The ICAST flood's a-startin'! Already too much new stuff to put into this one so I won't even try, but next week I'll once again have "my picks" for new, cool, good stuff.
Will it include the ICAST award stuff? Answer: maybe? My 2c is the ICAST awards are a little sketchy – because:
a) No one's fished the stuff yet – meaning YOU!
b) Not real sure how, for example, a saltwater guy is gonna vote on a bass bait and vice versa
c) All new stuff is NOT eligible for the ICAST awards
d) All companies don't/can't go to ICAST
e) Heard they use Dominion voting systems so...😂
Couple more reasons but that's the basic stuff. So I'll give you my 2c on what I see, which won't be everything.
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How Taku Ito won at the St. Lawrence.
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Taku's been knockin' at the door. Maybe bangin' on the door but politely, if you know what I mean. So even though this was a slugfest, can't say I'm surprised he won this deal. BUT he didn't win it on the St. Lawrence. Like Brandon Palaniuk did back in '14 and probly others, he ran out to the lake where the fish are generally bigger.
Stoked he did the interview, and his English is pretty good and getting better – enough to talk bassin' anyhow! Love it, here we go – and please know I made it flow a little better here and there but not much, and any mistakes are on me.
Practice
> "I like Lake Ontario fishing so I started in Lake Ontario. I checked...[various depths] and found a 5-lber school in Chaumont Bay.
> "Tuesday I tried river fishing...strong current...I'm not good at fishing strong current so I can't find a big fish in the river. I decided to do the long run."
Tournament
> Day 1 – "I tried river fishing for 1 hour but it was no good. So I went to Lake Ontario, [for] maybe 2 hours of fishing. The morning on Lake Ontario is good but I was not fishing that [because he spent that time on the river]. Day 1 I had 17 lbs – no good fish."
He weighed a couple river fish, and his main rigs were a Ned and a dropshot.
> "I decide day 2 to go [straight[ to Lake Ontario."
> Day 2 – "I fished Lake Ontario – I couldn't find a big school. I was fishing 13', 14' shallow. I had 1 5-lber and a few 4-lbers – 22 lbs. I caught maybe 8 fish – fished for 2.5-3 hours [because he had a] long drive and 2 times I need to stop for gas."
Same baits that day.
> Day 3 – "No wind, calm – a very tough bite but very tough is good for me. I fished in Lake Ontario. The fish stayed on the bottom and no feeding [slow bite].
> "Dropshot [mostly] and Neko Rig...one cast, sometimes 3 minutes and no action [meaning not moving or barely moving the bait].
He had 23 lbs and was on to the last day:
> Day 4 – "Strong north wind. In practice I found in Chaumont Bay those big 5-lb fish, 30-40 fish. At a point outside the bay [between Chaumont and another bay] there were 100 5-lbers under the boat...so crazy. Maybe spawning big females [had] come out [because of the] north wind to my spot.
> [The bottom was] 23-24' and the fish were suspending in 13'. I caught all 5-lbers – very easy...easy bite. Any bait was okay – dropshot, Neko rig – very easy fishing.
> "The baits I was using had Japanese taste, Japanese smell/scent – different than US bait so they were very easy to catch."
He only fished 2.5 hours because he knew he had the weight he needed, the run was a little rougher and "fish care was very important." He didn't want any penalties.
Electronics
> "The MotorGuide Tour Pro I think is very important in smallmouth fishing. Smallmouths don't escape...if I use Anchor Lock. They're so easy to catch. The Tour Pro is very silent so fish are not scared. Most fish stay under the trolling motor and they're easy to catch."
Baits
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Shout outs
> "Everybody I say thank you."
Too cool, love that!
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1. What's your favorite way to fish?
> "Dropshot. I sometimes change the weight and fluorocarbon length is very important. 1 inch to 6 feet length [from] hook to weight – and no shake. Smallmouth don't like shake. No shake [means the smallies think] 'maybe food.'"
2. What's your favorite bait color?
> "Green pumpkin."
3. What's your favorite lake?
> "Ontario – big fish and easy to catch. Many 5-lbers. And I think Lake Ontario loves Taku. Fish come in my boat.... Sometimes every cast...."
4. Who is your favorite fisherman?
> "Clark Wendlandt. He always [fishes] practice and tournaments very hard. [He leaves] 30 minutes before sunlight [and gets back] 30 minutes after sunset, every day [of practice]. He's 55 years old but he practices very, very hard. So I very much respect Clark Wendlandt."
