BassBlaster

Winning baits-fest, Idiot anti-bass moves, Palaniuk topwater tip


Today’s Top 5

Martens wins again!

 

Aaron won the Chesapeake making two Elite wins this-a-here year: CONGRATS MANG! Kids, there was a time when Sensei A-Mart didn’t win. Really. His unofficial nickname was “dos.” Guess it’s dos again, for a different reason….

Anyhoo, here are the deets of his winningnest pattern, as told to me by the Enigma himself. He really stressed the mental side of it. Couple my fave quotes from the interview:

> “On the third day I got 2 fish on backlash. I backlashed quite a bit because I couldn’t see [the cover]. I’d hit a piling or something, and backlash. One I pitched way in there, like three pilings away. I’m pulling the backlash out as fast as I can and reeling it in as fast as I can, and as soon as I reeled it was heavy. I was like, Oh no!

> “I couldn’t set the hook. I just kept pressure on it. I felt it shaking, but it never came out of the water. I dragged [the line] around a piling and felt the fish hit it. I just held it there – it’s still 25 feet away. I felt him pop around the piling, then he hit the second one a little, not as hard.”

> He somehow landed that fish – a 3.5-lber – and found the line “was frayed for 25 feet. It was shredded. It was a weird tournament.

> “My whole career has been full of disasters, as many or more than any other fisherman. But they’ve been balanced by unbelievable things happening, like miracles almost.”

 

And:

> “I worked hard not to hit other boats. Treat everyone’s stuff like your own and you won’t have any problems. I went to three marinas and never had an incident with anybody. I made sure I talked to people, said hi, explained what I was doing – I thought that was pretty important.”

 

Dang straight. Not sure if A-Mart and Double-E are forming a “Los Dos” club having to do with pecans and jogging but will let you know….

3 reasons you will never be A-Mart.

 

 

1. You’ll never look this cool with a balding head (take it from me)…

…but even A-A-Ron can’t look good in these things (new nickname = “blackfoot“?):

2. You’ll never know when it’s important to get low on fish — not sure Aaron’s even conscious of doing it:

3. You’ll never have the stones — or the strange synaptic connections — to fight a fish like this:

Just a few shots in one of the most interesting winner photo galleries I’ve ever seen — because it’s Aaron. Dude is a) amazing and b) very much unique.

(Shots by Steve “just call me Hall of Fame” Bowman.)

Lowen bitten by bass.

 

 

 

Hahaha! Okay, that Overstreet shot made me think of that ultra-witty caption, but really Bill caught the snot outta them too, click here to read how on BassBlaster.rocks.

Biggest thing was he was unafraid of — and in fact confident in — fishing dirty water, like he’s used to from growing up fishing the ultra-tough Ohio Reever.

Baits he used, including that secret white spinnerbait:

Congrats to Turtle on a #stout finish in a tough place.

Howell wins another friggin’ Open!

 

 

 

Okay you know that by now, but wow! Flat-topped kid can fish!

Here’s how he did it, and here’s a pic of the baits he used — click the shot for a full list.

Shot from Oneida: Does Randy not look like an old lady here or what?

Howell won the 2013 James River Open, and — check this stat — of his last four top 10 finishes, three have been wins…including the Classic. #flattopstout

Idiot anti-bass moves.

 

 

 

Idiot anti-bass move #1:

One of the best fishing lakes in the country — Mille Lacs, MN — has watched its amazing walleye fishery go down the tubes. Because of that, the state talked about opening up the lake to bass derbies. Great, but:

Smallies: It’s what’s for dinner — because MNers love to keep and eat their fish, and with no more walleyes….

Hey — if you want to keep fish that’s your biz. But trashing one of the best smallie lakes in the country after trashing the walleye fishery there ain’t exactly smart.

Idiot anti-bass move #2:

WA joins OR with wanting no limits on Columbia smalls. Genius. Because the Columbia River has a crap smallmouth fishery that produces dinks like this recently caught 8.37-lber:

Choice quote from an OR DNR biologist:

“While it is unlikely the removal of bag limits will have any real biological effect on salmon and steelhead, it sends a message that the recovery of ESA-listed species is the priority and that fish managers will take all the actions they can to reduce these threats.”

