I have no inside knowledge about this, but if I could be at the St Lawrence for this week's Elite I would be. Because...Rick Clunn. 50 years is a round number, though maybe for Rick 51 and 53 are round numbers...😁

Will Rick say he's done? No idea. But just in case I wanted to be there and planned to go, but then my son ended up having his only week of summer vacation this week. I always tell my kids God first, then family, then everything else, so I am walking it like I talk it – like such:

Got rid of some nuisance species!

Denying my own wants for family makes me think of Jesus of course (not comparing myself to Him at all!), and also this great short-ish vid by ex-SEAL Chad Wright titled "How To Be a Man." I'm really challenged by what he says – in my marriage. Hope you dig it. He speaks with confidence, so important.

Anyhow, if you're a fan of bassin' and can get to the St Lawrence Elite, maybe it will be history. Or actually it's history either way but you know what I mean!

Rick, much love. You are and always will be amazing. Thank you for inspiring me and so many others. Bless you bassin' brother. I will see you semi-soon one way or another – Cody Huff told me where you live! 😁

Got the St Lawrence BPT stuff in this Blaster, Champlain Elite will be in the next one. Let's go!

"Top 10" Neal is still "Top 10" Neal – which of course says a ton – but this time he finished in the top spot! In a way I guess it wasn't a surprise, but getting that close so many times – bet it was a bit of a relief for him. Here's how he won his 2nd red trophy.

Going in and practice

> "The area I fished is down around Clayton – it's the only area of the river I'm familiar with. I was fighting with myself whether to go down there because I thought it would be won in an area of the iriver where it's long and narrower, and not fishing specific places [so drifting].

> "But [from] practice I knew I could have a really good tournament down there for sure. Every time I would stop, I would get a bite. If it topped out from 40' to 55' deep on top, I was guaranteed to get a bite.

> "That was a lot deeper than normal. When I went down there before, I fished more like 30-40' deep. I think that made a difference – fishing for fish that were not as pressured....

> "I saw some guys every day, including the Knockout Round, but nobody really stayed in that area...."

Tournament

> "The first morning in practice I'd found some shallow fish so I tried to mix that in. I started in those shallow places and fished 2-3 of them, but didn't get a bite. That's not my game anyways. When you're fishing this format, if you're not fishing your game, you're not gonna win. You can still have a good tournament, but you're not gonna win.

> "I went to my deeper stuff, and pretty much started getting bit immediately. I had 60-something lbs and was in 6th place.

> "In practice, if I caught 2 I'd put a waypoint on it and didn't even drop back down again. When I went to to one of those places, I got bit really often and 6-8 would come up with it. [Day 2] I was getting a pretty good lead and was getting pretty close to safe [to make the Knockout Round even with no more fish], so I pulled off that area totally.

> "Day 2 was when all the rain was...picked the trolling motor up an hour early and went to the ramp, to stop having to fight the rain anymore.

> "Day 3 I fished exactly the same – 40-60', I didn't do anything different. But I was starting to lear that once you leaned on an area ad caught 4-5, it probably was not worth going back to. Once you pulled them out of that current break a few times, they didn't even go back to it. ...you wouldn't see any [on the screen].

> "The Knockout Round went really well. Everywhere I stopped I was pretty much getting bit consistently. A stretch I found on day 2, I did one drift down and knew I was safe. So I had almost 2 hours to play with, or practice.

> "I actually went to another area that was about 15 miles by boat but just a handful of miles as the crow flies, to stuff I found in practice and just marked. Every time my bait hit the bottom, I caught one.

> "So then I changed my mind to where I was going to start the final day...go back to where I ended the Knockout Round. It had the same exact setup – same depth, same everything."

When he got there it was on, and that was all she wrote.

How and what he fished

> "Pretty much everything [on the bottom] in the area I was in was rock. You wanted either bigger rock than everything else, like bouldery-type rock, or a seam.

> "My best place was what I would call 'rolling shoals' – constantly up/down up/down...a lot of leading edges and tailing edges for a current break A lot of people don't realize that in front of those places is a current break, as well as behind.

> "I was drifting for the most part. [The first 2 days] if I caught one, I'd hit anchor on the Power-Pole Move and make a few more casts and catch a couple more. Then I'd resume drifting again. The last 2 days I had no choice but to drift because the current and wind were so strong."

