BassBlaster

Things worse than Corona for bassin, Offshore during spawn, Line tips

By (mostly Jay)

Posted on April 7, 2020

In case you haven’t heard, Aaron Martens went in for brain surgery yesterday. Unexpected. Hit a bunch of us way harder than the Corona deal. Aaron is one of the greatest guys in bassin’ — I love the dude — and is one of the best fishermen to ever walk the planet. Give him a rod, put him on the water, ask him to fish for some weird species and he’ll catch ’em. Amazing gift.

Anyhow, trying to have REAL faith about Aaron — not just hope, but true faith which means expectation. So Lord, I expect you to heal Aaron!

Read James Overstreet’s Insta post about him and watch Brandon Palaniuk’s Insta vid about him. Both outstandin’.

Quick Covid update: My daughter’s Covid might not be totally gone — still not feeling 100% but not too bad. She’s about 18 days in. My brother in London had about 4-5 days of symptoms but said it took about 3 weeks for it to be gone. So I guess Lily is on the same extended schedule. I think I’m over it now, which would be about 2 weeks. Hope and pray that every bass-head gets through it okay too.

One more thing: At some point after my daughter got sick, realized a couple times that I was like this…but too late:

Tape your fingers together peeps hahaha!

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

Today’s Top 4

10 things worse than Corona for bassin’?

Here we go:

10. The MN DNR decides to drain Mille Lacs to protect the walleye population.

Only thing they haven’t tried yet? Might seem somehow logical for ’em??

9. Bass-heads start talkin’ to fish like fly-heads do.

“Thank you fish! I love you. You’re so beautiful.”

8. Seth Feider shaves his ‘stache and gets a haircut.

Has happened before…

…and really messed some folks up:

7. Someone wins a tour-level event on a Johnson spoon.

All of bassin’ would be turned into a Land of Confusion (Disturbed version here):

– Why did this happen?
– How COULD this happen?
– What does it mean?

– Is reality even real??

6. Ish Monroe decides flippin’ and froggin’ are “out” and commits to an all noodle-stick approach.

At that point dig a hole in your yard, throw a bunch of canned goods in it and lock yourself in. I did hear that Thanos only uses spin stix….

Anyhow, no worries — chance of this happening is about like seein’ an octopus running on dry land:

Oh dang….

5. The tackle biz runs outta green pumpkin coloring.

Wouldn’t affect me much but lotsa folks would be like:

4. Even-better electronics.

So now you can know where every fish in the lake is, what species they are, whether there’s 1 or 5 under a certain dock, and watch ’em bite your bait. I mean, what’s left? Maybe:

How ’bout ones that bake us a pizza?

3. Tackle Warehouse loses its warehouse.

Hate even to mention it and hope it never happens BUT IF it did, it’d be worse than just about anything I can think of in bassin’. Probly only 1 dude who’d be happy about that:

Thanos wasn’t hugged enough as a kid I guess.

2. That WA governor keeps on going.

The dude who banned fishing, but apparently not BOATING?? Believe he’s the only gov’nor who’s actually banned fishing, not just closed ramps and such. #CmonMan

If this dude gets re-elected, appointed for something, moves up the ladder, or his political appointees get appointed for anything, assume the outdoors will be illegal at the earliest opportunity. Asked some WA residents about this guy and they were all:

Pretty dang surprised the SC gov’nor closed all state ramps/waters. #notcool

1. Asian carp aren’t wiped out.

For sure the worst. These dang things are the worst thing bass fisheries have EVER faced. #KillEmAll

Btw the headline that goes with that shot ^ is:

UN finds herpes killed millions of Iraqi carp

The koi herpes virus — I don’t know man, could be the deal….

“He was all Eeyore.”

– Hank Cherry’s wife Jaclyn talkin’ ’bout Hank’s moment of thinkin’ he might not seal the deal after day 2 of el Clasico. Full quote from a GREAT post about Hank scribbled by the one and only Steve “Ain’t Never” Wright:

> “He was all Eeyore. He said, ‘It’s happening to me again.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not. We don’t have time for this. This is the Classic.'”

