2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Buggs Island....how's Ben Milliken going to follow up his win?

[TnRiver46]

Former BR contributor james niggemeyer is in 9th place according to bass trak, get em James!!!

[Choporoz]

On 5/3/2023 at 2:26 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Wow, a 11.5lb VA fish........That is a true monster!  

Must have been on NC side.  ?

[TOXIC]

Well, he finished 56th.  

[Kirtley Howe]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

Well, he finished 56th.  

So still in the money (I think), and in the top 3rd of the anglers. He is currently leading (tied) for angler of the year with 396 points. Not half bad for a "rookie", and nothing to be ashamed of. The boy has talent for sure.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

6 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

So still in the money (I think), and in the top 3rd of the anglers. He is currently leading (tied) for angler of the year with 396 points. Not half bad for a "rookie", and nothing to be ashamed of. The boy has talent for sure.

Only the top 40 get a check IIrc, but I agree he's off to a great start.

 

He dominates offshore, overtime maybe his shallow game can catch up to his deep game. 

[Kirtley Howe]

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Only the top 40 get a check IIrc, but I agree he's off to a great start.

 

He dominates offshore, overtime maybe his shallow game can catch up to his deep game. 

Yeah, he is very strong offshore, but there is nothing really wrong with his shallow game. I have watched his videos of fishing in various local tournaments, and he has won several while fishing shallow, though he seems to be stronger around rock than around wood/weeds. I am sure he will adjust very quickly.

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

Well, he finished 56th.  

YT vids of practice through today will show all the details.

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Well, he finished 56th.  

I had the closest guess, what do I win? 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I had the closest guess, what do I win? 

A Spinnerbait, and an Opossum.....entertainment and a free meal ?

[hokiehunter373]

Ended up 62nd.  No money but decent points.  Think he'll be about 6th or 7th in standings a third of the way through.  Powell Kemp has this thing all but locked up on his home lake.

[TnRiver46]

19 minutes ago, hokiehunter373 said:

Ended up 62nd.  No money but decent points.  Think he'll be about 6th or 7th in standings a third of the way through.  Powell Kemp has this thing all but locked up on his home lake.

Hard to win on the home pond, impressive so far 

[TOXIC]

48 minutes ago, hokiehunter373 said:

Ended up 62nd.  No money but decent points.  Think he'll be about 6th or 7th in standings a third of the way through.  Powell Kemp has this thing all but locked up on his home lake.

Oooops, guess I looked before everybody weighed in.   Still good points and he might be suffering from the lack of performance most of these guys have after a big win.  Hope he keeps rockin the 402.??

[Kirtley Howe]

Can someone tell me what significance 402 has for Ben? I see he wears that number all the time.

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Just now, Kirtley Howe said:

Can someone tell me what significance 402 has for Ben? I see he wears that number all the time.

 

Omaha, NE area code.....throwing some love for his roots. 

 

I hope he keeps wearing it, and doesn't get the boat wrapped.....makes him even cooler and unique.   B/T 6th Sense and Adsense revenue he really doesn't need sponsors like many others do.  

[Kirtley Howe]

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Omaha, NE area code.....throwing some love for his roots. 

 

I hope he keeps wearing it, and doesn't get the boat wrapped.....makes him even cooler and unique.   B/T 6th Sense and Adsense revenue he really doesn't need sponsors like many others do.  

Thanks. As to not needing sponsers....Maybe not, but it is always better to play with someone else's money than to play with your own money. I just about guarantee that if he moves to the Elites. he will wrap his boat. In fact, I am pretty that while he didn't warp his boat, he did use some deck covering that displayed brand names as well as making the boat easier to clean. I saw that in one of his videos.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Yeah he's done that, and he was supposed to already have the boat wrapped but the guy who was doing it messed the job up somehow.  

