Team9nine

In the "old school" world, Craig Powers was considered one of, if not the best, when it came to casting accuracy. You can find quite a few articles on that subject with him if you do some searching. May be a video or two out there, also. More recently, the names I see mentioned most often in this regard are Jacob Wheeler and Andy Montgomery (skipping - docks, etc.). Pretty easy to find video on both of them. Several other really good skip/casters out there including Gerald Swindle, among others. Again, those videos easily available through searching.

Good point. Terry tackled that one and he believed it was basically a tie, both introduced the same year. Action Worm or Ring worm?

No - just a regular variation of a curly tail or ribbon tail worm depending on your perspective. Rebel is typically credited as the company that created the ringworm back around 1975. They came in both straight tail and curly tail, but it was the pronounced “rings” on the body that gave it its name.

Would have never guessed those from your description. Rattlesnake was like a generic house brand at Wal-mart - or at least that was about the only place I ever recall seeing them. Glad you found them.

Zoom 4” Dead Ringer?

I’m not certain. Larew held the patent on salt in plastics for many years, but they did license it out to other companies. Zoom wasn’t one of those, as they bristled at the idea of a salt patent. That’s why a lot of their packaging had a “better than salt” label on it. Once the patent expired, that opened it up to all companies, Zoom included. If he thinks it’s Zoom, they did make a 4” C Tail worm (pictured below) that kind of fits the description. Zetabait/Gillraker also had a longer ‘double action’ curl tail, but I’m not certain about their salt content. BPS also knocked off about every popular plastic, and they added heavy salt externally to a lot of their baits.

That sucks. Glad insurance is doing you right and no one was hurt. Almost looked into that area when we started our retirement home search (Beaver L, Branson to Mountain Home area). That area does seem to get a lot of severe weather, though.

More summer critters spotted around the house. This time night flyers.

Agreed (in bold). You can literally take the actual breaking strength in pounds for each knot in each line type, average the breaking strength across all 3 line types, and you’d get the exact same ranking, just as “ave. breaking strength” in pounds instead of “percent efficiency,” whatever that is. That would be a bit more meaningful and relatable IMO. They just tried to get fancy with the data by adding in the rated strength component and creating some fancy category name. But the answers remain the same regardless, so as long as you understand what you’re looking at, that’s all that matters.

I believe WRB’s point is that that data/results you linked to is incredibly misleading. The Knot Wars data is solid, but this site took that raw knot break strength data and compared it against the ‘rated’ strength of the line. Of course, almost no manufacturer rates their lines breaking strength anywhere near its actual value, so the data becomes worthless. There is no such thing as 100% knot strength, let alone 110, 120, or 130 percent values. Lines don’t get stronger when you knot them. Stick with the actual Knot Wars raw data, which can be found with a little searching, as well as some of the actual brand breaking strength data (also available online), and you’ll be able to make a much better assessment of knots and lines vs. what you linked to.

So I’ve pulled off the BR Trifecta? 😎

Yes 👍 Dobsonfly above is a male (long mandibles). Here is a female that visited around the same time.

Well, I hate to say “I told you so,” but… Also, remember that Platinum Equity was the one that bought out Genmar (Ranger, Triton, Stratos) in 2010, then promptly sold them off 5 years later for a tidy profit. This is how the game is played, and GSM (and all their outdoor brands) will be no different.

Really 😎 Just about everyone I can remember that has ever spent a day in the boat with me crappie fishing ended up going home and stripping off all their old line (nylon/copoly/fluoro) and replaced it with braid. If you’re a live bait or bobber guy, it’s not near as critical. But, if you’re a jig caster, it makes a world of difference.

