Hit me this morning: We have Indiana blades, Colorado blades and willowleaf blades – that's it? Colorado?? Why do we not have AL blades, FL blades, AR, TX, etc? Weird ain't it. That's my 1-4' deep thought for the day. 😆 Let's go!
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Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this 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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Bobby Barrack frogs in 50-degree water?? 🤯
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WTHeck!!! If you don't know who Bobby is, you might not be a redneck...😁 Lol, he's a Cali frowgin' black belt, and you'll see if you watch the vid he's a heck of a caster – which for sure helps.
Few things that stuck out to me from the video:
> "I learned so much once I broke down the barrier in my mind that bass will eat off the surface in low 50-degree water [believe he's talkin' 52-58]. You get that barrier broke down and man, the sky's the limit."
> Fewer bites but less lost fish because they eat it.
> "Anything that's on the surface that creates a roof for those bass to get underneath so they can be shallow – I don't care if shallow is over 200' of water – if they can get up underneath something, there's a good chance that's exactly where they're gonna be."
> By "roof" he means anything on top: debris, wood chips, scum, whatever. In the vid he catches 'em under dead leaves around limbs. Says in real clear water, that roof is key.
> Frog colors: 1 dark, 1 light.
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Check the difference with the latest Garmin LiveScope update.
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> Under the sonar appearance settings, a new setting called "Color Limit" has been added. By increasing the color limit from its default value of zero up into the mid-50s range (53 to 56 worked best for my application) the peripheral artifact (aka interference, noise, static, fuzz) is all but eliminated.
> With this artifact now no longer an issue, I found I could increase my gain (other brands call this "sensitivity") much higher than I ever could before, thus making small objects like my lure stand out more than ever before.
Sounds like Bob is a guide:
> ...I now have two complete, independently functioning Garmin LiveScope systems on my boat, each with a transducer, black box and 2 monitors (4 monitors total) thus allowing me, even with a full complement of 6 anglers, to place all of my clients in front of a monitor so they can all observe their presentations, and fish response to those presentation, in real time. I just enjoyed the single most productive season I have experienced in 16 years of guiding.
> Key to this LiveScope setup is the use of infinitely-adjustable transducer poles, one on the starboard aft corner of the boat, and one on the port aft corner, which allow me to very precisely steer the LiveScope's sound beam in order to keep all clients' presentations visible, even when the boat lists one way or another due to unequal weight distribution.
Experimentin' with transducer locations might be in order for us bass-heads? 🤔
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"I know from experience that I'll be getting a calls asking what kind of electronics I have in my boat."
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> "Being a guide I bought one for business reasons. It will help me put more fish in the boat and I'll get more butts in the boat. I know from experience that I'll be getting a calls asking what kind of electronics I have in my boat. Anglers who are thinking about buying a MEGA Live want to see one in use before forking out $1,500 to 3 grand for a fishfinder."
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"I often fish when I don't see a fish on my screen. Intuition is a big part of my gameplan."
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> The electronics explosion is especially scary when I think about it. I mean, that's all you hear about these days.
> [Younger dudes] grew up with computers and video games. It's natural to them. But that is not the case with me.
> I'm not as good with them as a lot of the guys. I often fish when I don't see a fish on my screen. Intuition is a big part of my game plan. On the other hand, some of the young guys won't even make a cast unless they can see a fish.
Sounds kinda similar to some guys finding more room on the bank now. Gotta run this deal again lol:
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Could happen! Just a reminder that right now anyways, Live sonar will NOT necessarily show every fish, especially if they are in dense cover or tight to the bottom.
Gotta add: Davy Hite on Bass Live said:
> "Just because you can see them on your electronics does not mean you can catch 'em."
Zona asked him if he thought the new electronics could punish someone because it would get them "away from your natural instincts/6th sense." Davy said, "Absolutely."
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Do we all need a Bobo's Thumper??
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The only Bobo I know of is this dude:
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HAHAHA! But seriously – I think this is a for-real thing, from a post about going out with guide Brandon Sargent of Lead Slingers Guide Service on Lake Ray Hubbard, TX. They were fishing for white bass but stay with me (can't link it – it's at ntxe-news com):
> We were fishing deep flats in the lower lake in water 38-40' deep. The drill went something like this: Sargent would engage the Spot-Lock on the trolling motor.... He would then turn on the 'Bobo's Thumper,' which is a unit that runs on battery power and caused a rubber mallet to raise and lower, striking a plate and sending the rhythmic sound waves down below the boat to the fish.
> Very often the [LiveScope] sonar showed a blank for 10 or so minutes when we first stopped and then the fish began showing up under the boat. Exactly why this 'thumping' sound attracts fish I can't say, but it is a fact that it does, especially this time of year when the water is cold. You will see few striper guides on lakes such as Texoma that don't have a 'thumper' of some sort on their boat this time of year.
