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How Kelly Jordon won the Eufaula, OK MLF Invitational
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Kelly Jordon! Not sure exactly how long it's been since he won a tournament since the MLF site doesn't make finding that out easy, but on the B.A.S.S. side it's been like 16 years – which shows that never, ever count anyone out who knows how to catch 'em. Here's how he won this'n:
Practice and the tournament
> "I found out at the last minute at Murray [the Bass Pro Tour event] that I got in off the waiting list. I got a call on my off day at Murray, the day after I caught 2 bass for 4 lbs which was the most unbelievable day of my fishing career but thats whole 'norther story. They said, 'We have a spot, do you want it?' I was like, 'Heck yeah, I'm mad now!'
> "I haven't fished there in probably in 23 or 24 or 25 years – I fished an EverStart there in I think the late '90s?, and a [B.A.S.S.] Invitational a year or 2 later...did good in both...I just like the lake. It's just a good fishing lake. It's straightforward – you can put your head down and run a pattern, and it's got some really nice fish.
> "I thought it's springtime so they'd on the bank and shallow, and there would be water in the bushes...it was not. So when you don't have bushes in the water, you look for any other cover you can find because they're gonna spawn. ...staging areas and spawning areas.
> "The cover is basically rock, and there's a lot of standing timber in the lake...then a whole bunch of sandy clay.... There's a million pockets and points, big creeks with clearer water....
> "I spent 2 hours the 2nd day of practice and found bed fish. I found about 20 but the biggest I saw was about 3.5. I figured the bigger ones were coming, but I had some bigger bites just fishing and was much more fun than looking for bed fish [where you] had to take a number at the mouth of the cove.
> "I found some muddy-water fish back in some creeks, I found some clear-water fish, I found some main-lake fish and then found a couple really special spots.... I was basically down to 3 presentations: a spinnerbait, a vibrating jig and a squarebill, the Lucky Craft BDS2. It depended on where you were...mostly main lake and off-colored water."
Baits
> "Of the 15 bass I weighed in, I think 2 were on the Lucky Craft squarebill (chartreuse/green stripe/brown back) although I did get quite a few keepers on it. One was on a YUM Mighty Worm, that giant 10.5-inch trick worm, on a 5/8-oz Epic Swing Head with a 5/0 wide gap hook. All the rest came on a white custom-made 1/2-oz vibrating jig made by a friend of mine with a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (albino).
> Vibe jig gear: 7' MH Duckett Pro Series Kelly Jordon Signature Rod, Duckett Paradigm Reel (7.5), 17- and 20-lb fluoro "depending how gnarly the rocks were. With the wind on day 3 I went ahead and threw 20 [all day] and retied all the time. The rocks were not smooth river rocks, they were sharp gnarly rocks.
> "...rocks and wood. I caught some off wood that were freestanding stumps, but a lot of stumps were around the rocks I was fishing. Points and pockets, mostly points. The shallowest I probably caught one was 2.5' and the deepest 7' – 3-6' was the key.
> "I was contacting the bottom the whole time, feeling it bang off the rocks...slow roll the whole time. When it got really gnarly I'd pick the rod tip up and try to speed it up. I only lost I think 2.
> Squarebill gear: Same rod and reel, 17-lb fluoro. "0-5', but most 2-3.5'. Rocks with stumps in the rocks. When they ate it, they smoked it.
> "What I was keying on was the flatter points...not sharp...kind of wide. There wasn't a lot of that, wider flatter points, 2-4' on top – they were on top or right on the edge."
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Electronics
> "I have Lowrance ActiveTarget and it was really helpful in seeing the timber...very helpful to throw down these rock lines. I wasn't using it to see the fish [but] to make the best lines to make the cast...finding the juice.
> "There was so much bait in some of these areas...loaded with bait balls in timber, below the water and you couldn't see them except with ActiveTarget."
Shout-outs
> "It was awesome fishing the Invitational. It's the old FLW Tour and it was great seeing so many friends I haven't seen in so long. That was one of the coolest things, and fishing with them. Like my buddy Jeff Reynolds made the top 10 the final day...Jim Moynagh, Terry Bolton, and on and on. A whole bunch of other people as well. It was just really cool.
> "[Day 3 with the wind he gave himself over an 1 hour to make it back.] I ran back and made it to within 7 miles of takeoff in 15 minutes – that Bass Cat and Mercury combination just ate the water like it always does."
More
> "[Day 3] was one of the most blessed days I've ever had fishing in my life. The good Lord was shining on me. I don't know why. I don't deserve it."
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3 quick Qs with The Mr Jordan Jordon
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1. Did you try fishing a big spoon at all? 😁
> "No I did not. The thought did cross my mind – I thew a big swimbait...it crossed my mind.
