RichF

I thought it was hilarious how almost all the guys that caught a smallmouth commented about the fish eating crawfish but never tried to fish a crawfish imitating bait. Whatever happened to "match the hatch!!?" I think Rose did throw a tube for a second, but man oh man...There's no way I could chunk a spinnerbait or jerkbait for that long without bites and not try something completely different. It was very cool to see Poche ditch the smallmouth and make the comeback with green ones.

It's actually not as stout as I thought it was going to be. I've never thrown a chatterbait under 3/8 oz but I just got a couple 1/4's in my last TW order. I'll chuck them a little and let you know how they feel.

It's not that the bass outsmart us. Sometimes they just don't wanna bite.

I have a 7'0 H glass Powell max I used bladed jigs on for the past few years and loved it. I just bought the 736 glass as a replacement. It'll get its first usage this coming weekend. Can't wait.

Haha. Very true. The fancy gear isn't always fool proof. But rest assured, the next innovation will come in the form of a special infrared camera attached to the new 16 inch HDS sonar that spots him and sends a signal to the new "Hydro-Grave" unit, which then emits an ultra high frequency, varmint-vaporizing, sonic boom!

If I had a place to keep my boat down here in Arlington, I'd be out following you around the river tomorrow lol.

I'll admit, the tech is pretty nifty but c'mon guys...it's down right cheating! And I thought side imaging was bad. Boat control used to be a major skill separating mediocre angler from good ones. Not anymore. Thanks technology.

I feel ya. I planned on heading back home to Northern NY next weekend to fish with my dad but the weather is looking crappier and crappier. 40 and rain really sucks...but I gotta get out!

Andy is the best period. Most other pros can do it but not as well. I'm getting pretty good at it but still got a long way till I'm that caliber.

Very cool to see so many high profile anglers doing stuff like this. Keep up the awesome work guys!

The smallmouth I catch out from the St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario will bloat if caught from 20 feet deep. Not to the point where their stomachs are pushed out through their mouths, but their bladders definitely inflate. This causes them to float sideways or belly up in the well which is no bueno. I've only had maybe 2 smallies die on me in the well, one because she was hooked deep and bleeding, the other because I tried to fizz it (which I refuse to ever do again). The best way I've found to keep them alive is to keep the dang pumps on, ALL DAY! The fish need lots of oxygen, especially in the warmer months. It amazes me how many guys I've seen fill their wells with water, put fish in, then shut them off to "conserve" their battery! Guess what? They end up with dead fish at the end of the day. Insane. Another thing I like to do is use fin clips on those fish that are having a hard time staying upright. I think it was already discussed on a different post and a lot of folks think they're a gimmick. I like them and have seen them do good things so...

Pretty awesome to have all those cool Florida ponds so close. Great numbers and sweet 7-plus! I'll be heading back home to NY to fish with my Dad in 2 weeks (first time in 2017). Not gonna get my hopes up but the bar has been set pretty high in the last 6 or 7 seasons fishing in Early April. Planning on one day for brown ones and one day for greenies. It will be "disappointing" if we don't catch 35 - 60 smallmouth and 20 - 30 largemouth. Can't wait!

That Top Knot comes out to about $6 a 200 yd spool on TW right now (2 fer 1 deal). Lasts till the 31st.

This is the absolute truth! I've used a bunch of different brands of fluoro because I basically only buy whatever is on sale lol. For jigs I use 15 -20lb (mostly 17lb). Brands I've used: Trilene 100%, Trilene Vanish and Vanish Transition, Seaguar Abrazx and Red Label, Sunline Sniper and Super, Cabelas No Vis, Gamma Edge, Trik Fish, and Lews APT (probably some others I've forgotten). Only a couple of those have been junk. I think the strongest out of all of them is the Trilene 100%. It's not the most manageable or the smallest diameter but it's incredibly strong. The Sniper is really good as well. Invisx might have a little more stretch than a lot of the others. @A-Jay has it right. Everyone has their own preferred brand that they will tell you is "the best" but all of the mid to upper tier fluoros are pretty good.

I just ordered a bunch since it's BOGO on Tacklewarehouse till the end of the month. I'll actually be able to use it in a couple weeks and will share my findings after.

Nonsense!

17lb Fluoro for me and a heavy glass rod. Love that combination.

I did the back up thing last year, getting 2 Halo Twillight rods and 4 SC Rage rods because they were highly discounted. Now I just have a lot more stuff collecting dust lol. I like where your head's at.

I use jigs more than any other bait. There are definitely different style jigs specifically designed for different types of cover but I pretty much ignore all that. I'm a big fan of keeping it as simple as possible so I use the same style jig for pretty much all cover: wood, grass, rock. One of my favorites is the All Terrain Tackle jig in 1/2 oz and 3/4 oz. It has a super basic head with a recessed line tie, which I really like. I fish these jigs on medium-heavy and heavy baitcasting rods with 17-20lb fluoro and 40-65lb braid (depending on cover). Most guys will think that's overkill, but it's what I'm comfortable with. Since you're just starting out with jigs, I'd suggest 3/8 - 1/2 oz on your 7 med-heavy baitcasting. I don't like line less than 15lb test for jigs so I'd suggest around that or heavier. If you plan to fish around a lot of grass, I recommend braid. If you want to throw jigs on your spinning outfit, go with a finesse jig. They should have a lighter wire hook which will make penetrating the fishes' mouth easier with lighter tackle.

First off, very cool to see Jordan win, especially after such a dominant season last year. I like seeing fresh faces holding that trophy. Secondly, after reading a few comments on the Bassmaster article regarding the classic results, it was pointed out that B.A.S.S pretty much failed to cover the runner-up Steve Kennedy. That would've been something if he had won the derby, right? The guy that wins the most overly hyped tournament ever has no footage of him on the water actually winning it. The person that made the comment sited the fact that Kennedy has almost no sponsorship as the main reason, which obviously is just speculation, but makes a lot of sense. Not cool, if that was indeed the case. Overall, it was a good tournament. It was cool to see fish caught so many different ways. In the end though, it was just another Classic. I'm still wondering why Jerry Mckinnis wrote that article telling everyone they needed to be at the Classic because "it might be the second most important happening ever in the bass fishing world." Did I miss something? I watched most of the live footage and aside from the excessive advertisements and the Zona/Sanders/Hite booth-commentary, it just seemed like another Elite event. Was it that the weigh-in was held at Minute Maid park? What did I miss Jerry!!!??

Darn it B.A.S.S, way to hype this thing so much only to have your site fail before the last few anglers weigh.

Very good info. I saw the line capacity of the SS SV and thought it seemed to hole more line than a typical finesse baitcaster so I was hoping it wasn't (since that's not my jam). Tough decision. The SV 103 is definitely more of what I'm looking for but the SS just looks so cool haha. I do like that fact that the SV 103 has the old Zillion frame. Super comfortable reel. Decisions, decisions.

That makes sense. Thanks.

Sorry, meant the SS SV 103, JDM one.

Gotchya. That's what I got from the description. You have any idea what the exact drag pressure is on that sucker?