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Random deals:
3 trips to the county office and we got the boat/motor/trailer registered. Wow that was a deal, and yep they tried to charge us for the kitchen sink. Still looking for a gov't office/agency that actually helps folks!
Kinda enjoying banning people from social every day. I mean, makes me a little sad to see how negative peeps are, or think they're "cool" dropping F-bombs, or "know better" than the pros. I think a bunch of it is herd behavior, but whatever man – don't want 'em in my house, don't want 'em ruining it for everyone else.
Maybe they'll mind their manners for other folks. Or maybe they don't have any manners??
One note about that: Yep I'm a hypocrite, like all Christians. A million things I wish I never said and could take back. Dang it. Thank you Jesus – it truly is Good Friday! ✝️🙏💪💪
Hope you have a great weekend with bass and fam, maybe in that order lol!
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Gitcha Blaster video fix here:
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If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing. Sorry bout that – email programs keep changing stuff.
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5 jerkbait Qs with Pake South
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Some Pake jerkbait 🧃 extracted by BassBlaster's Brett "mostly" Jolley.
_____
Quick recap: After tearing it up on the Opens and getting a top 10 in his 2nd Bassmaster Elite, then Pake headed home to set the 3-day Opens weight record. He got known for that Coike, but a bait he was putting a lot of fish in the boat with was a jerkbait – a Berkley Stunna.
I hollered at him to get some intel on what is his go-to bait.
1. How did you land on the jerkbait being your confidence Scoping bait?
> "I got on Scoping with the jerkbait before the minnow was ever a thing – I was way late to the minnow deal.
> "It's one of those baits that's always going to be around, and people are kind of falling back on it now. There's only so much you can do with a minnow...you shake it over their head, and they're pretty much going to bite it, or they're not.
> "There's so much you can do with the jerkbait, as far as cadences, how fast or slow you're working it. That's why I think it's so good."
2. Why do you prefer a Berkley Stunna that has a natural slow sink over a true suspending jerkbait?
> "It makes the bait a lot more versatile. You can throw it at a shallow fish, you can pan out over deeper water and...still get your bait to [that fish] without having to switch rods or anything.
> "Even though it's a sinking bait, once you start working it, it still stays real level in the water – the sinking part of it just makes it easier to get it to fish."
Follow-up: Is there ever a time where you throw a true suspending jerkbait?
> "I pretty much just stick with the Stunna. If I'm wanting to keep it up way high, I'll put a little bit smaller [#6] hooks on it, make it more of a true suspend.
> "90% of the time I'm throwing it just straight out of the box, stock hooks and everything."
3. Do you use a similar cadence for every fish or judge your retrieve by the fish's behavior?
> "It's just playing cat and mouse – reading each fish. I always try to start off slower, but once the fish tells you what mood he's in, you just match it to whatever the fish is doing.
> "A lot of people think it's all about how much time [pause] inbetween twitches you have. A lot of it is how hard you twitch it. Sometimes it's just a little bitty twitch, sometimes I'm really twitching it really hard. It all depends on how aggressive the fish is."
4. You use that 'MF TN shad' color a lot – why that matte scheme over a more translucent bait?
> "I just really like the matte color – it doesn't have a lot of flash to it. I feel like the matte color makes it more subtle in the water [and] it's something that could imitate a shad or a bluegill very well. It's really good at imitating anything.
> "Sometimes I'll switch to that 'hanky panky' color if I'm fishing real stained water. It's got to be super dirty before I switch over to that."
['MF TN shad' top (notice the chartreuse on the bottom of the tail) and 'hanky panky' bottom.]
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5. Is there a type of cover or structure that people don't throw jerkbaits around enough?
> "Around docks, like I was doing on Lake Martin. I hardly see anybody doing that.
> "It's same exact presentation. Just treat the dock like a patch of timber."
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2nd-6th Tenn-Tom Bassmaster Elite baits
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2nd: Dakota "Ted" Ebare
> Strike King 1.5 Squarebill (chart/black back and #4 Owner STY35 Trebles), 17-lb fluoro, Lew's Custom Pro Reel (6.8), 7' 4 Lew's Elite Rod.
> Strike King Rage Bug (b/b), 4/0 Owner Jungle Flipping Hook, 3/16-oz Strike King Tungsten Weight, 20-lb fluoro, Lew's HyperMag Reel (8.3), 7' MH Lew's Custom Lite Rod.
Those were his 2 main baits but he also weighed a couple on a spinnerbait:
> 1/2-oz Strike King Tour Grade Spinnerbait (chart/white, double willow), 20-lb fluoro, Lew's Custom Pro Reel (7.5), 6' 10" MH Lew's Elite Rod.
> "Cypress trees on somewhat of a cut bank with the root system in the water and barely out of the current, with hard bottom around it. ...with a little more depth – it might have been a foot there rather than 6 inches.
