Okay so these need to be fished...real bad:
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That color is "brown craw" but to me it looks AL craw-like, meaning a little greenish too with that orange belly. Someone please send some time or a way to STOP time, for a little feeshn! 😁 Hope you get out after 'em this weekend!
Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this 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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How to stop crankbaits running to one side (or how to make 'em run to one side?)
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> "Look at the 2 baits pictured – the one on the left is installed properly and the one on the right is not.
> "The [left] eyelet, split ring and hook are all 90° with each other. This allows 2 hooks of the treble to straddle the bait and the 3rd hook will be centered below.
> "The bait on the right is not 90° – this will make 2 hooks want to favor one side of the bait. This will make your crankbait want to pull to whatever side the hooks are favoring.
> "It doesn't matter what brand you use, a lot of them come out of the package this way. With everything being mass-produced it's very easy for this to happen.
> "So next time you have that bait that wants to run to one side or the other check your front treble. It might be as simple as turning your hook around."
The wally-eye guys figure this stuff out because they troll crankbaits. BUT Brett at Target Walleye did find this older TickleTackle Bassin' vid where they talk about it some. Love those guys, I gotta dig into their stuff again....
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Top 10 baits breakdown from the James River Open.
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Congrats to 2nd-year Elitist Kenta Kimura who'd never fished the James before for winnin' it by 3+ over Keith Poche. Check Kenta's innerestin' bait c-lection:
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That's a DRT Tiny Klash swimbait, 3/8-oz buzzbait with a red Berkley Power Flutter (Japan-only bait) and a Deps Evoke 2.0 squarebill (also in red craw). How 'bout that buzzbait color combo?
Flip plastics = 40% – One was this "direct dropshot" fished by Kyoya Fujita (10th), bait is an OSP DoLive Beaver:
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Worm = 20% – 1 TX rig, 1 Neko rig
10% each = Hard swimbait, Finesse jig, Swim-jig
Shout-outs
> Keith Poche's name (2nd) seems to come up a lot in these 5-fish triple-A tourneys.
> All Koby Kreiger (5th) did was flip a critter bait: a V&M Swamp Hog Jr. Gotta love that!
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Would you wacky-rig this bait?
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Check Ned Kehde describing a swimbait.
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First, I am in no way making fun of Ned who deserves much respect for the Ned Rig. This whole deal just made me laugh out loud. So here you go, from a looong In-Fisherman post 'bout the 10,000 Fish Shimmer Swimmer, now redesigned but here's the original one Ned was talkin' 'bout:
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> The length of its head and predorsal area is a half of an inch. The length of its snout, which is the anterior part of the head, is about 1/8 of an inch long.
> The circumference of the largest portion of its head and predorsal area is about 1 1/2 inches. The epidermis of this area is etched with a few lines that somewhat represent the mandible, preopercle and gill membranes.
> Its isthmus, breast and belly are curved, exhibiting the contours of a red shiner and a bluegill.
> From the end of the head and predorsal area to the anus and the beginning of the caudal peduncle area, its torso is 1 3/8 inches long.
> Its anus is where the Strobe Strip is inserted. The size of the torso diminishes as it approaches the anus.
> The caudal peduncle area stretches from the anus to the tail. It is 1 3/8 inches long. About an inch from the anus, the caudal peduncle has a circumference of about 11/16 of an inch, and its dorsal area, which is flat, has a width of one-eighth of an inch. Its ventral is thin and sickle-shaped.
Few reactions:
1. With all respect to Mr. Ned, I feel a little dirty after readin' that. 😁 I mean, it's kinda "medical"-sounding....
2. Was not aware that swimbaits had, uh...private parts. In fact, I kinda wish I never knew that.
3. I thought an isthmus was something I learned in high school geography, not biology?
4. I will never play Scrabble with Mr. Ned, or if I do it won't be for money. I also don't think I'd wanna fish against him in the MLF format....
