Story from the weekend is down below, hope you caught a few too!
Quick deal: If you discovered something about bassin' this year you think would be cool to share with all us bassheads – rig, bait, color, electronics, boat, spots, whatever – please hit me back with it and I will maybe include it in an upcoming email. Let's go!
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5 Qs with Ott DeFoe mostly about
...JIGS? 👀
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That's right – not just crankbaits and Ott actually does/might/could fish jigs! 😁 Called him mostly because I've really been digging that specific color Terminator Pro Series Jig and he was responsible for it. Also talked a few more things, here we go:
1. Please tell us about the Ott's Garage/Biggs/eastern TN shenanigans that led to this Bama craw color jig.
> "We have a 'gp orange' in the Pro Series Jig lineup and it was a favorite of mine...but [Bama craw] was really a twist on an old favorite...gp orange and just using more of the straight colors. No flake – the orange, green and brown are plain.
> "I catch them on crawfish colors that have flake but I never saw a crayfish with sparkles in the wild – I guess that's kind of where that [Bama craw] came form. Maybe if crawfish get some sand on 'em they glitter a bit...."
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2. Seems like a bunch of those Pro Series Jig colors are a little different than what we typically see now – why is that?
> "Those for me were just staple colors, and a lot of them [the new Ott-designed colors of that jig] we just didn't have in our line. All of them have a base color, a complimenting color and a contrasting color...like Bama craw is green, brown and orange. 'O.D.' is black, blue and chartreuse. ...enough accent but enough base color to tie it in...been a staple to how I pick jig colors.
> "...mold change...the mold didn't hold the skirt as well...but we fixed that and it's a lot more user friendly. The rattle is on there and a lot of people may fish it with the rattle, but the good thing is if you want to it's super easy to take off. Typically I take the rattle off – the rattle does change a little bit of how the jig falls...."
3. Do you fish jigs only if you absolutely haven't been able to catch a fish on a crankbait? 😁
> "Yeah. It's kind of a compliment to it. We were listening to '90s country where we live – Alan Jackson '(Way Down Yonder on the) Chattahoochee' there's a line 'a lot about livin' and a little about love." A friend of mine...used to say it's 'a little about flippin' and a lot about plugs.' That's the way we fish in eastern TN."
4. There's not many times in the history of bassin' when a guy wins 2 tournaments in a season and someone else does better. What was that like for you?
> "It goes to show you how good the competition is and how especially Jacob had a phenomenal season. I didn't come away from the season upset about it by any means. I had an unbelievable year and I'm so thankful for it. Other than 1 day on Lake St Clair there's not much I would change about it, so I'm really thankful for that.
> "It was really incredible how dominating a year he had, but he had 1 bad day as well or it wouldn't even have been close in that last tournament [for AOY – Jacob won it and Ott was 2nd]...."
5. How many more baits are comin' outta your secret underground garage lab and what's the code to get into that deal again? 😜
> "The code is not to be shared, but the plan as of now is 1 new bait a year...we're on target...."
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Would you do this? Ever done this?
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Hair bands? Interesting – what do you think about it?
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Dude caught 2,500 smallmouths "so far" this year??
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Disclaimer is Bill Schultz (no relation to Bernie) lives up yonder so it's a little easier...but still crazy, and makes 25,000+ smallies since he started keepin' track – which I believe is 3,457 short of Seth Feider's total and about 100K short of Al Lindner's – deets from here:
> "...after catching my first smallmouth bass in 1994, I began setting goals for myself with respect to my smallmouth fishing. About 15 years ago I set the goal to catch and release 1,000 smallies per season. Then I set the bigger goal to catch 25,000. I have committed the time to work towards each of these goals each season....
> "I love river-fishing and rivers have accounted for many of my catches over the years. But I wanted to be up on Lake Michigan in Door County to maximize my chances for a bigger fish for number 25,000. So, with just two fish to go, that's where I headed.
> "The 25,000 landmark catch has come and gone. I've already caught and released over 2,500 smallies this season and expect to end the year with my tally at close to 27,000."
Amazing! Man I'd be happy with just a couple nice ones every year. Maybe I need a hard reset on goals or somethin'...😆
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Goat rodeo but great fishin'!
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They were hammering it – one of the smaller ones (like 1.75 lbs) literally hit it so hard the rod almost jumped outta my hand. The biggest one, a 4+, was different – you maybe know the deal with your brain going: feels weird, my jig doesn't feel that light, is it a fish, is it vegetation, is it swimming toward me, is it a fish, set the hook! It was just swimming slowly up with the jig in its mouth.
40-ish degrees without the brisk wind, 55 water temp, here's one of 'em:
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Goat rodeo parts:
1. Get to the ramp, almost no one on the lake because it's cold 'n cloudy. I pull up in the "get ready to launch" lane and facing me in that lane is a guy's truck. He just just pulled his boat out and is in the wrong lane facing the wrong way. He leaves while I'm waiting for the ramps.
