Team9nine

I’m on the side of going to all fish need at least a single hook in the mouth at the highest level of the sport (Elite/BPT) - show your catch to your marshal/ referee before unhooking. No different than bed fishing. With the advent of FFS, there are several scenarios now where it’s more possible/likely to score a catch or two by foul hooking, whether intentional or not. You can’t easily rule by intent, but you can by hook location.

Both beating the bank, both throwing Chatterbaits? If the front guy is halfway good, he should get him 5:1. If the back guy is sharp, it might be closer to 3:2. So many variables though, so it’s really just guessing.

Glad I squeezed in so many trips through the winter/spring. Have half expected I’d get shut down a bunch being this far south during the ‘summer.’

Yep - sitting at home right now on a near 70 degree day because sustained winds are SW at 22 gusting to 36 mph, and the weekend forecast isn’t much different. Would just be an exercise in futility in a high-sided aluminum boat. Mid 80s all next week, so the heat might keep me off the water then, too. Can’t win 😔

They seem to be stocked in all the watershed lakes here as the first line of defense against hydrilla as I understand it. Seems like just some carpet moss and a few hard stemmed plants like lilies are the only thing escaping them. The fisheries vary from water to water, so hard to make any concise judgement on positive or negative effects. But I can say in the lake with the greatest population of them, their returns on FFS are pretty impressive and fun to watch 😆

First winter/spring here in SC for me, so wasn't sure what to expect on all new waters. I will say that once I figured out I had record class crappie around me, I spent an awful lot of time the past 3 months chasing them while the window was available. But I did scan through my pics from Jan 1 through April 1 and had a pretty decent run on bass for as little as I fished them. Looks like I landed 17 bass over 3 pounds, with 4 between 4-5 lbs, 3 more between 5-6 lbs., and then one over 7 lbs. Add to that the 46 crappie over 2 lbs. I've been able to catch, and I can't complain. Will be spending a lot more of my time chasing bass the next 3 months if things don't get too hot around here, so we'll see what happens.

Got a break in between storms, so took advantage of a rare cloudy day for me. Started with topwater (Spook) over potential main lake spawning flats w/o a bite. Moved into a creek arm and was able to get a killer blowup on a shallow laydown. Never could duplicate that bite though. Picked off two deeper fish on Ned-type stuff…and one more crappie brushing the 3 lb. mark. That’s probably it until next week.

Yep - got taken on a set of Pointers online. Had everything right down to the name and lettering identical to originals. Even the paint colors. Only found out once I went to fish them and it took 9-11 SuspendStrips to get them to balance right. Would not be surprised in the least if someone didn’t try to counterfeit the MBs given their price and popularity.

Agree that anything that has to be stopped or paused like poppers, Spooks, Devil's Horses, etc. will get pulled under and won't work with fluoro. But, anything that constantly moves like the baits mentioned, I really don't notice much if any difference between the line types. In some cases, you could argue fluoro might actually be better because it helps keep the bait/nose down in the water a little bit and running properly. Just my experience as a nearly all fluoro user (baitcast gear).

YZH - combining the best of both worlds, so that your line excels at…..nothing 😝 You can still throw some topwaters effectively with fluoro (Buzzbaits, toads, ploppers, etc.). If you’re really stuck on adding in more topwaters than that, then default to a mono/copoly line like BG or Super Natural. Otherwise, I say stick with what's been working for you. JMHO

In graphical format…

Took the last ten days off, as the window on the big crappie bite has closed. Got back out today, but spent two hrs double checking some of the last areas I found a few but without a bite. So, pulled out the bass sticks and started refocusing efforts there. Only got two bites, but they were decent ones. On the right path it seems. More green fish focus going forward.

You gotta’ love a good mystery. It doesn’t happen a lot, but every so often after a strong cold front, I’ve gone out and graphed nothing but clean water. It’s almost an eerie feeling that kind of hits you when you first see it. I imagine the fish/baitfish still have to be there, but are so tight to the bottom, nothing marks at all. Still feels weird, and I can usually expect a tough bite when it happens.

Technically, 1957, though they really didn't gain any press (newspaper back then) until 1959-1960.