Baits

He only fished a dropshot:

> Big Bite Baits Scentsation Quarantine Craw (gp purple copper) cut down and modified with 8 skirt strands he inserted with a needle. Because "I had a lot of fish come up and just bite the bait and not get it, and follow it up and never commit. I got tired of hearing about all the fuzzy dice stuff so I decided to make my own and it worked.

> "I just tried to mimic the pictures I've seen of [those types of baits] online – I put 8 strands in it, spaced [like the pictures of other baits]. The skirt material was all gp or had 1 strand of orange in it. I wasn't real sure what they thought that was mimicking, but a few I caught in practice...crayfish pinchers had orange on it....

> "[Once he made that change] at least 50% of the fish that started chasing the bait again would bite. I don't know if it's something they don't see, or something about that skirt material that's like poking a finger in their chest and eventually they do something about it...."

> 1/0 Gamakatsu G-Finesse Stinger Drop Shot Hook, 1/2-oz Denali Kovert Tungsten Weight, 10-lb Sunline Overwatch Braid to 7-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro, 7' 6" M Denali Kovert Spin Rod.

> "I just dropped it and held onto it til something started pulling back. No action on it or anything else."

Electronics

> "LiveScope was not a huge deal. I was just making sure I was on the right drift or line...lining up your casts. You could do the exact same thing with Humminbird 360 or anything like that."

Shoutouts

> "The line. I was throwing 7-lb line and that's really light, especially fishing around those bigger rocks and things. Most guys throw 10..... I never broke a single fish off all week. That line I have a lot of confidence in, and it performed absolutely flawlessly."

1. How many Michael "Top 10" Neals does it take to win a tournament...and screw in a lightbulb? 😁

> "[Laughs] 6. I don't know why, but that sounds like a good number."

2. Since you're in the top 10 a bunch, what's the difference between this tournament and other ones?

> "Just fish management. Starting on a new place the final day I knew had fish – it wasn't just totally random, having to try something new. I knew they were there already.

> "Having fish saved throughout the week was for sure the deal."

Foller-up: In 5-fish smallmouth tournaments, having a little better quality of fish is a big deal. Is that true in the catch 'em all format as well?

> "I think so. I averaged over 3 lbs all week. When you're catching 4.5- to 5-lbers – I caught probably 15 of those through the week – that's like catching 2 in 1. So instead of having to catch one every 15 minutes you can catch one every 30 minutes."

3. If you had to pick a couple baits or techniques – besides FFS – to consistently be in the top 10 at the top level, what would they be?

> "A vibrating jig would be #1 for me. That's versatile anywhere in the country. From FL to up north, you can catch largemouth and smallmouth on it.

> "And the other one would be a dropshot. It doesn't mater if you have FFS not, you can fish with it around grasslines, docks, on ledges, and anywhere inbetween.

> "Those are definitely what I've won the most money on, with and without FFS, and they're my go-to confidence baits either way."

4. You seem to really soak an area instead of moving. Why is that?

> "I think it just appears that way. I move around a lot but I make very short moves. ...I'll stay mostly in a square mile the whole time so the scenery looks familiar, but [at the St Lawrence] I was fishing 10-20 places a day.

> "...I take an area and I break it down, I spend a lot of time idling in it, and I find every little nook and cranny, every little nuance in it, so I know as many places to run in a short amount of time as I can."

5. What's your favorite type of bass to catch? Asking because it seems to be smallmouth.

> "No its definitely still largemouth. Smallmouth are fun to an extent, but landing them to me is an absolute thorn in my side. I'm like the worst in the world at landing them. I'm still a largemouth guy at heart."

Bonus Q: I heard there used to be a pic of you in the Dayton, TN post office that said, "If seen with a spin pole please report immediately." Is that true and is it still there? 🤣

> "It's true but it's not still there. When I grew up fishing, it was all flip sticks and 20-lb line even fishing offshore. Spin poles were not allowed when I was tournament fishing growing up."

Dang! This year he won 2 events, got his 3rd AOY trophy in just 4 years, and also defeated the Frost Giants in the Battle of Jotunheim. 😁 Not bad! Here's 5+ with the hammer who might actually be making a run at KVD's insane record.

1. Does this 3rd AOY win mean you're finally done with Dustin winning Redcrest? Is it on?

> "[Laughs] Yeah Guntersville next year, it's over with. I've gotta focus all my energy on Guntersville. Forget AOY, I've gotta focus on that Redcrest title.

