blongfishing

Thanks guys! I also failed to mention I do have a big rolling toolbox like @Muha555 mentioned. It's kinda big and I'm not too sure it will fit in my dorm. I will get the layout when my fishing partner gets back on campus. If I clean out my toolbox a little I may be able to fit it all in here as long as it fits in my dorm. This is the toolbox I have.

In the fall of this year I will be attending college on a fishing scholarship! I am so excited but one of my biggest concerns is tackle storage. I am more worried about transport from boat to dorm. Our dorm has a parking lot where I will be keeping my boat so I won't have to carry all of my tackle boxes too far. I plan to take majority of my tackle and keeping a few things back home (hour and a half away). Anyone have any ideas on something that can be used to transport tackle and also store it in my dorm? My mom recommended the big rolling suitcase type things that actresses or musicians use for makeup and stuff. I was also thinking a milk crate basket of some sort with a handle and wheels. I have a lot of tackle and most of it is stored in 3700 boxes. Any ideas for storing and transporting tackle? Thanks!

One thing I have noticed is that a lot of southern anglers I know (NC, SC, GA) don’t throw tubes. At least anglers that I know of. Any guys from the southern states throw tubes? I honestly haven’t done much research on them and how to fish them because it’s unheard of here. Maybe I should try them if no one else’s uses them! maybe I’m just crazy. Let me know!! LOL

Lied to my teacher over email saying that I had the flu and I wouldn’t be back for the rest of the week when I was really gone to a fishing tournament. The whole class made me a card that said “Get Well Soon!”. They still to this day think I had the flu. The things I do for fishing.

I am a topwater junkie. My dedicated topwater rod is an Abu Garcia 6'9" medium heavy. In my opinion, it's all dependent on what line you are using. Braid has no stretch so when the fish gets it you might want a little bit of tip in the rod to let the fish take it. For me, I fish open water so I mostly use mono. I like a stiffer tip because a flimsier tip would make it tough for the fish to really grab onto the bait and get hooked in my opinion. Stretch in line = stiffer tip to make sure the fish is hooked No stretch = flimsy tip to allow the fish some slack to take in the bait

Jigs. Almost everyone I know can throw them and catch fish and many call it a big fish bait. I just don’t know what it is about it but I just can’t catch a bass on one. I would say I’m total I’ve caught 4 bass in the 4 years I’ve been fishing competitively. The weird thing is, I throw bottom Baits or what I like to call “the finesse version of a jig” like shakey heads and ned rigs. If I was to be honest I would throw Carolina rigs in there too. I know I don’t fish them enough but when I do they don’t work for me. I plan on devoting a few days this summer to fishing Baits I never use to gain some confidence for next tournament season.

I was fishing a tournament on Saturday, it was hot and the fish weren’t biting so my mind started racing. What’s the weirdest pattern you’ve ever fished? I remember a similar thread to this at some point and someone said flipping lower units and a couple of other things. Personally, I have fished some odd ones. Flipping trash on the bank, dropshotting grass mats, caught a bed fish off of a bicycle, and targeted floating inner tubes for a day once. Whats your weirdest pattern? Fire away!

The 7' 6" is a little underpowered for me in the mid section meaning when the rod bends it goes almost down to the mid section and is a little "flimsy". I guess that is the only downfall to me. The tip has a lot of play in it and it would certainly make the rod better if the bend was up towards the tip a little bit. If you have a store nearby go take a look at it. I still love it for almost all of my crankbaits (*with the exception of smaller shad raps and a few others). I guess in short terms, yes, I guess all of the winch rods are that way.

The 7' 6" is a little underpowered for me in the mid section meaning when the rod bends it goes almost down to the mid section and is a little "flimsy". I guess that is the only downfall to me. The tip has a lot of play in it and it would certainly make the rod better if the bend was up towards the tip a little bit. If you have a store nearby go take a look at it. I still love it for almost all of my crankbaits (*with the exception of smaller shad raps and a few others). I guess in short terms, yes, I guess all of the winch rods are that way.

I am actually shocked at this posting. I have used vanish for a few years now and have not had a problem out of it. I fish 200+ days out of the year and fish tournaments and have yet to have an issue from it. Run 8 or 10 pound on all my flouro rods. A family member of mine is a striper guide that uses Berkley Vanish on all of his spinning setups and I have a video of a customer catching a 30 pounder on it! I haven’t heard bad things about it before. Maybe I just got lucky. LOL

Personally I use a Veritas 7’ 6” MH Winch rod for all of my crankbaits. I feel like the tip has enough “give” to allow the treble hooks to get in the fish good. The 7 foot MH winch would probably be more ideal for squarebills though.

