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Hope you had a great weekend and got your thumb scratched up! Yep we had another big tourney or 2 in Bass Land so let's get to it!
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If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing. Sorry bout that – email programs keep changing stuff.
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How Nick Hatfield won the MLF Heavy Hitters at Smith Mntn Lake
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2nd-year MLF Bass Pro Tour pro Nick Hatfield has done well. Maybe overshadowed by a few other 2nd-year BPT pros here and there, but for sure well overall. He's also won at various levels coming up, but did not have a tour-level win til last week.
Here's how he rolled into and outta town at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. This is a little shorter than the full deal on the BB website.
Going in and practice
> "[He found] 2 points about 300 yards apart – 1 on one side of the lake, 1 on the other, really close together. I had a couple other points right there in that area that had some fish on them, but they weren't as consistent.
> "One was actually shooting out in the main lake, right at an S-turn of the lake where the lake narrowed...a lot of boat traffic. It had rock and scattered grass on it – I could catch them out to 10-12'.
> "The other point was at the mouth of a pocket off a small island – a down-current-facing point...1.5-3' of water – they were up there chasing the herring.
> "[The fish] were doing the same thing on both points. The herring bite was really good first thing in the morning, and then I would throw a swimbait or jerkbait all the way up into the day....
> "The area was in kind of a pinch point...I think it reloaded well. The boat traffic and the waves...honestly I think it helped me. I think it helped push other baitfish up shallow, and kept the herring pushed up shallow on that point. Every time those wakes pushed them up there, they'd go to actively feeding and I'd catch one every time.
> "I thought maybe I could fish for fry-guarders or fish the bank with a frog and swim-jig. But I was really just banking on those points with the herring spawn to pan out."
Tournament
> "[Day 1] I was boat #1. I think that was a key part in how I ended up winning. I went straight to that [main] point and caught 5 for 15 lbs in the 1st period.
> "It had gotten really slow toward the end of the 1st period – it was one of those things where I didn't really know what I had found at the time. I knew it was good and had a lot of fish on it, but I didn't understand it fully.
> "They were running the ScoreTracker up at a much-faster pace than I was able to do so I decided to move around and try other things. It just didn't work out. I ended the day with those 5 fish....
> "...day 2...I decided I'm going to go to that point, sit there and catch 'em, and figure out how to catch 'em when they're not schooling. Whether that works or not, that's what I'm gonna do.
> "...that's when I started to learn a lot about the 2 places I'd found – what was going on, how to catch them...."
In the Knockout Round, he caught 20+ lbs off those points and then let them rest:
> "It was tougher to get bit.... I ran to a couple points further down the lake [and] ended up catching some nice ones.
> "The Championship Round, with it going to a 3-lb minimum, I was catching a 3+ lb average.... I really thought if I could catch enough of them that if the guys struggled for any reason or the bite they were on died, and I could catch another 40-50 lbs...I thought I would have a chance.
> "I just fished those 2 points. I fished some other places, places I fished in the Knockout Round, but I couldn't get bit off them. So I kept running those 2 points. I'd let them sit for 10-15 minutes....
> "It just happened. It was just one of those things – I can't really explain it. I made the right calls, they bit for me early and I got off to a big lead...everything just happened really quick.
> "...finding those fish in practice...turning that into the tournament – it's crazy how it all happened. ...instead of running around and letting my mind pressure me, I stuck it out, I trusted."
Baits
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Nick is a huge student of Japanese bass fishing so bear that in mind:
> Jighead minnow: 7" Japanese minnows (any shad color, the brighter the better) on a 3/16-oz Scottsboro Hellfire Jighead with 3/0 and 4/0 hooks, 10-lb Cortland Master Braid to 12-lb Cortland XTR Fluoro, 6' 6" Megabass Destroyer Whippet Spin Rod.
[More jighead minnow deets in #2 below.]
> Free rig: Various gp plastics including a Zoom Brush Hog and Geecrack Bellows Gill (or Bellows Shad?), 4/0 Hayabusa Offset Wide Gap Hook, 3/8-oz dropshot weight, 20-lb Cortland Recon Fluoro, 7' 2" Megabass Destroyer The X-Bites Rod.
> "It's just something I started playing with lately. I like to throw a Carolina rig, and a free rig is a little easier to tie up.
