BassBlaster

Slick and calm tips, What the Damiki rig is, Fish early and late now

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on January 16, 2020

The tourney season’s on yo! Feelin’ like:

Let’s GO!

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

Today’s Top 5

Couple tips for high-sky, no-wind fishing.

Tripped over these watchin’ Jarrett Edwards’ show with Bobby Barrack on the CA Delta. Pretty sure Bobby kinda knows a thing or two ’bout that water, but this stuff applies to anytime it’s slick and sunny:

> Bobby: “We want to throw spinnerbaits and reaction baits…big-boy stuff…. When it goes flat like this right here, you have to fish the conditions. You have to calm things down.

> “Your options are dropshot, Senko, maybe even a punch [rig]. Something stealthy, something quiet. The fish aren’t gonna chase. Very seldom are they gonna go through the roof….

> Jarrett: “Why [is the boat drifting with] the current and why are we not fighting it…letting us drift along….”

> Bobby: “Boat positioning is so huge…. Most guys don’t realize that stealth is key. Use it, you can do it. Practice it.

> “We’re going to use the river…mother nature as much as we can, for the stealthy presentation.”

How ’bout those sunglass tan lines on Bobby??

Here’s what the Damiki rig does.

Case you’re wonderin’ what the hype was/is, here you go — on @damikifishing:

Do a coffee and/or Mountain Dew detox for at least a week before fishin’ that deal….

Would you fish a pre-rigged dropshot leader?

Another new deal from/in Japan I think — reminder that they call it a “down shot”:

Here’s a YT vid showing a guy rigging it.

Guess the advantage would be heavier-cover stuff?

Guess if you tied a rubber band around the tail…

…this might happen?

Word is it was caught at Percy Priest, TN. Need an “erp” name for it. Sterp? Flerp? What you got?

This really IS the bassin’ juice.

FLWer Hunter Freeman ain’t far outta college but he’s got his roots in old-school bassin’ cuz:

HAHAHA! Fer sher Blaster material! But…wonder why he doesn’t have a vid of eatin’ ’em….

News

1. Love how a PA fishin’ bro wanted to go out.

Very cool but of course sad too:

Lord please help his wife and kids who are still here.

2. Aaron Martens has a new color.

Called “AM Edge,” here on a Realis Apex Vibe 100:

Bait’s on TW but don’t see that color yet. Aaron likes him some purple: purple on his jersey/boat, the Roboworm color “Aaron’s magic” has a bunch of purple, and I think I saw him drink this once:

3. Scott Canterbury gets Fishlife products.

Fish care stuff. Check ’em on the TW.

4. Shin Fukae and Kelly Jordon now running Bass Cats.

Here’s Shin’s post and info on Kelly. Were Ranger and Skeeter respectively.

Seems like Skeeter has been shedding some BPT guys and not sure what’s up with Ranger not at FLW and losing some dudes?

Should also mention another factor: Kevin “occasionally pink” Short.

5. Few guys get Hardcore.

BPTer Jason Lambert, FLWers Ryan Salzman and Spencer Shuffield, no relation to B.A.S.S. legend Ron Shuffield (kidding — Spence is Ron’s son).

6. Chris Zaldain shows how to tie the FG knot (FB vid).

Gotta learn it (talking to myself). Supposedly the deal for braid to fluoro. Glad to see Chris still has the battle ‘stache…lookin’ kinda Jared Lintner-ish:

Btw if you’re gonna fish Vision 110s this spring, here’s Chris talkin’ ’bout his V110 gear (vid).

7. Jacob Wheeler’s fave 5 cold-water baits (vid).

Spoiler alert: Rapala Shad Raps, 1/2-oz jig with a Bandito Bug, Storm Arashi Vibe, Rapala Shadow Rap Deep jerkbait with bigger hooks to make it slowly sink, Storm Largo Shad swimbait.

8. Dave Lefebre fishes underspins year-round (vid).

Says the deal is the Fish Head Spin Underspin, and you better rig your plastic dead straight and glue it there:

9. 3 Canadians will fish the Classic.

This is either really cool or really disturbing…hahaha! Just kidding man, it’s cool…unless one of ’em wins.

Kidding! Congrats to ’em.

10. Elitist Kyle Welcher on BassEdge Radio.

11. Morizo Shimizu has a new YouTube channel.

Ex-Elitist from Japan, channel’s of course called “Bigmama Fishing TV.”

12. FL: Couple Kissimmee Open observations.

a) This a proof for X Zone baits? (maybe?)

Dude who’s in 1st on the co side at the Kissimmee Open is fishin’ ’em? On the other hand, Brandon Palaniuk was a little lower than 1st on the pro side (had to call it out BP lol!).

b) Outta 220+ boats, think I counted less than 5 MLF BPTers fishin’ so….

