Technical difficulties, sorry 'bout the late send. 🙄 Quick note before gettin' bassin':
"Politics" seems to be a code word for anything that's not "fun bassin' stuff." Some folks like to see it in the BB, some don't. To those who don't:
> I get it. Is it fun? No. Not for me either. Do you want the bassin' you have to be here for your grandkids? I do. So no choice but to be informed and maybe involved. And it's only a choice if you know about it.
> Yep there really are multiple "movements" (groups – often coordinated) trying to do all they can in the courts and many other venues to crush fishing, hunting and related stuff like 2A rights. They're doing it the same way all rights get eroded: in little bits and pieces over time, so people get used to it...til they win. This is my 2c based on decades of doing this, but it's pretty simple to prove that to your own satisfaction if you do real, non-surface-level research.
> What would Ray Scott do? That's my guidepost for this stuff. At the very least, Ray would get fired up about ANY issue that would help/harm bassin', and would tell everyone he could about it – and his opinion of it. Pretty much all the bass fishing we enjoy now is because Ray (and then Helen Sevier), B.A.S.S. staff and B.A.S.S. members spent some time not fishing but instead getting "dirty" dealing with politicians. Unfortunately that has to happen.
> Not asking you to agree with me. Just giving you a heads up and sometimes my 2c based on my own experience.
Now let's get 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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"The big wildcard in this one is going to be the forward-facing sonar – I think it's going to be a big factor in this event."
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- Andy Montgomery talkin' 'bout the next week's Redcrest Championship at one of his fave lakes, Norman in NC. Also said:
> "...guys are going to catch them with typical pre-spawn techniques – shallow cranking, jerkbaiting and the old traditional standby on Lake Norman – fishing docks."
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Jacob Wheeler dropped great info about beginnin' Scopin'
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On the MLF site, worth a full read fo sho, here's some of what he says about learnin' it:
> ...learn your distance scales and depths by watching your lure on the screen. ...Kyle Welcher, once said, "40' is closer than you think and 100' is farther than you think." ...you will see what he means.
> Training your brain to make the correct distance cast based on what you're trying to hit on your unit is super critical. Do this by casting to physical objects that you can see above the water with your eyes and below the water on your unit, such as bridge columns, dock pilings or standing timber. Do it over and over again, like practicing freethrows with a basketball, until you can hit the target with the lure. Start with sinking baits that show up well, like jigs, so you can track their fall closely.
> Don't be surprised if your bait misses the target by falling short of the object, especially in deeper water. These are the critical things you see on forward facing sonar that you never knew were happening when blind casting.
> Next, take lures like crankbaits, jerkbaits and swimbaits and observe them in action. How far do you need to cast a particular crankbait to get it to the bottom? Does it really dive as deep as you thought it did? How deep is that swimbait really getting at the bottom of its arc? How deep is your jerkbait getting? Does your jerkbait really suspend perfectly in a pause? Or, does it rise in the pause? You may discover it actually sinks on the pause.
> You'll learn so many things about lures, actions and presentations in a short amount of time. In time you'll develop confidence in your own selection of lures that dive faster or sink straighter or suspend better for the targets you want to hit. These are all things you can learn in a matter of weeks....
> When you're ready to try to catch fish, I would actually recommend starting with crappie. Crappie are a great species to learn on, especially in the wintertime because they stay put.... If crappie is not your thing, then just get out on the lake and start beaming and observing fish.
Great stuff. I'm motivated to re-start my Live learnin's! Couple more tidbits from Jacob:
> For those who think $20,000 in professional electronics should be a prerequisite to making a cast for a bass, check out John Cox's career stats. These machines are not magic bullets, but rather a great option to learn about what's really happening under the surface.
> ...I can do 90% of all my electronic work in a tournament with just two 9" units (one in the console and one in the bow). In the former MLF Cups and Team Series we all fish out of the same boats. Those boats are rigged with just 2 units – both Lowrance HDS-9s.
> The console unit has everything I need for mapping, 2D, down and side scan, and the front unit is also equipped with ActiveTarget forward facing sonar. If you told me I could only have 2 standard units in my boats, that's what I would have, two HDS 9s, with ActiveTarget up front.
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"What Dee did with flipping was find an entirely new group of fish that weren't being targeted."
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- Ex bassin' pro Byron Velvick talkin' in an older Western Bass post (can't link it sorry) 'bout Dee Thomas, the Cali basser who invented flippin'. More from Byron:
> "That was the beauty of flippin' – Dee was fishing in areas that most people either weren't thinking of, or didn't have the right equipment to challenge him in...."
