gulfcaptain

Caught a bass I lost when I was 16. It hit a roostertail and broke me off on some standing timber. Couple days later hooked a bass on the same color roostertail and when i landed it, my other rootertail was in the other side of it's mouth. When I lost the fish I thought it was much bigger. To my suprise it was only 2lbs, but I swear it when it broke me off it was atleast 5+.

Watched a 250+ pound black sea bass inhale a passengers 10lb class yellowtail about 10ft below the water at San Clemente Island. That was cool.

Thank you Tom, that pretty much answered the question he was asking.

I think it would be an interesting tournament for sure and see who can overcome not having their array of electronics. Just old school fishing. That would level the playing field for sure.

this is about right. Always looking online for other places to purchase, but 99% has come from TW. Free overnight shipping and great selection as well as customer service. May go to BPS if I need a new reel (do like their carbonlites) or other odd ball piece of tackle.

BPS Crankin Sticks are pretty good and you can get a few baits if you want to hit that $120 mark Think they are about $80 and have the action for crankbait fishing.

So from that posted article, I see a lot of "wining". We could have won but we didn't use it and it's not fair. But if they take a vote and most vote no then it's no for their tournament via their rules. I think they should ban all electronics except a trolling motor and an old school flasher. Lets see who the best fisherman are then without being able to "video game" fish.

You have to remember that it is wire. The flash mob jr will break due to wire fatigue. The SK titanium arms are flexible and should last longer but are a bit bulkier. From personal experience, the Yellow Hammer seems to be quite durable and produces.

Um, no trolling motor on the front. And where is the 9" touch screen display?

It's worth as much as you can get someone to pay for it or you are willing to pay for it.

I'm going to have to agree and side with J Francho. Those who understand how to use them catch fish with them. I have caught a lot of fish with them. It's a tool for a certain job. Have I had one hook foul a fish? Yep, That fish had all 3 hooks in it.....2 of the baits were in it's mouth and one on the side. Did it try to eat the whole rig, I think so. But it wasn't snagged and was hooked no worse then what I've seen with crankbait or jerkbait fish. This post started out with the discussion of more tournaments banning the use of it. Like I said before, their tournament, their rules. Stop bashing the umbrella rig because it works for those who know when and how to fish it. They put time and effort into using it and understand when to pull it out and get the job done. If it's allowed in a Tournament and you choose not to fish it and get spanked by the guy who has mastered it. You lost and he won. He pulled more weight in within that tournaments rules regarding what can be used and what can't.

Straight braid or a small topshot of FC.

Hey Ken always said make sure you have the right rod for the job, well now there's no excuse. Does look like a nice rod though. Be nice to get a set of hands on one and see how it feels.

What's a hoard of money? THIS is subjective to what each of us consider hoards........if you work and have a bit of extra money aside to pay for your fishing equipment your dedicated and passionate...... if you work and spend all your check to pay for your fishing equipment....your either living at home with mommy or have a problem.....If you spend hoards....paycheck and run up and max out a credit card.....then that above piece of advice is great......because you are a dumb*** and need someone to pull your head out of your well you know. As for me, I like to think of myself as passionate. A small percentage of what I spend on fishing equipment is offset by the amount I no longer spend at the bar. Suprised on what $40 of tackle can buy and how few drinks or how long that lasts when you go drinking.

Thank you Raul. And for those that don't know, yes it is illeagel in certain states where you can only fish one baited hook, thus fish 4 dummy baits and one single hooked bait. Not really the bait you want to throw then since they have 4 other options so that's why Booya came up with their bait idea with small grubs and blades so you can attach a bait behind.

You have a map that shows area where they are generally located. That is where I would fan cast and work. You have a fishing rod and a crankbait will do wonders as well as a jig to let you know what's down there. If I could get a map like that of the ponds I fish in S. Cal I would probably be able to zero in on the fish A LOT quicker since I know the depth contours of where they should be at certain times and fish those higher percentage areas more thoroughly and eliminate less productive waters.

No, 1 treble is 1 hook. CA only allowed 3 hooks max so hard baits can only have 3 trebles but it is a sing So A-Rig would be 5 hooks thus 2 dummy baits and 3 hooked baits. And if they "ruled" to ban the use of this bait then it is a RULE. Live bait catches bass too, but there's a RULE that says "No Live Bait". Sorry your arguement kinda collapes on itself with the point it catches bass, so does a cast net when they are on beds, but I don't think they are going to let me do that either.

Never stop learning. Pay attention and learn from evey fishing trip (yes even if you don't catch anything) and learn from others. This sport is always evolving and when you decide to just get comfortable with "what you prefer to fish" you're going to find yourself on the outside looking in when things get tough and you have no clue on how to adapt to the conditions and change.

If you're worried about gut hook fish, try the YM wacky hook or one of the circle hook styles.

Looking at your map, you have structure, you just don't have cover. Look at the depth contours and fish the pockets that make points underwater. Since I have never fished there, with your limited info, I'd drag and swim a biffe head or some kind of football swinghead jig with a biffle bug in either a green pumpkin or bama craw to start, also fish a fat Ika, and possibly a dropshot or weightless senko. But def would start with the biffle bug and swing jig head and drag and swim that thing around those underwater points and deeper pockets.

So can they still use the Booya Rigs? It's up to the organizations that are putting on the even. If they decide to ban it, so be it. That's their event and they make the rules. If you don't like it don't fish them. There are a lot of other rules you should look into....NO cell phones during tournement times except for emergencies. Non boaters have quit a list, no hand held gps, no recording spots, no passing information of previous day with a different pro, just to think of right off the top of my head. Oh, did you know they do back ground checks too. It's just another rule if you choose to fish for money you have to follow.

Bass do it, I've seen yellowtail offshore that have buried themselves in a kelp paddy lay there. They can't see you and feel like they are hidden and waiting for the danger to pass. Pull them all the way to the boat or be it bass fishing from shore with a face full of weeds and pick them up without a kick or headshake....of course when they figure out they aren't safe anymore, that extra energy they saved explodes and as your's did, managed to free themselves without letting you get a picture.

Tom's torpedo sinker is used a lot in CA. There are guys that have used small milk creates with weights tied on the top so the milk create sinks upside down and returns the fish to depth where they can swim away since there's an open bottom. This is mainly used when fishing in the ocean especially when fishing deeper water calico's and sandbass you want to release (100+ ft)

Guttersville.....where is the frog and the punch rod.....? I normally carry 5-7 rods any time I go fishing just incase so here's my list. Flip/punch rod (3/4 tungsten flip weight or punch jig with a 4" DB Craw) Frog Buzzbait Bladebait/swimjig Swimbait (3 to 4oz swimbaits) Dropshot Umbrella Rig Biffle Bug/ SK Structure swing jig Of course this list will change as the weather changes but those are almost always tied on. But do swap out and fish squarebills, spinnerbaits, deep cranks, senko's/Ika's, and jerkbaits. Hmmmm, now I know why I have more then 7 rods at home and always looking for more.

Seriously though, nice fish on the bass rod for sure.