> "I used my ActiveTarget to try to target some fish in that standing timber, and within 10 minutes I caught 3 blue cats over 10 lbs and that was the end of that."
2. Lucky Craft makes so many great colors – what are your favorite squarebill colors?
> "'Crack' is one of my favorites because it just has all the colors together. Kinda like the old 'parrot.' You've got all your bases covered with colors. I think Skeet designed that color.
> "Another one would be 'ghost minnow.' It's mostly clear – [the fish] don't see that a lot, and especially if you have clear water it is a hammer sometimes."
3. Did you have a side pot with ol' Cody Bird in this tournament?
> "No I did not. It's not a good call [to bet against a former rodeo rider]."
Dang straight! Cody Bird is a dangerous man! Here they are back in the day:
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5+ Qs with Toledo Bend Open winner Ben Milliken
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Usually I only get to talk to "triple-A" winners who are also tour-level fishermen or basically are, meaning guys like Bobby Lane, Ish, etc – partly because I'm a one-man band man! But I wanted to talk to Ben after he won the Bassmaster Open at Toledo Bend for a few reasons such like:
- He led wire to wire and smoked everybody.
- In my 2c he knows stuff that many other folks don't (learnin'!).
- He got a pretty huge reaction from winning, and not from the regular tourney crowd.
So here's 5+ with him. Quick reminder: Even though he's gotten a lot of eyeballs going after beeg feesh, he is a long-time tourney angler.
1. Going into this tournament, did you think you had a good shot at winning it?
> "Honestly prior to practice I had spent 1 day of pre-practice on Toledo Bend ever, and I was just trying to survive because I don't like how Toledo and Rayburn I thought would set up. But after practice I thought I was gonna win."
Follow-up: Usually when someone's on 'em in practice it means that bite is going away. I guess not this time?
> "It was kind of a perfect storm of a couple things. I had a deep spot, 22-25', I thought I was going to win on, and when I pulled up the first day...didn't catch any there. That kinda sucked but at the same time, day 2 and 3 I caught 2 fish each day I weighed out there.
> "...my safe spots [with] smaller fish, 2-4 lbers on clay points...the threadfin shad spawn turned into a gizzard shad spawn as the event went on. The bigger fish pulled up and that's where my strength with big baits collided with the size of the fish and the size of the baitfish."
2. Did you think you'd have a lot of spectator boats, and do you think they were there to watch you fish or mark your spots? [If you didn't know, big-time YouTubers like Ben are spot-stalked all the time.]
> "I knew after day 1 I would have lot of spectator boats. I knew about everyone about in the spectator boat audience so I really think they were there to watch me fish."
3. Can you say how your glide baits were altered?
> "Yeah, I threw baits in this event that were more wider-glide glide baits than the shorter fast chop-action glide baits, and altered them to sink extremely slowly."
4. What's better: Winning an Open, making a Classic or making the Elites?
> "Well I've only done 2 of those, so as the competitor and fisherman in me always wants more and better things, I'll just go ahead and say making the Elites."
5. It looks to me like you have a different fanbase than the regular tournament-following crowd. Do you agree and do you think your fans will maybe get more into tournaments after seeing your success?
> "Yeah absolutely. I think when I signed up for the Opens it really helped open up my brand to a new audience, to serious tournament fans. But I'm learning really quickly that my hundreds of thousands of followers that had no interest in tournament fishing are going to be very much following the tournament circuits, Bassmaster and all things tournament fishing which is awesome."
Bonus Q: Is 402 the number of DD fish you've caught in TX? 😁
> "[Laughs] No I've only caught about half that many, but it's actually the area code for the Omaha, NE where I'm from. And it'd be 403 after practice at Toledo anyway right?" [👇]
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His winning baits
> Carolina rig: "That really was my main meat and potatoes for this event. It was a 6th Sense Hogwalla (gp juice). I feel like that's the best soft plastic to put on a Carolina rig on the market. In practice I used Zoom Lizards, Brush Hogs and a 6th Sense Flush [Fluke-style bait], and none of them got close to the amount of bites as the Hogwalla. It has 3 different types of appendages that all fall differently, and they all keep the bait perfectly horizontal in the water column – that's very important.
> "My co-angler on day 1 was struggling...using a Zoom Lizard. He asked if he could use one of those Hogwallas, I gave him one and he caught 2 over 6 lbs on it....
> 3/0 6th Sense Jugular Hybrid Hook, 17-lb fluoro leader, 6th Sense Swivel, bead and brass clacker, 3/4- or 1-oz tungsten weight, 20-lb fluoro mainline, 7' 5" H 6th Sense Lux Rod.
> Glide baits: "I threw several and caught fish on a couple." 9" 3.75-oz 6th Sense Draw Glide Bait (ghost bone), 25-lb fluoro, 7 ' 9" XH 6th Sense Milliken Series MF'er Rod.
