Dwight Hottle

I knew it was fake news as soon as they mentioned Table Rock & world record bass.

I had a boat garage connected to the main house by roof only via a covered patio. It was 28x26 with a 10 foot double overhead garage door. Ceiling height was around 14 foot. It was super insulated and had a ceiling fan for air movement. I had a gas heater installed but it was ventless which became a problem because of moisture build up when I stored the boat wet. I ended up with a mildew problem which required me to repaint the walls after mitigating the mildew. So my only caution to you is make sure the electric heater does not cause a similar problem after insulating.

That supports the success of FFS trophy hunting. Congratulations.

I like to use 1/2 oz & 3/4 oz for vertical fishing 20-40’ fow and mostly 1/2 oz for water shallower than 20’. They work well in the summer too when the smallies are set up deep & you can find them. I like @A-Jay suggestion on the g-fix but mostly for casting & horizontal retrieves. I use a more aggressive lift & drop when looking for fish as I think the added movement draws them in. Once you have a steady bite going the more subtle short lift usually works best as mentioned. I use braid with a short mono leader like one or two foot. You can use a very small swivel with two palomar knots if you like instead of a more complicated knot.

I know I guy with a nice ranger who was out on Lake Erie fishing that came back to the ramp at dark & some sob's stole his trailer. I never thought about that but it is fairly common in some areas.

Sweet!

Capt Sean Rush owns Rodman Reservoir. He is the best guide in all of Florida based on numbers of submissions to the Trophy Bass program. He only guides shiner fisherman no artificials. He is extremely booked up so plan well ahead.

@softwateronly X2

I thought you were not paying attention during grade school math class.

I have never heard of chumming for bass like using a chum bag or chum block like they do in saltwater but I could be wrong. I will tell you many shiner guides fish the same good area over & over as long it still produces. The repetitive nature of feeding bass lots of shiners keeps them hanging around. So in a way you could consider it chumming with shiners.

I declare an attempt to cheat. 4oz divided by 242 oz is 0.0165289 times 100 =s 1.65 %

7 out of 8 teams that had a bye lost including last years natty. Interesting statistic. Is it loss of momentum or too much rest or something else?

I know the title refers to State to State but are Canadian provinces included specifically Ontario which has a 10.15 record smallie caught in 2022 by Gregg Gallagher?

Well after multiple years of the cheating scandal & then the national coaching scandal embarrassment I think your program could use a little rebuilding. Good luck with that. 😀

And how did the team up north do against Texas?

Anybody watching OSU against Miami? It’s going to be a low scoring game in my opinion.

If you buy an outfit that you really like it is going to get slimed because you can’t put it down. When I fall in love with a combo because of balance or sensitivity or what ever parameters it becomes my favorite & gets fished a lot.

Happy New Year & may you all be blessed with a new PB.

We just lost another great fisherman, historian & a general wealth of knowledge. Rest in peace Tom.

Staying in a cabin in Canada with a buddy fishing Bay of Quinte for big walleye in the late fall. We get all our gear down to the boat & take off for about an hour run to where we want to start fishing. I get the rods all set up & ask my bud where is my tackle bag with all the lures in it? He forgot it & we had to go all the way back. I was a little aggravated.

I live in a 3 story condo with parking underneath so I always take the elevator to the third floor unless it’s broken. Just lazy I guess because the stairs are not an obstruction for me.

I hope you’re going to Dworshak. That could be the trip of a lifetime.

Weighed 8-11 on the scale but the battery died the next time we tried weighing it. I think it was probably 9 something. Didn’t weigh any of the others. Forgot to add this photo from yesterday. Bison feeding out in the water in Lake Kissimmee FL. And before you ask yes it’s real. Apparently some rich sob owns that island & stocks it with exotic game for people to hunt for a fee.

Two best from today fishing the Kissimmee chain. Went back to the same spot we tried first thing in the morning but didn’t connect like we expected. At the end of day we went back and it was on fire for about a hour. Fishing with my good buddy Capt. Erik Tilson.