The MLF Bass Pro Tour tourney ended first so you're getting that one in this'n. The Harris Chain Elite will be in the next Blaster, hopeful to get the full top 5 cuz it's another back to backer for them.

DNF (did not fish) this weekend. This whole moving deal is a lot more busy than I remembered. Also my wife is way into being the moving boss. I'm like, "You're not the boss of me." She's all, "Yes I am!" I look at her and she looks like she 100% believes it. So I'm like, "Okay then." 😆 Irish gals can be tough!

Have to be honest – as much as I want to 360 the Dead Seas, I also never want to get on 'em again. I'm pretty much checked out of Jersey and I'm SURE if I find a sick rockpile or whatever there won't be a bass on it.

One kinda example: The Deader Sea just got refilled. Ramp is in the water after like 2 years. The few boats out there are fishing open water, not the banks that are now chock full of submerged brush and stuff. Why? #nofish 👎

This BB edition is brought to you by one of the best American rock bands ever, Lynyrd Skynyrd and their live album "One More from the Road." So good. FL boys who fished too!

Does Jacob put on his pants and launch his boat just like anybody else? Word is...no. 😁 Alright whatever the deal is, he won again! 2nd win this season, 8th MLF win and most MLF wins ever. Amazing. Here's some how it went down – full deets are on the BB site.

Tournament

> "The first day I started on an area that was more bait-related. I caught 21 lbs in about 45 minutes...ran around and caught a few more doing that deal...basically 2 primary zones.

> "Then I went and fished bluff walls. ...after I had a pretty good start, I went basically practicing after the first period of the 1st round. ...I went and caught some fish on bluff walls, I caught some fish on points and ended the day in a really good position. I think I had 59 lbs and was firmly in position to make the top 10 round."

> Day 2: "...only needed to catch about 10-15 lbs. My goal was...to eliminate a zone [area of the lake]...Obey River area. It's pretty obvious – they get on bluff walls, turns and stuff like that. I caught enough to qualify and wrote it off after that. I felt like I was done with that zone and needed to spend more time in other zones.

> "The big thing that happened on day 2 for me was...it was really windy: 15-25 with gusts to 40, out of the SW or W. When that happens on a highland reservoir, it blows a lot of bait and nutrients into certain areas of the lake...makes stuff better.

> "I ran into one of my primary areas from day 1 and the bait was everywhere. The bait was leaving, but now the bait was everywhere. What that does is get the fish to group up more...gets them to group up in schools more and actually hunt.

> "...realize what I thought would be going away, now because of this wind amplified what is going down. So then I was all in on that deal.

> "In the Knockout Round I shut down on 1 of the 2 primary areas I had. Another angler was in that area...made my presence known and left to go to my other area, which was a little bit larger area. It wouldn't be as hard to share it if another boat was there.

> "Nobody else was there and I caught like 55 lbs in an hour and half. I caught 'em really quick. I was able to do that really fast and get out of that zone. Then I was just able to practice the rest of the day...looking for places. We had rain and wind. A lot of those places the wind had pushed the bait into. I looked for key zones. ...my 2 primary areas [the weather] made those better [but he couldn't find others].

> "Championship day...the wind was going to blow out of the west really hard. One area was protected, one was not. I started on [the area] that was going to get blown out by the wind because it was calm that morning. Another competitor was in the same zone with me...about 100 yards away.

> "Basically I caught 70 lbs in the 1st period alone...just absolutely train-wrecked them. But Michael Neal is 15 lbs away from me after the 1st period. At that point I wanted to go to my other primary area, hoping have it to myself....

> "...nobody's there. The fish are acting weird. I'm not catching them. I was like, obviously somebody started here because there's no way fish are acting this weird and not biting.

> "I was able to get into a zone [a piece of that area] I felt like wasn't pressured and caught 30 lbs fairly quickly to have over 100 lbs. 30 or 45 minutes in, Michael shows up...sharing that area. Then I knew why they were acting so weird [Michael had started there]. It's interesting how much pressure changes things...they know what's up.

> "I had 1 really good zone I wanted to go to – down the lake – really bad but Michael was in 2nd place that point. So if I struck out down the lake I would be in a position where he could make a comeback. So I would rather focus my attention there and split them up. He catches one, I catch one, I stay 30 lbs up on him. It was a strategy thing...."

