Couple deals:

Interesting stuff about younger tourney fishermen from talking to a couple folks:

1. They are so good coming outta college because with all the youngster tourneys, they've done more thinking as tournament fishermen by/at that age than prior generations have.

2. An irony is that the younger crowd wants to learn non-FFS techniques – for example, when watching Live – because they don't know how to do that stuff. They're already very good at FFS and – being bass fishermen – feel like they're already as good or better at it than many top pros.

Thought those perspectives were interesting. I'm starting to feel pretty strongly that the best thing to do for the whole bassin' enchilada is to at least partly restrict FFS at the college and HS levels.

Quick word about tariffs: I haven't talked about them much because it seems like every day the international poker game changes – and as I've said before, none of us know what's really going on at that level (we just see what they want us to think).

Obviously a lot of fishing stuff is made overseas. Based on what we've seen over the years, I'm gonna assume that any tariff-related increases for tackle, etc will just be passed on to us fishermen. I mean, what else can the companies do?

This whole tariff deal can die down as quickly as it rose up – we'll see!

Lastly, all you prayin' folk please pray for all the people affected by last week's bass boat crashes, including Invitationals angler Flint Davis. Tragic deal all the way around. ✝️🙏

Greg Hackney won a bunch in the pre-FFS era, so it's really not a surprise to see him do it again on a trail that doesn't allow FFS. But this one was on a lake he hadn't been to in a couple decades and in a tournament that had I think double-digit locals and semi-locals fishing it – including fellow Elite pro KJ Queen who finished 2nd by 10 oz.

Here's how Greg got 'er done for his first NPFL "shield" trophy.

Going in and practice

> "I knew the bass spawn would be a factor...the only thing that surprised me was I was expecting some type of batfish spawn and that to be a huge factor there. And it was not. There might have been a little bit, but it was not a factor in the event.

> "That lake has a hot-water discharge so in parts of the lake the spawn starts pretty early. But the big deal was we had so much cold weather this spring...the baitfish spawn and the bass spawn were probably a little behind. Which was good for me because there were lots of spawning fish.

> "It probably took some of the local advantage out of it...a lot of locals in the tournament....

> "The deal was I just tried to find as many bigger than average bedding fish as I could, so I pretty much had decided that I would sight-fish the entire event. I didn't have any other thing going.

> "We had some really cold weather the first morning of practice – it was 32 degrees and my cover was frozen that first morning. Then it gradually warmed up and was nice.

> "The deal was it got pretty cold, but it never really affected the water temperature that much. Typically when you get this late in the spring, cold fonts don't have quite the same effect if the water has gotten to a certain temperature.

> "When we got there [the water temp] was 61-62 [and kinda stayed in the] low to mid-60s."

Tournament

> "The 1st day of the tournament I ran all the fish that I had located in practice. About half of them were gone, but that's pretty normal. So the first day I pretty much burned up all my practice.

> "The 2nd and the 3rd day, morning times I would just go fishing. I went to areas I liked and blind-fished til it got light enough that I could see.

> "I pretty much put the trolling motor down, and targeted spotted bass more than largemouth [Norman is a known good spotted bass lake]. ...I would just find largemouths during the tournament. I pretty much knew after practice I couldn't win on just 1 species – I didn't have enough of 1 species found.

> "You could catch 17 lbs of spotted bass. It was the first time I had been there in 20 years. I fished 1 Bassmaster there my 2nd year and the lake wasn't that good. The lake is really good now. It has a lot of fish in it – a lot of really good spotted bass in it.

> "...20-30 keepers a day. If I I wouldn't get to looking and just fish, I don't know how many fish I could catch, the numbers were crazy.

> "I think I weighed 8 spotted bass and 7 largemouth. I weighed 2 largemouths the 1st day, the 2nd day was all spots, and the last day I weighed all largemouth.

> "The last day I guess the Good Lord blessed me...'Here's some largemouth so you can win 100 grand' [laughs]. I was blown away by that. I went to an area that had a lot of good spotted bass and had a gameplan to look at some new areas for largemouth, and I never left.

> "I went in to fish for spots, and I would catch spots and then I would find a largemouth and cull a spot. I'd go a little further and I'd cull another one.

> "The big thing with the spotted bass is they were [spawning] a hair deeper but they weren't deep. Let's say 3-4'. They would be on stumps or rocks. But the largemouths would be much shallower.

