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Give ya a big bass-head welcome to Pure Fishing! That’s Berkley, Abu, Spiderwire, etc. They’ve done a dang good job over the last couple years with their new stuff…which I blame on peeps like Justin Lucas, Jordan Lee, David Fritts, Skeet Reese, Bobby Lane and a bunch more folks of questionable character (heehee!). Stoked PF values y’all enough to get involved in this-here zaniness.
One mo’ thing: Spent some time this week going thru Classic photo galleries. Wow. Not only were the pics great, it was like I was reliving it all over again. And I realized: I miss it bad. I miss the guys, the joking around, the stories. Yeah the tourneys, the fishing, the fish, but not as much as the peeps. Or maybe I’m stone cold crazy right now.
Reminds me of sports — I miss the physical contact, being in great shape and the guys. The sport itself — yeah it was fun, even joyful at times, but that part didn’t stick with me as much…unless I’m yelling at the TV lol. That make any sense?
Anyhow let’s git Blastin’!
>> If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 4
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Great Hank Cherry jerkbait vid!
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Hank Cherry took some time to do kind of a mini-seminar for all us bass-heads about jerkbait fishing. Shoot man, it’s gold!
I was like, “My name’s JAY, not Jerry.” But whatever, the dude’s right: the Jerry vid IS gold. I mean the CHERRY vid. Dang!
Anyhow, keep in mind Hank knows enough about jerkbaitin’ that he could do 100 vids AND defeat Darth Sidious at the end so don’t expect all that in this’n. Just sit back and get some insight — it’s in there for sure — from a jerkin’ master’s mind.
One quick example from the vid:
> …2 birds and couple swirls, and I Power-Poled down and it was 55 bass and 28 lbs later….
It’s kinda like a mini-seminar, not an action movie. Few more things:
1. Sure hope Abu comes out with a Hank Cherry jerkbait rod cuz it actually could be the best one ever made. Seriously.
2. Here’s his gear, and with him not mentioning a bait I’m bettin’ a Hank-designed Berkley jerkbait’s coming:
6′ 10″ ML Abu Veracity Rod — it’s Cherry red….
Abu Revo STX Reel (7.3:1)
15-lb Berkely Trilene 100% Fluoro
3. Gotta shout out a dude named Dalton “Rollin’ and” Tumblin who shot Hank’s Classic for Bassmaster.com. Don’t know him but he can shoot — that’s one of his shots ^ and I stole a few more for the vid….
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Not sure what happened exactly, but Evinrude’s out of the outboard biz. What’s come out so far doesn’t make a whole lotta sense to me, but here it is anyhow:
From here:
> BRP announced it has re-oriented its marine business by focusing on the growth of its boat brands with new technology and innovative marine products. We will discontinue production of Evinrude E-Tec and E-Tec G2 outboard engines. Our Sturtevant, WI facility, will be repurposed for new projects to pursue our plan to provide consumers with an unparalleled experience on the water.
> “Our outboard engines business has been greatly impacted by COVID-19, obliging us to discontinue production of our outboard motors immediately. This business segment had already been facing some challenges and the impact from the current context has forced our hand.”
> With this announcement, BRP will be positioned to expand its presence in the pontoon and aluminum fishing markets through technologically advanced solutions. …enhance the boating experience with unique new marine products, such as the next generation of engine technology with Project Ghost [integrated boat and electric motor]…. From Fishing Tackle Retailer:
> “We have no plan to bring back the production of outboard engines E-Tec and E-Tec G2.
> “At this point, we have no intention of selling the brand or the technology of Evinrude.”
What I don’t get is:
1. How fast it happened — Covid sometimes seems to be an excuse for businesses to do things. Kinda like this lol:
2. Not selling the brand — that must leave major coin on the table.
3. BRP appears to be focusing on electric boat engines — which would have to be combined with boats, not just hung on the back.
From what I’ve heard, bass boat sales — not sure about the rest — have been good even in the lockdown so wondering:
a) Was biz way worse for ‘Rude than people knew? Was it committing to 2-strokes? A ‘Rude exec said this in 2018:
> …acknowledged the Evinrude’s 2-stroke engines faced a challenge going up against a market dominated by 4-stroke options. “The biggest challenge is we’re the different guys. We’ve chosen a different technology path and so for us that’s probably the biggest challenge, making sure people understand why we chose the path we did and why it’s a superior path.”
b) Does whoever’s in charge at BRP just plain not like outboards? (This kinda thing happens at big companies….)
What happens to warranties:
> We will continue to supply customers and our dealer network service parts and will honor our manufacturer limited warranties, plus offer select programs to manage inventory. These decisions will impact 650 employees globally. [Plus the Alumacraft plant in Arkadelphia, AR is bing closed.]
In the meantime Merc’s got the engine biz for the BRP boat brands:
> Following our decision to discontinue…outboard engines, we have signed an agreement with market leader Mercury Marine to support boat packages and continue to supply outboard engines to our boat brands.
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Seems like it’s impossible to know what colors bass see?
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Technically it IS impossible because we can’t see exactly what they see with their eyes and they can’t tell us — with words! — but check this:
> “A simple model of visual perception predicted that bass should not be able to discern between chartreuse…and white nor between green and blue. In contrast, bass should be able to discern red from all [gray scale] stimuli. These predictions were partially upheld in behavioral trials.”
