BassBlaster

Most insane Live yet! Why glass rods? Avena’s jig-grub rig

Hope you had a great weekend ‘n start to the week! Spent 3.5 fog-filled hours on Saturday trying to get a bite without caving and fishing little soft-plastics – couldn’t make it happen:
Never been in fog that wouldn’t de-fog. Disorienting. Discovered that one of my ‘lectronics units would show changes in boat direction faster than the other so that was a good lesson to learn. Literally drove in circles a little bit…also almost got run over by a dang rowboat!

 

Can I ask one more time for $10 for Aaron Martens’ med bills. Here’s the link. Just hoping to get their GoFundMe fully funded for Christmas. If you can’t spare anything, no worries at all, I get it, all good.

 

Please don’t forget to keep praying for him and for Trip Weldon too. Word is one of Trip’s Drs got to talkin’ ’bout fishing, Trip recognized a violation so he polygraphed and DQd the Dr…there’s a little tension there now (lol kidding Trip!).

 

Today’s Top 4
Check this INSANE Live view!!!
Before I tell you what it is, here’s a peek — full vid on YT here:

Okay if like me you got your hopes up that it’s one o’ the big 3 ‘lectronics’ new Live, nope — it’s a FlexView Probe made by Norwegian company Kongsberg, looks like this:

> This technology is intended for scientists or professionals to carry out structural exploration missions, maintenance or to ensure security missions with very high quality.

 

> It should be noted that it is Simrad (same company as Lowrance) which provides the probe, proof that…already has a foothold in this technology.

 

And seems there’s a mode on the Lowrance Live that kinda looks like that — check this Shaw Grigsby Insta post.

 

Word is Jacob Wheeler is already working on bolting one to his bow…lol but he might be thinkin’ ’bout it now!

Glass rods land more crank fish but….
Had a convo with Jake Boomer of Alpha Angler about his Rebound and Chatterbound rods — long convo because you can’t have a short one with Jake (lol) ‘specially about rods. Anyhow, here’s Jake making one of his glass rods:

Okay not — here’s the short version of our convo:

 

1. Told him that I loved his rods — really we were talking about the Rebound but the Chatterbound is similar, as are some other rods with S2 glass — but I had to get used to the feel of glass rods.

 

2. I can’t feel the bait as well because the top 25% or so of the rod absorbs the vibration a bunch, which I’m not used to. I caught myself cranking faster to get the same feel of the bait, which obviously is no good.

 

3. He said that when he finally saw the light that glass rods definitely land more fish, he knew he had to design a rod with “the best glass on the planet” that did that and had as much feel as possible.

 

4. He had to get used to the feel too. And: “You can tell [the bait] is wigging because the tip is moving.” I noticed that too, hard not to, but still getting used to it.

 

5. Jake said that in a Bass U vid, Greg Hackney says he actually uses MONO with glass rods for even LESS feel because he feels we can feel things too much — something like if he’s cranking wood with fluoro, he’ll swing as soon as the bait touches the wood just out of reflex. But with mono he gets more line stretch so he won’t swing as much on deflections and he feels like the bait deflects more out to the side than with fluoro.

 

Gotta point out that videographer, fisherman, social media champ, MacBook Pro expert and swimbait hoarder Brandon Palaniuk helps design all the Alpha rods. Why Alpha doesn’t have a bunch of vids of him and Jake in a boat talking rods mystifies me:

Btw Alpha’s big Christmas sale ends TOMORROW. Use code: CHRIST2020

Santa DOES bass-fish!
Of course he does, that’s why he has a house on Lake Norman, NC and about 300 of his relatives showed up this weekend to fish an Ugly Stik Toys for Tots derby there:

These Santas — Scott and Roger — won it with just 15.07 lbs (5 fish):

Reasons this is #stout:

 

1. Toys for Tots — Breaks my heart to think some kids might get nothing from Santa.

 

2. Had to wear Santa gear — Fun ‘n outstanding. Other theme suggestions — for the Elites and BPT — is ’70s shorts, ‘stache madness and “dress like your childhood bass fishing hero.”

