Choporoz

I've been told a number of times that I need to pull a crankbait parallel just outside the weedline. I have a bunch of excuses as to why it hasn't worked for me, not least of which is my inability to position (and hold) my boat or kayak correctly. I do a little better with a spinnerbait. Sometimes a paddletail swimbait can do the trick.

I haven't tried the Long, but I probably will next time I get a Boomerang. I always try to cut fluoro and mono out towards the end, and braid down inside...I just felt that the fluoro dulls blades faster... as if two separate cutters. That would be an easier distinction/manipulation with longer blades

Congrats. Hope you gave that girl a sammich before tossing her back.

I am always surprised that open hook ned rigs just don't grab every little piece of wood within casting distance. I guess the light weights help. Won't keep you from setting the hook on stumps sometimes, but they can be fished around wood better than I expected

I don't have FFS, but I am always enthralled when I hear Drew Gill talk about how he uses it with Jighead minnows. He doesn't rule out the presentation until same fish pass on a variety of sizes and weights. So even if just two weights and three sizes, you should attempt six different offerings before bailing, if you subscribe to that process. (Not to mention colors...but I have pretty much given up caring about colors 90% of the time) Early summer is just weird, and bite windows can be tough to figure out with any presentation off the bottom

Interesting discussion about chemicals introduced into our food chain. I only ever considered fish health. Maybe best to just have no tournament fish in livewells if surface temps over 79 at time of first launch

Interesting. I don't know that I have ever considered hook flex. Certainly, a thinner wire should have 'flexier' characteristics than thicker hooks, but I am not sure where that negatively affects me. Maybe a point hitting roof of a bass' mouth could flex instead of piercing, ...idk... When I speak of light wire hooks, I am almost always referring to Owner Twistlock Light. I have never straightened one on a fish, and if they flex in negative way, I'm not aware yet. Something for me to consider, I guess

Light wire penetrates farther with less force

The single biggest thing I changed when using t-rig from a kayak was going almost exclusively with light wire hooks, specifically, Owner Twistlock Light

Only if dragging uphill and I want to maintain bottom contact. I have little confidence in my ability to maintain consistent depth off the bottom, so I feel better when I bounce hop or very slow drag. The swing head seems to get hit on the fall more than jig and t-rig for me, also. But that may just be because I use heavier weights, generally.

I have Columbia PFG and HUK, and like both. The HUK breath a little better and don't feel quite as hot as Columbia.

Finally settling into summer patterns. Plenty 3+ yesterday and today, all on chatterbaits and Magnum Rage Bug on swing head. Best two went 5.2 and 5.9

I can count on one hand the number of times in my 60+ years of life, that the thing I was reassembling was perfect the first time.... more often, it was worse than when I decided to take it apart and fix it. Lol

"Margie Healy, director of public relations for the California-based Korbel. "We sold 272,869 cases of Korbel Brandy in 2019 and 148,041 of those cases were sold in Wisconsin." Lol

Are knobs pretty much interchangeable? Standard? I need new knobs for a Quantum PT KVD Smoke S3. The knob vendors mentioned above (and others) don't mention Quantum..... my handle is fine...just need knobs and I'm not particularly particular

Not so much a scandal as a constant swirl of social media-induced negative noise. This time it is mostly about unenforceable info rules, which plagues most tours other than WonBass. Almost feels silly typing it out..... so rookie phenom, Trey McKinney, who has already been at the heart of a couple noisy episodes finds himself in it again. His mentor, who he talks about a lot, is allegedly fishing a derby on next Elite venue. I have no idea if there's more to it than that... probably just an unfortunate coincidence, but to some, a bad look for a kid that isn't exactly universally liked or respected yet

...and that's a bit of a shame. I didn't watch any live coverage, but my social media feeds were continually bombed with really impressive fish last weekend Funny....my op first paragraph talked about Chowan under the radar and great catches.....neither of which has merited any sort of comment since

Depends...time of year, water body type (slow river? grass lake? rock lake? fast river with riffles? tidal?...)...docks? Etc. Of all the variables, kayak (vs boat) is low on my list of considerations ....except that limiting myself to 8 rods may mean slight compromises to double duty - maybe instead of a spinnerbait rod, and my chatterbait rod, I'll take one MHF that does both well, if not as well as my favorites.

I don't know....I'd bet B.A.S.S. would just as soon be rid of that 'trait'

Right? I had to scroll up and see if Ms Crickety wrote that

1. Apply sunscreen 2. Grab boat key, cigars and coffee/water 3. Walk down to boat I still manage to forget something in 1 or 2 occasionally

I understand your points. And agree with them for the most part. But I don't have any sense that I know how the conversation with the TD went. Did Birge tell them he was going to jump in the water to remove the plug? Or did he let them assume that he was just using a remote plug? Was it the TD who was authorized to make a judgment call, or a staffer answering phones and reading back from rulebook? But, I guess my feeling is that Birge shouldn't have made the call in the first place, IMO. I felt similarly about a guy I saw who jumped out of his boat on to a dock to land a fish...he knew it was wrong and acknowledged a forthcoming penalty, but did it anyway....the rules are merely suggestions, and the organization is to be challenged. If you don't honor the organization, or your competitors, at least honor the sport

I think we've reached 'Truth'. Except the small boat is the part that is far-fetched. 400s are out there. And maybe not too many 50" screens, but plenty of guys operating with more total sq in.

I think it's partly an age or stage of life thing for me. When I was 22 with limited income and few responsibilities that I took seriously, I was perfectly fine with inconvenience of getting a jump, being late for whatever, or even being stranded for a time. Later, I mitigated some of that risk with jumper cables and AAA. Now, I am willing to buy a battery a year or two early to virtually eliminate the risk of getting stuck somewhere for even 20 minutes because of a dead battery

Incredible fish pulled from a place most have never heard about. Chowan River was big star of the weekend. Zack Birge starring in this week's controversy. I got a social media feed video this weekend of him laying down to get under a bridge....and thought it a little nuts, and likely boundary pushing.... but his video started after the part where he got out of his boat to pull his plug. I don't care how much you lawyer me up with 'it is not prohibited in the rules'..... it wouldn't have been considered by those most concerned about state of the sport with regards to ethics, integrity, pushing boundaries, gray areas, etc. I hate to be part of perpetuation of negativity towards professional fishing, but it torques me that people are going to be outraged about punishments, but whether he got 'permission' from anyone in TD office... it was a lousy move, IMO. You got a big ol river....just fish it