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There's a website for 'em and a Facebook page. Looks like they're $300, says they work best in the winter. Will see if I can find out if they work for larges and smalls fo sho.
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If you're surprised, raise your hand. Didn't think so...😁
Called and asked him whether these would help with the whole bigfoot hunt deal and he's all, "Jay I'm fishing a dang tournament!" 🤣 Just messin'....
BaitFuel Fish Attractant: Bryan Thrift, Chris Zaldain, Patrick Walters, Bryan New and Matty Wong.
Freedom Tackle: Matt E Wong.
Scum Frog: On Em "Matt" Robertson.
> "The Pautzke's is making a difference. Several times throughout this first round I'd have a moment where I thought I'd feel a bite or I'd miss one. I'd re-lather that worm up in the Fire Gel and they'd choke it."
> ...it's going to be about picking up little tidbits of information while covering water at a much faster pace than I did last year. My objective – be methodical, but do it faster.
> Admittedly I probably fell into a rut after so many years of guiding where the pace is a lot slower. With customers in the boat, you're not always running around with your hair on fire. I'm aware of the difference and I'm ready to pick up the pace.
Haven't listened to it yet but I want to! Steve has an unusual mind and is a hoot to talk to/learn from.
8. BLF updatin's.
A-rigs still goin' strong:
> Winner Casey Martin: "...said he fished the Rat-L-Trap in varying retrieves to understand what the fish were doing and the color of bait he chose varied with the color of the water. Martin said he would go to a shad-colored-bait when the water was clearer, fishing it hard when they were actively biting and slowing his retrieve as the bite slowed."
9. Bassmaster Yak Fork Open learnin's.
Innerestin' stuff from AR's Garrett Morgan who won the deal. Makes me wonder if having to fish slower in a kayak means new pattern stuff will be discovered/rediscovered:
> What I was able to figure out in practice, and it held true to the event, was that it wasn't the isolated timber I was catching my fish on – it had to be 2 trees that were about 4' or so apart where you could work a jig between the 2 trees or around the base of the 2 trees.
> "I would face the kayak into the wind and come up from behind the trees, throw it past the trees and work it back. A lot of times I'd find those fish set up facing the wind, so that tended to be the key."
Kevin VanDam, Brandon Palaniuk, Jay Yelas, Rapala's Dan Quinn, Strike King's "That'll leave a" Mark Copley, MLF communications man Joe Opager, bassin' biz guy Mike Valster and Neil Paul of Visit Anderson, SC.
11. GA: East Coweta HS has its first bassin' team.
Love it! Here's the team and coach – cool hoodie! (Can't link it – at times-herald com):
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Maybe you spool right – if so, I salute you. I confess to being a lazy spooler who then gets frustrated by my lazy spooling on the water. Not no mo. Gettin' me a Jewel Pro Spooler:
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Easy 1-man operation, the right tension, fits easily in the boat. Done. Here's a guick lil vid showing how easy it is to use.
$9.99 at TW for a 200-yard spool! 🤯 Red Label is $15!
If you've gotten some Basix lmk how you like it – I'm real curious:
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When the price is that right you might feel this way:
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😂
Lunkerhunt Typhon in the "meat locker" color which I might prefer over regular gp. Imagine that those 3 separate wavin' tips with a little Spike-It on 'em?
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Looks like maybe a Spook-type bait with a prop? Maybe it walks and does the Plopper thing? Lookin' forward to it! That link ^ is a YT vid that shows what I'd call a Plopper-like sound/action.
Did I mention that already?? If not, there you go!
Sounds like North America had the highest demand.
Not bad dang! ROd 'n reelin' fer the northern pikeminnow:
> Last season payments started at $5 per fish. Next season it will pay $6 each for the first 25 pikeminnow, $8 each for 26 to 200 fish and $10 for each after 200. In addition, specially tagged pikeminnow are worth $500.
They think it might be killing at least salmon.
Post of the Day
Good to hear and real eye-opening for me. Bassin' biz folks especially might want to read it.
PSA
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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"How about win this thing. Get mad one time and win this."
- Davy Hite advice to St Johns River local Cliff Prince. The "get mad" part does work...for some folks, like KVD who if he didn't say "I got mad at 'em" first, he sure is known for it. But some guys just aren't wired that way even tho they're sho-nuff serious competitors.
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Had to do a double-take on this deal – don't usually see smallmouths around palm trees and a sand beach! But out west you do, and this is at the WON Bass Open on Havasu. Pepper Custom Baits posted it:
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Begs the question of who would want it after it got slammed on the floor??
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best and funniest (sometimes worst) stuff in bassin', 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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