BassBlaster

New jighead shape! Another giant tourney smallie! Trolling motor turret?

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on August 11, 2020

Hey — if you’ve been trying to send me an email for the last 2-3 days, I proabably didn’t get it so would you please resend it. Sorry about that. Seems like the technology stuff is getting worse instead of better sometimes….

And how ’bout the hashtag #bassfishing? Peeps will post practically anything with that tag, but today was a new one for me — a mountain lion. WTHeck!!

>> If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!

Today’s Top 4

Shoutin’ out another 7+ brown tourney fish!

Paul Mueller got him one at the St Lawrence/Ontario, and that dude — Sebastien Roy — caught this 7.18 on Lake Simcoe, ON in the Canadian Competitive Sport Fishing League’s annual Bronze Back Cup. Said:

> “…catching a 7-lber in a tournament…not a lot of people are going to catch that.”

Uh yeah or ever! Wonder what that’s the equivalent of — guessin’ a 12- or 13-lb largemouth….

Btw here’s how Elitist Lee Livesay likes to show how big a smallmouth is:

> Pictures don’t ever do smallies justice so here’s a leg measurement. If they’re above your knee to your foot…it’s a 6-lber.

O…kay?

Will this jighead shape cause less line bow?

Check the head on the new VMC Moon Tail Jig (hair jig) vs the VMC Neon Moon Eye Jighead (on the left) — both are 1/4-oz:

The Moon Tail was built for wally-eye fishermen but word from Target Walleye is:> It somehow cuts through water better so…less bow in your line?

> It doesn’t spin as much when you cast it into the wind.

> TW says “…flat aspirin head shape…enhances darting and rolling head motion when jigged….”

Al Lindner told Target Walleye:

> “If you can imagine taking a jig and putting it in a vice and flattening it out, that’s what they did.

> “…have the same weight, but it’s thinner so it cuts water much faster. You get a better, faster drop speed.

> “You make the profile much bigger. And the eye becomes gigantic.”

> “They cast like a bullet.”

> “You’d be amazed at how deep of water I can fish with the 3/8-oz. It gets down there quicker than most people realize. You think, 25′, 30′, 35′, that’ll take forever for that jig to get down [to the bottom]. But it doesn’t. It goes fast.”

Al’s word is gold on anything, period. He’s talkin’ wallys there, but you can see how we could use it too….

Ever heard of a trolling motor turret??

Former B.A.S.S. pro Stacey King says this is the shizzle which is good enough for me, so here you go — from him:

> Gives you the ability to scan with your LiveScope no matter which way your trolling motor is headed. If your Spot Lock is holding you in the wind, you can still scan anywhere around the boat.

> Light weight, solid construction, enclosed motor. Mounts on the front of the troll motor.

> Mount the footswitch where ever it’s comfortable for you.

Pretty slick idea! Looks like they make it for the Ultrex and the Force so far.

Gitcha leisure bassin’ on!

Not sure if you saw this on BB social but either way check this, posted by El Mejor de Visor @wade_middleton:

Lol! Figgered the “most likely techniques” with that chair are:

– Carolina rig
– Ned rig
– Anything with a Senko

Then asked if anyone had other deals that chair would be good with, said I’d post the best ones so:

1. David Fritts was called out by Elitist Johnny Crews “Fritts in 2021” and Nathan R on FB: “…the recliner is used all summer for cranking in the Carolinas…David Fritts style!!”

2. On Insta it was more about TX-rigging and dead-sticking, but this was my fave:

> “…rod in one hand, Cheetos bag in the other….”

Hahaha or Doritos! Wonder if FLWer Sonar “Miles” Burghoff was dreamin’ about Cheetos and a lounge chair here:

Think I saw KVD do that in a tourney once…said no one who was sane ever….

News

1. Elitist Chad Morgenthaler had a shoulder issue.

Rehabbed it this Covid spring, hope it’s done:

> “It looked like I had a torn rotator cuff or bone spurs.”

2. Johnny Crews says water temp = oxygen content.

Hotter water = less oxygen so you want a little-cooler water?

3. Brandon Lester believes you need custom jig skirt colors…

…starting in the summer:

> “There is no doubt in my mind that playing with custom skirt colors makes a huge difference in getting pressured fish to bite. They have seen all the common colors by mid to late summer.”

4. Why Matt Lee adds scent to smallie baits.

> “I think your lure catches their attention and a lot of times they’ll come in for a closer look. That’s where adding scent is key. When that bait has natural scent flowing off of it I don’t think smallmouth can help themselves.”

He wasn’t talkin’ Berkley Maxscent but that comment adds more fuel to that fire.

5. Gerald Spohrer doesn’t want a crankbait touching bottom…

…for smallmouths:

> “Largemouth like the bait banging off cover. For smallies, I don’t want it to touch the bottom. I like it to be 3′ or so off bottom. Smallies will usually come up to feed. They also suspend a lot, so I want it over their head a bit.”

Also says to throw as small a deep-runner as you can.

Here he is singin’ “We are the Champions” with his buddy Detroit Willie today:

6. MLFer Adrian Avena won a marlin tourney!

With a swordfish? Not sure how that works but Adrian’s kinda the East Coast Ish Monroe with all the saltwater stuff. Anyhow, pretty dang stout. Said he had to convince the entire boat to Carolina rig with a 12-oz weight and a squid but now they get it!

Okay all true except that last part.

7. Mike Iaconelli: How not to set the hook?

Looks like he gets a little ‘lectric shock:

How “not” to set the hook, according to interwebz experts — but it worked man, who cares how he set it!