> "The majority of the fish I weighed in did not come off boat docks [Norman is a known dock lake]. I caught a lot fish off docks during the tournament, but only 2 that I weighed in. The 2nd day I caught my 1st spot off a boat dock that I weighed, and the last day I caught 1 largemouth off a dock.... Lots of fish were on the docks..fry-guarders...they didn't really play....

> "Other than that, almost all of them were between the docks. Spots would be on wood or rock, and the largemouth would be on a flat place...a really shallow, big, flat place. I'd just go inbetween every dock. They just wanted to be in direct sunlight.

> "...the majority, with the exception of 1 creek, seemed to be in the short pockets. Little short rounded pockets. Short flat pockets."

Baits

90% of his fish were caught on these 2 rigs:

> Shakey head: 4" Strike King Finesse Worm (gp) on a 1/8-oz Strike King Tour Grade Shakey Head with a Gamakatsu hook.

> Wacky rig: 6.5" Strike King Finesse Worm (gp) on a 1/0 Aaron Martens Gamakatsu G-Finesse Drop Shot Hook.

> Same setup for both: 7' Lew's Signature Series Mark Zona All Purpose Spin Rod, Lew's Hyper Mag Spin Reel (3000), 10-lb Strike King Tour Grade Braid to 10-lb Gamma fluoro.

> "Most of the time when I was targeting the spotted bass I used the shakey head because they were deeper and it would get to the bottom quicker. I could catch them a lot faster.

> "I used the wacky worm on the largemouth that were shallow – less than 2'. Most were in 1.5'."

He made the comment that Strike King has the most natural-looking gp on the market, so I asked him about that:

> "It's kind of transparent. A lot of people's gps are brown, and our gp is actually green pumpkin – it has a green tint. It looks like it's supposed to – really natural and that water was clear."

He also used a flip rip on the final day just for largemouths:

> Strike King Baby Game Hawg (gp), 4/0 Gamakatsu G-Power Flipping Hook, 3/16-oz Strike King Tour Grade Flipping Weight, 20-lb Gamma Edge Fluoro, Lew's Hypermag Reel, 7' 6" H Lew's Greg Hackney signature Pitching Rod.

Electronics

> "Mapping was the big thing there – using Lowrance C-Maps just getting around. A big key was shading – I marked the shallow water just for navigation. That lake has so many bars that stick out in it...everything 6' or less was red so I knew where I could run and couldn't run. That's real important when you're running a pattern, and that's what I was doing.

> "No FFS was operating on my boat during this event [laughs]."

Lol who's old enough to remember that deal! From back in the OG BassFan days. I'd say – I'm biased! – that is one of the all-time best magazine covers ever in bass fishing. Yep that is Greg in that armor and the Hack is still attacking!

Known him a long time so threw some funny stuff at him:

1. When you had that dream where the Easter bunny gave you a big golden egg, did he actually say anything? 😁

> "He did not."

2. Do you at feel less manly having won with spinning rods? 😆

> "No because I have several wins with spinning rods. I kind of enjoy it. It brought me back to my roots. My first tour-level win was with a spinning rod – Table Rock. I won the FLW Championship with a spinning rod. I've probably won as much with a spinning rod as I have with a baitcaster.

> "You know, I've been labeled by other people...I think they needed someone so they labeled me a certain way.

> "I hope I didn't lose any street cred or anything, but occasionally I do have to use one [laughs]."

3. Do you think this means you won't be in the Burly Man Flippers Calendar next year?

> "[Laughs] It'll just be a more effeminate picture of me."

[🤣 We both cracked up!]

4. How do you like fishing the NPFLs?

> "I love it just because it's traditional bass fishing, the way I grew up – for the last 25 years.

> "It's a very well run tournament – they take really good care of the anglers. It's a fun place to fish."

5. If you ever did shoot a bigfoot, what would you do next?

> "I would probably wear its hide. I'd have like a whole jumpsuit made with patches on it."

[Hahaha! He told me at the start of this deal that he had "no 'squatch sightings" at Norman because "the lake is so urbanized." 😆]

Looks like this:

It's a top item today because it's a new design (I think? Don't remember anyone else doing the split thing?) and also does this:

That's the brand spankin' new Xcite Baits Rizzo Minnow – some deets:

• 5", 8 colors, $7.99 a pack
• It shakes and rolls too

Says it's in or heading to retailers. Only place I can see it in stock online right now is the Xcite site. Short YT hype vid here.

