Today’s Top 5
If I ever fish a big derby, I’m changing my name to Martens…because of Aaron and cuz of this weekend’s Bassmaster Team Championship winner — just one guy, not a team for some reason — named Thomas Martens, a Texas dude who I guess didn’t win the team thing but won something that got him in the Classic.
T-Mart won it on Guntersville (after not winning?) by using the same bait Skeeter Reese used to win the Gville Elite after Velvick told him about it: a 7″ Basstrix Paddletail swimbait. Skeet used chartreuse shad and ayu, T-Mart just used ayu:
> “We found a bridge in practice that was really good, along with about 20 other boats. We had to wait in line to get to it during the week, but it was worth it. Then today, there were a lot of crappie anglers there, and I had to go inside of them.”
> “There was no current [the final day], and I had a couple of pulloffs that could have helped. You could see the fish down there…it was just a matter of dropping the bait down to them and waiting for a bite. I was literally getting about one bite an hour.”
So…obviously bass don’t think of a Basstrix like a Dorito. Maybe it’s like a foot-long dog? One an hour sounds about right.
Check it:
I read the website stuff 2x and checked their FB page, don’t think it’s a joke so…could work? Called the Trapper Hook because it’s supposedly harder for fish to throw. So if you’re a tourney angler, I guess it’d make sense to try one…maybe?
Here’s 13-year-old Grant L. with a 13.5-pound, 27″ largemouf from Lady Bird Lake in Austin, TX — no word on the bait:
That fish was released, but not sure about this Japanese largie that weighed 12+ — not diggin’ the parkin’ lot shot but a nice feesh:
This one was definitely released, a 12+ caught in a derby on Lake Berryessa, CA:
– Word! That’s Mark Davis makin’ a durn good point, talkin’ ’bout how his bum shoulder wouldn’t let him fish-find much in practice and it hurt him in 2015.
Guess it wouldn’t take much just to fish the Classic. Show up, make a few casts, get some boat wakes from KVD’s flotilla, beg JO to take your picture, shake Mercer’s hand, weigh in zero and get kicked in the shins by Trip (bet you didn’t know he does that to guys who weigh donuts lol), wave at the crowd, whatever. But if you wanted to WIN el Clasico, that’s different.
One example: Yesterday I fished Grand with Jason Christie. (Boyd, I stayed at your hotel man, saw your rig in the lot…when I was leaving in the morning…oh snap!)
The day before it rained all day, and Jason spent the entire day graphing the lake. Didn’t make one cast. Idled ALL DAY. In the rain. And cold.
Sound fun to you? Me neither. Think you got what it takes? Giving Jason this #stout given the color of the water:
Or you can not pre-fish, like KVD. Don’t second-guess him neither:
> …it’s best for me to wait until the official Classic practice so that I’m fishing current conditions and not cluttering my mind with other thoughts I may have developed had I gone prior to the cutoff.
Here are the 55 guys in the Classic — I think the list is final.
News
1. Ike gets Flambeau.
Ike gets Flambeau, Flambeau gets Ike, Flambeau goes Ike, Ike goes Flambeau, I’m confused. Ike is going to a 12-point font on his tourney jersey to fit all those sponsors on there lol. Good for him. #thenewwoo
2. Elitist Frazier gets Mann’s.
Cool but this makes 2 Elite announcements not up on social media. Frazier will only fish with the Hank Parker Classic spinnerbait all year.
Made that last part up.
3. FLWer Canterbury gets Bagley.
4. One team self-reported a violation…
…at the Bassin’masters Team Champeennship. Put fish a 6th in the boat and kept fishing. Then realized it (at slide #39 in the link), reported in, got a 2-lb penalty. #stout
Pretty sure just about 100% of D1 football coaches would think those guys were nuts.
5. Updates re: Fishing Holdings…
…aka Ranger/Triton/Stratos. Johnny Morris sent a letter to Ranger dealers after Hopper et al left which said in part:
> We are contemplating moving the production of Triton and Stratos boats from Flippin to increase capacity and enable us to better serve Triton and Stratos dealers and their customers.
> To be clear, when we invested in Fishing Holdings one of our primary motivations was investing in the opportunity to work alongside you, the absolute best fishing boat dealers in the world. We remain steadfast in this commitment.
> …we are pursuing renaming Tracker Marine Group and Fishing Holdings to…”White River Marine Group.” In this regard, we are eager to share and to make available as appropriate many of the significant resources available from Bass Pro Shops and Tracker to help strengthen the Ranger brand and your business. At the same time we respect the need to maintain independence and brand integrity, and in that regard, we have no plans to sell Fishing Holdings brands through Bass Pro Shops stores.
Doesn’t say they won’t, just no plans to. A lot of folks wondering about that last. Here’s an artist representation of their concerns:
lol
…re: diseased Susquehanna smallies:
> …endocrine-disrupting compounds and herbicides, as well as pathogens and parasites.
Sounds pretty bad.
From Brandon Palaniuk’s FB page:
> It’s December in North Idaho and duty calls…filming a new bait for Rapala USA today!
Can they top the Shadow Rap launch? We’ll find out….
8. WI: Sturgeon Bay Open marina change.
Was in downtown Sturgeon Bay, now will be out of the Wave Pointe Marina and Resort in Little Sturgeon Bay…but another event might be added in downtown.
Git the app on either store.
10. Lund officially rolls out 18′ bass boat.
Bassin’ tubs up 5.3%. Belly boats up 74%. Okay I made up that last one.
12. New Boatpole adapter for Phoenix and Ranger.
14. Southern trout pioneer dies…
…with boots on by river, age 91. Not bass-related, just seems like a cool way to go.
15. Japanese surprised bass taste good.
Because they think they’re trash fish.
Headline of the Day
McKinnis book better than Hemingway
What do you think Ndamukong?
That dude better take it back….
Tip of the Day
> …the absolute No. 1 rule for all swimbait fishing…is matching the forage as closely in size as possible. It’s not lure color, nor is it about finding the right retrieve…. Velvick learned this during that Open win at Clear Lake back in 2000.
> “There, bass were feeding on a species of forage known as hitch. There weren’t any swimbaits made then that resembled a hitch, so I was simply throwing an 8-inch swimbait that was the same size, and I had that record catch.
> “I’ve seen this time and time again. Bass get locked in on a particular size of forage, and while the smaller fish will still hit lures like crankbaits and spinnerbaits, the larger bass ignore them.”
Says color doesn’t matter as much as size. Wonder if that’s just down deep or what. But interesting.
Quote of the Day
I’ve never even fished in Oklahoma before. But how much different from Texas can it be?
– That’s Bassmaster Team champ Tommy Martens talkin‘ ’bout fishin’ the Classic on Grand Lake, OK.
Easy Mr. Seal. Who knows, he could win the whole thing. Good luck mang! #usebassgold
Shot of the Day
Not really a shot but posted by a shooter (Overstreet) on Facebook. Given the time of year, very appropriate. A little harsh maybe but funny!
Random
This stuff makes me think I’m living in an alternate reality:
Tesla CEO starts company to avoid robot wars #toomuchTerminator
Man argues solar farm would suck up all sun’s energy #realmenofgenius
New smaller ad sizes
For smaller companies
Lemme know…
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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