Team9nine

Hot, sunny and almost calm. Fished 4 hours for 4 bites. Landed 3 - of course, the one I didn’t land was a 5 pound class fish or better. She cleared the surface on her first jump and that was that. Positive spin - learned a new big fish spot though.

Another non-fan here. Yeah, I’ve caught them on it, mostly when I was younger fishing a lot of tourneys on tough waters, but most years I never even throw a traditional T-rig, or even carry the components in my boat to do so. A jig has always been a faster approach, with better feel, so i always grabbed it first - still do.

Using your measurements, taking the time of year into account, along with known high end/max GSI's, I'd say your guess is very close. Running the calcs, I come up with either side of 7.25 lbs., but would bracket the range between 7.1-7.5 lbs., bumping the high end with an outlier. Great fish regardless - congrats!

Had less than 3.5 hrs to fish this afternoon, but wanted to take advantage of the clouds and cooler temps (only 80 deg.). Changed lakes and decided to chase bass today. Ended up with half a dozen fish, all shallow, on a mix of Ned and trick worms. Water really clear, but even with the cloud cover, I was able to spot a couple nesters - first I’ve seen this year. Need to go back on a sunny day when they’re easier to see.

One could argue it's important to define the difference between the two based on the title of this thread. In Perry's world, there was no such thing as "isolated structure." It would have simply read, "Why do bass prefer structure?" An explanation of, or reference to, "cover" and it's importance can also be found in a couple sections of the book, but Perry's preferred term was "break," using it in conjunction with, or relating to, structure, breaklines and deep water/sanctuary. It's why you'll find one of the terms in the Spoonplugger's glossary (in the book) and not the other. You could argue it also didn't become an issue (cover vs. structure) until sometime after the book was published, as more and more writers and fishing magazines proliferated and started using the terms much more loosely than how Perry had, adding to the confusion.

Water temps heating up right along with the air temps and are now into the low 70s during the day here. Still some crappie hanging around spawning areas, so spent most of the afternoon checking them out, but did slide out on to the main lake with a Ned to score one bass. Only got one decent crappie at 1.96 lbs.

The post I needed to read today Nice going! And I see it looks like you're using the best type net for protecting the fish, too (to tie in with another thread).

Could also be competition. If there are several bass around, the first one to get the bait often hightails it out of the area to try and get away from others. This could often be to open/deeper water away from the others holding on the same bank/cover. If so, it would tell me there is more than one bass in that area and I probably either need to work it slower and more thoroughly, or make a point of returning to the area and fishing it again after everything settled back down.

‘Vertical’ in this study was using a lip grip holding device. No findings of permanent jaw issues in this study among holds, but other studies with other species have raised concerns with lip grip devices. I believe Texas P&W have also published concerns about the single hand traditional jaw hold with larger bass.

Think you're on the right track. I've run a similar system for at least 10 years or more. I use a true rubber net (if needed), then the bag for weighing (again, if needed), which based on studies are the best possible options in regards to fish care short of pure catch and immediate release (no nets, weighing, measuring, etc.). Studies also suggest the slime coat concern might be a bit overblown with bass in these type instances, but the jaw holds are a valid one, so I'd say "carry on" with your new system. You'll figure out the little tweaks and efficiencies with more time and experience doing it

Good report. I just jumped on TW and bought 4 of them before the rest of the BR members see this and they get sold out! Thanks

Yep, and that would just be bad luck. Release it and move on.

This is my 4th year with it and why I’ve changed mine 😎

I’m on the side of going to all fish need at least a single hook in the mouth at the highest level of the sport (Elite/BPT) - show your catch to your marshal/ referee before unhooking. No different than bed fishing. With the advent of FFS, there are several scenarios now where it’s more possible/likely to score a catch or two by foul hooking, whether intentional or not. You can’t easily rule by intent, but you can by hook location.

Both beating the bank, both throwing Chatterbaits? If the front guy is halfway good, he should get him 5:1. If the back guy is sharp, it might be closer to 3:2. So many variables though, so it’s really just guessing.

Glad I squeezed in so many trips through the winter/spring. Have half expected I’d get shut down a bunch being this far south during the ‘summer.’

Yep - sitting at home right now on a near 70 degree day because sustained winds are SW at 22 gusting to 36 mph, and the weekend forecast isn’t much different. Would just be an exercise in futility in a high-sided aluminum boat. Mid 80s all next week, so the heat might keep me off the water then, too. Can’t win 😔

They seem to be stocked in all the watershed lakes here as the first line of defense against hydrilla as I understand it. Seems like just some carpet moss and a few hard stemmed plants like lilies are the only thing escaping them. The fisheries vary from water to water, so hard to make any concise judgement on positive or negative effects. But I can say in the lake with the greatest population of them, their returns on FFS are pretty impressive and fun to watch 😆

First winter/spring here in SC for me, so wasn't sure what to expect on all new waters. I will say that once I figured out I had record class crappie around me, I spent an awful lot of time the past 3 months chasing them while the window was available. But I did scan through my pics from Jan 1 through April 1 and had a pretty decent run on bass for as little as I fished them. Looks like I landed 17 bass over 3 pounds, with 4 between 4-5 lbs, 3 more between 5-6 lbs., and then one over 7 lbs. Add to that the 46 crappie over 2 lbs. I've been able to catch, and I can't complain. Will be spending a lot more of my time chasing bass the next 3 months if things don't get too hot around here, so we'll see what happens.

Got a break in between storms, so took advantage of a rare cloudy day for me. Started with topwater (Spook) over potential main lake spawning flats w/o a bite. Moved into a creek arm and was able to get a killer blowup on a shallow laydown. Never could duplicate that bite though. Picked off two deeper fish on Ned-type stuff…and one more crappie brushing the 3 lb. mark. That’s probably it until next week.

Yep - got taken on a set of Pointers online. Had everything right down to the name and lettering identical to originals. Even the paint colors. Only found out once I went to fish them and it took 9-11 SuspendStrips to get them to balance right. Would not be surprised in the least if someone didn’t try to counterfeit the MBs given their price and popularity.

Agree that anything that has to be stopped or paused like poppers, Spooks, Devil's Horses, etc. will get pulled under and won't work with fluoro. But, anything that constantly moves like the baits mentioned, I really don't notice much if any difference between the line types. In some cases, you could argue fluoro might actually be better because it helps keep the bait/nose down in the water a little bit and running properly. Just my experience as a nearly all fluoro user (baitcast gear).

YZH - combining the best of both worlds, so that your line excels at…..nothing 😝 You can still throw some topwaters effectively with fluoro (Buzzbaits, toads, ploppers, etc.). If you’re really stuck on adding in more topwaters than that, then default to a mono/copoly line like BG or Super Natural. Otherwise, I say stick with what's been working for you. JMHO

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