I don't think this bait is named after Bass U's Rich "Rizz" [no last name needed] but I can't be 100% sure yet...😁

- CA guide Pete Marino talkin' 'bout this 13-07 melonious gigantoid he caught outta Lake Perris:

More deets from WON:

> This fish was so big that it took up most of its bed, and because she was positioned between 2 big bushes I backed the boat off and opened my rod locker to see what I had rigged up that could handle such a big bass.

> ...my Dobyns 744 paired with a Daiwa Tatula Reel and 65-lb braid with a white JackHammer...with a white Zako trailer. My plan was to make a long pitch to the bed and send my ChatterBait down to the fish and use it like a jig.

> I made a 25' pitch...and placed my bait directly in front of her and about 8" away. As soon as my bait went down, she instantly perked up and started to nose down on it. ...in an instant I noticed my line over a thick stick, so I quickly pulled it away from her....

> ...she was about to eat it. Instantly my hands started shaking because I knew I was going to have a shot at something special. I normally stay calm, but this was different.

> I made another pitch and this time it’s clean. As my bait hits bottom, she instantly goes nose down on my bait and inhales my JackHammer...I crossed her eyes. She tried to take me further into the bushes and I tried to horse her out, but neither of us were giving an inch. Then she came up, and that’s all I needed to get her turned.

> To me it looked like an 18- to 20-lber. I mean, I’ve never actually seen a bass of that size in person, but this fish looked like it had that potential.

I can only image how big a 13-lber looks in shallow water – or in any water! Dang!

1. Skeet Reese is retiring after this season

He's going to sell rods, finally paint that fence yellow and will be pursuing a PhD in tectonic plate movement during the Triassic Period. 😁 Okay, at least one of those is true.... Congrats Skeet and bless you man, I'll see you around – and don't go too hard on Jimmy hahaha!

Wonder if Skeet and others are adopting KVD's definition of retire, which is spelled "retire" – with quote marks around it! 🤣

2. Quick reel tip from Takahiro Omori

> This spinning reel moves a lot of line quickly with 6.2:1 gear ratio and 4000 spool size, helps me land more bass for sure.

Count him another fan of the 4000 size. Seem to be a few more here and there, but that is also a heavier reel obviously....

3. Here's the top 10 from the Norman NPFL

Some known folks for sure, except for whoever Kyle Welcher is...😁

1. Greg Hackney – 47-11

2. KJ Queen – 47-1

3. Kyle Welcher – 45-1

4. Patrick Walters – 44-13

5. Seth Ellis – 42-14

6. Drew Cook – 41-13

7. Jason Burroughs – 41-10

8. Tim Frederick – 39-15

9. David Williams – 39-12

10. J Todd Tucker – 39-3

4. Nice don barone tribute to Pam Martin-Wells

On FB in db's distinct semi-poetry style.

5. BFL happenin's

Ouachita, AR – AR's Brennan Cole won it with the ol' C-rig – Zoom Brush Hog and Midsize Brush Hog (mostly watermelon red flake). Dragged main lake points. His big fish was an 8-06.

Rend Lake, IL – Shoutin' out Travis Boley for winning his first tourney that he fished since starting chemo last year. 💪💪 Flipped wood.

Hartwell, SC – How 'bout SC's Jason Burroughs getting his 6th BFL win on that lake and 8th overall. Said he was running and gunning points with a Sebile Magic Swimmer and a Cabin Creek magnum-sized Finesse Worm on a Buckeye Lures Magnum Spot Remover Jighead.

6. New Humminbird contingency programs

NPFL for the new XPLORE units, and MEGA Live 2 in the Toyotas and BFLs.

The 'Bird folks are mashin the pedal down this year fo sho!

7. Tackle Warehouse is now doing custom paints

Believe Catch Co were the first ecomm folks to do it on a mass scale? Others doing it now too, glad TW is as well. Some cool stuff and I bet more's coming!

8. New Daiwa Power Scope spin and casting rods

Baitcasters are 6' 8" MH and 7' H.

9. CA bassin' happenin's

New Melones – The bass are on and might have gotten dumber due to the 30-day mandatory boat quarantine deal there.

