Did my best to further "alter" my hearing by blasting VH's Fair Warning album yet again for this'n! Rips harder than Bobby Lane fishing a Fluke! 🤣

If you forgot or never tried it, please know that music blasting out of speakers is about a zillion times better than listening though earbuds. Not just rock either – all of it. Beethoven's symphonies are amazing loud, and I guarantee he would have loved amplification. Because you FEEL it.

Other than that, got some cool bait stuff for next week and who knows what else the wild world o' bassin' will bring. Oh wait...Humminbird. 👀 Here's a few lyrics from VH's "Unchained" to maybe give you a hint about that deal:

You say, I cannot get there from here, baby

Then I don't care where I'm goin'

Here's to your thin red line

Mmm, I'm stepping over

Change, nothin' stays the same

Unchained, and ya hit the ground runnin'

Change, ain't nothin' stays the same

Unchained, yeah ya hit the ground runnin'

Hahaha gotta love bassin'! Let's go!

From a recent MLF post:

> "Trying several different baits will tell you what sort of action they want. I’m not big on a bait having to perfectly imitate a shad or crawfish because the best areas are ambush spots to feed, and they will eat whatever is available.

> "I’m not big on 1 color being that much better because it has a yellow stripe down the side or a red throat. I only think about switching up colors if they’re short-striking the bait and you aren’t hooking all of them – but switching to a different bait style can also help with that sometimes."



That bait is the Ott DeFoe-designed Rapala OG Rocco 5 squarebill.

Fwiw I think Jacob is doing here what all the greats do – a combo of great info and sandbagging/concealment. Because wouldn't you? KVD was a master at it. Where's that "retired" juice Kevin, we thirsty! 😁

Both tours plus the Opens. Invitationals haven't made it yet. Please lmk what you see. Will be talking about it a little in this week's Abu Garcia REVO Top 5 Tips, Techniques 'n Trends of the Month....

Stats put together by the BassBlaster "A I" that we call...Brian. 😁 Thank you Brian! 🤙

If you haven't spent a lotta time in this world – fishing big baits day after day without a single bite 😁 – you might a) be sane 🤣 and b) not know enough to fork over your hard-earned $$ for one.

BB's Andy "emerald" Greene is in that boat (me too), so he talked to 3 guys to get some helpful deets: Mike "Bull Shad" Bucca, Matt "Tater" McBee of Taterhog Custom Lures (he fishes the NPFLs), and Chad Chandler of MM26 Custom Lures (makes killer swimbaits to fund church-planting). Here we go, long deal so gitcha water glass handy:

1. Why are some swimbaits made with 1 joint and some with 2 or more?

> Mike: "Typically 1-joint baits are glide baits. 2 or more joints are what we call multi-segmented, or swimmers.

> "Glide baits have a 'wide' or 'chop' action. Wide glides allow you to steer your bait 3-4' under docks, overhangs or other visible cover. They excel in colder situations because of their great action at slower speeds. And a chop action is an underwater 'walking the dog' action.

> "The multi-jointed swimbaits are your realistic and fluid-action swimmers, good for covering a lot of water quickly. They are simple cast and reel baits."

> Tater: "The more joints, the more movement and sound of the bait. 1 joint creates a glide with lss movement. 3 joints will give it that snake-like action in the water, and when the bait swings back and forth and the resin hits against itself, it makes a sound. Custom resin baits like I build make a unique knock, different than ABS plastic baits."

> Chad: "In a word – action. The number of joints, placement of those joints, space between the joints, parting angle of the joints, as well as width, length and thickness of the different segments of the bait all contribute to the action. 1 joint is a glide, and baits with 2 or more joints are 'swimmers.'

> "Glides are broken down into 3 subgroups: traditional wide glides (swims like a water skier on a slalom course), chopping glides (they're walked underwater with the same retrieve used to walk a Spook), and hybrid-action glides, which have a wider glide when pulled and can chop on demand with a walk-the-dog technique. All my swimbaits are hybrid action."

Follow-up Q: How do you determine where to put the joint?

> Tater: "On a glide, think of it like a boat. You have a head piece and a tail piece with one joint in the middle. The tail piece is the rudder – it catches the water and moves the bait to the right and left repeatedly. Glides work best if they are 60% head and 40% tail."

> Mike: "Years of experience. There were no books or YT videos when I started making swimbaits over 16 years ago. Lots of trial and error. [Chad said the same thing.]

> "It's not as simple as chopping a bait up in 2 or 4 equal segments – that's the wrong way. This is the craft part of what we do.

