BassBlaster

Water buffaloes of the week, Okee baits 3-5, How to Hydrowave

Today’s Top 5

Water buffaloes of the week!

Gonna kick this off with this ginormous melon, a 14.3-lber caught by Austin Vowell 2 days ago outta Neshoba County Lake, MS. Dang! That’s a new lake record, but still about 4 big lbs short of the state record. Check that tail and belly — doesn’t look like it was gonna spawn or anything….

Another teener, this time a TX ShareLunker at 13-01 from Lake Naconiche. Caught by Larry Mosby on a jig in 8-10′:

How ’bout this tidal LA 10-lber caught by a teener, 15-yo Brennan Silcio, off a dock with a 3/8-oz Bruiser Custom Jig (b/b) and Havoc trailer (lots of Havocs so…):

> “She swirled and I saw it was a bass, and I was like, ‘Oh, man.” And then she jumped, and I was like, ‘Oh, Lord.'”

Tis the season for T-Bend DDs. Here’s one o’ the latest, Beau Loughman’s 10.78 caught by a stump flippin a Missile D Bomb (b/b) with 20-lb Seaguar fluorocarbon (not sure which one), Lew’s BB1 reel and a 7′ Lew’s Custom Speed Stick:

Windin’ it up with Norman Land who caught two 10+ bass on T-Bend on the same day, the same spot with the same bait,1 1/2-oz 6th Sense jig (black blue purple) with a Strike King Rage Craw (b/b) on 17-lb Seaguar fluorocarbon:

3rd-5th Okeechobee baits.

Here you go!

3rd: Cliff Prince

From the bottom:

> Greenfish Tackle TAT (black back/silver side/orange belly) — “fished on top” [no way, lol].

> 4″ Bass Assassin Pure Craw (Delta neon, NOT Delta melon) — for sight-fishing.

> Fitzgerald T- Fitz Poppin Frog (white) — “bounced on top of matted pads.”

> Bass Assassin Fat Job (gold rush) — “flipped in hardline.”

4th: Fletch Shryock

> 17 of my 20 were on the swim jig. Swam the jig around in a spawning area [1-3′ deep] and tried to target spots they were possibly bedding. Although I believe the majority I caught were not spawning, I think a few were and I was able to get them to react to the jig.

> 3/8-oz black/blue unnamed swim jig, 5″ Yamamoto Double Tail Grub (gp), 50-lb test Spiderwire Stealth braid, Abu Revo ALX (8.0:1), Abu Ike 7′ 4″ mh rod.

Asked him why he mixed the jig and trailer colors — if he was color blind because of all that orange he wears (lol). Said: “I just like mixing black/blue and green pumpkin. Just a preference that probably doesn’t make much difference.”

5th: Greg Hackney

> L to R: 3/8-oz Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Swim Jig (white) with matching Rage Lobster, same jig/trailer but in black and blue, 3/4-oz Hack Attack Heavy Cover Flipping Jig (b/b) with matching Rage Lobster.

> “I swam the jig in lily pad fields in 2′ of water with a hard bottom — they were spawning there. With the flipping jig I targeted isolated cattail and tule patches in and around these spawning areas — post-spawn and prespawn females seemed to be setting up in them.”

Hack assured me he doesn’t have to fish his own jigs every tournament, but…he can’t help it. Also said this about Squatchin’:

> Saw only two skunk apes the whole week. The wind the last day seemed to cut back on skunk ape movement.

Hahahaha! Is that great or what?? Because…he was serious….

Castledine’s crazy Costa.

First, let’s get this outta the way: Todd Castledine doesn’t just own Rayburn, he #pwns it. Has won 3 BFLs there, probly more I’m unaware of, just won the FLW Costa there…and check out how he did it:

1. He had the flu.

> Castledine was running on empty, thanks to the remnants of a recent bout with the flu, which caused him severe nausea….

> “I haven’t been able to hold anything down in like 5 days, but that’s no excuse. I’ve just been run down from fishing a lot….” [Didn’t know you could get the flu from too much fishing but I wanna try!]