 

Ultimately 6th Sense makes so many types of baits that he won't be getting any major bait sponsors.   His Open videos thus far have already shown how heavy he's pushing 6th sense stuff.    Don't mind it all, but that's where his shilling efforts are focused.   He has a battery, whisky, and boat deck sponsor, but I doubt he's ever NASCAR'd out like other guys.  

[Kirtley Howe]

Yes, but he could have a lot of non-fishing related sponsors. He already has a connection to Orkin, He could tie in with a (beef) Jerkey company..the list is endless, and there is a ton of money available for charismatic spokespeople. He would be a fool, which he definitely is not, to ignore those $$$.

[hokiehunter373]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Yeah he's done that, and he was supposed to already have the boat wrapped but the guy who was doing it messed the job up somehow.  

 

Ultimately 6th Sense makes so many types of baits that he won't be getting any major bait sponsors.   His Open videos thus far have already shown how heavy he's pushing 6th sense stuff.    Don't mind it all, but that's where his shilling efforts are focused.   He has a battery, whisky, and boat deck sponsor, but I doubt he's ever NASCAR'd out like other guys.  

He already said he's gonna get someone else to do the same idea of that wrap with his followers faces on the boat lol.  I still can't believe it and I also like it without it but it'd be cool to see that too.

[TOXIC]

Y'all know he’s a part owner in 6th Sense?  If he ever went to the elites, he would be required to wrap his boat, it’s a rule. 

[hokiehunter373]

15 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Y'all know he’s a part owner in 6th Sense?  If he ever went to the elites, he would be required to wrap his boat, it’s a rule. 

Yeah it’s part of why he said he’s not worried about wrapping it and his sponsors aren’t either. He said he knows that wraps don’t sell products. I think it’s definitely an advantage to blend in and not have it wrapped. Good rule in the elites 
 

Anyway, he’s in 5th in points now

[TOXIC]

2 hours ago, hokiehunter373 said:

Yeah it’s part of why he said he’s not worried about wrapping it and his sponsors aren’t either. He said he knows that wraps don’t sell products. I think it’s definitely an advantage to blend in and not have it wrapped. Good rule in the elites 
 

Anyway, he’s in 5th in points now

I agree but he won’t be allowed to fish the elites without a wrap.  Remember Steve Kennedy wrapping his boat with an Auburn logo and no sponsors? He did that because of the wrap requirements. Section 5.3

https://www.bassmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022_elite_classic_rules.pdf

[AlabamaSpothunter]

6 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I agree but he won’t be allowed to fish the elites without a wrap.  Remember Steve Kennedy wrapping his boat with an Auburn logo and no sponsors? He did that because of the wrap requirements. Section 5.3

https://www.bassmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022_elite_classic_rules.pdf

Lol, I'm Auburn alum, had no idea he did that.   I took a long break from the game, but have really enjoyed watching him on the elite series this year.   

 

Auburn is awesome, wish I would have studied fish instead though.   When you are 18 it's hard to know what you want in life.  

[TOXIC]

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Lol, I'm Auburn alum, had no idea he did that.   I took a long break from the game, but have really enjoyed watching him on the elite series this year.   

 

Auburn is awesome, wish I would have studied fish instead though.   When you are 18 it's hard to know what you want in life.  

I’ve followed him for a while.  He’s a great ambassador for the sport.  Here’s a pic of his old wrap.  I think his current wrap probably has sponsors on it since he went with BassCat and PowerPole just to name a couple. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

13 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I’ve followed him for a while.  He’s a great ambassador for the sport.  Here’s a pic of his old wrap.  I think his current wrap probably has sponsors on it since he went with BassCat and PowerPole just to name a couple. 

That's awesome, I rewatched his win either on Clear Lake or the Delta where he got a century belt, and had to release a DD who ate his swimbait but on the outside.    That was kind of the beginning of the big swimbaiting for folks outside Cali.  

[AlabamaSpothunter]

The behind the scenes videos are coming, but here's a BTL episode where Matt and Ben break down their performances.

 

@PhishLI