I did see her slapping Hank in the face a couple times in the hallway of the hotel, wondered what that deal was about…hahaha! Anyhoo, here’s the champ in an Eeyore onesie deal:

Weirdly, Hank said something to me after day 2 that indicated at least part of him knew he was gonna win it, but now I realize that was after his convo with Jaclyn so….

Good Brandon Cobb line tiddybits.

Good stuff from the Bassin’masters.com — pay attention to the parts about the pros, who really ARE different from most of us:

Mono

> The rap on it is that it stretches, and the fact that it floats can be a disadvantage with some lures.

> …topwater baits. A line that floats will keep your lure from dropping nose down as you work it along. Another thing is that a slower hookset is better with most topwater lures. It lets the fish take the bait in its mouth deeper. The stretch in mono helps with that.

> …great cold-water cranking line. The bite will be lethargic. Bass need more time to mouth the bait. Mono, with its lesser feel and its stretch, makes it difficult to set the hook immediately.

Fluoro

> We want the feel and, because of our experience, we’re able to delay a hookset when that’s necessary. Some recreational anglers have enough experience to do that, some don’t.

[I definitely don’t wait — I’m like this:]

Little tap and jerk it to the next county man hahaha!

Braid

> It’s great for topwater plugs. It floats and keeps the bait up high and performing as it should. You do have to make sure you delay your hookset, though. You won’t get any help from braid.

> One issue with braid that you should keep in the back of your mind is that it makes a rubbing sound in heavy vegetation. If that bothers you, think about using fluorocarbon. In heavier test weights it’s almost as durable as braid.

He uses Yo-Zuri lines btw — Top Knot Fluoro and Superbraid (also comes in blue and yellow).

Here’s how Brandon tests all his lines — and I guess rods too:

New 150 hp ‘lectric outboard.

Made by Evoy, a Norwegian company. Here’s what it looks like:

But seems like it’s not plug n play — might have to design a new boat cuz here’s what else you need:

Prolly ain’t gonna be anywhere near the price of a gas motor either.

News

1. Josh Bertrand: Bed-fishing is risky on the BPT.

> “I wasn’t the world’s most patient sight fisherman to begin with, but I’ve spent an hour or 2 on a huge fish in the past while fishing a 5-fish format. Now, there’s no time to do that because if you lose 2 hours of your day, you’ll fall so far back in the standings.

> “Now I like to target the high-percentage fish that will bite quickly, and only give a fish 5 minutes before leaving.”

2. Mike Iaconelli keeping his clones locked up…

…in a shed on south Jersey bassin’ mafia property. I mean, he doesn’t have to do 5 things at once right now and they’re only clones, plus the shed’s kinda nice:

Just watch out for that Order 66 deal….

Mike’s also doing an online tourney, deets here.

3. Ott DeFoe’s on BassEdge Radio.

4. Larry Nixon might be back in June.

Meantime he’s casting lefty as he gets that new shoulder strengthened up.

5. This is the meanest you can look in one of those old lady bonnets.

Randy Howell on the MLF site:

Gonna recommend a BUFF and regular hat man! Wonder if this deal has anything to do with Randy being a librarian before he was a pro basser…?

6. More memories about Forrest Wood.

From Bernie Schultz.

Bassmaster’s Bryan Brasher and Billy Dance.

7. donny barone thanks Dave Precht.

Learn a few things about Dave if you don’t know him. A hugely key person in B.A.S.S. — and thus all of bassin’ — since almost day 1 and great dude.

Also watch db chattin’ with JO/Overstreet on Facebook. 2 great peeps.

8. FLW added old tourneys to YouTube.

Good! ‘Bout time….

9. AR: Pee Wee catchin’ ’em on Bull Shoals.

> The nicer fish have came on a Jewel Pee Wee Football Jig around the flooded bushes. Water temps are 59-61.

10. CA: Most northern Cali lakes closed.

Berryessa still open for now. Ramps and fishermen fishing from docks apparently the concerns. I can see the docks, but don’t think I ever wanted to be closer than 6′ at ramps anyhow….

11. AL: Tagged bass tourney on at Lake Martin til July 4.

Need to buy a ticket to be entered.

12. CT opens fishing early.

Good! Other states have done the same. WA is still CLOSED TO ALL FISHING. Not the ramps. All fishing.