> "I watched several on LiveScope go to it, they'd sit with it, I'd pull it, they'd move to it.... Once I started fishing it without watching LiveScope, I'd barely move it, let it sit still and I'd feel them hit it. Seemed like the slower I could drag it, the better."
> Megabass Vision 110 SR Jerkbait (gp crystal shad – "it mimics blueback herring pretty good" – and stock hooks), 12-lb Cortland Recon Fluoro, 6' 11" Megabass Destroyer Oneten Jerkbait Rod.
> "The SR means 'shallow runner' – they just released it...l used it at Chickamauga and did well with it. I can jerk it a lot faster and can get it to move a lot quicker. It has a cupped bill like the Ito Shiner [similar but smaller]...I found with the Ito Shiner I can jerk it as fast as I can work it and it doesn't seem to want to tangle up or blow out. I really like that cupped bill."
> 5/8-oz Japanese lipless (clear chart with #4 Hayabusa NRB-coated trebles), 16-lb Cortland Recon Fluoro, 7' 2" Megabass Destroyer The X-Bites Rod. ("It's a great all-around rod and I wanted something a little stiffer than a cranking rod so I could bury the hooks into 'em better. I don't like to jerk when I set the hook on a 'Trap, I like to pull into them.")
> The final day was just the jighead minnow and the lipless.
> 3/8-oz Beast Coast Sniper Football Jig (various gp colors) with a TRD-type trailer (gp), 10-lb Cortland Master Braid to 12-lb Cortland XTR Fluoro, 6' 11" Megabass Destroyer Addermine Rod.
Electronics
Bear in mind 2 things: FFS was allowed all day every day, but the pros did not fish out of their own boats.
> FFS: "I used it more or less to find 'em in practice and I did use it in the tournament to catch a handful of them. But for the most part I was using it to see where they were set up.
> "When they're up there in like 2-3' of water, I could've watched them every time bite my bait. But I would see them come for it, and when came off the bottom for it, there'd be 4-6 or sometimes 10-15 coming after it. And I missed a lot of them watching the screen.
> "It's like fishing a topwater – it's best sometimes to not even see the blowup. I wanted to wait til I felt the bite and it load up, and then set the hook.
> "It was a huge player in how I found the fish on the places where I found them. [In practice] I'd shoot it up on the point and wouldn't see a fish, but the second I threw a bait up there it was like they came out of the ground after it.
> "On those shallow points it was really nice to be able to use my Power-Poles and Pole down [to] keep myself in the same spot, a long cast away from them....."
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Some jighead minnow 🧃 from Nick
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In case you didn't read what's above, note that he wasn't using FFS to watch fish eat...because he would miss 'em. So this applies to minnowin' whether you have the money box on or not:
Why the 7" minnow
> "In practice I threw a 4- and 5-inch minnow a lot. I'd caught a couple fish early on and they spit up 5- and 6-inch herring and threadfin. But about halfway through day 2 of practice, when I found that point, every time I'd throw a [5-inch bait] to 'em they'd come up to it, follow it all the way to the boat and then go down. They were not interested in biting it.
> "So I pull out a 7-inch one and the first cast I catch a 6.5, second cast I catch a 4, the third cast I catch a 3. I run some more places that day and catch 5-6 more on a 7-inch minnow. It seemed like it was easier to get big on that bigger minnow for whatever reason so that's what I stuck with."
Why such a short minnow rod (6' 6")
> "[The Megabass Destroyer Whippet] is the best jighead minnow rod that I've used. It's a 6.5' rod...and most people are like, Man I don't know about throwing a 7-inch minnow on a 6.5' rod. But if you do some research and look into it, a lot of the Japanese anglers that's what they prefer, a smaller rod.
> "I've put some time in on studying it. If you watch like Taku or Kyoya, all those guys like a 6.5' or 7' rod for a big minnow. It lets that bait roll more, it lets you control the action of the bait and when you get a bite on it it loads really well.
> "It allows me to control [the bait] better, and I think a really important part of why those fish bit so well was the rolling action of that bait. I could work it really fast with my rod tip up and I think it drove 'em crazy.
> "The rolling action I was able to get out of that minnow was all due to the rod...."