> "The Draw slow floats. You cast it out and it goes down a little bit...slowly pull it down...get it down to 3-4' on a long cast. If you stop it it'll rise just a little bit. The Draw is a phenomenal bait to get started with. It's super versatile, it's not incredibly heavy to throw....
> "I use lead wire and tape to get these different baits in different parts of the water column. I love getting them to almost perfectly suspend [when fishing shallow]...I like to LiveScope in 20-30' of water just as well but make them slow slink.
> "I also used a 10" Glide bait, and that line-through is a prototype bait I designed [he also designed the Draw]. The line-through is my bread and butter, what I catch the majority of 10+ fish on in TX.
> "It's coming out probably this fall – it's called the Hangover. [6.25-6.5" long, roughly 1.5-oz, 3 different sink rates.]
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Asked him why an XH rod and he said he's gotten a lot of Qs that are some version of, "Why does my flipping stick not work well for throwing big swimbaits?" His answer:
> "As you know, all rod manufacturers [rods] rated XH, XXH, ML, whatever, vary greatly. The easiest way to explain it is that the power and action and where the backbone is on the rod for swimbait rod...is very different than what you need for a punching or flipping or jig rod.
> "You can't group swimbaits into 1 category. I have literally 15 different swimbait rods, but [for baits that weigh] 2.5 to 6 oz [that rod] is better than any other rod I've ever used. It loads [to casts and] bends far enough through the rod that you can catch them.... It's a $140 rod too, so it's very affordable."
He fished both baits on hard clay points in 2-6':
> "The fish were coming out of spawning areas...and gizzard shad were moving up to spawn.
> "I would throw the Carolina rig at least 5-6 casts on a clay point first, then get out to try to Scope a little bit with the bigger baits. With the big baits, fish have a tendency to follow it and you can even pull the whole group off the point. Once you do that...have to wait for them to set up again and they're smarter now."
Electronics
> "One big thing was Powerhouse Lithium Batteries has a 16v electronics battery that gives a stronger [sonar] return than traditional 12v batteries. I could tell on my screen the difference between the threadfin spawn and the gizzard spawn...."
Here's a good shot of his 'lectronics setup AND a new/old-school deal in bassin' fashion – the socks! 👀
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Sea Foam Top 5 of the Week, Episode 45!
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Did you know 3 of the 4 Bass Pro Tour events so far have been won by locals? One was Anthony Gagliardi of course...that, why "morning dawn" rocks and more in this Top 5 – and yep I "sing" in this'n: 😬
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1. Keith "off the farm" Poche 😁 on BassEdge Radio.
Keith's got something going on man! Also on that episode is MLF media dude Joe "D" White who is real good at reporting the important DEETS!
2. Mark Rose's line choice for vibe jigs is...
...17- and 20-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro.
3. Fred Roumbanis talks the All Aboard Marine trannie mount (IG vid).
Says you can un-tether the mount from your troller so if you're spot-locked and your trolling motor is moving to keep you locked, you can beam around your LiveScope separately. I haven't heard of the company before, here's the website.
4. Hunter Shryock likes his SonarPros bass boat deck kit (IG vid).
Cool idea, you can get logos on 'em too, check it here.
5. How the Elite AOY is shaping up.
1. Tyler Rivet
2. Carl Jocumsen
3. Joey Cifuentes III
4. Brandon Cobb
5. Brandon Card
6. Kyle Welcher
7. Pat Schlapper
8. Shane LeHew
9. Will Davis Jr
10. Drew Cook
Sticks fo sho but look who's coming up right behind them:
11. Greg Hackney
12. Lee Livesay
13. Bill Lowen
14. Gerald Swindle
15. Clark Wendlandt
16. Michael Iaconelli
17. Keith Combs
18. Chris Johnston
6. Here's your MLF BPT top 10 in the points.
1. Ott DeFoe
2. Chris Lane
3. Andy Morgan
4. Nick LeBrun
5. Dakota Ebare
6. Keith Poche
7. Edwin Evers
8. Andy Montgomery
9. John Hunter
10. Jeff Sprague
7. CA: Ken Mah won the Western Bass Shootout on the Delta.
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Congrats to him, don't think anyone who knows western sticks is surprised at all by that:
> Mah based his tournament strategy on his belief that the week’s warming weather would trigger the spawning movement that had been drastically delayed by an extremely cold winter and recent voluminous rains. Making long runs from takeoff, Mah sought secluded spawning habitat with a mix of shallow hard cover, tules, matted vegetation and close proximity to deep water.
> ...punched the heavy cover with a Big Bite Baits Yo Mama in the "confusion" color and a Big Bite College Craw in "spicy purple" on 4/0 and 3/0 Gamakatsu hooks with G-Money Punch Skirts and a 1- to 1.25-oz weight.
