Memorial Day weekend man. Few things it makes me think of:
1. As always THANK YOU to our military families, especially those who have lost a family member in the line of duty. What can we say to you except once again what Jesus said in John 15:13 – "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Amazing.
2. We've lost a bunch of great bassin' folks in the last couple years. I hope I get time to remember and salute 'em all this weekend.
3. Insane boating weekend – be careful out there. If I get to go, I'm going late, probably on Monday when everyone else has beat it!
While you're tryin' to figure out what to fish, bear in mind bass used to be – and still could be – caught on this:
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One more thing: Reminder that the next BB Sea Foam Top 5 of the week vid should be out tomorrow – here again is last week's. Thx for watchin'!
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Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this 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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What Brandon Palaniuk fished at Fork.
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That's your AOY leader, finished 2nd at Fork and 1 of 4 guys to break a Benjamin there – here's what and how he fished:
> "Coming into the event I really wanted to catch them on big swimbaits, but I quickly realized that bite was there but not strong enough to have a shot to win. So I switched gears and spent most of my time staring at the 'birds.
> "With how spread out the fish were, I knew the deep schools were going to have a lot of pressure. So I tried to find more small groups that would get overlooked. I found those fish relating to hard spots in the timber from 10' to 25' depending on the spot."
> Flutter spoon ("I would say the name but I honestly have no idea – it's one I buy at a gas station every time we go to SC") 20-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro, Daiwa Tatula 150 Reel (7.3), Alpha Angler prototype rod.
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More
> He did not change the hook on the spoon.
> Just like Lee Livesay, Brandon used a combo of Humminbird Mega 360 and Minn Kota Spot-Lock. "Mega 360 played a major role...allowing me to identify the subtle pieces of structure that were the sweet spots where fish would group up. Having a thorough understanding of those areas was absolutely key because the fish were constantly moving and it allowed me to be efficient and time my casts perfectly."
Unrelated to Fork but...Alpha Angler, which BMP designs rods for and partly owns, just came out with a new rod, the Zilla Vaader – believe it's a limited-edition variation on the Zilla flip stick. Brandon says it's "the ultimate bottom-contact rod. Lighter and more sensitive than the Zilla. It feels like an extension of your arm."
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Top 10 baits breakdown from the Gville MLF Pro Circuit.
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Congrats to LA's Nick LeBrun who's been hotter than pickled ghost peppers so far this season so guess the win was kinda on schedule. Here's what MLF said he feeshed:
> ...fishing an offshore ledge where he tossed a 10" V&M J-Mag Worm...paired the worm with a 3/4-oz V&M Mega Shakey Head...supplemented the worm bite with a 4.5" Producer swimbait in the "blue crack" color, which he threw on a 3/4-oz homemade swimbait head.
Soft swimbait = 20%
Neko rig = 20%
Shout-outs
1. Michael "I always finish in the top 10 now" Neal finished 3rd.
2. Redcrest champ Bobby "I didn't punch you that hard Kumar" Lane finished 4th.
3. Jacob Wall (6th) was kneelin' 'n reelin'! Guess he'd been watching the '82 Classic? He was also using this hook on his Nichols Lake Fork Flutter Spoon – never heard of it before, a Savage Gear Grip Treble. Instead of a split ring it has epoxied 120-lb braid which supposedly makes it less likely fish will jump off:
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4. Spencer Shuffield (7th) – no relation to Ron Shuffield...just kiddin'! – has been pretty consistent on the Pro Circuit the last couple years. He has 2 top 10s so far this season, had 1 last season and I believe 3 in 2020 so his time's comin'! He's also a hard bait freak and loves all the Hardcore baits – in this case the Hardcore Bullet Crank 7+ and new 5+ (blue sexy shad) fished on ledges with 14-lb Yo-Zuri T-7 Premium Fluoro:
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30+ limit at Monroe Lake, Indiana?? 🤯
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Another dirt-A third-A from a state for sure not known for it. Big congrats to Robert Gilliland Sr and Jr for their 30.55-lb limit in an IN B.A.S.S. Nation derb-A in April:
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2nd was 14.61 pls which sounds more normal! Has a 30+ limit ever been caught in IN before?? Gotta point out again – tourney limits, big bass, this is some year so far.
Tx to whoever gave me the heads up, sorry man I couldn't find your note!
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Do you stick a plug in this boat and drag it home or...?
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Don't know whether to be heartbroken, confused about how that happened, or laugh?? Hopefully nothing bad went down. Posted by Hallman, aka B Rad Lee Hallman, not sure from where.
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Here's you a combo ATV, UTV, snow sled, boat, ice shanty, hunting blind, golf cart and probly some more!
