If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
Here ’tis — anyone know who rigged this up?
– Greg Hackney talkin‘ ’bout these guys:
> …ignore dock talk. It’ll get in your head and foul up your fishing. A lot of great information from the right source is helpful but just a little bad information will be disastrous. No information is better than bad information.
Word Hack!
> Ehrler’s recipe for a standard wacky rig is to stick a 1/0 Gamakatsu B10S Stinger Hook through the “egg sack” (the smooth area)…. The B10S hook is a specialty hook made for tying flies, but its unique design makes it the best wacky-rig hook Ehrler has found.
Uh Brett, dude I’m no Elite but here to tell ya a wacky-rigged stickbait is money pretty much all year.
Bassin’master slideshow has 5 different ways he rigs Senkos.
Would you? FLWer Tom Redington does. Not much drama but…if it was your PB comin’ at ya would you? Would you run more of a risk of losing it if you were tentative about landing it? Better answer those questions before it happens:
3 out of 4 of these shots are from Japan — don’t know what’s up over there with the Halloween stuff since they don’t celebrate Halloween?
News
1. B.A.S.S. camera guy Rick Mason passes.
Dang. Heart attack. Get your ticker checked fellas. RIP bassin’ bro.2. Feider gave up the goods to Howell on Mille Lacs.
> My first day of practice on Mille Lacs was not as easy as expected, so I made a call to my Team Daiwa buddy Seth Feider. He told me to keep that 4″ Senko on my dropshot, and to use my Lowrance to find isolated boulders offshore. This helped me tremendously the next 2 days of practice, and my confidence level was much better heading into the tournament.
So…Feider is either a great guy or nuts, but either way was straight-up confident about doing well. Which I like.
3. Bertrand needs more tidal experience.
Okay but the key thing is what he’s going to do about it: fish tidal water. Sounds obvious, but some folks don’t have that get up and go.
4. CA: Tim Little’s 10-lb spot new world record.
Guess 9.5 months later it’s official:
My grandfather and my wife’s were cops. Shoutin’ you out and the fire boys too. Tx much and be safe.
6. MS: Where Ross Barnett released fish go.
> …47 bass initially tagged and released at the Goshen Springs Landing during the first two weeks of March 2016. Biologists tagged 525 tournament-caught bass….
> Most of the fish were caught on the north side of Hwy 43. Over half of the fish were recaptured near the Goshen Springs Landing and the rip-rap along Hwy 43.
> 37% of the fish were caught upriver in the Cane Creek and Horseshoe Lake areas, and one fish moved over 9 miles to Ratliff Ferry. Only six bass were recaptured in the main lake south of Hwy 43. One of those fish was recaptured near Twin Harbors after moving over 8 miles.
7. Name this YUM Vibra King Tube color.
Love these contests man! Last bait name YUM got was: snot rocket. For this color I got: Fozzy, Peach Cobbler, Born Ready, or here’s one for Mercer and his Scrabble buds: Jocularity. Bet you can top that!
PSA for bank bass-heads: There’s NO WAY you can look remotely bassin’ cool with a fanny pack. Not even with a flat-brim, Buff and high-dolla swimbait.
Finesse froggies will be a thing. This is one of the first, color’s called red wing:
13. New/sale stuff on TW.
Case you haven’t been there in a while (few minutes lol):
I always scrounge around the sale stuff yo! Noticed:
> Rapala Shad Rap — Only a few of them on sale, but this will be the first crank you throw next season….
> Shimano Stradic CI4+ Spinning Reel — If I had to dropshot….
> YUM Swurm soft-jerkbait — Honestly don’t fish soft-jerks much but always wanted to try the Swurm out cuz of that big eye.
> River2Sea John Murray Papa Mur Jig — Never fished it but I like football jigs and John knows his stuff.
Westy Worm! — Old-school bass slayer! Many a derby could be won on it…if bass-heads had the guts to fish it!
14. Is the BPS-Cabela’s merger bad?
Let’s start with this, my old Bassin’Fan pal Jonny Storm sorta quoted in an article:
> In a recent Facebook post he wrote that the Bass Pro/Cabela’s deal illustrates the reasons why he left the fishing world. Corporate consolidation, Storm wrote, is ultimately bad for consumers because it diminishes the number and diversity of products.
> It’s also disadvantageous because it reduces competition, he said, as evidenced by the virtual disappearance of advertising by fishing tackle manufacturers in the media.
Obviously Storm thinks the BPS-Cabela’s deal is:
Gonna disagree…overall. I love consolidation cuz it always creates opportunity for others. Always. And that needs to happen in bassin’. We’re lucky to have it.
Opportunity happens because consolidation leaves room. Look at Bass Pro Shops (+ Ranger Boats etc). Look at Outdoor Sportsman Group (Outdoor Channel, WFN, BassFan, Florida Sportsman, etc.). Look at Pure Fishing (Berkley, Abu, etc.). You don’t think those roll-ups have helped companies like, for ex, Phoenix Boats, the BassBlaster, and Lew’s + [any smaller bait company]? They for sure have.
So bring on the consolidation mang!
If you’re inclined to read the mumbo-jumbo about the BPS acquisition and Moody’s rating of it, here tis.
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Tip of the Day
Alton Jones: Flipping small blades.
Fall is blade season yo! Cool little tip from Alton Jones:
> “I go with a 1/4- to 3/8-oz BOOYAH spinnerbait with small willowleaf blades because a lot of tiny shad that hatched in the spring are now just an inch or so long.
> “I like to slow-roll a it around laydowns, and I’ll even fish it so tight that I have to use a pitching presentation. I want my bait to run right along that wood, even bumping it a few times.
> “I like a small spinnerbait because I can keep it up in the water column, an important point because fish reposition throughout the course of the day and when they rise to sun themselves during the warmest period, you want a bait that stays in their strike zone.
> “If you pitch a jig in there, you’re fishing below the suspended fish, but a slow-rolled spinnerbait remains where they can see it.”
Alton didn’t say which but BOOYAH has a few options for mimicking lil shads. L to R they are: Blade Double Willow (silver shad), Mini Shad Spinnerbait (purple glimmer) and the often used but seldom mentioned Pond Magic.
Quote of the Day
It doesn’t matter if it’s 25 degrees or 110 degrees, she is out there fishing and she is catching fish.
– Tim “gotta make the donuts” Horton talkin‘ ’bout the HS gal who won his derby on Pickwick recently. Love to see the gals killin’ it. Also said:
> “I expect to see her in the Bassmaster Classic someday.”
Props to Tim for encouraging her and I’m sure others. Huge coming from an Elitist like him.
Shot of the Day
Random
R u srs espn.