8. Did Gerald Swindle’s ‘gram get hacked?

You tell me:

I did hear a rumor that Seth Feider messaged G-man about where he gets his suits made….

9. Here’s the top 5 in Elite AOY points.

Gotta point out again that Scott won it last year:

1. Jamie Hartman — 351
2. Buddy Gross — 345
3. Scott Canterbury — 342
4. Matt Arey — 331
5. Paul Mueller — 326

10. LiveScope was a big deal for MLFers fishing smallmouths.

> MDJ: “”The places I was fishing had groups of fish and if you caught one and reeled it in, it would break up the school. LiveScope made it easy to get right back on the fish after that happened.” [Only question: Was there ever a time when he caught one and DIDN’T reel it in? Lol!]

> Red beard: “LiveScope made it easy to relocate them. It would take no time at all to pan around and see them again. Without it, you would just be casting around aimlessly trying to locate them again.”

Gettin’ to be a must-have….

11. OK: Former pro Kenyon Hill doing fishing seminars…

…for bass-heads aged 12-25. Also doing tourneys. Check it at varsityfishingclub.com.

Post (still can’t link stuff at Oklahoman.com) also says Kenyon was so burnt from the pro tourney grind that he didn’t fish for a year!

12. FL: New Headwaters Lake/Stick Marsh ramp now open.

13. OK putting artificial habitat in Honey Creek.

On Grand Lake. Maybe now there’ll be some fish in that creek…lol.

14. Quick underwater vid of the BOOYAH XCS squarebill.

In the full vid, BOOYAH main man Chad Warner says that bait’s “raht”…which is Oklahoman for “right.” Lol Chad and OK peeps! TW does have ’em in stock looks like….

15. TN: Past Bassmaster college champ guiding on Chickamauga.

Jacob Foutz:

> “After I won all that stuff a few years ago I left school to pursue professional fishing, and I was scheduled to fish in some Bassmaster Open tournaments this year until the Covid hit. I’m giving myself five years to try this.”

16. B.A.S.S. awarded conservation schollies.

Very cool. Love that they’re named for Noreen Clough, the former B.A.S.S. conservation director who passed a few years back from cancer.

17. Bass-heads in other sports.

Bills OL Cody Ford…

…who can only bench 305 for 5 reps, about half of what John Crews can do…allegedly….

Retired 49ers guard Mike Person likes stream smallies.

Didja know pro golfer Sam Snead was a bass-head?

From VA, he passed in ’02 — ^ says organized a water-hole bassin’ derby on the course before golfing, I think in the PGA Championship? If so = too cool.

18. NH: HS bassin’ will start in Sept.

Other sports too = good! A lot of the Northeast is a fire drill, stinks for the kids man….

19. Coasties want input on navigating in 12′ or less.

Line of the Day

“Among deceased men, fishing ranks at or near the top of such [joyful pursuits].”

Uh…is that a good sign?

(Can’t link it — line is at thegazette.com.)

Doh!

Been jamming a lot in the BB lately, missin’ a couple things:

1. Clent Davis ain’t a MLFer, he’s an Elitist.

2. MaxScent, MaxSCENT. I missed the S a couple times….

On BassBlaster.rocks right now…

> How to fish like Brandon Palaniuk, Tom Monsoor swim-jig tips

> What is PowerBait Maxscent and why did it just kick serious tail?

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

Pickin’ apart grass with Elitist Cory Johnston.

Some good ones on the Bassin’masters from a Canadeean who actually grew up fishin’ grass for largies:

> …certain little sweet spots in the grass that seem to hold fish. Not everyone is always keyed into that….

> The sweet spot could be anything — a tip along the grassline, a clean spot, a hard bottom, a dropoff.

> If the water’s clearer you can try to see the differences and find sweet spots like the points and indentations, and where it changes from real thick to sparse. When I can’t see, I like to idle down the edge of the grass and use my Garmin SideVu imaging to see the tips and indentations….

> I always try to work my way quietly through grass areas. People don’t realize that fish can hear the trolling motor in 5-6′ of water. …I’ll often use a push-pole to work my way to a sweet spot, then put down my Power-Poles to anchor up and work the area.

Quote of the Day

“I treated all women like a Devil’s Horse.”

– Duck Commander’s Jase Robertson talkin ’bout beating opposite-sex temptation by imagining himself lookin’ at women he’s not married to like a bass looking at a Devil’s Horse — with treble hooks. He calls it a “Devil Horse,” says it’s “one of the most fun baits you can use.” On the podcast — Unashamed, which in my 2c is on point — his dad Phil says:

> “So you’re viewing the woman who comes up as the Devil Horse, she’s a lure to your sinful nature, and you’re the bass…once you strike you’re caught, and you can’t get away.”

Bein’ fishermen they had a good time with it. Gotta say it’s a heck of a good analogy no matter what bait you picked, but that name works real dang well!

Not sure what color Devil’s Horse Jase thinks is real sexy but “bass/orange belly” looks pretty dang good:

Btw in this vid Jase says he also really digs the new YETI Roadie 24 cooler — mentions the size and lighter weight, and being able to use it as a seat…when he’s frowgin’:

Shot of the Day

Looks like Elitist Jake Whitaker found an alternative to the T-H Marine Tackle Titan lure hangers:

Obviously got a nose for baits…had to hit that one….

Random

No idea where Muncy, PA is but I have to go to the new Bigfoot Subs and order the “Bigfoot Crashes the Picnic” sub…and will for sure “make it legendary” lol love it man!

Ya got me

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