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"Hey look – if I'm a bass fisher, for a pro living, okay look, and you're tryin' to tell me what to wear, I'm gonna get on the front of my boat, I'm gonna drop my pants, okay, and you can kiss where the sun don't shine."
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> For the 5th time in his career – and the 3rd time in 2 seasons – he was going to be the first man to congratulate the man with the trophy.
> In one of the more unbelievable developing stats...it would also mark the 3rd time Mosley has finished 2nd to OK hammer Jason Christie.
Wow! Bryan rightly says that this means Brock's time is coming. The example of lots of 2nds before wins I remember best was – Aaron Martens.
had a few minutes with him a while back, had to ask him about it since I'm not a big Pop-R or popper guy:
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Gear he mentioned:
- Rebel P71 Pop-R
- 20-lb mono
- 7.3:1 gear ratio baitcasting reel
- 6' 6" - 7' rod
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They are the: AR-15, Grenade Launcher and Flake Thrower.
Okay just messin' – they're the The Ploppin' and Choppin', the Buzzbait/Buzz Frog and the Spoon Jacker:
> "The length of each of these rods does a couple of things. The first is it allows you to cast a bait a mile. In clear water, the longer the cast the better the chance to get a bite.
> "The second is it allows anyone to manipulate the bait around rocks or trees. Specific to the Ploppin' and Choppin' and the Buzzbait/Buzzfrog, the tip is built to handle braided line, which is so critical with topwater baits."
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> "When you lift it and it comes up through the water column, it actually drops head first. Some people like [lipless baits] that shimmy, I usually don't. I like one that stays in contact with the cover that I'm fishing.
> "I really like a bait that's gonna dig through shell bars...it causes a lot of ruckus on the bottom that triggers a lot more strikes than I think most would."
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Called "The devil and his lures." A real good post about a topic most folks don't know how to talk about. Big props to him and to Bassmaster.com for runnin' 'em. And btw, Shaye's not just talkin' to Jesus-believers!
Low water and low snowpack.
Here's a shot of the new "crimson chrome" color, and one gal's fish story that goes with it is insane. Short version is 61 bass in 1 day with water temps in the 40s to start:
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Heard a rumor that Bill Lewis' head man Wes Higgins ate a suspect mushroom, had a dream about rolling donuts in powdered sugar with elves dressed like wood ducks, and woke up thinking about that color and 2 more but could only remember that one...after he ate a donut that morning. But I can't be sure that's what really happened...because Wes has had this dream before...🤣
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- Gotta love the name – we're all pyschos for the basses!
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Love it, yuge congrats!
13. LA: 2 LA HSers sign with Northwestern State U.
Let's go! Congrats! Can't link it, at natchitochestimes com
Had been at Crestliner/Brunswick and Gander Mountain. KastKing also hired a new creative director, Regina Gray.
...in the James and Chickahominy rivers.
Upper Yellowstone and Shields rivers because the smalls ain't supposed to be there.
Wow that's a lotta water – it's a huge rez. At least 1 ramp getting sketchy too.
> ...2 scholarships will honor female graduate students with a demonstrated commitment to pursuing a career in fishery management and conservation.
B.A.S.S. has had so many great conservation directors....
To get rid of hydrilla. 2 things:
- That's a LOT of grass carp.
- They're supposedly sterile, but they don't test every one.
Will it work with Asian carp?
> "We captured 2/3 of the spawning run. That's a little over 10,000 carp," said Bajer, who started the company Carp Solutions to develop technology and handle the removal. Last summer, they removed an additional 6,000 carp with baited traps.
> Some of the other concerns include how long the toxic chemical will remain in the lake, the fact that ProcellaCOR eventually breaks down into chemicals that are as toxic as the parent and the fear that decomposing milfoil could even increase the risk of harmful algal blooms.
> By Apr 6, the water hyacinth planthoppers, Megamelus scutellaris, had whittled down the cover of the invasive superweeds on Hartbeespoort Dam to 12.5% from more than 40% in Feb.
...and therefore the critters that eat 'em do too.
