Heads up it'll probably be Wed and Fri Blasters next week – will be on a lil ol' trip to maybe see some top secret stuff and hopefully catch a few. As always, let's see what happens!
Weather the same ol' by you? Here in NJ it's been weirdly cool and dry. Usually it's super humid, and just today it feels like it's getting a little hot and a little humid – but then in a few days it's supposed to go back to Chamber of Commerce weather. 😁
Man I hope I can finally get out Saturday and I hope you do too! Thanks for readin'!
For all you music nuts, this BB brought to you by Van Halen live in '95 – in particular "Amsterdam," one of my fave VH songs and an absolute bomb in this show, dang! (And Ed reminds me of Aaron.)
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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 Patrick Walters won the Santee NPFL
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What does Patrick do for fun? Fish tournaments. What's his home lake? Santee. How did he do at the Santee Elite? 70-dang-5th! So the NPFL was a chance to have fun, fish his home lake and bury that 75th. And he did it – d) all of the above. What he said:
> "...Santee Cooper is my home lake, it's the lake I live on.... Right now there's a lot of areas to fish, and I know the whole lake basically. In the Elite I wanted to fish from one end to the other...just trying to force it too much, where I wanted to catch them. I'd pick up the trolling motor and [run] 5-10 miles at a time, almost 30 miles sometimes.
> "This one I wasn't going to do that...do it different. I do like to run and gun, but if you fish too much – if you get out of your area – you're not going to catch them. I just hunkered down in this one.
> "A lot of wind came in – they postponed day 3, and day 2 it blew 20 mph. It blew out the area I was gonna fish, where I caught them on day 1. I knew I was not going to force it and fished the wind...the side of the lake that was protected. [He caught 24 even the 2nd day]."
He ended up with 67-12 and won by 5.5 lbs. How he fished:
> "The 1st day I caught them mostly off bream beds – 1 off brush. Mainly just bream beds that were active.
> "There's a lot of bream beds in the lake right now, but a lot are picked clean. I had 20 marked at least, but only caught fish off 3 of them.
> "I fished a topwater...and a power shot as well. That was first time I'd fished a dropshot on a baitcaster – it felt weird."
> 4" Rapala Skitter V (bone), 40-lb Sufix 832 Braid, Daiwa Tatula SV TW Reel (8.1), 7' 4" MH Daiwa Tatula Elite Randy Howell Topwater Rod.
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> Bubba shot: Zoom Trick Worm (gp green flake), 1/0 VMC RedLine Finesse Neko Hook, 3/8-oz VMC Teardrop Drop Shot Weight, 14-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, 7' 1" MH Daiwa Tatula Bass Rod.
> "Days 2 and 3 I caught them mostly off brush. [Both days the] same area but I had to run different piles. I couldn't catch them out of the same piles for some reason. ...mainly protected from the wind where I could fish them effectively.
> "I caught most of them jerking, and a good one each of the last 2 days on a 3/4-oz spinnerbait."
> The new Rapala jerkbait (white – "the water was pretty off-colored"), 14-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, Daiwa Tatula SV TW Reel (8.1), new 6' 10" M Daiwa Tatula Elite Patrick Walters Jerkbait Rod.
> 3/4-oz double willow spinnerbait (white) with a 3.8 Zoom Z-Swim (white), 17-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, 7' 4" Daiwa Tatula Bass Spinnerbait Chatterbait Rod.
Electronics
> "Humminbird 360 really helped me with the bream beads. LiveScope was big with the brush – really seeing that brush and helping me make effective casts without hanging up. If you [got hung], the fish would leave. The fish would not re-set back up. I think it was too much pressure."
Shout-outs
> "A big shout out to SonarPros for rigging up all the electronics, having everything completely dialed in. When you're fishing tournaments, you completely rely on your equipment. If you don't have the correct imaging and power....
> "Impulse Lithium batteries...I didn't even have to charge them. I fished all day [at Santee], I ran my livewells all day – I run them constantly: I don't want to chance a dead fish. I didn't check in til 4:30, I was running 5 graphs. We weighed in, then I had to drive 13.5 hours to the Sabine. I got there at 7:00 the next morning, checked into the house, unloaded my bags, put the boat in at 8:20 and fished til 4:30, and all the batteries performed flawlessly."