Cool! Here's the boys hangin':
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5. What's your favorite food?
> "Wendy's hamburger. I love it. Japan has no Wendy's so I love it."
[Has anyone ever taken him to Five Guys??]
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Clark Wendlandt's 3rd-place baits.
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Hope to hear from Justin Atkins and the Johnston bros by the next BB:
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> Fished scattered rock in 12-28'.
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"He was born for this, man. He was born for this."
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1. That's not as much a compliment (though it is) as a statement of fact. Al's ability to see that stuff is clear, precise and spot on.
2. Al (and Ron before he passed) stay on top of ALL things related to fishing. Just because you don't see 'em at tourneys doesn't mean they're not paying attention.
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My Lake Toho bassin' adventurin'!
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Folks at Berkley and Abu flew a bunch of us media folks down to fish with a few pros to learn about some of their new stuff and have some fun. Here's what happened:
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Hahaha that's right! B-Lane the In-sane Bass Train and I won the lil derbE that day! Crazy thing was: The bite was tough but we still lost 3 other bigs! Gotta love FL, where any bite can be a 10....
Here's why we won it:
1. Bobby knows that lake and found a killer patch of a specific type of grass I was sworn not to reveal even if offered 10 packs of MaxScent. I might do it for 11, but that's moot because no one in the world has 11 packs of MaxScent....
2. He schooled me on swimmin' a worm, along with a couple hints (to me) from Mark Detweiler at Big Toho Marina:
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3. I actually managed to set the hook on a couple fish fishing "wrong-handed." Probly was real dang funny to watch!
Anyhow, lotsa fun. What else I learned or saw:
1. Funniest deal: Since you gotta set on every fish like it's an 8+, Bobby – who has a MEAN hookset – did that and this dink literally shot straight outta the grass, came off the hook and flew like 20 yards over the boat. Bobby never even looked at it, just adjusted his PowerBait General and went back to flippin'. HAHAHA love it!
2. 2nd funniest: Bobby couldn't stand me fishing with a worm that wasn't perfect. I was using castoffs in the bottom of the boat and he wasn't havin' it! Too funny – the difference between pro perfection and amateur "guess this worm'll work."
3. Josh Bertrand is one of the nicest dudes ever. Kinda reminds me of Dean Rojas, they're both from AZ, what up AZ! Josh had to borrow one of John Cox's boats – no 'lectronics and that's Josh's specialty – and a rental tow vehicle lol:
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4. Most time I ever spent with Adrian Avena. Real nice dude that's got some natural instincts (they all do but you know what I mean) and is GREAT with that new Berkley Stunna jerkbait. He was generating bites during the heat of the day when bites were few for most – and also had a mean tow vehicle:
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Hard to look cooler than those dudes at the launch...🤣
5. I'm not even a decent jerkbait fisherman but after fishing the Stunna for the first time fwiw I'll say it feels "alive." It feels like "it's working." Not saying other jerkbaits don't do feel alive too because they do, just fyi. Adrian loves it, barely could put it down – in FL in the summer! And he was ketchin' 'em!
6. Bobby had what might have been the best crankin' setup I've ever had in my hand. Blew me away. When I said so Bobby just laughed because he knew. Before I say what it was, bear in mind my thumb is NOT near what Bobby's is, but I could still without hardly any effort bomb a Berkley Squarebull like 40 yards: 7' M (705) Abu Veritas PLX Winch Rod, Abu REVO Reel (6.4 – Bobby had a self-customized Premier but that's no longer made so try an MGX or AL-F), 12-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon.
7. Word is the Abu REVO EXD Reels (the black 'n purple ones) are gonna be out of production for a bit, so if yer a fan better hop on 'em!
8. Fwiw Abu Veritas rods – the white ones – can cast and work lighter baits than you'd think they would...which we all realized when we wanted to fish certain baits without having the exact right rods to do it with. Adrian worked that Stunna jerkbait I think on a MH Veritas, maybe with braid (!!), and did fine. Cast great too. Eye-opening to know what you can get away with using certain rods....
9. Why anyone in FL would have a black boat, black carpet or black (or even dark grey) seats is beyond me man. It was HOT. Saw more white boats going in and outta the marina than I've seen anywhere except salty water.
10. Also saw a lot of African-American folks bassin' and panfishin' from boats. Might be normal to see where you're at, but not in NJ so it jumped out at me.
11. Ran into former pro Terry Segraves (below) at the marina – lookin' good and still fishin'! I missed Peter T who I heard was there too:
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Top row L to R:
> My new bud and Seminole stick Matt Baty, who also loves to swim a worm.