2. He was in 9th going into the last day.

5 lbs behind 1st and…

3. It was a cold front:

> …dropped the air temperature by about 17 degrees, and the water temperature fell about 8 degrees. Many pros struggled…. [I guess cuz they DIDN’T have the flu??]

4. He sacked 27 LBS!!

On a day when the 2nd-biggest sack was 20-02 and the third was 18-00.

So of course the dude won the whole dang thing! Is that stout or what? Gotta give him a double cojones:

5. Almost forgot this extry craziness on the last day:

> “About 2:10 I pulled up to a deep spot in about 18′ that I hadn’t fished in a month. I dropped the trolling motor down, threw out there, and in about 10 seconds I said, ‘I’m not going to catch anything out here.’ I pulled the trolling motor up, took off down the lake, and after about half a mile I did a U-turn and went back to that spot. I threw out there, and on the first cast I caught that big one [a 9-lber].”

That happens to me ALL the time Todd! Sheesh. Dude has leprechauns selling rabbit’s feet in his yard or something….

Best baits at Rayburn.

Sounded like a fun one to fish since lots o’ stuff was working. But here’s the top 10 broken down — and again, it’s the % of the top 10 that used a bait so it won’t = 100%:

Flip plastic = 50% (Strike King Rage Bug = 30%, 1st, 2nd and 5th — looks like all were blue craw)

Here’s Castledine reppin’ one:

Swimbait = 30%

Crankbait = 30% (6th Sense = 20%)

Castledine used a Strike King 2.5 squarebill, but other guys — including 6th Sense owner Casey Sobczak (3rd) seen here — used 6th Sense baits. Casey’s were a Cloud 9 C-15 and C-25 for deep fish and a Movement 80 for shallower ones:

Lipless cranks = 20% (Rat-L-Trap = 20%)

Swimjig = 20%

Vibe jig = 20%

Worm, frog, jig = 10% each

Worm was the Strike King Anaconda Castledine used to catch that deep 9-lber on the last day, and the frog was actually the new Strike King Popping Perch (ghost gill).

Most often-mentioned brand = Strike King. Seems those folks are doing some good seeding/harvesting in TX.

Shout-out to Tommy Martin who finished 10th. Still strokin’ ’em!

Co-angler smokes 99% of field with just 6 fish!

Deets I have: BASS Texas Nation Top 6 tournament on Falcon Lake, TX, 2-dayer. Co-angler Robert Moseley of the Brush Country Bassin’masters brought in 39.11 lbs — even though he was limited to just 3 fish a day!.

Day 1 was 20.47 and day 2 was 18.64. All out of the back of the boat. Beat every boater except the winner, who weighed 41.02 at 5 fish/day.

Only pic I have of the dude, had to get it through an Area 51 connection:

Heard he was fishing soft-plastics. Anyone know exactly what, love to hear it.

Shout-out to bass-head Duane C. for hipping us all to this. Tx mang!

News

1. How ’bout J-Will?

Ott DeFoe’s leading the Elitist Angler of the Year standin’s cuz he’s kicked tail at the last two (10th and 2nd), but how ’bout Jason Williamson? Finished 17th at Cherokee and 8th at the Okee. Why?

> “I was comfortable the way I was fishing at both events. Cherokee was winter-time fishing very similar to how I fish at home. Okeechobee was typical Florida-type fishing that I’ve grown to like over the years of going down there.”

Two things:

1. Wish he said something funnier but gotta give him props either way.

2. For my $, the AOY standin’s are the best indicator of who’s hot goin’ into the Classic — ‘specially when those two guys have gotten better at each one. Yep, Conroe’s a different fishery and Keith Combs will be there unless he gets detention, but….

2. Matt Lee wrote a column…

…but the reason I’m mentioning him here is his killah rig:

3. Did Seth Feider get older?

Of course he got older but…is it the stache?

4. Two can’t-miss Elitist quick vids.

Not even gonna describe ’em, just click:

5. Kurt Dove new GM of Hayabusa hooks.

Hooks have had a little buzz lately, Kurt is an FLWer, former Elitist and co-host of BassEdge Radio. Post says they are the #1-selling hooks in Japan?

