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Quick deal: The Irish Gal and I were talking about a gift for someone, and she said, "How about a dish towel?" I was like, "A DISH TOWEL??"
I thought she was joking – or had finally gone around the bend lol – but she told me that women appreciate that as a gift. She said he'd got my mom one recently, and my mom liked it. 🤯
Got to thinking what the man's equivalent would be, and I came up with: worms. You hand a man a pack of plastic worms, that's a dish towel! 🤣 What do you think? Any good ideas, lmk!
Alright let's get to those BPT bassers – great finish to the season man! Hope to have AOY winner Zack "Captain America" Birge in the next BB.
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Gitcha Blaster video fix here:
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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 Justin Lucas won the Lake Erie MLF Bass Pro Tour – again!
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Justin Lucas is 2 for 2 on Bass Pro Tour tournaments on Erie. First win was in 2020, and he had to wait 6 years to get back to one of his sweet spots: dropshotting a Berkley MaxScent Flat Worm for smallmouth. Here's how he got it done this time.
Going in and practice
> "I knew that where I won before...did not have a population of fish...to compete in this format. So I started my practice at the mouth of the Detroit River. I felt like that would be the best chance to be around a bigger population.
> "The 1st day of pracitce went well enough that I decided to commit to that area. The 2nd day...I found some more stuff up there, and later that day I made my way out to the navigable channel marker that I found [his main spot in the tournament].
> "I've fished buoys and stuff, but not that [before]. I didn't even know it was there. I had to drive out there a little ways...30' of water. I rolled up and right away caught a couple nice ones, better quality than up shallower.
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> Why he thinks it had 'em: "It's the only structure out there in the middle of nowhere, and it's got hard bottom around it.
> "From what I saw on side imaging, they probably dropped a bunch of gravel before they put [the markers in] to make sure they were on hard bottom.
> "And there's not much contour on that section of that lake so there's not a lot of hard bottom anywhere and no structure: no big rocks, no hard drops or anything like that. So it's...the only thing for miles.
> "It's like fishing an oil rig in the Gulf [of America 😁], which I've done.
> "...28-30', gravel on the bottom, vertical structures. They had a little base around them that was 10' deep and came off around them 7'. I'd throw on top of the ledge, drag my dropshot to where as soon as it would fall off I'd open my bail to let it fall straight down tight against the base."
Tournament
> "I knew that thing was pretty special. I didn't want to burn it up too fast. I hit it on the morning of day 1, my 2nd spot, and caught 2 big ones off it, That was all I got to bite.
> "I left and went into the mouth of the river...a community area everybody was else was on: 20-25 boats were in there. Basically I was trying to burn up as much as I could in there because it was getting pressured, to help me get through the cut.
> "At about 2:00 or so...I was starting to fall down the standings, so I ran back out to the channel marker and 7 drops in a row I caught like 27 lbs. That shot me way up....
> "I knew at that point...I didn't have to burn up any more fish on that. I could probably catch enough on the community stuff [on day 2] to make the cut. So that's what I did....
> "At that point I was thinking it'd be really nice if I could find another one of those [nav] markers somewhere. [Near the end of day 2] I was looking at my map [and] leading into Maumee River in Toledo, OH, it looked like there was potentially another one out there.
> "I had to run about 17-18 miles, and when I got 4-5 miles away I could start to see the silhouette of something that looked like...the same type of marker leading into entrance of that channel.
> "...it had more hard bottom all the way around it. And as soon as I rolled up, 3 drops in a row I caught 3 4-lbers and my 2D screen absolutely went nuts. I have not seen that many fish on 2D below my boat in a long time. Now I had that new one to add into my rotation.
> "Day 3 [he knew he] had already hit the [first can] one morning and I wasn't very good...more of an afternoon spot. So I started on the Toledo one...and I think I caught 12 fish off of it for 48 lbs in an hour and 15 minutes.
> "So I was like, alright this one is loaded in the morning, I know the other one is on in the afternoon. ...I need to leave this one and not catch anything else off it...I'm probably going to make the cut with this weight.
> "The last day I started on the Toledo one because I knew it was the better morning spot. I blasted them...had maybe 50 lbs in the 1st period. Then I ran to the other one in the 1st period and never got a bite.