Sound familiar? Instead of just a new technique, this it's time forward-facing sonar and a bunch of techniques, some new...so far.
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Maybe we've been over-emphasizing this whole realistic baits thing??
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Check this "bait" Elite Series rookie Kyoya Fujita almost won the Okeechobee Elite with:
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What the...? 🤯 He told B.A.S.S. it's a prototype "candy" bait, but after postin' it on the BB IG, here's what I learned:
- Heard from Teckel head man Hideki Maeda who said it's called Saikoro Rubber and "saikoro" means "dice." Apparently it's won a bunch of tourneys in Japan where "it's one of the hottest baits" and is "very hard to get" now – it's going for like 3x retail on Mercari, the Japanese eBay.
- Chris @indy.fishing on IG says the OSP (Japanese bait company) Saikoro Rubber (thanks Nate O) was released last May.
The OSP page for this bait, which they call the Saikoro Rubber Nonsalt, says this:
> OSP pro staff Yuki Minemura...money bait was the "SAIKORO Rubber" released by Fieldside. However, because it was handmade, it could not be mass-produced and was difficult to obtain.... To solve this problem, we started joint development....
> It is not hard to imagine that the SAIKORO Rubber is effective against bass feeding on insects and shrimp, but it also attracts bass that prey on small fish. Why is that? This is because, despite its small silhouette, it generates a large water push to achieve the sight-fishing technique of instantaneous movement.
> To use the lure, fall it to the bass's line of sight [weightless], and when the fish chases, twitch the lure to get the bass to bite it.
> When using a no-sinker lure, it is best to use a UL to L-class spinning rod and 3- to 4-lb fluorocarbon line.
That sounds pretty light! Says the bait 12mm which is just 1/2 an inch:
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Think the action's gotta be insane? Well:
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That's from this vid.
Gonna have more about this in tomorrow's Sea Foam Top 5 of the Week vid – we need to be explorin' some geometrical shapes I guess! 🤔
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FL baits breakdown: What can we learn?
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Multiple FL tourneys, not all the same type of water for sure but definitely similar, similar conditions and the same time of year. Gonna break 'em down first bait-wise, then let's see what pops out – in reverse date order:
Seminole Elite
Swim-jig = 40% – Shane "s Baits" LeHew (9th) had a nice-lookin' 3/8-oz Berkley Swim Jig with a Berkley Shape 108
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Stick worm = 30% – Wacky-rigged 20%
Bladed jig = 30% – Z-Man JackHammer 20%
Dropshot = 20%
Flip plastics = 20%
Frog = 20% – both black, 1 poppin'
Swim worm = 20%
10% each = Swimbait, Punch rig, Wake bait, Jerkbait, Buzzbait, That crazy bait Kyoya Fujita (2nd) fished
Okeechobee Elite
Stick worm = 50%
Bladed jig = 40% – Z-Man JackHammer, Strike King Thunder Cricket
Frog = 40% – All SPRO Bronzeye Poppin Frog, 3 outta the 4 were black
Punch rig = 30%
Swim-jig = 20%
10% each = Carolina rig, Jerkbait, Swim worm, Prop bait (Rapala X-Rap Prop)
Kissimmee Chain Bass Pro Tour
Stick worm = 60% – all TX-rigged
Bladed jig = 30% – Z-Man JackHammer, Strike King Thunder Cricket 20%
Swim-jig = 20%
Spinnerbait = 20% – Terminator P1 Pro Series (retro gill), Freedom Speed Freak (white)
Swim worm = 20%
10% each = Crankbait (Rapala DT-10, Jackall Bling 55), Flip plastics, Lipless crank, Jerkbait, Shakey head – guess who? Jesse "I'm always shakey" Wiggins 😁 (8th) and the Jackall Flick Shake
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Okeechobee MLF Invitational
Bladed jig = 60% – Z-Man JackHammer 40% including guess who:
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Swim-jig = 40%
Flip plastics = 20%
Toad = 20% – Z-Man Goat Toadz 10%
10% each = Stick worm (TX-rigged), Swimbait (Keitech Fat), Frog (SPRO Bronzeye Poppin Frog), Lipless crank (Yo-Zuri Rattl'n Vibe)
Gotta shout-out:
- Michael "Top 10" Neal finished 4th
- Jacopo Gallelli is still doin' It'ly proud finishing 5th
- How 'bout Paul Elias finishin' 9th!
