Today’s Top 5
10-lb monsta caught by Ron Smith at Kentucky Lake on a Strike King 10XD in pearl/black splatter/chartreuse belly. You hear that? Dropshot not needed! #stout
Next, two Toledo Bend giants caught using the much-maligned Carolina rig. First was Mike Nolen’s 12-lber. He was fishing near the Toledo Bend Dam, a point on the end of a flat with some grass. Used a 6″ watermelon-red lizard in 15 feet.
Next up a 12.02 caught by guide Stephen Johnston fishing the Six Mile area in 14 feet along ledges. Bait was a Zoom Brush Hog behind a 3/4-oz Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten weight. Rest of the gear: 20-lb Sunline fluorocarbon, Shimano Chronarch CI4+, 7′ 5″ medium-heavy G. Loomis rod. #stoutcombo
Weird, right? Usually it’s a plastic pitchin’ fest in the Okeechobee veggie jungle, and it was for a lot of the Top 10, but not the beeg weener Jason Lambert, a ledge dude from TN:
> “I’m just more comfor throwing a moving bait. That’s what I do out on the ledges and that’s what I love to do around grass.”
> A 500-yard stretch of grass is the staging area Lambert committed to near the north shore area. “I wanted to find deeper hydrilla where it didn’t come all the way to the surface. Once I found that I was able to use the new Garmin side imaging transducer on my trolling motor which reads at speeds down to 0.1 mph. That way I could see the grassline…and stay off the edge without disturbing it.”
Mr. Ledge used 1/2-oz War Eagle Spinnerbait (sexy mouse) and a ChatterBait with a V&M Thunder Shad. Sexy mouse seems to be a brown/gray with chartreuse side stripe/strands. Just “mouse” is more gray.
Btws:
1. Okeechobee gimmes — like Beavers, the Gambler BB Cricket and Senkos — also figured in the top 10, as did a 3/8-oz Strike King Swinging Swim Jig (bluegill) with a Rage Menace trailer (looked like green pumpkin).
2. Garmin is pronounced “Gar-man.” Don’t believe me, just stand up at your bassin’ club meeting and say so.
3. Noticed that FLWfishing.com is now linking baits mentioned in articles to Tackle Warehouse…even though I believe Wally-Mart is still a sponsor…and Wally sells baits online…and apparently is closing a bunch o’ stores to focus more on its online biz. Hmm. Good for TW!
– Rick Clunn talkin‘ ’bout recent articles on Bassmaster.com (I think) about getting info. He says:
> I am searching for another path and whatever it is, it will be my own.
> Credible Information is more abundant than it has ever been. They will be exposed to it and tempted by it. If you use it, how do you use it? What are the consequences?
This is one consequence — actual pic of a college bass club meeting:
Color red in nature — in frogs anyway — means stay away, but guess bass don’t care:
Booyah has a “kuro” color Pad Crasher that’s black and red. The Terminator Walking Frog has two colors with red: black camo and cocoa camo. Strike King has a copper Sexy Frog which has a red underside. Spro has some Bronzeyes with red too.
So I guess there must be something to red…but I’m sticking with white and black yo! (Because that’s what Ish does. I also use bullfrog — sorry Ish!)
Yep:
But I’d rather look like that than wear this camo…
…which looks like it was designed by Mugatu:
News
1. Brandon Card gets Yamamoto.
Good for him.
2. Christie’s MLF winning bait.
Don’t think it was mentioned in the show, but he came back 18 lbs at Dale Hollow, TN by flipping wood with a Yum Christie Critter.
6 pm EST, I believe. Tommy can be SUPER funny and can be sarcastic as heck. Hope that side of him comes out.
6. Dudley takes 2 days to prepare bladed jig box.
Do you just fish ’em right outta the package?
> Things to pay attention to are: Tricking out blades, tuning — making sure they run right! Bending blades to run to the left or right for shaded-dock situations. Bending blades for high speed and slow. Bending for less resistance for pressured bass.”
7. Bryan Thrift building a mansion.
What it looks like to me anyway. Dang, man, congrats!
8. CA: Oroville up by 17 feet.
New e-book, forward writed by KVD. Haven’t read it yet but I know one of the authors, I bet it’s good.
10. AL: Trophy time on TVA lakes.
11. AR: Collegiate Series Dardanelle registration open.
12. Bassmaster looking for HS All-Americans.
Very cool. No one in the industry has sponsored this yet??
13. TN: Hank Parker speaking at church Jan 29.
14. What the VMC Gliding Jig looks like underwater.
Ever seen anything like it?
15. Learn about the Rapala Scatter Rap.
Ever fished a bait with a lip like that? Try it.
Buy ’em here on — yep — TackleWarehouse!
16. DIY mapping on Humminbird HELIX 9 and 10 models.
17. Plano making women’s tackle bags.
Cool idea, but I bet they need to look more Kate Spade or something.
18. What happens when you feed a mouse to a bluegill.
Savagery.
19. Fishing needs more yung’uns, minorities.
20. Facebook going after sports.
Potentially interesting….
21. Barrel of oil now costs less than cost of a barrel.
A good thing!
Tip of the Day
Good article from Bassmaster.com:
> “There’s not a better cold-water bait, nor is there a better one that you can rely on under the most brutal weather conditions.”
> “I do more casting and crawling of the jig this time year than I do pitching and flipping.”
> Brauer targets sharp-breaking channel swings on the main lake but says you don’t have to fish as deep as some anglers believe as long as deep water is nearby. Shallow flats with scattered wood or riprap on the lip of a channel swing make it even better.
> “I’ve caught a lot of bass in 2 feet of water, and I’ve even caught fish by dragging a jig off shoreline ice and letting it fall into open water. In those lakes with grass, the bass will get tight under the mats, and you can punch a jig through there and catch them.”
> Brauer’s preferred jig for winter fishing is a 1/2-oz Strike King jig…green pumpkin and black/blue remain his top choices. “In the winter, the water is usually clear and you never have to go outside those colors. I also prefer the chunk-style trailers, as I don’t believe you want a lot of action in your jig trailers that time of year.”
> “The fish will bite during the winter. The problem is that most anglers are sissies and don’t want to go out there when it’s real cold, so they imagine the fish don’t bite. But, believe me, they do.”
Denny is calling us sissies. Uh…okay — YOU tell Denny he’s wrong mang!
Quote of the Day
Too much of tournament fish care is focused on keeping the bass alive only until it can reach the scales.
– Kenny Duke writin’ on the MLF website. That a bad thing? It’s better than it used to be:
Shot of the Day
If bass slept in beds, this is what two Big Mac fans would look like:
That’s 20+ lbs of large! Tactical Bassin’ should change their name to Tactical Fat Basses or something. #boysarestout
Random
Algae are damaging our brains. Seriously. Would explain why [your fishing partner name here] is the way he is….
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Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan.com, 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 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass. Get the Blaster on an app too:
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