Concerned about one of my neighbors – this is for-real in my town:
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Cuz nothin' says Christmas like a Nephilim-sized skeleton and friends?? 🤪
Another weird deal: Local Christmas parade here had Christmas CLOWNS, and some were dressed like scary clowns. Get this – I kid you not – one clown drove a plain white van! 😳 WTHeck is up with folks!
Hope your local Christmas cellies are way more normal...I gotta get the heck outta high-tax Dodge, man. Anyhow let's get to it!
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Something insane is happening in Idaho.
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No it's not a party at the Palaniuks (although the police were called 😂) and I'm not talkin' 'bout the well-known bigfoot migration – I mean migrationS plural. This is about bass. Smallmouth bass. Absolutely ridiculously giant rectangular smallmouths, in one lake, at one time of year, that get to 9+ lbs and I'm sure at least a couple 10+ fish are in there. 10-LB SMALLMOUTHS!!!
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🤯🤯 A little tough to get a real appreciation from pics, but those are all 8+ fish, all around 22-24" long and 17-20" around.
Last night my head was literally spinning from this deal. The lake/fishery sounds so totally unlike any other type of bassin' that I honestly had a tough time getting my couple IQ points around it, such like:
- Lake only has smallmouth, zero largies.
- Water level fluctuates as much as 100'.
- Main baitfish and probable key to the whole deal is kokanee salmon.
How much do you know about kokanee salmon? Me neither. But it sounds like they're pretty much crack cocaína to los smallos and even higher-calorie than the trout the Cali DNR uses as bass food.
As you can imagine the whole deal is pretty secretive among the guys who've spent the time figurin' it out – even though there's social posts of huge fish and other info kickin' around. Word is sloooooowly tricklin' out, but sounds like if you wanna go there and try it, you better have a plan cuz you're in the middle of nowhere with no cell service – and I'm bettin' you can't just show up, flip whatever and expect to have a day...at a place where high 4s, 5s and even 6s are no biggie. I mean, you're not there to catch those "little ones" anyhow. (I would dig it tho!)
I'm thinkin' you need some knowledge of the lake and how those kokanee do their thing.
Little background: Last Blaster you saw those three 7+ smalls caught in 1 day on 1 boat – that was the lake. When I posted those pics on Insta, I got flooded with reports of multiple 8s and even 9s being caught there. I mean, what??? So I had a couple convos and...wow.
Of course after that flood of DMs all of a sudden no one wanted to say jack – hahaha! We get that! All good, not gonna out any secrets anyhow, but I had to say something because this is a new frontier in the wide world o' bassin'. I mean, the Great Lakes have more bulbous smallies than Edwin Evers has pecans, but not this big! Not this weird a fishery either.
If you sniff around enough online and do you some bassin' deductions, you can find out the name of the lake, what baits to fish and maybe even approximately where you need to start. I ain't gonna make it easy and get blamed for all that 🤷🏻♂️ so will just say a little more – BUT I sure as heck am gonna keep an eye on things yonder.
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Those 2 fish were caught shallow, but the bigs being caught now I believe are all deep.
One mo' thing: Readin' that all again, not sure I was clear. This seems to be a TREND. For whatever reason, the already huge smallmouths at that place are getting bigger year to year. Insane man wow.
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Do you double-ring your wackys?
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Here's what ex-Bassmaster pro Frank "N Stein" Scalish does:
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Click the pic to see the vid. Btw that's an "Elder's magic" YUM Dinger, one of my fave colors – and you can now get that color in 30-count bulk packs for just $10.29 🤯 at TW. (Other colors have 100-count bags available.)
That rig plus seeing this deal the British bait-fishermen do...
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...makes me think: Shouldn't we be O-ringing every soft-plastic that can have an exposed hook? Like dropshotting? 🤔
Almost forgot: In that vid Frank says a drift sock is overlooked by bass-heads, and that he won "over $100,000 employing drift socks." He likes the Lindy Magnum Drift Sock, and notes that it's a safety tool too if you ever run out of power. Good points Frank, I think I need one?
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Here's 'Aaron's magic' in a crankbait color.
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Or maybe I should say the crankbait version of "Aaron's magic"? Anyhow, been trackin' down Aaron-designed stuff for a couple reasons, 1 of which is I'm gonna have an Aaron box in the rig, just to see and try all his stuff. Hopefully you get where I'm comin' from. Anyhow, this is the Duo Realis Apex Crank 66 Squared – which Aaron helped design – in the color "AM magic":
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Don't know about you, but I've never fished or maybe even seen a crankbait that color before. Can't wait to see if Aaron's color-blindness + genius resulted in a new must-have color for bass-heads. He sure did love purple....
Bait comes in 3 more "AM" colors includin' "AM dawn." It's a 5/8-oz squarebill for the 5-7' range. Got 1 for my AA box comin' from TW. 🙏✝️ #loveyoubro
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Let's name a hybrid or 2!
