OCdockskipper

Since they weigh less than a full fledged bass boat, it takes less to make these boat turn, however they aren't as bad as a kayak or canoe. One thing that makes a big difference when throwing moving baits as well as controlling the boat is adding a rudder to the back (when you have the electric in the front). On my boat, only the deepest diving crankbaits tend to turn my bow a little, everything else has a negligible effect.

My experience with ponds & other smaller bodies of water has been to downsize & slow down. Most prey in ponds tends to be smaller and there is no place for them to hide, so predators often aren't in the mood to chase.

What is funny about that is that Palaniuk is the old man in the group...

In 1976, in his 3rd Classic, Rick Clunn won his very first BASS tournament. He won a small, 20 angler special tournament in 1977 and then followed it up with his 2nd Classic in 4 tries. He went on to finish 2nd in the 1978 Classic and 3rd in the 1979 Classic. The first half of that history is eerily similar to Lee's track record so far, it will be interesting to see if it continues the next few years. In the 2015 Elite Season, Brent Ehrler edged out Jordan Lee for Rookie of the Year and when accepting the award, Ehrler graciously said that due to the number of years he had fished professionally, Jordan was the true ROY (this led to BASS changing the definition of a Rookie). In both 2017 & 2018, Ehrler left the Classic stage on day 3 with a handshake of Jordan Lees hand instead of holding the trophy. This may be just the beginning of a pair of careers that parallel each other. After Jordan Lee won the Classic last year, I thought the sudden influx of commitments as champion would have at least a slight negative effect on his 2017 Elite season. I now don't know if the back-to-back will do the same or if it has released King Kong. Clunn cashed in every tournament in 1978 after his back-to-back (30th or better every tournament) and KVD did the same in the regular season events in 2011 (worst finish 33rd). Jack Nicklaus came into his career challenging a legend (Arnold Palmer) and during his peak, was himself challenged by tough competitors such as Lee Trevino & Tom Watson. If Jordan Lee is coming into his own the same way, will it light an even hotter fire under the Jacob Wheelers & Brandon Palanuiks to make sure their mark in Bass Fishing history isn't overlooked? Great competition between talented individuals leads to some amazing performances by all. As a big brother, I wonder if Matt Lee has ever just shaken his head & then pushed Jordan out of the boat into the lake...

IMO, choking is acting & making decisions in a manner differently & negatively due to the pressure of a situation. Based on what I have seen, I would agree with you. I didn't watch Live, so I can't comment on Christies actions or decisions. However, when the top 4 guys all weigh in under 10 lbs, it leads me to believe they were all fooled into believing that which worked the 2 days before was going to work on Sunday. If only one of the top 10 had such low weights, then it would be appropriate to say someone choked. Since more anglers came in with low weights than high weights, I prefer to give Jordan Lee, Brent Erhler & Matt Lee credit for seeing something different and making the proper decisions to be able to catch the 16-18 lb bags. I think that is what made Roland Martin & KVD a step above the competition during their peaks, their ability to anticipate and recognize exactly what was happening as situations changed and the killer instinct to then capitalize on it.

I bet that would look good in the water, but the lack of any significant gap between the hook point and the thick body would concern me with hooking fish & keeping them stuck.

It was an Autumn, end of the year event until 1979, when it became a late summer event with 1 or 2 events following it. It stayed that way until 2006, when it became a late winter, early spring event to begin the season. The reason for the first change was to open up more lakes as potential sites, the second change was to get back to it being the final event for a season (even though it was held in different calendar year). They took a cue from NASCAR, who kicks off their season with the Championship from the previous season. It made more sense & gave them time to prepare months for their Super Bowl instead of just a couple of weeks following the last event. However, after a rash of very cold Classics, including Hartwell in 2015 where boats were frozen to their trailers & couldn't be launched, in 2017 BASS pushed the Classic to mid March in hopes of avoiding ice fishing tourneys. The problem with that is it is a bit too late to then start the Elite series in April, so they decided to hold an event or two before the Classic so as to not cram the entire season into a compressed schedule. Unfortunately, they are now back to where the Classic neither ends nor kicks off the season. Interestingly enough, the last two Classics have been very compelling with weather changes causing major shakeups in the standings every day. The last 1st day leader to win was Cliff Pace in 2013 at Grand Lake. Further, NO day 1 leaders NOR day 2 leaders for the last five Classics have ended up winning, it has always been someone from down in the pack.

