BassBlaster

Guido tribute, Classic rumors, Ham melons, Jerkbait bite detection

Weeeeelllll it’s Classic week so I’ll be there — so NO second Blaster this week! Sorry bass-heads, but you’ll fer sher get your bassin’ fix anyhow and I’ll hit you back next week. Enjoy the show!

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

Today’s Top 5

We lost Guido.

For bass-heads, Guido Hibdon was more than a Hall of Famer, a legend, etc. He was a pioneer. And if you look around, aren’t that many pioneers in anything still around. For sure not many bassin’ pioneers still around.

When you’re a pioneer, even a casual convo — that you have with so many people — can be life-changing and a treasured memory for the other person. So there’s no possible way any one person or thing can do justice to Guido, who gave so many people those memories. But here’s a few from a few bassin’ legends to help a little.

In honor of Guido, who only ever needed one name in bassin’, only gonna ID each guy with one name — that’s all they need anyhow:

Shaw: “He was my mentor in my early years. He taught me so much. And he taught everybody. He was just that type of guy. He took me sight-fishing.

“I thought I knew something about sight-fishing. We fished the Super Bass on the St Johns River and it was pretty funny: I’d fish a bed the way I knew how to do it, and then he’d say, ‘You done with that?’ make like 1 cast and would catch it.

“It’s amazing how much he inspired me and taught me my entire career. He was a special, special guy. A great guy and a great ambassador for the sport.”

Denny: “Guido was a great man and friend, and will be missed by everyone that had the honor to know him. I loved the fact that he didn’t worry if he was politically correct. He told it how it was. Needs to be more of that.

“One of the pioneers of bed fishing — great angler and family man.”

Kenyon: “He was my mentor and a father figure for me forever. We were family out there on the road for years and years. We not only fished tournaments together, we deer-hunted together, pheasant-hunted together, went crappie fishing in MO all the time. We were much more like family than just fellow competitors.

“I learned a lot from him. I’m a better man for knowing him, and I carried that through the rest of my life…how to treat people and how to act, stuff like that.

“He’d come off as rough as sandpaper, but had a heart bigger than the world. Just a wonderful person.

“We were always playing practical jokes on each other. He was as good at it as anybody and it was always all in fun. The world’s a better place for having Guido in it, that’s for sure.”

Swindle: “Guido and Stella were the first people to take me in and accept me — that meant the world to me. That was the first year on the Top 100 B.A.S.S. series.”

Forrest: “My relationship with the Hibdons dates back to the early ’80’s. Since that time, we’ve been there and back a lot of times with a lot of fond memories. In those days, Nina would often put together photo scrapbooks of the tournaments we went to and I occasionally run across some of the pictures she took. As you might imagine, Guido and his family are in a number of those photos.

“Ready with a smile, a good story, and plenty of competition, the truth is, Guido did more for his fellow anglers than he ever did for himself. He’s also left a great legacy with Dion and the boys. It’s something that becomes more important to all of us as we pass the baton to those worthy of handling it.

“It’s a pleasure to say that Guido was one of the good ol’ boys that helped build this sport by constantly pouring his knowledge and support into others. I’ll miss him dearly.”

Biffle: “I liked Guido — he was all country and told it like it was! Had the pleasure of drawing him back in the day — he was great to fish with and one of the all time greats of the sport. RIP til we meet again!”

KVD: “I didn’t know him extremely well, but I sure respected him a lot…a legendary finesse and sight-fisherman. Over the years got to know him and his son [Dion] both — I competed against them for a lot of years. I definitely respected him and the way that he fished. He was always going to do things his own way.

“You dang sure didn’t want to fish against him in a small area — he would catch every bass in that zone. Nobody picked things apart and figured out how to catch every bass in an area better than Guido.

“It really was a shock to hear. All our thoughts and prayers are with Stella, Dion and the whole family.”

Ike: “I had the wonderful pleasure of fishing with Guido in the BASS Top 150 on Lake Norman. I was in college then and fishing as an amateur. When drew him out I was so excited because as a kid I always looked up to him as the father of finesse fishing!

“The day was amazing! We both caught limits and he was such a great teacher, coaching me through out the day. Later the following year I attended a Bassmaster University class in Harrisburg, PA where he was speaking. He remembered me, and after the seminar was over he spent well over an hour talking to me and giving me pointers on how to make it as a professional angler. Guido was a first-class guy and he will be dearly missed!”

Like I said: Pioneers have a huge influence, and that’s just a little tiny bit of how much Guido affected everyone in bassin’.

Here’s how I remember him: Always cordial, quiet but intense, and willing to share some (not all, which you gotta respect!) of what he knew about bassin’, which was a ton.

For me, a kid from Jersey, Guido also was someone who represented the almost mystical world of bassin’. Southern guys catching big fish on the lakes I read about — like Lake of the Ozarks — but thought I’d probly never fish…all that was awesome to me, like a different world or planet.

When I somehow became part of the bassin’ world, I couldn’t wait to meet Guido and guys like him. I couldn’t wait to ask them questions about bassin’. I couldn’t wait to hear what they had to say. (I’m still that way!)