13. ND says no tourneys allowed in Apr and May.

So all 4 of them have been canceled…heehee ND peeps!

14. WI wants 2c on St. Croix and Namekagon river smallie fisheries.

Regs survey.

15. SIMMS is making medical gowns.

Love it! Such like:

Didja notice the big image of a swimbait on the wall…lol.

16. Lunkerhunt has new braids.

Regular braid (8 strand) and Sinking Braid (8 + 1), not on TW yet.

17. Gamakatsu launched new finesse jigheads.

18. MO/AR: White River Marine laid off 350 folks.

Says 11% of the workforce. Scary deal, hope all okay.

19. ACA having online fishing tourney for college anglers.

20. FL: Suzuki building a new marine center.

On 20 acres in Panama City:

> “…will help us to develop, test and refine the best possible Suzuki outboard products for today and tomorrow….”

Been hearing these outboards are “bulletproof,” was hopin’ to get one for my Vexus but seems the ‘Zuki folks are tough to get ahold of…all good….

21. New type of yak launch?

Crank lift by Golden Kayak Launch:

22. Covid $$ resources for small tackle/marine business.

> The CARES Act includes upwards of $350 million of forgivable loans to pay for up to 8 weeks of payroll costs, including benefits. The loans can also be used to pay mortgages, rent and utilities.

23. PSA: ALL Buck hunting knives on sale til Apr 17.

Headline of the Day

Sometimes it’s a good idea to be anti-social

Sometimes?? Fishermen, hunters and I guess trappers led the way here mang!

On BassBlaster.rocks right now…

> Here’s some new bassin stuff! – part 1

> New bassin’ stuff coming at ya! – part 2

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

Roy Hawk’s OFFSHORE spawn strategy.

Roy’s from the West which makes him…a little different, if you know what I mean. Talk to any of those West Coast cats and you’ll know hahaha! BUT seriously: Western dudes come up with some real innerestin’ fishin’ stuff like this — from the MLFers website:

> Targeting those fish offshore when all the attention is on the bank, that’s when you can find big fish and big groups of fish all to yourself.

> When I’m away from the bank, I look for hard structure like contours, points, ledges and rockpiles.

> You can also look for what I like to call “medium targets.” Those are brushpiles and man-made structures where fish will position on….

> …I always like to start out with a crankbait. I love to throw crankbaits this time of the year, and really all year round. The depth and color of the water will determine which kind of crankbait you would use. No surprise there.

> …going with a 10′ diving crankbait would be your best bet as a general rule.

> Once you’ve located a good spot and you’ve hit them with a crankbait, it would be a good time to slow down with a Carolina rig or a jig. That’s when you can really clean up good. I like to use a Pepper Pro Series Football Jig with a Yamamoto Double Tail trailer.

> Something that a lot of people don’t do is use a Yamamoto Senko on a Carolina rig…super-subtle. If you want to go for something a little bulkier, I like to go with a Yamamoto Mermaid. It’s a really wide bait and it has big tails on the back of it. That’s definitely a way to draw a big bite on a Carolina rig.

More deets from Roy:

> C-rig: Mermaid = gp red flake/watermelon laminate, Senko = gp chartreuse tail, 5/0 Yamamoto Sugoi Hook, 3/4-oz weight.

> Cranks: Duo Realis M65 11A (chartreuse blues), SPRO Rk Crawler (ayu shad), SPRO Little John DD 60 (clear chart).

Quote of the Day

“If you find yourself stuck in a rut and unable to get a bite…Pick up your trolling motor, run your motor until you get tired of running, put the trolling motor back down and start over. It seems crazy, but I promise you it works.”

– Oh it’s crazy all right…hahaha! That’s Matty Lee makin’ the point (I think?) that sometimes it’s best to just go fishing instead of relying on research or overthinkin’ it or whatever.

He also may be sandbaggin’ cuz he says that to his bro Jordan before every tourney…maybe….

Shot of the Day

Give it up for Dale Fowler for lippin’ this 10.47-lb Toledo Bend ditch melon. Strike King Shim-E-Stick (watermelon/red) did the deal on the third try — he hooked her 2x before stickin’ her:

Random

Don’t think it was real but too funny!

Ya got me

Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup

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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