2. There's only 2 ramps for bigger boats. In one there's a guy/vehicle who I come to find out was putting on waders to trailer his boat. Took him 10 minutes to get his boat on the trailer and out. The guy in the other slot is more efficient, much appreciated, but then pulls out not into the "pulled out/mess with your boat" lane but in between the 2 lanes blocking the whole deal. Luckily I'm far enough ahead to put in.
Forgot: Couple dudes at the ramp want to talk about how many they caught, where, on what, etc. Not me mang I think I'm onto somethin'! One dude said him and his bud "caught 9" – borderline unbelievable for half a day on this lake but maybe a good sign. (When I started ketchin' 'em I wasn't leavin' before I beat that 9!)
3. I troll to my spot (no big outboards allowed) – or actually short of my spot while a guy further down the bank gets farther away. Then I start messing around a little more serious while I get to what I hope is still the juice. In the juicy area I bang one and...yep, here comes the boat down the bank toward me. C'mon man. That fast?? We're literally the only ones there.
4. I play a little defense and luckily don't catch another so he heads in. I catch a few with no one around, then I mega-snag one of my jigs – it's either 3/8 or 1/2 and the only one I have in that weight. I break out the plug-knocker and that gets snagged too! EMOJ I tie the knocker rope off on a cleat to pull it loose, no luck. Did I mention it's pretty dang windy?? So I'm running back and forth from the troller to the stern port cleat, the boat is spinning...forget it man. I break off my jig, cut off the plug-knocker line and get upwind a bit so I can tie on another jig.
5. While I'm doing that, a yakker comes up and wants to know if he can fish between me and the bank, a distance of maybe 15 yards. I say no – while I'm trying to tie on a jig and buck the wind. Crazy request (would anyone say yes??) but glad he asked and didn't move in, all good.
Couple notes on that Terminator jig:
1. I love the color. Not saying it's my fave jig or fave jig for everything, just love the color. Need it in a rock-type head if you know of a good one for rocks.
2. I like the rattle and do use it because even though the water is clear, these fish are not real pressured and ain't many of 'em so I'm tryin' to attract 'em.
3. Accidentally figured out a way to rig it to have a more compact profile, which was the way I caught the biggest one Sunday. Hung off perpendicular to the hook but in the water it looked fine:
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Couple other notes:
1. I have LiveScope. Decent chance it's set up right (transducer) but honestly not 100% sure. I need to get with NPFLer and LiveScope stud John Soukup to get it right. Anyhow, been using the "forward" part, not the "Live" part, to see where the grassline ends in front of me and where the harder rocks are. It's GREAT for that.
2. Shoutin' out the SIMMS Challenger Insulated Jacket which kept me warm, along with a hoodie and the SIMMS Exstream Hooded Jacket (it was cold!). The insulated Challenger was easy to cast in/light, and most important blocks wind way better than just an insulated coat – because it's a rain coat "fused" to an insulated coat if that makes sense.
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By AR outdoors scribbler Bryan Hendricks – couple cool deals from it:
> He let his bait soak on the bottom beside a piling. Every minute or so, he tapped his rod handle ever so slightly, just hard enough to make his bait move. As I recall, he caught three bass in that spot in that fashion.
> At the Elite Series tournament on the Arkansas River at Little Rock in 2011, Martens did what nobody believed was possible. He made the final cut fishing the Little Rock Pool, which is probably the most sterile stretch of bass water on the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System. To do that in the Little Rock Pool at the highest level of the sport is astonishing.
Says it all about his fishing really. Not only was he not scared to fish "sterile" water, he was confident he could ketch 'em there...meaning anywhere....
Check it, 2 mins long, 100% Seth so they let that come through = good. Caution 1 small cuss word in it:
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Fave line:
> "No days off is what keeps you sharp."
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That's right, it's a sharknado! TX has had 2 of 'em, hushed up fast...🤫
> Dirty water or clear water they are starting to feed up.
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7' MH MF St. Croix Legend Tournament Rod. Says he needs to make precision casts and lots of fish hit near the boat. Don't see that rod on TW but TW does have 9' 11" H MF! 🤯
I expect to see at least 3 flip sticks (MH, H, XH), a flip/pitch rod, a flip/pitch/flip rod, minimum 3 jig rods (< 3/8-oz, 1/2-3/4 oz, and 1+ oz) and one for "everything else just in case"...😂 Matt!
Here's Matt bein' unfriendly to a guy in the Kistler mail room:
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😁 That's Trey Kistler dressed all casual....
Believe this is most of the reason:
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Yep that's a Frittside, I think in "spicy mustard."
If you know Hall, even by reputation, he's kinda sketchy so make of what you will 😁 – few quotes:
> At the time, I was somewhat skeptical about this new guy who'd occupy our corner office. He wasn't a fisherman, after all. But it didn't take long for me to realize he was exactly the leader B.A.S.S. needed.
> We were coming off the heels of our ESPN ownership, which I can admit now was a hot mess.
> Of the 5 CEOs I have worked for over my 22 years here, Akin has been the best. And I'm not the only one who thinks that.