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1. What do you like about fishing the NPFL?
> "It's fishing for good money, it's good competition and it's stress-free. It's not really my job – the Bassmaster Elite Series is my focus, my job. So I don't worry [at the NPFLs] – I just go have fun and go fishing...."
2. Did Todd Walters teach you anything about fishing Santee or did you do all the teaching? [That's his dad.]
> "You know, I'd say it was mixture of both. We learned a lot together because he was a big saltwater fisherman. ...Bradford Beavers is a buddy of mine – he fished FLW for a while – I started fishing with him....
> "[Patrick and his dad] learned the lake together. He's a worm-dragger and he will beat you sometiems. He will teach you what's actually there."
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3. Will you ever wear bright-colored shorts like Wesley Strader?
> "I highly doubt it – I'm a very neutral color guy. I'm wearing dark blue right now and that's off the beaten path [laughs].
> "I'm definitely not gonna wear yellow or bright red, so it's a no."
Btw his bassin' 'stache is back...👀
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MLF switch to 5 fish has caused no real change in the number and size of fish caught
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Sounds weird, eh? Well here's a little of an interesting analysis in the MLF Magazine by biologist Steven Bardin and Gary Klein:
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That's the Kissimmee Chain, and obviously that shows where they fished didn't really change year to year. Here's the deets:
> ...the first event of the 2023 season took place on a group of fisheries where the Bass Pro Tour has quite a bit of history. The Kissimmee Chain...was the home of the inaugural Bass Pro Tour event in 2019, has hosted a summertime General Tire Heavy Hitters event and now is the home for the first BPT event using a 5-fish cumulative weight.
> In 2019...1,816 total fish caught and recorded into ScoreTracker...over 5 days...an average of 363.2 fish per day...and a per-angler average of 9.08 fish per day. ...1.2 fish per angling hour and 48.42 fish per competition hour. The cumulative weight...was 3,445.31 lbs.
> In 2020...936 fish caught...an average of 156 fish per day...a per-angler average of 4.54 fish per day. ...0.60 fish per angling hour and 20.8 fish per competition hour. ...cumulative weight of the 6 days of Heavy Hitters was 2,991.19 lbs.
> In 2023...1,610 fish...in 6 days of competition. The average number of fish per day was 268.3, with a per-angler average of 7.67 fish per day. The number of fish per hour of angling averaged 1.02, and the average number of fish per competition hour was 35.7 fish. The cumulative weight was 3,892.19 lbs....
> ...the 2019 and 2023 events were within 100 fish catches of being identical if they had the same minimum scorable weight.
> The higher the minimum scorable weight, the lower the number of recordable fish catches.
> ...in the 2020 and 2023 data...the average weight of fish caught is close to 1 lb above the minimum scorable weight.
Re the last 2 – very interesting that the guys adjust to this, meaning by targeting and catching bigger fish.
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Would you fish like an ice fisherman?
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If you're from the northern states you probly already do, but what I mean is when you're bass fishing – something like this:
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That's Aqua-Vu owner Kolt Ringer at Redcrest, and I asked him to set it up like that because it can be done – meaning if you are vertical jigging under or next to the boat, you can literally see what's down there whil you're doing it. Remember that vertical jigging is a YUGE technique up north, and so is ice fishing, so this kinda thing is natural to 'em.
Would you non-northerners try it? Kolt says with the Aqua-Vu camera you can typically see 2x what the water clarity is – so if you can see 6', the camera can see 12' for whatever reason.
That cam setup is the Micro Revolution 5.0 HD, $599 on TW.
Here's Elitist Josh Douglas talking about how he uses it (IG vid) – to confirm what he thinks he's seeing on his sonar.
Thought: If fish are now reacting to forward-facing (or all) sonar, maybe use the camera instead? Just in practice? 🤔
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Couple real cool stories about Aaron Martens
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Of course they're mind-blowing. From bass-head Mike N:
> I was tournament fishing in southern CA when he and his mom started fishing together. We both fished Lake Castaic when we weren't tournament fishing. One tough day when bites were really scarce I see Aaron fishing in a canyon about a quarter of a mile from me. ...he catches 2 fish fairly quickly.
