If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
Let’s go up north for a couple:
Brandon Brown caught this approx 8-lb goliath melon from a farm slough in MN — that’s like a 12+ anywhere else. Pitched a TX-rigged a 12″ Gene Larew El Salto Grande Worm. MN state record is 8-15 at 23.5″ — Brandon’s was 23.75″.
@frogger315 cracked this 6.02 — his PB brown fish — on Mille Lacs, MN. Great pic by Mr. Clutch — must have practiced for this moment (smart!):
> “I spent the first 2 days of the tournament running shallow rockpiles. I started on the east end of the lake and worked my way west, hitting about 20 isolated piles along the way.”
> …used a bluegill-colored Jackall topwater bait to dissect his piles, but fan-casted a green-pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tube and a 4″ green-pumpkin Yamamoto Senko when the fish were spooked.
> On day 3 he switched tactics, opting to fish deeper using an umbrella rig with Electric Shad-colored Keitech swimbaits. “The wind picked up and the water was stained so I couldn’t see the rockpiles. I concentrated on a weed flat, but returned to some piles when I went shallow. I probably hit 15 to 20 different areas throughout the day.”
But FLW also said he used other stuff so take your pick: “…a handful of small plastics, a Duo Realis Spinbait 80 (ghost pearl) and a Rapala X-Rap Pop (chartreuse ghost).” That color X-Rap Pop is KILLER for the brown ones.
Brief top 10 baits breakdown:
> Umbrella rig = 60% — most often mentioned were YumBrella Flash Mob Jr and Keitech Swing Impact Fats.
> Bladed jig = 40% — most often mentioned were Z-Man Original Chatterbait and Strike King Blade Minnow.
Here’s Kyle Weisenburger (6th) rockin’ the above two:
> Senko/worm = 30% (Senko = 20%)
Cuz you jess cain’t never have ’nuff:
1. HS Bassmaster champs.
Here’s what Ryan Wood and Turner Mason (from CO!) used to win the recent Bassmaster High School National Championship on Kentucky Lake. Ryan (@RyanWoodFishing) talking:
> We completely turned the stereotypical Kentucky Lake fishing on its head and won on floating jerkbaits in less than 3′. …Smithwick Floating Rogue in chrome/blue back in sunny conditions and golden bass in cloudy low-light conditions.
> Our final-day bag also consisted of 3 smallmouth and 2 largemouth that came out of 92-degree water that was 2′ deep. The smallies were the three biggest fish in the bag.
> I used a 6′ 8″ M-XF St. Croix Legend Elite spinning rod with a Pflueger Patriarch spinning reel. The line I used was 15-lb Stren Braid with a 20-lb Stren Monofilament leader. The leader was about 6-10″ long just to keep the bait from fouling. We used mono to avoid the bait from being pulled down deeper than it needed to be like fluoro would do. The reason we used braid was the keep the action of the bait as crisp and quick as possible.
How ’bout that! Great info Ryan, tx man and congrats to you both.
2. Dropshotting a tube?
Not sure how the whole hook-gap thing would work, but sounds like Ed Casey, who won the Oneida BFL, was doing it?
> “The shoals were good in practice so I went back there figuring they’d still be holding fish. I threw a dropshot rig with a baby bass-colored Jackall Crosstail Shad and dark melon goby-colored Strike King Coffee Tube…using baits with purple fleck was a crucial part of his success.
> “I stayed out deep in 7 to 8 of water and worked my way toward shallow-water markers I call ‘cans’. There was a lot of goby activity.”
3. BFL Detroit River won in 30+ feet.
Assuming Matt Elkins isn’t sandbagging here:
> “I was way offshore, probably 30 miles, and fishing deep. My catches came from more than 30′ down.”
> Elkins rotated between two baits on a dropshot rig – a purple-passion LBA Baits Ding Ding [was that bait named after a panda??] and a smoke-purple Jackall Crosstail Shad.
> “I fished very specific, isolated spots. I stood on the trolling motor and casted 30 feet forward and dragged it slow over rockpiles or a ridge.”
Gotta train, FLW peeps!
You MUST see this. Love the fancy boat not needed thing, but safety-wise maybe a little sketchy….
News
1. MN: One man missing after boat crash on Fish Hook Lake.
Sounds like a glass boat hit a 14′ tin boat at night. Hope all okay.