Largemouth 👍

Critters from around the house this summer - water related bugs

When I use a trailer, the old school Zoom split-tail has served me well for over 30 years. Same for buzzbaits. Does everything a trailer is supposed to do, and nothing it’s not 😎

Took it on the chin two days ago, not even getting a bite. Got a chance to sneak out to the lake for a few hours this afternoon and try and redeem myself. Fortunately, things went better, as I was able to figure out a pattern and bite. Hooked up with half a dozen bass, about twenty crappie, two channel cats and half a dozen white perch. Landed 4 of the bass, losing a small keeper when it jumped near the boat, and had a much larger fish hooked for a good while that eventually just pulled off.

Jigworm (Ned) for me. Takes just a couple seconds to unthread and rerig as jighead wacky when needed. Very versatile. #2 would be a tie between Slider and shakey.

Women were banned from fishing the Bassmaster professional trail all the way into the early 90s. Roland’s first wife, Mary Ann, once tried to enter a B.A.S.S. tournament, but Scott tore up the check, proclaiming that, “It’ll be a cold day in hell before a woman ever fishes one of my tournaments.” If the Feds hadn’t stepped in and forced the issue, there’s no telling when/if women would have eventually been allowed. Helen Sevier tried to open up the BASS trail to women a couple years prior when she owned the org. and was met with fierce opposition and protests, and eventually had to back down. It was pretty obvious the women weren’t welcome there (to compete). Ironically though, as I understand it, BASS still gladly accepted their membership checks during this time. Women’s tours like Bass’n Gal were in their prime in the 80s, and I have no doubt a few of their top professional pros could have competed back then against the men if allowed. Many of the women had no desire to compete against the guys, but a few wanted to. Most women simply didn’t have enough time on the water to compete effectively, but anglers like Chris Houston (Jimmy’s wife), Linda England/Fredda Lee, and Burma Thomas had both the experience and the sponsorship backing to have made it work. Glenn just posted above a few others that were very competitive and successful in other local and regional circuits that did allow women. Another name you could add to that list was Elaine Vickers, who won the all-around individual title in the 1959 Texas State Bass Tournament, I believe the only woman to have done so in some 65+ years of competition. Presently, given the format setup and the level of competition to try and grab the few available slots the major tours open up, I don’t see any women being able to qualify for the tour. I could possibly see the BPT selectively inviting someone based on their history of selecting who gets in. I don’t see it happening at all on the Bassmaster circuit since they moved to a 9 event qualifying process. Perhaps if they did similar to the past and created an exemption slot or two, similar to the legends exemption they still allow, or the old WBT exemption when BASS had a women's tour. Having a couple anglers like Kristine and Hilary (Scott Martin’s daughter) on tour would be a big industry and PR positive IMO.

😎 https://bass-archives.com/ann-thomasson-living-dreams/

Looks like maybe a quick clip version of a trailer hook…?

Cropped the knees out as best I could. These are now “fishing” jeans. They protect against the sun better than shorts, but they won’t make it to another summer.

Going forward, all "All-tackle" world records in either bass class (FL or LMB) have to be genetically proven as "pure" in order to be the record. They won't allow a fish on just a scale count due to variability if I heard correctly. There is currently no "hybrid" category (F1, Fx, etc.), and hybrids won't be allowed in either category if breaking an all-tackle record. I believe the threshold is 90% pure or greater, maybe even closer to 94/95%. But they are not requiring genetic testing for line class records as I recall. I don't remember if the same parameters were being used for Alabama bass and spotted bass. You can watch the BAD podcast discussions for all the particulars in that regard. I've watched it a couple times, but a lot to digest and remember - lol.

MA has what is likely the largest northern strain at 15-8, but no one knows where that fish resides, so testing might not be possible. I believe the next largest is Indiana’s 14-12, and it was recent enough that the angler is still with us, as is the fish mount along with some of the biologists that certified it. It is a clean and uncontested catch, and I’ve contacted Ken Duke arguing the case for certifying it as the official largemouth bass record (nigricans). The Perry and Kurita fish should go into the record books as a newly (yet to be) recognized “hybrid” category all-tackle WR, IMO.