Zach Dunham

What line do you all prefer for buzzbaits?

Prompton State Park is not bad. White Oaks Pond also.

I wouldn't continue using it like that. It functions but it isn't optimal.

I think it is much more likely the food than the DNR. How can culling fish drastically affect anything? They are still being let go.

I don't know how IL is, but I'm not really comparing the two either. There are reasonable measures you can take based on actual science, and then there are assinine and unnecessary measures, that are not based on any sense, and I feel like the WI DNR is in that range some of the time.

Man, the WI DNR seems to be a pain in the ass. Wouldn't that rule lead to people just purposely not landing the fish if it wasn't big enough? Or cutting lines if it was too small (which is probably worse for the fish than culling)?

No culling allowed? That makes this whole thing even more amazing. EDIT: I just check the rules for the Sturgeon Bay Open on their website and I see nothing that says you cannot cull. You cannot cull dead fish just like any other tournament, but I see nothing else about culling. Where did you hear that from?

The eyeball test says that fish is bigger than 4 lb 4 oz, but if it was weighed in I guess I must be crazy!

Those weights are disgusting. Friday leader averaged over 6 lbs per smallmouth.

Jason Christie was most definitely not a Joe. He has been fishing FLW Majors for years now.

I think about this a lot like I think about playing poker. Even the best poker players don't WIN that many tournaments, you just consistently cash. Pros will do consistently better than 99% of locals, but they may not win every time (In a 4 day tournament maybe they would win every time).

I'm heading to Shohola on Friday morning with a friend of mine for the first time. He was there once about 10 years ago and doesn't remember much. From the satellite view and from what he knows we can tell it is a very shallow like with a TON of grass. Anyone have an insights into this place?

When I was a marshal at Lake Oneida last year, I was with Terry Butcher, Bill Lowen, and Fletcher Shryock. They definitely adjusted their eating schedules. Terry Butcher ate nothing the entire day. He drank a few waters really fast when he needed too and just went number one off the side when he had a chance. Bill Lowen ate one cold slice of pizza toward the end of the day, just drank water, same deal. Fletcher Shryock didn't eat anything the entire day (maybe 1 granola bar?), and just drank a few waters and a mountain dew. If you drink just the right amount of water to keep you hydrated, and you don't eat much, you may not even half to go number one.

Wasn't trying to make you look bad or anything. I was genuinely interesting to see if that rule existed or not.

I quickly looked through the official rules for 2013 and I did not find anything about anchoring. I searched for the word anchor and the computer found nothing either. I thought there might at least be some mention of it. http://www.bassmaster.com/sites/default/files/imce/2013EliteRules.pdf

If that were true then Power Poles would not be allowed.

I'm looking to start using the Carolina rig more later this summer and into the fall once the fish move down. The lakes I fish up here in Pennsylvania (Lake Wallenpaupack mostly) just do not produce with a crankbait. The fish seem to always like the slower "finesse-ier" baits. Just curious as to people's most common setups (weight size, leader length, hook size, bait, line weight, etc..). Any information I can get would be awesome!

Tough one to answer here. I think my overall favorite is Fletcher Shryock. I was his marshal last year at Oneida and he was awesome to be out with for a day. I like the motocross to bass fishing transition. Bill Lowen is another favorite. I admire his consistency and versatility. Hoping he can get a win sometime soon. Lastly, KVD, of course. No one has been as consistent over their whole career. Even when he's having an "off year" like last year, he still finishes 7th in AOY.

I didn't realize that that was what the TTBC was. I still would contend that BASS and FLW should copromote an event and split cost/profit 50/50 on it.

Mod(s), feel free to move this to whatever forum if this is not the place for it. I've been thinking about just how equal the top anglers from FLW and BASS are, and I can't help but think it would be profitable for both organizations to co-promote one "Superbowl" of bass fishing event each year (maybe not with such a corny name). Off the top of my head, taking the top 25-30 anglers in points from FLW Majors and BASS Elite Series each year would make for one amazing tournament. I looked at different contact information on both websites and couldn't decide what would be best to do. Any ideas from anyone on how to get an idea like this to the right people? I'm fairly sure someone has thought of this already, but maybe they just need a vote of confidence from fans to pull it off. (or maybe I'm just thinking of the impossible, lol).

The man is a beast. The best of BASS and FLW really are close to equal, regardless of what fans of either like to think. I have an idea that I will start another thread about. I think that BASS and FLW need to work together to get a "SuperBowl" of bass fishing once per year.

Here is the Brandon Card video. http://www.bassmaster.com/video/brandon-card-working-hard

You can sign up on the Bassmaster website. You need to be a BASS member. https://ssl.palmcoastd.com/ows-img/57000/marshal.html The only ones that are still open are West Point Lake, Alabama River, and Detroit River. St. Lawrence River may still be open, I cannot tell since I'm already registered for it.

You don't work at all. I mean, if a pro tried to cheat you are supposed to say something, and I would. But these guys know that and they are being followed by spectator boats. For the most part they are good sportsman too. Chances are you will never have to do any "work". When I marshalled I got to sit there in peace and watch for 8 hours each of the three days. I had Terry Butcher, Bill Lowen, and Fletcher Shryock for my three days at Oneida. Not once did I feel like I was working.

It is usually around $100 for the Elite Series tournaments. I'm not sure about any other tournament trail having marshals. It was an amazing three-day experience last year at Lake Oneida. I would recommend doing this if you want to learn some things and meet a bunch of pros. You can learn a lot just by watching how they work. As the poster above me said, they do drive at 70+ mph, sometimes for long distances (depends which tournament you marshal). The distances were never too bad at Oneida. The speed doesn't bother me though, I find it fun. I'm pretty sure all of the marshal spots are filled for the Elite Series for this year, but you can always sign up for one and be an alternate if you are close by.