What's the farthest you've seen?

[diver_sniper]

The other day I was trying to explain to my girlfriend why bass boats are designed to go as fast as they do. I told her that in tournaments on large bodies of water these guys need to go a long ways to get to the spot they feel is holding fish, and because they only have X amount of hours, they need to make it there as quickly as they can. Then the question "well how far is that?" came up, and it got me wondering too. So now I'm asking you guys. What's the farthest from the starting/weigh in spot that you've ever seen or heard of someone going in a tournament? And then roughly about how long did it take them to travel that distance?

[bmadd]

Tournaments on Kentucky Lake people are known to travel as far as 70+ miles. Not sure about times though.

[salmicropterus]

When they had the Classic at Toho back in 05 (?) a guy went from the launch at the top end of Toho all the way down to the Kissimmee River below Lake Kissimmee. I think it was Rick Morris-that has to be close to 60 miles or so plus two lock-throughs. At the classic this past year at Shreveport, didn't a few lock down so far they only had a two hour window to fish

[fishfordollars]

Over a 100 miles. The big boys have even come out of the mouths into the ocean and crossed over to another river and then run up it to fish. This is common in south Louisiana.

I've run 50+ on occasion years ago, but don't do it anymore. Usually a run from the Rayburn dam up the Attoyac or Angelina river can easily be over 50 miles one way.

[etommy28]

my friend ran 186 miles in one day once. me 76 miles took me about an hour and a half

[14littleones]

Around 2 miles with my 9.9  ;D

[simplejoe]

I ran 35 miles and 4 locks one time on the river for a tournament. I knew the fish were there.

[5bass]

I've run 40-50 miles before but usually my runs are more like 10-20.

I remember Rick Morris doing that long run in the Classic a few years back. After the time it took to get there and back I think he had 2 hrs of fishing time once he got there before he had to head back in. It almost paid off. I believe he finished 2nd didnt he? Didnt Luke Clausen win that Classic?

[etommy28]

you are correct, he ran through i believe 3 locks from lake kissimee all the way throught the chain in to the kissimee river.

[Catt]

Louisiana Delta 100 mile plus runs are easy

Bassmaster Louisiana Top 150 Pro/Am 2001 Toledo Bend; day 2 my pro ran so far north when he finally stopped I told him I didn't have an Oklahoma license.

Fish a night tournament on the Bend where we launched at the dam and ran to White Oak Park in 4' swells felt like about 1,000 miles by weight-in

[Skunked in DR]

Tourney on the St. Lawrence River, one of the pros ran 115 miles down to Lake Ontario.  Worked for him he finished 1st and 2nd in back to back one day tourneys.

[fishfordollars]

I've run 40-50 miles before but usually my runs are more like 10-20.

I remember Rick Morris doing that long run in the Classic a few years back. After the time it took to get there and back I think he had 2 hrs of fishing time once he got there before he had to head back in. It almost paid off. I believe he finished 2nd didnt he? Didnt Luke Clausen win that Classic?

Yes sir.

[salmicropterus]

I've run 40-50 miles before but usually my runs are more like 10-20.

I remember Rick Morris doing that long run in the Classic a few years back. After the time it took to get there and back I think he had 2 hrs of fishing time once he got there before he had to head back in. It almost paid off. I believe he finished 2nd didnt he? Didnt Luke Clausen win that Classic?

Yes sir.

Yep Clausen won and Morris finished 3rd as I recall. Heck of a   storm and front blew through on the last day in the AM. Morris' ride back up north against all that must have been a trip!

[Glenn]

Last year at the Classic, many pros took it to the extreme limit.  Some ran out of gas on the way back (during practice).  Many made it back on fumes during the Classic.

I've gone as far as 60 miles one way.  Best time was about 50 mins.

But the speed of the boat doesn't have anything to do with long distances, IMO.  It has more to do with taveling the shortest time possible, regardless of distance, in order to get more casts in. 

It's simple math.  You'll get to a spot a whole heck of a lot faster with a 250 than an 85.  As you move from spot to spot over the course of a day of fishing, that can add up to 20, 30, or more mins of fishing time instead of traveling.

[bowfish12]

The farthest I've done is roughly 50 miles roundtrip. Some of the pros during last year's Ky lake tourney went from Paris, Tn to Barkley lake. I believe they were running 70+ miles one way.

[JohnnyBigger]

My uncle in the early 90's in a bass federation series event ran about 90 miles in Gilbertsville Kentucky. he finished I think fifth and barely missed qualifying for the grand nationals.

[rebeav]

However far it is from Cooter's Pond ramp to the dam or lock on Alabama River was too far for me. We had practiced out of a different ramp and come tourney time it took an hour 15 minutes to get to our "spots". We finished dead last too hehehehehehhahahahha --

[KYntucky Warmouth]

The farthest I've done is roughly 50 miles roundtrip. Some of the pros during last year's Ky lake tourney went from Paris, Tn to Barkley lake. I believe they were running 70+ miles one way.

It seems that long runs are quiet common on KY/Barkley

[Carrington]

i believe in 2001 kevin van dam went i want to say 90+ miles from the start when he won.

[TommyBass]

Completely necessary, because there arn't any fish anywhere near launch sections for tourneys... black bass are known to stray at least 10 miles from the launch ramp of any tournament.    :

Those mileages are ridiculous.   You could stay semi-close and have 2 free hours of fishing compared to the yay-hoo who runs 60+ minutes.  I could possibly see it if you had the mega-amazing honey hole but it better be alot more than a hunch.  I would say if you broke it down and actually looked at the statistics those long runs would be counter-productive x 10.   Heck on big lakes like KY, all you have to do is stay within a mile or two and you have the lake / bass to yourself. 

The grass is always greener.............

[bowfish12]

Completely necessary, because there arn't any fish anywhere near launch sections for tourneys... black bass are known to stray at least 10 miles from the launch ramp of any tournament. :

Those mileages are ridiculous. You could stay semi-close and have 2 free hours of fishing compared to the yay-hoo who runs 60+ minutes. I could possibly see it if you had the mega-amazing honey hole but it better be alot more than a hunch. I would say if you broke it down and actually looked at the statistics those long runs would be counter-productive x 10. Heck on big lakes like KY, all you have to do is stay within a mile or two and you have the lake / bass to yourself.

The grass is always greener.............

That's not always true, in fact fishing around Paris Landing last year at the time BASS came it was dead in that area. People were catching fish south around New Johnsonville, and north around the dam, the middle was horrible.

My dad's buddy who was a marshal in it was with the guy that ran to Barkley, he asked the pro why he was passing all of that up and the pro said because he didn't know how to fish Ky lake. So it's a neccessity sometimes, that's why Rick Clunn struggled, he always fished barkley when they went out of the dam.

I believe if Van Dam would have fished big sandy he would have won that tournament but he went north.

[bipr8]

Iaconelli ran to S. Venice during the classic about 90 miles one way to win the classic. I "think" he did that all 3 days. I guess it is necessary to run that far if you want to win.  *I also think he broke down on the way on day 2 but got up and running an hour later.