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Lotta rumbles about the B.A.S.S. DQs. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Is it a big deal? Is it apples to apples? Is it fair/just across the board? We will see!
Not sure if it's just me, but seems like B.A.S.S.'s Code of Conduct has been violated at least a few times over the last few years. I'll bring up Ray Scott again – that would be a no fly zone for him, probably for Helen Sevier too. And maybe even Jerry McKinnis and his group.
Anyhow stockpiling some good stuff that's getting back-burnered because of all the tourneys. Also next week's BB schedule might be jacked up because I will be fishin' and learnin', apologies. Let's git to it!
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If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing. Sorry bout that – email programs keep changing stuff.
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Top 5 and 10 baits from the St Johns Elite
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4th: John Garrett
> Strike King 5XD (citrus shad), 12-lb Seaguar AbrazX Fluoro, Lew's Custom Pro Reel (7.5), 7' 6" Lew's Signature Series Cranking Rod.
> "Caught all my fish...cranking a shell bar, 10-13' deep. Really they were post-spawn fish, assuming these fish were spawning in the Dec timeframe. While everyone was chasing spawners, I targeted post-spawn fish.
> "The fish were really close to the bottom – I could barely see them on FFS, but could see them good on side imaging. That's how I found them."
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Top 10's baits broken down
How the top 10's baits broke down in this one:
Jerkbait = 40% – Strike King KVD Elite 300, Berkley Stunna, Rapala PXR Mavrik 110 20%
Swim-jig = 30%
Flip plastics = 30% – Berkley MaxScent Stank Bug, Yamamoto Flappin' Hog, Berkley PowerBait Crick Craw
Wacky rig = 20%
10% each = Jig, Dropshot, Crankbait, Bladed jig (JackHammer), Speed worm (Berkley PowerBait Speed Boss), Fluke (weightless), TX rig
Shoutouts
1. Just want to take a look at what Gerald Swindle (7th) was fishing, as one of the best junk fishermen of all time. Always interesting so here goes:
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Top 10 baits breakdown from the Kissimmee Invitational
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IL's Ryan Armstrong led it every day and won it by 6-06 over Drew Gill. How Ryan fished:
> Fishing the pads in the mouth of the creek that flows out of Tiger Lake.... "Whenever I came in there, I noticed some flow leaving – it was going out from Tiger to Kissimmee, and I knew it was shell bars there.
> "I thought the current was holding them there because of the cold weather. That was my key. And...I got bites down on the southern end of Kissimmee, and it was it was current-related hard edge, on pads, and they were stacked – so there was a pattern."
He flipped different Beaver-type baits on a 5/0 Owner Jungle Flipping HD Hook and a 3/4-oz weight.
Here's what the Top 10's baits looked like – reminder that competitors could use FFS days 1 and 3 only:
Bladed jig = 50% – all unmentioned except the Z-Man JackHammer
Flipped plastics = 40% – Berkley MaxScent Stank Bug, Berkley PowerBait Pit Boss, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver
Dropshot = 30% – Big Bite Baits Nekorama Worm, 4.5" Berkley MaxScent Hit Worm
Stick worm = 20% – Gambler Fat Ace, Senko
Wacky rig = 20% – Berkley MaxScent General
Jerkbait = 20% – Prototype Yo-Zuri jerkbait, Duo Realis 130SP
10% each = Power shot (Big Bite Baits Nekorama Worm), Jighead minnow (Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ), Crankbait, Big hard swimbait, TX rig
Shoutouts
1. A little more from the always interestingly cerebral Drew Gill:
> ...targeted "extremely expansive pad fields," but shrank the amount of water he needed to fish by zeroing in on veins, points, turns or holes within the pads. Essentially, any irregularity had a decent chance of holding a fish, and anytime he found multiple such features in close proximity to one another, the probability increased.
> "Within 100 yards of a point or a turn, if there were any indentations in those, there was a high-percentage likelihood of there being a bass."
> Why he fished 17-lb Seaguar Tatsu for his bladed jig: "The thing I like about that Tatsu is it's really dense, so you have maximum sensitivity – you know when that blade stops turning, and you can reel it at really slow speeds. ...fishing it real slow...that 17-lb fluoro helps to keep it up because that diameter is so thick."
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Would you spend $1,000/day to fish for DD bass on a private lake?
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TexasMonthly.com had a deal on folks who do – and if I could afford it np, I probably would try it at least once! Some highlights from it:
> ...we're patrolling a narrow channel on Valley Lake, a private 1,100-acre impoundment near Savoy, a little more than an hour northeast of Dallas. It was commissioned in 1959 to serve as a cooling reservoir for a TXU Energy power plant, which operated along the shore for nearly 50 years....
