If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
Ott DeFoe rigged his swimbait with a rivet to win the upper Mississippi Elite. New deal for bass-heads. Zona now says he knew the same trick and never told anyone about it…including me! What up with that Z? Some deets:
> For years, he’d fished a soft-plastic jerkbait and swimbait on a Tex-posed hook…with a 65% hook-up ratio.
> By chance, Zona met an “older-than-me gentleman” who teased Zona with tales of rigging a Strike King Caffeine Shad as a line-through with a treble hook. “You’ll never miss them,” he promised Zona. The gentleman promised to bring in a pop-rivet….
> “You take the hollow sleeve out of the pop rivet. In a pop rivet it’s basically a tube with a circular plate on the end of that sleeve. He showed me how to push it from the back side where the ‘V’ is in a Caffeine shad on the belly, push it up in there towards the nose, and use that nail to clean out the inside of the rivet — and then your line slides right through it.”
> With a 4.5-5″ swimbait, a #2 hook works best while a #4 is the deal with a 4″ Caffeine Shad and a #5 on the Magnum size. Zona is adamant that a Lazer Trokar round bend treble hook is an important part of the equation.
Or lack thereof. I get that manners seem not to be valued anymore. Thank you reality TV or whatever happened. But this really is unbelievable. Ish Monroe talkin‘ ’bout feeshn clear, shallow water at Mille Lacs:
> Much of the time I’d start at one end [stretch of reeds] and work my way towards the other end. But within a few minutes a recreational angler would start fishing the other end and work towards me. Obviously, much of my spot was ruined. Just as bad, some anglers would bump the reeds. That not only ruined their chances of catching a quality bass, but it also ruined mine.
> I know this was tournament-specific. I stayed a couple of extra days. After we left there was never more than three trailers at any ramp.
Seriously people? That’s beyond not cool. It’s DUMB. Not sure why it’s happening, but might have to do with Apple’s new operating system:
Props to Ish for airing it. So far that’s two Elites saying something — him and Ike. Hope the rest weigh-in too.
Excerpts from a column by my bud T Brown at Wired2Scout — gonna start with the ethics one first since it applies to the Ish thing;
> I have one regret with what we and others have done with high school fishing: The lack of sportsmanship and etiquette education. That is the part we missed…. Teaching our youth the importance of honoring others’ water, how to share water and how to fish without cutting others anglers off has been overlooked.
Yep, but honestly not sure it’d matter. If our presidential candidates act like jacka**es — candidates for PRESIDENT!! — how can we expect other people not to? Next:
> I believe the Classic should be reserved for the absolute best of the best. All other trails including the Opens, the Federation and the collegiate trail should lead to a chance to fish the Elite Series. They each should have their own championship, but not a direct route to the Classic.
YES, except the Nationers. Make it the way it was. Not cuz I’m nostalgic, just because it only makes sense to have one way into any pro sport’s championship. In our case, two max. Terry published this diagram of current routes into the Classic:
That’s bass-head Chris Bowman (no relation to Ornery Bowman of B.A.S.S.) with a Lake Perris, CA 11.8! Caught it feeshn a dropshotted Thin Senko:
> I told myself my line was frayed and I need to retie. Thought to myself I don’t have any extra leaders and I’m not catching anything of size anyways. So I took my chances.
You crazy hoss! Congrats! Check this shot of it in the well. BLAM!
Caught at Lake Corpus Christie, TX on a Strike King KVD squarebill (chartreuse/black back).
News
1. More on the AOY derby.
> …stuck with a green pumpkin/black 1/2-oz Riot Baits Minima Jig [can’t find that bait online] tipped with a green pumpkin Riot Baits Fuzzy Beaver…bass were spitting up crayfish in his livewell….
> [From Bassin’Fan:] > Schmitt trimmed the Fuzzy Beaver down…to create more of a chunk trailer profile.
> Schmitt keyed on shoals with a mixture of rocks and weeds…. Most of his fish were holding near the bottom at 10-12′. After making a long cast to his spots, Schmitt would hop the jig about 5′ off the bottom and let it drop. …most of his strikes occurred on the fall.
10. New Flambeau Ike boxes.
While back it established the group “Bass Anglers for Saltwater Conservation,” a mind-bending concept even though its heart seems to be in the right place. Was even stranger when I heard it presented to a group of walleye anglers….
Now Yammy is making their anglers sign a code of ethics. What’s going on here? Not sure, but feels like this may be coming from the lobby follies in Washington, DC. If so, important for sure to protect fishing, and gotta believe the Yammies are trying to do the right thing…but still as confused as these guys when I told them about it on the plains of Bolivia:
Tip of the Day
He likes a Jackall TN70 lipless crank with a a Shimano Curado 70XG (8.2), and a Jackall Bowstick 130 topwater and a Shimano Metanium 150XG MGL (8.5).
Lintner knows his stuff, love to see him get more props.
Quote of the Day
I felt really nice and peaceful by the end of it.
– Central Michigan U. frosh and India citizen Jobin Varghese said that after going fishing for the first time. Strangely, it was a bass derby. Not sure why but maybe:
1. They caught the snot out of the fish = no stress.
2. CMU bass derbies are as laid-back as this:
Props to the CMUers for takin’ peeps feeshn.
Shot of the Day
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, sell the list or anything else crazy….
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