1. Scott Martin was named after Ray Scott??
Never heard this story — and Scott is fishin’ all the Opens next year, not the FLWs, where he’s been big-time dominant:
> “My dad literally called Ray Scott from the payphone at the hospital to tell him he had a new baby boy. He told him they hadn’t picked out a name yet and Ray said, ‘I’ll make you a deal…If you’ll name him after me, I’ll give him a lifetime membership to B.A.S.S.’
> “My dad decided that sounded like a pretty good deal.” Since neither of [Scott’s] parents was in love with the name “Ray,” they officially named him “Scott Roland Martin.”
Love it!
2. Larry Nixon might have right shoulder surgery.
Said it’s just “worn out,” plans to fish at least part of the FLWs next year. Dude is a warrior, a hammer, and you know it must be pretty bad if it hurts to fish a Senko or put on rain gear….
3. What Boyd Duckett is saying.
> The old model is the company focuses on profit, and one byproduct is that the employees — or, in that case, the anglers — might benefit, but that wasn’t the priority of the business. But taking care of the anglers is our priority. …we focus daily on how we can help the anglers achieve their goals and get to where they want to be as tournament professionals.
> B.A.S.S. has great heritage for sure, but they can never be the same as they were in the past. The landscape for tournament fishing has permanently changed, and MLF has caused that change. But that shouldn’t make anyone feel like they have to make a choice between the 2 brands! Although we are very different, both are good companies and both have a lot to offer the fans.
4. Elitist Caleb Sumrall says you can’t learn it all in LA.
> “Being from south LA you can’t learn all the techniques you need to be good on the Elites.”
But you do learn other things in south LA, like dancin’ with reptiles:
5. Why Kurt Dove is fishing the new FLWs.
> For me, there’s no question that the Pro Circuit is my best opportunity to have the most financial reward in 2020 — not only from a potential winnings standpoint with the paybacks, but also from a sponsorship viewpoint.
> Anglers that perform well in the Pro Circuit events are going to get rewarded with media exposure, and their sponsorship associations are going to get rewarded with exposure that wasn’t previously available.
6. When Denny met Ozzy (vid).
Denny told the story on the most recent StrayCasts show — I’d forgotten about it til I heard it again. Best lines from Denny:
> “He said a lot of things but I didn’t understand any of it.”
> “He had more metal on him than I had in my spinnerbait box.”
Popcorn had a good line too, ’bout Ozzy bitin’ the head off a jig.
Why that story hasn’t been bass fishin’ legendaryness I don’t know except cameras weren’t in phones back then. Pat reeled this off ’bout Denny: Flipped jigs with Ozzy, on a Wheaties box, won $1 mil. Not keepin’ score but Irwin Jacobs had a hand in all of that….
7. Trip Weldon’s fave dog breed is a rat terrier.
I’m sure that choice is related to his profession, just don’t know how exactly…. Lol Trip! Factoid is from a real nice Jerry McKninnis tribute. Great gettin’ to know Trip a little better through his posts cuz at tourneys he’s kinda like this…
…except o’ course he’s got a B.A.S.S. patch on his sleeve….
8. OK: Tulsa/Grand won’t host the 2021 Classic.
Sounds like B.A.S.S. wanted to go there but a lawsuit involving hotel taxes means the city couldn’t come up with the $$$ for it.
MLF is also watching to see if Tulsa can get this deal resolved.
9. TX: Bassmaster Texas Festivus will be at Fork.
10. FL: Aquatic herbicides are killing more than just plants.
Check this quote, from bass-head Jason Blair about Okeechobee:
> “I came out here outside Lock 7 a month ago on a Wednesday to pre-fish for a tournament fishing Saturday”…he had unlimited bites. “I came back that Friday, the day before the tournament, to check my spots. I saw 5 airboats spraying all the vegetation with herbicide. I caught 2 fish in 4 hours.”
> Blair actually returned to the area the following day on tournament day. He caught no fish.
> “I came back a week later and there were a bunch of birds flying above the dead vegetation. I went in to take a closer look and the stench was horrific. It smelled like raw sewage. As I got closer, I noticed there were flies everywhere. The birds were feeding on the flies which were feeding on the dead snails and dead fish and everything else dead in there.”
Sounds like it’s time for a change man. Spraying what’s basically RoundUp into our lakes can’t be good for anything.
11. Are these 2 new Berkley baits?
If Google translate is right they are. For some reason Berkley baits seem to pop up in Japan first. L is the 3″ Powerbait Hollow Belly Fintail, and R is the 3.5″ Powerbait Champ Claw HD:
12. Win you a couple boats.
Buy a ticket for a chance:
Randy Howell’s Triton — believe TODAY is the last day to enter.
The Bass Pastor’s Nitro Z-18.
13. AL: Headland HSer signs with Montevallo U.
Love it! Gotta shout this out, his HS coach talkin’:
> The kid is not only phenomenal on the water, but he’s a phenomenal person off the water. He’s been on mission trips all across the world sharing the gospel of Christ to other people. He takes every one of these young guys and tries to instill in them what has been instilled in him through other people, and teaches them how to fish and how to adapt to different lakes and different situations.
Outstanding! Great how that was covered, wish we could see it for all college bassin’ commits (that’s a hint for someone out there).
14. NY: One of B.A.S.S,’ yak derbies…
…may be on the St Lawrence outta Massena. Might be a lotta sleigh-rides with those smallies….
15. Pure Fishing/Berkley has new North American prez.
Dave Bulthuis, I don’t know him. Seems like his last gig was Costa.
16. KS State grad started Mule Fishing company.
Sounds like he’s mostly making finesse jigheads. 2 things:
> You’ve seen me call bigs “mules” in the Blaster so love the name!
> What up with KS and finessin’? Believe that’s where Ned Kehde of Ned Rig infamy resides. Maybe Brent Chapman should ditch his flip sticks…just sayin’ Brent hahaha!
17. Australian lake-fishing advice.
> Catching barra [bass-like feesh] in this lake is the same as any other lake — follow the wind to find that warmer water.
Anyone do that here?
18. Lookit these Chinese pond mussels found in NJ.
First time found in the US:
Guess how they got there — Asian carp import:
> …the ponds contained bighead carp….
Hopin’ states and the feds get serious about this import stuff….
19. White River Marine looking for an industrial designer.
Ranger, Triton, etc — Johnny Morris’ boat company.
20. Big boats are now called SAVs??
“Sports Activity Vessels.” Guess we fish outta BKTs — Bass Ketchin’ Tubs? Or SBRs — Slick Bassin’ Rockets??
21. Check this Shelby Super Duty.
For all you Ford guys. Skeet, you can probly get one in yella…. Does ‘Yota have someone like Shelby crankin’ up Tundras?
The northern snakeheads are affecting the number of popular fish life, including wide-mouth bass and carp.
Wide-mouth bass?? Have heard “bigmouth bass” before, but not wide-mouth…or “fat-mouth bass” or “jumbo-mouth bass”? I kinda like “mondo-mouth bass” to….