> "The squarebill and the spinnerbait fish came off main-river riprap."
> No sonar at all: "I took everything off my boat. I was fishing super shallow and wanted to be able to free up my trolling motor. That Garmin Force Pro worked great, it was perfect."
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4th: Seth "brown recluse" Feider
He caught about 3/4 of his bass on the swim-jig, which is a new company and that bait is not out yet:
> 3/8-oz Black Sheep Custom Tackle The F-ing Swim Jig (white and b/b) with a Z-Man prototype craw-style trailer (sapphire blue and white), 30-lb Sufix 832 Braid (dark green), Daiwa Tatula Pitch/Flip Reel (8.1), 7' MH Daiwa Tatula Elite Brent Ehrler Rod.
> Same prototype Z-Man craw (b/b), 4/0 VMC RedLine HD Wide Gap Hook, 3/16-oz Woo Tungsten, 30-lb Sufix 832 Braid (dark green) to 20-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro Leader, same reel, 7' 5" Daiwa Tatula Elite Cory Johnston Soft Stickbait Rod.
He caught some spinnerbait fish but doesn't think he weighed any:
> 1/2-oz Bass Man Compact Spinnerbait (Fieder shad) with a Z-Man Drop Kickerz (chart/white).
> "Everything came off a vegetation mix – some hyacinths, some viney stuff, water willow, any form of emergent vegetation. I never weighed a fish off wood.
> "The shallower the better, 2' and less, a lot was sub 1'. Seemed like staying off them a little bit helped."
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6th: Jordan "general" Lee
> Berkley Crash Craw (bb/gp), 3/0 hook, 1/4 and 3/16 weight, 20-lb Berkley GinClear Fluoro, Abu Zenon Beast Reel (9.6), 7' 6" H Abu Zenon Rod.
> 1/4-oz Berkley PowerBait Swim Jig (he tied his own skirt) with a Berkley Shape 108 (white), 40-lb Berkley X9 Braid, Abu Zenon Beast Reel (9.6), 6' 10" H Abu Jordan Lee Rod.
> ChatterBait with Berkley Crash Craw (white), 40-lb Berkley X9 Braid, Abu Zenon Reel (6.6), 7' 5" MH Abu Winch Rod.
> "Junk-fished. Shad spawn was key first 30 minutes. The fish were active on the swim-jig and ChatterBait some mornings. I would flip shallow reeds and some on cypress root points.
> "Caught some key fish on the ChatterBait in muddy water as well in sloughs with not much pressure. Just junk-fished shallow."
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2nd-5th Ivie-Brownwood MLF BPT baits
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3rd: Drew "punkinseed" Gill
Ivie
> Dropshot: 7" Big Bite Baits Nekorama Worm (gp black flake), 1/0 Roboworm Rebarb Hook, 3/16-oz dropshot weight, 22-lb braid to 15-lb Seaguar GrandMax Fluoro Leader, Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Spin Reel, 7' 2" L Phenix M1 Spin Rod.
> Urchin (gp), 1/8-oz weight, 1/0 Owner Cover Shot HD Hook, 20-lb Seaguar Tatsu Fluoro, 7'1" H Phenix Recon Elite Rod.
> "Isolated bushes in 5-8'."
Brownwood
> Neko: 7" Big Bite Baits Nekorama (gp black flake), 1/0 Roboworm Rebarb Hook, 1/16 nail weight, 22-lb braid to 15-lb Seaguar GrandMax Fluoro Leader, Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Spin Reel, 7' 2" ML Phenix M1 Rod.
> Urchin – all the same as above.
> "Also caught a couple in the Knockout Round on a 3/8-oz Buckeye Brush Panda Swim Jig (white) with a craw trailer." 25-lb Seaguar Tatsu Fluoro, Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Reel (8.3), 7' 3" H Phenix K2 Rod.
> "Channel-swing docks in 20-25' and stumps in 4-7'."
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4th: Wesley "admini" Strader
> 3/8-oz Z-Man JackHammer (clearwater shad and chart/white) – with a 5" swimbait trailer (smokey shad) on Ivie, and a Zoom Z-Craw Jr (pearl white) on Brownwood. 20-lb Sunline Sniper, Trika Ti100 Reel (7:1), Powell 755CB Endurance Rod.
> Wacky rig: Zoom Thick Trick Worm (gp), Trokar TK 137 Weedless Hook, 22-lb Sunline Almight Braid to 12-lb Sunline Sniper, Trika 300 Spin Reel, Powell 713 Endurance Spin Rod.
> "I did catch a few at Ivie flipping a Zoom Mag Trick Worm (gp)." 5/0 TK 130 Hook, 1/4-oz Epic Tungsten Weight, 22-lb Sunline Sniper, Trika Ti100 Reel (8:1), Powell 765 SBR Endurance Rod.