> I move closer and ask him what he is doing different – he's probably 17 years old at that time with fishing smarts going on 35. He says, "I'm fishing with 2-lb mono and Little Fishies," a local 2-inch fish-shaped bait. A lot of people fished 5-lb line on Castaic, but I didn't know anyone fishing lighter.
> I drew Aaron on the CA Delta in the last tournament they had back-seaters in the Elites. Aaron went to the same spot in Big Break where he fished the first 2 days. We drove into a tule berm and about 15' in there was an opening about the size of a small 1-car garage. He set 2 small anchors on the bottom and started casting a new at the time Roboworm Fat. Weightless except for a small nose hook.
> You couldn't see bottom so he was fishing blind but he knew, there were beds next to the tules. Problem was even a breath of wind or a boat wake would slowly pull the bait back toward the boat and out of the zone. He would set motionless for as long as the bait was where he wanted it. 10, 15 minutes, completely motionless.
> I wasn't casting because he was leading the tournament – he said he would get me a limit before we went to weigh in.
> I absolutely could not have had the patience to fish like that. He finally got his limit around noon. We ran to the railroad tracks in the Delta and he got me my limit.
> We then ran back to just outside the weigh-in buoys in Stockton. About 20 people were fishing docks and mooring poles. The current is moving out and Aaron picks up his weightless worm and pitches it about 6' upcurrent and lets the current push it by the poles. Off the second pole he pulls in a 5-lber in and culls a 3.5.
> Next day he goes out alone and wins the tournament. I made $1,100 on the amateur side because he took the time to let me get that limit.
> One more – I love my memories of Aaron. Lake Oroville, Aaron fishing for spots in 75-80'. No one else was fishing that deep.
> I surely do miss Aaron. But I've got some great memories.
Thanks for sharing 'em with everybody man! 🤙🙏✝️
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1. We lost Jerry Lohr.
Forgot to post this earlier, apologies. I didn't know it at the time, but right when I posted that deal about Randy Howell and yellow crankbaits that mentioned David Fritts admiring NC's Jerry Lohr as a cranking master, Jerry had just passed. Thank you Jerry, bless you bassin' brother. Please pray for his family. 🙏✝️
2. We lost Jerry Fred "Champ" Ball.
> He helped to form the first Bass Club in Louisiana, LABA. He was the LA state singles Bass Champion in 1975.
Bless you bassin' brother. Please pray for his family. 🙏✝️
3. We lost Mary Cabela, a Cabela's founder.
> Mary and her late husband, Dick Cabela, founded their name-sake, Cabela's, in 1961 when they filled fly fishing mail orders from their kitchen table in their home in Chappell, Neb.
> Born in Casper, WY on May 4, 1937, Mary hunted since she was a young girl. She hunted birds and rabbits since she was 10, and big game since 1987.
Love it. Bless you sister. Please pray for the family. 🙏✝️
4. Why Josh Stracner is not fishing the Sabine Elite.
He can't fish it because TX won't sell him a license:
> Last year while on a pre-practice trip to another state I received a ticket for no fishing license (which is another crazy story) and by that state's laws that means automatic license loss for 1 year in that state (which I did not know would happen).
> So fast forward to now, I found out this week of a law called compact interstate law that a handful of states participate in. Which means if you lose your license in one state then you lose it in the other states that are part of the compact. So the only choice I had was to notify BASS officials.
A reason for everything so....
5. Lee Livesay is still confident after 2 bad ones.
That's so key for competitors:
> In tournament fishing you have to be confident in your decisions, whether it's a bait or making a long run....
> At the end of the day, you have to be confident in what you're doing, but you have to know when to make a decision to get out of there. I just didn't do that, and it cost me.
> ...I'm not okay with how I performed, but I'm not going to let these 2 disappointments hinder the rest of my season. My confidence is still sky high. I had 2 bad events, but I feel like I can go win the next 4.
Btw check out the bow of Lee's boat today:
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Yep a BOOYAH Covert with a YUM Swimmin Dinger. That was in April tho. Still thinkin' a spinnerbait could possibly win it this time too, just maybe not a double CO?
7. Jordan Lee shows his battery setup (IG vid).
8. Real good "why 3 brands" electronics info from Terry Scroggins.
IG vid. Knew it was 'Bird/360, Lowrance/2D and Garmin/Scope, but never thought about 3 different mapping tools as well....
