BassBlaster

Kumar Classic observations, WR spot, Giant TX bass

 


Post-Classic Edition 1

My Classic observations.

 

> Kitchen sink Classic — Never seen so many folks throw so many things to get fish to bite.

> Frickin’ cold! — No doubt. Why I went to the day 1 launch — coldest one in Bassmaster history. My 2c: Honestly too cold for bassin’. Check this Randall Tharp quote:

I threw my crankbait up on the ice, reeled it off the ice and left.

Huh?????

Rumor is the Classic will be later in the year next year, who knows….

> Delaware River 2? — Seemed like it was tailor-made for Casey like the Delaware was for Ike, and local experience for sure played a role…but the difference this time was that lots of folks caught ’em and another guy who knew the lake — Andy Montgomery — didn’t do so well.

> Devastating fishing prowess — Low-40s water temp, cold weather (hands don’t work), bass following herring schools…nothing about this derby was conducive to bass fishing, but the guys caught ’em. Wow. #extrastout

> Gentle-man — If I met Casey Ashley outside of fishing or saw him sing on stage, nothing about him would say “competitor.” Zip. He really is as gentle a guy as he seems. But not in a boat, I guess.

> Hello sponsors? — Did Casey — the prohibitive fave to win — really have no bait sponsors??

> Hello sponsors 2? — Paul Mueller has qualified for two consecutive Classics through the Nation, finished 2nd and 12th, is doing the Elites this year…and still has no title sponsor. Has a decent social following too. What does this guy have to do to earn your $$$, ketch a 22-05?? Jump on this dude before someone else does.

> One more day? — J-Pow went from an unbelievable 19th after day 2 to 5th. (What he told me during the day 1 launch delay: “There goes the Classic.” He may have been right.) Bobby Lane jumped from 9th to 2nd. Btw, both Lane brothers get this crazy “I’m gonna fight you” look in their eyes when they’re on fish….

> Launch not delayed by B.A.S.S. — The day 1 launch delay turned out to be unneeded. Folks thought B.A.S.S. made the call, but it was local safety folks…whom I guess never saw ice before?

> No Daytona effect — The geniuses at ESPN changed the date of the Classic from Aug to Feb for TV ratings. They figured bass anglers are stuck at home so more would tune in. Maybe. Interestingly the one event they didn’t want to conflict with was the Daytona NASCAR opener. This time the Classic did, and it seemed to have no effect on the thousands of bassers who turned out. #goGreenville #espnwrongagain

> Iron Man 1 — Aaron Martens fished through his dad’s death (RIP Mr. Martens), electronics issues (couldn’t fish deep part of a day) and probably some more stuff, and still almost made the cut. #amartisawesome

> Iron Man 2 — Mark Davis couldn’t make a cast in the prefish because he was recovering from shoulder surgery, and had to fish the Classic with a spinning rod. He still finished 20th.

> Iron Man 3 — Todd Faircloth was sick as a dog the whole time, finished 23rd.

> Iron Man 4 — Intermission at day 2 weigh-in was because Dave Mercer barfed from some food poisoning. Dude was a 10 out of 10 at the Classic so that’s pretty dang stout.

> Ike was KVD? — If you ask KVD, he says he doesn’t fish fast. He says he fishes slow, fast. That’s what Ike did in this one. Crawled a deep jig ridiculously slow, but fished 30-40 spots per day. Worked!

> Live bassin’ — The new tech B.A.S.S. had that allowed folks to see anglers fish and talk about it in real time…it’s huge. Time will tell how that changes the coverage game, but it will change. Wondering: Will it go in an MLF direction maybe?

> Most ever? — Not sure what the attendance #s were, but am sure B.A.S.S. killed it. Only poorly done part was Expo traffic and parking. Friends of a friend drove 7 hours from VA, spent 30 mins trying to park and eventually bailed back to VA. I’m sure they weren’t the only ones. #notcool Seemed like the Greeneville police had no idea a major event was in town.

Classic-related bait/gear stuff tomorrow!

News

1. CA: WR spot caught.

That fish, caught by Lou Ferrante on Bullards Bar, weighed 11.20 lbs on the scale at the derby where it was caught, then later it was 10.95 on a certified scale. Record is 10.48. Scale initially used being sent to IGFA for certification.

Word is it was caught on a Yamamoto grub on a darter head in 20 feet. Is it just me or does it seem like huge fish are usually caught on small baits?

2. TX: Which largie plate do you dig?

State wants to know:

3. TN confirms largie record.

4. IL: Special Olympics derby.

Very cool.

5. AL: Hall of Fame changes name…

…and concept (sorta) to International Bass Fishing . Hmm. Hall of Fame induction dinner was awesome as usual, more coming on that tomorrow or next week.

6. MO: Ranger raffle benefits police officer.

Buy a ticket!

7. ABA gets Ram.

ABA is crushing it.

Tip of the Day

Classic cold-water tips.

I asked the Bassmaster Classic competitors every day how they were catching fish – all their patterns and baits will be on Bassmaster.com soon. Some things that stood out to me:

> You really can catch bass in water that cold. Not sure why you’d want to, but….

> You can’t fish too slow in super-cold water…but all presentations don’t require that. David Kilgore was fishing a swimbait (soft plastic on a jighead) at visible targets shallow, and the bass would hit it so hard coming at him he wouldn’t be able to catch up to them.

> You can catch bass doing something you like, or semi-like, to do any time of the year.

> No one knows close to everything about bass. Some bass do what we think they’ll do, others don’t. The day Coby Carden crushed ’em, he was fishing a shallow, muddy bank with muddy water. Bass “should not” have been there. He “should not” have made a cast there.

> Bass are basically in the same places in cold water as warm water.

> If you don’t own a fish-head spin/horsehead/underspin/tailspinner/etc., go out and get a couple, and learn how to fish ’em. (I’m talkin’ to myself here. Haven’t fished ’em because they’re just not…sexy.)

Quote of the Day

He gave me a bag of them and told me I would win the Classic with them, but I told him I didn’t think so.

 

– Hahaha! Casey Ashley talkin‘ ’bout his winning fish-head spin bait. Cracks me up cuz I guess you’re never too old to think you know better than your dad. #negatorydude

Shot of the Day

Here you go, a 14.30 caught at La Perla Ranch by Blair Schwarz and now in the TX ShareLunker program. Fooled by a Jackall ASKA squarebill.

Great rods/reels mang!

Awesome line!

Killah baits yo!

Rad info dude!

Gotta have it!

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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Gitcha Bassin' Fix

The best, worst and funniest in bassin'! 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™. Make sure you sign up for the BassBlaster email!

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