> ...used a 7' 11" G. Loomis GLX 954 and a Shimano Chronarch MGL 150 with 80-lb Sunline braid.
> He fished the open banks and tule edges with a Bill Lewis SB-57 squarebill in "Ozark craw." Imparting occasional pauses was essential to his crankbait’s appeal. ...on a G. Loomis NRX 893 Rod with a 6.2:1 Shimano Curado...16-lb Sunline Crank FC fluoro.
8. YUM has 6 limited-run Lizard colors.
Digging that gp/orange "pumpkin groove" color: 😍
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10. Johnny Morris highest ever on billionaire list.
> In the 2022 listing, Morris ranked 424th with a total estimated net worth of $6 bil. Morris ranked 705th in 2021, and 616th in 2020. This year...ranks the highest he’s ever been on the list, tied at 246th with an estimated net worth of $8.3 bil.
This blows my mind:
> ...the total wealth of the world’s billionaires totaled $12.2 tril.... The U.S. has the most billionaires, 735, with China second with 562, and India third with 169....
11. AR: PRADCO gives big donation for nature center.
$150K toward expansion of the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, and the the fishing pavilion on Wells Lake at the Nature Center was renamed the PRADCO Outdoor Brands Bill Jarboe Family Fishing Pavilion in honor of long-time employee Bill Jarboe, very cool.
Line of the Day
The Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail is supposed to be about catching bass and loving thy neighbor.
That's the opening sentence in an OutdoorLife.com post about a FOMNTT team fishing a guy's dock, the guy freaking out (while carrying a shotgun!) and eventually getting arrested for it. Sounds like all our bass bros did was tell the guy they had a right to fish there and video the deal.
But that lead sentence clearly implies that the bassers did something un-Christianly wrong – and that the writer knows what FOMNTT is "supposed to be about," though that knowledge is never referenced. How do the facts merit that opening sentence?
OL says on its website, "Outdoor Life stories are assigned, edited, fact-checked, and proofread by experienced journalists. We provide accurate reporting and expert how-to information." Maybe sometimes? If OL or the writer really knew the first thing about actual journalism, the "lead" sentence would be a factual summary of what happened, not an implication with no basis in fact.
Not cool. Man it reeeeeeeally bothers me when supposedly one of our own attacks our own.
Fyi Outdoor Life etc is now owned by a holding company named Recurrent Ventures. Here's what it says on their website, right by "What Powers Us:"
> With our planet and its ecosystems imperiled by the interconnected biodiversity, climate and human health crises, coverage across Recurrent brands emphasizes products, technologies and policies that could shape a more sustainable future.
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Some A-Mart Texas-rigging tips
Can we really learn anything new about the ol' TX rig? If Aaron's doing the teaching, I'd say yes. Here you go, from Bassmaster.com:
> I use weights anywhere from 1/32-oz all the way up to a 3/8-oz.... I really like the lighter weights for bass that are more finicky.
> The weight you use can make a huge difference in your success. There are times when a 1/4-oz weight will catch 20 fish, but a 3/32-oz weight would have caught 80 fish. Sometimes they just like the smaller weight and the slower fall. Experiment with your weights to figure out what’s working best....
> Fluorocarbon is a must.... Yes, there is a low visibility factor that many people (including me) believe influences the fish. However, I believe the biggest advantage to fluorocarbon line is its reduced stretch. That increases the sensitivity. With fluorocarbon, I can detect the makeup of the bottom, structure and even subtle bites I might have missed with mono.
> My favorite baits for Texas rigging include the 6" Fat Roboworm, lizards, tubes, grubs and the Roboworm Zipper Grub. The zipper grub is my all-time favorite bed bait, but it works really well when fished on a Texas rig in open water. The ribs add vibration, which is equivalent to sound for fish. The added vibration can be a very effective change-up during the pre-spawn months.
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"Since we’ve been to Santee a few times, I think you’ll see more people in Moultrie. I think everybody has started learning a little bit more and venturing a little bit farther down to the end of that lower lake – whereas in the past most anglers have been on a time crunch to learn the upper lake."
- Interesting prediction/observation from Lee Livesay. Will power-fishing dominate at Murray and Santee? I would think so, but then again Okeechobee and Seminole were won by a jerkbait and a dropshot so....
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Not a bad office view for Kevin VanDam – wish I was there man! Wait a sec...has Kevin ever offered to take me fishing? 🤔 I need to search the memory banks on that deal...😁
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NYC appoints first-ever 'rat czar' to crack down on rodents
She's has been in education her whole career, which of course makes all kinda sense lol. Maybe "rat" is a code word for politicians?? Anyhow, good luck – there's NO WAY all the rats are gettin' gone...because they're smarter than most of us and because NYC is the issue, not the rats....
Reminds me – in Philadelphia last year I saw a dead rat that was as big as a small dog....
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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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