Team9nine

Couldn’t agree more. Commercialism and “marketing” are just getting worse and worse on all fronts. What’s sadder to me is seeing the “traffic” that “follows/likes/subscribes” to all the crap.

Generally a waste of time IMO unless looking to capture something specific (data); but they can be fun to look back over when you get older, especially if kept in a journal format ?

Just one of those people that believes braid doesn’t belong on a baitcaster except for the few instances it does ?

My recommendation is don’t go back ? ...but if you do, an 8-carrier softer braid like Sufix 832 might be worth a try.

Just spare spools of line here, not leader specific line. Could see where certain specific situations might lend themselves to leader line, but most everything I fish around here doesn’t. Saves you lots of money, too.

Ok, you are overreacting ? Yes, you'll catch a wave or two here and there that makes it over the transom, usually from an inconsiderate wakeboat on high traffic days, but it’s the exception and not the rule unless you just get careless. Spent 8 years out of my converted jon with a 15” transom and never really felt in danger at any time, and I spent a lot of hours on the water.

Personally, I wouldn't go 7', but I also wouldn't go much shorter than 6'6" - maybe down to a 6'3" at best. A little length to help pitch and maneuver your baits and line around corners and such would probably be beneficial.

One of the screenshots Jacob posted of the winning group of fish (and spot), but after he had caught what you saw during coverage and broken up the school.

Let's be honest here. It was Johnny who stated in his opening comments that Marty and JT, 2 guys with 556 combined professional events under their belt and over $2.65 million in winnings, were the ones "pretty misinformed" and "inaccurate" in their statements and commentary on Wheeler and the event. Granted, he (Johnny) developed the entire "old school" method of finding fish 9 years ago before we had modern depthfinders, so I really hate to question such an angling pioneer, but still, he is entitled to his opinion of them and their analysis (Marty, JT), just like we are of Johnny and his commentary. I do feel sorry for all the guys who probably just learned for the first time that you can't successfully fish Indiana and Colorado blade spinnerbaits deeper than 6-8 ft of water, though (you hear that @Catt ?). To Johnny's credit, while Wheeler used all his units including 360 and Panoptix during the event, and found that spot and those fish in practice while the water was clearer (they just never left), he was primarily focused on his SI units when he first idled over that spot in the third period of that Championship round, though he could also see them on DI/2D. He did fish that spot every day of the event, just unsuccessfully. He's not certain if it was the bait that day, or whether the fish just needed time (a few days) to adjust to the muddying water. I'm sure if he asked him, Johnny could give him that answer. I literally just got off the phone with Wheeler after talking to him for nearly an hour today about the event. He is in the process of shooting a quick video update on baits, tackle, etc. used and how he won before heading off to Florida, so I'll let Jacob handle the specifics and details of his win.

I only stock stuff that has proven itself on the waters I fish, and don’t buy a bunch of other baits that will just do the same thing. On the boat, only keep a handful of different soft plastics on hand, and in just a few basic colors and brands. Just a half dozen spinnerbaits (one brand) because I rarely throw them. Only 1 brand of buzz bait; a couple Spooks, a couple poppers. Five or six frogs (Spro and Booyah). A small 3600 box of jerkbaits, mostly Megabass and Rapala. Cranks are LC squarebills, Bandit shallow runners, Poes/Rapala mid depth and Norman deep. If I hit the water from the bank, it’s just 1 rod and reel and a couple baits tossed into my shirt pocket. You can kind of get an idea from that.

The short answer in your case is probably "shallow," but @Russ E brings up a very good point. The type of weed kill will make a difference. In the case of a natural seasonal weed die-off (transition), the fish are just as likely to go deeper as they are shallower. It simply dpeends on timing and the type of water body. In the case of a weed treatment, it depends on the type of treatment. A systemic treatment that may take several weeks or more to eventually alter the growing pattern and effectively kill the plant will have the same answer in most cases as a seasonal die-off; just as likely deeper as shallower. However, in the case of a contact type die-off, basically a burndown that works rather fast, often days, the answer is most likely "shallower." This is because the faster the plant die-off, the greater the oxygen consumption. In most all cases, there simply isn't enough "good" oxygen in the depths after such an occurence. This would also be the case after an algae treatment. The only "good" oxygen left is in the shallows, often 10 feet and less, and all the fish pile up on whatever available cover and habitat is available until mixing occurs and things stabililze out. This is really easy to see on a graph. If you simply spend 10-20 minutes riding around a deeper section of the lake, your graph will tell you how deep the oxygen is acceptable based on how deep you see fish on your graph. As I mentioned, most times this will be 10 ft and less shortly after a good treatment. Over the years I've run my graph enough times in combination with an oxygen probe to prove all this to myself.

Just wait a couple weeks and Jacob will have his own video out on the event. So many things the video doesn’t take into account, including the fact that the water wasn’t cold (58-59 degrees from what Rob N reported during coverage), and it also wasn’t muddy when practice began. It never hurts to watch and learn all you can from a variety of sources...just realize we live in an age where everyone thinks they know why everything happens - instant online experts

Most everything... ?

What a load of crap (the video) - sorry, just MHO.

The more you know, the less you throw. Fortunately, I was exposed to some Buck Perry common sense early in the game. I’d guess about 90% of my purchases are now simply ‘restock and replace’ in nature.

That was the whole basis behind the decision...do the advantages outweight the cost. Short answer - yes! What? It was an intentional decision this year to forego the electronic sponsorships to try and gain an advantage over the field, and cash more/bigger checks.

Yep, that RichZ. I believe he made that video after he and I had a discussion online over various connecting knots and their respective strengths a couple years back. -T9

Google ‘Seaguar knot’ and you’ll see they are the same thing. Not sure where or when it appeared first. I do know RichZ swears by this knot, and at least for a good spell, Ned K did, also.

There were no issues with catching numbers of fish, and quality fish, until Mother Nature dumped 3 inches of rain on the lake the day before. You can only control so much. Look at the poor showing in the first Elite event in Florida this weekend. Caught a wicked cold front and had terrible catches despite being able to weigh in 12 inchers.

Yes, this did come out of his pocket this year. Keep in mind he is the highest ranking professional bass angler in the country right now (according to BF). A win is worth $100,000. Making the cut into the top-40 is worth $10,000. Why wouldn’t you invest in the absolute best equipment/technology at that level to try and give yourself an advantage over the competition?

Shad Raps and Traps shortly after ice-out, usually low to mid 40 degrees. Don’t pull out squarebills until the water warms and the bass start moving into spawning coves well, which is mid to upper 50s and as mentioned above, kind of hits around Easter in these parts.

Don't hear it mentioned much in bass circles, but this is my largest Tenkara bass to date. Had one of equal or greater size hooked that I played for a while before losing it (it was a largemouth). This was on a Daiwa Kiyose 36S-F

FG in most instances these days, but an Alberto or J knot occasionally. Palomar gets the nod on direct tie, but have been playing with the Pitzen more and more this year. Loop knots tend to be inherently weaker than traditional knots, so I haven’t messed with them for Ned. Did start trying them for crappie jigging this year, but haven’t decided whether to mess with them for bass yet.

Lol - old guy with facts, no sizzle ? sounds familiar, doesn’t it @Paul Roberts