Agreed - raccoon, mink or otter…

Yeah, I’ve got two “like new” Lo-K-Tors, one I fish with and one a collectors piece. Being portable, I’ve set them up and run them side by side with my Lowrances and Humminbirds in traditional mode and was surprised at how close in timing the units were if you have the scroll speed adjusted correctly. Didn’t compare flasher mode, though. Also ran a Vex straight-line flasher for a while, but not quite the same as the old flasher bulb units.

And isn’t it great that pretty much no one has an issue with that 😎 Lol - closest I’ve seen is Fritts’ $80-$90k Ranger with a pair of Eagle Sixty Thirty’s mounted front and back alongside his modern Lowrance units

Might start with this thread, or more specifically the OP's video, then dig into all the back and forth after that if you so desire. It's (the video) a pretty decent start to the subject, but there are quite a few threads on the subject to some degree or another to search through.

Any day a Johnston brother doesn't win an event is a good day in my book, so I'm a little somber this evening; but, on the brighter side, since it was 'like a tournament from 2017 but with anglers you’ve never heard of,' I don't feel quite so bad Hope they run another one or two yet this year, but pull a wider swath of anglers.

That’s 95% over just the past 4 years, with one year at 100% to boost that average. I recently read a similar story that stated overall program mortality was 16%, if I remember correctly.

I'm sure he'll be including that impressive bullet point near the top of his resume next year when he hits up potential new sponsors

It’s also the trait that drives guys to bankruptcy and divorce, always thinking their big break (win) is just around the corner, and it’s just a matter of time before their professional angling aspirations pay off, when in reality, they should have realized long ago they just don’t have “it,” or realistically, it’s not going to happen. So there is a fine line or balancing point, IMO, and just because you envision it and try hard, doesn’t mean it will happen - and that’s OK. Look at all the guys who tried and thought they’d catch the next world record bass - and failed. Just don’t ruin your life over a fish - or because of fish that people post on social media/forums.

From a post I made 8 years ago on the subject, but yeah, I've played with it My guess would be IPT as stated by the manufacturer is based on what they consider a full spool, and simply a single actual measurement one time. "I read Tom's comment with interest and had some time to kill last night, so I grabbed a reel and started measuring. I had a Shimano Castaic CA200 sitting around that I won't be using any more before things freeze up over here. Capacity is listed at 125 yds of 14# test. I had a nearly full spool of16# fluorocarbon on it. It has a 6.2:1 gear ratio, and the tested IPT was around 24.5" The initial starting diameter of the line filled spool was 1.233" (radius = 0.616"). After stripping off about 40 yds of line, the effective gear ratio only dropped to just above 5:1. That would be about as long a cast as I'd normally ever make with that outfit. I kept stripping line off, passing the 82 yd mark that is factory placed on the line and continuing until I had nearly 100 yds stripped off. At this point the filled diameter was just 3/4 of an inch, with a spool radius of 0.385". I was well into my backing and likely only had another 20 or so yds of line left as I could see my arbor knot starting to appear. The calculated "effective gear ratio" at that point was 3.9:1 which was an IPT of 15", a 37% decrease from initial starting capacity. Your mileage will certainly vary, as every reel is different, and a lot of variables affect the overall outcome. In general though, I'd say a typical long cast will likely decrease your overall effective gear ratio by at least 1+ spool revolutions per handle turn (a 7.x:1 becomes a 6:1, etc.). This would only happen during the initial part of your retrieve. As the line gets built back on the spool, the effective gear ratio continues to climb back to "normal." Wider spool reels would probably show less of an effect because they hold more of the line on the "outside" of the spool, while heavier lines, because they are thicker diameter, would likely exaggerate this effect. I also carried out the "shoe test" at all stages (as suggested in one of my other posts). At full spool and attached to a 6' musky rod, it was a big struggle to lift and wind a 10.4 oz. shoe off the ground using only the reel handle and the drag clamped down. After stripping off the 100 yds of line and retesting, even though the gear ratio is still technically 6.2:1, since your IPT has decreased so much, the effective gear ratio of 3.9:1 made the task a pretty simple affair. A very noticeable difference and considerably easier to accomplish with much less effort in winding."

Back in the early tournament days, that exact type rule would often be put into place for some events. Others simply banned “guides,” but the mileage clause was a broader way of eliminating local advantage and seen as a way to encourage and bring in out of state participants.

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