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Okay, accordin' to this In-Fisherman article by the legendary Steve Quinn, a former fish biologist who I know and trust 100% in all things fish biology, "meanmouth" was originally a term for largemouth-smallmouth hybrids, named in the '60s:
> The term "meanmouth bass" was born when [Dr William Childers] observed a school of largemouth-smallmouths attacking a [woman swimming]. "The bass leaped from the water and struck her on the head and chest," he wrote, "and drove her from the pond." On another occasion, he watched meanmouths attack a dog that ventured into shallow water.
But then in the Ozarks, after spotted bass were stocked, peeps discovered smallmouth-spot hybrids and for whatever reason started calling them "meanmouths."
Since I don't see smallmouth-spot crosses ever attacking people or dogs, or bein' ultra-mean, don't really think that name fits 'em. Plus they're not the same as largie-smallie crosses (duh) and that was the hybrid that got the "meanmouth" name first. So...what do we call the smallmouth-spot cross?
Ideas based on my own 2c brain and what some of you said on social:
- Spottymouth
- Motormouth
- Micropterus Inbetweenus
What else you got? Hit me back or I'll post this whole deal on social later.
Fwiw here's some alternate names for the large-small cross:
- Musclemouth (actually a Canadian name for the largie-smallie cross)
- Supermouth
- Black and tan
- MeanTweetsMouth (lol @brianthecarpenter)
- Muleymouth (pulls like a mule)
Why are we namin' 'em? Because no one else is, because why not and because we're the most diehard bass-heads around, that's why! 👊
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Would you fish a scorpion?
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Kinda looks like a critter bait so...? Not sure who makes it – maybe these guys. Just saw it passin' thru Insta world.
Guess if the baits didn't work, they could still Rock You Like a Hurricane – lol you know I had to go there mang!
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Says he's coming along and his LUNG is almost healed 😳 and that's not even half of it. Dang! Good to hear.
Only bad deal is I heard is he's had to get friends of friends to buy back his bikes cuz his wife put 'em all on Craigslist...😂
He was at Strike King for a long while doing sales and bait development among other things. Crispin is a brother in Christ and friend – I'd say he's a winner too but I can't because of what he's wearing here:
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Bahahaha TN peeps! Anyhow, big congrats to him – reminder that GSM is the company that just bought Yamamoto and wants to buy more feesh brands (already owns a bunch o' huntin' stuff).
Go get 'em brother, and don't say I didn't warn ya GSM peeps! 🤣 Just messin'....
Vexus prez Keith Daffron and sales mgr Ryan Patterson are fishing the Bassmaster Team Championship on Eufaula, AL – pretty cool! Qualified through the Ozark Mountain Team Trail, which I guess means it was all Whopper Ploppers?? 😁
They're fishin' Eufaula outta a highly attractive Vexus VX20: 👇
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Here's 4 of the limited-run baits they have on their site. Guessin' these are tests to see what new colors they might roll out...my fave from these is the top L – list below:
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Love the idea! Took hull #1, did some mods, now it goes 77 mph with a 115! Okay made up the speed deal.... Limited edition, gitcha retro!
Harris Chain tidbits:
> On a few HCOL lakes (Griffin, Dora, and Beauclair) there has been a documented shift in angler effort from black crappie to bass. In the early 2000s there was very low (< 5,000 hours) bass angler effort and high black crappie effort (> 40,000 hours) on Lake Griffin. Angler effort on Lake Griffin has shown a documented shift towards largemouth bass.... In recent years, the bass effort has more than quadrupled, averaging over 40,000 hours the last 5 years. Conversely, the crappie effort has been cut in half....
Kissimmee Chain tidbits:
> Overall, the largemouth bass population on all the lakes is good when compared to most lakes in FL, with some notable exceptions. Electrofishing surveys indicate that the size structure of fish in Lake Tohopekaliga and Lake Cypress are skewed to smaller fish. In contrast, the size structure for bass on Lake Kissimmee and Lake Hatchineha is skewed towards larger fish.
> ...documentation of TrophyCatch approved submittals on Lakes Tohopekaliga and Kissimmee places them as 2 of the top 5 public lakes in the state.
Sounds like Toho has smaller fish but has bigs too, right Bobby?
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Would be at the Okee-Tantie rec area. BPS would put in another, private marina but the ramps would still be public, post says.
Need to drop about $750K of that habitat in Dead Sea lakes in NJ and some Midwest states! 😆
Props! Going to Blue Mountain College.
Along with the other sports – congrats to Sam Castle of Knox Central.
I like:
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14. WA: Is WA finally recognizing that non-native fish...
...are important? Skimmed the draft policy for non-native game fish and fisheries (can't link it, at wa gov), doesn't seem like a whole lot is there (to me) but this popped out:
> From 2009 to 2021, this survey has shown that an average of 37% of anglers have fished for 1 of 8 non-native gamefish species. This percentage has been increasing from 35% in 2009 to 46% in 2021.
That's about half the fishermen who buy licenses/pay DNR salaries so....
