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Man it's a lot harder to not bass-feesh this time of year living in TX! In NJ it's 30, but TX last weekend was in the 70s and calm. Saw a re-glassed Champion (I asked), a Skeeter and a Ranger, and some boat Scopin' way out – so far out I guess only a duck hunter could ID it. 😁
Gotta call out: Is it a ko-inky-dink that the first 2 Elite Series wins were Humminbird guys? You might recall that I said after seeing the new MEGA Live 2 that it'd be interesting to see how the all-Humminbird guys did this year.
Not saying it was even most of the reason, but it's interesting fo sho. Maybe gave them a little shot of (more) confidence?
BBs are a day later this week so the next one will be Friday! Let's go bassin'!
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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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How Brandon Palaniuk smashed Okeechobee
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Yep he smashed the fish, he smashed the field and I think at smashed least one coot...just kidding about the coots. Anyhow, wow, what a tourney he had. He found a magical spot, but so did 3 other guys who all got there before him on day 1!
Here's the deets about how he won his 6th Elite (plus an Open, plus the Nation Championship), which is pretty dang stout...for a kid from ID! This is shortened from the full meal deal on the BB site:
The canal spot
> "It had a lot of angles and features to it. You've got a riprap bank that has a pretty steep drop, and then coming from that it goes down into a trough and comes up onto a hard ridge – a hard bottom ridge. Then it tapers back off into another trough to the other bank.
> "On that riprap side, the trough kind of made a horseshoe. The back of that also was a flat that came off the riprap and connected to that hard spot a little bit. And that little trough dumps into a 25' hole.
> "[The spot] has a lot of angles and features that run through it. There was a 40-yard section where the fish wanted to live.
> "It was 150-200' wide [bank to bank]. I could be on one bank and cast to the other with my crankbait...."
The average depth was 10'. I asked him where the fish would reload from:
> "They were coming from somewhere, but I but don't know where from.
> "The first morning was really good and they ran the least amount of water of the whole time we were there...no water moving. The next 3 days both gates had water spilling over the top, which you would've thought would've made it better.
> "But the morning bites was never good as on day 1. They schooled on day 1, and I never saw that again.
> "Every afternoon a group of pre-spawn females would show up. I don't know where they came from. I don't know if they were past the buoys and signs where we can't fish...mill around up there around the current, feed up there and then come back."
Tournament
> Day 1 I roll up and those 3 guys [Will Davis Jr, Greg DiPalma and Tim Dube] are already sitting there. I kinda stopped short and worked my way to it, looking at it, analyzing it if I can even make a cast anywhere where I wanna be. I was talking to those guys, 'I don't know, it's kinda tight for 4.' They said, 'Come on in, we'll figure it out – we'll make it work.'
> "It was pretty obvious where I wanted to start, so I just got between DiPalma and Tim Dube. Will Davis was on the other side and we all 4 went to cracking on 'em. Caught my first one on the prototype Megabass crankbait – which is actually a prototype, I'm not just saying that.
> "I think I weighed 1 on that, 1 on a Neko rig and 2 on a glide bait, and I had 6 bites total.
> "Our agreement was that once everyone got rid of their last 2-lber, you got put in timeout. Will Davis was the first one in timeout. He had 27, then DiPalma got rid of his last smaller fish and he had almost 30. I was the next guy – it put me at 23.5. I don't think any of us caught more than 8-9 fish."
I asked him if he thought the spot was burnt after that:
> "I had no idea...but I had nothing else. Okay Greg's in the cut, Will's in the cut, if I catch 1 fish tomorrow I'm probably gonna be inside the cut – that's kinda how I looked at it. If I catch a [another] keeper...I'll have a decent finish in FL. I'm not gonna bomb.
> "Day 2 [he was there first but] we all lined up exactly the same. I wasn't gonna try to position myself for a better angle or anything. I said, 'It looks like they're on top a bit more, let's stay back and line up how we were.'
> "It definitely was way slower. The rest of the guys ended up leaving. I had 3 when they left...then I caught a 3.5. I changed the [presentation] angle when the wind switched directions for my 4th one. My 5th was the first 9 [on that prototype crankbait], then I caught a 4.5-lber on the Kanata jerkbait.
