OCdockskipper

I'd say he is pushing 210 lbs, although the farmer tan sometimes makes accurate predictions difficult.

No, he owned a Funny car for 5 years or so in the late 90s through early 2000s. I forget who his driver was, I'll ask next time I see him.

John Force from Yorba Linda, California. I'm not a big NHRA fan, but he is well known in around here. Also, my brother used to run a Funny Car and got to know him pretty well (both of their shops were in Yorba Linda, about a block from each other)

One of the great things about todays match is that neither angler lost it. Both showed their talents and were able to perform under alot of pressure. Congratulations to Nick Ratliff on the win and again to Nolan for a great performance.

Great job Nolan, you really showed your talents & character through these 3 days. As a consolation, remember that Jordan Lee finished 2nd in his first bracket appearance.

wow..,.

Nolan just switched over to the Ned rig & hooked up a couple of times. Way to use Midwest Finesse in the Midwest!!?

I believe what has set Nolan apart from the others in this bracket tournament has been his poise & confidence. As a young man in a highly excited environment, it is very easy to let the situation overwhelm you and your plans. From Day one, he knew the contest he was fishing, what he needed to do and kept his ego in check in order to accomplish it. Rare are the multi-day tournaments where the winner is comes flying out of the gate and then is hanging on at the end (like Tim Horton did on Okeechobee a year ago). Starting well and then increasing as the tournament progresses is the strategy that wins, but is so difficult to do mentally while you are in the midst of it. Nolan has shown a maturity past his years. If he does indeed keep the lead & win today, I just hope he doesn't long-arm the trophy for the photos... ?

Way to go Nolan! You seem to be doing a good job of balancing enjoying yourself while at the same time making good strategic decisions. The combination of being relaxed yet focused is deadly.

Nolan is off to a good start, 4 fish in the boat for 7-7. So far it is looking like he may be the only one to increase his weight from yesterday.

Very good Nolan, excellent strategy to back off your spot once you knew your opponent was struggling. It would have been easy to try & load the boat today, instead you kept your wits and made a good long term decision. Congratulations! Keep enjoying yourself!

This is the first time I am paying attention to the college brackets since Jordan Lee was in college. Do your best Nolan. If you come out on top, I bet we could get 40 or 50 of us from this forum to come to the Classic and be your rooting section!!

In most of Los Angeles city lakes, the easiest thing to catch is hepatitis C.

One thing I noticed in most pictures is that spots are more football shaped. Smaller head, large midsection, back to a smaller tail. I don't know if I have ever caught or seen a slim Spot, they are pretty voracious eaters. Largemouth typically have a bigger head, and range from fat to slim depending on the lake and the particular fish. I know that isn't the scientific way to tell them apart, that is just what I pick up from looking at images of them.

Dried up lakes are very hard to fish. They are also difficult to launch a boat in.

Does casting a Zara Spook to try to snag a person thrashing in the water count as aid? ?

Bingo!!

I disagree. Being courteous to other boaters & water users is not a superiority complex, it is manners. Expecting others to know etiquette and show manners themselves is the underpinning of a civil society. Also, there are anglers who are just as discourteous to other anglers as well as pleasure boaters. Those folks have no complex, they are just selfish. You are correct about this, albeit this was not the situation with the OP. Part of etiquette for all boaters, including fishermen, is to not clog up areas that are used for high speed navigation. There is a kayaker (non fisherman) on my lake who will paddle his kayak between me & docks that I am fishing even when I am skipping docks. In those situations, there is nearly no room for him to squeeze past, yet he does so, even having bumped my boat in the past. He is a cranky old man & in his mind, he is going to paddle right next to the line of docks in every cove and if that affects anyone else (fishermen, docksitters, etc), that is their problem, not his.

Ignorance is not a defense for lack of etiquette. If ones' focus is solely on themselves, then one will never realize they are interfering or disturbing others. In a word, it is selfishness. Let's put the shoe on the other foot. If people are swimming by a dock and some fisherman drives up, anchors, starts chumming with some stinky stuff to attract catfish and casts right in among the swimmers, he is an ignorant jerk. He has every right to do what he is doing, he can fish where he wants to, but the swimmers were there first and he is out of line by forcing his activity upon them. Fishermen do not own the water, but proper etiquette is to allow any person pursuing outdoor recreation the space to do so if they were there prior to you. Those who fish from boats often tend to follow etiquette more than the jet skier or pleasure boater who goes out 3 times in the summer for the simple reason that they are more invested in the activity. It is not unlike the difference on how a car or home owner will treat their property compared to a renter of the same thing.

