1. Halfway thru the Elites, here’s your AOY top 10.
Some past AOY winners in there:
2. Why Jacob Wheeler had a catch DQd at the Sabine.
Good explanation by B.A.S.S.’s Bryan Brasher (that’s B-cubed or B3). Bryan talks about criticism that Wheeler and B.A.S.S. got. Of course they did:
3. What Gerald Swindle (2nd) used at the Sabine.
Seems like G’s outta bandwidth so this is from a Rapala report:
> …discovered a deeper pattern when he caught 2 quality bass on a BX Brat squarebill in about 5-6′ during the 3-day practice….
> “My primary decision…going to fish deeper than everybody. So I fished on the outside of the trees, dropshot and shakey head…up and down this canal until I knew it by heart, throwing a shaky head…just trying to fish slow….
> …Arashi Cover Pop was another difference maker…”The whole deal with that Cover Pop is you have to fish painfully slow….
Brandon Palaniuk (7th) and Ott DeFoe (14th) also fished a BX Brat, and Brandon also fished a Cover Pop.
4. Matty Lee’s fave summer baits.
> Strike King 6XD (green gizzard shad) for fishing “Indian mounds” (aren’t those on land??) and snapping turtle heads.
The bait info above is all solid. Some of the rest is possibly true but I can’t say at this time….
5. Justin Lucas outs the new Berkley Popper.
Berkley Bullet Pop:
6. MLFers get deal with Sqwincher.
Always thought a Sqwincher was what your forehead did when you forgot your sunglasses at home and fished without ’em, but turns out it’s an electrolyte drink. 3-yr deal is pretty stout….
Btw since I started losing my hair I think I’m up to a fivehead now….
7. MO: Bighead carp shot in Bull Shoals.
Potentially very bad news. That’s an Asian carp:
These Asian carp are the biggest threat to bassin’ we’ve probly ever seen. Seriously.
8. MO: Opens Champeenship on T-Rock in Oct.
Not sure if this is due to Johnny Morris world domination and no one will go on the record with a comment….
9. MN: Brian Robison charity derby on upper MS in 2 days.
10. Is this Mike Long’s big bass secret?
Stalkin’ the bigs from a yak in the reeds?? Click it for a brief vid:
11. WV derby makes beauty queen kiss biggest smallie.
If she caught it herself maybe, but….
Have heard lots of things happen in WV we don’t know about…hahaha WV peeps!
12. MS: Ross Barnett gets 25K FL fingerlings.
13. MN: ‘Nother big fundraiser at the Fishing Challenge.
Pretty cool annual deal, raises funds for the MN Adult & Teen Challenge drug and alcohol rehab program and ministry — $302K raised this year alone.
The new High School Bass Division, sponsored by Sea Foam, gave college scholarship $$ to the top 3 teams.
14. Cliff Prince’s son Syler wins another.
Kid’s a hammer — must get it from his mother’s side lol:
> Syler Prince and Austin Peters won the TBF Jr State Championship last weekend on the Harris Chain, FL.
> Syler won [the TBF FLW Jr World Championship] in SC last year as an individual. TBF has made it a team tournament this year.
Caught their 11.52 on a 3/4-oz Greenfish Tackle High Class double willow spinnerbait, Bass Assassin Fat Job (junebug) and 1/2-oz Fitzgerald tungsten weight and a Strike King KVD Squarebill (chart/black back), all fished on Fitzy rods.
> …they plan to fly over the lake in an airplane pulling a banner reading “Don’t Let Your Kids Become Hookers! Be Kind to Animals — Don’t Fish!”
Derp. Always reminds me of the time Peta was at a Classic in AL, and the guy in the Peta fish suit passed out from the heat. Bunch of “hookers” saved him.
16. Win a Nitro Z-18!
Bassin’ rig of the bassin’ chaplain, Chris Wells. $100 per chance, drawing will happen Dec 1. Click it here to buy you a ticket…or 2. I just bought mine:
Chris does the most important work there is, so pls grab a tix if you can….
17. How to fish a Carolina search rig…
…and regular C-rig, from Alpha Angler’s Jake Boomer:
He likes the Alpha Hitter rod for the search, and the Clutch rod for the actual C-rig…and you can catch ’em on either rig. His bait o’ choice is a Strike King Magnum Rage Bug.
18. Gitcha a finesse topwater.
‘Bout time for the Lunkerhunt Dragonfly — 3″ long, 1/4-oz, 4/0 hook:
19. Bill Lewis baits giveaway.
Runnin’ now on the book of Faces.
20. Check the SPRO Rat in action.
SPRO BBZ-1 Rat — keeps a good beat. Note the retrieve speed:
21. Why is this dude smiling?
Let’s see: Owns Favorite rods, gets to fish for “work,” catching smallmouths — does he need any other reasons??
22. What a Japanese angler used to win…
…a big Japan derby. Think his name is Ryo Shinozuka?
Believe that’s a:
> Little Reins Hog with a 7g (1/4-oz) weight and 1/0 Power Stage hook.
> 3″ Reins Heavy Swamp with a Mosquito Heavy Guard hook
> Lucky Craft RTO 1.5 DD
Best gem from Google translate:
> This time it proved this time “the theory that prevails when children are born” transmitted to the top 50 pros.
23. Ray Hill new VP of retail sales at WileyX.
Check their offerin’s on TW. Pretty sure their deal is shatterproof lenses….
24. Bass Anglers for Saltwater Conservation new website.
Name still cracks me up. New website is here. I’m starting a new organization called “Baitfish netters for crankbaiters and swimbaiters in most water types except swamps but no offense to swamp peeps.”
I get what Yamaha is doing with this — good intentions — but man it just seems odd. Getting bass fishermen involved in red snappers, longline fishing and saltwater laws seems like a pretty far stretch, don’t it?
25. Best tourney name ever?
LA salt derby called: Swollfest Fishing Rodeo. Hahaha! But seriously: Maybe the Sabine shoulda been the Dinkfest Hamster Roundup?
Guess Keith Poche’s voice to text deal got it wrong when it said he used a “Humminbird” spinnerbait — really was a Humdinger. Tx to Rich Z for the clear-up!