Baits

> Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow (gizzard shad) on 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2-oz VMC Sleek Heads and not out yet VMC tungsten heads.

> "A big key...on the lighter heads for those Mooch Minnows I had the tail tabs cut off. The purpose for that was I wanted that bait to roll more on that lighter head. It would have more action so those fish up higher in the water column – I could throw to those fish, shake that minnow and it would have more of a rolling action. If they were pressured I could catch them more on a lighter head than on a heavier head.

> "On the flip side, when I saw a group of fish 20-30' down moving fast, I needed that 1/2-oz head because those fish were moving at such a fast pace. I'd make 10-15 cast before I'd get it in front of them because they moving so fast. I was going 1.5 mph on the trolling motor and was barely keeping up with them. When they're hunting in groups they're moving insanely fast.

> "When I was using the 3/8 and the 1/2 I didn't cut those [Mooch Minnow tail] tabs because that's the action of that bait. It's not going to rock any more [if the tabs were cut] with that heavier head on it.

> "The fish were all over the place, from a foot down to 20-30'. If I could get a lighter head to them, the [fish-catching] action was better."

> Rapala CrushCity Freeloader (green shad), 3/16-oz and 1/4-oz VMC Hybrid Swimbait Head. "Bluff walls and points – the post-spawners wanted a bigger-profile bait."

> Both rigs: 7' M Duckett Jacob Wheeler Original Series Spin Rod, Shimano Vanford Reel (2500), 8-lb Sufix NanoBraid to 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon.

Electronics

> "ActiveTarget is the best FFS when you're chasing suspended fish. You can see so much farther. I play with both Garmin and Lowrance – both have their advantages and disadvantages.

> "As far as suspended fish go, you can see so much further out [with ActiveTarget] – I can see an 1/8 at 85' and I can see a 1/2 at 110. I keep my ranges at 100 to 120 depending on how big the area is.

> "You have to be on it, you have to know what you're doing. The key is it's all about efficiency.

> "I had a Garmin 34 [transducer] on my boat...and I never turned the Garmin on throughout the tournament.

> "To me side imaging definitely is underutilized. The biggest thing is to see bait and fish. I would idle through areas before just beaming around. You can see groups so much better on side imaging. ...if it's singles you have to pick them out on FFS. The majority of places I was fishing had groups of bass."

Shoutouts

> "I did use Bait Pop...put it on all my baits in the bags.... To me, if it helps me 20% to see my bait in the water...catch 3 more bass in a day, that's the difference between winning and losing in all of these tournaments.

> "Millertech batteries – I've been running them all year. I actually had a moment where my batteries didn't charge the night before – I guess a breaker broke. I run 3 36v Millertechs so I had a backup...plugged that in and I was good to go....

> "Huge shoutout to my wife. She's the rock. She takes care of everything at the house. Having a really strong family life is really important...knowing everything's taken care of at home and they're okay...she's the superstar in that support group. I couldn't perform at the level I am right now without that support from her."

1. Should the Bass Pro Tour be renamed the CrushCity Tour?

> "If you're asking for the first 4 tournaments I mean it might need to be. [Laughs] I think since Guntersville, 5 out of the last 8 have been won on a CrushCity bait."

2. Are you mad you guys didn't come out with the Mooch Minnow last year?

> "No because...this is all part of the plan. Of course we had it done...but good things are worth waiting for.

> "It's nice to have a few things not everybody has out on the water for sure."

3. Why do you spend so much time fun-fishing Dale Hollow?

> "Because it's like one of the top 5 best bass fisheries in the country for numbers of 3- and 4-lbers. Literally it's awesome. I don't even like talking about it, but since I won I need to say something. I love it. It's my getaway.

> "We live on Chickamauga and my wife gives me crap all the time...'Maybe we should have built a house on Dale Hollow."

4. Have you ever seen the new world record smallmouth swimming in there?

> "I don't know. Maybe. Every once in a while you have a fish come up and look at your bait and you're like, That wasn't a carp.

> "But...I don't think there's that many big ones left in there. They had a big fish kill. I don't think the genetics are in there like they used to be."

[He talked about guys who used to dive in the lake in the '80s seeing legit DD smallies in there.]

> "The biggest I've caught in there is probably 5.5 lbs."

5. Since everybody has FFS now and has been using it, what do you think is the advantage you have with it? Or is it something else?

