BassBlaster

Solar flare bass caught, Jack hammering rocks, New baits

Word is Jordan Lee won another something. I think it’s something big. Just not sure if it happened a few months ago or a few years ago (heehee!) — still figuring that out but for sure will be getting the deets from him next week. More on the tourney time-delay stuff coming next month…just my 2c.

Wonder if all that MLF secrecy is related to Special Forces just being elevated to their own branch of the military (I believe)? Okay not, but we do have some bass-heads who have been — maybe still are — involved there. As always, THANK YOU and much love to all mil folks and families.

So cold here yesterday I thought my toes were in a Siberian prison, but should warm up a little this weekend. Will have time to get after ’em, hope you do too!

Today’s Top 4
Rare solar flare bass caught!
These ultra-rare bass species are really comin’ out! This’n — never before seen in the wild (that I’m aware of) was caught by Cliff Crochet’s Cajun friends on a spinnerbait:
That crazy-lookin’ or what!
New baits!
Gitcha random assortment — believe all are available now:

Cranks

Norman Speed N (chart blue)

Remember these figgered big at the last cold-water Classic:

Believe these are all handmade by Cliff under a microscope to the mellow vocalizations of Christopher Cross.

Bladed Jigs ‘n Jigs

CatchCo Googan Clickbait

Wins for the best new name for a bladed jig! Innerestin’…can only get ’em here for now:

2 new Z-Man Chatterbaits-ish

Eye Strike Chatterbait (top) and ChatterBait WillowVibe:

Fitzgerald Bryan Thrift Tungsten Micro Jig

Not sure why they’d do a jig with Bryan cuz he obviously can’t catch ’em…lol.

Megastrike Beat R Blade Bladed Swim Jig

Articulated head.

Random bait stuff

Clockwise-ish from top L:

Gitzit Dying Shad — lookit the hook orientation vs the bait.

Longas Baits Tiny Shad (3″)

Hookup Baits Tube Jig (brown gold)

Loon Outdoors UV Knot Sense — sounds like it smooths/coats the ends of braid to fluoro/mono knots. If so, could be cool.

Duckett RT Shad (gizzard shad)

Skinny Bear Big Cull Swimbait (aurora smoke)

Rods ‘n Reels

Abu Garcia Winch casting rods

Okuma: Guide Select Crankbait Rods, Serrano LowPro Reels

Lew’s KVD stuff: casting reels, casting rods, composite cranking rods

Ark Brandon Cobb Rods

Seminole ‘Yota baits breakdown and…
…how Keith Poche won it by 7 oz:
He used an armor-plated tin boat he tests for durability using multiple jack plates…
…on rivers like these:
Lol BOTH those shots are from his ‘gram. For real, he did fish a 17’ flat-bottom tin rig at Seminole so we could go waaaaay up the Flint River and fish for shoal bass — which he did catch on day 2 but on days 1 and 3 it was all largies:

> The current was so swift he could not troll against it or hold himself in position very well. So he opted to just drift down the river with the current, pitching to any current breaks caused by bank cuts, cypress trees, logs or rocks. His bait of choice was a Berkley PowerBait Pit Boss (gp) with a 3/8-oz weight and…Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon.

> “…they would bite as soon as it hit the water and started to fall. There was no need to work the bait….”

> On day 2…quick-pitch program died. “…I changed up a little bit and started throwing a 3/8-oz Humdinger Spinnerbait to main-river rocks breaking current.”

> …he caught a 4-lb largemouth and a couple more keepers on the spinnerbait [in a slough].

All Pit Boss again on day 3. Here’s how the full top 10 fished — seems like most were in the main lake:

Punching = 70%

Spinnerbait = 30% — looks like 2 were War Eagle double willows

Jerkbait = 20% — both Megabass

10% each = Flip plastics, Frog, A-rig, Wakebait, Worm

Is this “boat camo”??
Check it — @abassingape’s Triton, I think in Japan:
Reminded me of when the navies of the world tried out camo for their ships — which I believe was for real:
BUT maybe it’s to be like Ted Nugent??
News

> The Buddy Bass Tournament for officer Mark Priebe will take place Sat from 7 am to 3 pm at the Port of Kimberling City Marina and Resort. The tournament is a sanctioned Bass Cat tournament and eligible for Quest Incentives.

Team tourney, deets here on FB.