9. Patrick Walters gets Redfin sunglasses.
10. Gussy was catching 100+ smallies a day at home.
Guiding where he lives, just below the Arctic Circle...😁 Dang that's some good fishing man! #jealous
11. Bass Pro Tourer Jacob Wall is on BassEdge Radio.
Also Rayburn 'Yota winner Alec Morrison.
12. OK: Meet some sketchy Opens pros Jun 9.
Community Culture Church in Eufaula, 5:30-7:00 and free stuff!
13. Auburn team got the natty on Hartwell.
Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, team of Tucker Smith and Hayden Marbut won it, no bait info in the post?? They had 35.24 lbs over 2 days.
14. Denny Brauer's fave jig is the Strike King Structure Jig.
The Strike King DENNY BRAUER Structure Jig – what a surprise! 😆 Just messin'. If anyone readin' this is new to that name, let me say this: Whatever Denny says about jigs you can 100% bank on. Period. Probably the best of all time with it.
15. Couple cool deets on 2 new Lunkerhunt baits.
Will be announced formally at ICAST but they said it's cool to share a few deets early:
> The Hive Seeker Swimbait is made with U.D.S.P (Ultra Durable Soft Plastic). This material makes the bait float, is super stretchy...and is super soft. Since the bait is softer than most-soft plastics, the squared off tail section adds a little more material than other swimbaits which helps it create more action and thump in the water.
Here's a vid on 'em, comes in 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5:
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The Lunkerhunt Wacky Stick is ribbed and made out of the same U.D.S.P., and has a "slot" for an O-ring:
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Looks like good action too – full short vid here:
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That Jewel post got me thinking – I honestly never purple, but maybe I should? How 'bout you? Little more info on that particular jig:
> ...5/8-oz Jewel Fish the Moment Offshore Jig, double cable guard, what we call our "flop top" skirt – it's a super-bulky skirt that flares a lot and gets lots of big bites.
> This color is "black and blue with purple." Amazing dirty-water color and is always a good color when you want your jig to really stand out. We offer 4 colors in this jig, the other 3 being "watermelon candy, "PB&J" and "Missouri craw."
18. FishLab is coming out with a new trailer.
The BBZ Mimic Tail – interesting it's shorter than other jointed trailers and the tail looks wider. Pic is from a short IG vid:
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19. New KastKing TriPolymer Mono now available.
$8.99 a spool, supposed to have some fluoro-like properties like abrasian resistance and low-viz, 12% lower stretch than most monos – I'm still a mono fan and real interested in this stuff.
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Who makes a topwater for slick, calm conditions? Berkley – probably because Justin Lucas made 'em but...it works! I love it, good reviews on TW...110 size and 1/2-oz.
21. Check this rise of an unpegged Z-Man Hella Crawz.
Amazing:
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3.75", check 'em on the TW.
22. MI: Another gold bass caught...in MI again.
2 orange bass in MI rivers last year and now a gold one from Portage Lake – what's up with MI water??
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23. KY: New 15" min size in some rivers.
> ...for smallmouth bass in the upper reaches of the Barren, Kentucky and Cumberland rivers.
24. BassU is getting into yakkin'.
Few of the courses available now:
> Drew Gregory - 2022 Bassmaster AOY, 2020 Hobie BOS AOY, 6 National wins in 2022
Topic - Jig fishing strategies
> Ryan Lambert - 2020 Hobie Tournament of Champions, 2021 Hobie BOS Champion
Topic - Rigging a kayak
> Jody Queen - Hobie BOS Grand Champion, Hobie Worlds Qualifier
Topic - How to fish out of a kayak.
Click here to go there yak-heads! Told the BassU guys:
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🤣 Just messin' BUers and yakkers!
25. CA: Oroville is so high a parking lot is underwater.
Somehow Cheech 'n Chong found it tho! 🤪
26. OR: Warm Springs Rez is full again.
27. New VP of marketing for Huk.
> Marolina Outdoor Inc, the parent company of Huk Performance Fishing and Nomad Outdoor, has tapped Joe Becker as the new VP of marketing for both brands.
> Becker recently served as creative director for the Wolverine Boot brand as well as ecommerce creative director for Merrell....
