BassBlaster

Giant space-time basses, Winning baits, Spring cranking bests, Man-card check!

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on May 14, 2019

Y’all please welcome Sea Foam to the Blaster! Yep, known as an auto additive but it works just as extry good in anything with a gas engine…like outboards. Here’s the vid on that…and btw Sea Foam has a new Marine PRO product designed just for marine engines — you might be able to find around you if you’re lucky. Been using Sea Foam in my vehicles for years, and in my experience it really is all that. Helps with fuel stabilization too….

Speakin’ of vee-hicles, here’s my new (used) Tundra:

Just got ‘er yesterday after my ’08 ‘Yota Sequoia with 240K miles real sudden got too expensive to fix. Wanted a black pickup, but no used ones around so…. She’s a ’16, by far the newest vehicle I’ve had in a long time. Gonna make her look so sweet that Brandon Palaniuk’ll wanna swap me for his truck….

Will show y’all updates as she comes along. First up, Sea Foam Motor Treatment in the tank (seriously), black wheels, black grill — lmk if you have any “must git” truck gear recommendations for a fellow bass-head.

>> If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!

Today’s Top 5

Couple melons distortedly proportioned in the space-time continuum.

Dang straight McFly! Jumpin’ off with this 15-13 [mind-blown emoji] caught by Brian Hammett at Orange Lake, FL. It’s the 2nd-largest largie ever entered in FL’s TrophyCatch program, and was 29″ long and 22″ around:

Aaaaaand lookit this disgustingly beautiful 7.7-lb blubberous water wolf caught by @alexandersportfishing in a tourney he won on Sturgeon Bay, WI — but I don’t think it was the Sturgeon Bay Open (this weekend, right?):

Here’s him with that fish and a dinky 6.9:

Did you know there’s a diagram about this in high school physics books ONLY in WI:

HAHAHA fo sho!

Top baits at the Chickamauga FLW.

Finally gettin’ ’round to this from 2 weekends ago — #toomanyderbies. Anyhoo, big congrats to Johnny Cox on his 3rd FLW Tour win. Sounds like Someone might have told him what to do on day 4:

> “…the last 10 minutes was just unreal. It was last-minute. I don’t know why, it just popped into [my] head, ‘Go to the trees,’ and I went to them and it was unreal. It was the first cast to them.”

> …hooked a big fish and lost it…then went to the next tree and landed a 4-lber. And then right back to the previous tree, where he’d just lost a big one, to land another 4-lber, which ultimately sealed the deal on his tournament-winning bag.

> “I’m running back and tears are coming out. I felt something. It felt better than any other tournament any time I’ve won before. It was overwhelming. I’m getting chills thinking about it. I’ve never felt like that before.”

Yeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaa love it! He caught ’em bed-feeshn with a wacky 6″ Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General (baby bass). Also fished a Dirty Jigs Swim Jig with a Berkley MaxScent Meaty Chunk trailer (both white). Here’s how the top 10 baits broke down in this bed-fest — crazy wide variety:

Stick worm/Senko-type = 60%

Flip plastics = 30%

20% each = Swim-jig, Swimbait, Crankbait, Jig

10% each = Lipless crank, Football jig, Worm, Spinnerbait, Hair jig, Buzzbait, Jerkbait

Shout-outs:

1. Most mentions of Scottsboro Tackle swimbaits and heads than I’ve seen in a top-level tourney. That company seems to be coming on.

2. Most-often-mentioned craws/trailers were Zoom Z Craws and Strike King Rage Craws.

3. Co-angler John Young saved the life of FLWer and former Elitist J Todd Tucker:

> “I put my rod up under that 2×4 and reached down like a dummy. I put all my weight on it, and it came off.”

> …Tucker fell face-first into the support post, impacting it with his nose. “It happened so fast…. I’m blacked out. It knocked me out. I woke up and [Young] is right there holding my arm. Thank goodness.”

> …Young says…”He rolled over, and his eyes were up and blood was everywhere.”

