3. BPTer Jeff Sprague says that format lets him fish more freely.I was like, More this?
He said, “No, fishing the moment.” Not even a smiley emoji so not sure if he knew who that was or what….
4. Casey Ashley ain’t leavin’ without a popper…
…this time of year, from the MLF website:
> “…I’ll throw it all day long, on the hottest days of summer. …the biggest bites on a popper are going to come once the shadows become more prominent. So keep casting it all day….”
> “My all time favorite was the Excalibur popper, but they don’t make it anymore, so now I throw the
BOOYAH Boss Pop,” says Ashley, who is not sponsored by BOOYAH. “I tie it to 12-lb mono, and the rod and reel you use is really key because you’re trying to make super-accurate casts….”
He uses a 6′ 9″ M Quantum G-Force Rod and a Quantum Vapor Reel.
5. Win a boat at Ike’s charity derby.
On the Delaware River. DO NOT FISH it if anyone from the South Jersey Bass Mafia is in it. They own that river man…or really Pete Gluszek does….
6. Say hello to the zombie Hula?
When’s the last time Arbogast came out with a new bait…or a new anything? Not really sure but I’m thinkin’ it was about this time:
Hahaha! (Lookit those fish!) But seriously, Arbogast is “rebirthing” the Hula Popper like this here…innerestin’. Click the pic for the tease vid:
7. DE has a new largemouth plate.
NJ still doesn’t have one 🙁
8. TX: Benefit tourney for HS student’s fam on Murvaul.
July 27.
9. AL: Eufaula derby had 24 20+ lb limits.
Winners had 29.83 lbs. Fished offshore structure with Big Bite Suicide Shads on 3/8-5/8 oz heads, and caught a few on a Strikezone Ledgebuster spinnerbait.
10. VA stocking “tiger bass” in 5 lakes.
Smith Mountain, which already has ’em, plus Claytor, Anna, Chesdin and one more not yet determined. Innerestin’ story about how a regular dude got the DNR to try it in Smith Mntn:
> …”tiger bass,” offspring of “a special strain of aggressive northern bass and a pure strain of Florida bass that comes from a proven trophy line,” according to American Sport Fish in AL, the only hatchery licensed to produce and sell the hybrid.
Pic here, looks just like a regular largie.
11. AR: Lake Columbia has some big bass…
…and a lot of pads, sounds like. 3,000 acres.
12. Innerestin’ post on the Lew’s/Strike King ride.
By Kenny Duke of Fishing Tackle Retailer. A thing that stood out to me:
> From the latest buyers: “We view this as an attractive platform investment in a sector with significant opportunity for organic growth and consolidation, given the number of founder- and family-owned companies in this expanding category.”
So guessin’ they’re going to add more to Lew’s/Strike King?
13. DC: Industry asks President to exempt fishing tackle…
…from the whole China trade war tariff deal.
14. 4″ YUM tube will have new colors soon…
…includin’ “camo, natural and ghillie suit — lookin’ gooooood:
Colors aren’t yet on Tackle Warehouse but the tube is.
15. New sizes/colors coming in BioSpawn ExoSwims.
Check the ExoSwims on the TW.
16. Sounds like Skeeter has a new boat coming.
Called the FXR. Could not find any leaked pics, but supposed to be revealed in July.
17. Merc has a new 450 Racing engine.
Daaaaaaaaaaang:
> …4.6 liter V8. A 2.4-liter belt-driven twin-screw supercharger delivers pressure charging with zero lag for instant throttle response. The supercharger is water-cooled to reduce the temperature of the intake charge and increase power. Twin charge-air coolers…reduce the temperature of the compressed intake charge to further increase air density and power output.
Word is it can be custom-painted to say “250” on it…lol.
18. MD: Snakeheads trying to get past Conowingo Dam…
…on the Susquehanna River. Not good.
19. DC: New anti-grass carp bill in Congress.
> …would add $500,000 to efforts preventing the spread of grass carp into the Great Lakes has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
20. MD: Chesapeake dead zone might be big this year.
Expected to be 2.1 cubic miles…which sounds weird to me (cubic?):
> Excess nutrients enter the water through polluted runoff from cities, suburbs and rural land, and feed naturally occurring algae. This then fuels the growth of algae blooms. The blooms, which then die and decompose, deplete the dissolved oxygen in the water. This creates hypoxic — or low-oxygen — conditions that suffocate the aquatic life that depend on the oxygen to survive.
21. Lookit these lids!
Get ’em at bassbrigade.com.
22. Enter to win this red/white/blue Rapala stuff.
Rapala giveaway:
Give it up for 14-yr-old RISING FROSHES Andon Goins and Blake Wheat of Rhea County Eagle Anglers (TN) for a-winnin’ the 2019 Bassmaster High School Wildcard tourney at Cumberland, KY. Shoot, they’re not even in HS yet!
Not only that, they won by targeting the dreaded suspended feeshes:
> …they fished in and around 2 marinas…. “We caught them in 50-70′ of water.” They worked
Spooks in tandem with flutter spoons…. While their boat was over deep water, their bites came from bass holding about 6′ below the surface.
Pretty #stout! Couple more things:
1. They got in the tourney because they went to Hank Weldon’s high school…KIDDING! Okay it was Trip’s high school…still kidding…all legal.
2. They had big bass, a 6-03 on the Spook.
Man Made Lake, MI
Nowhere near as creative as these guys:
Removing Maryland’s Bloede Dam was a moral obligation
If dams have anything to do with morals now, we’re all in big trouble…. BUT we ARE morally obligated to FISH 4 BASS MANG!
Why OH bassin’ looks like its down — Got an email from OH fish biologist Zak Slagle who ‘splained:
> Smallmouth angler effort seems to depend a lot on how good the walleye fishing is: Walleye effort usually makes up [around] 70% of our total fishing effort in the OH waters of Erie. Back in the late ’90s/early 2000s, walleye fishing was poor so we had a lot of anglers switch over to bass fishing — so much so that bass harvest peaked and we had to institute a C&R-only season in 2004. Since then, the walleye population has rebounded and is stellar right now, so we lost a lot of that effort….
> On the bright side, largie angler effort has been growing, and the smallie population appears to be doing great. Our rate of citation-sized smallmouth bass (20+ inches) per angler hour has been increasing since 2000 — it’s now more likely than ever to catch a trophy-sized smallie. Catch rates for all sizes of both smallmouth and largemouth are on the upswing as well.
Thanks Zak and glad to hear it!