> "I guarantee it's over. Dustin, it's not gonna happen."

2. I'm sure winning AOYs doesn't get old, so what did this one mean vs the other 2?

> "Hmm. I think the biggest thing for me is [his daughter] Olivia is getting to the age of starting to realize how long I'm out there on the road and getting ready for these events. She's starting to understand...daddy's won these trophies, but there's hard work that goes into this....

> "l I really hope that one day I can show [them Olivia and his son] that hard work pays off. Nothing's given to you in this life and you have to work your butt off to get anywhere.

> "That's what I hope long term but it was definitely special to have them there [at the St Lawrence] more than anything."

3. What does it take to win AOY and win tournaments now?

> "I think to win AOY – it's always been this way – you have to be a versatile angler. You also have to make good decisions in your worst events. I think that's something not talked about enough – at least shooting par at the events where you might not find the winning fish or the top 10 area or top 10 fish.

> "So you have to cut down your losses, if you will, and get as many points as you possibly can.

> "This year...Eufaula the water came up 4'. I was catching them offshore on rock points and brush and stuff, the water came up 4' and the fish changed up and went to the bank. Day 1 think I was at the bottom [of the standings] and day 2 I scrapped everything I had and [fished shallow techniques] to make the top 20 cut.

> "Those are the tournaments that make you or break you. Even at the St Lawrence – over 60% of my fish were largemouths and I caught them flipping.

> "You just need to adapt and change at the drop of the hat...minimize your losses and be sure to adjust on the fly and not let any event get you."

Foller-up: A lot of guys fall in love with a pattern or doubt their instincts – how do you avoid those things?

> "It's taken a while to understand and trust myself. There's a lot that goes into that that you don't see. Decisions made on the water...I've been fishing over a decade now, and I've made tons of bad and good decisions – learning from your mistakes is part of it.

> "...when you have a gut feeling, when something pops into your mind, it happens for a reason. You're processing information as you're fishing [so] it's almost like a green light: You're sitting at a stoplight, it goes green and you just go. You don't second-guess it.

> "That's something I've learned from the mistakes I've made. I think the biggest thing is to learn from your own mistakes. It's hard to learn from other people's mistakes.

> "But I still struggle with that. There are some times I don't have something in my back pocket and I have to make something out of nothing. Those the toughest moments of your career. The most lost you can be is to be clueless and not have a bite...so you need to fall back to your strength and biggest confidence technique.

> "...in those moments you are tested. You don't really get to see that when you're on the water and watching guys fish, but it's happening every day and in every tournament – and you need to fight off those demons...and try to get that confidence back. Just a couple bites can make that happen."

4. If you're designing your own baits and winning tournaments and AOYs with them, what's left? Shouldn't you move on to solving major world problems? 😁

> "I don't think I should be the one solving major world problems [laughs]. I think I'm gonna draw the line that I help develop boats and baits and products I know all about. I'm working on a new line of clothing with Magellan, let's do that. But I'm not going to go too crazy. I wouldn't even know where to start."

5. It seems like FFS is less of a black box now and people are catching up faster. Are the bass catching on yet?

> "Oh 100%. The bass are getting more accustomed to it.

> "What's interesting is...bass a lot of times travel in groups, and it'll be like a duck or a goose leads a flock or a lead goose...the same thing sorta happens with the bass. One bass leads a group of fish to where they need to go, and they follow it.

> "This year was the first year where I'd pan over there with ActiveTarget and the lead fish would feel it and head toward the bottom, and take all the rest of them with it. The first time I have seen that was this season.

> "...look at events like the Elite tournament on Champlain. Smallmouth with FFS dominated last year, but this year largemouth are starting to play more. We're starting to see things equal out more.

> "This is the start of it. The fish that were offshore and were never messed with are starting to feel that pressure – and other groups of fish that set up conventionally [on shallower structure], it makes them more apt to bite than those out there in the middle of the lake.

> "It makes it very difficult as a professional angler to figure out what's the best option. You only have 2.5 days of practice to find out what's the best way to figure out those fish.

> "I do think [FFS is] changing – a lot of anglers are very good with it. We're just seeing the start of that now where things are starting to reset."

Bonus Q 1: If you had to nominate Dustin, Adrian or Mark for President of the United States, who would it be?

> "Dang. That's a toughie. I'm just gonna go ahead and nominate Dustin – because even if he made some bad decisions, you know you're gonna laugh out of it at least. You're always gonna be entertained by DC. He always has something to say, it doesn't matter what happens."