#youworkforpeta

Visual representation of all the above:

 

News

 

1. Aussie Carl Jocumsen on BassEdge Radio.

2. LA: T-Bend on 2016 Elite schedule.

In May. Dink-fest…lol.

3. Nichols Lures made in USA vid.

Cool. Not practical for everyone but cool.

4. Help David Cosner if you can.

Bassin’ brother still struggling.

5. NM: Elephant Butte gets 20K largies.

Butte is pronounced “butt”…okay not really but I did pronounce it that way once….

6. AL: Now this is interesting.

Donate $10 to get locations of fish attractors in Weiss Lake. Crappie but interesting. Don’t know how this plays with the whole free sonar lake maps thing if that ever takes off…which I doubt….

7. FLW sanctioning Mexican derbies.

Link is somewhere on their website….

8. Erie: $5 mil for less nutrients in western basin.

Pay the farmers more money! #derp

9. IN: Lottery winner will buy bass boat.

I would too….

10. New marketing person for Merc.

Can’t tell if she’s ever fished or been in a boat. If not, good luck with that!

Tip of the Day

 

Topwaterin’ with BP.

 

Brandon “I eloped with my GoPro” (heehee) Palaniuk on walking baits, specifically the new Storm Arashi Top Walker which he designed:

> “These lures really are easy to fish. I try to make a long cast, then use short, quick downward snaps with my rod tip to start the bait moving. You need to do this with a little slack in your line, which is why the lure swishes from side to side, but when you get into a steady cadence, the lure literally walks across the surface.

> “Often when I’m fishing specifically for largemouths, I’ll stop my retrieve to let the lure sit for a moment, but for smallmouth the best retrieve is often faster and without any pauses.

> “For me, a basic rule of thumb that seems to be pretty universal, is the clearer the water and the cleaner the bottom, the faster I can retrieve….”

> Palaniuk rigs these topwater lures on a 7-foot medium-action rod and

20-pound braid. Because he’s fishing clear water, he adds a 4- or 5-foot leader of 20-lb mono. He does not use fluorocarbon line because it sinks….

> “I’ve caught bass walking a topwater lure like this over 30 feet of water, but most of the time I’m working it a little more shallow. I look for ambush points where bass may be hiding…can include long rocky points, grasslines, visible cover like brush and rockpiles, and even submerged timber. I want the fish to have close access to deep water, and I always search for the clearest water I can find.”

> …big walking lures may attract strikes throughout the day. Some of Palaniuk’s best times occur around midday, when he’s caught fish in the 5- to 7-pound class. Because these types of lures cause so much commotion, Palaniuk doesn’t limit himself to calm conditions, either — he likes a slight ripple on the surface, and has even caught bass in 3-foot rollers.

 

> BP: “When you look at the profile of the Arashi Top Walker from the back, you can see how its sides are just a little bit flatter”…that design element prevents the Top Walker from rolling as it changes direction on the retrieve. “What that’s going to do is allow the lure to continually walk with its hooks underneath the body. That increases your hook-up ratio almost 2-to-1.”

Each bait has three — not two — trebles, and is available in 4 1/4″ and 5 1/8″. Get ’em on TackleWarehouse.com.

Here’s BP talking about it:

Quote of the Day

 

Holding, transporting and manhandling big bass, often dripping eggs, in order to pose, brag and win prize money will not sit well with amateur fishermen….

 

– Guy in MI who is — wait for it — a biologist: David Borgeson, former chairman of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs fisheries’ committee. Talkin’ ’bout possible early derby season. #youworkforpetatoo

How many spawn-time weigh-ins you think this guy has seen? I’m guessin’ the number of times this team has been in the playoffs the last 20 years or so:

Shot of the Day

 

Kids, if you smoke gobies you might end up with a pierced tongue….

You fish these baits yet?

Fish these-here killer lines yet?

The best, yo!

Gitcha informed…

Get a K2 cooler cuz!

Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin’. His BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best in bassin’, and is the #2 or #3 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass. Also available as an app:

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