> Bobby's 2-hat morning.
> The Abu Fantasista Premier rods are now gonna be Fantasista X – believe I got that right....
Middle:
> Pure Fishing's Kim Hoffman showing how you can walk around a marina with a bag of the rarest bassin' baits in the world 😁 and not get rolled for 'em – the Mac's bag!
> Abu's rod/reel guru Andrew Wheeler can catch 'em too...and has memorized like 1 TB of info on rods 'n reels!
Bottom:
> Me, Matt and PR dude Bailey Eigbrett – those were a couple of Bailey's first-ever FL bass, congrats man!
> Random 4' gluten-free sausage snack lol.
> Anyone ever seen a boat lift like this – or at least I think that's what it is? Lifts your boat from the canal over to the river to get to the lake?
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1. CA: We lost western basser PJ Bruggeman Jr.
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At Lake Malone:
> Jennifer Browning...was a passenger on a bass boat returning to a fishing tournament weigh-in when the boat struck a submerged rocky area. Browning was ejected from the boat.
> Officers say the accident happened around 9 pm....
Bless you sister. Please pray for her family and the boat driver. 🙏
So great, props to the Oakdale Fire Co:
> 4-yr-old Bennett "Benny" Lundy was all smiles Sunday afternoon when...surprised him with his months-long wish: a new bass boat. Benny, who has battled Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) cancer for a year, is obsessed with fish and fishing. He often goes fishing with his grandfather and his father.
> She described how Benny refused to change his mind about wanting anything else. Fishing during weekends and breaks with his family has brought him joy in the midst of his cancer treatments.
4 yrs old and only wanted a bass tub – how great is that! 👊 Please pray for Benny and his family...🙏
> ...at this year’s 37th annual Jim "Moose" Carden Kids Fishing Clinic. His hour-long program will take place July 29 beginning at 6:30 pm at Kokomo High School’s auditorium.
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Troy Diede caught it on Lake Oahe – 7 lbs 4.7 oz, 20.75" long, 19.25" girth. No bait info but I bet the chartreuse shirt helped...😂 Smart dude!
> I asked, "Mr. Bill, what are you going to tie on for today?" He replied, "Well dang – I guess whatever I can find."
Because IT'S BILL DANCE'S PRIVATE POND and they'll bite whatever!!! (I'm guessin'.)
If you like to rat, get on it! More reviews in the pipeline I'm told...makes me wanna throw a rat...and maybe play some "Lay It Down" when I get home, what a riff!
Basically just lake reports.
After a fish kill last year.
Is that a thing? Seems like a reverse of the natural order....
...but he made it!
> During the struggle, the pike breached the surface and her husband's rod snapped, she said. A few moments later, Todd Thesenvitz screamed out in pain.
> His bottom bouncer...had pierced his chest.... Their daughter, who is a nurse and was fishing with them, told him to leave the bottom bouncer alone until he was at a hospital.... That advice likely saved his life. As they would soon find out...tackle had punctured his heart.
Dang! 😳 Amazing he made it, glad to hear it!
Now they own 2 – who knew. Not bassin', and I think it'd be weird if at some point someone rolled up in a Winnebago bass rig...even Ish Monroe...😁
Headline of the Day
Believe it or not this is 100% for real:
> The US Fish and Wildlife Service rebranded the freshwater fish wreaking havoc in the Midwest as "invasive carp" in April. "We wanted to move away from any terms that cast Asian culture and people in a negative light," Charlie Wooley, director of the Great Lakes Regional Office for the service [said]....
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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How to make Powerbait better?
Or even betterer?? Anyhow, reeeeeeal quick tip for ya today and here it is, right from Berkley folks:
"Pole holes" – meaning little holes, not all the way through – in the Powerbait to make it more effective, meaning I think release more "scent" or whatever it really is.
Unscientific one-time experiment by Bailey Eigbrett (mentioned him up above) found that when he did this, fish held onto baits longer.
I'm gonna try it, even with other soft-plastics. You?
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"He's like my idol but I'm afraid to talk to him."
> "It's weird because I fish against him all the time. He probably thinks I hate him because I am weird around him. It's pretty cool of him to say that."
Hack said "keep coasting but strong" to Seth before the day he sealed it.
Don't know what up with Seth but Hack usually seems so peaceful:
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...and wants the 5-0 to confront him about it, sounds like. I understand what he's doing but he says he's got 1 in the pipe – not sure how wise that is man....
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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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