Delta bass are shallow and it says "watermelon/red flake" Senkos are the deal.

Don Pedro's water is coming up during the spawn = no bueno.

Kaweah – Weightless wacky Senkos are the deal, from the top to the bottom.

10. MA: New ramp open at Quabbin Rez

Saw this at the bottom of the post – crazy:

> This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott...with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

If "professional media" have to use, or even want to use, AI to do their jobs, Lord help us!

11. Seaguar is looking for an assistant sales mgr

One key qualification: Must be able to tie an FG knot in under 10 seconds. Twice in a row. Stopwatch only, no egg timer. 😆 Just messin'!

12. New prez of AlumaCraft Boats

Bryton Marine Group says James Irwin president and COO of AlumaCraft Boats Inc effective May 1:

> Irwin's passion for the marine industry has brought him back to Alumacraft, where he contributed in senior leadership positions for over 20 years and led the company as president....

13. Foundation Outdoor Group buys another rod-related co

They bought Driftwood, TX-based Flex Coat Co to add to Mud Hole Custom Tackle, American Tackle, MHX, Custom Rod Builder (CRB) and ProProducts.

Headlines of the Day

Bass Fishing’s Reckless Speed Culture Must Change After Smith Lake Tragedy

I like The Bass Cast folks and respect contrary opinions (on some stuff – not on the 2A for example), but I respectfully disagree with that headline.

I don't think there's a reckless speed culture – not the "reckless" or "culture" parts. I'd say that bass boating is way safer than driving a car (no stats right now to back that up tho). And one tragedy should not necessarily cause an overreaction – although slimy mass media outlets that have decided to cover last week's accidents for clicks (to benefit from tragedy) probably ain't helping.

Other stuff in that post I personally disagree with, also a little I do agree with, but will leave it there. Just felt like I had to say something.

Record Bass caught at NSCBL’s Ebenezer Dam tourney

South Africa tourney – was the dam named after Scrooge?? 😁 SA bassin' bros, that's probably the only time we here in the US have ever heard that name!

Dave Lefebre flips big blade baits around docks??

Warning: It's well known that Dave ain't right, if you know what I mean. 😁 Then again, none of us are so....

Anyhow, I stumbled onto this vid tip on the MLF site – few highlights:

> "One of the biggest misconceptions about these baits is that they only work in the early spring, in the late fall or during the winter."

He likes the the "double-X" version which if he means the XXL size is 5" and 2-oz. Fishes it on 20-lb fluoro.

He pitches it way back in the shade and says he lets it fall 10' max, I guess depending on total depth. He's fishing for suspended fish.

That bait is a SteelShad, which I did not know they make in "sexy shad":

"Everything you do as a professional bass angler is to get an advantage over your fellow competitors."

- Tom "me" Sanders making an interesting point on the most recent TnZ podcast. Full quote:

> "...the Bassmaster rules since the beginning have been to keep anglers from getting a competitive advantage against their fellow competitors. But everything you do as a competitive bass angler is to gain an advantage over your fellow competitors."

Word! And please don't think Tommy was saying that it should be a free for all – because he absolutely wasn't saying that man. Tommy knows what's up.

I wanna say 3 things:

1. Just a reminder that some of the best-known and best bass fishermen of all time did exactly that – pushed the boundaries. You could argue that it's pretty tough to be a consistent king daddy hammer by playing it safe...which doesn't mean doing illegal stuff. You know what I mean.

2. I have to confess that a lot of what I do when I'm at the lake is pretend that I'm in comeptition with the fellow anglers I can see, and I act like I'm low-key practicing for the Classic hahaha! "Keep the rod down...get the fish on the other side of the boat...act casual...'Nah haven't gotten any bites yet, you?'" 🤣

3. Tommy and Z, selfish request – Please do shorter pods so I can listen to the whole dang thing! 😁

Very cool shot of the Berkley PowerBait Nessie soft glide bait – which actually does look that good in the water in person. The Berkley guys really do like that bait along with the CullShad:

Fishers of Men Tournament Trail

Bass Chaplain podcasts

Contact Chris Wells the Bass Chaplain

CullGear.com - Versaweb

Advanced Angler

StrayCasts crazy web show!

BassEdge Radio

Champion Jigs

Trophy Bass Co.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.