> "I think it's a lot of natural intuition. One thing is efficiency and understanding what you're looking at. From doing it for so many years, knowing that is a huge deal. And efficiency...having a system. Having the right jigheads, knowing if they're pressured, knowing when to switch a bait....

> "I don't think Dustin or myself spend as much time in an area as some of the other competitors. There's a handful of anglers who process information at a faster rate. There's a lot of information being displayed on the screen at one time, and that's a lot to handle. Making the perfect cast, knowing how to trigger the fish – there's a lot to all that.

> "...that's why you see a handful of guys [do well with FFS] consistently – Dustin, Spencer, myself, Drew Gill, AJ Jr – they know...when the fish aren't biting right. Someone [else] might spend an hour longer in that area trying to force a bite. You need to know when to cut it off.

> "Another thing is, what people don't understand about FFS is these nomadic fish change so much. They're constantly leaving areas, filtering back in – just because there's only a few fish in a zone in practice doesn't mean you can write it off. You have to keep an open mind about how things will unfold. [A lame] area might...turn into a winning area.

> "That's the natural decision-making. Things are changing at such a fast rate with the wind blowing, the bait moving and fish moving – you have to have the utmost confidence. It's not like finding a brushpile or a grass patch or a dock that you're going back to for sure.

> "Day 1 at Toledo Bend I caught almost 100 lbs in an area and I never caught another bass there the rest of the tournament.

> "...everything people know about fishing, you can't get locked in on like this is factual and this area is guaranteed. I think that is the biggest difference. Those anglers that are the best, they're not afraid to change it up. They're not afraid to chance it and go looking for that group of fish that just showed up."

Man there's some solid juice in there!

🤣

Jacob said that as much as he likes doing the FFS thing, he's looking forward to "go burn down the bank" at the James and Chowan rivers:

> "I'm gonna chunk me a buzzbait down the bank and have some fun."

Usually only do the top 5 but since Marty Robinson's son Marshall got his first top 10 gonna include him. Btw Marshall has finished 41st, 20th and 6th so far in his rookie year. Maybe a trend?

2nd: Michael Neal

Almost the identical setup he fished at Redcrest:

> Big Bite Baits Scentsation Slim Minnow (smelt), 1/8-3/8 Big Bite Swimmer Head, 10-lb Sunline Overwatch Braid to 12-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro, 6' 10" ML Denali Lithium Rod or 7' 6" M Denali Kovert Rod (depending on the jighead weight).

> "20-60' water depth, fish were 4-35' deep depending on the day and conditions."

3rd: Spencer Shuffield

> Z-Man Jerk Shadz ("any shad color") on 1/4 and 3/8 Queen Tackle Tungsten Jigheads, 15-lb Yo-Zuri SuperBraid (white) to an 8-lb Yo-Zuri SuperFluoro Leader, Ark Gravity Spin Reel, 7' 3" ML Ark Reinforcer Rod.

> "Fish were mostly suspended 10-25' down over 30-40' of water."

4th: Drew Gill

> 4" Big Bite Baits Jerk Minnow (alewife) on a 3/8-oz ball head with a 3/0 hook, 10-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro, Ark GS5 Spin Reel (2500), 7' 6" ML XF Ark Invoker Tour Rod.

> "I was fishing flat gravel areas 20-30' deep with forage present."

5th: Alton Jones Jr

Like several guys including Michael Neal, he rolled with pretty much the exact same setup as at Redcrest:

> 5" Geecrack Revival Shad (pearl) on a custom 3/8-oz jighead, and a Deps Sakamata Shad (biwako wagasaki) on a 3.5-gram Owner Ranger Roller Head.

> 15-lb Cortland Master Braid to 12-lb Cortland XTR fluoro leader, Kistler Chromium Spin Reels, 7' ML Kistler Helium Rod and a prototype signature 6' 6" Kistler Mid-Stroll Rod.

> "80% smallmouth. Fishing flat gravel points in 8-20' and brush in 10-25'."

6th: Marshall Robinson

> 3" Yamamoto Scope Shad (TN shad – "I also threw 'sexy shad' a little bit") on a 1/4 or 3/8 hand-poured jighead "depending on the wind and the depth," 10-lb braid to a 10-12 lb fluoro, 6' 8" L Phenix K2 Torzite Rod.