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Called "The Wilcraft," site's here. Safe to say it was designed by dudes! 👊😁 Love it man, not sure what it costs – I'm like:
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> "Tendinitis in both elbows keeps getting worse with each tournament. When slowly turning the handle on my Lew's started hurting the elbows real bad, I knew I couldn't go today. First injury in 34 years, a lot to be thankful for!"
> "It's really been a bummer. I've been having one of my better seasons that I've had in a while. After Friday's weigh-in, I was sitting around 30th in Bassmaster AOY points.
> "I went and saw a sports medicine doctor on Monday morning, and she suggested that I just need to cool it. It's really common sense – if something is harming your body, you need to stop doing that thing."
Wish I knew that when I was younger lol! Hope Jay recovers fast and permanently. Pro fishing for sure is rough on the body.
> ...knowing I had qualified for the Bassmaster Classic allowed me to look at off-the-wall stuff and things I was confident in.
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4. Here's your 2 AOY leaders.
On The Elites, Brandon Palaniuk is 20 ahead of John Cox, who's 21 ahead of David Mullins.
On the MLF BPT, Jacob Wheeler is 16 ahead of Jordan Lee, who's 29 ahead of Andy Morgan.
Don't know if it counts because of the cherry Kool-Aid – lol kiddin'!
> "My wife Julie got me started drinking a gallon of water a day about 2 years ago. She's the super structured one of our marriage. Never misses a fitness workout and always drinks her gallon of water each day."
> Hackney is 10 lbs lighter than he was 3 years ago and feels great at age 48. He credits water consumption as playing a huge role in his wellness.
> "I grew up with guys like Rick Clunn as my hero, and he was always looking for performance advantages ranging from meditation to diet. People thought he was a weirdo. Nah man, he was just ahead of the curve. And now he's kind of the last man standing from his generation."
Bet Hack's got that bilge runnin' all day long hahaha Hack! He also mentioned Aaron Martens had a gallon of water by him all day every day. Okay Imma try it.
If you don't know that term, it means how he trusted his life to Jesus. Takes guts for men to be vulnerable one on one let alone in public, so big props to him. And his story might be similar to yours or someone you know so... from the MLF post:
> On an early summer day 4 years ago, LeBrun stood onstage holding a $100,000 check, his wife of 6 years, Jolene, invisible in his mind. 2 weeks later, LeBrun said he was on the side of the road in LA preparing to commit suicide.
> Caught in a self-described web of lies weaved together by his own ego, the check that was supposed to solve LeBrun's problems had only made them worse. Though his fishing career was taking off, LeBrun's marriage with Jolene was on the rocks. The couple were separated and seemingly beyond repair.
> "I was chasing fame and fortune. I was the president of my own fan club, and I thought getting a major win with major money would fix it all. But it didn't. It left me feeling more hopeless and broken than ever."
> In 2018 LeBrun reached the peak of grassroots fishing at the All-American on his home waters. According to LeBrun, his image was the problem. He felt like a character playing a fictionalized version of himself, one that needed to be perfect to feel worthy to others. "It was a complete 180 from the truth," he said.
> But the truth did come out. Instead of taking his life, LeBrun called a good friend that immediately connected him to crisis manager and chaplain Craig Kennedy. And it was Kennedy who pointed a shattered Lebrun down a pathway where he could begin picking up the pieces and feeling complete.
> "Craig told me not to do it," LeBrun recalled. "He said, 'Hey man. Listen. Don't do that. Because that's not the answer. If you do that, there's not going to be any chance of things working out. Just come see me. Come see me.' He talked me off the ledge."
> A few weeks later, Jolene invited Nick to church. Though they hadn't spoken in weeks, LeBrun accepted the invitation and became a man of faith.
> "I realized that I was in need of a savior like I had been told my whole life. Until that point, I had stiff-armed the idea. I thought it didn't apply to me. But finally I realized that I do need Jesus Christ in my life to continue in any way. That didn't just patch up our marriage, it made it brand new."
Awesome. Praise the Lord for a new start. Props to MLF for posting it.
B-Lat be sayin':
> "I used the Fury Flip and was seeing every fish hooked in exactly the way I want them to be, and I was landing a greater number of the fish that bit."
Gotta run this pic – cracks me up. Looks like this fish plum wore him out:
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> ...a new series that will film this fall and premiere in Jan 2023 – the General Tire Team Series. The General Tire Team Series will showcase the 80 anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour, joined by the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE champion, competing as 3-man teams across 4 events....
> The General Tire Team Series will succeed the current MLF Cup events, which have aired for 13 seasons on the Outdoor Channel.
Liked the team idea when I first saw it, wish it was not delayed broadcast tho. I get it, but an event kinda loses something when you do that in my 2c.
Elizabeth Chapel Church in Gallipolis, 5 pm. He's a great and fun speaker so go if you can – and if you need a speaker, he's your dude!
