gulfcaptain

This right here 👏 This right here 👏

Jerkbait, chatterbox, frog, a-rig, none played a role in my fishing tournaments much this year. Few fish on them but not as much as past years, but it happens. Goes through changes all the time. Part of adapting to conditions.

They are ALL pros. And understandable, l didn't want to come across wrong as well. Just saying those kids need our support. They made it on their own decision making which put them at the top of the field. And with that theory above, wouldn't the veteran who knows so much more be just as good with ffs? I mean he has all that information, experience, wisdom. Why isn't he catching them with his ffs which he has on his boat? Level field no, some kids are hammers. They strive to be the best and put long hrs in on the water to be that proficient. It's not ffs, it's the guy fishing. It's always the guy fishing who makes the right choices. Everything else is a tool.

Does it matter? He qualified. Remember when a young kid named Jacob Wheeler won the Forest Wood Cup....stop judging these young anglers by their age and respect the accomplishment they made. There are dinosaurs in the Elite series that would NEVER be able to requalify through the opens. They are there they might make a top 40 cut but aren't as good as a lot of young anglers. Those kids still have to go out and fish as hard as a Hackney or a Christie who both went back and requalified through the open format. Congratulate these young ambassadors to our sport and stop hating on them. They still have to catch them and if they can be a tech wiz, learn ALL the information they need to find and put it together over a 3 day tournament against some of the best, they shouldn't be discounted against because of their age. Guess what they are better then then some of us, fish harder then most of us, and are driven more then most of us. That kid at 18 worked his butt off through the opens, respect that and don't discount it.

But if you look most have 1 or 2 units. HP is for safety reasons, and limitations due to waters or other safety factors. There is a huge limiting factor on ffs, the fish. I can have them all around the boat, but I still have to catch them. If I choose to fish that way and they don't bite, it's kinda like guys bed fishing and risking it in hopes that a fish will still be there and if so will bite. Only thing it has helped is those guys be more efficient at that level then they already were. Those who are complaining about it won't ever reach that level not because of ffs, but because they can't. It's incredibly hard to be that consistent all the time and those that do don't do it because of ONE piece of technology.

You pointed out specific uses. And those are guys NOT fishing for bass and in tournaments throughout the country. See what you miss is they are doing work to find those fish and then catch them. How did they find them? Did they just put the trolling motor down and the fish are on the screen? No. They did their homework, they located multiple places and patterns. I'm sticking up for the young generation of bass fisherman. Those that in the bass community want *next to their name because they happened to use ffs as part of their strategy to catch fish(which is what you are trying to do). It excels in the cooler months and in deep water applications, but not beating the bank, fishing heavy grass, cover, etc. To say someone who makes it to the "elite" level of bass fishing can't fish without ffs us what's disrespectful. Especially when those kids are in their early 20s. It shows how much drive and passion those kiss have. They absorb every bit of information they can. They didn't get that good just because of ffs. They already were "that good" but then taking the time to learn ffs made them that much better. Hate on the guys that figured out how to ice fish with it? Why....hate on the guys that understand how to put it to use walleye fishing? Why? They probably have success at times but not everytime. I can tell you I use mine a lot in the early spring, but once they are up on the bank and shallow it's a tool I use to locate edges in the grass or a piece of cover I don't wanna run over the top of. The jealousy has to stop, the putting down of someone who is successful in fishing because of what he's doing or using. I never complained when most I fished with had spotlock trolling motors and could fish a worm slower and more effectively then me because I had to keep myself in place. Should we have banned those trolling motors because it let someone sit on a point in the wind that wouldn't be able to catch a fish if they had to fight their trolling motor and the wind? Ban chartplotters because now you can see all the breaks on lakes and find ledges where you used to have to go out and find them. Should we discount those guys that use both of those from the ones that didn't? Only difference now is everyone can voice their opinions good or bad on social media. So if you don't like ffs and against all of the tech, take off the graphs, take off the shallow water anchors, take off the spotlock trolling motor, get yourself a 12v 45lb cable pedal, a flasher and go fishing. I will respect your outrage on modern technology. And also get rid of those DC reels all that auto breaking that let's you cast without backlashing because it discounts those that learned how before all that. See all that sounds stupid doesn't it. Kinda like the argument about ffs.

Thank you.

Have you fished ffs? I do and I can tell you it has a place and a time. I don't want to sound disrespectful but you're way off. Those young anglers who excel at electronics fished way before they had them. Walked banks of parks, fished behind other people and excelled in their passion. I've seen people have ffs that couldn't catch a fish with it if it were wide open. I will stand up for those that are young and beating the pants off the older generation not only with electronics but by doing the hard work. One thing I have to say is" a winner will always congratulate a winner when he's been beat, but a looser will always complain about why he lost and blame someone else or something else for their short comings". So over most discounting the hard work of young anglers to get to that level and putting them down. It's disrespectful. And I can understand why those that use it get heated. Glenn I apologize if I get taken wrong, just standing up for that young generation of talent that so many put down or discount them.

Well MLF tried that. And it's a tournament, you pay fees. It's like gambling professionally, you pay to play. Now there are times in fishing when you don't pay as you qualify for the championship at which you don't pay because you qualified.