> "You start with a 1-piece master and make about 5 of them. Then you make all 5 of them differently and see what works and what doesn't. What I look for is that every joint is working (swimming). If one joint is just along for the ride, it's not needed. Or how can I get this joint to work more in unison with the rest of the bait? That's my job.

> "Getting a certain swim is an art. I'm like a judge watching a gymnast for her performance flaws in the Olympics. I want a fluid lifelike action, not a mechanical one."

2. What are the best conditions to throw glides and swimmers?

> Tater: "In windy conditions I'd throw swimmers to get a reaction bite – like a spinnerbait. In sunnier conditions, I'd throw a glide. It's more visual. You're watching the fish follow it.

> "Also, glides are incredible when fish are on beds. The bigger the bait, the more aggressive a spawner will be."

> Chad: "It comes down to what the fish are doing during a given season. Here's the easiest way to learn to incorporate hard swimbaits into your bait arsenal: Equate the swimbait to one of your proven baits for a specific season.

> "So fish glides where you want the bait to remain in the strike zone for a long time – shade lines, laydowns, docks, the same places you'd throw topwaters and Senkos. Fish swimmers in the same places you'd fish any other moving baits."

> Mike: "Spring, summer and fall is the best time to throw them because the fish are shallow and active. Throw them in the same areas you'd throw conventional lures. If there is a good topwater bite going on, then there's a good swimbait bite going on as well.

> "On the other hand, if there's a good Carolina-rig bite in the summer, then there's likely not gonna be a good subsurface bite for swimmers. The depth of the fish is just as important to swimbait fishing as it is with conventional lures.

> "The big advantage of fishing swimbaits over conventional lures is upgrading the quality of your catch. Bigger baits catch bigger fish. I'm a big guy, just shy of 300 pounds. I like to sit on the couch and watch TV. If the wife puts a peanut on the counter, I'm not getting out of my seat for that. But if she puts a T-Bone on the counter, you can bet I'm getting up for that!

> "Big bass are opportunistic feeders. They'd rather eat one big meal than several smaller ones."

3. What's the best way to work these baits?

> Mike: "Glide baits are a little technical. On chop-style glides that are 7 inches or more, I use the reel to work the bait. Baits less than 7 inches I fish it like a jerkbait, using the rod tip. You can use the reel, but you'll get harder and snappier turns out of the bait with the rod.

> "Trying to fish baits longer than 7 inches with the rod tip is gonna get you carpel tunnel in short order.

> "Your reel ratio is super important with glides. Make sure your spool is full of line. If you're using a 7.1 reel – what I prefer with glides – and your spool is not full, you are not getting the full 7.1 ratio and you're working yourself to death to get the desired action. Too fast of a ratio and you'll overwork the bait, and it won't feel natural when you're working it.

> "Swimmers, like the Bull Shad, are simple: cast it out and reel it back in. I prefer faster retrieves to get the bass to react."

> Chad: "The action is built into wide glides. Easy rod tip and reel pulls will help turn and drag the bait back to and across the center as it glides to the opposite direction.

> "Use the same retrieve on chopping glides that you'd use to walk a Spook. The challenge is learning how much force each individual bait needs to chop. Fiber-tail chopping glides need more force to chop than a glide with a soft-plastic tail.

> "Swimmers are the most versatile.... You can burn-wake them on top, medium-retrieve them with a hunting action...or slow-roll them to induce a wobbling roll to the head that is deadly when fish want a slower presentation."

> Tater: "For a glide, I'm using half cranks with the reel and I'm varying my cranks. You can manipulate a shorter glide to glide wider by making half cranks and pauses versus doing faster cadences. The pause between cranks is important.

> "I hold my rod tip down, but it's mostly the reel that I'm using to give the bait action. Always vary the retrieve of a glide – it's part Fluke (erratic), part jerkbait (go, pause, go), part Spook (walking under the water).

> "Swimmers are better when retrieved faster on lakes with herring. On lakes with gizzard shad and threadfin, I like a slower retrieve – slower in the spring, faster in the fall. I like a stop and go retrieve."

4. When do you use a fast sink bait vs a slow sink?

> Chad: "With glides, it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. I build my glides around the Ken Huddleston ROF scale – how many feet a bait will fall in 10 seconds. So a ROF 2 bait will sink 2' in 10 seconds.

> "We drop-test all our baits to ROF 2, ROF 4 or what we call 'Scope speed' which is ROF 10. When it comes to open water suspended scoping with FFS, the quicker you can get the bait near the fish, the better chance you have of catching it. So that's why we make the ROF 10."