6. Mark Rose on BassEdge Radio.

7. DC: Trump wants to roll back clean water.

Ruh-roh. Looks like he wants to gut a federal rule that B.A.S.S. and lots of other folks supported.

[Disclaimer for all you sensitive types: This ain’t political.]

8. CA: Clear Lake open again to motorized boats.

9. TX: ShareLunkers heavier or not?

> Researchers on the ShareLunker evaluation project found that over a 4-year period…compared to wild fish of the same age (4 years old) and gender (female), ShareLunker offspring weighed more by a half pound on average.

Half a lb — is that a lot? Maybe start feedin’ ’em trout? Oops, I mean start “stocking” trout.

10. VA: Hokies memorial derby April 1.

For a lost teammate. RIP bassin’ brother.

11. AL: Largest-ever FLW college derby.

On Gville, 248 teams…whoa. Winners were from Tusculum College, TN and fished super-shallow (2′) pockets with Strike King Red Eye Shads (sexy shad) and BOOYAH One Knockers (royalty).

12. IL: HSer signs with McKendree College.

Love it.

13. New B.A.S.S. radio show.

Thom Abraham knows what he’s doing so it should be good.

14. Lucky Tackle Box buys Canadian tackle mailer.

And the subscription wars continue….

15. Got any trout in your water?

Or herring or even smelt? Been eyeing that rainbow-type color in lipless baits lately, like (top to bottom): Rat-L-Trap in the new ghost minnow color, BOOYAH One Knocker in Tennessee blush shad and the Strike King Red Eye Shad in neon shad:

16. Can basses be caught on these baits?

Yes. Yes they can:

17. LA: Mardi Gras bead art vampire largie.

Pretty cool — could see on the set of Ike Live….

18. These are still the coolest outboards imo.

Seven Marine, 557 hp! Someone in bassin’ will attempt to fit a different cowling over top…lol.

Tip of the Day

How KVD uses his Hydrowave.

First I got this paragraph from T-H Marine:

> “In the colder water, just remember everything bait-wise is moving slower and making less noise. Therefore use the more finesse-oriented sound patterns and lower volume. The same rule applies in post frontal conditions. As the water warms, go to more aggressive sound patterns and increase the volume. When fishing in a lot of wind and current, increase the volume even more.”

Then found this post by KVD — fascinating stuff:

> I run my unit every minute I’m fishing, but I always preset the sounds to match conditions beforehand. I consider weather, seasonal pattern, water clarity and the forage base on that lake…similar to how I choose a lure….

> If there is wind and cloud cover and conditions are conducive for active bass, I will run a more aggressive pattern. If it’s slick and sunny, I will opt for subtle, low-key finesse sound mixes. If I’m fishing ledges, I will use the deep baitfish pattern.

> One mistake anglers make is they think louder is better, but that’s not the case. Sound travels farther than you think underwater, so I rarely go higher than 60% on the sound, and that’s only when there is a lot of wind and underwater background noise. Most of the time I’m at 20% volume.

> I often run my sound patterns on a delay, meaning the sound will turn on and off in 30-second intervals. Imagine bass sitting on a point or in brushpiles with baitfish around. When that sound goes off, the bait gets nervous and the bass start chasing. That’s what can trigger the bite because it replicates what goes on in nature.

Here’s the Hydrowave on TW…which still doesn’t have the new KVD edition….

Quote of the Day

My business is about two things: catching fish and building relationships.

Bernie Schultz talkin‘ maybe the greatest truth, gift and description of bass fishing. Everything else is second to those two things. Rest of his quote:

> If you can do either successfully, you can make a living. If you can do both, you’re sure to prosper.

Bernie’s been all into Eastern philosophy lately like:

Shot of the Day

Doesn’t look like La Perla, TX’s bass are getting fat yet but they sure are getting heftier. Here’s a 12-lber looking crazy healthy:

Random

Check this: “Two Timin’ Woman” by a band called Simo. Blues-rock killah!!!

Sign up another bass-head!

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Use the best!

Git on these yo!

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Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin’. Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best in bassin’, and is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass.

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