Alright got a treat for you if you like good music, talented musicians, country, blues, swamp blues and/or singing + guitars – check a VA dude named Will Jones doing a tune (I think a cover) called "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde."

Dang son! Never heard of him and he's not lighting it up with follower counts – yet. Found out that some years back he even did a crazy bluegrass-fish version of VH's "Running with the Devil." A good sign! 😁

Listened to that Bonnie and Clyde tune like 15 times already.

Alright let's bass!

Gitcha Blaster video fix here:

Well, there's been 3 Opens so far, 2 with FFS: Rayburn and Eufaula, AL. The 2 FFS ones are the only ones Bassmaster Elite rookie Pake "deep" South has fished, and he won both of 'em – mostly with one of these:

But not only. Here's what he said about Eufaula:

> "When I was targeting the bigger fish around the shallow brushpiles, I would pick up the urchin bait. Its slower sinking rate allowed me to keep the bait in the strike zone as long as possible.

> "I was basically fishing it like a jerkbait, getting those big fish to come out of the cover and eat it, since I couldn’t see them on Scope."

The other bait was the Classic-winning 6.5" Berkley Lab Series Minnow (wakasagi):

> ...for picking off suspended bass on deeper structure...or moving fast throughout the water column.

> For deeper stumps, the Lab Series Minnow would get down to them faster, and allowed him to keep the bait in front of the fish longer, resulting in more bites.

His setups:

> Urchin: 20-lb Berkley GinClear Fluoro, Abu Garcia Zenon X Reel (8.3), 7’ 3” MH F Fenwick World Class Rod.

After Rayburn, Pake would not say or show how he was rigging/hooking that Coike and he's still thataway:

> Minnow: 10-lb Berkley X9 Braid to 17-lb Berkley GinClear Fluoro, Abu Garcia Zenon X Spin Reel, 7' ML F Fenwick World Class Spin Rod.

Quick note: I last-minute got Pake's win in the most recent Top 5 and did not know about the Minnow! But I think he mostly caught 'em on the urchin, aka Dave – which will make sense when you watch the vid lol.

How many dudes threw Coikes? Was anything else going on besides FFS baits? Let's find out – here's the baits of the top 10 finishers broken down.

Jerkbait = 60% – Rapala Mavrik 110 (2), BassMooch HC 130, Megabass V110 Silent, Megabass V110+1, Megabass V110+2

Urchin/Coike = 40%

Minnow = 40% – 6.5 Berkley Lab Series Minnow, Big Bite Baits Rollarama, 6.5 Rapala CrushCity Freeloader, Deps Sakamata Shad

Swim-jig = 40%

Flip plastics = 20%

Frog = 20% – BOOYAH Pad Crasher (sunburn), Gambler Popping Frog (white)

10% each = Dropshot (CrushCity Janitor)

Shoutouts

1. This up and coming kid finished 3rd: 😁

2. Don't know the ages of everyone, but the top 10 was – no surprise – mostly younger guys. So props to GA's Willie McMullen for getting 5th with power baits:

- Drew Cook talkin' on the Bassmasters. More:

> And there are far more of them out there than ever came up to the bank. We used to think bass were done spawning by Apr in the Southeast. Now we know there are plenty of them that spawn out deeper in Apr and well into May.

Wild, eh? To be fair – and I know he knows this – a bunch of guys did know that about deeper spawns, but not as much about "extended" spawning times.

Also, he didn't say it but folks have been wondering if this is due to catching more pre-spawners with FFS:

> Just from observation, bass don't seem to migrate or travel as far into backwaters or way up onto flats like they used to. It seems they want to spawn somewhere right off the main drag where deeper water is close by.

> Bass that still spawn shallow seem to be far more wary than they used to be. 20 years ago, bass would hang around within sight of the beds and make small laps, passing through the beds frequently. These days, they disappear, often retreating out into deep water for long periods of time....

> Also they seem to spawn faster. They get up there, get it done and get out.

He also says classic sight-fishing, at least in top tourneys, is on the way down.

Had to! Here's some stuff that stuck out to me:

The inventors – the Ron Davises

Took decades of fooling with blades and stuff to come upon the bladed jig.

Had a thought: If you were the guys who invented the ChatterBait – the Davises – and you fished tournaments, how long would you keep that deal to yourself? (Check Bryan Thrift's deal 👇!)

Bryan Thrift's win at Okeechobee

I remember covering this at the OG BassFan.com. After he won that deal (a Stren Series?), that bait took off. Yet another proof that tourney wins sell baits!

After that, one of the Ron Davises got in touch and sent me a couple of the first ChatterBaits, which I still have – in the package because I never fished 'em lol.

I didn't realize that Bryan won a bunch on the co-angler side using it, before he became a boater. He just didn't want to say anything about it. But the Davises were struggling and begged him to out it when he had success on it on the boater side, which he did.

