AlabamaSpothunter

6.15 SM......said it was his PB Kyle Patrick caught a 8.1 SM during practice as well. I'd imagine we'll see a 7lb fish before the derby ends.

It'll run off the tracks tomorrow, but I got 3 anglers in the top 4 currently. Last two anglers are 11 and 24. Thinking it'll be my best single day of the season.

Yeah I let Basstrak make a fool out of me. Never seen this level of sandbagging. Seems a 20lb bag is like a default party gift for simply launching your boat, place is ridiculous.

Dang, 9 minutes late for Cooper. There goes his derby, I know he's disappointed since he could have been a real player.

They should just do away with Basstrak......it's amazing how far off it is today. TAKU TIME! Man he sandbagged that monster bag.

Beautiful, magical, whimsical, and a bunch of other adjectives 😎

How can you not respect a move like this, just shows the lengths Bassheads will go to 🤣 I never throw away my used plastics, save them for a kid for likes to melt them down and pour his own. That ain't working on me, but then again I'm not setting the world on fire 😁

Maybe the weights will go up, but I was afraid that all the pressure would make the weights go down from the last couple of years. SLR is like a typical lake in Alabama when it's open water, there is a derby fishing it every week, usually multiple derbies. At some point BASS has to showcase all the other awesome fisheries up north. I'd be good with not seeing Champlain, St. Clair, or the SLR for a few years.

Mercer just dropped an interview with Wes Logan talking about the incident

Owner Zo Wire STX 38s are magical. Inevitably fish will be lost on treble hooked baits, but I'm always amazed at the difference these hooks make. Outside of Jerkbaits, all my hardbaits get these hooks. The sharpness, bend of hook shank, and strength really make the difference. Owner STX-38 Zo Wire Treble Hook | Tackle Warehouse

It's still Hamner's to lose

Yeah that sounds about right, you can win a single event without a scope, but you're not going to be AOY winner without one. To that point, if you're not Jon Cox you're not going to have a HOF career going forward without A+ level scoping abilities. Agreed on Feider......best catch of the week was his 5lber on the frog at the end of first day for me.

Yeah he was scoping a Neko Rigged Nories Flip Ko Gill 3.6" Creature Bait | Tackle Warehouse Then drop shotting a fuzzy dice OSP Saikoro Dice Rubber Max Salt Soft Bait | Tackle Warehouse (I believe he was using a size larger than the ones available in the US though) And lastly he weighed in a fish or two on a spy bait Nories Wrapping Minnow Spy Bait | Tackle Warehouse The last month I've been fishing "hairy" baits and that Nories Flip Ko Gill based on his win, major inspiration. I never would have fished the Jackall Drift Fry without seeing Fujita win on it last year at Champlain. ETA: I call this my Taku bait 😁

In terms of winning techniques this year: Toledo Bend: Scoping a minnow Lake Fork: Scoping a minnow and jerkbait Classic at Grand Lake: Scoping a jerkbait and jig Harris Chain: Mega360 and crankbait/hair jig St. Johns: 90% sight fishing 10% flipping grass Lake Murray: Scoping a fluke Lake Wheeler: GPS/Mapping and a Jackhammer Smith Lake: Scoping a Neko Rig and Dropshot Lake Champlain: Scoping a jig 3/9 winning techniques this year could have been done without the aid of FFS.

Wow, that was awesome, way to go Ed!!!! Dreams do come true!

This is simply unacceptable, man that sucks for the fans!

What a trainwreck BASS's IT team is.....half the time these weigh ins are screwed up This sucks.

If pinging a minnow is in play, Robert Gee is definitely going to be in contention. I've never seen him do well without that technique though. Toledo Bend, Smith Lake, and Champlain have all been great derbies for him.

The biggest thing about the scheduling that stinks for me is that MLF BPT is at SLR this week. There are so many cool and exciting fisheries in the north, I understand the need to go to places that pay BASS to show up, but at least put a few wildcards in the schedule each year. There is no place I want to see the Elite Series go more than Cayuga. I'd love to see them go back to the Mississippi River as well.

The LM aspect is awesome to see, but my bet is still on the scope being the winning technique. Either way it's an interesting derby, I really have no clue who is going to win this thing, and that's always fun. ETA: A friend of mine recently won the MLF Invitational there scoping with a Sakamata Shad

Who doesn't love seeing Hack getting juiced up after making a cut like that.....that's awesome, hope John Cox sneaks in as well.

He didn't say a word to Mercer, Lisa, or the fans......the moment the weight was read out he walked off the stage. So many young anglers watch these weigh ins, I can remember being a boy watching weigh ins. What a terrible example to set for the future of our sport. What a complete lack of respect for the fans and folks who allow you to FISH FOR A LIVING!

Ike truly is a petulant child incapable of handling his emotions like a real man. It will be a good day when he retires, the sport has no room for man babies. His weigh in performance was the final straw today when you contrast that to yesterday's.

Was watching a video from a guy reviewing a tackle store in Japan recently, that same bait in Japan is about $550, still a crazy amount for a bait. There's a level of unique exactment that comes with fishing expensive baits, both in terms of potentially losing a couple hundred bucks, but equally catching a fish on a couple hundred dollar lure. To me it just takes the excitement level up a notch. I don't think a $1000 swimbait is any better at catching fish than a $150-200 bait. Most handmade high end swimbaits range from $150-250. If you have to spend more than that, you're just paying an exclusivity tax.

There's not a piece of technology from yesteryear that even comes close to seeing your bait and fish reactions in real time. Remove FFS from Keith Carson's boat during that derby, does he still win based on the overwhelming power of down scan, side scan, GPS, 360, mapping, or any other technology you want to name? My answer is easily no. He's had all those technologies minus maybe 360 in the past, why couldn't he utilize them for a win before now if they're all equally as powerful. There isn't even an argument to be had that a significant population of fish in any given body is now being caught that were never caught in the past, there is only one piece of technology responsible for this, and that's FFS. You don't have O.H. Ivie with just mapping, 360, and traditional sonar. You can repeat that story time after time since FFS has come out. I'm still supposed to believe that the A-Rig and Double Fluke Rig pose more of fair chase problem than live sonar 🤣