2. Terry Scroggins has new eyes, working on new knees.

Says he can see like he’s 15 yrs old again, now in the process of getting bionic knees. Not sure where this is all going down but someone smuggled this shot out of a warehouse owned by Boyd Duckett:

Huge. So I guess some guys are going TO Ranger! Alton Jr ran a Phoenix this year. Both had been Skeeter.

4. Josh Bertrand’s spybait rig and beard tips.

Asked him a little bit ago:

> Berkley SPY spinbait, 7′ 2″ Abu Revo Winch spin rod, Abu Revo Winch 30 spin reel, 8-lb Berkley Nanofil line (low-vis green) to 6-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro.

Had more Qs for him

How do you keep your beard so red? Do you eat a lotta crawfish?

> “Hmmmm…yeah man it’s definitely a crawfish deal. Lol.”

Have you ever rubbed a bait on your beard for good luck?

> “I can’t have my beard smelling like MaxScent man.”

HAHAHA love it!

5. Dean Rojas says don’t take smallmouths personally.

> “If they bite, great, but don’t count on them being in the same place day after day. You can’t take it personally when you don’t catch them. Just move to the next location.”

Why do smallies seem way easier to catch than largies but also way harder?

6. Here’s the top of the Central Open standin’s.

Note that the top 4 get Elite Series invites:

Jason Christie – 547 points

LA’s Darold Gleason – 540

Lee Livesay – 539

GA’s Marc Frazier – 533

Brandon Palaniuk – 531

> Livesay and Palaniuk are both double-qualified as Elite Series pros. That potentially leaves the door open for 6th place Central Opens angler Kenta Kimura, the Japanese pro who has regularly competed in the Opens since 2013.

My only Q is: If Brandon is away from ID more than he’s there, is he still a resident??

Good luck to ’em all…sounds like Lewisville has a bass shortage but someone’ll ketch ’em….

7. AL: A few B.A.S.S. Nation Champeenship baits.

WI’s Pat Schlapper won it on Pickwick fishing for smallies in current just like he does back home:

> “I caught a lot of good fish on a 1/2-oz jig[head with shad-colored paddletail swimbaits, mostly Keitech and Big Bite according to Bassin’Fan] this week, but the 3/4-oz made the bait swim right. It was like the smallmouths had never seen it before.”

2nd and 3rd are also going to the Classic, big congrats to ’em all:

> LA’s Blake Sylvester “…pounded a grassy stretch of the river…using a Delta Lures Thunder Jig, a Humdinger bladed jig and a Missile Baits Shockwave (gp).

> AZ’s Justin Kerr “…rotated between a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and an Evergreen JackHammer Stealth Blade.…”

8. Strike King is testing prototype derp-only bait.

Texted to me, looks like it actually works!

Not only does it say stylin’, redneck, deer huntin’ and winter bassin’, it’s made outta one o’ the best materials for staying warm and comfy: merino. Also comes in a light grey:

On my Christmas list….

10. TX: One of the college Rayburn derby winners is named Thor.

Ya think he’s a hammer?? Lol. Congrats to Cooper Thor and Cody Barchenger of Stephen F. Austin U for winnin’ the Abu Garcia college tourney last weekend.

11. CA licenses can now be renewed online.

12. FL fishing guide taken to court for touching a manatee??

Touched its back with a fishing rod, he said to help get something off its back. Caught on a drone, peeps went nuts. Guide says in a post that a drone had been following him, which apparently is a thing in some areas. Isn’t there an angler harassment law in FL?

13. FL: Okeechobee is ultra-high.

14. MLF is looking for an editor.

Must be able to make a variety of coffee types for Boyd, Gary and other owners/execs — kidding!

15. MI: Detroit boat show (Jan) canceled.

16. Humminbird releases hi-def Manitoba maps.

Here’s the side view of one of those lakes:

HAHAHA! Not sure there’s any bass there, just wanted to do that bowl thing….

17. SA: Here’s you some South African bassin’ legends.

Justy Varkevisser, Darryl Quinton, Micheal Matthee, Barry Grove and Charl Carey. Looks like South African bass-heads might need some Skeet, Ott, Bubba, etc. nicknames? I also think their name for “reservoir” is “dam”? Can you lmk South African bass peeps?