Seeing fluoro leaders as LEADERS instead of just fluoro
> "Most people think you just use regular fluoro for a leader, and that's what I've done for years. These guys over at Cortland have introduced me to leader material – it's more like a fly-fishing style where you actually have leader material vs using regular fluoro.
> "Since I've [changed to leader fluoro] my leaders last 10x longer and it makes all the sense in the world.
> "...a short 3.5-4' leader. I would cinch the drag down real right – that way I could set the hook hard. I just really wanted to get a good hook in them. As I was fighting them in, I'd loosen the drag up."
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5 Qs with the most famous Hatfield
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1. Do you think the McCoys will finally give up now? 😁
> "Man they should at this point. You know, I travel the country quite a bit and definitely...see more Hatfield names out there than I do McCoys. Maybe that's because I pay attention to the Hatfield name more than I do the McCoys.
> "I think the Hatfields at least have a strong footing in the bass world, that's for sure."
2. With twin boys on the way, was it gotta win now to stock up on some vittles? 😆
> "[Laughs] Man it's funny just how everything works in life The ups and downs...everything that you go through to do what we do.
> "...I've been struggling this year, had a couple bad events – we're not in terrible shape but I'm working hard at it...we're building a house...we're expecting twins. We've got a lot going on so it definitely couldn't happen at a better time.
> "It's a big confidence boost. It showed me again that, hey this is what you're supposed to be doing...ad it definitely helps the bank account out...."
3. Looking at your record over the years, you've had wins and high finishes along with not great finishes the same year. A lot of times I see that in guys who try to win vs finish at a consistent level. Is that what you're doing, going for the win a lot?
> "Yeah. From the time that I started on the Pro Circuit to the Bass Pro Tour, it doesn't matter where I'm at, what event it is, I'm there to try and win. I've always been like that from the time I started.
> "I'm not there...to cut a check. I look up to lot of guys like Brandon Palaniuk, Kevin VanDam, Hackney, Christie – there's tons of names out there of guys that have won a ton of tournaments and been dominant. If I'm gonna be here and do this, I'm gonna be out there trying to win. i want to be one of those household names and try to win every event that I can.
> "A lot of times it doesn't shake out and it definitely burns me. But every now and then we stumbled into the right deal to make a run at it."
4. You've done well on a big variety of water. What about Smith Mountain Lake did you like?
> "I don't live but 3.5 hours from it and I'd never been there but I've heard a lot about it. I think the thing I liked about it the most...it really reminded me of Douglas Lake. The fish looked a lot like they do on Douglas, or at least the way they used to on Douglas. Fat, healthy – they school up on those points....
> "It kind of reminded me of Douglas, but it seemed like it was more of a mix of Lake Murray and Lake of the Ozarks with that boat traffic."
5. Is the mullet ever coming back or is it gone forever? 😁
> "I got a haircut last fall and I haven't gotten it cut since. It's starting to get kind of long again. I'm probably not getting it cut – I'll let it fly for a while...."
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2nd-6th Heavy Hitters baits plus the $100K bait
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2nd: "This" Justin Lucas
> Weightless 5" Berkley Power Jerk Shad (pearl white and disco violet), 4/0 round bend hook, 15-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro, Abu Garcia Zenon X Reel (8.3), 7' 6" MH Abu Garcia Fantasista X Rod.
> 125 Berkley Magic Swimmer (chrome), 15-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro, Abu Garcia Zenon X Reel (8.3), 7' 5" MH Abu Garcia Winch Rod.
> 5" minnow (shad colors), 1/8-oz custom jighead, 8-lb Berkley X5 Braid (flame green) to 10-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro, Abu Zenon X Spin Reel (3000), 7' 1" M Abu Zenon BFS Rod.
> "I was fishing clay points anywhere from 1' to 15' targeting fish that were feeding on herring. Some would be set up shallow on the point and others on a piece of brush that was out in 10'-15'."
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5th: Edwin "For" Evers
> 1/2-oz Berkley Compact Power Blade Spinnerbait (herring, double willows) with a white twin-tail trailer, 17-lb Bass Pro Shops XPS Fluoro, BPS Johnny Morris Platinum Reel (8.3), 7' 1" MH BPS Johnny Morris Platinum Series Rod.