> "The smallmouth that I caught earlier in the week were shallower, but as the tournament progressed I had to change over to deep suspended bass which were mostly largemouth. They were mostly suspended 20-35' down over 40-50' in big groups."

- Michael "Top 10" Neal talkin' how he always sets his FFS. Interesting. Michael looking any different to you these days?

😁

I ask a Q in this SeaFoamWorks.com Top 5 of the Week (Episode 83) – leave a comment on the vid if you would, love your thoughts. Q is what was more important in leveling the field at that TAA tourney: No FFS and no 360? Or no waypoints and no practice?

Click the pic below to get there on YT – here's the rundown for this one:

1. That no-FFS tournament happened and...👀

2. How Chris Johnston won it 🏆

3. No FFS? No problem 🤙

4. A better Damiki rig? 🎯

5. Improved ball 'n chain? 💪

1. Nick LeBrun says his Damiki rig is a chicken nugget.

Specifically the Yamamoto Scope Shad on a Buckeye Scope Head. Hahaha the nugget – love it! 🍗🍗

2. New interesting jerkbait coming from BOOYAH.

Called the Flash Point – looks like some kinda metal there for a sonar return? 🤔

3. IN: Apr 25 DNR meeting about Tri-Lakes bass.

> ...to learn and ask questions about a largemouth bass management project planned for Tri-Lakes. The multi-year project aims to increase the number of sizable largemouth bass in Tri-Lakes through a series of largemouth bass relocations.

> The meeting will be held at the Thorncreek Township Fire Department...7-8:30 pm ET, DNR fisheries biologists will introduce the project, explain its goals, share data and anticipated results, and then answer questions.

Remember: Habitat (including renovating the lake) and forage is 90% of a good fishery.

4. Vexus dream rig sales event is on!

Gitcha deal if you can swing it!

They also posted a YT vid on their in-house trailer operation fyi. Vexus trailers are legit great. I didn't know how great it is to have a great trailer til I got one!

5. NY: Queenston launch reno should be done this month.

On the Niagara River, which has a real good number of smallmouths....

6. New Windstar cruise ships have FFS.

Gonna guess it's not for feeshn...😁

Line of the Day

The sawfish was loaded onto a vessel and provided respiratory assistance during the short boat ride to a temporary holding tank.

Was it...mouth to mouth? 😱🤣

Learn ya about different paddletails

They ain't all the same! From a Z-Man post on swimbaits with its product developer Jose Chavez:

> "Beyond tail and body shape, 2 of the more overlooked considerations in paddletail design are hardness or softness of the material and the makeup of the tail 'bridge'—that transition section between body and tail.

> "A thinner tail bridge frees the tail to pendulum and vibrate freely, but also yields less side-to-side body roll.... Also, if the material is too rigid, it can prevent the tail from starting up and moving... Oppositely, if you go too soft and use too thin of a bridge, the bait can start swimming with a corkscrew action....

> "T-tail style baits offer greater water resistance, especially when the tail itself is built broad for more surface area. These swimbaits usually thump harder and swim with a wider body roll. ...angled-tail baits (with tails positioned at greater than a 90-degree angle to the body) produce less thump and less body roll."

> Tail shape...also affects water resistance and thereby, movement and vibration, or thump. Elongated teardrop-shaped paddles with broader material at the base of the tail often kick in a rhythmic pendulum action and a higher-frequency vibration.

> Round-shaped paddles on the other hand– especially tails with flat faces forward – thump the hardest and may also shimmy dramatically. This configuration swims with a strong low-frequency vibration, perhaps best suited for warm water....

Check Z-Man swimbaits and their 13 different tails on the TW.

"...smallmouth bass are like 3-year-old police-trained German shepherds: fast, smart, and not to be underestimated."

- From here. Okay? I mean I get the fast part but I would say not particularly smart...especially when they see chartreuse or gobies. 😆Either way no way as smart as one of the most intelligent dog breeds. But maybe I'm taking it too literally? 🤔

Would you fish this color jig? Believe it's the Keitech Spin Jig, comes in 1/8 and 5/32 on TW, in the color "sakura pepper":

Did you see this pic posted by the US Navy? How many things can you find wrong with that picture – and sight picture?? Figured it was a 100% joke but apparently not because they took the post down...?

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