 

3. It got scheduled and got done — Always outstanding in lockdown world.

 

Props to the Stik figures/Pure Fishing folks, Fishers of Men and everyone else involved including all the Santa-stic bass-heads. Just wonder if young kids were banned from the tourney cuz too many Santas…?

 

TW does have some Ugly Stik stuff. If you think “no way,” I’ve got a bud/casual basser who swears by Stik stuff….

Is the NFL driving peeps to watch bass fishing??
Never thought about it til I got this text from my dad:

I love that! My 82-yr-old dad is an immigrant (India, my mom is from Ireland), you maybe can’t tell here but his English is real good (he’s a retired biochem prof) but his eyesight is bad now so…. “Hiants” is a typo – means the NY Giants.

 

Okay that’s proof of just 1 person choosing bassin’ over the NFL, but in all the years I’ve been in this deal my dad has never chosen to watch bass fishing over football. He’s never said one bass pro’s name to me before. That text blew me away man!

News

 

Red carpets, paparazzi, the whole deal. Who knew man. Then again, Dave Mercer actually used to go on one-man tours in Canada — for real. Did you know that?

 

2. MDJ says he’s “bloodthirsty” for a win.

 

Sounds…a little scary? Always thought Mark was kinda a gentle dude, but all these guys on the water are a little scary honestly….

 

3. Dave Lefebre coulda been a rockstah?

 

> “I had the opportunity to try out for the band Lonestar, but literally 2 weeks before the tryout, I qualified for both the FLW and B.A.S.S. tour through my performance in those respective opens back in 2003. I guess you can say that was really the ‘fork in the road’ in my life. I decided that fishing was what I wanted to do and I don’t regret doing it.”

 

Why is it always a fork? I mean, has anyone ever seen a fork with only 2 tines? Anyhow, check out Dave’s current band 814 Worship on YT. He plays bass and sings LEAD man! Lefebre!! Dave’s voice is way prettier than he looks, if you know what I mean…lol jk Dave (sorta!).

 

Dang you’re inspirin’ me to pick up the ol’ ‘lectrical fiddle again….

 

4. Bill Weidler will run a Skeeter.

 

Was Triton. Also got Bassreaper Bait Co, looks like mostly soft-plastics.

 

5. Cody Meyer will run a Blazer.

 

Merc on the back. Was Ranger/Rude I believe.

 

6. Cliff Pace’s fave winter baits.

 

Jackall MC60 MR crankbait (fat body), Jackall DD Squirrel 79SP Jerkbait (3″ deep diver) and a jig.

 

7. Chris Groh gets SIMMS.

 

SIMMS has now gotten all the northern Elitists with long hair lol. Congrats!

 

8. Fletch Shryock gets Full Throttle Energy drinks.

 

Sounds like a significant get? Only thing is he has to give up his flat brim…kidding….

 

9. On Em Robertson got some of his tackle back!

 

Yuge props to the bass-heads who spotted it for sale and helped him and the 5-0 track it down. Sounds like they police got it back but the DA wouldn’t charge anyone?? Guess that’s not surprising anymore.

 

10. Scott Martin made the Elites.

 

Love the transparency:

 

> “I’ll be honest, the 2020 [Opens] season weighed heavily on me. I lost sleep – the guys who I traveled with know the stress that I was under. It was tough…several tournaments where I would have panicky nightmares about them before I went on the road. At these events, I’d wake up in the middle of the night worried about where I was going to start or where I was going to fish.”

 

11. Brian Latimer says his fave Chatter ain’t the Hammer (IG vid).

 

It’s the Chatterbait Elite. Man I always thought Brian had it together too… just messin’!