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So...
- Musts are the stick worm, the JackHammer (or Thunder Cricket or I guess a different bladed jig if you must – reminder this time of year in FL is when the Chatterbait blasted into bassin') and a swim-jig. Power, power, power.
- Frogs: Wonder why the SPRO Bronzeye Poppin Frog is the deal? In black.
And...
- Shoutin' out the top 5 in the Elite AOY points who have had insane starts:
Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year
1. Tyler Rivet: 1st, 3rd – possibly the best finish after a win in back to back tourneys
2. Carl Jocumsen: 6th, 11th
3. Joey Cifuentes: 19th, 1st
4. Brandon Cobb: 3rd, 20th
5. Brandon Card: 7th, 19th
- Also some of the rookies on both trails showin' out!
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1. Cory Johnston says TN River smallies are different...
...than northern smallmouths:
> "Those smallmouth are nothing even remotely close to northern smallmouth. They don't act the same, they don't do anything the same. They're very nomadic, they move a lot, they're harder to pattern. We [northerners] don't really have an advantage going there."
2. Good pic of Ott DeFoe's crankin' rod.
And that bream-colored Rapala OG Rocco:
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3. Stetson Blaylock helped design stuff for Academy.
H2OX Evo Series, looks like rods, reels and tackle bags so far:
> "I'm excited to team up with the H2OX brand to create high-quality products with unique features that will help grow the sport of fishing."
4. Tommy Biffle's fave color new Flipping Biffle Bug is...
...the middle one, smoke/silver:
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The 4.5" Flipping Biffle Bug is 1/4" longer than the original Biffle Bug. Tommy flips it on a 4/0 straight shank hook, 25-lb Sunline Shooter Fluoro, Quantum Smoke S3 100 Reel, 7.5' XH flip stick.
5. Invitationals pro Josh Weaver on BassEdge Radio.
Okeechobee winner talks pre-spawn feeshn.
6. Al Lindner is on the Bass Chaplain's podcast (YT vid).
7. "Big Jim" McLaughlin honored by Bassin' Fall of Fame.
> ...has been awarded the 'BFHOF Meritorious Service Award' by a unanimous board vote at its meeting this past week. ...gives well-deserved recognition to individuals and organizations deemed to have made significant contributions to...efforts that follow the BFHOF's mission of celebrating, promoting, and preserving the sport.
8. LA: New Bussey Brake lake record again.
Robert Rush jumped ahead quite a bit with this 15.36, which is the #8 LA bass of all time:
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Caught on a tube rigged weedless – the previous record (for a couple weeks) was also caught on a tube.
9. BFL happenin's.
Norman, NC won by NC's Michael Stephens: "We started out on some rock points and caught 3 fish...deep with a Rapala DT6...but the deep fish I had found had moved. So I started skipping docks that held brush with a jig. I caught 2 of my key fish doing that. The rest of the day I sight-fished in pockets. It was really slow...just a fish an hour."
Guntersville, AL won by Johnny Patterson: "I fished grass pretty shallow, probably 4-5' feet of water, with red- and shad-colored Rat-L-Traps. We didn't catch a whole lot of fish – maybe 12 to 15 keepers all day long."
Ouachita, AR won by Blake Martin on a Z-Man JackHammer in 1-2': "I was just trying to get out of the wind in the back of a pocket and was just fishing while I was trying to warm up. It turns out they were way more shallow than I thought they would be."
Table Rock, MO won by Justin Luetkemeyer scopin' with a YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr A-rig "when the wind blew" and a Keitech Fat.
10. Couple nice paints in the Lurenet Paint Shop.
As always they are very limited runs:
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11. New Abu REVO reels now in stock at TW.
More info on all of 'em here, here's a little:
> ...features an asymmetric aluminum 1-piece frame that makes for a more compact design...very lightweight.
> ...asymmetric design allowing the use of a larger spool...helps increase castability without increasing the size of reel's total profile.
> ...new AMG2 gear system that is 17% larger than the previous Revo generation....
Most have 90 or 95 mm handles with oversize knobs:
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Yep the tail is "upside down" and here's why, if you want more action or a different look:
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That's from this vid. Not on TW yet, check 'em here.