> "Then I pulled out the Big M 4.0 and 15 minutes later caught another 9 on that. That culled out a 1 and gave me 29 lbs. Then I caught a 7.75 on the Big M that culled a 2.75-lber. So 2 came on the prototype crankbait, 2 on the Big M and one on the Kanata."
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> "Day 3 Will Davis never even fished it. He came in and fished around the outside, and said he wasn't gonna come in and beat on it. I only caught 7-8. I caught 1 on a Neko, 1 on the Kanata, and 3 on the prototype crankbait.
> "Day 4 I caught [I think he means weighed?] 2 on a Megabass Ito Shiner jerkbait, 2 on the Neko rig and 1 on a different glide bait."
He also caught fish on 2 swimbaits: a KGB and a Clutch Boss.
Baits
> Megabass Kanata jerkbait (kameyama ghost pearl – "it floats but I weight it so it suspends, it was the same one I was throwing at Santee"), 12-lb Seaguar Tatsu Fluoro, Daiwa Steez CT SV Reel, 6' 10" F Alpha Angler Slasher Rod.
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Electronics
> "[Humminbird] MEGA 360 gave me the lay of the land. So I had a really good understanding of where the little nuances and sweet spots were within that area, and it gave me a good idea of what the travel routes were for those bigger fish.
> "MEGA Live 2 didn't really play in targeting a specific fish – a couple glide bait and jerkbait fish it did. A lot of it was basically being able to scan around and see where those fish were actually showing up...in groups. If I was seeing them high in the water column, I knew which bait to pick up. If I was seeing them toward the bottom, I'd pick up a crankbait."
> Talkin' MEGA Live 2: "It's way better than what version 1 was. I could tell the detail as far as what was a bass, what was a gar, what was a crappie. It had a lot had to do with how they were positioned and how they moved."
Shoutouts
> "Greg DiPalma, Will Davis Jr and Tim Dube. For letting me come in on day 1, and they also made it really fun. It could've been really stressful trying to fish around 3 other guys in that small area, and they made it stress-free and super-enjoyable."
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5 Qs with the ice cream man
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1. Any reason you decided to wait 4 1/2 years for your next victory? 😁
> "I couldn't catch them good enough in the last 4.5 to make it happen. And my cull tag getting stuck and killing my fish in my livewell at Lay Lake."
2. FL hasn't exactly been a sweet spot for you – you've had some of your career worst finishes there. What was different this time?
> "I told you eventually I was gonna win in FL [he did! some years back]. It's always been a hard spot and that was kinda a driving force.
> "I think the changing conditions of Okeechobee allowed me to try not to force old habits and history, and look at something new. And I've learned to just embrace fishing in crowds in FL."
3. Did any of those fish tell you that their grandpappys told them about crankbaits but they'd never actually seen one before? 😁
> "[Laughs] I think 9-lbers are still are still old enough to remember getting hooked on crankbaits."
Follow-up: Did you tell John "KY Lake" Garrett that you would out-Kentucky Lake him in this tourney? 😆
> "[Laughs] No but I wish I would've if I actually knew it was gonna happen."
4. Did you feel at all like a spaz when you were trying to figure out what to do to get that crankbait away from your face? Or were you masterfully in control of that sitch the whole time?
> "Definitely not in control, but I went to straight assessing the situation. I didn't know if it was past the barb. I knew my lip was bleeding and I knew there was a hook stuck in my cheek – it ripped out of my lip and stuck in my cheek.
> "So I had to get the fish off, I had to take my gaiter off my face and get the fish unhooked, and cut the hooks out of my gaiter.
> "I'll say this – I was in more control of my body than I was when I hooked that last glide bait fish the final day."
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[If I remember right, one time back in high school Brandon wrestled with an obviously broken arm. So let's just say he's that kinda dude.]
5. What's the deal with the whole Dairy Queen thing? Is it a mojo thing, a sponsor thing, a kids thing...?
> "It has nothing to do with Dairy Queen, it has everything to do with cut ice cream. Dairy Queen just happens to be the most convenient spot in most bass fishing towns.
> "When Kyle first started with us filming, he has a sweet tooth and my wife has a sweet tooth. She would pick him up at the airport and send me pictures of them eating ice cream. l was like, 'You gotta stop or we'll all be fat!' So we made a deal to only do it on cut days. So it became cut ice cream."
