The Great Experiment Has Begun

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I really should, maybe scratch an item of the bucket list as well by hiring a guide on Chick.   

 

Imagine a Classic on Chick 😎 

There has been at least one 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

There has been at least one 

I was but a wee little lad at that point, had no clue though.   Seems they fished a number of events there and then just stopped going.

 

Guess the chamber of commerce didn't ante up enough money.     That's the part of the sport that nobody ever really talks about.    So many awesome fisheries don't get to partake because they can't or won't pay to play.  

 

Chickamauga: A look back - Bassmaster

[TnRiver46]

25 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I was but a wee little lad at that point, had no clue though.   Seems they fished a number of events there and then just stopped going.

 

Guess the chamber of commerce didn't ante up enough money.     That's the part of the sport that nobody ever really talks about.    So many awesome fisheries don't get to partake because they can't or won't pay to play.  

 

Chickamauga: A look back - Bassmaster

It definitely all comes down to money but Chick has had some very down years as far as fishing. Seems like it boomed in 80s was bad thru the 90s and came back in the 2000s 

 

guess what they spray the heck out of it 😂 

 

Oh yeah and a 24 yr old came in second at that classic…… youngsters have always been able to hang 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

54 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Amazing how this format neutralizes or at least illuminates the pure scopers like Drew Gill.   

 

Dude caught 40+ lbs using the scope in the 2nd period, now he can barely catch a single fish by the mid-way point in the period.   

Gill finished 7th in Round 1.  He was on BTL and said that you have to be really dialed in with FFS to be able to do anything in one period. 

 

If you are mediocre with it and need a whole day to get enough fish then you are dead in the water.
 

 

[WRB]

Introducing Floria strain LMB into areas away from their native   zone creates boom & bust cycles everywhere. The initial Year class does very well for about a 15 year period. The following year classes depend on F1 recruitment year class hit and miss.

We blamed bust years in everything imageable but it comes down to successful spawn survival rates adjusting to a new environment, fishing pressure and good management.

Tom

[Pumpkin Lizard]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I was but a wee little lad at that point, had no clue though.   Seems they fished a number of events there and then just stopped going.

 

Guess the chamber of commerce didn't ante up enough money.     That's the part of the sport that nobody ever really talks about.    So many awesome fisheries don't get to partake because they can't or won't pay to play.  

 

Chickamauga: A look back - Bassmaster

I can’t blame them for giving the tournament to the highest bidder. They are bringing 150,000 fans for an event. You can’t waste that sort of thing. Just way too many costs to cover.

[TnRiver46]

On 2/12/2025 at 3:27 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

 

I saw that.  He complains a lot.  I personally don't see the point in comparing  a fish that's legal to take home and a fish that's legal to weight in a tournament.  

Because if you are going to compare your data to anything before BPT was formed, people would run away from a school of 1.5-2 lb fish in a traditional tournament (or the 2022 bpt that was best 5). Whereas now they can sit on a school of 2 lb fish and win 

 

MLF keeps all score tracker data and drop shot, @gim’s favorite, is far and away the leading fish catcher year after year (Bardin et al, 2025)

[gim]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

@gim’s favorite, is far and away the leading fish catcher year after year

 

Sometimes you gotta use what works.  Especially true in competition.

 

Me, I'd rather watch paint dry.

[Tennessee Boy]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Because if you are going to compare your data to anything before BPT was formed, people would run away from a school of 1.5-2 lb fish in a traditional tournament (or the 2022 bpt that was best 5). Whereas now they can sit on a school of 2 lb fish and win 

That's a different argument.  Everyone has an opinion on what the minimum should be.  I think it should be 2 lbs.  I don't think the local size limit is relevant to the issue. 

 

FYI - Not counting today,  there have been 3101 fish caught in the 2025 MLF season.  79 were caught on a drop shot.  I'm sure the number would be much higher if @gim was on the tour. 😊

[GReb]

I love watching Tak fish

[Tennessee Boy]

Did anyone else see that tagged fish that Tak just caught?  Was that a transmitter that he just cut off?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Poche might be the first dude to beat up a marshal 🤣

 

His strange hang up with the scale angle is quite odd. 

[Jar11591]

Another tank landed by Wheeler. The perspective of the camera and fish is weird. That 5-14 Wheeler landed looked as big as his 8 from yesterday, and somebody yesterday landed a fish that to me looked to go about 2-5, and was like a 5-4. I’m watching on a little phone screen so maybe that has something to do with it. I’ve been all over the place with my weight guesses. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

To me the fish don't look that healthy, even those two 8lb fish Wheeler caught yesterday.   Then again Florida fish are always longer skinnier fish it seems.   

 

I assumed it was just the immediate post spawn condition on most of these fish, but then Tak just said they saw lots of dead fish that scared the anglers before the event started.

 

ETA:  If folks remember last year's Elite Series event there, the anglers were talking about how unhealthy the Chain was.  

[Tennessee Boy]

The guys on camera are making it look easy.  Makes me want to head down to Florida and yank a few out of the bushes.  Then you look at the rest of the field and realize most of them are struggling.

[A-Jay]

I missed most of the day 2 fishing as the snow blower was calling my name again.

But as the fishing wraps up today, seems like a lot of familiar names above that cut line.

Tomorrow should be a shoot out.

Mr Wheeler gets the day off with 101 lbs of bass in two days. 

Not a good sign for the rest of the field. 

A-Jay

 

 

[Tennessee Boy]

I was cheering for Gary Klein.  He was one fish out and didn't really seem to care.  I guess he has something else to do tomorrow.

[Jar11591]

@Tennessee Boy I was too. He either missed a strike or broke one off with a minute left. 

[TnRiver46]

On 2/13/2025 at 1:34 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Wheeler darn near won the classic in ‘19 in Knoxville, seems like he had an 18 lb bag of smallies one day which is not easily done

 

I’m predicting silence from  blaukat on the subject of wheeler slaying fish without livescope  😂 

I stand corrected, sometimes I swear he lurks here 

 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

37 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I stand corrected, sometimes I swear he lurks here 

 

I actually agree with Randy on a few things but when he posts asinine stuff like this he discredits the cause.

[GReb]

Lots of drama circling the Apopka poachers today