It's 1 day past last week but here's the 2nd BassBlaster of the week!
|
|
2 more teeners outta OH Ivie! 🤯
|
|
Every so often a lake gets hot for bigs or numbers. Some stay hot, some don't, all normal. We all know TX's OH Ivie is ridin' high – here's 2 more teeners!
|
|
Man I LOVE lookin' at those feesh! Imagine what a teener looks like coming up to the boat, or even following a bait! 🤯
|
|
“The catch-22 with these advanced electronics is you can get mesmerized looking at bass on the screen while time marches on."
|
|
> “You need to know when to leave a bunch of lethargic fish and look for another spot where they’re more active.”
|
|
"I could see a future where screens shrink...because over time we will get smarter about how we communicate information to people on a boat."
|
|
Here's another interesting little deal from that post:
> Garmin lets [boat] builders know when a new unit is in development about a year in advance, so they can plan accordingly.
So what do you boat peeps know that we don't know??
|
|
Got an invite from the Berkley folks to go to Bienville Plantation in FL, the private bassin' resort with 20+ old phosphate pits full o' bass. Bienville's been on my bucket list so...of course it was way cold (20s at night). But we still caught some! This was the biggest, a 9+ wrangled by Shane LeHew:
|
|
Beautiful fish and shot, by Alex Mei of TackleTour. Here's some stuff I picked up from fishing with Hank Parker, Gary Klein, Elite rookie Joseph Webster and Shane in that order – all were first times in the boat with those folks except for Gary.
Hank and Gary
1. Don't care how old Hank and Gary are supposed to be, they will out-focus and out-fish most normal human beings on the water. Another way to say it: You don't accomplish what they've accomplished in bassin' by being normal, if you know what I mean.
2. Talked about Jesus in the boat with Hank. Loved it.
3. Hank quit tournament fishing right before I got on the scene so we just missed knowing each other. Was fun to trade stories – he'd give me a few for one of mine 😁. Never fails to amaze me that he (and all the pros) remember baits, where they fished 'em, how big the fish were, their limit weights and a lot more from decades ago. These guys are 100% dialed 100% of the time.
4. Hank didn't have forward-facing sonar and we still caught fish. He also said he thinks he'd prefer 360 over Live if he had to pick.
|
|
5. Did not know this: Hank Parker and Hank Cherry are both named Hank (though "Hank" isn't Hank Parker's real name), are both 2-time Classic winners, and both grew up in the same small town: Maiden, NC. Go figger that one!
6. Hank talked about watching Hank Cherry taking hours to mod jerkbaits. He believes the Berkley Cutter jerkbaits – which are out of production – got REAL close to that action...but says he loves the Stunna too.
7. Gary is one of the most focused, intense and detail-oriented bait dudes you will ever meet. Another level. He ran me through EVERY component, thought and all the history that went into designing the new Berkley Powerbait Jigs. If you saw and heard all that, you would buy a few colors and sizes of every single one (that's a hint Berkley!).
8. Hank said he loves the new Powerbait Jigs because they closely match the Weapon Jigs Gary designed waaaay back (the '70s I think) – Hank still has some. More on the jig stuff in a future Blaster, but the bottom line for Hank is he says they get hung up less than any other jig.
9. While me and Berkley dude/former Lanier guide/former college basser Nathan Ragsdale were trying 2-3 rigs apiece in the 4 hours we fished together, Gary fished at least 2x as many. The dude was accumulating fish-catching/conditions data in his brain for tournaments.
10. Gary's not afraid to try "weird" stuff to get bites – like Carolina-rigging a dropshot bait, the Berkley MaxScent Flat Worm (it worked!). And pulling out an "ice fishing lure," a Berkley Snap Jig...with a Berkley MaxScent Lil General on it. That Snap Jig/General deal is pretty much all I fished that day, and now I will be owning some of those Snap Jigs. A great, different option vs a regular jighead, and it works in cold water. 💪
[Here's Alex, Gary and I with a little high-cal breakfast, which we needed!]
|
|
Shane and Joseph
1. Joseph is a guy who came up winning – won the Federation Living the Dream package that got him paid entries into the FLWs, then fished over there for about 5 years til jumping onto the Elites through the Opens (fished them just 2 years). Placed high in the Opens fishing completely different ways so that should do him well on the Elites.
|
|
2. Good guy, humble guy, sharp guy and funny dude! Good half day in the boat with him.
3. Shane's been on the Elites 3 years now and I'm pretty sure is about 24 years old though he says he's older than that. Lotta fun to be in the boat with – he seems quiet but is funny and is a good teacher on video.
4. Told Shane I wanted to fish a Shane's Bait in Shane's Boat. 😁 Love the whole Shane's Baits deal too. How many peeps do you know who started a company in college?
5. He's real good with Garmin LiveScope – and beat everyone in a troller race to the ramp (for lunch) with that Garmin trolling motor. First time I've been in a race like that 😆 and was impressed by that thing.
One more thing: Berkley folks are ate up with bassin', know fishing and can fish. Always love to see that.
Info on gear I liked and stuff I learned in FL comin' in the next one.
|
|
I didn't know him, believe I heard the name over the years – 53 YEARS as an IL fish biologist is pretty amazing man. He was 82 and never retired. Bless you fish brother.
|
|
2. Keith Combs and Todd Faircloth jerseys for St Jude.
Here's one deal:
> While green pumpkin plastics work well about everywhere in the country, that is not the case in Florida. Down there, you need to fish junebug, bright blues and bright purples. For some reason that’s what they bite.