 

The Chatter Elite is $6.99 on TW. The original Chatter is $4.99, and the TW-exclusive (and well-liked) Chatterbait Custom is also $6.99…which makes me think I MIGHT need to switch, cuz the Hammer is about $100 + 1/2 a kidney apiece .

 

Brian says he likes the head shape of the Elite. Also says he likes to fish it with a Z-Man Razor Shadz and no skirt, makes a little more erratic. I was like, Brian I never fish in a skirt man but if I did I’d at least call it a kilt.

 

Okay I’m done…Hit the pic to watch:

 

Natl Professional Feeshn League:

 

  • Mar 11-13: Lake Eufaula, AL
  • Apr 22-24: Wright-Patman, TX [this is the name of Air Force base where they take the aliens lol]
  • Jun 3-5: Harris Chain of Pickerel, FL
  • Jul 15-17: Pickwick, TN
  • Aug 19-21: Winnebago, WI [“winnebago” either means shape-shifter or RV?]
  • Sep 30-Oct 2: Grand Lake, OK
  • Championship: ?

 

Few quick thoughts:

– Different lakes (not all “retreads”) = good

– Widely spaced schedule

– Idea to roll out each lake by vid from their hosts Fat Cat “Fig” Newton and Luke Dunkin was great. Enjoyed it. Really enjoyed Fat Cat’s Winnebago preview – naturally nuts (in a good way).

 

13. FL: Environmentalists still pushing for Rodman dam removal.

 

Best quote in it, from Save Rodman Rez prez Steve Miller:

 

> “The people who want this place gone complain about everything.”

 

Lol! For real. Serious for a sec: Read a book a while back about the crossover between environmental activists and animal rights activists – it was significant, and they crossed over into other “anti” stuff as well. Made sense to me, seems to fit with what Steve is saying….

 

14. WV: Shallow fish-attractors put in 2 lakes.

 

Laurel Lake and Chief Logan Lake, other lakes might be coming.

 

15. TX: East TX Baptist U is the FLW School of the Year.

 

Congrats to ’em, here they are representin’:

16. ACA is having an online tourney for college bassers over the break.

 

17. FL has grants for HS fishing teams.

 

Do all states do this? If not they should!

 

18. KS reducing daily fishing license fee.

 

They hope to get newbies fishing.

 

19. ON now has an early C&R bass season in Zone 20.

 

Zone 20 includes the Canadian waters of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and the lower Niagara River. Sounds like the Mounties are finally gettin’ it….

 

20. Lunkerhunt is having a hardbaits sale.

 

21. NE family’s spinnerbait biz has grown fast.

 

House to garage to their own building in 2 years. Big Eye Spinner Baits = 3/4- to 2.5-oz!

 

22. MD: Potomac River “health” a little down?

 

> The Potomac Conservancy,…said more polluted runoff from urban and suburban areas, and fewer trees to slow and filter rainfall, were among the factors…heavier-than-average rainfall likely played an outsized role in the outcome….

 

> “This is the first time in a decade where the overall health grade has declined”….

 

23. New Rapala USA western territories mgr Bill Matthews.

 

Covering 13 western U.S. states effective on January 1, 2021.

 

24. New VMC sales director is Ben Miller.

 

Sounds like an internal hire and he’s based in MN.

 

25. Johnson Outdoors had a better 2020 than 2019.

 

Amazing. Reminder that JO = Humminbird, Minn Kota, Old Town canoes/yaks ‘n more:

 

> Total company revenue grew 6% to $594.2 mil vs fiscal 2019 revenue of $562.4 mil.

 

> Continued demand for new and legacy technologies in Minn Kota and Humminbird drove a 9% increase in fishing revenue.

 

> Strong demand across all product categories drove a 25% increase in watercraft recreation sales.

 

26. Science claims it can tell fish populations just by DNA now.

 

Maybe? We’ve seen a lot of bad data and data-manipulation for certain agendas recently so I’m a little on this deal….