> "I just started hopping around, trying to catch some stuff in my Scope period. It was real slow, nothing special. Everybody was catching up to my weight, and I knew that if I was going to win...I had to go back to those [cans] when the sun changed direction and put the fish on the opposite side of them.
> "It rotated the fish around, and I think when it does that they re-set up and feed again.
> "...the 3rd period, I think Wheeler got within 7-8 lbs. I roll out to the [nav can] at the mouth of the Detroit River and start whacking 'em on it. I think, Okay, this might actually happen. I'm catching them here now, and if I can go to the other one and get a few, it could happen.
> "I caught about 18 lbs off the Detroit River one...ran 10 miles to the other one...caught 3 5-lbers in a row.
> "I think it's important to note that I caught all those fish off those [cans] without Scope. My Scoping period was the worst for me every single day."
Baits
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> 3.6 Berkley MaxScent Flat Worm – "black in the mornings, gp the majority of the time unless it was really calm and clear when I used 'smoke purple'. I just always stick to [those 3 colors]. They've been my colors since that bait came out. I don't really feel like the smallmouth care a whole lot...."
> Why the Flat Worm is all that: "I think the profile is just right. It's the perfect profile, but I also...fully believe in the MaxScent, and the matte color to 'em is different from what most people are throwing too."
> #1 dropshot hook, nose-hooked "anytime I'm fishing more vertical", 1/4- to 1/2-oz weight depending on wind and depth, 8-lb Berkley X5 Braid (flame green) to 10-lb Berkley GinClear Fluoro, Abu Garcia Zenon X Spin Reel (3000), 7' M Abu Fantasista X Spin Rods and 7' 1' M Abu Zenon Spin Rods (he had 11 dropshots rigged up).
Electronics
> "I don't really feel like they were important for my win, but I used a mixture of Humminbird XPLOREs and Lowrance HDS Pros."
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5 Qs with Purple Package Man!
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You know if Justin is fishing for smallies it's all about the purple package man! 😁🤙 Here goes:
1. How much money do you think you've won on smallmouths since you and Josh [Bertrand] outed the MaxScent Flat Worm [in a 2018 Elite]?
> "Oooo. Maybe $400,000?"
[Dang!]
2. Do you need to get your hearing checked after getting blasted by those cans all day?
> "You would think so but it's weird – you don't even notice it when you're so focused on trying to get a bite. When you go to move and you're rigging back up, that's when you hear it. But when you're fishing, I never even heard it."
3. Is it fair now to call any Erie BPT tournament the "Lucas family benefit tournament"? 😁
> "[Laughs] I don't think so. I feel like I've only ever fished 3 tournaments out there, a B.A.S.S. Open in 2013 [he got 30th] and obviously the last 2 have been really good to me.
> "I don't feel like I know the lake well. I've just learned things in practice that have been enough to win the events."
Follow-up: Wasn't your strategy risky this time? You went only smallmouths and if there was any weather you could've been cooked.
> "100%. But I was at a spot coming in – 4th in the points – where there was nothing to lose, other than maybe drop some spots in AOY.
> "I knew that to win, if was gonna have a chance it was going to be dropshotting for smallmouth. It's what I'm most comfortable doing, and I know that on Lake Erie, on any Great Lake, I can just put a dropshot with a MaxScent Flat Worm in my hand. I don't need to make it complicated, I just have to go out there and find where fish are living."
4. What's more important after a win, a steak or ice cream?
> "Gosh that's a really good question. I'm gonna say a steak, but the first thing I ate was a monster Chipotle bowl with double steak."
5. After you won at Erie in 2020, you had 16 top 10s on the Bass Pro Tour, including 3 2nds, 1 of which was this year. Did that feel good or did it feel rough because you've been close so many times?
> "It felt rough. It felt rough. Because I know in my mind I've bene fishing well and just hadn't been able to close the deal on the final day.
> "I wouldn't say it was bothering me because I'm doing everything I can possibly do. It was just, Man when is it going to happen again? I know I'm going to keep getting a chance, but when will it happen – you never know."
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2nd: Jacob "18" Wheeler
He said he used a "hodgepodge" of baits – along with the below, a jig, Ned rig and ChatterBait. But these were his main ones.
