Tennessee Boy

Yes LeBrun skips tomorrow if he hangs on to first place. The other 19 of the top 20 fish tomorrow and the top 9 move on to the finals.

Yes weight go to zero tomorrow and in the final round. The guy at the top skips tomorrow and moves straight to the finals. Sometimes I wonder if being off the lake for a day doesn't hurt you more in the end.

If you don't think you can beat the guy on top and you're not worried about dropping out of the top 20 there's no reason to try to move up. He's scouting for tomorrow.

So let’s hear your predictions. When the year is over, how much higher (or lower) will the average weight caught per angler per period be during FFS periods?

I went to my eye doctor yesterday. I decided I would go ahead and buy some new glasses from him. I picked out a pair that looked good on me but didn't look at the brand or price. Then the lady told me the frames alone were $409. A couple of nice people helped be up off the floor and I decided not to buy my glasses there. I went to Costco and bought a nice pair for $69. 😊

https://majorleaguefishing.com/events/2025-bass-pro-tour-stage-one-lake-conroe/live/

Nick Lebrun is offshore, looking at his screen before every cast and moving up the score tracker. It's fun to watch now that you know he's not using FFS. 😆

... and Drew Gill takes the lead without his cheater box.

It's winter in Texas so FFS will play a huge factor. Takahiro has caught his fish on a bladed jig. He used FFS in the first period but he has not stopped catching them in the 2nd. He's up to 4th and is looking good right now.

9 of the top 10 used FFS in the first period. 4 of the bottom 10 used it. Mark Davis caught 36 pounds in less than an hour on a crankbait on sea walls. Then nothing since he's in 5th. 25 anglers have not chosen to use it in the first 2 periods.

The Bass Pro Tour started this morning with the new rules concerning FFS. The anglers can use FFS in one of the three periods. It looks like most are using it in the first period and the leaders are all in the same area doing the same thing fishing for fish suspending in standing timber shaking a minnow. Mark Davis jumped out to an early lead throwing crank baits without FFS but hasn't caught one for over 30 minutes and has dropped to third. This should be interesting.

I fished at the club level for about 10 years in the 90s and really enjoyed it. It was a very friendly club where everyone competed hard during the tournaments and then helped each other get better between tournaments. When I moved away I looked for another club like it for a while but never found one. If you want to be competitive you have to work hard. I'm not sure I have that much energy at this point in my life but might consider another club if I found the right one.

Take a look at how many pros live within 50 miles of the Tennessee River.

That’s exactly what I was saying in my post. You don’t see the separation of skill level at the different levels of fishing that you see in other sports. There was a guy in my club in the 90s that was very good. He won AOY like 5 years in a row. He fished a handful of BASS Opens and did well. He finished in the top 10 in his he first open. He finished in the top 20 in another. He clearly demonstrated that he was the best angler in our club and that he could compete with the best professionals in the world. He also lost more tournaments at the club level than he won and I beat him countless times. The guy had the opportunity to go pro full time. He had a great personality and made friends quickly in the BASS tournaments he fished. He was offered a boat deal and was encouraged to go full time. He didn’t go pro because he had a good job and family and could do the math to see it didn’t make financial sense. I have no doubt there have been countless others like him in the fishing world.

Many that fish the BPT fish the Toyota Series and sometimes the Phoenix league and they don't dominate every tournament. I've heard that Jacob Wheeler sometimes fishing a weekly wildcat tournament on Chickamauga. I don't know what his record is in those tournaments. When I say average Joe I'm not talking about someone that fishes twice a year. I'm talking about serious anglers that fish at lower levels. Ike once said the best angler he knew was in a club that he used to fish in. Again, I'm not saying the Elite guys are not good. They are amazing. I'm saying that an Elite level angler fishing in a local club tournament might be favored to win but would not be like Derick Henry playing in a junior college football game.

If you took any NFL player and let them play college football they would dominate. If you let them play high school football it would be scary. Many Elite level anglers fish lower level tournaments and some even fish small local tournaments. You don't see the separation in skill level that you see in other sports. I'm not saying there's not a difference and I'm certainly not saying the Elite level guys aren't good but I've seen plenty of average Joe's beat Elite level anglers. It happens all the time.

In the 90s I tried to get boat insurance from GEICO. They would not insure me be I fished tournaments. I ask why and they said because of the high speed races to fishing spots. I pointed out the my boats top speed was 35 mph. That didn’t matter, no GEICO insurance.

I might be interested if it had an automatic transmission. Personally, I've never liked a stick shift. 😆

I always enjoy hearing about your tournament adventures. I'm also impressed with how organized your tackle appears to be. Good luck.

Back in the days of 4 speed reels, I never felt like I needed a faster reel when fishing a crankbait. Now fishing a Texas rig was painful when you missed a fish and wanted to reel it in fast to make another cast at the fish. I'd go with the 6 but the difference between a 6 and a 7 will hardly be noticeable.

That boat is made in Tennessee. It’s worth twice that much. 😁

I've been reading the specs and I don't see many advantages. They say life time 3000 cycles. That's less that's LifePo4. They may have a slight safety advantage. They can deliver 250 amps continuously which is impressive but my trolling motor only needs 50 amps. The specs also says it has low temperature charging protection at 32F so charging temperature is apparently an issue.

I agree. Most of them can be purchased used on Amazon and elsewhere. Some of them are expensive. If I was an author or publisher and saw my $20 book selling for $80 used I think I would print some more copies.

That would be a good one. It's interesting that very few of the classic fishing books are still in print. Take a great book with well organized content and combine it with the vast level of experience and diverse thought that exist on this forum and I think something special would come of it.