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2nd-5th Okeechobee Elite baits and Top 10 breakdown
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4th: Will "not just a Wood Jig" Davis Jr
> 1/4-oz Davis Beast Swim Jig (white/chart) with a 4" Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog (white – "it has great action that triggers pressured bass into bitting"), 50-lb Bass Pro Shops XPS Braid (green), KastKing MegaJaws Elite Reel (9.1), 7' 3" MH F FX Xtreme Angler Series Rod.
> Fished grass in 1-5'.
> "What makes the Beast Swim Jig so effective is it has a premium forged hook so you don't have to worry about the hook straightening out. The head is a tapered bullet shape to come through cover easily. It has a different bait keeper – you can put a toothpick through it to hold the trailer on."
> 6.5" Davis Shakey Worm (red bug) on a Davis Little Wills Shaky Head, 10-lb Bass Pro Shops XPS Braid to 10-lb Bass Pro Shops Excel Fluoro, KastKing MegaJaws Spin Reel (3000), 7' MF FX Xtreme Angler Series Spin Rod.
> Hard bottom with grass in 7-15'.
> "What makes the difference with that head is it has a 26-degree hook that increases the hookup ratio by 75%. It also has a custom keeper that holds the worm on no matter what.
> "The Shaky Worm is made from a custom plastic that makes the worm stand up on the bottom...."
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Top 10 baits breakdown
Here's what they fished broken down:
Swim-jig = 30%
Crankbait = 20%
Jighead minnow = 20% – Jackall Driftfry, Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ
Punch rig = 20% – also YUM Wooly Bug
10% each = Jerkbait, Flip plastics, Dice (14mm Field Side Saikoro Dice Rubber Magnum), Shakey head, Flipping jig, Bladed jig (Z-Man JackHammer), Wobble head (Zoom Magnum Ultravibe Speed Worm), Wacky rig, Carolina rig, Frog (BOOYAH Pad Crasher), Texas rig (YUM Dinger)
Shoutout
1. Check the size of the lip on this crankbait Greg DiPalma was fishing – a Nomad D-Trak:
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I was ike, "Greg I don't know much about this Nomad company – you mad?" And he said, "No mad." 🤪🤣
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Solid state marine batteries are here already?
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> Made in the USA. [So avoids new tariffs?]
> ...CEO, Tom Calef, a US Coast Guard licensed captain and 7-time entrepreneur in consumer devices and services, commercial and industrial robotics, medical robotics, computer vision and artificial intelligence, with over 30 years of marine experience. > "Exclusive licensee for the marine industry in the US" – not sure what that means?
> R&D – "Over 10 years of testing and 2 years of field tests."
> "...uses a completely solid electrolyte to conduct lithium ions, significantly reducing the distance between the cathode and anode and avoiding heavy and often volatile liquids or gels, like those found in lead-acid- or lithium-ion-based products. This results in roughly half the weight of traditional lithium and a quarter of the weight of AGM batteries with reduced fire or combustion risk for the ultimate peace of mind.
> "Solid State Marine batteries can run up to 8 times longer than the leading lithium or lead acid batteries and are safe to charge and operate down to -4 F (-20 C).
> "...batteries are interchangeable with existing battery footprints and can be charged with existing chargers....
Cheapest battery they have is $999 for 12v 90Ah. Who's gonna be the first bass-head to try 'em?
A yakker maybe?
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1. Gitcha DC Mooch and Freeloader master class
Dustin Connell on YT. If you oping a minnow or are thinking about pinging a minnow, must watch.
2. Cody Meyer part of new tungsten product company
Called Cipher Fishing. Here's their stuff on TW. Sounds cool, but the CEO said this:
https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-CIPHERFISHI.html?from=bblst
> "Unlike other brands that rush untested products to market, we do things differently, proving every product through rigorous design and on-the-water testing before it ever reaches anglers."
Honestly don't know a single brand that rushes (or even doesn't rush) an untested product to the market. Always extensive pro testing and refinement. Simple reason is an untested product would tank and would get people fired!
3. How Beau Browning fishes the Shadtron LT
LT = line thru. First a couple details about the bait, then Beau:
> Comes in 4.5" ($12.99) and 6" ($15.99) and 2 sink rates (slow and fast) – both still ElaZtech plastic. The Fast Sink version sinks 12' in 10 seconds (ROF 12) and the Slow Sink is rated ROF 5. 8 photo-printed and hand-painted shad colors:
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> Single sickle-style dorsal hook, also can use a belly treble and the bait has a clip for it.