> Carolina rig – New 3.25-size Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug (gp blue flake), 2/0 VMC Worm Hook, swivel, bead, 3/4- ("on shallower stuff" – 10-15') or 1-oz weight (18-25'), 17-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro for both mainline and leader, KastKing Skeet Reese Icon Reel, 7' 6" H Duckett JW 2.0 Rod.
> "...combination of gravel and bigger rock."
> Why that bait vs a Baby Brush Hog-style: "...it just meanders. You have that undulating action, then it allows for that thing to swim around. It is such a great resemblance of a small crawfish...or goby eaters. ...that profile they have not seen a ton...show them something a little different...."
[I can't wait to fish that Baby Bronco Bug. Looks soooo good.]
> Why such heavy line in that clear water: "...jagged rock, zebra mussels. I actually broke one off...in the Knockout Round, so I upped all of [his line] to 17 and never had an issue the final day. I felt like they weren't as line-shy, so I could get away with it.
> "...on the Great Lakes there's so much natural wind current...[a] C-rig allows that bai to freely swing so it naturally flows around. You're not locked in like a dropshot. [The fish] were getting accustomed to dropshots."
> Dropshot 1 – Rapala CrushCity Salted Ned Roll (goby and gp), 1/0 VMC RedLine Finesse Neko Hook, 1/2-oz VMC Dropshot Weight, 8-lb Sufix Revolve Braid (neon lime) to 12-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, Shimano Vanford Spin Reel (2500), 7' M Duckett JW 2.0 Spin Rod.
> Why dropshot a Ned bait – "...that bait is really underrated for a dropshot. For me that's more of a confidence thing #1, and #2 being that it's super TPE, it's efficient...catch several fish on one bait. ...goby profile, a little crawfish profile, it's got the right profile for a smallmouth when they're being a little goofy on what they want."
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> Dropshot 2 – 5" Z-Man Scented Jerk Shadz (shad), same everything except a 3/4-oz VMC Dropshot Weight.
> "In places that had a lot of little fish, I would throw that [bigger bait].... A lot of these fish were spitting up a lot of decent-size shad.
> "If there was 3 of them, I'd throw the Salted Ned Roll. If there was 50 and some bigger ones...I would throw the Jerk Shadz because I was trying to trigger one of those bigger ones to bite.
> "...10-25'...isolated rockpiles, high spots, breaks, isolated breaks on rock edges, and boulders...specific little places...."
> Crankbaits – "I was cranking a Rapala DT12 and DT16 depending on the depth [12-18']. Seemed like as the water got dirtier – we had a pretty good flow – it seemed like they really liked the 'citrus shad.' [Clearer water he went with the 'green gizzard'.]
> 12-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, KastKing Skeet Reese Icon Reel, 7' 6" MH Duckett JW Cranking Rod (original series).
> "When I didn't have FFS, the best way to find and locate fish was by covering water. Some of those fish were sitting up higher in the water column – you wouldn't hit the bottom...you were just triggering them into biting.
> "They were relating to the rock structures. They would come off the rock and eat the crankbait. Sometimes I'd feel them take the water off the crankbait [miss it/swipe at it] and I'd stop and snap it, like a jerkbait almost, and they'd bite it."
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3rd: Michael "top 10" Neal
He said "90% or more" of his fish were on a dropshot:
> 3" Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm (natural shad). "I noticed a lot of fish I would catch would spit shad up on the way to the surface. I had to get some from my roommate Brent Ehrler – I didn't have any minnow-style baits that small.
> "My other dropshot bait was a small fuzzy-style bait (tan and smoke).
> #1 Gamakatsu Aaron Martens G-Finesse Drop Shot Hook, 3/8-oz tungsten weight, 10-lb Sunline Overwatch Braid to 7-lb Sunline Shooter Fluoro, 3000-size reel, 7' 7" ML Phenix Feather Spin Rod.
> "I like the long rod for open water – I really feel like I have more control. I think the light line may have been why I had more bites in that area than most other guys.
> "12-16' on anything that was different. Fished an expansive grass flat and just focused on anything that created a void. Sand or rock didn't seem to matter.
> "FFS greatly increased my efficiency. Instead of having to make 3-5 casts and slowly fish it back, I could make 1 cast at each hole and keep moving. I didn't see many of the fish on FFS, just where to throw."