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New spinnerbait trailer
New Garmin + Lowrance stuff
Berkley Lab Series x2
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2. Will David Mullins be the next B.A.S.S. poly casualty?
If you're interested in the latest poly controversy, read that ^ on In-Fish. Dang man. I've known David for many years and would love to weigh in on this based on that, but since I didn't do it for Matt or Scott, gonna keep quiet again.
So disappointed to hear about it. Was hoping B.A.S.S. would've made changes after last year's poly follies.
Is it me or does it seem like B.A.S.S. is willing to risk its reputation with fans, pros (who are their $$$-paying customers) and maybe sponsors on these poly examiners? If so, to me that seems like a pretty unwise risk. But maybe I'm missing something.
3. Randy Howell: Older guys using FFS go too slow (IG vid)
4. I guess MLF guys can use boat/bass/crappie brakes?
Trollers on poles to stop you or slow you down without using/blowing out the front troller. Banned on B.A.S.S. and I thought on the BPT too but I guess not. More on this in a future BB.
5. B.A.S.S. gave Opens angler permanent ban
> ...determined that an attempt was made to track a fellow competitor’s movements in order to gain a competitive advantage, which is strictly prohibited.
> Due to the severity of the infraction, the violation has been classified as a Level 4 offense. This ruling was appealed and upheld by the appeals committee, a group of two independent anglers and one B.A.S.S. staff member. As a result, Mr. Gao has been banned from participation in all future B.A.S.S. events, effective immediately.
Interesting. Wonder what infraction level the bent rod pattern is then, level 3? 🤔 😁
6. Do you love your fishing rod this much?
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That's of course Deion "Tommy" Sanders doing his day job with one of his new Abu PRIME21 fishin' sticks:
> The PRIME21 Baitcast Combo ($140) draws from the proven Max reel platform with a 4+1 bearing system and Power Disk drag....
> ...the PRIME21 Spinning Combo ($110) incorporates a 5+1 bearing system and Rocket Line Management for effortless casting and superior line control.
7. Sign up for the Minn Kota/'Bird owners tourney still on
Apr 10-12 on Lake Eufaula, AL. Wish they had a Beat KVD and/or Zona division! 😁
8. New Strike King Rattlin' Thunder Cricket
9. SC governor signs boat tax cut
Big congrats to Gettys Brannon at the SC Boating & Fishing Alliance and friends for accomplishing something that's basically impossible: getting a gov't to CUT taxes. Details at that link.
10. MO: A bunch of new habitat put in Stockton
> ...took place in the northwest corner of the lake out of the Stockton boat ramp. Crews replenished 14 existing brushpiles and built 45 new ones....
11. CO: Boulder hires divers to get rid of milfoil and...
...check this hysteria:
> Officials warn the plant's spread could threaten recreation and drinking water infrastructure. The plant displaces native species, can tangle swimmers and boat motors, and can clog water infrastructure. It may also affect the odor and taste of drinking water.
> While Boulder does not currently draw drinking water directly from the reservoir....
C'mon man. 🙄
12. NWT regs book had a largemouth photo on the cover and...
...they don't have any native largies, people complained and they are now reprinting it lol.
13. Bubba parent co sues KastKing over filet knives
14. Suzuki allowing anyone to license its plastics removal device
Microplastics and sounds cool but I believe it goes inside an outboard so....
15. New anti-fouling wrap for hulls
I think I had this in a BB awhile back but:
> Unlike biocidal paints, which ultimately dissolve in the water, Finsulate’s vertical fiber field disrupts the way larvae probe the surface. It reduces their ability to secrete adhesive, and it keeps any early biofilm from maturing.
Not sure about veggies. Apparently the idea comes from shark skin and sea otters – kinda cool.
Headline of the Day
How Many Tournaments Are Too Many?
Been chewing on this myself. Frank "master" Sargeant is talking in that deal mostly about fishing pressure, but I've been chewing on something different. More about that (maybe) in a future BB.
Lines of the Day
Trey McKinney is on the cusp of a Hall of Fame bass fishing career, and he is only 21 years old.
Trey for sure is really good, but in my 2c that's kinda a premature statement based on just 2 1/3 years of fishing as a pro.
Bass can be tricky.
I really don't know what to say about that except yep! And where there's no bass – like NJ – they're even trickier! 🤣
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When's the last time you fished a tube spoon??
From an older In-Fisherman post:
> While flash can be a killer, muting it can also mean extra bass...fish become conditioned to the flash of jigging spoons in popular deepwater spots.
> Slide a Hopkins, Cordell CC Spoon or other slim model into the body of a tube. Translucent tubes allow some chrome to show through for a natural look as well as a soft feel. The tube also holds flavor attractants well.
👀
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest stuff in bassin', hand-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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Sign up another bass-head!
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 or whatever....
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Gitcha BB social at these links
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