 

 

PSAs

 

1. Trolling motors

 

Believe the MotorGuide Tour Pro is juuuust starting to ship or will be soon. I got one and heard at least one other non-pro did too. Can’t wait to slap it on the bow.

 

Word is the Power-Pole trolling motor is supposed to be out about mid next year?

 

2. ‘Lectronics

 

If you read the DeerBlaster you saw that AZ just became I think the 3rd state to ban trailcams. Seriously. Sounds nuts but…will those/other nutty states ever look at banning some fish’n tech? Highly doubt it but one thing I’ve learned big-time this year is some serious nutcases run state gov’ts…hopefully not so bad in the DNRs (no offense to the regular folks).

 

Also on that AZ deal: It didn’t start out as an outright ban. Wasn’t supposed to be but it slowly crept there…sound familiar??

On BassBlaster.rocks right now… 

 

> New Lowrance Live, Cold-water rock jigging, Cumberland and Lay winning baits

 

Note: The TackleWarehouse links in this email are affiliate links, meaning if you go through them to make a purchase I might earn a commission…at no cost to you. Click here if you want to learn a little more about links in the BB.

Tip of the Day

 

From a MS Sportsman post a while back:

 

> …Adrian Avena tackles cold-water bass with a 1/4- to 1/2-oz black/blue Zorro hair jig with a blue 4″ twin-tail grub.

 

> Avena trims the length of his hair skirt…and thins the skirt by about 1/3. If the fish are exceptionally persnickety, he might also shorten his grub trailer.

 

> “How I fish a hair jig is slow. Basically I deadstick it, and the combination of the thin legs on the twin tail and the hair on the jig give it all the action it needs.

 

> “I use this bait in typical wintering holes with deep water or spots adjacent to deep water, hard cover and protection from the elements. The key structure during the winter months is hard cover because it’s dense and it holds heat.”

Quote of the Day
“He doesn’t have that routine of doing the same thing over and over.”

 

Chris Lane talkin’ ’bout his son Cal’s fishin’. Wish I was more like Cal in that way…. More good stuff from Chris in that Bassin’Fan post:

 

> “I really thought he’d become a duck guide in AR or something like that. It’s just been in the last year and a half that he really got into fishing. He didn’t fish his first BFL until the beginning of this year and he only caught one fish (en route to a 138th-place finish), then he did a little better in the next one (88th) and a lot better in the last three (11th, 4th and 15th).

 

> “I never saw that killer instinct that told me he really wanted to be a pro fisherman until the 2nd Toyota event when he moved up to 14th or 15th in the points. Then after he got the Top 10 at Neely Henry, I could see how bad he wanted it. As a dad, I couldn’t be more proud of him.

 

> “Every time he got into the boat with me he wanted to beat me and probably 90% of the time, he did. It got to the point where I was tired of getting beat and got serious and started putting the hammer down, but the problem was he beat me then too.”

Shot of the Day
Aaron Martens texts me, “I got a 7 and a 6-lb smallmouth yesterday.” That’s the life of the Hawgsnatcher – just another day of fishin tho he was stoked. That would have made my DECADE! Told him, “That’s why you’re the Snatcher and we’re just fishermen!”

 

How many peeps have caught a 7 in Pickwick??

 

Pickwick, 1/2-oz Picasso tungsten football-head jig, 12-lb Sunline FC Sniper fluoro:

Random
Couple military things, first a fun one:

 

1. US military developed Cheetos and M&Ms among other foods.

 

If that’s true then we should turn all snack development back over to the Dept of Defense immediately or whatever word is used for “right now” in mil lingo.

 

2. We lost a green beret.

 

Not sure how I stumbled across this – a servant and defender of our country took his own life. This line got to me:

 

> The struggle of a man trying to reconcile his faith with the things he did in the war appeared to weigh heavily on Andy.

 

I think I can understand that. Breaks my heart man. Anyone out there need prayer please lmk.

Ya got me!
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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