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5th: Brent "India pale" Ehrler
His primary deal was a dropshot:
> 3" Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm (natural shad) – "I started with the 4-inch. That's the one I've always thrown. I was using gp with purple and black flake in it, pearl belly – the one I've always thrown for smallmouth.
> "[He and Michael Neal] started noticing they were spitting out shad. I went to a shad color, and the only 'natural shad' I had was in 3-inch. The first cast I caught one and stuck with it."
- #4 Gamakatsu G-Finesse Stinger Hook [he started with a dropshot hook but said he never lost a fish after switching to the stinger] – "The #4 Stinger Hook is actually about the same gap as a size 1/0 dropshot. That Stinger is like a 100% hook.
> "That hook was designed for a wacky rig so it has a little bit longer shank on it. I just nose-hooked it. I didn't want to thread on that little tiny bait – I wanted more action out of it."
> 1/4-oz Ark Tungsten Dropshot Weight, 12-lb Sunline SX1 Braid (Hi-Vis Yellow) to 8-lb Sunline Sniper, 3 different Daiwa spin reels (Tatula Elite, Tatula MQ, Certate), 7' 1" M Daiwa Tatula Elite Brent Erhler Dropshot Rod.
> "I was dragging and shaking it, and caught a few each day 2D vertical old-school. Every once in a while...if you caught one there was a really good chance another one was following it. In the driver's seat I could see on 2D...another one sitting below the boat. I would weigh one, release it, stand up, drop my dropshot under the boat and catch another one...."
> "...anything different. Rock and grass both.
> "I run a Garmin EchoMap Ultra, and when I wasn't able to Scope, I would turn my Scoping unit to side image [off the transom 'ducer]. That way I would have 2D and mapping on the one unit ,and fullscreen side view on the other one. It allowed me to see things away from the boat I couldn't see. It's the first time I've ever done this.
> "Quite a few times I'd get to the waypoint...and there was always some sort of irregularity there. I would just turn the boat sideways to see where it was and make my cast to it. It was like I was [using FFS] but I was doing it with my side view – just looking for targets....
> "I didn't key on that til day 2.... It was like a whole new world. I was able to catch a lot more fish because of it.
> "I caught 'em in 12-16' so I was fishing shallow. A lot of flats – irregularities in the flats."
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1. TX: We lost a brother on Bois d'Arc
Sounds like he might have gotten run over by the prop. Please pray for his family and friends. ✝️🙏
2. Greg DiPalma says about Champlain...
Since it's 400' deep in places, he feels a lot of the lake's fish still haven't been caught, which seems rare nowadays. And because of how fast that lake can get up, it might be the #1 lake for late check-ins.
400' deep is also why there's a "Loch Ness monster" there called "Champ" or "Champy" – which at least 1 Elite pro has seen with his own eyes. No joke – I saw the vid!
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Jacob Wheeler: When to Carolina rig vs a dropshot
From my convo with him yesterday, and bearing in mind that these guys are 100% about efficiency:
> "...expansive areas. You're so much more efficient dragging a heavier-weight Carolina rig and you're still getting a really finesse presentation.
> "You're using heavy line, heavy weight, but you're covering more water than you can with a dropshot. With a Carolina rig I can drag and stop it – move it really fast and kill it...it's probably twice as effective on more expansive rocky areas than a dropshot is for covering water.
> "Or when the wind's blowing really hard and you're having a tough time with a 1/2-oz dropshot weight staying on the bottom, throwing a 1-oz weight with a Carolina rig and drifting those [areas] is just a more effective way to cover water and keep contact with the bottom."
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"Bass act like they've never seen anything like it before and hit it like they're starving to death."
- 23-yr-old MS bass and crappie guide Preston McDaniels talkin'. More:
> "I've thrown all the other usual tackle, worms to spinnerbaits, ChatterBaits, diving baits, and when you throw an urchin bait, you get a totally different reaction out of the fish. I've never seen anything like it.
> "...there's never been a bait that looks like it and can be presented the way it is. You can keep it in the strike zone forever."
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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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If you're forwarding every Blaster to other bass crackheads, tx much – or you can email me the addys and we'll take care of it! We'll never send spam or whatever....
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