If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
Before we get into the baits, here’s the deal with the fat Mille Lacs feesh: They didn’t act like typical smallies. Not super-aggressive (water temp still too high?), sometimes not even interested. So the deal was patience. And boulders.
> “The fish took a long time to catch. They weren’t biting because they wanted to eat. It was almost like bed-fishing.
> “The fish there are so fat and lazy. There’s a crayfish there like every 12″ — they’re not going to swim 3′ to eat your bait. You have to put it on their head…[they bite because] they’re tired of looking at it.”
That’s Seth “the Minnesota hamma” Feider talkin’, from his full pattern story on BassBlaster.rocks. More:
> Why the smoke color when everyone else was using some kinda gp? “They’re eating crayfish so I don’t know why that color’s good.”
Few keys for Seth:
1. He likes the smaller 4″ Senkos cuz it causes fish mustaches, cracks him up:
4. Should also mention that Feider DIDN’T PRACTICE! More on that in the Quote of the Day.
> “I caught 95% of my fish on a dropshot. I used a 4.5” Roboworm, 1/0 Gamakatsu Split Shot Drop Shot Hook and 1/4 oz Reins Tungsten sinker…12-lb Sunline SX1 braid and 8-lb Sunline FC Sniper [leader].
> “When I’m catching those big smallmouth, I want a big hook. A lot of guys used a #2 — but I caught a 6-10 and had almost 70 lbs [over the tournament]. I don’t trust a #2 with 70 lbs of smallmouth.
> “For colors I used green shiner, new ayu and watermelon magic — natural greens were the better ones, but I didn’t feel like it was too color-specific.”
Like Seth, he ran the isolated boulder pattern. Unlike Seth, he shook his dropshot. Brent also was blown away by the Minn Kota Ultrex‘s ability to hold him in position in 3-4 footers without him having to touch the trolling motor. “It would hold me exactly where I wanted to be. It’s ridiculous. I was blown away. It’s a complete game-changer.”
Start savin’ cuz they ain’t cheap!
His great fishing may or may not be partly due to listening to the full 15-min version of the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (aka Hip Hop Hippy) over and over again this season. Excerpt:
As the baddest rapper there ever could be.
Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn….
Did Feider win the Mille Lacs derby? Possibly not.
He had the most weight, but his check was $12,000. Swindle, who finished 46th, got $100,000 — which he dang straight deserves for WINNING AOY. Got that? WIN. WINNING. Meaning he cashed that check because he WON. Feider won too, but got the smallest check possible in that event.
Derp the bass say:
1. Reefs?
Is Mille Lacs the only lake in the country where you fish reefs for bass? Not ledges, not humps, but reefs. Got 5,000+ patterns in BassGold, not one mentions reefs. What up with that.
2. The carnival just left Bizarroworld.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen, heard of or witnessed a guy throw a 3.5-lber back without first having a limit in the boat. Feider did that on day 2. Other guys weren’t happy about 4-lbers and were chucking them back — brown fish. Nice, fat ones.
How absolutely nuts — and completely upside down to most derbies. Check these lines from Stevie Bowman of Bassmaster media to bring this home for you:
> That’s what this place is like.You can have the best fishing day of your life and be mad about it.
What a great line. Told him he’s still got it, he texted me this back:
News
Word is from a car accident. This is a body blow to many folks in bassin’. Mickey is Forrest Wood’s brother and was as much a fixture at Ranger HQ as Forrest. Maybe more so.
I didn’t know Mickey but from what I heard sounds like he for sure had the Wood gene: meaning he, Forrest, Nina and I’m betting the other Wood family members do things for people. Good things, thoughtful things — just because they’re that way.
If you look for a worldly explanation for that, don’t think you’ll find one. Why do some people seem to go out of their way to do things for people for no direct benefit for themselves? Only one word for it, for me anyway: Love.
RIP bassin’ brother, hope to see you again.
2. Mille Lacs royalty was there.
The guys in the middle — the guys the other two dudes want their picture with — are, if you somehow don’t know, Al and Ron Lindner. GREAT guys, great fishermen, probably the most successful guys ever in fishing media, and could probably win any Mille Lacs derby blindfolded. Al could, anyway…. Hahaha just kidding Ron! Sorta….
All the bells and whistles. Falcon sounds like a cool boat. Click the pic to get more pics and deets.
Buy some at yaggyscustomlures.com. Here’s his GoFundMe — if you’ve got a few bucks, please make his day. Don’t know him, just trying to help a bassin’ bro.
> “I seen stuff I really don’t like talking about. Don’t take any offense, but a lot of times, I try to avoid talking about it around civilians.”
> “This is about the only way I get calming. I already have enough troubles sleeping.”
6. Ever hear of the Rapala DT Thug?
Me neither. But Here’s FLWer Terry Bolton tellin’ you why you should throw one this fall. (Sorry about the little bit of wind noise, it dies out after a bit.)
8. The fall edition of BAM is out!
Git it wherever finer bassin’ products are sold….
Tip of the Day
A few that stood out to me in a Bassin’Fan article:
> He ties on a 7′ leader of 8-lb Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon with an Alberto knot that must be outside the spool on the cast. “If your knot is inside that spool, when you make a hard cast the fluorocarbon will shoot off the reel in big arcs and when it meets up with that smooth braid will shoot ahead of itself and wrap around the first guide, stopping it dead in its tracks.
> “I always use a straight-tail worm…. The only time I do something different is when I’m up in the Great Lakes when I’m using a goby-style bait, and even then it’s a straight-tail.
> “The only time I’m not shaking it is when I’m reeling in the slack as the bait moves forward. Anglers think that when top-level anglers are shaking the bait that they are hopping it, but they aren’t. That weight is in constant contact with bottom and the worm is shaking.
> To set the hook, he’ll pull into them hard but there is no snap or slack in the hookset. “I set the drag fairly soft to account for that medium rod that is a little bit stiffer than most use.”
Quote of the Day
I went to one spot, wasn’t there 15 minutes and had 3 boats around me. Went to another one, the same thing. So I put my boat on the trailer and left.
– Seth Feider talkin’ ’bout day 2 of Mille Lacs practice (he fished a derby on Minnetonka on day 1 of practice). He was a-tellin’ me why he DID NOT PRACTICE for the AOY derby (!!). He got all Mark Cuban on ’em:
Shot of the Day