I understand and agree with that. However, getting back to the baseball analogy, hitting home runs in a game is different than hitting home runs in a home run derby. Yet despite that difference, if Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge had not been in the 2017 home run derby, it would have made it easy to wonder if maybe the eventual winner didn't beat the best home run hitters in the world. The fact that they were in it (and Judge won) kind of eliminates that question. The winner of the derby was able to do so by facing the best home run hitters in Major League baseball. If MLF was just another fishing tournament, then not having Jordan Lee in it wouldn't matter. But since it is billed as the "Major Leagues" and structures itself as featuring the best bass tournament pros in the world, leaving out the back-to-back World Champion allows the credibility of that marketing claim to be challenged. As an aside, don't get me wrong about why I brought this up. I truly enjoy both the MLF & the Elite series and wish them nothing but success in the future. I just believe MLF has a little dilemma by not having Jordan Lee involved. Second aside, all AOY winners since 2004 and all Classic winners since 2007 are part of MLF.

That is what came to mind when asked about skipping that far. Like the weight of fish, I believe it is human nature to overestimate the length of a cast. With a 5" Senko, I can skip it about 60 feet (20 yards) or so, with it skipping 10-12 times. However, that is a very hard cast done perfectly. I typically am closer than that for most casts, usually 25 feet or so away from the dock, with the cast going 5 feet or so under the dock, skipping 6-8 times. I find that is a distance which requires a very fluid motion allowing for accuracy of trying to fit it in small holes, such as between a boat & a canoe tied up on the same dock for example. Of course, that is after years of practice. I sometimes forget that when I try to teach others and they spend an hour or so burying the lure into the water 4 feet away from the boat....

That is a pretty old bass, I never heard of them living past 15 years or so. And how tough is that blackbird, to get taken out of midflight and still live another 40 years only to have it happen again...

I don't know if he wasn't invited, I don't believe I wrote that he wasn't. What I did write is that MLF has a dilemma that it markets itself as the "Major Leagues" (which I agree with) and that the back-to-back World Champion is not involved. That is like when they have home run derbies in MLB but the previous years home run leader doesn't participate. It casts a slight issue of credibility upon the winner when all of the best don't compete.

Interesting dilemma for MLF. How can you be the "Major League" of bass fishing when the back-to-back World Champion isn't involved, even in the Selects? In a Kumbaya world, MLF would extend an exemption to Jordan Lee to fish MLF this year (next years TV coverage), forgoing having him work his way through the Selects. They could call it the "Classic winner exemption" and make it an annual thing. Lee could be gracious & accept it. In a dog-eat-dog world, Jordan Lee could ask for a large payout in order to just join & compete on MLF. MLF could respond by saying the Classic champ is afraid to compete in this format, or work his way up through the Selects. It could get ugly & nasty. My gut is Jordan is too humble a guy to let the 2nd scenario occur, but is enough of a family guy to say that he & his brother are a package deal.

What is often overlooked is how close he was to winning the Classic while still in college, the 2014 one at Guntersville. He went out the 1st day and fished like a college kid in the Classic, completely spun out. Then amazingly, he composed himself the next 2 days and ended up in 6th. At this young age, he has a Clunn like Zen quality to keep calm under the bright lights.

Catt, I think you would have to agree we are seeing a legend in the making with Jordan Lee. He is young enough to be my son, a completely different generation, yet I won't hesitate that there is something really special about this young man. He seems to be a combination of Aaron Martens natural ability and Rick Clunn's flair for the big stage. If he ends up adding KVD or Roland Martin's ability to close, look out. As an old timer, I am looking forward to the next couple of decades as Jordan knocks heads with the old guard and the new up & comers. Weren't Rick Clunn's first two BASS victories Classics?