Innerestin' idea. It's called the Little Fat John Papa Bronzeye Blade...just messin'! Called the Carbon Blade, looks like end of Jan availability on the TW.
Doesn't say why, I'm thinkin' maybe status (perceived)?
From their recent 10-Q filing – maybe it's a typo?
> "...the change in consumer behavior associated with the presidential election, change in presidential administration and social unrest."
Should be complete in Oct 2022.
The government and commercial marine biz of Stearns. Mustang is owned by CA's Wing, which owns rubber raft companies. Check it at inflatablesolutions com (can't link it).
21. Asian carp updatin's.
What are the odds that Brandon Road is in Rockdale, IL....
Or not, I guess...who knew.
It's a pain in the rear, hope it doesn't spread:
> ...a nuisance algae nicknamed “rock snot” ...a large bloom in the Upper Manistee River.
Fancy name of it is "Didymosphenia geminate," or didymo.
23. Keep an eye on...
> You're schlepping through a remote jungle in search of a rare frog species. You check every leaf, each humid hollow and soggy streambed, and return without seeing a trace of it. But back at the lab, with a small water sample, you can say with utter certainty that the frog lives in that part of the forest. It’s a plausible scenario thanks to environmental DNA, or "eDNA."
Sounds good but could also be bad, like the gov't doesn't have to actually find any critters to do whatever. BUT this means peeps can finally prove bigfoot is real yo! 😃
Don't know 'bout you, but one thing the last 2 years has taught me is that the folks with the coin make the rules, and sometimes those rules ain't good! Not saying it'll happen here, just eyes on...cuz that dude ain't really known for lovin' to hunt/fish.
PSA
Found out I am a little allergic to merino wool, a bummer cuz I used to wear it all winter, mostly on my feet. Found these – Warrior Alpaca Socks. Warm, softer than merino and incredibly I can wear sneakers in 30s-40s weather on a boat with 'em and my feet stay pretty dang warm.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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...which kinda sounds like "Spider Fly" but either way, if you're from MN and want to catch bass and don't know about hair jigs, you're probly not really from MN. Excerpt from a Midwest Outdoors deal:
> "It's a killer clear-water technique. It's a really subtle deal, without a lot of flash or vibration. Smallmouth are visual predators and they can see extremely well in that clear water. If it's glass calm I'll probably stick to that Cover Pop [in summer], but if we get a little ripple or wind I'll switch to the Fly and throw it the whole time.
> "If there's an actual mayfly hatch going on, I throw the brown color, otherwise I just use black most of the time. 9 times out of 10 black is the best color, but if they are keying in on a lot of mayflies, it's brown hands-down.
> "It's a totally different bite than anything else because they have to eat so many bugs to get full. It's not like when they are feeding on crayfish or perch and gobble up 2 or 3 of them to get full. During bug hatches they eat and eat, literally hundreds of times a day. They get really dialed in on the bugs, and that hair jig is absolutely the best way to match the mayflies.
> "The Feider Fly comes in 1/16-oz, 3/32-oz and 1/8-oz. The 3/32 is my bread and butter unless I get up super-shallow then I'm using the 1/16-oz, or deeper than 15' of water then I use the 1/8-oz. I throw it on a rod I actually designed for hair jig fishing for Daiwa: the Tatula Elite 7' 6" ML with an XF tip. I pair it with any 3000-series spinning reel....
> "...the key to the whole setup is a very light braid. I spool up with 6-lb Sufix 832 with an 8-lb fluorocarbon leader. Going so light really allows me to get some extra casting distance, which is key. I want the longest retrieve I can get, to keep that Feider Fly in the strike zone for a long time.
> "Another key is a super-slow, steady retrieve. I see a lot of people crank their hair jigs way too fast. It's best if you reel super-slow, and don't twitch the rod or anything, just slow and really subtle. Very important, especially in clear water...."
If it warms up a little, I just might try that this weekend tho I have the VMC Dominator Marabou Jig and will try to use a baitcaster...😁
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"Since arriving on the scene in 2019, Chris and Cory Johnston have been like red wasps during the early part of deer season. You can't get rid of them...."
Canadian peeps are like:
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Moody shot of some highly 'lectronicked little boats in Japan, from Takuji Naruo's Insta. Japan is one place I haven't been to yet – just wanna go and absorb the bassin' stuff there man, too cool: #bassinbros
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???
> In NJ a terrified postman rang 911 after a dozen members attacked at once. And in MI, one town armed public workers with pepper spray.
> In 2020, one of the most notorious offenders, a turkey called Gerald in Oakland, CA was relocated after he attacked more than 100 people in 12 months. The rogue turkey split the city into those who thought Gerald should have special privileges, and those who wanted to eat him.
Still sometimes wonder if rural folks and city folks are 2 different subspecies or whatever, dang. If they can't manage "rogue" turkeys then gotta think there's not much they can...? Sic 'em on the NYC mayor!
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best and funniest (sometimes worst) stuff in bassin', 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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