> In 2019, Luminant, the energy company that owned the entire 2,300-acre property, known as Valley Lake Ranch, listed it for $24.5 million. An LLC owned by Texan Warren DuBose closed on it 2 years later.
> ...set up a hunting and fishing lodge on the property. For now, fishing is the primary activity, and it's restricted to paying clients...who fork over about $1,000 a day for the privilege. This marks his 5th trip to Valley Lake.
> A cold front has blown in, dropping the temperature into the low 50s. Winds howl at 20 knots. On just about any public lake, largemouth would become lethargic in such weather.... Here, without regular fishing pressure...the bass strike on every 10th cast or so.
> Most anglers chasing big bass on private waters are wealthy by any measure. Many are names you'd likely know, business executives in Dallas and Houston and politicians in Austin.
> Before the current drought hit about three years ago, Camelot Bell churned out 14- and 15-lb bass. Frazier began charging $1,200 per person to fish it. Some went out on his lake as many as 40 times over a couple of years.
If that sounds nuts $-wise, think about what a guide costs now:
> Roughly half of [OH Ivie guide Brady Stanford's] clients are from out of state.... He charges $1,000 dollars a day from Jan through Jun and then $800 a day for the second half of the year.
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The Lane train, Stick worm madness! All blue baits?
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He caught 'em on that bait when the fish wouldn't commit to the walking baits.
Also talks about the best depth to plant brushpiles – like 4-5' shallower than the thermocline.
4. Kyle Welcher's Bronco Bug flipping setup
Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug, 4/0 Gamakatsu G-Power Hook, 3/8-oz tungsten weight (pegged), 22-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro, 7' 6" H rod and "the fastest reel you can get."
5. Cody Meyers makes longer pitches
Sounds like what Mark Davis does:
> A lot of guys make short 5-10' pitches when they punch mats. I stay 25' back and make long pitches. I've had a lot of success doing that at the Potomac and Mississippi rivers, and at grass lakes all over the country.
Also gave a tip about fishing mats:
> Even if the water is 5' deep, the bass often lie just under the mat near the surface. I like to let my bait slip through the mat and fall to the bottom. Then I'll pop it up and down a few times.
> If that fails to get a bite, I reel the bait up and shake it on the underside of the mat. I've caught a lot of big bass doing that.
6. Zona called out '24 rookie issues in TnZ podcast
Didn't get to listen to the whole deal til yesterday. I guess he really ain't gonna pull punches when he feels strongly about something – good to see. Click that link ^ and it will take you right to it.
Btw I really enjoyed Dave Mercer's new podcast as well. Bottom line: Never believe Patrick Walters' BassTrakk weight!
7. AL: Sounds like all 3 okay after HS boat accident
Not sure what happened but it was serious. All 3 in the boat went to the hospital. So glad they are gonna be good! ✝️🙏
8. Berkley Krej will also have a BIGGER size
Outed the forthcoming smaller 85, also coming is a 128 – or wait, they're already on TW! Here's the new 128, here's the 100 and here's the new 85.
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Also this 10.25 was caught at Hodges by Jerry Yang, who was fishing a crappie jig (for crappie) in muddy water – go figure!
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I see that pattern all the time in my news perusin' – fyi!
Would you eat nutria to save Texas?
Maybe? Says it tastes like dark turkey meat or rabbit – guessing they mean wild rabbit. They need to tell everyone it tastes...crappie. 😁
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Brent Chapman's non-minnow pre-spawn baits
From the MLF site:
> "First, I use moving baits. That darn bladed jig...I was late to the game with that lure, but it works. I also use squarebill and lipless crankbaits, and spinnerbaits.
> "If I'm fishing an area I really like and the moving baits aren't producing well, I'll pitch a 3/8- or 1/2-oz jig and really pick the area apart. I may also pitch a creature bait around, too. I catch some of the biggest bass of my year on a jig pre-spawn."
> "If the fishing is super stupid tough, I have to go back to basics...I go back to my strengths: a bladed jig and squarebill. I'll simply go back and fish the areas I know to be productive and I work hard and squeeze out every bite I can."
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"...I think it's fun but man it gets exhausting, and when that scoreboard is going crazy, crazy, crazy with that forward-facing all day, that's a lot to handle."
- MLF BPTer Jacob Wall talkin' on the MLF site 'bout liking going to FFS for 1 period. Also said his practice is more focused vs last year.
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Don't forget about the Bandit "mistake" in that dirty water! Red on one side, chartreuse on the other:
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest stuff in bassin', hand-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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