Watch the MLF Heavy Hitters? I'm a fan of the "side pot" qualification into it and the tourney itself. Watched Ish fish today, a black frog. I still don't have the guts to fish a black frog confidently during the day, but that helped! Btw, he got a bite on a frog and set the hook while he was looking away – and he caught it! How does that happen man....
JT Kenney and Marty Stone said that in the ol' days guys like Denny Brauer and David Fritts specialized in a technique, would win when conditions lined up, but that doesn't happen anymore. Agree in part. Guys now are more versatile in general, but lotta times guys win when the conditions/bite line up with their strengths. My 2c.
Couple quick deals I keep forgettin' to include:
- StrayCasts' Pat Renwick and I talked for a while with Fritts at the Classic, and of course we asked him all kinda crank Qs. David told us he intentionally wanted the Frittside to run deeper than other similar baits because "you can always make it run shallower." Believe he said it gets to 5-6'.
- Jason Christie implied that the War Eagle Jiu Jitsu Jig, now available only in 5/8-oz, might be coming out in different sizes, which if true sounds like a dang good idea! For that matter, just about any idea Jason has right about now is probly a good'n....
Last but not least, this is one of the toughest and greatest weeks in the history of the world. Will again encourage anyone who has not seen it yet to watch Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ." Passion sorts of means suffering with endurance. So powerful. You don't need to "believe" to be blown away by it, which I know from my own experience. Have a great weekend bass peeps!
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Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this 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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"Everything I thought I knew about how bass relate to structure is probably not spot on."
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- Kevin VanDam makin' a YUGE statement (it's KVD!) in this BB vid where I ask some of the MLF pros some Qs includin':
- Has forward-facing sonar changed the way you fish (and how)?
- What will happen when everyone has it?
- Are there baits you use more or less because of it?
Also had to ask some fun stuff, like how Wesley Strader got on his loud shorts deal, whether Brett Hite feels guilty about makin' us all buy his $$$ JackHammer, does Jared Lintner dye his bassin' 'stache, was Russ Lane kicked outta the minors for beanballs, what happens when Greg Vinson takes Revital Outdoors' CBD pills and Randall Tharp has a dang fly rod in his boat??
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Loved Tim Horton saying that with forward-facing sonar you can now see the fish scatter when you clang a dock with your bait. This means I love to fish a – wait for it – ScatterBait...🤣🤣
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"I can see her eyeballs – that tells you she's big."
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- Alton Jones "Jr" talkin' on MLF Live 'bout a fat gal he was lookin' at on a bed, a potentially winning fish. Not this'n but bet he could see her eyeballs too:
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"I've got 1 more good trailer."
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- Justin Lucas talkin' on Live today. We all know what that feels like but not the while you're fishing for 6 figures part! 😬
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5 Qs with TK Stanley of custom bait painter Tackle Kraft.
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Remember that tourney Alton Jr won with a custom-painted crankbait Jordan Lee gave him? Here's tis:
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That bait was painted by TK, and that red/orange/yellow color has a little history to it so here we go:
1. What's the story with this red color Jordan gave to Alton Jr?
> "I'd painted it and posted it on my Insta, and I guess Jordan was with Strike King at the time and he was sending me KVD 1.5s. I would just pick colors or whatever – Jordan's pretty simple, he's not looking for crazy stuff. So he saw that one and said, 'Paint me a bunch.'
> "...Jesse Wiggins was at the Knoxville Classic [2019], he needed a bait and he borrowed that bait from Jordan. On the final day he caught that 5-lber, the big fish of that day that almost won him the Classic [he finished 3rd], on that 1.5 he got from Jordan.
> "If you go back...I think at Santee Jordan caught a 7 on a Frittside in that same color. So that color pokes its head up occasionally."
2. What makes this color good – do you even have an opinion on it?
> "I don't know. I think it hits on a couple different things. It's not so neon like a lightbulb but it kinda is, and it has kind of a schoolbus-yellow tall on it. I don't know – it's the best of both worlds: bright but not so bright...the head is dark and fades all the way to the tail to where it lightens up. Typically craws aren't done like that – a dark head that fades to lighter tail.