Bonus Q 2: We've seen 9 CrushCity baits now – what's your favorite or the sleeper?

> "I think the Bronco Bug is the sleeper of the 9 because it has really unique action and it gets bites when a lot of other flipping baits won't. I caught 60% of the bass I caught at the St Lawrence River on it – it just got more bites. It has a unique action. It imitates a crawfish and bluegill really, really well.

> "What's really cool about [this AOY win] is that 80% of the bass I weighed this season were on a CrushCity plastic. It's one thing winning a single tournament on it like with the Freeloader or Mooch Minnow...or having a buddy win Redcrest utilizing the plastics. But it's even that much more of an accomplishment to win the year-long title of AOY and have 80% of the bass I weighed in the entirety of the season on those baits.

> "...the whole [Rapala] team did a phenomenal job. I'm not taking the credit for it. Without [he named them all] it wouldn't be half as good as what it is. ...what we've done in a single year is insane."

2nd: John "Bounty" Hunter

> Dropshot: Googan Baits Ned Worm (gp) nose-hooked on a #1 dropshot hook, 1/2-oz dropshot weight, 10-lb P-Line Braid to 8-lb P-Line Tactical Fluoro, 7' 1" M Swate 7'1 Inked Series Spin Rod.

> "I was fishing a series of rocky high spots and sand depressions...a handful of these stretches in a 3-mile stretch of the river down near Alexandria Bay. The tops would be anywhere from 20-35' and the sand depressions on both sides would be anywhere from 45-60'. A lot of the fish were sitting on the fronts, backs and sides of the high spots. Caught most fish in 35-50'.

> "Wasn't just quantity...had over 22 lbs almost every day, best 5.

> "I was drifting when the wind and current were stronger, but had to troll around a little when the current was backed up.

> "Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 was a big part. I saw a lot of the fish...long before they bit, and would be able to adjust my bait to present it to them properly."

3rd: Nick "of time" Hatfield

> "...for me it was about switching baits every day. I caught them day 1 mostly on a Scottsboro Hellfire Finesse Swimbait Head in 3/8-oz with a 2/0 hook over deep water. The minnow was a Strike King Baby Z Too (grey glimmer pearl). Smallmouth on bait.

> "For the rest of the event I caught them up shallow on a small dropshot, 6-8 inch leader with a 3/16-oz Scottsboro tungsten weight and #1 Hayabusa Drop Shot Hook. For the baits I switched from a Geecrack Imo Kimushi (size 60 in gp) to a 3-inch Megabass Hazedong Shad (gp shad). Each day they wanted something different.

> "I also caught a lot of my fish up shallow using a Get Bit Baits Tube (gp – their Crawling Tube is made with the skirt material like that) on a 1/4-oz jighead. It was my follow-up bait.

> "Everything up shallow was caught in 4-5' of water around sand and grass. Garmin LiveScope was key for me to keep the fish a long ways from my boat and throw to them. I was casting the dropshot to either singles or pairs of smallmouth up shallow."

> 16-lb Sunline SX1 Braid (high vis yellow) to 12-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro, Shimano Vanford Spin Reel (3000), 7' ML Doomsday Tackle JDAM Spin Rod.

4th: Blue "Drew" Gill

> "Pro blue" jerkbait (medium-diving, 6-8'), 8-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro, 7' M ModF Ark Invoker Tour Rod.

> "Fishing 8-14' on expansive sand flats for cruising wolfpacks of smallmouth. The reason I fished wolfpacks was to ensure getting bit, not to get repeat bites necessarily.

> "My focus was on lack of cover. Those smallmouth were really easy to catch and utilized those areas consistently. The forage was primarily perch, and my cadence was extremely inconsistent and rapid. Those smallmouth can see too well to give them a good look."

** Look REAL close at all the hooks on that bait! 👇

5th: "Wrestling" Matt Becker

> 95 Bill Lewis Depth Strike (green gizzard – new bait, was called the "Depth Charge"), 15-lb Seaguar Smackdown Braid to 10-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro.

> 1/2-oz Beast Coast Football Jig (hybrid goby) with a Yamamoto Ned Senko (gp), 15-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro.

> 7' 2" MH Favorite Hex Spin Rod and 7' MH Favorite Pro Series Rod.