Rapala's got you covered with 5 variations of "bone" for the Skitter V – from top to bottom that's:
- Wish bone – Bone white back, sides and belly, black shad spot.
- Ghost bone – Bone white back, clear sides and belly, black shad spot.
- Holographic bone – Iridescent bone white back, sides and belly, black shad spot.
- Clear pale olive – Olive-green back, clear sides and belly, black shad spot.
- Ghost clear – Clear back, sides and belly, black shad spot.
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The new bone and bone/clear colors are available in Rapala sizes 10 and 13. A 10 is 4" and 1/2-oz. A 13 is 5.25" inches and 1-oz. Both have #4 VMC black-nickel round-bend trebles.
GA Outdoor News tracked down the shot of this 14-07 that's still the lake record – caught by John Burnett in 1986 and verified by the DNR back then:
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Locals been trying to keep everyone out from one of the biggest public lakes in the state:
> Zarrillo said the Greenwood Lake Commission has yet to take a stance on the construction of a boat ramp at Brown's Point Park. However, he said the group has received "a lot of heat over the years from citizens and bass fishermen."
> The complaints have been warranted, he said. "The general opinion is that it's a state lake, it's a public lake. We need some kind of public access – I don't think anybody in their right mind would really dispute that."
Heck yeah bass-heads, keep the pressure on! 👊
Only 1 ramp open and it doesn't sound great:
> "It's really thick sticky mud so people ultimately end up getting stuck and they have to be rescued."
> ...by late Sept, the Jackson Lake and Palisades reservoirs will be drained to 2% to 10% of capacity, leaving many boat ramps out of the water.
...sounds like on a few National Wildlife Refuges, lead ammo too.
Native to the Midwest, found in WA and CA already. Yep it's green pumpkin....
That's what that post claims. Federal money.
More lawfare to keep an eye on. Sounds like it was done but not the way they want it now:
> "You can't assume the same hydrologic conditions that occurred the last 10 years will occur the next 10 years," said Lauren Rule, an attorney representing the Concerned Friends of the Winema and 4 other environmental nonprofits.
Okay but you can't assume it won't get better either, right? This is over OR spotted frogs, which to me look a lot like leopard frogs.
Props to Marlin mag and Capt. Jen Copeland for taking a common sense look at the whole "30 by 30" (the UN 2030) agenda and how nonsensical and scary it is – which they did because it would affect their fishing. If you look far enough into this whole deal you will see that it would affect many, many natural resources that are now public.
Peeps on the biz side of our industry mostly have climbed on the 2030 thing because they think they "have to" to "get a seat at the table" with the Biden administration. Doubt the Biden peeps will listen but who knows, maybe they're right. Tough call.
Headlines of the Day
In NY. I really have no idea why anyone would do that...? 🤣
Seriously?
PSAs
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2. Been seein' this at some ramps:
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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> When I'm faced with a spring cold front...I start looking for my bass anywhere from a quarter of a mile to a full mile from where I think they should be or from where they were the day before yesterday.
> Too many anglers limit their search to a couple of hundred yards. That's not even close to enough. Bass swim. If you stop to think about it, you'll realize they can swim a mile in just a couple of hours. That's not all that far, or long, to get somewhere more comfortable.
> For the most part I'm looking for any kind of break, irregularity or contour change. Of course, the perfect situation is when I find a deep channel swing or sharp drop alongside a spawning flat that was used or is about to be used. It's more likely that what you'll find is a small drop somewhere or maybe a ledge that you didn't see before.
In this sitch he likes a jerkbait, a shakey head and a Carolina rig.
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"Why would you ever sling an 8-lb-plus fish with a $300 glide bait in its mouth. You know better than anyone that bouncing off the carpet is bad on the fish. You pros always trying to look fancy for the camera."
- 🤣 That's one of the comments on Chris Zaldain's Insta post, vid below. Man they were crackin' me up! Don't think I've seen that many Monday mornin' QBs – like this'n too:
> Maybe try to not boat-flip fish with a bait that you've had tied on and maybe have forgotten to check the line...just puttin added stress on stuff that can easily be watched and maintained so u don't lose $$ and big fish.
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Texted Chris that he needs to be eatin' more soy 'n broccoli, and dressin' down on camera hahaha! Seriously tho – loved the clip AND the comments!
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Two one and onlys – Clay Dyer and Hank Parker. Clay doesn't want any sympathy – even so he is an inspiration to me and others, and he's also a reminder to me that a) anyone can do anything and b) follow what God puts on your heart with no fear and He will make a way:
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Okay all you hotdog fans – do NOT look at this!
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"Hot dog filler." Didn't know there was such a thing and wish I never knew...sorry! lol
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest 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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