One topic I haven't seen much about on this forum is blueback herring. I live in South Carolina on a blueback lake. I hear a lot of things like "Once you can fish a blueback lake you can find a pattern anywhere." or how blueback lakes are much harder to figure out than say a shad/bluegill/etc. lake. For me, this is true. Figuring out a blueback lake is far more challenging because those fish are always on the move. It's not necessarily hard to find a pattern but rather a pattern that holds up for more than a day! What's your experience, knowledge, thoughts on blueback lakes? I love Lake Hartwell and it's nomadic fish, sometimes. Lol.

I grew up in a fishing family so fishing was just part of my life. I don’t remember a time I wasn’t fishing. My grandpa was a striper guide so his main goal was to teach me how to fish. I started catching bluegill at about 18 months old, as soon as I could hold a rod. Later on I moved up to catching carp. My grandpa fed carp that hung around his dock and they came in by the hundreds if you threw a little dog food in the water. After that I just went striper fishing with him and my uncle who is still a guide. Wasn’t until I was 11 or so until I discovered bass fishing on my own and taught myself everything I know. Teach em young! Fishing kept me out of a lot of trouble and it’s been a great pass time over the years and now has evolved to something even bigger.

I had a great question that I don't think I have seen on here before. At what age did you start hauling your bass boat to and from the lake either alone or with someone else? This is something that recently came up in my life when I got my license a few years back. Enough from me! What age did you start? Kayak/Canoe/Other Vessels can pitch in too. Just thought it would be an interesting topic! Fire away!

My stratos has a built in cooler but I just use it for storage. It holds ice pretty good but I prefer bringing my cooler. I have an Engel 19 qt. It's perfect for just me to bring water and some snacks. I fish alone majority of the time so it is perfect for me. When other come along I either tell them to bring their own small cooler or just downsize on my stuff. The cooler holds ice for several days.

Not sure why you would purchase just a manual vs. auto and manual in one unless there is a price difference. If it comes with the auto feature why would you avoid that? You never know what can happen and somethings aren't avoidable. I would get the auto/manual just for extra insurance. But, to each their own.

Lucky Craft Sammy. it will probably change because I always find new baits because I fish topwater 10 months out of the year. I usually always end up going back to the Sammy.

$100-$150 I was thinking about the mojo bass too. I definitely don’t mind paying $100+ for a quality rod within my price range. Yeah, I like the veritas rods. Nothing wrong with mine. Just looking at my options! Good idea. I haven’t seen the Bass X at Cabelas and I currently have 4 or 5 Veritas rods so I know how they feel. Just looking at my options!

I am looking to upgrade some of my cheaper rods I got when I was first starting to fish tournaments 4 years ago. As you can imagine they have seen their better days especially the lower end ones. I am on a budget as a high school student so I am trying to stay kinda cheap. My higher end rods are fairly new so I am just looking for some in the $100-$150 range. I currently use Abu Garcia Veritas for the majority of my rods but have been looking at the St. Croix Bass X Series. I have a Legend Tournament spinning rod that I love and I have heard great things from the Bass X rods. So, what rods would you recommend? I am looking to get about 4 casting and 2 spinning. I am also open to other rods as well, these 2 just happened to catch my eye. Thanks for your recommendations!

Anderson, SC. SC has so many Great Lakes but around Anderson is probably the best area. This area is just miles from Lakes Hartwell, Keowee, Russell, Jocassee, Clarks Hill, Murray, Greenwood and 3-5 other smaller lakes. SC also has Santee Lakes in the lower state as well as amazing lakes in surrounding states.

Save every dime you can. Just remember, every time you go on vacation, drink on the weekends, or party, that money could be spent on fishing. If you go to YouTube and search ‘becoming a professional fishermen Brian Latimer’ you will find a video of how FLW Tour Brian Latimer did it with a job paying $30,000 a year. You just gotta have the drive and spend your time on fishing alone.

Thanks folks! The jersey doesn't have a tag so I settled for just hand washing and it worked fine. It didn't stink as bad as you may think. If my mom didn't say anything then it must not be too bad. I am not a slob or smell bad, I was just fearful that it would mess up like the last one.

A popular guide that I watch on youtube on lake okeechobee uses them on his live shiner trips. He says they are the best rod for the shiner fishing. Not paid to say that, just his honest opinion.

How do you guys wash your tournament jerseys? I have had mine this whole school year and haven't washed it. It has the fish stench (that's a good thing, right? Lol) and I am scared to wash it in the washing machine. Another jersey I had before this one was ruined when washed in my washing machine. Should I hand wash it and let it air dry or how do you go about washing it? I just don't want this one to be ruined. It already has threads coming out from touching velcro. If this is the wrong thread then move as needed!

I ask myself this question everytime I can't catch any. LOL. I am a shallow water fishermen so it could be a big deal since I am fishing close combat sometimes. The bottom of my boat is white. I can catch them no doubt but I ask this same question sometimes along with, does soap I use scare off fish?/do I need to wash my hands of the "human scent" more often?/does my boat make a sound that deters fish?.