Hope JTodd is okay, huge props to John. Couldn’t find a lifesaver #stout so:

Top baits at the Table Rock Costa.

Local Eric Olliverson won it by a tail fin — 5 oz — over FLWer Dakota Ebare, and fished in a borrowed boat cuz he donated his lower unit to the lake after hitting a log. FLW says he targeted smalls at first, but realized that it’d have to be larges for the win.

Eric won it with a 3.3 Keitech Fat on a 6th Sense Divine Swimbait Head and a 6th Sense Crush Dogma 115 walking bait (gizzard shad), which sounds like it was his prime largie bait. Here’s how the baits of the top 10 looked:

Flip plastics = 40%

Walking bait = 30% — Strike King Sexy Dawg = 20%

Swimbait = 30% — 3.3 Keitech Fat = 20%

20% each = Stick worm (Senko), Nedacious rig

10% each = Frowg, Shakey head

Shout-out:

1. Kids, what you are looking at are baits called “tubes.” They used to be big. They still work. HAHAHA! That’s Wes Rogers (8th) with a couple BPS Tender Tubes with chart-dyed tails rigged on 1/4-oz Jewel Rattlin’ Tube Heads:

Please take my bassin’ man card if I ever do this.

Check this pic posted by ’19 Bassmaster Classic competitor Jack Gallelli of It’ly:

I’m sure that deal works and no offense to Jack (or anyone), but if that’s what it takes to catch a bass, might as well go all the way and bluegill-fish. Dang man. I mean, you could drink water like this too but there’s a lot funner ways to do it:

Would you retire to this spot?

Jeff Fitts posted this insane shot — said it’s a giant school of spots and smallmouths:

I know this: Ain’t a single spot like that anywhere in the sate of NJ. 🙁

News

1. Sounds like we lost 2 brothers on Lanier.

Dang it:

> The body of Brianislav Prazich, 59, was recovered around 3:30 p.m. near the site of where [his] bass boat and 23- to 24-foot cruiser collided on Wednesday, May 8, according to Mark McKinnon, a public affairs officer for the GA Dept of Natural Resources.

> Meanwhile, the search continued for Nick Schimweg, 38, also of Cumming, who has been missing since Wednesday’s boat accident in the Bald Ridge Creek area. [The article says he was the passenger in the bass boat.]

Here’s the boat:

Always makes me physically ill to read this stuff. Pls be careful out there….

2. Jesse Wiggins and Gerald Spohrer get Quantum reels.

3. Was Gerald Spohrer Alton Jones Sr’s wing official?

We’ve got boat officials and wingmen, but check Gerald Spohrer makin’ dang sure Alton Sr wasn’t doin’ no cheatin’ at a BPT wing-eatin’ contest — reminds me of my black Lab lookin’ at me when I eat lol:

Tough to tell who’s more serious about that deal, and for all we know maybe Gerald was still hungry?

4. Rick Clunn’s dad thought he would starve to death…

…trying to be a pro angler. Rick, if it makes you feel any better, my dad thought the same thing when I second-mortgaged my house (twice) to build a website called BassFan…but you prolly don’t care about that, which is cool….

5. Bottom of the BPT points standings right now.

Just cuz I was curious with the different format and all. I THINK that says Kevin VanDam in 69th but for some reason my brain isn’t processing it:

6. Winnebago, WI will be the last BPT of the year (#8).

> …Jun 25-30 on WI’s largest lake, which spans approximately 138,000 acres and covers an area of about 30 miles by 10 miles.

7. I was on Stray Casts and…

…somehow I felt like it got serious again! WTHeck! Maybe it’s the late hour man, I don’t know. Anyhow, here’s you view:

8. TX: Boat captain charged in HS tourney.

No deets and not sure from the article whether it’s just an investigation or what.

9. MT thinking about changing bass limits.

> …largemouth and smallmouth bass limits on some waterbodies in the Western Fishing District.

