RichF

I've actually never been to Conesus. Definitely haven't met the Eagle Island lady either. The guy at Cross has a giant, beautiful house pushed way back from the water's edge. I think he sits inside and keeps an eye on his dock all day. Yelled at me when I approached during practice then again during the tournament. I never even saw him, haha.

I want an invite...who do I have to pay and how many Instagram likes do I need? I'm averaging 25 - 30 per post;) Is that enough?

Must be a NY thing haha. I fish docks a lot, especially on the Finger Lakes (and around that general area of NY) and have only had a couple owners yell at me (Cayuga and Cross). Most people are either nice or they just ignore you and enjoy the fact that they live on a lake! Oh, and how will my jig damage a metal or wooden dock? Weightless plastics are way worse. That 8lb line breaks a heck of a lot easier than my 20lb fluoro. If I was a dock owner, I'd be way more ticked by all the senkos attached to my property than jigs. At least I might actually use those!

This thread has gotten way too "technical." Science and technology are making anglers think way too hard about how to catch bass. I say just get better at fishing. The better you can present a bait, the more likely a fish is going to eat it.

There's no doubt they can catch big fish. Problem is, they catch too many little ones. If I'm fishing a tournament, I need 5 bigguns. I don't wanna have to weed through a bunch of dinks (and panfish bites) for that one 4 pounder. I use baits that make me weed through 3's for a 6;)

If you wanna catch bigger than average bass, get off the bank and don't throw the following things: 1. Senko 2. Ned Rig 3. wacky Rig 4. Neko Rig

I've fished enough tournaments on the St. Lawrence to know this is a horrible time to fish up there for this very reason. Sure the weights are crazy, but to me, it's not worth killing that many 4 to 6 pound smallies. Unfortunately, I think the Elites will be back there through 2021. To be clear, I don't think the population is being hurt, I just don't like seeing so many dead bass.

I've never had any terrible co's but have had some interesting/annoying encounters. So I've never asked for any $$ from my non-boaters since my little Tracker 170 isn't all that expensive to run, but it kinda irks me when they don't even offer. I had the same guy do that twice. One of the times, I even let him have the trolling motor because he didn't have a keeper. He ended up getting one bite that turned out to be lunker of the tournament. The dude didn't even thank me for letting him run MY boat! I had a REALLY old gentleman as a co in the 2014 ABA national that told me where to find his nitroglycerin just in case his ticker went bad on him...totally freaked me out. The most recent was a guy new to the scene. He blew up one of his reels and asked me if I could help him get the backlash out. He was nice enough so I obliged but I sure didn't like losing 10 -15 mins of fishing time. Oh, and if I had a co do what the OP's did, he'd be swimming back to the ramp.

I feel for you Nolan. You'll shake it off though. You obviously know what you're doing on the water and you're a natural in front of the camera. You have a bright future ahead of you. Congrats on one heck of a season!

My man using the jig and not that lame little soft stick thingy. Atta boy!

d**n dude! Awesome stuff! We're pulling for you man!

Eeek...Labor day weekend on Wellesely. It'll be crazy out there. It'll be crazy all around the Alexandria Bay area. You can launch into Lake of the Isles which is right there on the island. It's full of largemouth and pike. If you stay towards the back of it, it shouldn't be too crazy crowded. Most of the big leisure boats park at the mouth where it goes out into the main river. If you're looking for smallies, you'll have to go out to the main river. They should be running 15 to 40 ft. Look for any structure that breaks visible current. Drop shot or tube.

Yes they do. I sent an old crucial in a year and a half ago and they sent me a Zodias to replace it. I would Imagine the crucials would get replaced with the curado rods now though. A cumara would likely get replaced with a Zodias. Always best to just give them a call though.

I just broke off a 3lb smallie on the 20lb this past weekend. Lost my spybait. Not too happy. But then i caught one over 6lbs with it so who knows. It's super thin which i actually dont like. I got some 40lb to try so we'll see.

I have the 7'11 Xtreme. I use it mainly for flipping but it doubles as my A-rig rod. It feels fine for that so I imagine you wouldn't have any issues with smaller hudds. I'd be nervous throwing a big swimbait like an 8in hudd though. I'm with @Finnz922. I like reels in the 7 to 8oz range on this rod.

I used to fish a bunch of Quantums. I was really into the old flashy Energy and Tour PTs because they just looked cool. I had a few of the next gen Energies after those and then the gen 1 Smoke. I also had a bunch of older rods: Tours, Superlites, and gen 1 smokes. I had a few issues with the reels but nothing too major. Overall, the stuff I had was fine. None of it blew me away so I jumped on the Daiwa and Shimano train and got rid of the Quantum stuff. None of their new offerings have really intrigued me though. I feel like their stuff is pretty boring. If they bring back the old Energy color scheme and put it into a nice compact, modern design, I might be lured back.

Well...since the five guys mention are the only ones that ever win FLW Tour events, I'd say any one of them has a pretty good shot.

Never been much of a toad guy. I have a bunch of Rage toads but hardly ever use them. The price of these new Tip Toads is right for me to try them though.

It's a totally legit site. They are affiliated with the TJ Maxx/HomeGoods/Marshalls brand.

Sierra Trading Post is a 100% legit site. I buy tons of stuff from them. The only issue with them is they'll send you rods on rectangular cardboard boxes. I was lucky enough to get all of mine in tact but I've heard of others breaking during shipment. Pretty sure they'll take care of you if that happens though.

I fish frogs A LOT. Ive tried a bunch. I like Spro Bronzeyes as my all around favorite. The Srop popping frogs walk incredibly well, better than the regular. Live Targets and Pad Crashers walk fine. Terminators are really good too but I'd have to agree with the guys that mentioned Ishs Phat Frog. It's got some good qualities and has a really easy, wide walk, more like a spook. Problem with those is how thin they are. Very little hook gap and have the worst hookup ratio for me (i miss next to none on the others).

I got the 3000D CXH on a 7'0 ML Kistler Helium 3. It's an incredible reel. Every bit as good as my Stradic CI4. The model I have has a super deep spool and holds a ton of line. I'm using it for drop shotting so I wanted 20lb braid to a fluoro leader. Because it hold so much line, I filled the spool with a bunch of cheap mono backing. It's been flawless. Wait till Ebay offers another coupon. You should be able to get one for around $125 to $140.

Yeah I really think this happens more than most people think. I'm pretty sure worse things happen also. I listened to an Ike Live show where he was "joking" around with Chris and Trait Zaldain about another Elite guy buying waypoints. There's just no doubt in my mind that the pros engage in this kind of stuff. I always find it hard to believe that a field of 100+ anglers can be put on a body of water with thousands of miles of fishable water (Sabine, Winyah Bay) and just about all of them "find" the same spots. I do kinda feel bad criticizing because I love the sport so much but this stuff really bothers me.

Very cool guys. That's a huge accomplishment! Congrats!

5 rods is good. 2 bags should be ok if theyre small. Some boaters will clear out a rear deck compartment which is always nice. Be polite, ask questions, and dont step on the seats to get on the back deck! Good luck!!