FryDog62

Here’s the part I don’t get - he self reports the violation and he not only gets DQ’d - but did I hear right that he also got fined? I can’t see how they could fine him unless there is more to the story…

Actually I got the NRX+ version with my store credit… didn’t want to take a step back lol

I see the old post has been revived. I too have the Fishing Specialties mount and it works “ok.” Then I added a second transducer mount - this time for 360 Imaging. I used the Dugout Kayak “Pivot 2.0” and really prefer it over the Fishing Specialties - although it’s nearly twice as expensive. The Pivot 2.0 works for either Livescope or 360. I like it better because it’s a solid mount (unlike the break away collar of the Fishing Specialties mount, which seems to wiggle loosely at times) and the Pivot 2.0 stows nicely along the gunnel of my kayak when not in use. I have thought about swapping out the Fishing Specialties mount for a second Pivot 2.0. Pictures in the link: https://www.dugoutfishing.com/product-page/pivot-livescope-mount-2-0

Get better Catt !!

I ordered a Loomis GLX 843 MBR rod online last September with a store credit I had… However, shortly after ordering the rod it went into backorder status so I bought something else with the credit. Lo and behold, the GLX showed up on my doorstep today. I contacted the store and they said that backorder just was sent out (nearly 6 months later). It was marked as “paid.” Almost tempting to keep a new rod like that for free, but I just sent it back this afternoon. A good store and good folks, sometimes people just make mistakes. If I’d have kept it, I think you sign yourself up for some bad ju-ju… lost fish, lost rods, capsized kayak, who knows?

Jerkbaits can be a tougher lure to cast and get distance at times, especially in wind. I try to avoid any SV spool for that reason with jerkbaits, although I’ve never used the Silver Wolf. I like to be able to get maximum distance, especially in clear water, and the Tatula Elite works great paired with 10-12 lb Tatsu or Invizx. An 8.1 gear ratio is great for picking up line between jerks..

Dollar pads on that water + Z-man ToadZ = fish !!

I need to trade my boat in for a dock that catches 14 pound bass..

You mean "GOA" lol...

I use a 3 inch Spunk Shad… I don’t think you want anything that kicks very hard, the micro sized bladed jig blade isn’t very big and a wild kicking trailer could throw its vibration/action off.

I think there’s some truth to the glass analogy. Fluorocarbon can deform and fracture internally similar to glass and weaken. It’s more abrasion resistant than braid and most monos, but fragile in other ways. To wit - There has been a “nifty” way of getting nasty backlashes out of a baitcasting reel floating around on the interwebs for years. You basically crank the drag all the way down, compress your thumb against the line, crank it a few times, back up and repeat as many times as needed until the backlash is gone. While that can work great with braid, I would never do it with fluorocarbon as you get micro-fractures throughout the line. Sure the knot is out and you can cast again, but I have seen a few guys do this and get heartbreaking break-offs later on. Fluorocarbon is both durable and fragile…

Friends of ours moved to FFG a couple years ago and we’ve visited. He doesn’t fish but I drove around and looked at all the lakes and ponds and wondered how good the fishing is there. Welcome to BR!

Here's a bone colored 4 incher... I prefer the Owner Phantom Hook instead of a stupid tube in either 1/8 or 3/16 oz. https://www.elitemarinetexas.com/store-1/p/i0qrr11xjqifw0g8k3c3vi0k0y8jdc https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Phantom_Weighted_Tube_Hooks_4pk/descpage-OWTH.html?_gl=1*1i51wi3*_up*MQ..&gclid=CJDT3-2SjNECFZCMaQodOJECzA

Yes, your recall is correct… Fluoro stretches a little less initially, especially on the hook set. That’s its advantage in terms of a stretch test. Mono stretches about the same or a little less - until it gets wet, then it absorbs water and stretches more. I soaked the mono samples overnight and they stretched a lot more… an advantage to have some additional shock absorption when fighting fish near the boat. Overall, YZH and XT stretched the least. My guess is they don’t absorb water because Yo-Zuri is half-blended with fluorocarbon, and I believe XT’s exterior coating. FWIW, I use a fair amount of fluorocarbon today (much more than in the old days when I was biased against it) because of uniform sink rate, less stretch on the initial hook set, and no leader knots to fail or slow you down tying. However, when I do use braid to leader, I use a lot of YZH and Trilene XT as leader material. They are tough, abrasion-proof lines.

