Leaderboard

My first impressions is "It's About Time". This is all Great News and a Real Step Forward for B.A.S.S. I think this is the Rejuvenation that B.A.S.S. has been looking & hoping for a long, long time and is very much needed. As a fan, I am Really excited & looking forward to this and what is to come in the future. Thank you B.A.S.S. A-Jay

Personnaly - I'm not a fan. I believe Competition is good and Monopolies are bad. A-Jay

Easy rule of thumb...as long as you can hold your own breath.

"The Classic Bracket will be streamed live on Bassmaster.com and will feature — for the first time ever in Bassmaster competition — catch-weigh-release scoring. That is, competitors will have their catches weighed instantly on the water by judges, and the bass will be released back into the water at the spots where they were caught. Only the heaviest five bass per angler will be counted." http://www.bassmaster.com/news/bass-announces-sites-bassfest-and-toyota-bassmaster-angler-year-championship

Zebco 33

More spinnerbait action: The bass fishing has been hot but unfortunately due to time constraints I don't think I'll be able to squeeze out more than one or two more short trips. However, this year has been incredibly enlightening and I feel quite a bit more confident going into the 2016 season and this time I won't just be armed with a tacklebox full of frogs.

For whatever it's worth, the best five fish limit that I've ever had on my boat (27 lbs) was caught on an LC Pointer in the fall in water that had at most 2 ft of visibility (and was probably a bit less than that).

Got out yesterday with my "buddy" fishing is still insanely good

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy some PVC Pipe in a big enough diameter to hold all of your rods, cut to length and buy some end caps and you are set.

I'll let you know soon when mine arrive.

I don't know who the mastermind is behind Tackle Warehouse, but he should be the one buying out Cabelas, not BPS.

Caught this 7.5lb bass on my third cast with a jig today. Missed a couple of bites, but I still managed to catch 7, one of them weighting 5.45lb. I still can't believe this small ponds holds such big bass

This thread Bait Monkey Victim Support Group isn't doing any better than those divorce or marriage groups. Haha

Anyone thrown a Reaction Strike 7" Bass Harasser before? Is it a decent bait? Action? Great sale on them here: http://www.overstockbait.com/brands/Reaction-Strike.html Other good stuff in there as well. *yells loudly* GET OFF ME MONKEY!!! GET OFF!!

I didnt mean that you thought you were better . No one is better . He'd smoke us in AOY . But if amateurs didnt have a chance against pros then there would be no new pros . All pros were once amateurs . I bested a pro angler " one" tournament. He has since qualified for several classics . After the weigh in he sought me out and quizzed me . I thought that was cool .

I believe Mike Tyson said it best....Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. While not boxing, I think you can draw the parallels.

lots of rolls in that tide.....

The difference between VW bug and formula 1 car is the drivers skills. If you can't determine a difference, buy what works for you. Tom

Same here. but I do it because I can print off multiple copies and put one in my tackle bag, the boat, my wallet, and anywhere else just in case i forget it.

I wouldn't get too excited, they picked this event since it will only have 8 anglers...It's a whole different thing when you need to outfit 100+ boats with the stuff necessary to do this. Not to mention the impact it would have on the weigh in event and crowd for the local host city....Which is a big deal for both BASS and the host. I enjoy MLF, but I also realize it's a made-for-TV product. I don't think I'd like it if the major tours adopted that format for all regular events. There's been 100+ boat tournaments on the river every year for decades now, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think the smaller local tournaments do more harm honestly, the local anglers are more likely to not have brand new and properly functioning livewells. The volume of local events is much more overall too, there are multiple tournaments on the river nearly every single weekend from about March through October. Just think of the BASS event as a stocking program for Mattawoman Creek .

Would love to see some pics of those TN beauties! Jeff

If you do that here, the state charges you a $3 fee for the "convenience" of buying it online. But I pay it because I value my time more than a few bucks. Plus, you're guaranteed not to have to drive, waste gas, then learn the computers are down and you can't buy one anyway.

A professional at anything is only a professional because he's good enough to make money at a thing and chooses to do so. I am sure there are plenty of excellent anglers out there who remain in obscurity. They wish fishing to remain their own, calm, private past-time, but could run circles around any professional named. Josh Edited for spelling.

You asked for it ~ Here's the store with The Best Lucky Craft Selection on the web. For example, they offer 787 different Pointers ~ That's insane ! A-Jay http://stores.ebay.com/I-Love-Hard-Bait

Clearly, the true purpose of the thread has revealed itself as being for groups of victims to support the Bait Monkey. He always wins.

I'm more in line with this, especially on your HOME LAKE.. He's showing up with a spincaster, that's it , he can fish out of another 12 Jon with trolling motor like I would. There is no map of my lake to even study beforehand . He has no clue where NON visible cover / structure even is... Roadbeds ,stump feilds,drop offs ,rock piles,weedbeds, humps and so on. That would make a huge difference IMO. I don't believe you guys are giving yourselves enough credit for your home waters with these conditions .