> Mike: "The depth of the fish is everything. If you're not at the right depth, your hope is that they will come up to your bait or you need to go down to them. That's the primary reason on choosing a slow vs fast sink."

> Tater: "It's hard to make a fast-sink swim slowly, and it's hard to make a slow-sink swim quickly. Use the fast-sink for baits you want to wind faster."

5. What's the difference between a high-dollar custom swimbait and the mass-produced ones?

> Mike: "The longer I have done this, the more I learn that not even all high-dollar swimbaits are built correctly. Do your research before you buy a bait. The #1 thing I would look at is their longevity in the business. That's not to say a new builder isn't good, it's just a safer bet.

> "Longevity of the builder means he's stood the test of time and is doing something right. Look at his social media pages. Are there more pictures of his baits or of fish-catches? Look for catches!

> "A good builder has taken his craft to the next level. I can't tell you how many hours I have had one of my team members cast a bait from the casting deck of our in-house test tank and have him swim the bait for me so I can get within a foot of the bait and observe every joint of the bait while it's swimming. Everything I put on a bait and where I put it has to have a reason for it.

> "On mass-produced swimbaits, I'd stick with swimmers that have a professional swimbait angler behind them. If a pro is a swimbait guy and he has his name on the bait, chances are pretty good that it'll be a good bait."

> Tater: "I always tell people that my bait is free, but my time is not. I've always felt that my bait is one of the most realistic on the market. A $200 bait takes me 10 hours to make. I test every one of them before I sell them.

> "I use stainless-steel hardware and heavy-duty stainless split rings. I use high-quality hooks. I use resin, not plastic. That's a big part of the expense. I don't buy paint in bulk like larger companies – I buy custom paint.

> "I'd rather make 10 high-quality swimbaits that I sell for $200 each than make 200 that I sell for $10 each."

> Chad: "Mass-produced swimbaits are made just like any other ABS plastic bait. We hand-carve every master blank for every bait we pour and build. Many hours are put into each bait for rough shaping, symmetry shaping, detail shaping, facial carving, scale carving, master rigging, mold pouring and prototyping.

> "I just finished prototyping an 8.75" Gizzard Glide. It took over 80 hours just to carve the master alone.

> "We make and build everything you see on our baits except for the hook and wire in the bait. A lot of time goes into every bait to ensure it's perfect before I sign and date it.

> "The last thing I do is hand-tie a pair of BKK treble hooks on the bait with braid. This reduces torque the fish can get while fighting it."

Bonus Q: What's your most popular bait and what do you recommend throwing it with?

> Chad: 7" Herring Glide in 'Chatuge herring' or 'disco green.' "I use a 7 4 H Daiwa Tatula Glass Bladed Jig/Cranking Rod with a Tatula 100 Reel and 16-20 lb Gamma fluoro.

> Mike: 5" and 6" Bull Shad, Dobyns Mike Bucca Bull Shad Swimbait Rod with a Daiwa Tatula 300 7.1 Reel and 65-lb braid.

[Remember, everything Mike says is complete bull shad so...🤣 Sorry can't resist!]

> Tater: "Angry Gill Jr in 'greenback gill,' 7 6 H rod that you'd use for jig fishing, fast tip, with a Lew's Speed Spool 7:1 Reel and 40-50 lb PowerPro Braid."

1. When Luke Clausen gets on a bite...

...this is what he does:

> ...it's a perfect time to try different baits: color, how you fish or rig a bait or something else entirely. It can be hard to put down that "hot bait" catching so many fish, but it's also the perfect time to test different lures.

Reason # 1,752 I could never be a pro fisherman. I'd catch every fish in the lake and go home! 😆

2. Okay I was on Ike Live and...

...it actually was serious the whole time so if you're a-lookin' fer laughs they ain't there! Talked about "journalism" in bassin' with new Bassmaster editor Bryan B. Brasher.

Bottom line for me was Bryan's observation that people do things every day that we old-school trained media folks would've gotten fired for. That slope is slippery....

3. TN's Brian Elder won with that Roller Shad crank again

This time it was the ABA Top 150 Championship on Logan Martin, AL. Tough deal – temps in the 40s with 20+ winds:

> His go-to lures included a True South Custom Lures Buzzbait, a [True South] Rocket Blade Spinnerbait, a Yo-Zuri Rattl'n Vibe and a Blue Ridge Bait Co Roller Shad. ...hard-bottom areas where the current and wind converged.

> On the first day, he caught his best fish with the Roller Shad 4 and Rocket Blade, while day 2 required a slower approach, using the Roller Shad and skipping a jig around docks.