10. MA HS student going to U TN to bass-fish.

Not on scholly, just goin’ south cuz he wants to COMPETE man! Love it!

11. AR: First derby won outta a glass Vexus boat?

They say so so I guess so. Note that it was 2 Vexus guys fishing Bull Shoals (home lake) BUT there’s a ton of hammers out there so bet it wasn’t a gimme…. Check these fish-friendly wells on those glass rigs:

12. OK: Dogs being used to sniff out invasive mussels on boats.

13. ESPN getting more into sports betting info.

Not bassin’ but innerestin’. Following the $ yes, doing the right thing…not sure.

Headline of the Day

Add squirrel, black bass to your Memorial Day grilling menu

Line of the Day

As Howell begins to piece together his internal Jenga tower of strategy and fish-catching acumen….

MLF/BPT media man and Superman’s dad Jo-El Shangle writin’ big words ’bout Randy Howell. Full sentence is a masterpiece of English:

> As Howell begins to piece together his internal Jenga tower of strategy and fish-catching acumen in preparation for the Berkley Stage Six Presented by TrueTimber on Table Rock Lake, he’s already hyper-aware of the need to stay flexible and diverse on a fishery that will probably be in the same unpredictable post-spawn condition as Smith Lake was.

Challenge you to read that out loud in 1 breath — cut down on that 5-hr Energy Shangle hahaha!

Tip of the Day

David Fritts: Pre- and post-spawn crankin’.

From an older Bassin’masters tip, but the info’s still good — and bear in mind David has cranked more than all of us combined:

Pre-spawn

> “In pre-spawn, my first choice is finding some kind of rock. A lot of times, the rocks about the size of your head are the most productive. There are times when boulders are good, but usually not as good as those basketball-size rocks. This is a time when the fish really relate to one specific kind of rock, and finding out what that rock is and where it’s located is probably the biggest key to being successful.”

> Most of the time, these rocks will be adjacent to spawning areas….

> “My #1 color is going to be a crawfish pattern. That’s what I’m going to start the day with. Sometimes I’ll vary to a gold finish, but browns and reds are going to be the key colors.”

Post-spawn

> “Post-spawn is probably my favorite time of year because fish are in so many stages. …the bass always seem to show up, stacked on real vertical breaks. I concentrate about 10′ deep for early post-spawners. As the weeks go by, the fish tend to keep getting deeper and deeper….

> “Usually I like some type of shad color. My favorite one is actually a solid-pearl bait with a light green back. It’s the ultimate color to me. Sometimes a blue back is a little better, but I usually opt for the green.”

Post was from about 10 years ago, back when he used the Rapala DT series cranks, which he helped design. Will mention again that all the pros seem to like the Ike colors better than the standard ones…and not cuz they like Ike.

Hahaha gotcha Ike!

Quote of the Day

“At one point during the tournament when things weren’t going well, I honestly felt like I was going to throw up.”

– That’s Keith Combs talkin’! Not a small statement, ‘specially from a big calm, cool hammer like Combs. Was talkin’ ’bout Fork:

> …it seemed like I lost big bass every way possible during this tournament. In past tournaments on Fork I’ve lost some fish when they jumped, but that wasn’t what happened this time. Some of them were hooked in the tail, some came unbuttoned for reasons I still can’t figure out, and just about every big fish I landed had just one hook from the back treble keeping it pinned.

Sounds brutal. You know how everyone says when it’s your time to win it’s your time? I guess Brandon Cobb cut in line — no wait, that’s not what I meant to say. It’s that when it’s your time NOT to win, there’s nothing you can do to make it happen. Same deal. Just the way it is.

Shot of the Day

Anthony L just might win the prize for the smallest bass ever caught on a frowg, in this case a BOOYAH Pad Crasher in “ole smokey:”

Couple things:

> Believe that color is H-O-T on Guntersville (and possibly other TN River lakes?).

> I checked and that is NOT a scoreable bass…lol!

Ya got me

Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup

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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