But their weights sound impressive like: 8,965 kilograms. And they get to fish different structure like: “a huge anthill in the eSwatini section.”

Couple standout pics from a tourney….

Not sure this boat brand would work in the US:

Smallest boat I saw:
One dude was rockin’ a YOLOtek PowerStick — outstandin’!

…and all 4 were netted by a commercial fisherman, I think in the same pool. Kinda funny….

19. CA: Delta smelt still MIA?

Consecutive years in a row?

20. TX: Does this sound sketchy or is it just me?

Usually TX is ahead of the game but:

> In a designated “stocking zone”…[TPWD] approval will not be required to stock tilapia, although escape of the fish into public waters remains unlawful. Additionally, in this zone, the department will administratively “fast track” applications for 10 or fewer triploid grass carp for pond stocking.

Line of the Day

“My biggest goal is to get as many Black people involved in the sport as possible.”

Not bassin’ — South African fly fishing but a very cool story of being ate up with fishing. Stay after those fish brother!

PSAs

1. The BOOYAH Bankroll Jig is excellent in rocks. Not gonna say it’s better than your fave rock jig, but so far I have zero hangups. Here’s what it looks like — not designed for rocks but it works in ’em:

2. BoatUS says don’t have too many lights on underway — I get the whole nav lights thing, especially in a shipping channel, but I gotta think that more lights (LEDs) are probly better at night on a lake?
On BassBlaster.rocks right now… 

Election bassin’ stuff! Good late fall tips, Why smallies shouldn’t smoke??

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
Brett Hite talks JackHammerin’ rocks.

Said a few weeks back that I’ve been doing this but don’t think (?) I’ve read anything where Brett was talkin’ ’bout it. So I called him and:

> “That’s kind of why we make that 1.25 or even the 3/4-oz…letting it go to the bottom…can fish a flat with isolated rocks or [just rocks] or whatever.

> “I like to cast out there and let it go to the bottom instead of yo-yoing it like you do with a ‘Trap, which you can do. I almost side-sweep it so it keeps it a little lower to the bottom — side-sweep it, feel the vibration, let it go back to the bottom. That way you’re not raising it off the bottom so much.

> “And for the best hookup ratio [with Chatterbaits] it’s best not to do an upwards worm or jig-type hookset. It’s best to do a side sweep so you’re already in that position….

> “You can cover a lot of water on a deeper flat, fishing rock or a channel ledge….

> “A lot of times they hit it when you go to pull it, if the bait runs into something or when you’e letting it go back to the bottom. Sometimes it will feel like jig bite or sometimes the line just goes slack or you go to pull it again and it’s just heavy.”

Fwiw I do this with a 1/2-oz bait just fine, and my bud only yo-yos it. For whatever reason, sometimes strikes come right by the boat. Tiddybits from Brett:

> Trailer: “Either the paddletail Zako or just the original Zako.” If trying to mimic a crawfish: “…some kind of creature bait will work too…..”

> “Below 48 degrees they seem to really start getting off of it.”

He uses the same setup for rock as grass: 7′ 3″ H glass Evergreen signature Combat Stick, Daiwa Tatula SV (6.3), 20-lb Sunline FC Sniper fluoro.

In case you’re interested like I am, the JackHammer snaps are #2 Decoy Egg Snaps. I’m gonna get some and put them on regular Chatterbaits to see if there’s a difference. Tip on this from Brett:

> “Every once in a while, when you’re in grass a bunch, the clip will come undone…opens up. Take little drop of superglue or some epoxy and just dab it on there — it’s a little insurance deal.”

Quote of the Day
“The kayak fishing scene feels like more of a family, community atmosphere. It’s completely different from the big boat world.”

– Hoooooole on a sec there hoss! That’s recent ‘yak champ Ryan Lambert talkin’ a little smack there man! Kinda a big statement from folks who measure in inches rather than lbs hahaha!

All good. I’ve met a few serious yakkers on and off the water, they seem cool but they do use a LOT o’ spin gear. Guys in the bass tubs seem…busier? More intense? A little less inclined to chat? Kinda like…me out there. HAHAHA!

Shot of the Day
Worldwide Watson was having this dream, but then he woke up and found he was in a hospital bed after a certain medical procedure:
Lol he really did have that procedure, can click here for some deets if you must. Sweet Major League Fishing shot….
Ya got me!
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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