Welcome to the BassBlaster, your daily email about all things bassin’. Hey – forward this Blaster to a bassin’ bud, willya?

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Today’s Top 3

1. Tommy Martin might come back?

From an interview with Larry Nixon on Bassin’Fan:

> “Tommy Martin’s thinking about fishing the Tour if there’s a spot available. He’s 72 and still going strong, and it’d be great to have him around again. Me and Tommy have been friends for a hundred years.”

Cool!

2. Nascar’s Tony Stewart gets Bass Pro.

> Bass Pro Shops…will become the primary sponsor on Stewart’s No. 14 race car beginning next season. Currently the backer of Jamie McMurray’s No. 1 car at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, the famous big green bass fish will switch teams for next season and adorn Stewart’s vehicle for 18 races, including the Daytona 500.

> Stewart: “We weren’t trying to steal [Bass Pro Shops] away from anybody, but we just threw it out there — if you ever decide to make a change, we had opportunities now….”

WTHeck does this mean? “Stewart…has had a personal services agreement with Bass Pro Shops since 2001.” Anyone?

3. Bill Dance was gonna be a…doctor?

> But long before Dance ever envisioned fishing for a living, his plan was to be a doctor, like his father and grandfather. He had gone as far down the path toward a medical career as enrolling at the University of Tennessee medical school in Memphis during the early 1960s. But on the way home from class one night, he saw some awful things that changed his life and many others forever.

> “I drove up on a horrible motorcycle accident,” said Dance, who turned 72 on Sunday. “I got there before anybody else, and some of the injuries I saw were absolutely terrible. I decided right then and there that I didn’t want to make my living around people who were hurt, sick or dying. I just wasn’t sure I had the stomach for it.”

> Dance caught the first bass in the first-ever professional bass tournament, way back in 1967 on Beaver Lake in Arkansas. He won the first Angler of the Year title in 1970, earned seven major B.A.S.S. victories and qualified for the Bassmaster Classic eight times.

> “There was a time when Bill Dance was hands-down the best fisherman on the face of the planet,” said Ray Scott….

> In the beginning, he actually assumed “Bill Dance Outdoors” would be hosted by someone else. “I didn’t know anything about TV,” Dance said. “I thought sure I’d just make a great big fool of myself. But the people seemed to really enjoy it….”

> “People ask me all the time when I’m gonna retire. I say, ‘Retire for what?’ I would just be retiring to do more of what I’m doing now. So I’m just gonna stay at it.”

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News

1. Triton building tin boats.

> Triton Boats announced it will soon begin manufacturing two new series of aluminum boats. The X Series and Utility Series aluminum boats will be manufactured in a new facility located in Flippin, Ark.

> The company will invest $2.5 million to transition and expand the facility and plans to create more than 50 new jobs over the next several months.

2. Bass Pro and Allstate team up.

> Allstate is joining forces with Bass Pro Shops to launch a new affinity relationship. The relationship with Bass Pro Shops allows Allstate to exclusively market boat, all-terrain vehicle, utility vehicle, auto and home insurance to Bass Pro Shops customers.

> The affiliation with Bass Pro Shops is part of Allstate’s Affinity Solutions, a new business unit within Allstate set to explore and create relationships with select organizations….

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Tip of the Day

Tim Horton: How to deep crank.

The one thing that stood out for me is:

> Many anglers position their rod to the side when they begin their retrieve, which puts more bend in the rod and adds resistance on arms between the wrist and the elbow.

> “I point the rod directly at the lure during the retrieve and follow it all the way back,” Horton said. “That puts the resistance on the grip of your hands, not your arms.”

I like to feel that bait thump moving all the way up the rod, but gonna try it!

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Quote of the Day

She was impressed with all the hoopla, but she still told me, ‘You can’t make a living this way.’

– Stacey King’s grandma talking to him after he brought her to the first Classic he qualified for.

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Shot of the Day

Biggest ‘yak bass ever?! (From Falcon, of course.) Weighed 10-01, 26.5″.

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