The next BB will be FRIDAY — aka the first day of the fishin’ weekend — because I’m a-goin’ fishin’ (woohoo!). Back at ya then.
If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s because a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
Okay I made all that up. Here’s how he won — he said:
> “Everybody forgot about the Decatur Flats this time.”
Hilarious and pretty much sums it up. More:
> Day 1 [his worst day] “they weren’t there. I started in the exact same spot, but they were not there. I found those bites on Monday, and never touched that stuff the rest of the week. I was hoping I was in the first flight — I was boat 26 so I went straight to it. But the fish were not there.
> “The second day I started in the exact same place and it was on. That morning I had 20 lbs by like 9:00, which shocked me. I had 23 lbs by 10:00 and I was in the last flight, so I had like 6 hours to go practice. I started expanding more.
> “I found three more spots. Then day 3 had I had 22 lbs by 9:00 so I went another 6 hours practicing to find more spots.
His baits were:
> Lucky Craft RTO Squarebill crank, 2.5, TO shad
> C-rig: Unnamed creature bait (gp), 1-oz weight, 20-lb Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon [2′ leader]
> Unnamed walking-style topwater (chrome)
> Bass Pro Shops XPS swimbait, no longer made, here’s the actual bait:
…from our convo. First I asked him if he ever got discouraged not winning for 10+ years. He said:
> “Never discouraged. I believe in myself. I was hoping it would happen someday soon — otherwise I quit.” [laughed…but I think he was serious]
Asked him how he caught 20+ 3 days in a row:
> It’s like my best 3 days ever on Lake Wheeler or anyplace. Especially the Tennessee River [where] I always suck.”
Tak’s funny, great sense of humor…but he ain’t tellin’ even his best friends his fishin’ secrets.
> “It says ‘keep fighting’ [to the people in the recent Kumamoto earthquakes]. I thought, ‘If I have that much exposure on the last day [at Wheeler], I better bring the Japanese flag.’ So [the flag’s] not just for me.
> “When I missed the Classic, I was in Japan for like 2 months. I spent time with [family]. I still really enjoy fishing the States and living here, but I never forgot where I came from. I was born in Tokyo and still am a Japanese citizen. I’m proud to make a living here in the States, but I’m still proud to be a Japanese citizen. My point is, I don’t want to forget about where I come from.”
Amen brother. How #stout is that, love it.
> “I was flipping a 3/8-oz Terminator jig (black/blue) with an oversized skirt and a big [unnamed] chunk trailer. I wanted the biggest profile I could get.”
> “That big-profile jig was really hard to get exactly where I wanted it, but that was one of the sacrifices I had to make: I really felt like it would consistently get big bites. It also rained after day 2, so I was able to get a little tighter and old-school flip them out. Mostly I was just flipping every little place could find.”
Dave had his worst day on day 4. What he told me:
> “I can’t really put my finger on it — I don’t know. I could have had way bigger bags days 1, 2 and 3, but I laid off them. I don’t know if Sunday they weren’t pulling as much water, but I don’t think it mattered as far as where I was. I know I conserved — there were a lot more big fish in there.
> “Maybe if I pitched the jig 1” to the left all day I would’ve won — probably something stupid like that. I couldn’t have managed it any better than I did.
> “It’s weird — I got to fish the juice all day long, and I’d fished it other days only a couple hours. I had the winning area for sure.”
Crushing. It’s like this kid when he found out Iron Man wasn’t really…Iron Man:
News
1. FL: Bassin’ brother missing.
Left in a black and white Triton. Hopin’ he’s found a-okay.
…and help a little dude battling back from cancer.
…I guess?
4. Ashmore: More on Inseine jigs.
New sponsor, new company, he’s pretty pumped, what he told me about the jigs:
> “It’s taken a good bit of time to develop– here’s what we’ve done. It has a really good 4/0 Mustad hook which stays sharper longer because it’s tougher: It doesn’t just bump the first rock and it’s dull.
> “The cool thing about the design of the head is it stands the bait up on the bottom, and we recessed the hook eye so when you’re banging through the rocks it’s not beating on your knot.
> “Now we’re designing really cool colors that I’ve done well with…. The thought behind that is give them something they haven’t seen 400 times.”
Says his colors should be out in the next 30 days or so. Website here.
5. PA DNR tries again re Susquehanna.
Dept of “Environmental Protection” is either deaf or on the take I guess?
6. NC: Special Ops bass derby, Shearon Harris, this weekend.
Crosspoint boat ramp, registration opens 4 am, proceeds to benefit kids of special ops soldiers. #stout
Can’t wait for the pics…on the bucket list to fish it….
9. TN: Governor’s derby, KY Lake, May 14.
10. TN: HS TBF champeenship June 4 on Norris.
Merc also expanding capacity.
12. I would love to try this bait.
You?
Tip of the Day
About summer crankin’, but check the fine-tuning stuff. Standard Elite nuttiness about the deets:
> “I like crankbaits that have a wide wobble. They are better in the summertime when the water is hot and the bass are more aggressive.”
> When he’s home between tournaments, Omori spends more time casting into his pool than he does swimming in it. He studies the actions of different crankbaits, tunes each one to run perfectly and rigs them with red Gamakatsu treble hooks.
> At a tournament, nobody obsesses more over sharp hooks than Omori. If he even thinks a hook point has been dulled on a crankbait, he stops fishing and replaces the treble with a new one. He claims he changes the trebles on a crankbait at least five times a day during a tournament. Omori has become so adept at changing hooks that he can do this chore as quickly as most anglers can retie a knot.
Quote of the Day
It felt like crap — one of the worst feelings of all time.
– Dave Lefebre answerin’ my question about how it felt to finish 2nd. More:
> “I felt like I let one get away. But I’m a positive type of guy — I moved way up in the standings so it’s all good.”
Hold on, hold on, rewind. The “felt like crap” part. THANK YOU Dave for being friggin’ honest man! Heck yeah it felt like crap! (Was also talkin’ to me after like 11 straight hours in the basstro van so might have been a little cranky….)
Dude in the bar heard Dave talkin’ and was like:
Shot of the Day