If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
Read his full pattern deets here on BassBlaster.rocks (are you readin’ those? cuz they’re good!). Couple interestin’ excerpts about key equipment:
Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor with Spot-Lock
> “There was a lot of current and the thing that was really important there was making repetitive casts. I had to sit in certain places on either side [of the spillway]. You couldn’t just throw anywhere and get a bite. You had to make that cast over and over before you’d get a bite.
> “It was too deep for my Talons to work, but with my new Ultrex trolling motor I could hit the Spot-Lock button on it and stay perfectly still. It kept that boat steady in the current so I could make that same cast over and over. A lot of times I’d get bites back to back, so that trolling motor was huge to keep my boat positioned where I needed to be.
> “It took a lot of fatigue out of it too. I could walk all over the front deck and not have to worry.”
> “I ran my HydroWave whole time on that spillway too, and I felt like it truly made a difference. You’ve got fish there, and they will feed at times, but you have to make them feed before they’ll bite — I couldn’t make them react to that swimbait. I had to make them want to bite.
> “I used the Power Pattern, had the volume cranked up probably 75% and ran it on 30 seconds [intervals].”
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Will get to his baits in a sec, but check this from his full pattern story on BassBlaster.rocks:
> “I was fishing sand drops — basically super-shallow sandbars with current running over them, dumping into deeper water on the other side. I looked on Google Earth [which had aerial images] when the water was lower and clearer [to find the spots]. I’d go on my phone, find one, go fishing, check my phone, find another and go fish it.”
Pretty cool. Here’s his baits:
> Swim jig and swimbait: 1/4-oz Outkast Swim Jig (white) with a Keitech-looking Daiwa ribbed swimbait (white/sight flash). “I wasn’t just winding it. I’d pop it quite a bit and let it fall too…fairly erratic.” He threw it in places that had eelgrass. Otherwise it was the same swimbait on a 1/4-oz jighead. Fished ’em on 17-lb Sufix.
The topwater in that shot is an old-school Storm Chug Bug, the only bait he used in practice — as a search bait. More about his strategy on BassBlaster.rocks, but that is the bait I referred to last week as a KILLER bait for those river smallies. Seemed like they couldn’t resist it. Wouldn’t get it every time, but couldn’t resist it.
Can Gerald Swindle get any love? How ’bout a Care Bear? Anyone??
Okay what I mean is the dude is fishing pretty much lights-out and I don’t see any mention of it anywhere other than the top line on the Bassin’master AOY standings. Weird. So I chased him down and asked him 3 kinda serious questions…because dang it he deserves some serious questions:
1. Why are you fishing so well?
Sold our house and moved to Guntersville this year. Went from 5,000 sq ft to 800 sq ft — decluttered our lives, made fishing a priority, spent as much time as I could on the water. When I’m home, I’m focused on having fun.
2. Why are you being so quiet about it? [Didn’t mean this like he’s a braggin’ dude, just usually not so quiet.]
Even though my personality seems big and loud [SEEMS?!], I’m a very humble person.
3. You appear to be the most calm and focused I’ve ever seen you. What’s going on — meditation? Listening to soft rock? You get a new cat??
I’ve set some goals and been very focused on reaching them. I’ve been blessed this year and may be doing stuff a little different. Will share it with you when the season is over.
Hmmmm. Innerestin’. Maybe it’s no more flat brims?
Seriously, here’s the deal bass nutz: This is a different Swindle. Possibly a new Swindle. The way he’s fishing this year is a BIG DEAL. Hope he gets these:
…as seen in the Bassin’master shots from the derby:
Not sure if you’re aware, but Tommy Biffle — who won the last upper Miss Elite — got a little close to Ott and it t’weren’t pretty. A spectator caught the conflict on camera, you can hear the guy talking in the vid:
Check out how much Trip’s sister looks like him:
Hoochie mama!
Released alive and well. Swam away just like this fish:
Lookit him go!
Lol, personally I don’t care — the fish is already dead, happy for the guy. At 9.98 lbs would be a new MI record, which was just reset last October with a 9.33 out of Hubbard Lake. The 9.98 fish was caught from the Indian River…on a nightcrawler.
Will say once again: Believe most record bass seem to be caught by accident….
News
1. LA: Girl killed in bass boat crash.
Dang it. Hurts just to read it. Let’s be careful out there people.
2. All smallies could’ve won the Elite.
Would’ve been a rarity. Seth said: “For sure. I lost 5 fish that would’ve won the tournament, all smallies.” He did weigh largemouths, but said he regretted his day 1 decision to abandon his smallmouth bite and hit a backwater for largemouths. He didn’t do it any other day.
3. Clent Davis didn’t weigh the last day.
Had a couple fish but took off because of a bad back.
4. Props to Elitist Dennis “TJ” for helping build a wall.
To hold back flood waters in LA.
5. 2017 Costa Series schedule out.
Northern Division DOES have waters north of Mason-Dixon…almost (Potomac River is half). TN makes Central and Southeastern divisions, plus champeenship.
6. Merc doesn’t reup with FLW.
7. MD: Volunteers wanted for Potomac bass balls project.
8. Midwestern bass will thrive due to climate change.
First reaction: Duh. Second: Does this mean Al Gore invented bass??
9. LiveTarget ISO couple folks, including marketing.
10. International Trade Commission slaps down Garmin.
> “…Garmin treated the Commission’s exclusion order like a nuisance: instead of importing certain infringing sonar systems, it imported each system by separating the components into two plastic bags (to circumvent the exclusion order), put those two bags in the same box in the United States, and sold the infringing boxed systems after importation.”
Uh….
Tip of the Day
Why so much Chug Buggin’ in this issue? Honestly I’m fascinated that this old school bait works so dang well. Probably been at least 10 or 15 years since I’ve fished it or saw one fished, but when I was up on the upper Miss 2 weeks ago it was out-finding and out-catching fish about 3:1 over walking baits. Can’t wait to fish it here at home on the Delaware Reever:
Quote of the Day
Obviously a hundred grand would’ve been pretty cool.
– Seth Feider answerin’ my question about what it felt like not to win this one. First he said:
> “Obviously I was disappointed. You’re not going to be in contention to win too many, and I feel I was on the right deal to win. But it was a good week — it was good for my career, and I made it to Mille Lacs.”
For a dude trying to make it, $100K would’ve been huge. Imagine how much Mountain Dew, fluorocarbon, tungsten weights and gas that buys. Or you could put Lambo doors on your tow vehicle:
Shot of the Day
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