That is a great story. The last kid is destined to be grow up to be either a politician or motivational speaker ? I had a similar situation on a smaller scale one spring when some of the bass were on beds. Coming back to my house, I saw a large female on a bed, 2 houses down from my dock. I made a couple of casts towards her & the male, but they were distracted by a gardener working just feet away from them. So I docked my boat, went over to my neighbors dock to get a better look at her. My neighbors 4 grandkids come out of the house (they know me) and ask what I am looking at. I pick each of them up, have them put on my sunglasses and let them see the bass. By this time, my neighbors come out of the house, as does my brother out of my house, so a crowd has gathered. As the gardener is leaving, one of the kids ask if I can catch the bass. I tell them I will try, but don't get their hopes up because she is most likely more interested in spawning than biting. I pull my boat back out and get in a position where I can see the female but she can't see me. First cast is perfect, just past the nest on to the edge of the seawall. I gently pull the Senko into the water, right into the center of the nest. The female wheels around, goes nose down & I see her gills flare. I set the hook & as she makes a beeline towards deeper water, my "audience" makes a roar of approval. She does a couple of headshakes that get some oohs & aahs, and they all start clapping when I pull her from the water. I went back to the dock to weigh her (5lbs, 4 oz) and to let the kids get a closeup look at her. Best of all, as I release her, she goes straight back to the nest and the kids started clapping again. I almost felt like I should take a bow...

I know you were kidding, but the problem with that strategy (remove all keepers) is that it lowers the population and competition for food. If there is a ton of forage & the bass has few brethren trying to eat it, he has no motivation to eat it first. In those situations, I find you have to do the difficult combination of placing a reaction bait right at the end of his nose because they fish usually aren't hungry and typically will not chase.

I was skipping a Senko under docks one day when I hooked up & brought in a bass. As I release it, a guy walks out and says "Darn, I wanted to take a picture of it for you". He was visiting from Chicago, we chatted a little and he asked how do I make a bait skip. As I told him, I illustrated my instructions by skipping under an adjoining dock. As I told him the next step is to watch the line, sure enough it starts to zip to the left. I set the hook, pull the bass out from under the dock and land it, as my new friend stands there with his mouth open. He later emailed me pictures he took of the 2nd fish with the note "it is amazing how you can catch bass on command".

Twenty years ago, my nephew was finally old enough to go on a Marlin fishing trip with his Dad. He got a brand new casting outfit for the occasion & practiced with it religiously prior to the outing. The day arrived & quickly they were 30 miles off the California coast. They spotted a Marlin sunning itself & my nephew ran to the front of the boat as he was making his cast. Unfortunately, he tripped over a cleat and accidently threw the new combo overboard. As my brother consoled his upset son, the other two fishermen (friends of my brother) fired their sardines at the marlin. After about 5 minutes, one of them said "I think I have a fish, but it doesn't feel very big". As he reels it in, there is no fish, just the sardine they were using as bait and a 2nd sardine with a hook in it wrapped around his line. He grabs it, starts hand lining in the line attached to the 2nd sardine and sure enough, it was my nephews combo. A million to one shot to snag it in water a couple of hundred feet deep.

Rosie O'Donnell. She has been known to do cannonballs in north Alabama ponds...

I think I understand where the OP is coming from. One of the reasons I practice catch & release is that I have a lot of respect for largemouth bass as a predator & sportfish. As I spent years learning about them in order to catch more of them, I found I appreciated the characteristics that made them different from other species. Heck, the fact that you can land them by grabbing their mouth without hurting yourself is just too cool. That respect is why I treat largemouth with kid gloves, even if they don't need it. They are almost to the level of a pet for me. That said, other species don't bother me to see people keep or keep them myself. Go to Lake Mead or Powell & they beg you to keep the stripers and I happily oblige. A mess of bluegill make a fine meal. Sometimes I find myself wanting to let catfish go just because they are so darn tough (durable) and they make me laugh when they squawk.