> "I never really thought about it. I tend to just have ideas. I paint what I see in my brain...just to get out what's in my head."
3. Are there any other colors you've done that have kind of made their way to the top?
> "The first bait I painted that got a big win, a national win, Jared Lintner was throwing a Jackall MC60 I painted in a sunfish color. That was the Bassmaster Open championship – he won that. That was the 1st one, then Jordan went on his tear.
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> "A lot of [pros] don't like to talk about it honestly. Most of the guys I paint for kinda keep it to themselves. I've painted a lot of black/blue stuff for people who are touring pros."
[Black/blue cranks! 👀]
4. How'd you get going doing this?
> "I had a lifelong obsession with bass fishing, and when I graduated college – I did a little tournament fishing in college – I came home and started working. I had gotten really deep into tournament fishing, trying to refine my tackle, and started looking at all my baits.
> "My #1 thing I always wanted was a bluegill. Anytime I looked at a standard bluegill [paint]...typically it looked noting like a bluegill to me. ...went and bought an airbrush and some paint, and sucked.... I probably painted for 2-3 years before I ever showed anybody a bait.
> "It was right around the time 'sexy shad' came out. I had my staple of colors...in AL, there's a handful of stuff you throw. My buddy called and said, 'You bought one of these sexy shads yet?' I said no and he said, 'You need to.' It went in one ear and out the other.
> "Finally 6 months later I bought a Series 5 and threw it, and they bit it like they'd never seen it before. I was like, Man there's something to this. Bit it kinda faded out – they wouldn't bite it as good as they were.
> "I had gotten pretty good at painting at that point, to where if I imagined something I could pretty much bring it to light. [With the fish not biting] I wanted to do something in the vein of sexy shad but super realistic – that looked like it, but not as bold. Everything more subtle.
> "I painted that color – that was my first really good shad color. I took that bait to where I was throwing 'sexy shad' and not catching anything, and it was like the first time I threw 'sexy shad' all over again.
> "I painted a couple baits for a buddy of mine, and he...called me 2 months later and said he wanted to buy that color...'I want you to sell me the rights to that color.' I was like, 'I don't even know what that means. 'I will give you X amount of $ and you paint that only for me.' [TK declined the offer.] So that kinda got the ball rolling, trying to reinvent 'sexy shad'....
[Here's that color but he does NOT paint it anymore because he switched paint types and can't replicate one of the most important colors within this paint.]
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5. Is this your full-time gig?
> "Yeah I've been painting full-time for about 3-4 years. I don't think there's a lot of us out there.
> "When I was coming up, I'd see people post their baits...just thought this was their full-time jobs. Come to find out nobody does it for a job."
Bonus Q
6. Are you able to pick up a hardbait and just fish it without taking time to make it prettier?
> "I would say the majority of my stuff – 90% of my stuff – now is [custom] painted. I wouldn't have a problem throwing something stock, but there's always something that bothers me, which is why I started painting.
> "With every factory paint job, something bugs me – with the exception of Bagley's 'TN shad,' which to me is the most beautiful paint job ever on a stock bait, the 70s brass-lip 'TN shad'. I really just need it to look right just for my own peace of mind.
> "Another side to that is if it's something I've painted that has a flaw I would notice but someone else wouldn't notice – like I used too high an air pressure [painting something] – that would bug me. I guess it's it's OCD, I don't know.
> "That's what gives me peace of mind when I'm fishing – everything is like I see it my head."
Check TK's offerin's on his website, Insta or Facebook. Warning: Going to his pages will make you want to send him your $$.
He's got me thinkin': What local, formerly hot colors, could he do a refresh on? 🤔
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Couple eyeball ideas for topwaters?
