Logan S

Was cruising down the lake recently into this great looking sunrise...One of my favorite parts of fishing is the sights and scenery.

Yes, I said so in my post.... Tournament is Friday-Sunday and practice would likely be Wednesday/Thursday. So you're burning 3 days per event (Wed/Thurs/Fri) X 6 events equals 18 PTO days. I'm sure there's a couple extra travel days here and there but ~4 weeks (20ish days) is good enough ballpark number. Location of the events and where you live would obviously be a factor for travel. Could even call it 5 weeks to be safe, point is basically the same. It's at least feasible. 4 or even 5 weeks of PTO is not unreachable, many people have that. Not saying I'm signing up or anything since I absolutely can't swing the money part of it...Just saying, its more possible than the other tours where each event is at least a full week of PTO and there are 6 to 9 events. I don't know any more details than the little blurbs about it today so I'm just assuming some things here, but assuming I'm reading their release correctly you absolutely could have a normal job while fishing this tour from a PTO standpoint. I have a pretty normal job and I could make the time-off part work for me. It looks cool and I hope it succeeds.

They mentioned that they would not conflict with BASS schedules, if they pull that off it will likely get some spillover from the Elites and Opens. I doubt they have a problem filling the rest of the field...As crazy as it sounds, there are people with deep pockets that fill the ranks of the former FLW, Costa, and BASS Open fields every year at high expense "Working man's tour" does seem a little out of touch since it's $30k per year in entries, but since they are only 3 day events on Fri-Sat-Sun, its conceivable that a person could still have a day job while fishing this tour...With practice days it'd probably be a Wed-Sun event, meaning potentially only 3 PTO days per event, 18 per season. So basically 4 weeks of PTO would be needed, which is a lot but not unheard of. Obviously you'd also need a disposable $30k too, which is the hardest part. Just playing devils advocate here, but their point could have been that it's possible to keep your job and still fish professionally It at least seems more possible than any other current pro tour. While the money part is out of reach for me, I could swing the PTO part so I sort of see what they're saying. Being able to keep your current job is another layer of security for you should you decide to risk the money on entering. You'll just be broke, not broke AND jobless ?.

Haven't been online much but still been fishing...Last weekend I had a good day on Lake Anna. Tournament started with a 30 minute fog delay, once we launched there was still some heavy fog out on the water so it was a little interesting driving around the thickest parts (emphasis on around, even with how accurate GPS is, I don't make a habit of driving thru the thickest stuff). Eventually put this big wall of fog behind us and got to actually fish . I targeted shallow docks and points, skipping a finesse jig under the docks and using a spinnerbait on the points and pockets. Got two key fish - these 4lbers, one each on the jig and spinnerbait. My total of 14-9 was enough to win ?. The first 4lber let me cull this fish, which is always an awesome feeling to instantly upgrade by 3+ lbs. The baits...

MLF is now the biggest livewell tour/organization in the world...What a shocking turn of events given the all the livewell talk earlier this year! I do like the new FLW stuff, assuming it all remains as proposed. Looks like they finally realized that most tournament anglers prefer the traditional format, smart move.

The ones that matter... Largemouth Smallmouth Spotted Bass The ones that get your hopes up briefly, until you see them... Walleye Striped Bass Hybrid Striped Bass Snakehead Blue Cat Channel Cat Flathead Cat Nothern Pike Chain Pickeral Small guys... Yellow Perch White Perch Crappie Rock bass (redeye) Various sunfish (not listing individually) I think that's all of them so far. Everything was caught while targeting bass, I don't really multi-species fish except for fly fishing...But I haven't done that this year. If I do get out fly fishing this winter I'll likely add Rainbow, Brown, and Brook trout to the list.

@Seafury You missed the point of my post...Which is that just because they haven't had a drastic impact on the Potomac (yet or that we know of) doesn't mean they won't have a negative impact in other waters. And they keep showing up in new places because fisherman are intentionally (illegally) moving them into new waters. This is the real problem with them.