> The study showed that bass can distinguish between red and green, but dark colors such as blue and black look the same to bass. Bright colors such as chartreuse and white look the same.
Told my bud Kev that and he was like:
Right? I mean, we ALL know how bass react to certain-color baits so…here’s what I’m going with:
Bass can see all colors great, especially black/blue, green pumpkin with whatever flake, and chartreuse.
And they WILL prefer subtle color differences on any given day, ones we wouldn’t normally value, so…?
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Smallmouth fitness witness.
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Almost as rare as a bigfoot pic — @fishdonkey shot:
Heck yeah smallie fitness is real….
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News
1. Edwin Evers gets TackleWebs tackle organization.
No link 🙁 but here’s the website.
Btw Edwin ties braid straight to walking baits.
2. MLFer Zack Birge gets Flambeau.
Partly because he’s duck-crazy. No link 🙁
3. Aaron Martens was live on Shimano Facebook.
JP DeRose hosted it. He’s like the Mike Iaconelli of Canada — 100 different things going on, somehow awake and present for all of ’em. #clones
4. Anyone recognize this Canadian kid?
Not sure who it is but pretty sure Elitist Gussy “Jeff” Gustafson can’t be more than 18 years old right now.
5. Skeet I think I found your next vehicle.
Paint it yellow and:
6. How FLWer Casey Canlon is dealing.
Real good post about what it’s like to miss out on tournaments and a bunch of other stuff due to the lockdown.
7. FLWer James Niggemeyer buzzbaits on Fork (vid).
In that vid he caught more fish than I have in my whole life on a buzzbait lol.
8. Who’s Brent Homan?
Find out in this vid. Vet, bass-head, tough story. He’s okay-ish now (I think) after an IED blast got him. Great vid. Love from me Brent, thank you man.
9. Iron Maiden guitar man Adrian Smith fished for smallies…
…on the St. Lawrence. Big fisherman, not just a bass fisherman, who knew. Released a new book, “Monsters Of River & Rock.”
10. TX: ’21 Classic will be at Ray Bob.
Interesting choice, looking forward to seeing TX hopefully show out for this Classic, unlike the last one there…. Classic’s 1st time at RB and Fort Worth.
11. KY/TN: 300K FL bass dropped in Kentucky Lake.
Good job and sounds like the lake’s doing better, which is huge:
> After a couple of years of hard work and lobbying, [TV host] Charlie Ingram …and Bob Cathey…got what they wanted — a shipment of baby bass to restock the lake.
> The decline in the bass population coincided with the rise in the Asian carp population, but with some measures being taken in the last 2 years to battle the carp, the bass numbers have leveled off. Now the goal is to bring the numbers back to where they were pre-carp and possibly even higher.
> “The only way you can do it is to put those bass in there at 2.5 inches long in May, back in the bushes, and they will survive. You’ll get a 95% survival rate. If you wait on Mother Nature to do it then the carp will wipe them out and in 2-3 years you won’t have any.”
> “I’d like to give a special thanks to all of the commercial fisherman battling the Asian carp…they don’t get enough credit. They do make a difference — I have seen far less carp this year than years past.”
12. NY: Drive-in weigh-in for the St. Lawrence Elite?
One option they’re considering.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now…
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Tip of the Day
How to walk a topwater AROUND something.
This is great! Bernie Schultz explains the late Charlie Campbell’s technique on the Bassin’masters:
> …the trick was to make a lengthy cast just to the side and past the target, then begin a “sidestepping” retrieve.
> By keeping his rod tip down, he began with short, rhythmic pulls using only his wrist. The cadence consisted of one long pull with a slightly delayed second half-pull, repeating this…one long pull, one short, one long, one short.
> The key is not to think too much about it. Charlie felt you could almost do it better blindfolded. He claimed watching the lure could cause the cadence to become erratic. Instead, he suggested concentrating on the movements of the rod tip. As the gliding lure forms slack in the line, you’ll feel it, and that’s when you twitch again.
> By continuing the sidestepping retrieve, the line will wrap around the backside of the object the lure is intended to circle. Once it reaches that object, you maintain the proper cadence so that the nose of the lure continues to make intermittent contact as it circles it. This minimizes the chances of snagging….
> Charlie firmly believed this repeated “bumping-the-stump” contact greatly increases the odds of provoking a bass to strike.
> …by focusing on the cadence, he believed it improved his odds of connecting with short-striking fish. …by concentrating more on the rod rather than the lure, you have more time to determine if a striking fish has fully committed itself.
How innerestin’ is that!
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Quote of the Day
“Every weekend I was at bass fishing tournaments, monster truck rallies, car and boat shows, NASCAR charity functions, and they all had something in common: Young, bikini-clad women pushing products to married men at family-friendly events.”
– Say what?? From here. Maybe the other places, but thankfully not bassin’.
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Shot of the Day
Asked Elitist Hunter Shryock if he had any pics of a Squatch eye and here’s what he sent me:
Not sure if he was kidding or serious…tough to tell with Shryocks….
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Random
Nothing about this is a good idea:
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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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