Team9nine

Really 😎 Just about everyone I can remember that has ever spent a day in the boat with me crappie fishing ended up going home and stripping off all their old line (nylon/copoly/fluoro) and replaced it with braid. If you’re a live bait or bobber guy, it’s not near as critical. But, if you’re a jig caster, it makes a world of difference.

Largemouth 👍

Critters from around the house this summer - water related bugs

When I use a trailer, the old school Zoom split-tail has served me well for over 30 years. Same for buzzbaits. Does everything a trailer is supposed to do, and nothing it’s not 😎

Took it on the chin two days ago, not even getting a bite. Got a chance to sneak out to the lake for a few hours this afternoon and try and redeem myself. Fortunately, things went better, as I was able to figure out a pattern and bite. Hooked up with half a dozen bass, about twenty crappie, two channel cats and half a dozen white perch. Landed 4 of the bass, losing a small keeper when it jumped near the boat, and had a much larger fish hooked for a good while that eventually just pulled off.

Jigworm (Ned) for me. Takes just a couple seconds to unthread and rerig as jighead wacky when needed. Very versatile. #2 would be a tie between Slider and shakey.

Women were banned from fishing the Bassmaster professional trail all the way into the early 90s. Roland’s first wife, Mary Ann, once tried to enter a B.A.S.S. tournament, but Scott tore up the check, proclaiming that, “It’ll be a cold day in hell before a woman ever fishes one of my tournaments.” If the Feds hadn’t stepped in and forced the issue, there’s no telling when/if women would have eventually been allowed. Helen Sevier tried to open up the BASS trail to women a couple years prior when she owned the org. and was met with fierce opposition and protests, and eventually had to back down. It was pretty obvious the women weren’t welcome there (to compete). Ironically though, as I understand it, BASS still gladly accepted their membership checks during this time. Women’s tours like Bass’n Gal were in their prime in the 80s, and I have no doubt a few of their top professional pros could have competed back then against the men if allowed. Many of the women had no desire to compete against the guys, but a few wanted to. Most women simply didn’t have enough time on the water to compete effectively, but anglers like Chris Houston (Jimmy’s wife), Linda England/Fredda Lee, and Burma Thomas had both the experience and the sponsorship backing to have made it work. Glenn just posted above a few others that were very competitive and successful in other local and regional circuits that did allow women. Another name you could add to that list was Elaine Vickers, who won the all-around individual title in the 1959 Texas State Bass Tournament, I believe the only woman to have done so in some 65+ years of competition. Presently, given the format setup and the level of competition to try and grab the few available slots the major tours open up, I don’t see any women being able to qualify for the tour. I could possibly see the BPT selectively inviting someone based on their history of selecting who gets in. I don’t see it happening at all on the Bassmaster circuit since they moved to a 9 event qualifying process. Perhaps if they did similar to the past and created an exemption slot or two, similar to the legends exemption they still allow, or the old WBT exemption when BASS had a women's tour. Having a couple anglers like Kristine and Hilary (Scott Martin’s daughter) on tour would be a big industry and PR positive IMO.

😎 https://bass-archives.com/ann-thomasson-living-dreams/

Looks like maybe a quick clip version of a trailer hook…?

Cropped the knees out as best I could. These are now “fishing” jeans. They protect against the sun better than shorts, but they won’t make it to another summer.

Going forward, all "All-tackle" world records in either bass class (FL or LMB) have to be genetically proven as "pure" in order to be the record. They won't allow a fish on just a scale count due to variability if I heard correctly. There is currently no "hybrid" category (F1, Fx, etc.), and hybrids won't be allowed in either category if breaking an all-tackle record. I believe the threshold is 90% pure or greater, maybe even closer to 94/95%. But they are not requiring genetic testing for line class records as I recall. I don't remember if the same parameters were being used for Alabama bass and spotted bass. You can watch the BAD podcast discussions for all the particulars in that regard. I've watched it a couple times, but a lot to digest and remember - lol.

MA has what is likely the largest northern strain at 15-8, but no one knows where that fish resides, so testing might not be possible. I believe the next largest is Indiana’s 14-12, and it was recent enough that the angler is still with us, as is the fish mount along with some of the biologists that certified it. It is a clean and uncontested catch, and I’ve contacted Ken Duke arguing the case for certifying it as the official largemouth bass record (nigricans). The Perry and Kurita fish should go into the record books as a newly (yet to be) recognized “hybrid” category all-tackle WR, IMO.