So in your example,Jeffery will not do very well if he depends on ffs all the time and doesn't learn the other fundamentals. Those who excel do both. They fished hard, soak up information like a sponge, learning constantly, trying new things, always wanting to be better. Utilizing all the tools they can. They are driven, hungry, and passionate. Now the other side, stuck in there ways,remember what it was like before, not learning, more time complaining about the younger generation not having to do what they did to learn( yet information is now accessible to all via here, the internet. Utube) and provided by some of them and then used to excel past them. So this debate isn't about what the real cause is. See those who are excelling in the sport at the highest level that are young should be celebrated, not belittled because they have put in all the time to be better, to learn fundamentals, seasonal transitions, electronics, ffs,techniques. They did so by gaining access to all the information we give them to learn from and those who have that ODC when it comes to bass fishing. Live, eat,breath it......they are the next great KVD, Jacob Wheeler, Jordan Lee. Think about that next time those fisherman, keyboard warriors, utube celebrities, that hate on these younger guys the work they put in to be that good. Should make you think about that and stop this stupid debate and resent for the guys that do the same thing we do they fish. From the fees. Basic payout top 3-10 spots only. Payout depends on number of boats so the payouts fluctuate on persons entered.

Sorry I was busy launching my UAV from the bow of my boat and monitoring it from my console control station......what are we discussing?

Randy might have a chance again to be relevant and make a top 50.

Netbait paca chunk 2" or small paca craw. 3" Ned worm.

So probably 180+ days. Then again I fish for a living so every day working is a day fishing. Then when I'm off I'm still fishing.

So my swimbait reels are between 21-26" IPT. Something in the 5.5 to 6.1. I don't like fast reels for swimbaits, you need to go slow and if you try going slow on a reel that picks up 32"IPT or more well, you're gonna hate life trying to crawl a swimbait back. As far as reel, 300size is best. So I use braid to leader(40-50lb braid) to 20lb mono PLine 20lb green on 6" swimbaits and glides 25lb on 8" baits and over. Glides I will fish fc, but not on the bigger soft baits. Here is a tip for you, I paint my black nickel hooks flat black as big fish looking at a soft bait like a hudd or something crawling can be very selective and weary. That shine on the hook can tip those big girls off

Use PLine CXX, Izorline, being leaders as bass ackwards as this sounds I've had good luck with that cheaper mono from Wal-Mart. Left all my leader line at home one trip to havasu and had to stop and buy line on a budget. Of course I only use it in 15 and 20lb, and like you my 12lb I believe is PLine. Anything else is all fc. I have had my knot fail using an rp knot (alberto) when using heavier baits such as arigs and glides. So now when using those I put a small amount of superglue on the knot and I do mean a small amount.

I feel ya, just had 2 arrive myself this week (10" and 12") to complete my entire garmin network.

So DD26 makes a "livefoot" that adds onto your trolling motor, believe it weighs 10oz. 12v with a remote or foot control. Your uhd will work and network with one another. Now if you're looking to do this go with a uhd ultra 10" unit it has to data inputs (one for livescope one for networking).. I've in the last 2 years swapped all my electronics to Garmin for multiple reasons and have them all networked. I like being able to make a target on panoptix and have it on my chart. Also you get the upgraded navonic card from garmin you can adjust lake levels as well. I like real time data so I know what I'm looking at and use more to scope the bottom and structure then fish. I've done away with a bow transducer and have only my panoptix for all my needs up front . I would love to have have a 369 as well but then can't network and the live foot is about the same price as the 360 transducer. For you running down the bank real time picture would probably be best. It is for me. I point, I see what I'm looking at and I go.

So I changed how I stored jigs a few years ago. Being we are creatures of habit and let's face it we ALL have our color preferences. So I buy the style jig heads and weight bare, and purchase the skirts. Easier to store 15 -30 bare jig heads and 10packs of skirts then try and house 4-5 of each color jig and weight.

So I keep most casts 70ft or less i if i try bombing a bait my accuracyis off. Only time I make long casts involve a 10ft jigstick, 30-40lb line and a surface iron fishing yellowtail at which I can hit the 60yd range (240ft) which is a long cast. Have yet to see anyone ever throw a 1/2oz jig (or almost any bait under an ounce) half the distance of a football field, even if it is a football jig.

We should all fish blindfolded so nobody can see anything......lmao j/k but it would bring the mystery of fishing back.

The sk rage swimmers, BPS version as well as keitech are all close. The 3.3 and 3.8 are probably the most used and 3.8 on a chatterbox although there are better options. If you do, rig it upside down. The 2.8 is great on a underspin like a cool baits version. The 3.3 ans 3.8 can be fished on a weedless keel weight or a flashy swimmer. I've been using Sudden Impact Torpedo shads in the 3 and 4 inch size as well. If you haven't checked them out look them up, great colors as well and mimic shad nicely.

So I have Garmins updated chart software. It unlocks features such as adjusting lake levels, color shading I believe and a bit more lakes then come preloaded which is a navionics chart. 1 chip does the whole network.

2k....... bet a lot of us spend more then that on stupid things and complain because it's "too expensive " let's see, bass boat 21-100k+ oh spot locking trolling motor 2700-5k. Sorry mute point. I know guys that complain about prices but buy $250 swimbaits. This issue of ffs is stupid. I've let my fishing buddy's try and use my boat and run it with me and they gave up. Too much focus. Trying to be accurate, run the trolling motor, look and understand what they are looking at, then try and make a presentation. Nope they gave up. But not because it's too expensive. It's not 6k or more. You don't need 16" screens that cost 5k.

Depending on how far you wanna drive, Santa fe dam, puddingstone, piru, pyramid, skinner, Perris, have San Diego lakes, sliverwood. Now Park fishing, most have bass in them and some dd fish throughout LA and Orange County .