The JackHammer

Here's the link in the vid to the beginning of how one of the best bass baits ever came about. Gotta thank Brett Hite for suggesting to Morizo Shimizu to come up with a JDM ChatterBait, and Z-Man prez Daniel Nussbaum for deciding to collab with Evergreen rather than I guess just ignore that Japanese version.

Other

1. The Class and Elite tournaments Gussy won were on the 4" size Scented Jerk Shadz.

2. ChatterBait sales are UP in the minnow era. 👀

3. Not sure who's more ChatterBait crazy: Stephen Browning or Brett Hite. 🤔 I think I might beat 'em both? I'm this kinda guy a lot of the time:

Me: "What are they eating?"

The other guy: "A shakey head."

Me: "Cool. I'm gonna start with a JackHammer." 🤣

4. Z-Man says one reason they make more-durable soft-plastics is it = less plastic waste.

1. David Mullins passed an independent poly

IG vid is worth a full watch if you are curious about the poly issue. Believe B.A.S.S. still wants David to take another poly with one of their own examiners.

If you're curious, it does not appear any questions were asked about his wife's pet raccoon...or that brush hog he borrowed one time from Andy Morgan...allegedly...😁

2. AR: How to raise trophy bass in your pond

Good info in that deal and this stuck out for me:

> Harvest is essential for producing trophy bass.... Remove 15-25 lbs per acre per year of largemouth bass less than 14" in length beginning 2 years after they were stocked.

3. DC: Most important fisheries $$$ law expires this year

This is the program where the feds collect excise taxes on fishing equipment and then send it to DNRs based on a formula. Hugely important and expires at the end of this year. Usually it is reauthorized no problemo, but...?

Click this link to easy email your rep and tell focus on this or be labeled ant-bass. On the internet. 😁

4. New SnagProof Pad Rambler

Interesting design tweaks to a regular frog:

> Strategically placed hook slits enable full compression of the frog, optimizing hookup percentages. [They call it HOP technology: Hook Optimized Penetration.]

> Precisely balanced to allow anglers of all skill levels to easily walk it nearly 180 degrees with minimum forward movement.

> Flash skirt: The perfect amount of [flash] is added to the rubber skirt for subtle movement and flash.

> Custom-fitted BKK SuperSlide Hook for maximum performance.

Quick IG video here.

5. Would you ever fish a black walking bait?

Black frogs are a thing but black Spooks? Those are Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencils – real good walkers. I fished a black Pencil once, after I saw a guy catch I think a smallmouth on one in NJ. Hard to get a bite in NJ!

6. Tackle Warehouse has some Sakamatas in stock

A few sizes of a few colors. Maybe some pressure on Sakamatas has been taken off by demand for urchins?

7. Allison + 300 gets to 108 mph (YT vid)

Long vid with specs and whatnot.

8. Ever hear of Lewmar poles?

Supposed to be lighter-weight too:

> ...electric operation with zero hydraulics involved...durable, low-maintenance design. ...a powerful 12V linear actuator that eliminates pumps and hoses. The result is a lightweight system with a cleaner installation and dependable performance.

And they have a portable version too (bottom pic):

9. New MLF Pro Catch video game

Only for Scopers...kidding! 🤣

10. DC: MI rep hates cormorants

😁 Intro'd legislation to control 'em. Some would say – about time.

11. NY: Hudson River fish suddenly good to eat??

That's the river that goes by NY City into the ocean – ultra-polluted. I ain't buyin' it and it sounds like a bunch of folks aren't either.

Line of the Day

A Troup County Trail Angler displaying a couple of HAWGS caught on West Point Lake.

Here's the pic that went with that caption – just some ol' angler takin' $$! 😆 #stealthwelcher

Fish will eat a minnow off the bottom??

Highlights from a good Justin Lucas YT vid about "blind minnowing" – fishing a minnow without FFS:

> One tourney they were on the bottom and he could not get bit on a Neko, so he fished the minnow like a Neko on the bottom and caught 'em.

> If they didn't eat it like that, he would shake it off a ledge like a jig or whatever.

> The fish have to be relating to something so you know where to make your cast.

> For drawing power, the bait has to be at least 4" and probably bigger than that, no matter what the forage size is.

> Don't use too heavy a head – 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 only. He doesn't get the same # of bites with a 3/8 and 1/2.

> Gear: 8-lb Berkley X5 Braid to 12- or 15-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro, Abu Zenon X Spin Reel, 7' 1" M XF Abu Zenon Spin Rod.

"His stories about fishing are great, but that's not who he is anymore. He quit fishing, but he's been sharing his testimony and sharing with others for the last 35 years."

- Pastor of Trip Weldon's church talking about Hank Parker, who spoke there recently. Hank is one of my favorite people – not just in bass fishing.

How about this MISSOURI 10.95! 👀 Don't see that every day. Caught by a bass-head named Greg Hauser on a spinnerbait! 24" long, 22.5" long.

58 degrees, 3/4-oz Picasso High Performance Double Willow Spinnerbait (hologram shad), 12-lb fluoro, 7' 4" MH F Phenix Recon Elite Rod.

Fishers of Men Tournament Trail

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