’80s and ’90s. FLWer Casey Scanlon now makes the bait and sells it though his Trophy Bass Co. Bait’s now called the Ozark Flash, comes in 1/2- and 3/4-oz:

Word is this code gets you 10% off: Save10

14. Bluewater LED package sale at T-H Marine.

Beeg discount….

15. FL: Here’s you some peacock baits.If you’re down south jukin’ (Skynyrd reference!) in the FL canals — Yo-Zuri 3DB Prop, LiveTarget Glass Minnow Baitball, Rapala X-Rap Countdown 5:

16. Revive your outboard.

Can be done! Here’s 1 example — Sea Foam Motor Treatment does the deal in just about any engine but now Sea Foam has Marine PRO for outboards:

> Chris L in IA’s #SeaFoamWorks story: “I had a young kid bring me an outboard that was his grandpa’s who recently passed. It had been sitting in a basement for 10-15 years. I filled the entire fuel system with Sea Foam, and the cylinders. 24 hours later after draining everything I put fresh gas in it with a mix of Sea Foam, and the little motor came to life. The young boy was in tears. It is still running today, making memories.”

17. YETI “fixed” the Roadie 24 Hard Cooler.

Don’t believe it was broke but it’s better anyhow: 10% LIGHTER, holds 20% more, and supposed to keep it cold 30% better. I’m partial to desert tan but they’ve got 3 more colors in it, includin’ the new navy:

What pressed my want button:

> …slim design means it’ll slide behind the front seat of the car, giving you quick access to ice cold drinks….

18. Asian carp roundup.

IL missed the window to get 2020 federal funding — For the Brandon Road lock/dam. Pretty sure any delays are bad….

KY gov’nor almost killed anti-Asian carp funding — Glad the legislature and citizens stepped up.

DC: Sounds like faster movement on murder hornets than Asian carp.

19. TX: Invasive apple snail could mess up native water veggies?

> …can wreak havoc on aquatic vegetation and can possibly carry a rat lungworm parasite that can infect humans. The parasite — which has yet to be found in TX — causes a form of meningitis.

20. GA: This Argentina lizard is invading from FL.

Can get up to 4′ long. Someone needs to start making 10″ lizards:

Headline of the Day

Pro-spawn patterns prevail

Well dang — hope that doesn’t happen at an Elite or BPT else this whole deal’s gonna be rated R at least…lol!

Line of the Day

A jig is most effective when combined with a supple soft plastic or leather trailer to give it a lifelike appearance.

A LEATHER trailer? Makes as much sense as an angry cat pushing a watermelon on a lake:

Oh snap….

On BassBlaster.rocks right now…

> Spawn-time tips! Nature based spawn timing, Bass collection boxes??

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.

Tip of the Day

Morning vs afternoon flip locations.

Greg “Hack” Attackney went a-fishin’ recently (YT vid) and here’s what he found — which I thought was innerestin’ cuz I’d probly fish it the opposite way:

Quote of the Day

“Just imagine the pros promoting these products, like Hackney promoting ladies underwear or Ish promoting hair-restoration products.”

– O…kay? From a forum post about endorsements that haven’t made it into bassin’ yet. Not real sure how those pros and products were paired up? Anyhow other suggestions were:

– Preparation H and other like products
– Bail bond companies
– Psychiatric hospitals
– Pest removal
– Cat litter
– Hot Pockets

Not sure whether to be disturbed or encouraged that bassin’ ain’t even begun to mine what’s out there.

For some reason I just got an association between cat litter, Steve Kennedy and the Tiger King….

Shot of the Day

Says it all, hooked for life and nice lippin’ job little dude! @gary_international_kk shot:

Random

Frog and run in ID:

> The victim reported that people in a car used a potato gun-type device to shoot 2 frogs at him, hitting him with the amphibians.

> …said later that further investigation revealed that the frogs were thrown, not shot out of a gun.

Even thou I think this is amazing, guess I can’t condone it — but could see myself doing it when I was younger…or even now depending on who I got to aim at….

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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