13. Can bass sense these little differences?
Check the texture of this Yo-Zuri Rattl'n Vibe in "matte craw," just one of several things that are different from the norm in every Yo-Zuri bait:
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Those are the Jewel Gem Blade (3/8-oz) and Gem Blade 2.0 (5/16-oz) spinnerbaits. Not a lead head:
> ...engineered and created using Jewel's "Resin Tech" over molded injection process, which provides a super durable and perfectly balanced head design that swims and tracks true at any speed. ...built around the popular Keitech Fat Swimbait....
16. GA: Spoons for suspended spots?
Guide Eric Crowley of Lake and Stream Guide Service:
> "The spotted bass bite we are working is an open-water bite targeting fish suspended chasing bait balls. Spoons...matches the hatch perfectly. Krocodile Spoons or Hopkins Spoons...1/2-oz...chrome, gold or white have been the go to with various other colors producing as well. Look for big schools of bait over 100+ feet of water."
17. Bullet 21XRS review from Boating Magazine (YT vid).
Dude says it's nice but slow...😆 just messin'!
18. AR spending more time/effort on grass in Corps lakes.
> ...working to expand the project from its proving grounds on DeGray Lake to include Greers Ferry Lake and Lake Greeson....
19. LA: Lots of artificial habitat dropped at Kincaid Lake.
20. OR: Haystack Rez now refilling after dam repair.
21. Onyx donated PFDs for loaner program at Clarks Hill.
22. WY will have new zebra check stations for boats.
23. Canada: New research on ballast water and invasive aquatics.
Good! Shipping is responsible for a bunch of invasives so it needs to be involved. How 'bout in the US?
24. 3 quick, easy steps to help your outboard run better (YT vid).
Brian from Sea Foam ain't in a bass boat for that showin' 'n tellin' but he is a bass fisherman, runs a Ranger....
25. Keep an eye on...
Okuma came out against Cali's 30x30 scam.
Props to 'em! 💪 That's about salty fishing but 30x30 isn't just about that. Reminder that the 30x30 thing is part of/comes from the UN's 2030 Agenda that sadly many of our local, state and of course federal gov'ts are trying to help 'em implement.
GA being "pushed" to hire new director of outdoor recreation position within the DNR.
Sounds okay but:
> An insider at the state capitol said the push for this legislation is coming from environmental groups and a large nationwide company that sells hiking and camping gear. It's not coming from businesses that sell hunting and fishing gear or licenses.
> ...says nothing about how that person would be paid – would it come from DNR's existing budgets? And the biggest question for sportsmen—would this new director and potential DNR division influence how WMAs and PFAs are managed in terms of outdoor recreation? The last thing we need is WMA area managers having to coordinate a deer hunt with some "passive recreation" event like a mountain bike race.
Boat rental market will grow 15% by 2026?
If so keep your head on a swivel on the lake....
Simple-to-use eDNA test will help track marine species
I don't buy this yet. I need to learn more to determine for myself if this is legit. Example: Know what test they use? Same one as for Covid: PCR (here too).
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Few pre-spawn tips from In-Fish legend Stevie Quinn
Snatchin' a few from an In-Fisherman post ^:
> ...don't be afraid to fish memories. Bass often follow the same travel routes from year to year and find the same spawning locations, sometimes right down to one particular stump.
> Cold fronts in early spring push bass out to the deeper edges of a bay or off shallow flats, often to the 8-15' depths on inside turns near points that lead into bays.
> Staging areas often have several forms of cover and are located at key structural locations that allow bass a range of depths to hold at. Fish tend to hold deeper in the morning, moving closer to the surface on warm, sunny days to feed on shad and warm themselves.
> In many reservoirs, staging areas are easy to spot: Marinas and riprap points, found where bridges cross feeder creeks, are bass magnets.... These steep banks offer vertical structure and cover. Bluff banks offer a similar situation....
> ...the classic Slug-Go, still hard to beat for mid pre-spawn bass, as well as post-spawn fish.
> The concept of calendar periods was defined by In-Fisherman founders Ron and Al Lindner who described these timeframes as guides for fish location, activity level and presentation preferences. [Amazing!]
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"Learn how to catch fish. If you can't catch fish it doesn't matter what you do."
- Hahaha Amen to that mang! Make sure you tell that to whoever wants to date your daughter! 🤣 That's MS HS soccer coach and BFL angler Hunter Ketteringham talkin' advice to HS anglers...BUT that's great life advice too. 💪
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Seaguar posted this pic of Carter with a real nice spotted bass – he was using 15-lb Flash Green Smackdown Braid to 8-lb Gold Label fluoro. Sure is fun catching those things!
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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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