> "I caught 95% of my fish on that setup...on both points and shady areas. Those shady areas would be trees, some of them would be docks.
> "Everything for me was shallow. There was a lot going on. There was a herring spawn and a shad spawn and it was all going on at the same time. Certain points set up for the herring spawn, and the deeper steeper banks or sections of the river set up for the shad spawn."
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Jeff "Leppard" Sprague's $100K fish
He finished 9th and caught the biggest fish of the tourney – a 6-02 worth $100K:
> 3/8-oz bladed jig with a Lake Fork Pro Craw (pearl), 15-lb fluoro, 7.3:1 reel, 7' 3" Lake Fork Bladed Jig Rod (not available yet).
> "Riprap points with laydowns were the targets, 1-4'. The herring spawn was happening – I was targeting stained water as it moved down the river each day."
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Kyle Welcher was 2nd, Brandon Cobb was 5th and Caleb Kuphall was 8th.
The NPRL has had 3 tournaments and Elite pros have won all 3 (Christie, Hackney, Canterbury).
Could not get with Scott for his winning deets because he's in Mexico fishing, but the NPFL said he flipped mats and bushes with a Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Flipping Jig or Matt Herren Flipping Jig, or a Reaction Innovations Beaver on a Spearpoint Flipping Hook.
2. Hunter Shryock found a Lee Livesay shirt
He either got it custom made to make Lee jealous or found it at Academy...😁
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3. Here's your top 10 in the Elite AOY race
Jay has a good lead but look who's right behind him.
1. Jay Przekurat -- 544
2. Chris Johnston -- 502
3. Kyoya Fujita -- 494
4. Trey McKinney -- 487
5. Will Davis Jr -- 480
6. Patrick Walters -- 479
7. Bill Lowen -- 467
8. Shane LeHew -- 451
9. Taku Ito -- 448
10. Bryant Smith -- 439
The 3 tourneys left are: Tenkiller, OK, St Clair and the upper MS River out of La Crosse – and the top 2 guys are from up north....
4. GA: New Lake Worth record largie, 8.95 lbs
Young dude and from the pic looks like he's out there in a jonboat...💪
5. AL: MLF sued over Smith Lake boat accident
Detailed breakdown in that post. MLF's brief response – because they can't say anything – is here. Please continue to pray for everyone affected, a very tough deal.
6. A few states now counting salty fish catches...
...because the federal catch data, at least some of which I think is also "modeled," is so bad and prematurely shuts down recreational fisheries. That has been a well-known fact for a while, glad to see states doing something about it.
Not bass fishing but interesting....
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Matt Lee: Why use a bigger Sakamata Shad
Quick deal from here:
> "If I'm going fishing for smallmouth or spotted bass I like the 4-inch bait, but for most all-around fishing the 5-inch is my starting point. The smaller baits will get more bites in clear-water fisheries, but those fish will eat a bigger bait too.
> "I'm not afraid to go bigger and use the 6- or 7-inch baits because sometimes they are keyed on bigger baitfish. Also, the bigger the size you use, the bigger the fins are on the bait and you get more natural action as you go up in size.
> "...the unweighted version was made for mid-strolling [pinging], but you could also use the heavyweight baits if that's all you have...you'll still get the great rolling action but you will have a much faster fall rate with the heavier baits."
TW has the regular Sakamata in 2" to 8".
Also check this homemade wire keeper Matt uses:
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"...I heard John Crews say on camera he was about to lock in and fish a 1- to 2-mile stretch. You will never hear somebody say that anywhere else you go."
- Elitist Wesley Gore talkin' on the Bassmasters 'bout how stingy the Sabine River was.
I think I could see Gerald Swindle and a few other cats doing that somewhere else? 🤔
Also I've heard John say weird things before, like that he loves Brussels sprouts and "camles are people too"...🤣
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Would you fish a bladed wacky Senko? If so, check this Picasso Wacky Vibe – sounds like Gville guide Lonnie Cochran's idea. Comes with a #1 Gamakatsu hook, 1/64 to 31/16 sizes and get this – you can color the circuit-board blade with a Sharpie:
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest stuff in bassin', hand-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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GITCHA HANDS ON THE BEST STUFF!
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Gitcha BB social at these links
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