Koofy Smacker

I felt the same way about sunglasses until I actually splurged and bought a pair over 100 dollars, and now Ill never look back. I am currently wearing a pair of Native Silencers which can be had online for right around 100 bucks (I bought the extra lenses when I got them a few years ago so I think I paid something like $140 for the whole package), but they are snug, soft, and clear as day. Plus I dropped them off my hat one day onto pavement, scratched the lenses reallllly bad, sent them back to Native and for $30 bucks had a brand new pair, frame and all. Ive been looking into a pair of Numas though because of how durable they are (you cant rip the frames apart) and their price is right around $100 as well. Only thing is that I cant find them in a store to try them on. I'll probably resort to trying on Scott Martins when I go down to fish with him next month

Im curious not as to what state this tournament is in as you said it is not in Illinois. Depending on region, March should be a prespawn bite but with the weather the entire country has been seeing you can never tell anymore. Im not trying to stir up a hornets nest on this and I know Im new on this forum but if its a big bass tournament and youve never thrown an A-rig before, it can get frustrating and tire you out in a hurry. Over a month out dock talk means nothing. Also how can the A-rig be a seasonal pattern on that lake in the spring if the bait has really only been a player not for less than a year. Prefish prefish prefish. The small males may have moved up by that time and that tells you the big girls are in the close deep water waiting for water temps to warm up, or nothing could have moved up, or they all could be shallow. You never know. Ive had temps range from 9 degrees one morning to 70 degrees the next morning here in PA so save the frustration. Not trying to put anyone down on here, just trying to help. Sticking to a game plan before even touching the lake will only do one thing, waste your time on tournament day and frustrate the heck out of you.

im kind of curious as to how you KNOW it will play a key factor in a tournament. Water in illinois right now should be pretty dang cold. Chesapeake down here is upper 30's. I wouldnt go into it set on throwing something youve never tossed before. I can guarantee that wont end successfully. If youve found fish prefishing, stick to your game plan and fish how you fish. Adapting because youve heard of an a rig bite wont do anything but probably frustrate you. If your fishing down that deep why dont you throw some deep divers that youve probably thrown before and have some confidence in

Supreme XTs and the Patriarch are nothing in common. Full magnesium body with a solid titanium main shaft through it. The lower end Pflueger gear uses straight up pot metal on thei gears which is probably why you tore the guts out of them (I still have 5 yr old presidents that are running strong so Im not sure what you did to them) but the Patriarch is built with durability and weight in mind. The Ci4 had wayyyy too much flex for me. Pick one up and flex the body towards the reel stem. Youll see what im talking about really fast

I thought long and hard about buying that reel and ended up going with a patriarch 30x on a 6'10" Legend Xtreme. Weighs over an ounce less than the Stradic, a lot less frame flex and is simpler in design to work on yourself. Just my .02

nerves are gonna be on edge for those two guys tomorrow!

No lead is safe, but the kid is definitely doing something right to bring in a sack pushing 30 lbs with the majority still down in the low teens and even big names are a lot, lot lower on the board. If he can stay consistent hes got it, but as we all know thats easier said than done

I ran into something similar. Fishing a tournament on a big tidal waterway. We left early to get back to weigh in and were stopped by the coast guard for them to do a check on the entire boat. Took about 15-20 minutes for them to go through everything from life jackets to licenses to fire extinguishers. Had we not left early we would have been penalized, and theres nothing you can do because its something that you cannot control. I was also at an FLW tourny this past year on Champlain. I forget the angler but they had made the cut and on Saturday the sponsor boat lost all power to the jackplate, leaving the motor useless (not sure what the deal was there). It wasnt even his boat, and he had to get towed in by another marshal boat, but he was disqualified. End of story, anything can happen, and although its the right thing to do in your situation to stop, they were right in penalizing you. When they start making excuses is when guys will call in and say they had to help someone just so they can fish an extra few minutes.

I will definitely be seeing you down there for a few of them

Water temps are still in te 40's I believe. With the constant changing weather a pattern will be near impossible to get on consistently. Still could probably find a few on docks though if you slow down. They are always there on that waterway, just have to find what they want. My boats still winterized and I won't take it out till I know the weathers warming for good so I won't give it a shot for a month atleast.

are all of these being put on by a certain club? I know a bunch of the opens down there this past year were the Kilby Opens. Still havent found out who runs them

those cranks are still being sold in pretty much all the big stores, bps, cabelas, etc.