Happybeerbuzz

Tournaments seem like a pretty long day. By the time I got a boat, six hours from launching to trailering was a full day. Some days were a little longer some a little shorter especially when I discovered annual launch passes. Getting to the launch early to check in and hanging out to see the way in just sounds like too much for me.

It feels like it is safe to say "all of them" including the ones that have not been announced or released yet.

I have been trying to narrow it down from about 90% of the ones listed. Personally, I have been overwhelmed by all the recommendations from the BR members here. All I have been able to conclude is that there are lots of good options.

Academy was my favorite house brand for hard baits until they stopped shipping to CA. I liked a variety of them including square bills, jerkbaits, and lipless cranks. I do not throw many house brand soft plastics except Bass Pro Stick-o stick worms.

I really want to tie those on and cast them into the water, particularly the first one. That's one sexy lure.

Nobody gets arrested for just fishing without a license. He had to be mouthing off to a cop or doing inappropriate things with the wrong person's sister or something. Also, "freshwater fishing tournament fraud" sounds like something made up for the occasion. I am purely speculating and only know what has been posted to this thread up to this point.

It will be a while before I buy braid again since I loaded up at some point because of a sale on 832, but my next purchase will be of something of the “no fade” variety.

Maybe eventually if making my own jigs turns out to be something I keep doing, but to start, I plan on just getting 15' of 3 or 4 base colors.

Thank you in advance for your opinions. I recently decided that I am going to make my own punch skirts and jigs out of living rubber. I was about to place my first order for few rolls of Fine rubber because I saw a tank test video on youtube. However, my understanding is that Medium is the most popular size. Before I place the order, are there other considerations about the Fine that a novice like me may not be aware of like it being way harder to work with?

I somehow doubt these spots have been "secret" for a long time. The way everyone is on top of each other would indicate that it is just understood and excepted that everyone will be in that general area. They may not know what particular bait or technique to use, but even a new angler on tour will have a good idea where to fish by his second year if not by the second day of the tournament. Throw in modern sonar technology and social media like the Toledo Bend thread going back to 2008, and you can imagine they will figure out the particulars in short order. I know sonar tech bares the bulk of the attention, but an academically adept angler on tour could shave decades off the learning curve by just mining information off of social media and message boards.

I throw it on my skipping setup which I am holding try outs for at the moment. For the last 2 trips on the water, it has been a 7'1" Phenix Feather H.

If they would get direct, live feeds of all the sonar screens and setup a split screen of the angler and what he is seeing on all his screens, I think I would go through some lengths to tune into that for at least a while especially if they had a seasoned analyst live commenting on what it is I am seeing on the sonar displays. I do not have FFS nor do see myself getting it in the foreseeable future. However, I would like to see what the hubbub is all about. For example, I would like someone to show me how the big ones can be identified out of a school, and how a fish can be seen reacting to a lure. Who knows? Maybe FFS coverage could be bass fishing's equivalent of Catelyn Clark.

Regardless of how you feel about FFS and the future tech that it inspires that has yet to be developed, there is no denying that Randy Blauket is a consequential voice against FFS and contributes to keeping the drama alive. Pro anglers like Hank Parker have mentioned him directly in their public criticism of FFS. Advocates of FFS bring up his name as well all be it disparagingly. His name is brought up consistently in FFS threads on this board. It is too the point that his name is synonymous with the anti FFS movement.

Ugh, now I have to go buy some skirts and rattles. At least there are Labor Day sales, I guess.

These are handy for cinching down the knot if you tie a lot of FG knots. It might also be handy for breaking off straight braid snags. I haven't needed to do that yet, but it stands to reason that it would be helpful.

I would pay to watch this.

Happy B Day!!!!

Shelley Duvall also passed a couple of days ago.

I might even describe it as just slightly short of full. It’s definitely not over spoiled.

Any balsa floaters, I use straight braid on a spinning rod to maximize casting distance. Slow float or suspending jerkbaits get thrown on braid to leader.

Senko catch a lot of fish in all sizes. They are an awesome tool to catch numbers and fun fish. However, I can’t justify having a Senko tied on and on my deck with all the money I spent on other lures and their rod/reel combo specific setups. Just yesterday I placed an order with Siebert's for lures I am nearly clueless about and have no confidence in that I need to learn in the name of defying Senkos, Ned rigs, Dropshots, and FFS.

I am trialing a 25 pack of EWG Gammys against a 25 pack of standard black ones. I sharpen the hooks and use them until I snag them and break them off. I have about half a dozen left. They work before the red starts wearing off. They work after the red wears off. I can’t say I notice any difference. However, I have to admit the bit of red can spruce up the look of some plastic rigs. They make for a nice accent to a white fluke for example.

“Fish too much”? That’s like “eating too healthy “ if you ask me.

FFS mounted on a tripod that can be set in the water!

If buy it and can’t return it or don’t want to return it, you can try switch out the BNT3927 bearing that @T2DM mentioned. Since posting this question back in 2022, I found multiple sources having success with the fix. I have not tried it yet, but it is on my low priority “to do” list. I even have the part wishlisted on Amazon. The reel still works well, operationally. It’s just a little joyful to use.