sllymz

My apologies to anyone who was asking for an update, I promise I didn't forget I just would sit down to type something up and I'd just get sidetracked so I never got around to it until now. So with that being said I understand if the update isn't relevant any more lmao. I also don't really know how detailed I'm gonna go with this so I'll just run down the order of events without going to in depth. Well for starters thanks for all the tips, I made sure to be respectful as I could and helpful. I showed up earlier than a lot of people though except my boater and a few others who had been on the water since before I got there. I texted the guy after sitting in my car for a while letting him know I was there and to text me when he got there. Low and behold he was in front of me the whole time. After grabbing my 2-3 rods and small tackle box of hand picked stuff as to not take up too much room I hopped on the boat and definitely almost ate it in front of the guy. Once I sat down I realized how under dressed I was, since it's been so long since I have been on a bass boat I seem to have forgotten just how fast they go when heading to your spot and in the boat lanes in general. So my t-shirt, light jacket, and shorts were absolutely NOT going to cut it in the cold front that just hit and the wind chill. I think my partner realized that because he let me borrow a pair of wrangler jeans which might have saved my life not gonna lie. After we took off and got to the spot and began talking about what the plan was I think we both realized how miserable it was gonna be because all we could (and anyone else for that matter) was just flip cypress trees. Which it turns out he hates doing because he claims it'll make you lose your mind, and to be honest by the end of the day I completely agree especially when you aren't getting bit. So after a couple hours of nothing and just flipping various jigs/Texas rigs and a lot of random discussions of whatever two 20 year old guys talk about, someone told us they were biting wacky rigs. This was heart breaking for us because flipping is boring enough and when you add something as slow as a wacky rig it just hurts your soul. So we started trying that out of desperation and low and behold my partner catches one flipping a weightless wacky rig in trees like we had been doing. It wasn't anything to write home about, just a 1 1/2 to 2 pounder, nonetheless a fish in the boat. It was however a good learning opportunity as he tried to use that moment to teach me some about netting, tournament rules/scoring, live wells, etc.. So for the rest of the day we did that, of course everyone now and then we'd get too bored start throwing random junk out of desperation. To make a long, boring ad tedious story short, we didn't get anything else. Which was to expected because he had explained to me earlier how this wasn't gonna be a memorable first tournament since al the conditions were pretty bad. Around 1:15 he said we're gonna go ahead and head back since it looks like we are just losing it out here. It was a long ways to the lane and we just cruised there while he explained to me some tips on buying boats and what to look for which is always appreciated. When we got back it seems like everyone had a terrible day, our VP said "This is the first tournament in four years here I've not caught a fish." which made me feel a little better about getting skunked although it's a little sad to hear in his case. While waiting on all the others with only like two other guys at the dock, the guy next to us who was solo said he caught two 7-8 pounders and had a 5 shake off. Of course me and the others are kind of chuckling at him because we don't believe him for a second, well I'll be damned if he didn't reach in his live well and spend 2 minutes wrestling what sounded like a wild boar of two 7 pounders out of his boat. Proceeds to pull out two fish bigger than any bass outside of a Bass Pro tank I've ever seen. Casually beats my PB 2 times. Said he had to fish so slow, that he'd just toss a wacky rig out on a cypress tree then just sit on his phone and wait. So I'm sure me and my partner missed quite a few just because we like to fish fast but it's ok because at the end of the day I had a great time and learned a lot. That guy won by a landslide beating two other 2 pound fish. After helping pack up and taking yearbook pictures in jerseys we left out. I took some advice from here and offered the guy $20-$40 in gas money but he strongly denied and insisted I save it for the guys who WILL take your money, said he signed up to be a boat and it's his responsibility to pay the expenses. I'm really appreciative of him because he was very understanding of it being pretty new to me and teaching me a lot. Again my apologies for such a late response, and for the essay. 😶‍🌫️

Lot's of great advice, thanks y'all! I think being respectful to his boat/gear is gonna be a big one to me which I already planned on in the beginning anyways just because I hate when people use my things and mistreat them. That and communication, I'll make sure he knows he got the crutch here out of the bunch lmao. Again, thanks for all the advice and I'll try to remember to come back and update afterwards!

I joined my college's fishing team a few days ago and have a club tournament in about a month with a random guy on the team on his boat. The only issue is I don't fish from a boat, especially not a bass boat (as much as I'd love to). That and I do not have an arsenal of 20+ rods on deck for each technique ready since I don't have that kind of money 'nor reason since I don't have a boat. This is a completely new area for me and I feel like I'm going to be learning how to bass fish all over again like a kid just doing what their dad says. So with that in mind +me having never fished a tournament or in any competitive manner other than with some friends on ponds, is there anything I should go about doing or not doing? Like courtesy things, what to touch and not, or honestly just tips on fishing two people to a boat etc.. If anyone has been in my shoes or in the shoes of the other guy, I would greatly appreciate any advice. Also I wasn't sure if this would go in the tournament forum or in general, so I understand if I posted in the wrong spot.

I've always personally been under the idea that every fish caught is a blessing. Whether it's for sport or for eating. I take a picture of every single fish I catch and kind of take a moment to admire them before swimming them off. (of course I go back later and cull through the pictures) Now of course I take less time on smaller fish, but nonetheless they are all get a hook to the face so I think small or giant they should get some respect seeing as they didn't HAVE to bite your lure. Only times I waste no time getting a fish back in the water is when they are injured or badly hooked.