Weird ain't it...because FL bass in other states bite gp. Must be a water color deal? Clark said:
> Most of the time it has a black, tannic look, but it's clearer than you think. It’s a clarity you don’t see in many places.
Fwiw, anytime I've fished tannic water (not often), copper spinnerbait blades work for me. Any other time, that color doesn't do anything for me.
I'm assuming not including hard baits because he's all Bill Lewis there.
Here they are on TW and here's a YT vid of MDJ fishing it along with other Bill Lewis hard baits:
|
|
This "chartreuse blaze" color is an interesting take on an older David Fritts-type color:
|
|
First of all, if Matt is talkin' about fishing big glide baits, it might be time to get 6 months of groceries and build you a shipping container storm shelter somewhere in the mountains...😆
Okay maybe not but it's unusual, and he mentioned a swimbait that one of the most knowledgeable swimbait dudes I know never heard of – so here 'tis:
|
|
Fuel ordering and delivery software I believe? Interesting.
9. TX: First time Bill Lewis tourney won on Echo 1.75.
The recent Rat-L-Trap Open at Rayburn was won on the Echo 1.75 – no color given by the winner, but he did say it wasn't red. Why this is interesting: Rayburn is a legendary 'Trap lake and it wasn't won on a Rat-L-Trap for once.
The winners, Darren Taylor and Austin Yeager, had 22.03 and said the fished real shallow, in 1-2':
|
|
So not just hard baits – looks like 25 new/limited-run colors in the 5" Dinger. Here' the ones I gotta get, in order:
|
|
> Banana candy = bright yellow/silver flake. In my 2c yellow is one of the most effective forgotten colors in bassin' – sometimes.
> Pumpkin groove = gp/orange flake. 'Nuff said!
> Gold mine = black/gold flake. Northern and clear-water fish like black and should fall all over themselves trying to get at this deal.
> Dirt purple = looks like brown/purple with some flake. Says the color was concocted by Elitist Stetson Blaylock and is killer in clear water.
> Russvegas = white/tinsel/pinkish. Hello sunny days around shad.
Lots more good colors and some REAL nice dirtier-water and FL colors in there too.
|
|
> One tournament will be held by the National Professional Fishing League and will take place...on Watts Bar Lake. Bamber said the cost of that tournament is $15,000 and that the Town of Spring City is also contributing $15,000 to host the tournament.
> The 2nd proposed fishing tournament would cost $40,000 in host fees and is a Bassmaster Elite Series event that would be held on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton....
Ooooo lookit the paint on this deal, a Cliff Pace Black Label Balsa Tapout in "American shad:"
|
|
> ...a tighter-action deep-diving crankbait. The combination of body design, coffin bill and weight placement in the Tapout causes the bait to excel in wood and rock. ...gives the Tapout a very good reverse float that helps it back out of cover such as brushpiles.
> ...26 profiles from topwater to jerkbaits, squarebills, deep-divers, lipless cranks, hollow-body frogs and even a jointed swimbait...feature sanded waterproof welded seams...no time wasted trimming mold flash, worrying about hardware coming loose, or leakers.
> ...these are the first blanks available in the market to come “pre-masked." No more time wasted applying masking tape to the clear lips to keep over-spray off them. After the baits are painted and clear coated, simply remove the factory plastic mask....
Lisa Kempa is the new CFO, and Elles Skony is the new "Chief People Officer."
> He’s noticed a big increase in the numbers of native crayfish found with the lifts, and suspects they may be preying on zebra mussels that attach to them. When he brings a lift into the shop, as many as 15 to 20 crayfish will emerge. In previous years, it was rare to find so much as a single crayfish on them....
> ...found DNA evidence of hybridization between rusty crayfish and Allegheny crayfish in the Juniata [River] system, where neither species is native.
Estimate based on math + just 20 fish kills...🤔
Headline of the Day
Might wanna keep that in mind Elitists! 😁
Line of the Day
OH gov't talkin' 'bout largemouths. If we're talkin' just LARGE insects, what does that include – tarantulas? Butterflies?? Cuz I can't think of another one...unless those bugs from Starship Troopers finally get here:
|
|
On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
|
|
That's what James Elam does, and man it looks like it works! Wonder if it would help swimbaits? 🧐 Please shoot me a note if you know.
James shows how to do it in a short Insta vid but basically it's boil it for 10-15 seconds (he holds it with a tong spoon thing) and then lay it flat:
|
|
One thing James didn't mention – if you're married, you might wanna wait to do this til your wife is outta the house!
|
|
"Even though I love to catch fish, the experience of being in the boat is just as important."
- Yep! Who doesn't love their boat! Gotta say, after getting my first for-real bass rig, just being in it brings me some joy – even in the driveway! 😍
|
|
11.44-lb PB fish caught by NPFL dude John Soukup with the YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr – from a lake he'd never been to before. Thinkin' LiveScope was involved? @yum_baits >> @wired2fish_official shot:
|
|
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'!
|
Sign up another bass-head!
|
If you're forwarding every Blaster to other bass crackheads, tx much – or you can email me the addys and we'll take care of it! We'll never send spam or sell the list or anything else crazy....
|
|
Gitcha hands on the best stuff!
|
|
Gitcha BassBlaster social at these links:
|
|
|
|
|