Not sure if you saw this post from Carol Martens, Aaron's mom. Please keep praying for him, his wife Lesley and their kids, and Carol. If you can, please pray in faith, meaning expectation/confidence (sort of) – it can be hard sometimes. Thank you!
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How Hank Cherry Stunnas 'em in the fall.
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Ran him down for a quick 5:
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1. After winning 2 Classics on a jerkbait, including 1 on the jerkbait you designed, are you now past the point of having to fish jerkbaits in every tournament or are you just getting started? 😁
> "I think I'm just getting started and it's evolving. I think there's some applications I still haven't touched yet as far as speed, rhythm and location...been experimenting...going to continually try to keep that evolving."
2. Has your Classic run now convinced Jacob Powroznik to fish jerkbaits in every tournament?
> "[Laughs] No, you're not ever going to convince Jacob to do that. Jacob's motto is to throw whatever they're biting, whatever gets the most bites."
[They're buds and Jacob used to make fun of Hank – maybe still does? – for always throwin' the jerk!]
3. If someone wanted to get started jerkin' in the fall, what would you tell him?
> "I'd tell them to get their favorite jerkbait, preferably one of my Stunnas, but something in an opaque shad color, and start looking for bites on secondary points in main feeder creeks."
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> "Fish it as fast as you possibly can and don't stop moving the bait the whole time – and cover as much water as possible."
[I asked him if a jerkbait was his primary bait this time of year or a secondary option even though I bet I knew the answer!]
> "Throughout the year it's now turned into a primary bait for me, but it's just something you don't generally catch a lot of big fish on this time of year. I catch a lot of those roaming 2.5- to 3.5-lbers that are really good in tournament fishing.
> "A theory I have is this: I typically start to rely on it earlier on in the fall, until you start seeing it getting really cold and people switching to it. When that happens...I go to an alternate application. Then when it gets miserably cold and people don't want to fish it...then I go back to it."
4. What are the 2 most important things about jerkbaiting?
> "I think with any fishing technique you need to stay open-minded, meaning be able to adjust – is the wind blowing/not blowing, is the sun high or low, is there clouds. You have to be willing to adjust.
> "You have to be willing to throw it and take the pain on your arm and wrist. It's just a state of mind [dealing with the pain/tiredness of fishing it all day]. To me it's the best bite you can get."
5. Has Live sonar changed anything about how or when you throw a jerkbait?
> "No. It's just a tool like everything else. It's definitely helped me tune in as far as video game-style jerkbaiting, being able to see the fish react to your bait. But the misconception about forward-facing sonar is if you can see them you can catch them. That's just not true. At all.
> "There's still skill to it, there's still a lot of time you have to spend with it. But what it has done for me, especially when fish are suspending, is it gives me reassurance that they're there. I've gotten to where I don't want to watch them bite my bait. I just want to know they're there.
> "The most beneficial thing to me about forward-facing sonar is really practice. You can learn places so much faster."
Bonus Q: Do you think the name "jerk-bait" should change since it's the most insulting bait term we have? 😂
> "No I don't. I think it should stay right where it is and let it be what it is. I think it's a good bait, it could define your personality, it could define what you're doing, it could be anything on any given day. A lot of us jerkbaiters are proud of the name and we just stand by it."
Lol love it! Hank's jerkbait setup:
> "90% of the time it's 15-lb Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, and no lighter than 12. That's just from trial and error. I don't think it affects the depth of the bait too much or takes away from the action. And my mindset now, especially with those Fusion hooks, I want to crank them to the boat. I don't want any more experiences of losing big fish...using 8-10 lb line, babying them to the boat, scared I'm going to break it.
> "I have a [signature jerkbait] rod coming, but for now it's a 6' 10" M Abu Winch jerkbait rod. It's a little short for me, but...15-lb line with that moderate action rod...takes up most of the shock.
> "I also think the moderate action allows the fish to inhale the bait a lot better. With a fast action, you nose-hook or lip-hook too many...especially on fish that bite it between jerks.
> "I've switched reels on and off, but right now I use the 7.1 Abu Zata. Honestly I heard a lot of college kids and other kids talking about the prices of reels.... That's a great reel for that price point...and it holds up. I have the original ones from 2 years ago and I'm still using them...no problems...."
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What Alton Jones Sr learned from fishing with no bait sponsors.
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A pro with no bait sponsors is pretty dang unusual, atypical and strange, so had to talk to him 'bout it, here you go:
1. First, did you know there's a young fisherman from TX using your name to make a name for himself? 😁
> [Laughs] "Let me set the record straight on that. There's an OLD fisherman in TX using HIS name to make a name for myself! And by that I'm obviously talking about his successes...he's lighting the world on fire.