So thank you Guido — and Stella, Dion and the rest of the Hibdon clan — for just being you and for how much you’ve done to further this crazy awesome world of catching the basses. Amazing, appreciated, much respect and love.

Services for Guido will be held TOMORROW March 14 at 3:00pm CST at the Kidwell Garber Funeral Home, 207 N Monroe St, Versailles, MO.

The family has requested that instead of flowers, if you would like to send something and if you ever met or got to know Guido to drop them a note telling them your thoughts about Guido so Stella can compile those comments and notes into a booklet for her grandchildren.

Send notes to:
The Hibdons
PO Box 56
Stover, MO 65078

Also:

Here’s the Guido vids on YouTube. Learn from a master!

When Guido won the ’88 Classic on the James River…with 28-08! Click it for the vid:

Love this shot posted by Craig Lamb at B.A.S.S.:

Bone-in ham-melons of the week!

Give it up to OK for farmin’ out two 14-lb melons in a week: Kevin Claypool (top) of caught a 14-02 outta Lake Murray — new lake record and the 7th biggest OK bass ever…til Jeremy Cole took the 7th spot with a 14-lb 4.8-oz melon outta a farm pond:

2nd place in the ham-melon Classic goes to the state of TX, whose previously dormant Lake Fork burped up 3 teener largies in a couple weeks. Had the 15.48 last week, now here’s a 13.06 caught by Alex Finch (top) and 13-even caught by Michael Terrebonne:

@toddokrine‘s (aka, Todd Kline) “blind squirrel finds a nut” day somewhere in CA went like this-here: “The weather’s been cold for a couple of weeks but I knew the females wanted to move up on the recent full moon. We have had 3 consecutive warm days so I thought they would chew. Only had a half day as I had to be off the water by noon…. I ran staging areas outside of spawning flats. Threw Senkos and jigs [Revenge Jig with Flappin’ Hog] in trees that were in about 20′. Seven fish and smallest was a 5:”

Baits from the FLW Lanier finessetivus.

The Lanier FLW was a festivus of finessin’, which means it was…boring.

KIDDING (sorta) bass-peeps hahaha! Congrats to B-Rad Hallman, former Elitist who won it by 3 lbs…a dang good margin in a finesse derby that featured a bunch o’ spotted bass:

He changed up every day — a Megabass Vision 110+1 on points, a Keitech-type ribbed swimbait on a 1/2-oz head along marina walls, a Zoom Trick Worm on a shakey head under shallow docks and walkways, and a spinnerbait upriver. Here’s how all the Top 10 finnessin’s broke down:

Swimbait = 50%Keitech FAT = 30%, 3.5″ YUM Pulse (Zack Birge 2nd, available at retail this July), 3.75″ Strike King Rage Swimmer (Cody “Mr. Finesse” Meyer 6th)

Shakey head = 30%

Jerkbait = 20% — both Vision 110)

Spinnerbait = 20% (for largies)

Dropshot = 20%

Flanders = 20%

10% each = Crank (Norman Deep Little N), C-rig, Senko, Weightless plastic, Nail-weighed wacky, Jig.

“Winning a Classic is one of the biggest honors in bass fishing.”

– Last Hartwell Clasico winner Casey Ashley talkin’. Uh, Casey my man, it is THE SINGLE FOR SURE BIGGEST WITH A CAPITAL B honor in bassin’. No doubt.

To answer some popular Qs about Casey:

> Is he really that nice? Yes and no. He is, but c’mon — no one can really be as nice as he is, not even people from Canada. I think he may be an alien?

> Can he sing without auto-tune? Yep, dude has legit pipes. Can play the fiddle too.

> Do gals faint when they see him or hear him or get close to him? Only seen it happen once so I guess the answer’s yes.

> Does he ever not have Costas? He always has them. If he drops one, he has a Costa roadie that runs out and gives him another one.

> Is the dude too good-lookin’ to be good at singin’ and bassin’ too? Most definitely. Life ain’t fair mang!

Not sure if he has a sense of humor yet tho….

Few Classic rumors.

Most of what gets talked about in bass fishing is just rumors, aka fake news. Add any major event to the mix — Elite, Classic, ICAST — and the amount of rumors go up by a factor of 10 so these may or may not ever come true but:

> B.A.S.S. will offer Classic winner choice of cash or “Lipcoin” — New cryptocurrency B.A.S.S. is supposedly coming out with…. Not sure if the Classic winner would rather get 6 figs of dollars or 7 figs of Lipcoin? But I’d say Ike or KVD would take the Lipcoin.

> Rapper Lil Yachty will rename himself Lil Bassboaty for the week — Don’t YouTube him unless you love cuss-words, sheesh.

> The official name — the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods — will soon be extended by 221 characters to max out every Twitter post.

> Duck? If the Classic is won on a topwater duck, I will owe Zona 50 bucks. Wait…that’s true…. The bet he has with Sanders is a rumor tho…will let him out that one….

