Team9nine

Agreed - especially the "doesn't seem right" aspect, but it's only going to get much worse from here with H'bird and Lowrance releasing their versions this spring.

This is new enough for now Just wait until Lowrance and Humminbird unveil their versions this spring. I'm guessing it will get ridiculous quick, like it has in the crappie world. Technology gone too far in my book, but that won't stop it from happening...

Agreed, but it's still new enough (in the bass world) that a lot of big fish in a lot of lakes haven't been exposed to it heavily yet, especially when compared to traditional big bass techniques and locations. There was just a 5 fish 50 lb. bag caught this week using it. There will be a lot more big catches over the next couple years until a certain saturation point occurs. A lot of the initial users are likely just using it to catch bass in general, not specifically targeting the biggest fish in the system.

Bassmaster held a couple fly fishing tournaments in the very early days. As for fly fishing for bass, I have a couple fly rods. I pull them out about once or twice every 5 years or so. They just seem way too inefficient compared to traditional gear. That said, there is a pretty decent river/creek smallie fly fishing group in the area that keeps all things 'fly' alive.

The newest trait, which is actually a tool, will be Livescope, or forward facing sonar. Some impressive catches of big bass are being made now by the early adopters. Just a matter of time before word is out and everyone is chasing these "ghosts." It goes against most of the standard advice and approach, but it's not the same big fish population that they are chasing, or you could argue it's one that has been identified, but only rudimentarily fished for.

Original RC LCs were pretty special at the time, especially the shallow divers. Still have some left, mostly deeper divers. If you drop the coin for a couple, go shallow 1.5, and/or maybe a 1.5 DD. Seem to be the most practical size and a great starting place to see whether you like them or not. Have flat worn a few of them out over the years. Honestly haven't bought or tried anything new since Rick's name came off them. They went to Tak's name for a while, maybe still do. Still hanging on the originals until they're gone.

I think I got what you were going for. For me, most times I could care less whether a pros name is attached to a bait or similar. If I like it or want it, I'll buy it regardless. If I don't, I won't. Don't think I've ever bought anything intentionally only because a certain name was attached to it...maybe the LC RCs way back when...but pretty certain I've NOT bought a thing or two because there WAS a name attached. I have also bought because a certain pro used/repped a product even though the product wasn't named after said person - for example, Poe's Super Cedar crankbaits/Fritts, again, back in the day.

Hard to know for certain without any context, but crappie is definitely one possibility. Other schooling fish like white bass could be a possibility. Looks like one big predator fish in the mix at the bottom, too.

I’m still unsure what the question is here??? ? lol

He pretty much fishes the same times all year long, almost always a 2-4 hour stretch between 11:00 and 4:00. Many of the reservoirs are 400 acres or under, so it takes little time to move around. He only fishes 'Ned rigs,' so rigging and bait changing is a non-issue. His cold water numbers have been hampered by weed control efforts. A lot of his really big number days came from bass piled into the last green vegetation. If I'm not mistaken, his numbers are also for "the boat," so on days he fishes with someone, which this year has been his wife a majority of the time due to Covid, the numbers for both anglers count in the totals. All my numbers were solo when I've tracked, so 50 fish a trip was always my goal instead of 100, but I also fish short 4 hour and under windows sometime in the afternoon for most all trips.

His historical average has been around 10 bass an hour. He fishes a lot of the smaller community reservoirs that don't get pounded by tourney pressure 7 days a week. We have a few similar type reservoirs near me, which was what I focused on in 2011 when I tracked for him. Just depends on how much you want to pick and choose to boost numbers and keep the rod bent. Also keep in mind he's just as happy catching a dozen 12 inchers than going an hour without a bite to catch one "keeper." All bass count in his system, whether 6 inches or 6 pounds.

Ned uses both a counter and a timer to log his trip data - lol. I just use a counter, especially for crappie where a good trip could run into the 200-300 fish day Yeah, everything is sort of relative. Hard to change your area/location without a lot of driving. You can focus on waters with a high bass population intentionally if you have them, which helps numbers. Pretty much have to play the hand you're dealt. I tend to not fish low productivity waters unless I'm specifically going for a reason (big fish, haven't been in a while, seasonal peak, etc.). Catching is a lot more fun than not catching.

Only when the fishing sucks ?

Was holding out hope for one more day on the water this week/year, but the weather forecast just doesn't look like that will be a reality. With this season now a wrap, I pulled the numbers for fish caught this year and the totals ended up being 2,212 bass and 1,818 crappie. I only keep track of this every so often, and like Bluebasser, I have no plans to do it again next year - lol. I did it this year to compare with a friend in the northern part of the state. Bass numbers suffered at the end of the year as nearly all my late season trips (Nov-Dec) were for crappie, but it is always a nice change. Love that light line ‘thump’ of a bite. Time to order and arrange a few more tackle and boat items, then hope for an early start to next year

Saw where Ned K just posted his final trip report for the year this morning, along with yearly totals. 1,958 largemouth bass, 72 smallmouth bass = 2,030 bass total 101 trips; ~266 hours fishing Average 20 black bass per outing Best trip: Mar. 13 - 61 largemouth bass

Fluoro is denser than nylon, and as such, will weigh more than an equivalent length and diameter segment of nylon. There is no “squishy mass.” If you use the same diameter nylon and fluoro, and fill the spool to the same level, then you will end up with a heavier spool (fluoro) compared to the nylon spool. Using fluoro as backing will keep the predominant weight/mass closer to the spool axis, which will decrease spool rotational inertia some (compared to all fluoro), but using mono would reduce startup and rotational inertia even more, and you could go further and reduce it even more again by going straight braid. Just depends on what you are trying to achieve.

True - Braid is good sensitivity-wise when dragging, but not so slack-lined, regardless of leader material used (different physical properties that don't transfer much beyond the leader knot).

Agreed, and this has been thoroughly tested. No crankbait diving depth difference of any consequence between fluoro and mono. It's all about diameter and distance

I think “wears out” isn’t the right term, but it probably requires a bit more frequent checking and retying than mono, which isn’t a bad thing in my eyes.

It's called a blacknose crappie. They are a genetic variant of a black crappie, not a hybrid like many people think. A couple states intentionally breed and stock them to make follow-up studies and population assessments easier. Otherwise, it does show up randomly here and there, usually comprising between 0-20% of the population. I've caught about a dozen around here over the past 30 years. Some lakes you never see them since it's a genetic trait.

Here ya' go. No spybaits, because they have limited applicability here, but otherwise, Damiki's, Buddy's, Rapala's, jigging spoons, etc. Have a lot of backups for all these hanging on the garage wall -T9

Our boxes look scary similar - lol - right down to the jigging raps and spoons. I’ll have to add a pic later ?

As already mentioned, can’t go wrong with silver and gold. Those two colors cover about every situation, and were once about the only color options available in some lines many years ago. With popularity and technology, lots of other color options available. Whatever colors you like on a lipless vibrating bait (Rat-L-Trap, etc.), try on a blade bait. Shads and chartreuses always seem to produce.

Its the reverse from what you posted - 200 for clarifying structure and 77 for showing fish. The 77 kHz has a wider cone angle, so it will cover more area (potentially see more fish), and will typically display them larger and better. The 200 kHz will have a smaller cone, but better target resolution to separate individual fish or fish from the bottom. Probably best to just pick one or the other frequency and then maximize screen area (single pane) instead of splitting. Some units (like Humminbird) will let you run a combined single screen (83/200 kHz), which usually gives you the best of both worlds.

Personally, I would probably bump up to at least a ML if that were an option. You can drop to a fast action if needed to pull that off, but otherwise, everything sounds good, IMO.