2. R-Mart eligible for Elites.
Roland Martin!? That’s ‘ccordin’ to Bassin’Fan, which says Larry Nixon is too. I’d love to see Guido back out there. Nixon would crush with a Senko, Guido would do stuff no one else is doing, Roland (and Hank Parker) would be jumping sandbars to get into backwaters like they did back in the day. Yes they did!
3. CA: Delta bass eradication proposal killed.
Props to those who fought the fight, but keep an eyeball out for whatever’s coming next. Because something will come.
Gary Klein, Mike Iaconelli, Justin Lucas, Bobby Lane and Adrian Avena.
Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: Cabela’s, 33901 St. Hwy. 35, Prairie du Chien, WI 53821.
Prairie du Chien is Italian for “flatland chickens” which are a delicacy in Quebec.
5. Mize, Flambeau co-founder going in Legends HOF.
WR Sauey, co-founder of Flambeau Outdoors, and basser gal Lucy Mize.
6. CA: San Vincente Rez opening soon.
Permits available through…Ticketmaster. Not a joke but this anyway:
> The fire near the lake wasn’t a factor because the prevailing wind kept the smoke away from the lake.
Whoa.
8. TX: Kurt Dove’s bassin’ camp taught 27 kids.
Cool.
9. GA: Memorial tourney at Harding Sep. 10.
10. How to fund a college bassin’ team.
Collect cans and bottles, panhandle, trade fixer-upper cars on Craigslist, etc.
11. WI: Dude hooks bass, ends up with muskie.
Guided by FLWer Jim Moynagh:
> “Josh hooked a bass and immediately this musky latched onto the bass’s head so that the bass’s body was sticking out to the side. I thought it was just a matter of time before the bass was released and the muskie splits. But no! The muskie made a fast and furious power dive, and when Josh wrestled it back up from the depths, the bass was gone and now the hook was stuck in the corner of the muskie’s jaw.”
Just another day in northern toothy-critter land….
12. NY: Guy catches 2.5-lb smallie on drone…
…then completely loses his mind. Not sure if drone-fishing is legal in NY?
Here’s another way for bank-fishers to use a drone — let it take the bait way out farther than you can cast. Wouldn’t be surprised to see swimbait nuts do this if they’re not already. Could be a huge deal:
Looks pretty cool — Mark Menendez doing the demo:
Headline of the Day
Keep Dog Poo Out of Rivers and Watersheds
Course it involves my home state…. Check this “poo fact:”
> In 1991 the EPA put dog waste in the same category as herbicides, pesticides, oil, grease and toxic chemicals.
So should I wear a biohazard suit cleaning up after my Lab??
Tip of the Day
When it’s too hot to think:
> “It’s kind of one of those deals where you have to put yourself the the fish’s shoes. If you’re out there permanently, where would you go?”
> With water temperatures at their highest point of the year, dissolved oxygen concentrations suffer, and that puts bass on the hunt for areas where it’s easier to breathe. According to Pace, wind-blown banks offer fish relief.
> “There’s always some areas that get more wind on a regular basis. It creates dissolved oxygen.
> “It’s no different than an aerator in your livewell. The fish are going to use those banks that get more wave activity than others. Riprap could be good. Stumps in the flats could be good. Anywhere that’s directly impacted by wind.”
Best hair style to tell which way the wind is going:
Quote of the Day
The fisherman now is one who defies society, who rips lips, who drains the pool, who takes no prisoners, who’s not to be confused with the sissy with the creel and the bamboo rod.
– Well-known fly-feeshn scribbler Tom McGuane talkin’ in his book, “The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing.” Personally I don’t see the issue??
Also said this about us rip-lippers:
> Granted, he releases that which he catches, but in some cases, he strips the quarry of its perilous soul before tossing it back in the water.
Huh? First, don’t get why there has to be slammin’ ‘tween fish-heads. If you wanna fish water as wide as your bedroom for fish the size of a cigar, hey — have at it! Don’t bother me none.
Second, ain’t no strippin’ a soul from a bass. They’s plum 100% git ‘er done insane in the membrane psycho crazy mang! Not unlike the peeps who be readin’ this-here Blaster….
Shot of the Day
This is the shape of the famed La Perla, TX largies — like a grouper and just as strong. Gal’s name is Sunny — fits!
Random
Do fish move between waters by bird barf?
Or snapping turtle treks? Or duck faces? No one really knows:
If you’re forwarding every Blaster to other bass crackheads, tx much — or you can email me the addys and we’ll take care of it! We’ll never send spam, sell the list or anything else crazy….
Use the best!
