RichF

It's absolutely worth it. At $10 a spool, STOCK UP! I love the stuff. It's super strong. 17lb and up gets pretty stiff so I'll usually go with a different brand for that but 6-15lb are all great.

I'm taking a short family vacation to Rayburn in a couple weeks and plan on doing a little fishing with my dad, sister, and brother in law. I know the lake is still super high. Any pointers would be much appreciated!!

I'm also in the Dobyns Champ 736 cb glass camp.

If you don't switch hands it looks like a sidearm cast.

I've gone as a co in both the Bassmaster Opens and more recently, the BFLs. Most of my experiences were fine. I fished with Ish and John Murray at the Oneida Open back in '11. John was the nicest guy ever and Ish was cool too. All my other boaters were just regular dudes. Some were friendly, some were super serious, and some were really quiet. I've been fortunate to never have gotten paired with a real turd (not at that level anyway). I would say that the BFLs are worth it if a) you are interested in tournaments or b) you don't get to fish from a bass boat that often. Even after paying your FLW membership fee, entry fee, and fuel to your boater, it's still going to cost less than hiring a guide for a day. And there's always the chance of winning a little cash and a cool trophy too.

Was this a question for me? If so, I just moved away from finesse type fishing in general (yes, I consider soft plastic jerkbaits to be finesse). I almost never fish senko style baits either and we all know how many fish those stupid things catch. I just like other techniques/baits more.

I just put a Legend Glass in the cart and it shows the 25% off...

Thanks for sharing James! We always like seeing good footage, especially when we're all stuck inside for the winter!

Bayou Bug jigs has a great deal going on today. The code MG50 gets you 50% off all their baits. $1.75 -$2.00 for a nice jig is next to impossible to find.

Pretty sure it's on BPS website. And I'm pretty sure it costs more there too. Yup, $13.99 at BPS. Might as well buy the Jackhammer!

Haven't used a sluggo since I was like 12 but I used to catch a ton of fish on them.

Legal...some places. Unethical...eh. Lame....most certainly. Not saying I haven't done it but it's definitely not my preferred way to catch a bass. I'd rather senko fish and that's saying a lot for me!

Doesn't help when everyone is sight fishing. Nothing more entertaining than watching a pro pitch to the same spawning bass for 2 hours...

If you like ugly white rods, a couple models of Duckett Ghosts are bogo at ALF right now. Not really a Duckett fan myself but $99 for 2 rods seems like a pretty good deal.

Catch and release tournies are great but how will you implement them on a local level? It works for the BPT and MLF because they have all the names, all the money, and all the influence. You're not going to get any rando's off the street to sit in a BFL anglers boat for 8 hrs and weight their fish without paying them. I agree with @Logan S, having the 80 "best" anglers in the sport trash talk the use of livewells isn't going to go unnoticed...especially by the anti-tournament community.

Most of the time it was the tube.

I've tried drop shotting with a tube as my weight for smallies. Didn't work any better than either by themselves so I didn't find it necessary to add extra hardware.

I've heard great things about this rain gear but I don't own it, so you can take this for what it's worth (which might not be much). Because this set isn't a 3-layer fabric, my guess is it will be similar to the BPS 100mph suit and have a satin/nylon liner in the inside. I've owned a few different suits like this (they also had the goretex membrane) and I found all of them to be too warm when the temp gets above 60-65. To be fair, even the top of the line stuff (Simms Prodry) will get too warm when you hit around 70. That being said, I've yet to hear anything negative about the suit.

I have 3 setups for this since it's my favorite way to fish. 7'11 H Legend Xtreme, 50lb braid (lotta grass) 7'6 H Kistler Helium, 40lb braid (moderate grass) 7'1 H Kistler H3, 17 - 20lb Fluoro (little to no grass)

Like @Logan S said, if you know how to run your boat and are comfortable with a long day on the water, go as a boater. There's not much worse than getting stuck fishing behind someone from the back deck when you really don't have to. It will frustrate you and you'll be thinking the whole day..."why didn't I just bring my own boat?" Just make sure if you do go as a boater, everything on your boat is functional; nav lights, livewells, etc. And be sure to have all the tournament necessities; weigh bag, scale, balance beam, tags, extra prop, blah, blah. And if it makes you feel better...I've beat many 45 to 60K bass boats out of my Tracker 170, 50hp Merc, and Lowrance Elite 5?

The ABA has pretty explicit rules regarding splitting the day up between boater and nonboater, which is good. I've only had a handful of rough experiences as a non. If youre just looking for extra tournies, the ABA is a solid choice.

I've fished several ABA tournies as a co-angler in the past. I think for them to be "worth it" you have to have particular expectations going in, winning not being one of them. Because of the format (no separate co-angler division) it's quite difficult to win events because you're competing directly against your boater along with everyone else. That being said, I think they're a great stepping stone if you're just getting into competitive bass fishing due to their relatively low cost. You can get the feel of general tournament structure and learn from more experienced anglers. You can also just use them to get off the bank if you don't own your own boat since they are MUCH cheaper than a guided trip. Most of my experiences with the ABA (as a co-angler) have been neutral to pretty positive. I definitely don't have any regrets.

I grew up in the Thousand Islands region of northern NY (real close to Canada) and have caught hundreds of 4+ lb largies in the waters up there, the biggest just shy of 8. A big jig and a hollow body frog accounted for probably 80% of them.

I used it for the first time last year. Got a 600 spool on clearance (12lb). I tried it for cranking and light T-rigs. Didn't like it at all. I found it to be just the opposite of what everyone is saying. The stuff got BEAT UP around hard cover. Could've gotten a bad batch I guess but I'm over it. It's relegated to backing now.

Sunline FX2 is the best braid I've used. By far my favorite.