It's going to be a 150 boat field. They have a marshal program now, but that's not quite the same as a boat official and they rarely have enough marshals to put on in every boat. It's all right here... https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2019-10-10-how-the-mlf-acquisition-will-affect-me

They didn't explicitly say it, but they said, "The Pro Circuit will operate on a six-day competition schedule that features FLW’s traditional five-fish-limit format on days one through three, transitioning to the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release/every-scoreable-bass-counts format on days four through six..." They called out the CWR aspect of the MLF portion and not the FLW, so it seems likely that days 1-3 will have weigh ins. Logistically speaking, it's probably impossible to expect they will get 150 boat officials at every day of every event so it almost has to be a weigh in for the full-field days. When they move to MLF format the field is cut down and seems to be split into separate days, so more manageable for putting officials in boats. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong...Someone will have to tell me though cuz I can just about guarantee I won't be watching.

It's interesting to me that after all the "livewells are bad..." and "extending the life of the sport..." type preaching we got from them early on...MLF will now be part of a normal livewell tour - Via the first part of new FLW events. Personal feelings aside, I hope it works out for the anglers involved. I'm also excited to see how BASS counters this, because they did an outstanding job this year with the Elite Series tournament coverage.

There's been no negative impacts YET or that we know of in the Potomac River and other tidal waters in the area....But you can't infer that they won't have an impact elsewhere. I write this in every snakehead thread, so might as well do it here too....The fact that the doom and gloom predictions didn't come true is sort of a default, since they were talking about them eating dogs, cats, and small children. Also, you can't point to the Potomac as an 'all-clear' story since the effect has SO FAR been minimal. The Potomac is a huge system that already had frequent influxes of new predators, in the form of saltwater species that make it up into the bass waters (especially during dry years). If any system was capable of handling a new predator being introduced, it's the Potomac. In a smaller and/or closed system they could certainly have an impact on the existing fishery. Snakehead fisherman are moving them around to new waters and THAT is the #1 problem IMO. I have some other comments about that but I'll keep them to myself for now. The fish itself is entertaining to catch, but to me it's the same class as pike/pickeral...bycatch and a junk fish that I'm not targeting. They way they eat a frog is impressive though, everyone should witness it ?

They might have walked from that original pond to somewhere where they made it to the Potomac...But they didn't walk down I-95 to Lake Anna (just the latest example). People are moving them around, no doubt about it.

Killing them immediately when they are first discovered might actually have a chance at preventing them from becoming established...Small chance, but a chance nonetheless. They absolutely should be killed when found in new waters. In waters where they've been established, killing them isn't going to do anything to control them. That pond was drained and poisoned way back then to eradicate them...Might be why. They had already made it to the Potomac by then though. For whatever reason, illegally stocking snakeheads seems to be a pretty popular thing to do over the past few years. I really wish MD and VA DNR's (as the two agencies at the epicenter) would make some kind of effort to bust some of these people, seeing that might make some of them knock it off.

To be fair...100 miles isn't really that far. Unfortunately for me, that's a pretty normal fishing trip outside of the Potomac and some small local lakes. My next tournament is on Lake Anna, which funny enough is exactly 100 miles from my house - I consider it one of my 'home waters' and it's where I fish most of the winter. Some people like (or have) to travel and fish outside their immediate area.

Between actually steering the boat, trim switch, jackplate switch, and occasionally needing to zoom in/out on my chart...I'm already doing too many things with my hands at times, so a hot foot is a nice feature. In rough water it's invaluable, being able to cut or floor the throttle as needed while keeping both hands on the wheel to drive AND to hang on is a nice thing. I also agree about boat control at high speeds, another time I want both hands on the wheel. I'd never own a bass boat without one. For these reasons plus I just like it in general.

Most pro's are generally split between 20' and 21'. Since 250 is the max HP, the 20's offer better performance, while the 21's handle the big water a bit better (generally speaking). I guess their choice comes down to their own style and preference. I personally chose a 21'/250HP because my previous boat was a 20' and after many years in that I was ready to have a bit more space. My home waters can get pretty nasty, so having the extra length never hurts when it comes to rough water handling. It also didn't hurt that my particular boat was the best deal I found while I was shopping - If this deal had been on a 20' instead of a 21', I'd probably be telling you why I like the the 20' (both sizes were on my list). When you're buying it yourself without any sort of pro deal, the best deal you can find has a huge impact on what you choose.