13. OK: 2 lake record smallmouths recently.

First Lake Hudson. Cory Conley caught this 6-lber on an AL rig near Salina Creek — lookit the tail on that bad boy:

Then Clifton Light caught this 6-03 on a black/blue jig below Fort Gibson dam:

14. Learn ya about the new MotorGuide Katana prop.

Says it uses NASA technology:

That’s Nate talkin’. He LOVES the new Tour motor. Yep he works there, but he loves it so much I had to throw this at him: “Hey man if your boat was sinking and you had to save one thing but it couldn’t be the trolling motor what would it be?”

He never answered and looked real mad so I was like, “Just kidding man…it’s okay, you can save the little motor….”

Hahaha! Made that deal up, but he DOES love that motor!

15. Is it me or do these Ned Dinger colors look reeeeeal gooooood.

Check ’em on the TW — dig the “amber green flake” and “black blue flake.” Wish they’d make it in “Elder’s magic”….

16. You flip with a bead?

Embarrassed to admit I’ve never thought about doing this — that’s a BioSpawn VileCraw with chart-dyed claws:

17. Look what Nishine’s gonna come out with.

Feast yo eyes on these, the new 3.74″ Erie 95SD jerkbait. 3/8-oz, “super slow floating,” gets to 4′. Can’t wait to try it:

Also gotta throw in these red lipless crank protos they posted [drool emoji]:

18. Ever see a “white glass” color ‘Trap?

Dang son that looks !!!!!!!!!!!!:

Tackle Warehouse has a bunch of ‘Trap colors, but the Bill Lewis site has all of ’em, which I believe is 15,752…or thereabouts.

19. Do you do this every morning?

That’s T-H Marine’s Wave Away screen cleaner and is a wise move….

20. Kistler has a new website.

Biggest thing is it makes understanding the different rods easier — has a guide and numbering system.

Remember that different companies’ rods of the same actions are NOT equal, so really understanding what you’re buying — especially if you can’t hold one in your hand first — is super important.

21. Hummer’s coming out with an electric pickup?

Sneak up to the ramp…sound-wise, not visually in that deal….

22. Google says AI can be used for better “instant” weather forecasts.

> …predictions are effectively instantaneous, meaning that our forecasts are based on fresh data, while [regular forecasting] is hindered by computational latency of 1-3 hours. This leads to better forecasts for computer vision methods for very short-term forecasting.

Or…we could look at the sky? That’s pretty instant and “very short-term”…lol.

Headline of the Day

You can grow big bass in Ohio

That’s a dang LIE! (Heehee OH bass-heads!)

On BassBlaster.rocks right now…

> Ike’s latest rig, Jo-Lee’s cold-water hardbaits, Latest stuff from Japan

> New type of hook could come to bassin’? Big melons caught! Best punch rig?

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

Josh Bertrand likes early and late for coldwater fishing.

Huh. Most peeps think mid-day is the deal when it’s cold cuz that’s when the suns up and the water’s warmer, but not Josh “fought the battle of Jericho” Bertrand:

> …recommends being up and ready to go before the sun rises. The earlier in the morning that you can hit the water, the better.

> “Even though that water is cold, I’ve found that fish still feed a lot at night. Especially when there’s a full moon, those fish continue to feed until very early in the morning. In the winter, I’ve found that I do the most damage at my first spot of the day. After 8 am it gets really tough.

> “While the morning may be a feeding time, the time right before sunset is more of a comfort thing for the bass. A bass is going to want to get warm, so you can catch them surprisingly shallow just by looking for the warmest water. The coves and pockets on the north side of the lake that have had sunlight on them all day long is a place to start.”

> …the best baits to tie on are a jig or a tube. “You need to be looking for hard objects.”

Only thing that makes me doubt ^ is when Josh was saying it, his dog was like:

Quote of the Day

“Don’t put yourself in the position of having to buy the next best thing or something that will just get you through the weekend.”

– Mark “my words” Menendez talkin’ ’bout makin’ sure you’ve got “everything” you need for fishin’ ahead of time so you don’t have a last-minute need where you compromise. “Everything” is in quotes cuz we all know it’s impossible to have everything we need. We’ll probly find out about something new today…that we 100% need…lol.

Mark also said:

> There are sales from time to time at every store in the country. If you have time, you can take advantage of them and save the extra money for something else.

Yep, the pros buy stuff (all the time) too, and yep they wanna save $$ too.

Shot of the Day

Doesn’t it look like this Lunkerhunt Spider is tryin’ to climb outta this bass’ mouth?

Ya got me

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of the best, worst and funniest in bassin’, as curated 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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