If you’re getting the BassBlaster for the first time it’s cuz a bud signed you up!
Today’s Top 5
> “I was fishing isolated bushes on deeper banks — out of the way, ones people weren’t beating on. I learned the slower I fished, the bigger I caught them.
> “Everyone else was fishing a million bushes a day. My theory was fish 300 a day and the fish were [better size].
> “As the water was falling, I focused on going to banks with bushes that were just sticking out of the water. The day before you couldn’t even see them. …those bushes weren’t getting near the pressure [vs other ones].
> “The bushes were in 7-9′. Each morning the fish would be high up in the limbs, maybe only 2-3′ deep. But as the sun got up high, I’d let the bait go to the base of the bush and fish it real slow.”
What he used:
Jason Lambert won it and set the FLW lake record with 20 fish for 97-02. Nice! Done it ledge-fishing (60 schools marked!!):
> …his key bait on the first 2 days was a Castaic Heavy Metal Flutter Spoon, but he also caught a couple on a V&M J-Mag Worm.
Top 10 baits breakdown — everyone used classic Tennessee River ledge baits:
> Swimbait = 60%
> Big worm = 50% (most frequent: Zoom Ol’ Monster)
> Crankbait = 40% (most frequent: Strike King 6XD)
Here’s ledge master Mark Rose, who also fished a 10XD:
> Magnum shakey and dropshot = 20% each (Can watch 24 lbs caught on a dropshot, which kinda makes a dropshot seem fun….)
> “With 12 minutes left to fish, I returned to the bluff end and caught a 4-lber. I think it was all of the boat traffic that got the area so active. The crawdads were stirred up and the fish were chasing them, and the wake from the boats were pushing the fish up onto the bank to where I could catch them.”
Sometimes boat wakes really stir up the bait:
> Breakdown of the top 10:
> Jigs = 50%
> Flipped plastics = 50% (most frequent: Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver)
> Crankbaits = 30% (Gotta run this: “Nelson Walker [8th] began the week cranking a red Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap but lost it and ended up switching to a Rapala DT6 in pearl/green back.” Lost IT?? IT???? Dude…TACKLE WAREHOUSE!)
> Shakey head and big worm = 20% each
> Frog and buzzbait = 10% each
Innerestin’ was guy named Clabion Johns finished 3rd just a-fishin’ one a Spro Bronzeye Pop 60 in natural red:
Innerestin’ cuz:
- He only fished one bait.
- He only fished on top.
- That color — red frogs are a secret…oops. Brown too…oops, did it again.
Also no from the co-angler BFL AA winner Wes Smith:
> Smith caught his fish on a green/orange 1/2-oz Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig with a green pumpkin/blue Strike King Rage Craw.
> “When I started fishing with that bait, I didn’t know why they were biting it. My boater clued me in that it looks just like the crawfish swimming in Lake Barkley. I was fishing around bluegill beds too, so I think this jig color imitated bluegill as well.”
My fave comment from the Insta post for that fish:
> And where is clear lake? i might take a fishing trip there if its not to far from jersey.
HAHAHAHA! Gotta love my homies….
News
1. Read Z’s story of him and Ike missing fish…
…then getting ’em the next day. Happens to everyone.
2. When and why Dean Rojas changes his trebles.
He likes round-bend Gammies:
4. AR: BFLer Quincy Houchin tearin’ it up.
Check it:
> Last week, after competing as Bassmaster High School All Americans, they drove all night with their families to compete in the Illinois Bass Nation High School Championship on Lake Springfield. They won….
Props to them, and mom and dad for all that driving.
6. CA farmers want fewer Delta bass…
…to help endangered salmon survive. The friend of my enemy is my enemy? Either way, shaping up for a battle.
7. OR: How Bass Junkie Baits started.
Bassin’ gal is behind it = cool. Started it in her laundry room. Here’s the website.
8. MD finds zebras on one boat’s prop…
…and thinks that means they didn’t make it into the lake (Deep Creek) on another boat?? Makes as much sense as this:
9. Italy belly boat bassin’ blastoff.
Seems like it would be pretty quiet:
12. AR: $50K bass in Arkansas River.
13. Big Rock bringing Euro Westin baits here.
Westin = the folks who make Danny the Duck, as seen in a recent BB. The duck rush is on yo!
You know you’d run it if you could….
15. Crush EPA with anti-E15 comments.
Ethanol was a dumb idea that’s only gotten dumber…in my opinion. E-15 will kill gas mileage and outboards. Let your voice be heard here, or don’t complain yo!
Tip of the Day
Gerald Swindle: How much line to cut off.
How much line do you cut off when you retie? If you’re like me, the answer is a couple inches to at most a couple feet. The G-man thinks that’s cray. What he told me in our Texoma convo:
> “I know that if that bush is 7′ deep and I catch that fish at the bottom, I’ve stressed at least 5-6′ of that line pretty good and I just don’t want to risk it. Taking off 1′ isn’t real good if there was a lot more line in that bush too.
> “When I’m flipping fluorocarbon, I don’t need to chance it. If you fray it up or stress it and try to fish it over and over again, you’re asking for problems.
> “Every fish I caught in a bush, I’d retie. I had enough line on that reel to make it through the day. I maxed [the line capacity] all the way out. Most smaller spools, if you put 22 or 25 on there, they don’t hold very much.”
He was flipping 22-lb Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon on a higher-capacity Quantum Smoke HD reel.
Quote of the Day
I might not have beat Hackney, but gonna get me an SOS pad and whoop me some chiggers.
Experts think chiggers driving people nuts is the cause of all kinds of crazy stuff like contemporary “art:”
Shot of the Day