You know....you can save some gas and buy your license online. Agree on all other comments. I rarely go to either now. Buying online saves ALOT of cash.

Thank you for all of your help. I too have looked at the Shimano Cardiff Trout videos on YouTube and Shimano has quite the selection of Trout Rods, both casting and spinning. This rod is the Shimano Cardiff AX B64L-F. I bought it from BassJP for $202.53 shipped. This is a very nice rod with a very soft tip and the rod itself appears to have some backbone. Paired with a Conquest 50/w Avail spool and 4# Yo Zuri Hybrid, it should launch tiny crankbaits. If you want a shorter rod, they make the Cardiff NX Series. I want the Cardiff NX B-50UL. A few more pics......

That has the influence of Major League Fishing (MLF) written all over it, IMHO -T9

My son is in Vegas, as of this morning, for a weekend of bachelor party debauchery. I on the other hand am not. Congrats to you my friend and my condolences to the bride.

I dont really like fishing a jerkbait in really dirty water. Dirty water usually means fish are hugged tight to cover or the bottom. Dirty water and bluffs has been pretty good for jerkbaits in the past, but I still would rather run a crankbait parallel to the bluff. I usually reserve jerkbaits for very clear water.

Moving on. Today I grabbed this guy on my way home from work.

Got off the pond around 2 after putting a dozen smallies into the boat. average size was 2lbs with the biggest at 3.8lbs I thought it was going to be a great start hitting a smallie on the second cast with a shadow rap stick bait but then it got hard 20 ft deep with watermelon with red speck spider grubs on a football head or a black with blue tube bait till the bite died around 1. The weather was almost to perfect with no breeze on a crystal clear pond.

Just like fishing from a boat, when fishing from shore, you have to do your homework, and choose spots based on seasonal patterns, the structure, and cover present. Spring and fall are two of your best bets for locating shallow bass, easily accessible from shore, irrespective of how big the lake is.

Last week, I missed a big fish in a tiny pond that I never would have guessed was capable of producing a big fish. This week, I went back armed with my swimbait rod and box. I can literally cast across the pond in any direction from where I was standing. I combed the water with a Dep's 175 first, no dice. Last week she crushed a 5" Stick O that I was reeling in to make another cast right as it broke the surface. With that in mind, I switched to my trusty 7" Slammer. I did several slow straight retrieves with no interest. There's one spot where there's a big laydown and the roots of a big tree growing out into the water so I pitched my Slammer over them. I let it deadstick for probably close to a full minute before I gave it a couple twitches, BAM!! The water erupted! After a brief but intense battle, she was in my grasp. It's been a slow year for swimbaits, especially for big fish, but this one makes up for all the days I've thrown them with no interest. I didn't have a tape, but she rang up at 6 pounds even on the scales. Felt good to get my redemption after the near miss last week. I fished for another half hour but I felt like I'd accomplished what I came for so I decided to pack it in, but not before catching another future pig

John, don't force them together too much. Majorcraft does the same 2 piece design. There's supposed to be a gap.

Not every single one of them goes all the way I think... I have seen those in action, and I am pretty sure they had that gap. I kind of want to order one of these whippy rods for BFS, so I can cast light plugs/spoons better for Trout around my area. Edit. Here is a video of it, time stamped when you can get clear view of the rod connection. https://youtu.be/wVv8QOAQJI8?t=183

No where near ten... Sry bud. How bout I start holding the fish two inches from the camera next time like your use to seeing.

I love my St. Croix rods. I have not had many issues with them over the years but when it came to warranty they stand behind their stuff. I done something real stupid a few years ago bringing a nice smallie into the boat I had a finger about 18 inches from the tip and one on the handle and did the swing into the boat. Sounded like a firecracker when it snapped. Didn't loose the fish but was heart broken over the rod. Avid 5'9" MXF was replaced. Hand a cork handle issue on a 6'9" ml Mojo they fixed up. And had tip guide problem on an Avid that was a repair/replacement. My trout rods I beat the heck out of them and they just don't break. I think they are good people with a quality product. I register all of them to eliminate a warranty issue.

Yeah, not really a fan of this. Prefer competition, as well.

Boo. That is all.

This is probably the best answer you're going to get.

How effective is the Ned Rig in murky or muddy water?

Forget about you lending him your gear, you go out and purchase him a nice ( I said nice, I din´t say expensive ) spinning setup, simple lures ( like in-line spinners ) and worry about him catching a bunch of fish, it doesn´t matter if it´s 8 inchers, just make shure he catches a lot, never forget you are taking HIM TO HAVE FUN, it´s pretty much like taking a kid fishing.

When I was a kid we would swim at them, at least ones under 7 feet or so. In my twenties a close friend would catch them, again up to about 7 feet, by jumping out of a little john boat right on top of em like a cowboy wrestling a steer. Just had to wrap your legs around their middle and grab the snout, which you can hold closed with one hand. Somehow somebody above was looking out for us and we never even got a scratch. Point is, they are more afraid of you than you are of them.

Here's another from my trophy hunting era

I'm also going with white bass, nice fish!!!