This ^^ The Kurita fish has never been genetically tested and proven to be, or have, Florida bass genes that I'm aware. Biwa was originally stocked with 'northern strain' bass, but later had Florida bass introduced, as I understand it. It is likely that the Kurita fish is either a hybrid, or possibly a pure Florida depending upon original FL stocking date(s), but the IGFA will not alter the records until proven otherwise. The fish mount is still around, so it is possible we'll see it tested at some point if they could recover some DNA samples from that mount. That is not the case with the Perry fish, which is long gone according to all accounts. This whole saga still has a good ways to play out, and I expect some changes to the current "records" somewhere along the line.

Been 2-1/2 weeks since I last got the boat out, but finally got a break in the heat and rain. Snatched this one off a brushpile this afternoon.

Just a matter of time before co-anglers become a thing of the past at nearly all levels of the sport. They’re going to have to go back to giving them some kind of incentive to sign up if they don’t regulate FFS more going forward. I think you’ll see the first shot fired in that direction by at least one of the big orgs next year.

Summer has been a largely non-event for me. Kind of ironic, but moving down south, I simply traded a couple frozen winter months of non-fishing for a couple crazy hot summer months of non-fishing. January through mid-June was great, but once the early heat hit, with our streak of 90+ degree days coupled with 100+ deg. heat indices, the boat hasn’t seen much action, and there are no ponds to fish locally. Also, night fishing is out because all the ramps close by sunset. Last boat trip was 19 days ago, and prior to that, was only able to get out 1 day a week the latter half of June. But it hasn’t been a total loss, either, as I did manage another bass over 5 lbs. from my 4th different reservoir this year on that last boat trip…and then school starts up in another couple weeks, so lake traffic should start dying off a bit just as we begin cooling down, hopefully.

As you might have already surmised, it’s not so much an issue of getting the bait (un)hung, but of getting the hooks sunk in the fishes mouth. You’ve got to beef up the tackle a bit. Ditch the leader - go straight braid. With the Jr., I like to throw 40# braid. Then bump up the rod to a MH - something with a bit of tip but more backbone. You might also have to adjust your hookset timing, giving the fish a second or two longer to close his mouth or turn on the bait before swinging. You won’t be “flying” 2-3 lb. fish over your head, so no worries there, but you might pull a few away from the slop in a hurry 😉

The first post in this thread is a detailed list of a lot of the better books frequently recommended. You can also use the search feature to find other lengthy posts on the subject, though most tend to recommend the same books over and over (for good reason): Book thread

I did the same as above ^^^ at my last house, setting up 3 or 4 rain barrels on multiple downspouts. Doesn't take long at all for a good rainfall to completely fill them up, but they also don't last near as long as you would think if you have a large area to water. We used ours mostly for hanging plants and potted plants on our porches, which it worked well. You'd need to scale up significantly to a larger commercial setup, I imagine, if you wanted to do any size large garden, or go to an inground system like that used for lawns.

No. Just saying that the northern and FL all-tackle records will need to have genetic analysis done to prove they are pure before they will accept them going forward. They will not accept hybrids into either category. Very unlikely anything north of the Ohio R isn’t pure northern, but certainly anything south of there could be hybrid. Same goes for Alabama bass and spotted bass (no hybrids), and a couple other new categories. Still early in this process, so things could change or evolve yet.

Same where I lived, but definitely check your local regulations. The property owner of the land the tree sat on was responsible, regardless of where the tree fell. That said, that likely doesn’t preclude the other property owner from cleaning it up and/or taking the wood if he so chooses. I’d have a brief chat with him and work it out.

While there are some visual markers like lateral line scale counts and visual pigmentation, they are not guarantees since the two strains can interbreed. Genetic analysis is the only real way to definitively differentiate and determine lineage. At the moment, hybrids aren’t eligible for either WR all-tackle categories. There is also some discussion by those directly involved in all this to test the NY bass and perhaps make it the northern WR. There is also interest in the MA state record (if it could ever be located), or possibly the IN state record for these same reasons. Not sure where that discussion might go yet.

That might have been the case then (storms), especially since the thermocline was setting up so shallow. If a thermocline, it should reform fairly quickly if stable and hot weather return.

Probably wasn’t a thermocline then. Might have been a zooplankton migration or a mass bug hatch. Would explain the few feet difference you saw a bit later as you fished, as well as the absence today. That said, you can completely lose a thermocline over an entire lake in the course of 24 hrs, but it usually takes significant storm and wind activity (think “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” stuff - lol).

Flathead on a Shad Rap… Hybrid striper on an A-rig…