Choporoz

Appears to be Jan 19-24, but the link isn't working for me right now

I do Wordle every day. Will check out Connections. I don't know how to grab the Wordle day's results without the letters

Rage Bug Worm

Not Bruno. He insists on getting to lick any fish caught. He watches the the lure intently on every casts until it hits the water and gets as excited as I do when we get hooked up.

I love using higher end reels and I expect them to last generations. My higher end rods do not have the same life expectancy, and maybe not quite the 'pleasant experience' factor. However, the better rods make much more difference to putting fish in the boat, than my best reels do.

As a kayak tournament angler, I sort of enjoy the increased discussion or focus on length. Not trying to criticize or critique anyone.... but maybe standardize a little for comparative conversations. If each bass on a measuring board is measured with mouth closed and mouth up against the 'fence', we'll be closer to apples to apples talks

I blame BR and BM for the fact that I have probably 2 or 3 dozen different types of lures in the boat today. I typically have 7 to 9 rods on deck with different things and use that many every time out. However.... I don't have a ton a patience with most anything that isn't a Rage Bug, so somewhat ironically, I will try to force that Rage Bug long after the bass have emphatically said 'not today' ... sometimes same with spinnerbait or jig ... So I guess I can be at both ends of the spectrum... I carry and throw a ton of stuff, but I can absolutely overuse a few.

+1 I started looking for another good spinning rod a couple years ago....I have acquired a few and none were as good as my ETSM...Shimano, Fenwick, Custom...none really ever felt great for me. Good luck. You may need to try a few before something clicks. I tried different reels, lines, lure weights... the cork fore grip on the ETSM just feels perfect. But it is more than just the grips...balance, casting, tip....I guess I am probably more demanding or sensitive when it comes to lighter lures. I did find a perfect for me dropshot rod in Dobyns DX 702, but I'm still looking for perfect shaky head, 1/16 jig, and Ned rods.

I'm in your neighborhood.... it has been a bit maddening the last few weeks. One day they will be in back of a creek and a day later, they could be backed out most of the way to the main lake ... and they are constantly moving. Bait schools are much smaller than they were 3 weeks ago. I have caught on blade bait, flutter spoon, t-rig, jerkbait, spinnerbait, chatterbait and frog in recent days. Not only are active fish difficult to find, the bite windows can be smallish. Keep moving, find bait, don't spend much time in creeks without obvious bait...keep moving

I do think of FFS differently than other past tech advancements. Flasher, Downscan, Sidescan, etc all exposed massive amounts of information about the underwater environment, and even can tell us whether fish are present in the vicinity. FFS allows experienced users to not only target individual fish, and distinguish between different species of fish, but, to watch in real time how each fish reacts to a presentation, and even allows an angler to adjust presentation on same cast until bass eats the lure. FFS is enabling experts to single out individual bass on or close to the bottom in 40+ FOW. IMO, these aren't incremental changes. I'm not yet bothered much by the effects on bass or even on bass tournaments. Mainly because relatively few bass are harvested...at least compared to other species. I do worry about crappies, and I don't even target them often. FFS is enabling crappie hunters to target and remove massive numbers (unlimited, in my state) of the largest crappie in a lake. Guys that used to take 30 a day with a few 15s mixed in can now fairly easily take 30 that are all 16+.

They are required for most (all?) kayak bass tournaments, so many of us on here use them. I have owned rhree different brands: -Hawg Trough was one of the first mass produced and was very popular. My issue was that they were brittle/fragile...I broke a couple through normal use....not sure if they are still available, but they were pretty cheap -Fish Stick was perhaps my favorite. It folds nicely, easy to read and reasonably priced -Ketch is the yak tournament standard, required on most trails. Well made, with a number of options (metal, plastic, lengths, etc), but not cheap. I have metal and it is heavy and obviously sinks, but that would be much less a risk on a boat

I had a couple Cavitrons and they were fussier than any other buzzbait I have used. Once I'd get them tuned to ride vertical, they'd be tracking hard left or right. I like that they can run pretty slow, but I quit them.

Don't need to wait for winter. I'm catching them now on blade baits in 54* water. Not the winter 'long pause on the bottom and hop back', but falling through balls of shad and swimming back below the bait

I've tried a bunch. I have only bought from Cincy Fisher the last few years. Very generic chrome and lead, but with good hooks and hardware. (And it doesn't matter much to me, but the Cincy Fisher chrome doesn't peel....at least not before I lose them) Feels good to support the littler guys out there, but in this case, price and quality are on par or better than the big volume guys.

Haven't watched the vid yet...I assume it is from the 'world championship' bass tournament there this year? Wheeler was talking about it on a recent podcast.... they have their work cut out to make it a big deal, but it seems like awesome potential for a great annual event

I've been yelling for many years ..... shareholder power and short term profits are likely ruinous to most any industry ... not just hobby/sports industries. Long term vision, community / environmental stewardship, employee welfare, etc. are all too often taking a backseat to near term profit-taking and we are all worse off for that

Randy verbalized some things about it better than I could. The concept of not knowing a fish has your lure in her mouth until you can physically feel it or see the line move is important...to Randy....and I guess, to me. (Maybe one of the reasons I have some issues with bed/sight fishing that I haven't been able to explain). Old fashioned... out-dated... foolishly romanticized... probably... but it's a real feeling for me

I quit watching his videos a long time ago....don't care for him.... BUT, I did listen to him justify his FFS position the other day on Mercer's podcast, and I must admit that I agreed with him far more than I expected to. I am a long ways from the ban it camp; but I do now believe that Randy is more about reason and passion for fishing than he is just about clicks....at least when it comes to ffs

Haven't tried 'firm'

Absolutely worth it. I have three or four....none were anywhere near $85. But I did spend over $85 trying other cushions because I thought Kayak Kushion was too expensive. I have never once heard a KK owner say they wished they saved a few bucks and got something different.

Likely this is the truth. But, to me this is even worse than the initial headlines that SI was caught clumsily using AI. Vetting was fundamentally at the core of journalism not all that long ago. Now it is an afterthought much of the time. Generally, clicks generated by unvetted information greatly outweigh any potential damage resulting later

Cincy Fisher is all I have used for last few years. Way less than the big brands, and with excellent hooks. I could probably save a buck by purchasing components from Barlows or Janns, but these are a good value to me

I don't lose many, but they do catch wood pretty well. Fortunately, they unsnag relatively easily

Boat math is wicked tough. I found the perfect boat for 24.5K. By the time I drove it home, I was out over 30k

Gotcha...I thought jet boat engines were inside the hull