AlabamaSpothunter

No wrong way to catch them as long as it suits you needs. I was mentored as a 90% T-Rig/Jig/Shakey Head fisherman, my first decade and half was spent on the bottom. The other 10% was Jerkbait for the most part. I started back in July of last year in terms of diehard time on water, and for the first month I was still dragging bottom contact stuff. Then I started fishing a Chatterbait, and for the last 6 months I throw moving baits 99% of the time. I know I'm leaving meat on the table somedays for sure. Who's to say if I would catch more big fish on slow presented bottom contact stuff, but according to a recent breakdown of winning baits in major tourneys in Jay Kumar's newsletter, moving baits + power fishing accounted for more wins than non moving bait + finesse approaches. I think it was like a 60/40 split. Not a huge margin, but enough to notice. Having success on the Chatterbait made me think what else could I get them to eat that is vastly more exciting than dragging stuff which led me to big swimbaits, A-rigs, Blade baits, and tail spinners, all of which have been a revelation in terms of average size fish, and overall excitement while fishing them. I'm also constantly moving looking for active fish, I seldom slow down to bank beat until I catch a fish. Everything I listed above would never make me a good derby angler, or even a good Bass angler in general, but it's the way I want to catch them, and the way I can endure going hours without catching a fish. T Rig will come back out this summer at night, but I'm okay not catching bottom contact only fish at this point in my journey. When I get a better boat with a casting deck and foot control TM, I'll start fishing them a ton more I'm sure. Good thread, I think about this often....."how many quality fish/big fish am I leaving on the table being a power/moving bait only fisherman currently".

5 fish, but one of them was about 5lbs lol.....75degree water temps today, and that's up 17degrees in about a week's time. Toad came on the Jackhammer with 5" Spunk Shad, really loving this combo now. Big profile, big thump, just throws more jet fuel on an already big fish bait. Another chunky Spot did as well, then two quick Buzzbait fish in the back of a pocket, and lastly the Spro Little Jon 50 picked up the 5th one. Dying to get on that first wide open topwater bite. ***note the Crappie fisherman in the background, not sure I would have been snapping a pic if it wasn't ?

Awesome report Bob! Beautiful fish, and where that red neck like a badge of honor ?

5 and 9 for me, Kentucky Blue

I was waiting for someone else to say it ? MLF is slap full of hammers, but nothing compares to the prestige of the Classic, it is the Bass fishing super bowl imho.

I like the Frittsides a lot more, just a much more quality bait. Caught fish on both, but again Rapala's QC didn't thrill me for a $10 bait. Berkeley's baits are beautiful.

*** just put out a great article/video with Gussy showing how he Mops with a Damiki Rig, not sure if I can post the link. eta: lol well I guess that answers that question ?

Great job, most would have gotten blanked after their first several patterns failed so badly. All that reads like Bass fishing to me ? Half the time I could fish in the exact opposite place I've read, or caught them at before, and kill it I'm sure lol.

Congrats to Gussy, winning a Classic with only 2/6lbs on the final day shows how big of gamble he took. With that said, the biggest fishing derby in the world should be held on a big Bass factory IMHO. I can't wait for the upcoming BASS Open on Toledo Bend. Like a kid on the docks, I just want to see big fish caught lol.

You blew way past 1lb ? You earned that one!

Got some love on a Spro Little Jon 50, Buzzbait, and Shimano big bait. Tons of follows and strikes, and even a couple lost ones of that Shimano bait. I think it was bucks just blowing it up out of anger, the ones that were hooked, were on the outside like they were just swiping it. Easily the most drawing power out of any lure I've owned.

Outstanding sir! Amen Katie, losing a big fish is such a big part of Bass fishing. The greatest Bass anglers in the world lose vastly more big fish than me, and that's simply because they are hooking that many more big fish than me. That said, just last night I was thinking about the two big fish I lost this winter. I can close my eyes and see those lost fish fights more than I can with the big fish I landed. The ones that come in the boat just seem like a blur, those lost big fish make you vividly remember all the details, or at least they do for me.

My safety would be the biggest concern, you are basically fishing in the wild wild west lol. Great writeup, thanks for sharing the process! Great report and great fish Woody, hate to hear about the big fish. It's my belief that you aren't fishing around big fish if you don't lose a fish occasionally due to failed terminal tackle, or just bad luck.

Power fishing, and a Bama native.....yeah I'd be okay with Scott bringing home the hardware. Wow, check it out, all 4 of his electronic screens are off.

I became a fan when he used to a cooler to measure fish that would help decide a $300k fishing derby ?

Love watching this BASS live, these are two great guests. 40lb Striper is close to a fish of a lifetime if you are into Strippers Lol, they need to turn this into a Catfish or any Species day 3 ? TNRiver46 surely could have won this event with White Bass ? Love the strategy with there being no Elite points on the line. Go big or go home, they knew what it was going to take to win, and swung to get. This is shaping up to be exciting in the afternoon.

I still have hope that something crazy happens this afternoon when the LGM bite hopefully turns on. I want to see Brian Cox or Benton win with a huge afternoon.

I hope this is the last classic for a really long time that is won by SMs. Yesterday for a brief window it was exciting with the LGM bite. They really need these on big Bass factories, watching SMs, and 2-3fish limits sucks, there I said it ?

Lol, his day job is catching Billfish in the Pacific in an epic battlewagon. Again, this man is blessed ?

That's a huge post spawn fish, congrats! Mexico is just different it seems, you are a blessed man!

Thanks, and it seemed to roll north of us. That time of year for folks like us. Look forward to more pics from you brother!

Nice one, once you upload it, and it takes you to this screen......copy and paste the second link.....the direct link

Go to Postimages — free image hosting / image upload Upload picture from your phone or PC, then copy and paste the second link listed when uploaded into a thread. It's that easy! @TnRiver46 is the man who showed me the light

At least he wasn't smacking it's fat belly while making rooting and hog noises like Ben Milliken ? Great writeup, and awesome adventure. That Carp dude is nutty, and cool ?

Same here with the wind, and fish for 5.5 hours for about 8 fish, lost a few fish. I actually observed Bass spawning for the first time though, a buck and 4-5lb fish are doing the nasty right by where I dock the boat lol. I watched them for about 30mins throughout the day. The Spring and Spawn suck, it's a combo of the fish dropping huge cheatcode bellies, the scattering of them, and really I think the most important thing, the very unstable weather. Water skyrocketed over the last few days and will continue for a several more days, I wouldn't doubt if I see close to 70 tom. Today was the first day I've seen 62+ in a couple weeks. That cold snap dropped it after I think the first big Spawn or two happened. It's so much work to catch fish in the Spring and early Fall. It sucks too because you get the most beautiful days for fishing during those times. One quality today on the Jackhammer/5.5" Spunk Shad...3ish Spot. Those big 5.5" Spunk Shads on a Jackhammer are really effective. Dozen fish including a 5.3 over the last week since stopping the Berkeley Slobberknocker experiment. Got it all on sale, but with two models, and then 4 packs of the Power Stingers, it's like $50 MSRP. You lose some, you win some. I think it's important for me to mention the baits I lose money on because of how much I boast about "magical" baits. For clearer water I still think they might be better than a Jackhammer, or other brandname Chatterbaits. They are right between a beautiful Swimjig, and a Jackhammer if that makes sense. Finally, getting more and more action on the buzzbait, and the Shimano produced the first fish of the day.