I have the following BFS set ups and use them not as a gimmick but because I can’t use spinning due to wrist injuries, and these serve a functional purpose. I would have a hard time going back to spinning now even if my wrist didn’t bark. They work - - 6’8” Cashion ICON BF ML/ Daiwa Air TW - for Strolling/FFS minnows 6’10” Cashion ICON BF ML/Curado BFS for Ned rigs 7’0” Cashion ICON BF L/Aldebaran BFS for micro crankbaits (my favorite set up!) 7’1” Phenix Classic BFS/Aldebaran BFS for 1/16-1/18 oz hair jigs.

Time to break out the red hot and lava red hot sauce colored Fogy Chatterbaits from Sieberts !

I haven’t fished SC in 2 months… been in FL and those swamp lakes fish very different than the reservoirs here. This is the one time of year I haven’t fished locally and it’s going to be a learning process.

Nice job, unfortunately a little more rain coming now. What depth/lures are you finding work best?

Except... those guides... I think I have broken 5 guides in 50 years of fishing and 4 of them have been the AGS guides on my one Ehrler rod. It's in the shop as we speak getting fixed yet again. I would order another Ehrler rod if they came with different guides.

That’s my choice as well 👍

Their glass lenses maybe are a tad heavy, but I wouldn’t recommend a glass lens for fishing anyway, too dangerous. Their plastic lenses are basically just as clear as glass and safer and lighter. Or, if you get prescription lenses, they are Trivex which clear as glass but a shatterproof, high grade and light plastic.

I went into this with low expectations, really doing this first time for the experience and I enjoyed it. A couple key learnings for me… First of all the people that did best were the ones that had the whole week to practice, a couple days just isn’t enough. But hey, I’m a consultant and that’s just the way it goes sometimes as the workflow goes up and down… hard to anticipate time off. The other learning is that having fished in the north most of my life, the approaches are obviously different as you go further south. I fished for decades in the Midwest and Canada which when it came to fishing weeds, the focus was always to find the greenest vegetation, pads, etc. I found out in Florida that during the pre-spawn and into the spawn that is not true at all. As the fish move up to bed, they actually go in the brown, dead Kissimmee grass. And grass is a misnomer… It is not soft blades at all, they’re like miniature little bamboo trees, very stiff and spiney, and very difficult to work lures in and around. Anyway, I wasted a lot of time fishing the wrong stuff. Hats off to Koz, he arrived to practice before I did and keyed me in on the Kissimmee grass, I only wish we would’ve pre-fished together sooner. He was great to meet. We had some good conversations and even shared some water together on the final day. We both have Autopilot 120s, and went the same speed, which is slower than most everybody else… Lol. Till next time!

Three days of practice (in my situation) with 13 lakes in play isn’t adequate preparation in post-cold front conditions (which is all too well-known, Florida bass react to very poorly). Big learning for me is that the people leading this tournament work in teams. I watched them… closely. They get here a week in advance and work like a syndicate. They break off in teams of anglers that comb each lake like an agricultural combine going row-to-row until they find exactly where each and every bass are located on any of the 13 lakes. By the time they get to the 2-day tournament format - they have a plan A and B… maybe a C. But they don’t have too many strategies on how to conquer the tournament. They ideally pick 1-2 lakes with a couple anpproaches and know where the spot-on-the-spot is. It’s a surgical approach and they share info between their teams (which is allowed in practice). It works. If you think the kayak division of Bassmaster takes a back seat in terms of approach, talent, and focus, you’re wrong. If you added up the fish between Koz and I lost the first day we’d be much further up the ladder. But it is what it is, and all competitors in this format lose fish. The competition is fun, everyone catches and loses fish, but tomorrow I guarantee I will have sharper hooks. Should be fun 👍

It was on Bass Pros but don't know what episode.