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Saw these on the salty feeshn account @alans_custom_lures. Really like the big eyes (top) and putting the eye (or another eye?) by the middle treb might be something to try:
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1-oz, dives 17-20', bet it's coming out after ICAST? These are real interesting deep baits to fish – almost "too easy"-feeling. More on that later, here's the Bullet 5 (plus?), the Bullet 3+, 4+ and 7+ are on TW:
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Great FB post ^ with a little history – too long to get it all here, but here's the highlights:
> I discovered this little magic lure when I won my first BASS Masters Classic in 1976 at Lake Guntersville. Before I left for Guntersville a friend of mine, Denver Watham, handed me a few Bagley Honey Bees and said, "If it is tough, give them a try." I won the Classic.
> My 5 biggest bass came on a big-bladed spinnerbait, but my 22 other keepers came on that little crankbait. I had Ichikawa Fishing recently re-design and manufacture the best one of these small wooden crankbaits I had ever used.
> The new version is very durable hard plastic with an extended squarebill for more depth. It has the exact correct size, super-sharp Kamakiri Hooks. It is called the RC Flat Shad 45MD, shown in my favorite color [green chart red].
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Says there's a free lunch?? Not only does that prove the existence of bigfoot, we all know that a free meal is the 3rd-best kind, after the wife and mother/mother-in-law...😁
Can't link it, check: copsforkidstournament com
> "This year we changed things up a bit and concentrated on dumping several trees in a couple of spots. This should allow these brush piles to be more productive across a range of lake conditions since these large brush piles cover a greater range of depths."
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Jose Chavez is the new director of product development. Born in Guatemala, worked at 13. Dude has a good gig AND a tough one, meaning trying to make an already real good product mix better. We're all watchin'!
Bomber Long A in bone – Scottsboro Tackle posted: "Personal stash...when you know, you know 😉":
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To Rapala it means "Bass Friends Forever" – pretty funny lil vid! I think I like the slip 'n slide the best:
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...after the Fishing Fair deal. Doesn't say where exactly that will be donated:
> This donation – which represents 100% of the ticket sales from 3 nights of "Concerts for Conservation" and 100% of the admissions to the World’s Fishing Fair....
Congrats! Wonder if Bethel is any good...😁 just messin'.
Props to Kevin Baxter the Baitman for the heads:
> Colgan Carp Solutions held their grand ribbon cutting ceremony today in Aurora. The company founder, Brian Colgan, and board members were in attendance along with well known partner, Mr Bo Jackson.
> Colgan Carp Solutions will supply carp for the bait industry as far as Alaska, Maine and Florida.
Came from importing plants:
> The hammerhead worms produce a neurotoxin that paralyzes the earthworm. This neurotoxin can harm us and our pets as well.
Salty for now but interesting.
Headlines of the Day
Can there even be 1 good place to cast your reel??
Goby media hysteria. If they really think gobies are dangerous, just wait til they find out about Asian carp.
Line of the Day
Is there another organ that does all that??
Updatin'
Bass-head pointed out that yep you can buy a 'yak for cheap vs a boat, but fully rigged out like a spider alien tech boat 😁 you're lookin' at $10-14K – aka previously-loved boat money. Good point.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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> "The biggest mistake people make is trying to get way too close to a bedding fish. I realize it’s natural to want to study their behavior, and you can do that when you’re locating beds, but when it’s time to cast, you need to back off. The closer you get, the less willing they’ll be to bite.
> "This surprises a lot of people, but I always use 65-lb braid on my baitcasters when sight-fishing. You have to realize those fish aren’t studying that lure to eat it. They’re reacting out of anger to defend the nest, so I want maximum towing power when they bite, with nothing left to chance."
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"When I fished tournaments my thought was, The further I get away from the ramp, the fewer fish."
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Can you catch two 7+ "small"mouths for 23 lbs of brownies total and still lose...not on the Great Lakes? Apparently you can but what a dang day! Props to Joey Walton – these pig-melons are a 7.56 and 7.72! 🤯
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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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