News

1. How Alton Jones is feeshn the Classic.

Noteworthy cuz he won the last one at Hartwell. Innerestin’:

> If you look at how tournaments are won, there’s a handful of baits…so I’ll be spending more time practicing with that selection of lures.

> A good example is a swimbait like a YUM Money Minnow or the YUM Pulse. There are many different ways you can rig them, and if you get on that bite, you can win. A jig is another good example, and so are your classic power-fishing techniques like a spinnerbait, a big crankbait, even a jerkbait.

> Now, contrast this with dropshots and shakey heads, which typically do not win tournaments — at least not on Hartwell during the pre-spawn.

> …we have a lake with rising water level — approaching full — new shallow water targets, warming temperatures and a mid-March tournament. This is going to determine a lot of what I do in the tournament.

2. Strike King has 7 anglers fishin’ el Clasico.

Includin’ this kid:

Btw the Lee bros are fishin’ their first Classic together. Cool and actin’ all nice about it now, but if Jordan’s winning again it’s gonna go down like this at the ramp: #bros

3. Wheeler, Swindle droolin’ about Rapala baits this Classic.

Fer sher some Rapalas excel in cold water.

4. Is Seth Feider’s stache becoming a brush guard?

Related question: Does it have too many strands so will interfere with hooksets?

5. Ricky Morris gets Falcon Boats.

In el Clasico too. Falcon’s not shy about comin’ after the bassin’ market.

6. AFTCO adds Ryan Butler.

MO dude who’s in the Classic thru the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Champeenship. Here’s some #stoutness:

> Butler will also be partnering with the Catch a Dream foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed towards providing outdoor adventures of a lifetime to kids with life-threatening illness. These trips are outdoors-based and center around bass fishing and hunting. Ryan has a goal of raising $100,000, which will supply 20 trips for the children and their family. [Donate here.]

Other AFTCO freshwater teamers: Jason Christie, Dustin Connell, Todd Faircloth, Shin Fukae, Anthony Gagliardi, Russ Lane, Jared Lintner, Scott Martin, Michael Neal and John Zeolla.

7. New Classic Live tower but….

From a B.A.S.S. news tiddybit:

> Cell coverage will be even stronger on Lake Hartwell this year than during the two previous Classics in 2008 and 2015, thanks to a 110-foot live-stream tower erected last week at Green Pond Landing and Event Center in Anderson, S.C., site of the daily takeoffs for the Classic.

Unfortunately reception is spotty because of local wildlife:

8. Classic will bring $23 mil to local economy?

Dang if true that’s a massive number.

9. Humminbird/Minn Kota Classic hype vid.

#thegrind

10. TX: 4 30+ bags at Bassin’ Champs Rayburn!

And 5th was 29.9 lbs! Somehow Phil “XD” Marks finished 20th so I’m bettin’ he only fished half the day lol.

11. Tix available for Robison Foundation auction at Rayburn.

Bunch o’ good folks and famous-type peeps’ll be there — it’s a time. Keep waitin’ for Van Halen to be invited — what up with that B-Rob??

12. AZ: No fishing at Alamo Lake for a while?

Corps dropping water levels.

13. LBAA’s Lady Angler of the Year: Mickie Wolfinbarger.

14. GA: New HS bassin’ team at John Milledge Academy.

15. New Shimano Stella FJ eggbeater debuting at Classic.

No doubt it’s awesome but…starts at $700!! So all bass-heads are like:

16. New St. Croix Dock Sniper rod.

Can’t recommend the rod cuz don’t own it, but mentioning here cuz I love the name.

17. List of all 69 Gander Outdoors stores.

Tip of the Day

How Fred Roumbanis detects jerkbait bites.

Do we know how many bites we miss? Nope, but for sure a lot we don’t even know about. Check this quick hit from Freddie Boom Boom about what line he likes to use for jerkin’:

> “When you’re fishing a jerkbait this time of year, very rarely will you experience bone-jarring strikes. So it’s crucial to use equipment that will make it easier to indicate soft, subtle bites.

> “I’ve been using bright-colored 30-lb braid on my 6.5:1 Ardent Apex Elite Reel with a 5′ to 6′ 10-lb P-Line Ultimate Fluorocarbon leader. The braid floats on the water’s surface, so I’m able to see the line jump with even the smallest bite. It often looks like the ‘tick, tick’ of a shaky head bite.

> “I’ve honestly noticed a tremendous increase in my success since experimenting with this combination.”

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Quote of the Day

“You can rest easy that he’s almost certainly not going to get himself hurt because the second sport is bass fishing.”

Talkin ’bout GA Bulldawgs QB Jake Fromm, who fished the FLW college tourney on Guntersville, AL. He and partner Jordan Rowe finished 234th…which I guess is like a couple INTs and a fumble? Lol, glad to have him be part of the BEST SPORT IN ‘MERICA YO!

And as we all know, you CAN get hurt in bassin’ — even tackled at some club derbies lol.

Shot of the Day

Great shot by donny barone — kinda makes you think, Who will it be this year?

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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