If a lot of your fishing is done in shallow water they are absolutely one of the best accessories you can spend money on....I love mine. With 8' poles the effective anchoring depth is about 6.5', it will hit bottom down to 8' but unless its perfectly calm you usually won't get a decent hold any deeper than about 6.5' (depends on bottom type a little too). So if you find yourself in shallow water a lot, Poles or Talons are money well spent. This is also a huge bonus, along with just docking in general. But if this would be the only or primary use of them I'd say spend money on spot-lock trolling motor instead.

I've actually been trying to slim my overall tackle footprint over the past few years, trying to keep it more or less at a single 'boat-load'...Literally It's still a lot of tackle though. In my area I'm fishing just about every type of water-body that bass live in from shallow tidal rivers to clear highland reservoirs and pretty much everything in between and can target Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted bass...So variety in tackle is unavoidable and that inflates the total amount a good bit.

The Valdivia is pretty close in feel to the Perfect Pitch IMO. It has a similar tip that can handle lighter baits than you might expect for an F7 rod. It is 4" longer though, which can be good or bad compared to the Perfect Pitch depending on what you want to do with it.

I think the Perfect Pitch might be better in a dual role. The tip on the Perfect Pitch is soft enough to throw lighter jigs and texas rigs...I pitch 1/4oz weight with a Z-Craw Jr on mine regularly and it does great. It's a very unique heavy power rod, heaving enough power to frog and flip but a tip that handles lighter baits and walk frogs easily. I guess to help your decision my advice would be - If you'll do more frogging than jigging, I'd go with a Perfect Pitch. If you're doing more jigging than frogging, I'd go with the FMJ. (Though I'd still say the Perfect Pitch would be my choice if you want versatility)

Bass are nearly universally distributed in the US...Unlike walleye, musky, trout, etc. Other widely distributed fish like panfish or catfish dont have the same appeal - Most likely because bass get significantly bigger than panfish and bass fishing is generally more 'active' than cat fishing (so potentially more 'fun'). Bass are easy enough to catch that beginners won't be turned away due to lack of success...But hard enough to support the enthusiast level fisherman who want to 'master' the sport. You can decide how far down the rabbit hole you want to go - From catching bass in the local pond all the way to world record hunting or professional tournament angling.

I didn't get to fish it, but FOBA had another open derby on Black Hill last weekend...Winning weight was 19-0. The winners were the only boat to get a limit though and everyone else reported pretty tough fishing - Which is to be expected in late August though. 4 fish for 11lbs was 2nd place. Good to see some big weights at BH again...Our June tournament had over 19lbs to win also. Been a stretch of a couple seasons where the big weights weren't showing up like they used to.

Compared to other part of the country where there are many fisheries within a short drive....The mid-Atlantic in general can seem more challenging. There are good fisheries around but drive times, whether from distance or traffic, can suck. If you're willing to expand your driving radius a bit there are quite a few good fisheries from the VA/NC border up thru northern MD. Welcome, lots of anglers from MD/VA/DC here .

I like mine...I've got a 2011 Titan Pro-4X. I bought it new and it now has about 130k on it. It's my daily driver and it does a great job at towing the boat. The gas mileage is pretty bad, even for a truck. There's been a few minor issues, but nothing I couldn't fix myself for no or low cost. It's been a good truck for me, money well spent as far as I'm concerned. Looks good towing a bassboat

Unfortunately, you're probably going to have to wait til your 16 to join almost any bass club - Especially as a boater. Most have 16 as a minimum age. Many clubs have a Jr or Youth program, but that's geared more toward organized Jr tournaments and the Jr anglers are typically co-anglers, not their own boaters. There might be something out there though, so I'd keep looking. From a club officer perspective, the big concerns on minimum age are self-sufficient transportation and maturity/experience - Which would be especially important if you are a boater and get assigned a co-angler....If it's a team format and you choose your own teammate (parent, relative, older friend, etc) it's probably not as much of a concern. Not saying anything specifically about you, just talking in generalizations.