First heard about that interesting Roller Shad bait last year when Brian and pard Rusty White won an AL Bass Trailer at Wedowee. Here's the rundown on the bait from last year and you can get 'em here:

If you need a stocking-stuffer, that bait is different and Blue Ridge is one of the folks stillt rying to recover from Helene....

4. That small paddle on the Berkley Drip Swimmer...

...is intentional (of course): less thump, tighter action:

Unfortunately the colors just aren't realistic enough...lol kidding, lookit that thing!

5. The Yamamoto Sanshouo is back

5" bait, limited run of 4 colors for now:

Don't see it on TW but it is on the Yamamoto site and at retail apparently.

Btw, "sanshouo" either means "mountain pepper" or "salamander" in Japanese, says Google translate. I'm going with the lizard....

6. NV: Smallies will be intro'd into Cave Lake

Now being refilled, will take about 9 months. They're adding new 200 artificial habitat structures.

A western state ADDING smallmouths. Who woulda thunk.

7. New regional sales manager for Rapala VMC is...

...Pete Przepiora. Eastern US + TX, AR, LA and OK. I think he came from ecomm site Omnia? Looks like he is a bass fisherman so that's good!

8. St Croix promotes 2

Ryan Teach was product and brand manager, and is now VP of Innovation. Dan Johnston was national sales manager and is now director of sales.

9. KY: "eDNA" of Asian carp found in Taylorsville Lake

Personally still ain't 100% buying that test but okay.

10. CO: Milfoil found in Fountain Lake and outlet to AR River

11. Salty rod co Star Rods now in freshwater

And is on TW. Price points are $150, $250 and $350.

12. Raymarine has a new Smart Drift feature

Believe Raymarine is all salt now but interesting:

> No matter how you identified your target [spot you want to drife over], Axiom can calculate the best starting point for your drift. After selecting Calculate Drift to Here, Axiom will prompt you to put your boat's engines in neutral and let it move on its own for about 300'. Smart Drift calculates how your boat is moved by wind, tide and current.

13. Keep an eye on...

CBD & Others Seek to Ban Hunting with Hounds in Arizona

CBD = our ol' friends the Center for Biological Diversity. Bet ya that things like "hounds cause significant damage to ecosystems" is not proven.

Why start with AZ? Check the politics. And gotta say again – these kinda folks want to change society, not just raise $$ to "save animals."

AZ has already banned game cams.

Headlines of the Day

Canada has a bass fishing team?

What's even weirder is they have a hockey team. 🤣

Fat Seals Explain Missing Pacific Salmon

Hahaha I bet they do! But...did they confess or is this still a theory? 😆

How Dustin Connell goes through a bait rotation

Said recently how it was fascinating to be in Bryan Thrift's boat and watch him rotate through (and back) about 10 baits to get fish to bite he "knew" were there (he didn't see them on FFS). Here's a good, quick vid about how Dustin does that – few highlights first:

- He says once you catch a few active feeders that breaks up the schooling competitive part so that's why they get harder to catch.

- He goes from more "active" baits to less: crank, bladed jig, jerkbait (Rapala Mavrik), jighead minnow.

- Specifics he calls out are the Rapala OG Rocco 6 squarebill, and the Rapala CrushCity Freeloader in "green shad."

"...what am I doing? My whole life, my whole career, the #1 thing that I've enjoyed is the puzzle, putting it together. And now I'm out here just numbly throwing at dots."

- Jacob "tear down that" Wall talkin' 'bout getting distracted by focusing too hard on the FFS screen. Also said:

> "Let's just say you pull into an area, and you sit down and there's a bunch of fish suspended swimming around, and you realize, Hey, this spot's got fish all over the place. You may be able to sit there all day and just pan around and float around with the trolling motor, and you're kind of just mindlessly throwing at dots.

> "I've seen it happen to myself — I almost just kind of go numb. I almost stop really thinking.

> "...if it starts to become or feel like you're going through the motions, I'd say the #1 thing I do in my fishing is I try to change what I'm doing."

There's no way anyone but a bass fisherman would find this sexy. 😍 It's a Picasso Tungsten Football Jig in "black/red camo" with a 2.5" black chunk. I mean, I'd eat it! On the Picasso IG:

What would Van Halen have sounded like with a young Michael Jackson singing? Here you go – KILLER mashup. Dang son! Way better than "Beat It." And yep – even in that band the drummer makes the band!

Fishers of Men Tournament Trail

Bass Chaplain podcasts

Contact Chris Wells the Bass Chaplain

CullGear.com - Versaweb

Advanced Angler

StrayCasts crazy web show!

BassEdge Radio

Champion Jigs

Trophy Bass Co.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.