> "He and I are very competitive against each other, but at the same time we cheer for each other. Every event I fish I want to win, and if I can't I hope he does – it's the same way the other way around. I feel like I have 2 chances to win at every event.
> "I'm proud of him, not just for his fishing but he's making great life choices...making wise decisions. He's involved in his local church and is really trying to live life according to his faith."
[Here's the kid I'm talkin' 'bout:]
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2. What was it like fishing without bait sponsors – did it feel any different?
> "It really did. During covid, the bait sponsor I had for 18 years let me and little Alton go during the middle of the season so I finished that year without a bait sponsor. It was a very free feeling to be able to use whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. And I was able to go back in my own personal history and fall in love with some baits I used to fish a lot before I had this or that particular sponsor.
> "When the time came to round up sponsors for the next year, I just decided that at this stage of my career I just want to fish with what I want to fish with. I want to tell people what I fish with and not have any agenda to where they might think I'm really not using this or throwing that. I want the fans to know I'm not trying to sell them anything....
> "I'm not knocking guys who have bait sponsors – that's not my intent at all. And I'm not knocking any lure sponsors I've had at all. My relationship with them was great, like family. I'm just fortunate to be a point in my career that hey, I can do it this way. It may not financially be the smart thing to do, but it sure is fun."
3. Did you have any aha moments just fishing what you wanted?
> "I'm a guy when I have a bait sponsor, I do my very best to fish with one of my sponsor's products probably to a flaw. Sometimes there's just better things to use than the particular name on your shirt.
> "Just one example is crankbaits. I fish the Rapala DT6 a lot, but it isn't always the best medium-running crankbait to throw. Sometimes a Strike King or Wiggle Wart or whatever, they dive to the same depth...sometimes they want the Rapala but sometimes they want the Strike King. Sometimes you need a wider array of things to be able to use."
4. What are a couple baits you fell in love with again?
> "Let me give you a real throwback – they just started making it again: the Jawtec Wacky Craw. I used to throw that when I was a guide back in the '80s. Another one I fell in love with is the old Wiggle Wart, the one you can't get anymore...different wobble and a different sound....
> "Both of those baits I had big history with. They just catch fish. Sometimes stuff gets put away in an old Plano box for 15 years on a shelf, and you kind of get out of the habit of throwing it.
> Another one I fell in love with is not even made anymore: the Rebel Talkin' Spoon. It's a hard-plastic spoon. I doesn't float but you scoot it across the top of vegetation. I'm down to like 2 [of them]."
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[Makes me wonder: If spoons could talk, what would they say? 🤔 Here's the Wacky Craw, named before there was a wacky rig:]
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5. Are you fishing in any way differently now or will you next season?
> "I'm not really fishing any differently at all. I just have a few more bullets in my magazine. That's probably the only difference.
> "I'm not thinking, I have a camera here, don't show that, I can't use this. That takes a mental barrier out of the way in my decision-making process. I think that's the biggest thing that helps me."
Alton shows what he fishes I believe in every derbE on his @altonjonesfishing Insta and Faceybook.
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Winner of tin rig screen yardage??
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Looks like 4 UNITS up front?? 🤯
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Top baits at the Grand Lake Open.
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> ...caught all of the fish he weighed this week on a Whopper Plopper and another plopper-style bait. He started throwing the 110-size bait in practice, but windy conditions...upsize to the hefty 130....
> ...a good match to the giant gizzard shad his fish were targeting. ...many anglers were keying on the smaller and more common threadfin shad. "Anytime you see those big gizzard shad up on the bank in this part of the country, it's time to pick up that Plopper and keep it in your hand all day. You don't get many bites, but the ones you get are usually big.
> "I think black does better this time of year because it's more of an imitation of those dark gizzard shad in that dirtier water, but who knows?"
> It was all about fishing docks...primarily the backside of docks, under cables and beams connecting the docks to the bank. "This week they wanted it slow, just plop, plop, plop, plop, as slow as you could where it still plopped."
Crankbait = 40%
Jig = 40% – 1-oz 20%
Football jig = 30%
Topwater = 20% – Whopper Plopper, Spook
Worm = 20%
10% each = Free rig, Spinnerbait, Wobblehead, Flip plastic (weightless)
Shout-outs
> Nick finished 2nd at the Smith Lake Open a couple weeks ago and has John 14:6 on his jersey collar which is: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Word!
> Elitists who finished in the top 10: Kenta Kimura (2nd), Brock Mosley (5th), Harvey Horne (10th).
> Kenta fished 2 Berkley Japan baits he designed: the Jago Rocket (left) fished weightless, and the Powerbait Power Flutter on a 5/8-oz Ryugi wobblehead.
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> NPFL stud John "The Bass Tank is not a tank of bass" Soukup got 4th with no practice. Not bad!