Headline of the Day
For sure Chicken Little media is the deal these days, but all this craziness about the round goby? I mean, okay it will change things if it gets into Champlain, but it's "dangerous"?? Dangerous like:
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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One of the best bassin' baits ever created, and in that deal ^ Gerald Swindle says he's got about $1,100 worth of 'em he paid for himself. Here's some juice – with extra pulp 😁 – from one of the best with this bait, Stephen Browning:
> "Prior to last year I'd spent most of my time throwing a 1/2-oz JackHammer because it just never failed to produce. But...I made an adjustment by frequently scaling down to a 3/8-oz lure, even in slightly deeper cover.
> "My son Beau, who's a competitive college angler...while I'd be fishing the standard 1/2-oz JackHammer, he'd throw that 3/8-oz and fish toe to toe with me all day. He showed me just how well that lighter bladed jig moved through cover.
> "I watched Beau fish the lure just a little slower than I was fishing my 1/2-oz. Besides fishing right with me, bite per bite, I noted how he was getting his lure to tick the grass tips or laydowns branches and rarely hang up."
> ...admits he never just casts and retrieves a ChatterBait straight back to the boat,...employing a 7.5:1 high-speed Lew's reel to exercise more control over his retrieve. "That reel picks up 30 inches of line per turn. I can burn the bait if I want, but can also slow way down, like I'm cranking a squarebill crankbait.
> "The high-speed reel also allows me to go from slow crawl to burn in a single half-turn of the handle, or vice versa. Between the rod tip and my reel, I can make the lure do a lot of cool triggering moves, such as those left-right jukes or hunting actions that often trigger the biggest bass. And believe me, some of the biggest fish will often eyeball but fail to bite a bladed jig until you make it do something extraordinary."
> "...spools with 20- or 30-lb fluorocarbon for bite transmission and for reading the lure's action. "Sometimes the strike is really violent. But much of the time, it just feels like you suddenly lose contact with the blade – and those strikes can be easy to miss if you've got the wrong rod or line.
> "I run a 3-way rotation of durable ElaZtech trailers: a RaZor ShadZ, DieZel MinnowZ or GOAT [grub], one for each of my 3 ChatterBait rods. Seems like when bass show a preference for one specific trailer, it's a 10:1 scenario – it's that critical.
> "The trailer is what gives your ChatterBait its actual profile – the body shape and action bass see first. Its bulk also dictates the ChatterBait's running depth."
> Browning believes the RaZor ShadZ runs the deepest, allowing the lure to penetrate deeper cover or maneuver along edges. "Its relatively thin profile and subtle forked tail also impart a less-aggressive action with less water resistance – reminds me of throwing a flat-sided crankbait.
> "The 4-inch DieZel MinnowZ fishes more like a small squarebill, providing medium running depth and a more aggressive tail-thumping action. Finally, for working around extra-shallow cover, grass and laydowns, the 3.75-inch GOAT excels, almost zeroing out my snag ratio. Rig the GOAT flat and it prevents the lure from turning over, protecting the hooks and acting like a weedguard."
> "I switched between the trailers on the JackHammer based on how I wanted the bait to run: the DieZel MinnowZ would make it rise more, and the Razor ShadZ was better for keeping it down and digging along the bottom."
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"My favorite pair of shoes I wear when I am fishing tournaments are covered in rhinestones."
> "I would encourage other women to fish or to follow their dreams, no matter what they might be. 10 years ago I'm not sure I could imagine I could do this. It was something I had been dreaming about, but I really never thought it would happen."
> 4 years ago she met pro anglers Jimmy Houston and AL's Scott Canterbury at a fishing tournament in GA and told them of her dream to fish tournaments. "They encouraged me to pursue it and said how they needed more women involved in the sport. So I did and here I am."
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Gitcha chrome red, white 'n blue 🇺🇸 swimbait bite! Believe this was in Korea – @groove.h on Insta:
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Uh no they don't! 🤢 I'll stick with wings:
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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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