> "I focused on shallow shoals and flats (15' or less) throwing a jerkbait and the Bill Lewis Depth Strike. The football jig was an adjustment I made on the final day to catch a few fishing a deeper drift that I had from history."

> "Clean bottom was the key. Didn't matter if it was rock, sand or gravel, just had to be clean – no moss.

> "I used FFS to follow bait, but was not targeting fish with it and easily could have not used it."

1. Wes Logan okay after wreck on Champlain

Scary deal, broke a few ribs and got some cuts. IG vid of it ^. Glad you're okay man, dang! ✝️🙏

2. Bryan New is dialing his shrimp powder and juice

3. Is Kyle Patrick testing a new type of PFD?

Here 'tis:

Believe it's called the "orange type life vest"...🤣 Props to Laker Howell for calling that out.

Of course those PFDs are fine, just funny to see a tour-level guy rockin' one!

4. Skeet Reese hosted a "goodbye" for John Murray but...

...sounds like John isn't going anywhere? Cool either way – John is one of the West Coast OG's, blazed the trail and of course a GREAT fisherman and great dude. Bless you john!

5. How Erik Luzak won the MLF Canadian Open on Simcoe

Big congrats to him, here's what he fished:

> Lunkerhunt Hellgrammite on a 1/4-oz WOO Tungsten Ned Head.

> Dropshotted a Lunkerhunt Hover Shot with 1/4- and 3/8-oz WOO Tungsten Tear Drop Dropshot Weights.

> 10-lb Daiwa J Braid to 6-8 lb Sunline FC Sniper fluoro, 7' 3" M Daiwa Tatula Elite Rods.

> "Mostly rock bottoms, some sand. Fish were caught in 5-18' of water, mostly sniping individual fish on LiveScope. Some fish were off the bottom a few feet, but most were pretty close to the bottom. Some were solo, some were in groups of 2s or 3s.

> "The fish on Lake Simcoe are not typically bait-feeders – they mostly feed on gobies and crawfish. So they tend to stay pretty close to the bottom, and therefore a bait that contacts the bottom will often get the biggest bites. The Hellgrammite was perfect for that."

Rock bottoms? Makes me think of this ooold KISS tune – a good'n too, except the intro is too long and the song is too short!

6. Scott Higgins is Yamaha's new outboard marketing manager

Internal hire:

> In his new role, Higgins oversees Yamaha Marine advertising, events, tournaments and sponsorships, Yamaha pro staff and Yamaha Marine dealer education. He succeeds Susan Camp, who retired in Aug 2024.

Line of the Day

If you eat smallies the day they're caught, it's hard to distinguish them from walleyes.

Ain't recommending eating browns, but any fish caught from clear, cold water should taste pretty good...except maybe drum? No idea....

Greg Hackney talks fishing structure spoons

From Bassmaster.com:

> Structure spoons are at their best when the bass are bunched up out in open water.

> Depth control is critical when they’re out like that. The deal with a structure spoon is that it’s easy to control its running depth. Just count it down and bring it back. A crankbait or a jig can be anywhere between difficult and impossible to hold at a precise horizontal depth. A structure spoon will do that naturally.

> In my experience the best way to a fish a structure spoon is to cast it out past the bass you’re targeting, and then pull it back a ways before you allow it to fall on a semi-slack line. Count it down to a couple of feet above the bass before you let it fall. The idea is to make it look like it’s trying to swim to safety but then giving up on the fight.

> ...2 ways to rig a structure spoon. My way is to tie your line directly to a split ring on the nose. That’ll give you a tighter wobble and make the spoon look more natural. The other way is to use a swivel – more action. No less an angler than Kevin VanDam does it that way.

The one drawback to my rigging choice is that you will get line twist.

> Another issue with structure spoons is that your line will sometimes foul on the hook. Again, theres’ no way to totally eliminate it, but you can lessen the problem by fishing with heavy fluorocarbon line. I use Gamma 20-lb [fluoro]. Do not use monofilament – too much stretch. And do not use braid. It’ll foul and if the point of the hook goes through the line you’ll never get it undone.

"The real key that I see in watching him live on the Bass Pro Tour is how he adjusts on the day. Like, okay, this isn't happening – let's go here and do this. I've always called it fearlessness."

- Shaw Grigsby talkin' 'bout Jacob Wheeler.

Either Austin Felix needs some dental work or he likes Rice Krispy treats for breakfast! 🤣

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