St John’s River

[LrgmouthShad]

Starting this one a little early. I have the opportunity to follow this tournament a little more closely, so I will. I’m really surprised to see some of the techniques that have been used by some of the recent top finishers. It’s not every day you see hair jigs and giant glide baits among the top baits. 
 

Rick Clunn is apparently a big story coming into this as he has won two relatively recent events here. Postspawn is a different ballgame though. Should be interesting!

[TnRiver46]

First one to catch a manatee wins 

[LrgmouthShad]

Saw a real nice topwater catch by McKinney. Was pretty glorious actually

[hokiehunter373]

9 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Saw a real nice topwater catch by McKinney. Was pretty glorious actually

It sure was. I love watching that kid fish

[ak6388]

He's killing them on topwater today. Great to watch and Clunn doing well for himself as well.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

I can't remember an angler wowing me as much as Mckinney over the last two years.   Him and Fujita seem like aliens.    Catching them on a spook with a scope.   He's proven FFS is the ultimate tool in teaching you how to work a bait to get bit.   

 

Watched him do it all last year in the Opens which I think might be even tougher.   

 

Admittedly I pawned off his greatness to FFS, but that's only one aspect of his savant like abilities.   

 

A 19 yr prodigy and a 77 yr legend competing against each other.......what a unique sport.   

[Glenn]

Matt Arey has a dang good track record on the St. Johns!

 

He keeps it simple. 

 

BassTrakk indicates the plan he shared with me before blast-off is proving successful this morning.

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/arey-st-johns-41824.html

[ak6388]

4 hours ago, Glenn said:

Matt Arey has a dang good track record on the St. Johns!

 

He keeps it simple. 

 

BassTrakk indicates the plan he shared with me before blast-off is proving successful this morning.

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/arey-st-johns-41824.html

 

I needed this info before I set my fantasy lineup, great article! Good to see Hackney back on the right track.

[ak6388]

Interesting Bryan New making comments during weigh in about fishing in the locks after just getting DQ'd for blowing beds out....

[TOXIC]

One of my best experiences was living on the St Johns for 2 years and having my bass boat on a lift right in the front yard past the pool. The dang river can humble you quickly.  It took me a month to catch my first bass.  I fished a tournament trails out of Whiteys and Clark’s fish camps.  It wasn’t until I paired up with a local river rat that I started unlocking its patterns.  I had an Elite Series angler spend the entire prefishing period at my house for a tournament on the river.  I learned a lot and he tuned his baits in the pool.😂. He stayed with me in Virginia for a tournament on the Potomac as well.  

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 hours ago, ak6388 said:

Interesting Bryan New making comments during weigh in about fishing in the locks after just getting DQ'd for blowing beds out....

Absolutely, thought the exact same thing.......this dude has the nerve to call out Mckinney when he did one of the most childish and dirty things I've seen in recent history at Santee.      

 

He's one of the very few anglers on the Series that I don't like.   

[LrgmouthShad]

18 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Absolutely, thought the exact same thing.......this dude has the nerve to call out Mckinney when he did one of the most childish and dirty things I've seen in recent history at Santee.      

 

He's one of the very few anglers on the Series that I don't like.   

Not a fan of New. I like a lot of the old heads. Hackney, Menendez, Kennedy, and Livesay I enjoy watching.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

12 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Not a fan of New. I like a lot of the old heads. Hackney, Menendez, Kennedy, and Livesay I enjoy watching.

Those dudes are awesome, and the vast majority of the others as well.

 

I feel like I could be best friends with 95% of the anglers on the Series.   

 

Hank Cherry always thanking the .mil and first responders, Crews always putting in work for Autism awareness, Menendez honoring his late friend......that's just at today's weigh in.    Most of the guys are great human beings, rooted in family, faith, and community.  

 

Now try to say that about the NBA or NFL especially 🤣

 

I stopped watching the other pro sports for the most part because of the terrible humans involved in them.    Pro Bass fishing is the exact opposite, I became a fan more than ever before in recent years because of the people involved in it.   

[hokiehunter373]

Man McKinney with a 90 minute penalty. Swindle reported him for flying under the bridge. How's things like that work between the guys? Seems like GMan did the right thing and I don't think Trey will be crappy about it but do other guys think one way or the other about someone reporting you?

 

Also, did anyone get the scoop on what happened with Milliken's boat yesterday?

[TnRiver46]

@hokiehunter373, there is a rule, much like golf, where it’s actually a violation NOT to report a violation. They have to police themselves and each other, not like they have a @gimruis driving around taking names 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

So stupid, the body water didn't have a no wake zone, but for whatever reason BASS thought that area needed a no wake zone.   

 

Ultimately, it's on Mckinney to listen through the entire rules briefing, but if you can't beat em', tell on em' amiright Gman 🤣

[TnRiver46]

G man was disqualified from a classic for blasting a no wake zone, he’s familiar with the process 

 

arey is amongst a ton of fish bedding, graphs are off 

[TnRiver46]

Sumrall is also sight fishing, what was all that post spawn derby talk??

[rangerjockey]

I had a 9 out of Rodman years ago. What a awesome place to fish. 

[ak6388]

14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Sumrall is also sight fishing, what was all that post spawn derby talk??

Suddenly nobody is around complaining when a good portion of the top 10 is non-FFS fishing and talking about how the tournament is going. Johnston is still using perspective but more so to check beds. Very interesting getting to see his approach with it.

[TnRiver46]

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Cory Johnston talking about losing respect for a couple of anglers today......John Crews, Matt Arey, and his brother are within a stone's toss of each other.

 

I'd assume he's talking about Crews.......Arey was in that area yesterday so he can't really claim he's being a hole buzzard.    Not a great look for Crews though. 

[ak6388]

Man you gotta feel for Sumrall at this point... Lost a giant sight fishing  this morning. A ton of time with no bites and now has lost 2 in the last 20 minutes. One popped off the other outside the mouth sight fishing. Can't catch a break!

[PABASS]

Its funny that sight fishing is OK, but using FFS ISNT?  What is the logic?
Without using proper eyewear and head wear sight fishing isn't easy, analog technology so to speak..

Should FFS be limited, of course, allow 24" of total screen size on the boat, just like a motor is restricted, restrict the size of total screens.

Do we know if Crews had this spot already marked?
 

 

 

[gim]

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@hokiehunter373, there is a rule, much like golf, where it’s actually a violation NOT to report a violation. They have to police themselves and each other, not like they have a @gimruis driving around taking names 

Partially true (the rule part). Amateur golf for the most part is not regulated. It’s on the golfer or the opponent to be honest.

 

Pro golf has officials and cameras everywhere. No way could you get away with a broken rule.

 

I would imagine that some rules have been broken in the various bass (and other species circuits) fishing circuits when there’s no one watching. Heck, there’s even some rules broke while they are ON camera. Sometimes it’s just seemingly brushed under the rug too.

 

Lord knows how long those guys were stuffing lead weights down the throats of walleyes before they got caught.