28. Tackle Warehouse is looking for a marketing manager.
It doesn't say no dumpster diving in the job description so...👀
29. Keep an eye on...
Will WA have the first DNR to be "overhauled beyond" fishing/hunting?
There's even a group dedicated to this – wonder who's funding 'em:
> "Is this how we want to safeguard our wildlife in the face of extinction and climate change?" asked Kevin Bixby, co-executive director of Wildlife for All, a national campaign to overhaul state wildlife agencies. "It's really an antiquated system that needs to be changed."
> Barbara Baker, who chairs the appointed wildlife commission in WA, said the agency is transforming from a game management department into a broader conservation role.
Aaaaand just like everything else, if it happens the ol' faithful hook/bullet crowd will eventually be forced out and all kinda new restrictions on hunting and fishing will appear "for the good of the resource" or some such....
Biden Admin wants PA's Erie shoreline to be a "marine sanctuary"
> The designation would apply to an approximately 740 sq mile area of water off PA's 75 mile long shoreline.
In the salt that "sanctuary" designation has meant no fishing, but supposedly this time that's not the case...for now.
Fishing Is the Fastest Growing Activity on Boatsetter's Platform
Boat rentals. Is that good? Is it bad? Do people who rent have to have run a boat before or show proof of a boating safety course or something? Keep your head on a swivel mang!
EU looks to boost boat tracking to fight overfishing
> The EU is moving towards extra tracking and putting cameras on fishing boats to monitor their catches in order to prevent overfishing....
Not just for commercial salty boats:
> Recreational fishers catching certain species would have to go through a registration process and electronically report their catch.
Not the US, but Europe pretty much always exports their nuttiness over here (animal rights, environmental terrorism, etc) and it never looks that bad at first. Just something to keep an eye on....
Line of the Day
Green sunfish are also a popular aquarium fish often kept by aquarists, which is likely how they made their way in New Hampshire waters.
Talkin' 'bout green sunnies spreading in NH and...there it is! If they're spread by aquarium folks, get THEM to pay for whatever's getting spent on it, not us!
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Deadsticking jerkbaits?
From bass-head Lou Treat, who is a supervisor in Ranger's fender department:
> ...works best during initial warm-up phase...in the early part of spring. ...the key factor is structure – rock transitions and isolated standing timber.
> Rock transition areas...might be a sheer limestone bluff that changes to chunk rock, or where chunk rock changes to gravel. ...timber, more specifically "pole timber"....
> "Most anglers think of jerkbaits as clear-water lures, but if one deadsticks 'em, they'll work in water with only a foot of visibility." If the water is murky, Treat often finds bass suspending closer to the surface and tighter to the bank. If it's clear, they'll hold farther out and deeper.
> ...Trent uses a Suspending Super Rogue or Suspending Pro Rogue, approaching the target area cautiously and keeping his boat well off the bank, or away from the timber, for the initial casts. "Sometimes the fish will suspend a cast and one-half off the bank...."
> After splash-down, he cranks the lure to its maximum running depth (10 to 15 medium-speed handle cranks), then pauses, allowing the lure to suspend. As it sits, he makes sure there is sufficient slack in the line to compensate for boat drift, especially when it's windy, and keeps his eyes glued to the slack line. If it suddenly jumps or peels off...he reels up the slack and makes a sideswept hookset.
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"My casting needs improvement. I don't know my electronics as well as I should. ...a lot of techniques I need to get a lot better at."
- NJ Opens angler Louis "sweet Lou" Monetti doin' some honest self-evaluatin' on Bassmaster.com. His post is about having to go on a pretty good run now to qualify for the Elites, and that got me thinkin' – are the Opens more about the points now than they ever have been? Is that obvious?
Fishing for points vs winning one of course. Reminds me: I still think it's a little odd that Open winners go right to the Classic and not Elite winners, but I think the Elites voted for that sometime back?
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This is what happens when you drop your unfinished Snickers bars in the water! 😁 That's bass-head Mike R on Lake Winnie, NH with a sho-nuff choco-dipped smallmouth. Caught it on a 2.75 Z-Man TRD Tubez (gp):
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Man pries crocodile's jaws off his head at Australian resort
Pretty sure the last thing I'd do in Australia is go in the water man...😬
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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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