Catt

@akmac I ain't totally disagreeing with ya! I've seen numbers as high as you referenced & I've seen numbers significantly lower on both tournament & weekend warriors. This subject requires you to read multiple sources of research.

@akmac Ya need to do a little research into Lake Sam Rayburn. According to Fisheries Biologist Todd Driscoll Rayburn is managed as a tournament lake. Biologist have studied the effects of tournament fishing on Rayburn more the any other body of water. The are more tournaments ananually on Sam Rayburn than any lake in America. The level of tournament anglers in Texas tournament trails are arguably better than any. Guess what Rayburn is still putting out multiple double digits & 30-45# stringer annually. Do a little reading & you'll be surprised at the annual death rate by natural causes.

If I wanna know why I ain't catching, I simply look in the mirror!

@Bluebasser86 & @Mike L In resent years Toledo Bend lost all it's Hydrilla/Milfoil/Coontail. Most anglers went ballistic claiming the lake was dead because they could no longer easily catch bass. The truth is that bass adapted to having no grass while the anglers didn't adapt. Many anglers complain the advancements in technology has added more pressure. And it has indeed for those who can afford it but the average Joe doesn't have this technology.

My personal preference is169-170, but my best days for big bass is during low water.

And the bass caught by non-tournament anglers survive? Always thought that was the dumbest comment about tournament fishing ever!

I Don't Care ? If the wind speed is below 20 mph...he gone!

Smash-Tech Little Weedless Bluegill https://smashtechbaits.com/products/weedless-little-bluegill

Double Z Custom Lures https://doublezlures.com/

There will multiple patterns working on any given day, on any given body of water. All bass ain't doing the same thing at the same time. Watch any Major Tournament, the entire field ain't doing the same thing.

Uhh no! ?

Some of y'all all want the grass back? Drop the lake level Some of y'all want the lake at 172'. Any major rains means opening flood control gates & flooding everyone below the dam. My point is controlling the level of a lake this size ain't easy. Your average swimming pool loses 1/4" to evaporation daily how much ya think Toledo Bend loses? The major issue is does SRA worry about land owners not being able to use boat docks or do they worry about flooding homes below the dam.

Is ya talking today or back when I started? Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5000 (red) Heddon Mark Special Purpose #6271 5 1/2' MH Fiberglass with a cast aluminum reel seat & handle. Total weight about 2# plus! This what I started tournament fishing with, the next year I added another one. 1978 I added a Shimano Bantam 100 (siver with rose wood handle knobs) on a Fenwick. 1981 I added 2 Shimano Bantam 10XSG on Kunnan rods. Then I moved on to Shimano Calcutta & Crucial rods. Don't think I would have changed a thing.

IDK ? I wonder about some of y'all's casting abilities. For years I threw Flukes on a Shimano Crucial 6'10" Medium Heavy X-Fast with Shimano Calcutta 100A & 15# Big Game. Now it's a Powell Inferno 7' Medium Heavy X-Fast with a Lew's Team Lite & 15# Big Game. Diawia Tatula 7'1" Medium Heavy X-Fast with a Lew's Tournament MP & 15# Big Game. All 3 rods are rated 1/4-3/4 oz.

I just answered it 172' is the "designed" full pool level. That doesn't mean SRA has to keep at that level. If you look at the historical data since the lake was originally flooded 169-170'' is your lake average. For some reason people have jumped on this wagon saying the lake is suspended to be maintained at 172'. At 65 miles long, 10 mile wide, covering 185_190,000 acres good luck holding that steady. The guys above the dam want it high, the guys below the dam want it low.

Hands down easily Lew’s Tournament MP From 5.6:1 to 8.3:1 I have a MB & MP & so does my grandson, these reels are absolutely work horses.

Y'all gotta understand I don't walk around with that stuff in my back pocket. It's in the boat or in the tackle bag when bank fishing. At some point after the first cast I may spray it once or twice.

Which is why I spray it in the sack of plastics. I see a lot of anglers hold their lure up like they're spray painting. When I add more, I hold the bottle about 1/4" from the lure's head & drizzle just enough to reach the tail. To farther avoid a mess I hold the lure over the side of the boat. The Baitmate I use isn't a mist spray, it's not a hard stream, it's about in the middle. It's quite easy to get a 1/4 pump.

I put a couple if squirts in each sack of plastics.

Conservation pool elevation172.00 ft above NGVD29 Emergency spillway crest elevation173.00 ft above NGVD29 Maximum design elevation175.30 ft above NGVD29 Top of dam elevation185.00 ft above NGVD29 172' is considered "full pool", at or approaching 173' requires the flood control gates to be opened cause major flooding down river. If 172' is the "official" pool level that leaves one foot wiggle room for emergency spillway crest. Y'all ever seen the lake raise a foot? Y'all remember 2016? I do Interstate 10 at the Sabine river between Lake Charles LA & Orange Texas was impassible.

K.I.S.S. ? Zoom's Ultravibe Speed Craw Watermelon Neon. Texas Rigged, hop it, drag it, swim it. Zoom's Ultravibe Speed Worm Watermelon Neon. Texas Rigged, hop it, drag it, swim it. Zoom's Trick Worm Watermelon Neon. Texas Rigged, hop it, drag it, swim it, or Wacky Rigged. 1/8-1/4 oz bullet weights 3/0 hook of whatever persuasion Bottle of Spike-It Dip-N-Glo Plastic Worm Dye, chartreuse, garlic

My fishing buddy who recently passed away was extremely good at finding large panfish. When he got tired of chasing bass he would switch to perch jerking. Once he found them he never understood why I continued catching bass in the area as the panfish. He never understood the bass were there to feed on panfish.

Y'all are aware giving the bass to ShareLunker is completely voluntary? Not every qualifying bass is taken back to Athens. All the biologists want is a DNA sample.

@WRB & @Team9nine

I don't use leaders ?