I gotta do 5 Qs with Bruce but I need to come up with questions he can't give me a nice-guy corporate answer to. Working on it – maybe one needs to be about Hall? 🤔 B.A.S.S. peeps how 'bout some suggestions on the down-low...you know I'll ask anyone anything....
> ...several people who've fished the river for decades raised concerns about how these tournaments, which run all the way up to the old Shaker Mill on Drakes Creek, may be affecting mainly smallmouth fishing in the river.
> "Over the last few years, I've noticed that since the bass fishing tournaments have become more prevalent, the quality of the fishing has gone down."
> "There never were tournaments 25 years ago, and the fish were where they were. They were in their own territory. For the most part, the smallmouth bass stayed where they were. Whether or not it has something to do with the tournaments, the population has been interrupted."
> [Biologist] said there hasn't been a direct correlation found between an increase in bass tournaments and a decline in the smallmouth bass population. ...environmental factors such as temperatures, flow and water level of the river are primary factors causing the fish population to be "extremely fluid."
> ...the Dept of Fish & Wildlife is in the process of raising the size limit on fish that can be kept on the Barren River system to a 15" restriction. Changes will not take effect until March 2023 if the new regulation passes....
My 2c translation knowing zero about that fishery:
- Catching big bass and maybe bass in general isn't as EASY as it once was.
- Tournament dudes are hammers.
- Time to adapt local peeps!
> Local bass expert Deron Eck likes crayfish imitations in the fall, especially big, burly jigs in the 1-oz size tipped with a sizeable soft trailer. On a past trip to a natural lake in the northwestern portion of the state...plucking several 2- to 3-lb largemouths from the edges of the submerged weed growth on a day when bites were tough to come by.
> Veteran bass [fisherman] Dave Lehman uses crayfish imitators.... On the Allegheny River, one of Lehman's favorites, when the water cools down into the 50s, is a BOOYAH Baby Boo Jig...with YUM's 3" Craw Papi. For river smallmouth bass, Lehman drags/hops the 3/16-oz jig along rocky/gravel bottoms.
> On largemouth waters like the weed beds of Presque Isle Bay and Conneaut Lake, Lehman relies on a skirted jig and Zoom Chunk trailer well into the fall. He fishes the jig very slowly when the water temperature gets down into the 40s....
> 30 Mossback fish habitat structures were placed...near Pine Ridge, Bellah Creek, Story Creek and both boat accesses at Oak Grove.
Gitcha #retreads!
Big congrats to Evan Cox, a senior at Windsor High School in Loveland, CO. BBZ tourney was on Lake Taneycomo, MO, rig had 3 hooks. Check YUMbrellas on the TW.
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New-ish bait comes in 3/8, 5/8 and 3/4, powder-coated in white or chartreuse:
> In mid-Jan last year...I guided one of my clients to a 38+ lb 5-fish limit of largemouth bass on Stillhouse [TX], all of which were landed on the standard Hazy Eye Shad....
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Dang that sounds like a lot?
Doesn't say you have to wear an old-school heavy polyester uni when it's hot but bet you do! 😁
If true, just think about what our fish are swimming in:
> ...collected and reviewed results from water contaminant tests conducted by water utilities and regulators from all 50 states and [DC]. After combing through the data from almost 50,000 water systems serving 10s of millions of American households, the researchers found sweeping drinking water contamination from numerous pollutants such as arsenic, lead, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), radioactive materials and pesticides.
> Compared to the previous (2019) update to the database, which identified 268 chemicals in America's water utilities, the new database added 56 new chemicals.
Dang that doesn't sound good....
Doh!
Nation champ Matty Wong wasn't the first dude born in HI to fish a Classic – Jay Yelas was! Some folks read that about Jay in a semi-recent BassBlaster...🤪 Word is MN's Andy Young – who fished the '15 Classic after winning an Open – was also born in HI?
Thanks peeps! Doin' a BB is like havin' a conversation – wish I'd said some things, wish I didn't say some things...appreciate your grace and sense of humor.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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Few things:
1. Gonna get Aaron in every issue for a while, partly because I'm rediscovering a lot of his stuff.
2. This is a great example of what me and other folks were talking about – he's just spooling, reacting to my semi-idiocy, but listen to how much actual good fishing info he's just dripping out for us. Amazing – it's like he can't help it.
3. No matter what it might look like, he was not wasting time standing there talking. With every cast he was doing something a little different and accumulating info.
4. Startin' to think he was onto somethin' with those toe sock/shoe things....
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"It's nice to have friends close, but when you're fishing 15 hours a day you don't want to be stuck in party central."
Luke says he likes to camp because that way it's a more natural environment for his pet frogs, Bert and Bernie. I was like, "Don't you mean Bert and ERNIE?" He said, "No I don't." I just left it there man....
HAHAHA just messin'....
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Consider this the ultimate PSA and you're welcome!
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Saw that on Sunday mornin', our bacon mornin'. I mean, are there any 2 words that would stop you in your tracks more than FREE BACON?? Here's the deets from Hormel Black Label bacon. Oh shoot – just realized I took that pic and threw the dang package out with my chance to win on it!! 😱😭
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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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