> Cool fishin' info from Cody Huff (8th), who qualified for the Elites – watch out for him, he can fish no doubt: "As crazy as it sounds, I was skipping the Spook [bone and clear behind boat docks]. I caught some big ones on it this week, just getting it back there in the shade. ...he used 2 different 1/2-oz gp/orange jigs – a Terminator Flipping [Pro Series?] Jig and a Queen Tackle Flipping Jig, both...with a gp Missile Baits Baby D Bomb. The Terminator jig has a lead head, and the Queen Tackle jig is made of tungsten: "They make a different sound when they drag on the rocks."
> OK's Vance Montgomery (9th) is a local and fished a 10" worm: "...starts with a Tightlines UV Power Worm...ribbontail worm in junebug color. "I use this to get numbers of bites. Once I get a limit, I switch." Montgomery's big fish lure is a 1-oz b/b jig with a watermelon-red Tightlines UV Hy-Brid Craw trailer. "I think it looks like a big bluegill." It sure is huge:
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AR BFL winners vs FL BFL winners.
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AR first – weekend's Ouachita winners:
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Now FL – St Johns winners:
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See any difference? 😂 C'mon AR peeps!
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Owner of Jawtec Bait Co in TX, and as Alton Jones Sr mentioned Bruce fished the Bassmaster Tour for years. Believe Jawtec is being run by his son Colt. Bless you bassin' brother.
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Don't know who that is but I think they mean Xeith Dombs? 😆 On Shimano School at Shimano YT and FB at 8pm EST.
EE runs through some lakes on Google Earth – good stuff. He's talkin' faster than ever so I guess he needs to cut down on those jalapeno pecans...? 🤣
> "Once you get about midway and you know you have a chance, that's when it feels like the 100-lb weights are sitting on your shoulders when you leave the boat dock every day. ...many mornings when I thought I was going to throw up.
> "I probably had one of my best years of fishing. But I tell you, this right here is tough. When I caught that 5th one today, I just fell over in my boat, and said, 'Oh, my gosh.'"
Big congrats to him. Also sounds like a cool God moment with Hank Cherry:
> Powroznik had said qualifying for the Elite Series was his only goal. If he'd been in the top 3 in points in either the Northern or Southern divisions, he would not have competed in the final two Central Opens this year. I was staying with Hank Cherry at Lake Norman. After that one, Hank said, 'I don't know why, but somebody wants you to fish these last two (Central Open) tournaments.'"
Good to see Steve "Ain't" Wright back in the Bassmasters scribblin' game...another good'n Wright!
From the Central Opens: Cody Huff, who has a huge advantage because he lives in Rick Clunn's hometown; Jay Przekurat of Stevens Point, WI (so we'll have a J-Proz and J-Prz on the Elites??); and Joseph Webster of Winfield, AL.
Japan's Matsayumi Matsushita is on the Elites after finishing 2nd in the Opens AOY. I think I'm missin' 1?
I dug it – coulda used a little "Battle of Los Angeles" music too...?
Tackle Ticklers = good dudes. Dave generates more content than 10 peeps combined. Because "Dave" is really Dave, Dave-Dave, Dave cubed and Dave A, B, C, D and, of course, Dave E.
8. Chris Bowes is the new B.A.S.S. VP of Tournaments.
Didn't get the Elite TD gig because I guess bigger things were planned for him:
> In this newly created role, Bowes will not only manage the tournaments dept but also collaborate across departments as part of the B.A.S.S. executive leadership team.
Word from the inside is Chris already demanded a bigger office and redecorated it:
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HAHAHA! I like Chris and have heard good things about him. BUT bear in mind he was trained under Trip so he can be mean man...all good...most of the time...😁
Lol congrats Chris!
Probly FOR bassin' and also hoops but, you know – hoops is payin' the bills:
> Playing in the Big 10 was a plus...but returning to his Midwest roots as an aspiring pro fisherman was a top priority as well. "There are a lot of great opportunities up here. A lot of great fishermen. I've been connecting with some of the better anglers around MN which has been cool."
Maybe start a side pot on the biggest bass caught by a costumed angler...?
So not due to drought? Drought + treatment won't hammer the mussels?
> "The reservoir is not likely to be open until it can be ensured that there is a complete eradication of the zebra mussels. And even with the plan that is in place, there is still no guarantee that that is going to work because it's still experimental."
Time to hit 'em with swimbaits: Bufflehead Wildlife Management Area and David City Ponds.
Sounds like environmentalists might now try to get the Biden Administration involved....
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New (I believe) Megabass Fuwabug. Looks like it was made for the salt but...biggest one is 3.8":
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About why you love fishin', might win you a new Tracker boat. 🇺🇸
> A 25-year marine industry veteran, Castillo previously served as the director of development, operations, fabrication and engineering for Safe Boats International in Bremerton, WA. Castillo replaces Terry Ickes, who is retiring from G3 after 21 years.