> Has a "refined" rattle implanted deep in the line-through harness. "Activate the rattle by giving the lure occasional rod-tip action, creating subtle clacking sounds."
> Wedge tail = minimal body roll at all speeds.
> Beau: "If I've got a big fish that's following but won't eat, I can give the bait a quick burst of speed – or twitch the rod to make it slash right or left – to induce a positive reaction. Try the speed thing with most swimbaits and they'll usually roll over or crash and burn....
> "I'm also digging the bait's flat sides, which let me skip it under docks like the perfect pancake rock.
> "...for moving a big fish off a dock or a cool piece of cover, slow-rolling or surface-bulging the Shadtron is always a tasty tactic.
> "I can also burn the ROF12 version faster across shallow water, which can be great in warmer conditions."
Brownings YT vid on it here, check 'em on TW here. One more deal:
> ...to keep your bait in mint condition, Z-Man has packaged the Shadtron LT in a special reusable protective clamshell.
4. Good podcast with Easton Fothergill
Can't watch it, just listen, some good info about finessein'.
5. Matt Stefan likes the Berkley Dime 6 in "red swamp craw"...
...in the pre-spawn. Says it casts like a bullet so you can cover a lot of water and love that color for all species of bass:
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Surprises me that the fish looks so fat. Spawn is a long way off there. Then again, they were fishing for trout in a trout lake....
12. New Garmin Force Pro trolling motor
Looks about the same (to me), will cost you 40 Benjamins:
> ...gives anglers everything they love about Force, now with multi-band GPS for superior anchor lock performance and a built-in GT56UHD, Garmin's latest and most powerful Ultra High-Definition scanning transducer.
> Force Pro also adds reverse-thrust capability which adds another dimension of control...anglers can quickly shift into reverse to control their boat without spinning the motor around.
> Wireless integration with Garmin [screens] allows anglers to create routes, patterns and tracks for the trolling motor to follow while they fish.
> Connect Force Pro to a compatible Garmin smartwatch to control steering, anchor lock and more, right from the wrist.
More info on the Garmin site. Don't see it on TW yet....
Headlines of the Day
Along Montana-Canada Border, Tariffs Could Spike Prices For Beer, Fishing Lures
And just like that a bunch of Canadian bass fishermen emigrated to the US...🤣 We have hockey too here fellas! And lower taxes, if you can believe it!
Kingdom Baits aims to bring Jesus to saltwater anglers
Great name! This sound familiar?
> Fishing was his whole life..."I worshipped fishing."
That one really made me think man. You?
Line of the Day
Get ready for crappie season at Bass Pro Shops in Islamorada, FL!
Hahaha what?? Isn't that in the FL Keys? More likely to see a mountain lion there than a crappie! 😆
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Quick John "E" Crews Neko rig tips
From a Bassmaster.com deal:
> ...a mushroom-type weight but you can also use a nail weight. I like the mushroom-type weights most of the time because they're easier to rig, and they tend to keep your bait straight. A straight fall matters. I only use nail weights when I'm fishing light, 1/16-oz or less.
> Hook placement is key.... I place mine perpendicular to the body of the lure, about 2/3 up away from the weighted head. This helps me keep the bait upright during my retrieve, and it makes the whole body of the bait move.
> A lower placement will make it more difficult to keep your lure upright, but it will give more tail action. However, you still want to be near the middle so the bait collapses when you pull on it.
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"I actually got married in my '95 Ranger at this sandpit."
- Rayburn Open winner Chris Miller, who's from IA 🤯, talkin' 'bout the sandpit he grew up fishing. Not sure who's more of a bass-head, him or his wife! 😁 Love it man....
Chris is from Spirit Lake, which happens to be the the location of Berkley's Area 52 lab...👀
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Ladies 'n gents I present to you bass-head David H.'s 15.14-lb MX bulboseefus melon! Dang!! Said he caught it at Sugar Lake flipping a 5" YUM Dinger in gp!
Gotta be the biggest dang ditchy ever caught on a Dinger?? Big congrats man – that fish doesn't even look real! 🤯
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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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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 HANDS ON THE BEST STUFF!
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Gitcha BB social at these links
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