This past weekend, me and a buddy went fishing on Easter day and I ended up catching my PB on a Zoom 10.5" Curly Tail worm with a 4/0 EWG hook (5.14 :D). I didn't feel safe reaching for it myself so I worked it over to my buddy to grab for me, well he lipped her and got the fish in and I was digging for my scale when he said those God forsaken words, "You gill hooked it." and my heart sank. I have only gill hooked a bass one time before and it died, so the thought of murdering my PB off of a hooked gill shattered me. I quickly took a few flicks with the fish and failed to realize that the fish was bleeding profusely everywhere and on literally everything until I turned it around and really looked around me. The whole boat was coated in blood, so I tried to get it back in the water as soon as I could. I leaned down and held it in the water, swimming it a little 'til it swam off. I'm not sure what happened to the fish after, but it swam off nice like nothing had happened and we even came back to the same spot a few hours later to no bellied up bass. So should I be inclined to think the fish survived, but it will be considerably weaker for a period of time? or it just straight up died in the end and I never knew. Is it possible to avoid incidents like this or is it purely just dumb luck and unavoidable? Not proud of these pictures, but I wanted to add one to show the damage.

I'd say so. I grew up on baitcasters so I suppose it might be bias or something. But I have always put the "lighter" lures on spinning reels and kept the bigger lures on the casting reels.

I've never actually ordered from tackle warehouse but I've been on it a hell of a lot, so I'll keep it in mind. Thanks a lot, you definitely helped clear some confusion for me here!

Oh man this was so convenient. You just answered a lot of my questions not gonna lie. I was just about to start looking into rod length because personally I can't really get around 6' 10+ rods. I was really wanting to get a 6' 6" - 6' 10" rod but I didn't know if it would affect performance or I'd be losing out on some crazy specific techniques or something. I also am in a kayak + a truck so having "shorter" rods is a huge thing for me. Plus I typically enjoy casting and retrieving shorter ones anyways. The reel debate has thrown me for a loop, although I think the Fuego is amazing I am still leaning to the Revros in the back of my mind.

Yea I've heard a lot about the Fury series being stiffer, and that their "Fast" rods are heavier than you'd think. Right now I'm in a throw up between the Omen and the Fury, but I might lean more to the Omen at this rate in all honesty.

lmao good point. Hang gliding sounds awesome. But like you said who knows, maybe the step up is worth it for sure. I'm totally gonna check out the Fuego rest assured, as well as the Omen. I think it'll boil down to when I'm able to get the setup and what things are looking like then. Prices might change and so might opinions who knows at this point. With all that being said I'm for sure set on the braid but the leader seems iffy, appealing, but iffy. Considering I know absolutely nothing about using them other than the types of knots used. Thank you for educating me more on the lines and tips with them.

Wow thanks, really appreciate everything! I'm for sure gonna have to check out the Omen, looks great. I originally started out looking at a St. Croix bass X rod, but these forums and a lot of other research kinda changed my mind and I looked elsewhere. But the rod you suggested looks solid to me, definitely checking it out and comparing. Continuing the line topic, I'm for sure using braid now that I've gathered input. On top of that it seems that's what everyone suggests, even outside of here. Again I really appreciate the input and thanks again! I think I've decided I'm gonna go with the Revros for now unless I all of a sudden jump up and think twice. Although I'm for sure gonna check those out for other options. I've never heard of the Fuego reels but I'm definitely gonna look into it here after this. I wanna say my real concern in the setup was the rod since I know less about the specifics of them in general. Thank you for the options for sure though!

Thank you! I'm pretty confident in the setup so far looking at everything, and like you said I am trying to aim for medium fast 7' if I can. Maybe a little shorter if I decide against it considering I'm in a kayak fishing cypress esque areas. I think im leaning towards braid or mono for the line aswell. Mono for the new experience since I've never liked it that much and braid since I just am comfortable with it. Yea the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards leaving fluoro on my casting setups and using braid/mono for this one. Just seems easier to manage in the long run, but I guess I'll see when I get there I'll have to look into using leaders, seems like that's a pretty common topic here. Never tried it but if it's as popular as it seems I'll have to give it a shot. To add on to that I don't plan on using light line if I can help it. Can't risk anything with me, I've caught more catfish on accident than I have bass on purpose this year lmao.

I'm looking into getting a spinning setup pretty soon, ideally leaning more towards the budget friendly side. So far I've determined that a Daiwa Revros LT 2000-2500 and a Dobyns Fury Spinning Rod 7' Medium 703 is the move. I don't have too much specific techniques in mind here other than the standard do it all spinning setup; ie. soft plastics, jigs, drop-shots, lighter lures, et cetera. I'm not too familiar with spinning gear so if there's any suggestions or changes I should make I'd greatly appreciate any input. Another question I really wanted to ask, without making two topics if I could help it, was what line should I use? I've fallen in love with fluoro recently after being on braid for pretty much ever. Although I don't know if fluoro is the right move here or not, so I'm wondering what line I should put on or if there’s a universal bread and butter for spinning gear?

Pretty sure I payed roughly $15-20 for a year basic license

Oh my bad man, I meant a trolley anchor system. Slipped up on my words there. But yea I completely agree, I don't ever intend on putting a motor on a kayak. Just don't think its worth it in the long run compared to just using pedals in my unprofessional opinion.