BassBlaster

Mark Rose’s secret color, DON’T match the hatch, How Classic is like Super Bowl

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Today’s Top 4

Mark Rose’s winning seagull pattern.

From the winning baits/patterns post on the BassBlaster website:

> Mark Rose squeezed out a win at last weekend’s Guntersville FLW by less than a pound over Bryan Thrift. He did it by camping out on Browns Creek because of…seagulls:

> “When first came into town, the seagulls were in that creek by the thousands, all along the causeway…gave me a good feeling that a lot of bait was in there and a good migration of fish….

He fished a bunch of baits — deets in the post — but here’s his main 3:

1. No-longer-available Strike King Custom Shop Flat Shad (chartreuse/brown back customized), Lew’s signature Ledge Small Crankbait Rod (7′ 6″ medium), Lew’s Magnesium Speed Spool reel (6.8), 12-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro. Fished it around rocks and stained inside grasslines, 1.5-4′.

> “Those old flat-sides are really good cold-water baits…tight wobble. I have about a dozen of them and only break them out when it’s cold.”

2. 1/2-oz Strike King Red Eye Shad Tungsten 2 Tap (not sure if it was royal red or Rayburn red craw), Lew’s Ledge Big Crankbait Rod (7′ 11″, “a light medium-heavy,” same reel, 15-lb Tatsu.

> “I fished that in a couple drains — guts going up into spawning flats. I was sitting up deeper and throwing shallow…reeling it real slow, ticking the grass in 4-5′.”

3. 3/8-oz vibrating jig (gp) with several trailers (gp) but the most-used one was a Strike King Rage Bug rigged sideways, Lew’s Mag Bass Rod (7′ mh), same reel, 20-lb Tatsu.

> “I’d mostly pick it up and hit grass flats…ticking the tops and and pulling it through [in 2-4′].

> “I was hunting those few fish that pull up early every late winter, the early ones that move shallow. There’s always a few big ones that do that, especially when the sun comes out.”

Here’s a quick vid of Mark catching the winning fish AND doing a couple ‘Squatch howls. Shortly thereafter this was seen on the bank:

Check out “Rose craw.”

He doesn’t call it that, but I do. Here’s what his main Gville bait looked like before he doctored it:

And here’s the one he fished:

Told me:

> “I think one of the best muddy-water colors is chartreuse and brown, but I like to add red to it. I take the fat part of my pointing finger, and smudge a little red along the back shoulders of the bait. Then I take a sharpie and make a little crawfish pattern — basically a spring craw pattern.”

Very cool of him to give that up to us bass-heads. Thanks brother!

Is MN becoming a smallie war zone?

On the one hand, MN is a walleye state — a walleye is a toothy bottom fish that fights like a cucumber.

On the other hand, for some reason walleyes are (or may be) becoming less abundant in MN while smallies are.

MN is also big meat-fishing state, and has a DNR that seems to be a little stuck in the 1800s.

Over the last few days:

> B.A.S.S. announced that the AOY derby is once again at trophy smallie fishery (for now) Mille Lacs, MN.

> MN says it will decrease the bass limit on Mille Lacs from 4 to 3 per day (I think). Because lots of people keep fish there…because the state thinks the walleye fishery there (the fish everyone wants to keep) is in bad shape.

> This guy wonders if MN is becoming “infested” with smallies: “I’m usually not thrilled to reel up a smallmouth. I’m dismayed to catch them when I’m after walleyes or trout.” [Uh…okay.]

Here’s what’s coming — or mebbe it’s already here:

What up with wrestlers and bikini briefs.

5 ways the Classic is like the Super Bowl.

From BassBlaster.rocks’ Speed Read section:

1a. You HAVE TO get better as it progresses. You can’t crush it the first day/quarter and then win it.

1b. It’s not how you start, it’s what the score is at the end:

2. When it’s your time to win, things eerily go your way (and vice versa)…

…but it’s also all about execution. No mistakes.

3. KVD is just like Tom Brady. You can’t ever count him out. Ever.

[This is just from last season!]

4. The hottest hand coming in usually doesn’t win…

…and someone you don’t expect often steps up big on the biggest stage:

5. It’s at least 50% mental. If you get spun out, forget it.

News

1. GA: Man still missing after Allatoona bass boat collision.

Crash happened Thursday. One man died (RIP bassin’ brother), another survived, one still missing. Be careful out there folks, and wear a PFD when running please.

2. Boom-Boom fishing the gobbler pattern.

Mark Rose fished around seagulls, some guys look for herons but Freddy:

3. Wonder if Ike is fishing deep…

…on Cherokee. Something tells me yes, but I can’t put my finger on it:

4. Joneses 4th father-son team to fish Classic.

Others: Denny and Chad Brauer, Guido and Dion Hibdon, Bill and Gregory Ward.

> Of that group, only the Hibdons each won a championship.

#stout

5. Less Wally-Mart involvement in FLW.

From Bassin’Fan:

> “As corporate marketing strategies have changed throughout the years, one thing has always remained the same at Walmart — their commitment to the ‘EDLP’ (Everyday Low Price). Major title sponsorships come into direct conflict with that value proposition, so we mutually agreed to change their sponsorship to an approved partnership.”

My bud Jack was like:

I know, right? Pretty sure that quote means something, just not sure what. The bassin’ gossip machine has always said FLW would die without Wally-Mart. At this point I don’t think so.

6. WON Bass gets Bassin’ Cat.

7. TX: New habitat at Stamford Reservoir.

8. FL: Hydrilla treatment on Kissimmee next week.

9. CA: Clear Lake bass have too much mercury.

Tip of the Day

Match the upcoming hatch.

From Mark Rose’s winning pattern story. We all know to look in the water and match it, to look in the livewell and match what the basses barf up, but Mark was actually tricking the bass into thinking the crawfish hatch was starting:

> He colored the tips of all plastics with an orange Spike It marker. “I wanted those baits imitating crawfish even though the water was in the high 40s.

> “I wanted them to be the first crawfish the fish got to see this spring. Most [crawfish] were buried up in the mud probably.”

Quote of the Day

Sometimes you need to know when to turn your depthfinders off and just go fishing.

Mark Rose again. Amen brother!

Shot of the Day

Not sure what’s crazier, that this fish is alive or that it’s healthy:

Sign up another bass-head!

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Use the best!

Git on these yo!

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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’. Jay Kumar’s 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.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Robert Lane

    February 7, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    https://www.blacklabeltackle.com/slim-series

    Here’s what the Strike King “Custom shop” no longer produced crankbait REALLY is. That’s a Hot Mustard colored Black Label Tackle Slim Crankbait.

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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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