What was even more amazing was it was 23 inches long. It looked like a piece of spaghetti...

Was that at the lake next to the nuclear reactor?

I caught a bass that, when he got to the boat, coughed up a bunch of feathers & the carcass of a swallow. He wasn't that large of a bass, under 2 lbs. Made me wonder if the bird was sick and flopping on the water or if the bass shot out of the water like a missile to intercept that quick little jet fighter of a bird.

Ouch!! I hope that doesn't cost you the BPS prize. Great picks though, congrats

Looks like we were thinking the same for buckets A & C, hopefully you didn't put the Kyle jinx on Bobby Lane

Here's mine: A - Bobby Lane B - Jacob Wheeler C - James Elam D - Cliff Pace E - Jamie Hartman According to Basstrak, I am looking good. 4 of them are in the top 18, with Elam #1 and Wheeler #3. As usual, the one pick I wasn't worried about (Lane) is the one struggling. If Elam holds on o the top spot today, that will be 4 straight days of Classic competition where I had the end of day leader (I was fortunate to have both Ehrler & Lee last year).

Do the digestive acids do anything to plastisol during the time the bait is in the bass's stomach or will the worm just pass thru completely unscathed before the acids have had a chance to leave any marks?

I didn't realize it took that long. I guess that means she could have chomped it down anytime on Friday and by Saturday morning when I pulled it out, not much digestion had occurred. Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if she was still in the process of swallowing it or if she just trying to regurgitate it as an effort to escape after being hooked. Only a small portion of the plastic was visible in her throat, I almost didn't see it. As I pulled it out, it was like that trick that clowns do with scarves, it just kept coming . One thing I just realized is that she swallowed this bait claws first (head first). Every time I have ever seen a crawdad in a bass's mouth, they are swallowed tail first. I wonder if that means she took this lure to be a fish (which they swallow head first) and not a crawdad? Or maybe she is just a dingy fish to swallow a lure completely...

This past Saturday, I was out before sunrise and found a small school of bass within the first 30 minutes. The fourth & final fish I landed from this location had something black just barely emerging from his throat, so I used my forceps to grab it & pull it out. Turned out it was a complete Havoc Craw Fatty, no hook, line or sinker, just the bait itself. The back of the bait was slightly torn, it looked like it had been used as a trailer on a jig rather than T-rigged and had been torn off the jig. This was interesting to me in two ways. First, I have used Craw Fatty's on this lake with little success, so this fish told me I should reconsider how I am fishing them. Second, the bait was like new, it still had the sheen that baits out of the package have and there was no signs that any digestive acids had begun their work on it. The second part is what confused me. As I mentioned, it was before daybreak that I caught the fish and there was no one fishing near this location (or anywhere on the lake for that matter). It was near a dock on private property and I have never seen anyone fish from that house in the past 5 years. I am wondering how long this bass could have had this plastic bait in its belly and still have it look new. If someone nearby hooked her at 8 or 9 at night, then the bait would have been in her for 9 plus hours. I guess an alternative is someone snagged & broke off the jig the night before and she stumbled upon it in the early morning and sucked the trailer right off the jig prior to eating my bait. Craw Fatty's float, so I don't know if she sucked it off the surface, but she could have. Just one of those unique things that happen while fishing...

There was an episode where Aaron Martens & Greg Hackney both landed a fish to go out 1 & 2 in a sudden death round. They used the clock and determined that AMart landed his fish some minor amount of time ahead of Hackney, like .8 of a second. How they determined that, I don't know; maybe the cameras have clocks on them that can confirm the exact time of a landing.

When skipping them weightless under docks, I use the 5" when there is any amount of chop on the water and the 4" when it is relatively calm. The 5" has better action and is easier to skip, but the 4" makes less of a disturbance as it slides under the dock. If it is really calm or the fish are being really finicky/spooky, I'll switch to a 3" senko or 2.5" TRD on a 1/16th Shroomz head and use that instead. It is a Ned rig, but I don't fish it in the Midwest finesse style in this application.