In other news, G3 will no longer use Yammy motors.
Kidding lol.
Outta CT.
Thinkin' it's cuz they don't want to reveal all the UFO bases...😁 Anyhow they're now workin' on more.
🤔 That's how I read this anyhow – about aquatic nuisance species:
> "...with the study of social psychology and the beauty of statistics, we can fill in some of those pieces to close the knowledge-action gap...."
> ...the researchers assessed whether anglers' values were more biospheric: oriented toward protecting the environment; altruistic: oriented toward equality and social justice; or egoistic: oriented toward authority, leadership, and social power.
> "...we should be able to tap into that value system to motivate action."
WTHeck? Gotta say: I get that boats transport aquatic nuisance species, but not just fishermen's boats and not just boats! So why we and our DNRs carry the load on all this stuff, including Asian carp, doesn't make sense. What about the aquaculture, aquarium and shipping folks who literally caused ALL of these issues??
Whatever happened to plain ol' antibiotics?
> The outbreak of Lactococcus garvieae [bacteria], which is similar to streptococcus or strep throat, has been reported in cattle and poultry farms as well as fresh and saltwater fish and shellfish hatcheries around the world. It had never before been detected in fish in CA until the hatchery outbreaks in 2020.
Me neither:
> Backpack includes: First aid kit, cooler with ice pack, walking stick, collapsible chair, fishing rod, solar batteries, Bluetooth speaker, LED lights and more.
Sounds like more of a party backpack lol.
PSA
Gitcha paranoid about fake online retailers/stores.
Other day I was looking for a particular firearm online, one that's in short supply, and these official-looking branded stores came up near the top of my searches – and they all had that firearm. Weird. Didn't feel right, didn't look right, I stayed away.
The interwebz keeps getting junkier. Something's gotta change.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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> "Ever think of usin' a jig instead of an egg sinker when makin' a Carolina rig?"
> Benedict heard about using a heavy jig instead of a sliding sinker in a Carolina rig from a pair of TX anglers who were mopping up on suspended bass hovering over old reservoir roadbeds. The roadbeds were weedless bass havens, and by "thumping" heavy 1-oz sliding sinkers onto the hard highway surface they attracted largemouths to their floating plastic worms that hovered 4-8' above the lead weights. [8'!! 🤯]
> One of the anglers...noticed periodic pecks at his rig sinker. At first he thought the pecks were caused by the sinker scraping bottom. But the pecks were more like light strikes from fish, so he thought they were merely bream or crappie hitting the sinker.
Nope it was bass, which he found out when he caught one that had sucked down the sinker:
> "That got my friend thinking that sometimes he should use a jig as a sliding sinker in a Carolina rig instead of a hookless chunk of lead."
> Since then I've tried the jig rig on largemouths and smallmouths on various waters from Canada through the Midwest and South, and everywhere I fished it, the sliding jig rig produced bass.
> The Carolina jig rig is set up just like a standard Carolina rig, except instead of threading on an egg sinker, a weedless jig is used. The jig is allowed to slide on the fishing line....
> It's been my experience that whenever two lures are used it's best to use greatly contrasting colors. Generally, I prefer dark crayfish type colors for the heavy jig, with lighter and brighter colors for the floating worm.
This is a head-slapper for me. I used basically this exact same rig in the salt for years. Why it never occurred to me to try it for bass I have no idea. This sounds like a job for Gayle Julian of Jewel Baits – what up Gayle!
> For the past 5 years, Jawtec Worms' Bruce Benedict...has been slow-trolling Carolina-rigged worms. Benedict calls the technique "strolling," a term first heard on Toledo Bend about 20 years ago.
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"Whatever you're doing, you need to keep doing it."
> "I threw up against a seawall and twitched it and I caught that 8-lb 6-oz fish on a frog. ...that has a tendency to calm you down quite a bit. There was a dock in my way, I went around the dock and got back on the seawall, and I caught my first 6-lber. So within a 25-yard stretch, I caught an 8 and a 6."
> ...kept it rolling, running to another couple of seawalls and putting a 3-lber and another 6-lber in the boat on the frog. "...I saw a buddy of mine, and he stopped and asked me what I had and I told him."
30+ in a tourney on a frowg! Not sure it gets better than that mang!
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Check this 10.84 caught I think at Rayburn, TX. Sealy Big Bass deal, Robert Deware caught it for the win on a 1/2-oz Champion Jigs Brush Jig (black/blue/purple jig) with a custom-painted head:
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Dang that's a HOSS! Champion Jigs is where you can custom-spec your jigs – colors 'n whatnot....
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best and funniest (sometimes worst) stuff in bassin', picked 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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