Logan S

I'd pick the Skeeter...But that's a biased opinion. It's also the only one with a SHO . All 4 are great boat models, I think the 'right' choice comes down to how you feel about the setup and layout of each combined with the physical condition of each since some people will treat their boats better than others. Value wise, I think the Skeeter and Phoenix stand out from the others. Even with 25 less HP, the Phoenix will probably be the same speed, if not a bit faster, than the Skeeter...Phoenix makes a fast boat!

2011 Titan Pro4X & 2017 Skeeter ZX250. The Titan is also my daily driver.

I picked Skeeter over Phoenix for my boat, but it was very close. In the end I preferred the front deck size and layout on the Skeeter over the Phoenix. Both boats are great, can't go wrong. Phoenix will be faster on the top end, but otherwise the performance of both will be pretty similar.

MD doesn't offer a combo license unfortunately. Upper Bay will need the MD 'Bay & Coastal Sport' license -OR- a PRFC license (they cover the same waters in MD). PRFC would save you a few bucks over MD non-resident prices and give you coverage on the entire VA part of the bay too...but you can't get them online (yes, it's 2019). If you live near one of the shops that sells them it might be worth it though? Wingo and Black Hill will need the MD 'Non-Tidal' license...No way around the non-resident cost there. On Wingo if you go inside any of the creeks in PA (off the 'mainstem' of river) you are supposed to have a PA license...But in the main river the MD will work all the way up to Holtwood.

Caught this guy on a popper at Smith Mountain last weekend.

Been fishing the Potomac since before the snakeheads were introduced...It's pretty easy to say the doom and gloom originally predicted didn't come to pass though, since they were literally talking about cats and small dogs being attacked by snakeheads that crawled out of the water to terrorize innocent people and pets. They even mad a bad sci-fi channel movie about it ?. The Potomac is a tidal fishery that get influxes of predator and prey species from the Bay/Ocean pretty frequently, I've caught many saltwater species and seen many saltwater bait fish while bass fishing...It's different every year depending on the fresh/salt lines and how much rain we get (and where you fish, there's over 60 miles of 'bass water' on the tidal Potomac). So its a system that's sort of used new species coming in and out can probably handle an invasive species much better than a smaller body of water. I don't think the snakehead have had a huge effect on bass fishing one way or the other, yet. It feels like a long time, but in reality it's still pretty early to say whether or not the ecosystem is truly being effected long-term (IMO anyway). The peaks and valleys in bass fishing on the Potomac are nearly an identical match to the peaks and valleys in grass growth on the river. More grass = more bass. Snakeheads or not, its the grass that determines the fate of bass fishing on the river. The 'problem' with snakeheads is not in the Potomac...It's in the people transporting them illegally to pretty much every body of water in the region. There seems to be a group of people hell-bent on putting them in every body of water they can find in this area. Just because snakeheads haven't had an impact on the Potomac doesn't mean they wont have an impact elsewhere. Eventually they might succeed in wrecking a fishery if dumped into the right one. Just for fun...

I know there's a couple clubs up around there that fish the Upper Bay a lot...River Ratz and Chester County Bassmasters. I don't know any of them personally, but have bumped into some of their members on the water and at ramps a few times and all were positive experiences....Both clubs seem to be on the smaller side, but nothing wrong with that. FOBA will be up your way this weekend with a tournament on Conowingo...We're a little far from Hartford but still always open and welcoming to anyone that might be interested.

FOBA is a MD-based club and the minimum age for joining is 15, so it might be something you're interested in. If you have any questions or would like more info feel fee to post or message. One note is that one of the tournaments has changed since the schedule was released - Kerr Lake in Octover has been moved to Deep Creek Lake due to scheduling issues down at Kerr.

FOBA is still (and always) open. Here's a post from earlier in the year with some more info and a copy of our schedule. (One thing to note is that since this came out 1 tournament has changed - Kerr Lake in October has been changed to Deep Creek Lake due to scheduling issues down at Kerr) Feel free to post here or message me if you want any more details.

It ramps up to speed gradually, not instant on/off...But even with the ramp up, on high speed settings it's powerful enough to still jerk you around if you're not careful.

With all the drama in pro fishing the last year...There is no way BASS was going to have the Classic, the 50th one at that, in a new or unproven location. Good choice IMO, repeat or not, I can't imagine not being excited about the biggest tournament in the world being held on arguably one the best bass fishing lakes in the world.

Wire or screw-lock keeper and/or the Owner Deep Throat hook with the reverse bend angle work well. My go-to jighead is the Dredge Dock Rocker from @Siebert Outdoors which has just a standard lead barb for a keeper, but the Deep Throat hook with that reverse bend keeps all my trailers locked in place. I skip jigs a ton and very rarely have to worry about trailers sliding down with that head. Most heads with a wire or screw-lock keeper will prevent the trailer from slipping.

$60/year for annual membership dues. This is used for operational stuff like scales, permits, weigh bags, meeting spaces, costs for our annual family picnic and banquet, etc... None of the annual dues money goes to tournament payouts. Tournament entries are $30 for single day and $40 for 2-day. 95% of the money from the entries are paid out in each specific tournament with the remaining 5% being held over to be put toward the Classic Championship payout. 100% of entry fee money is paid out in tournaments and none of the entry fees money goes to operational expenses. We're a pretty large club, averaging over 50 members for the last 20 years. We provide a lot of stuff to members including weigh in bags for standard tournaments and identical scales for MLF-format tournaments. Our tournament payouts are pretty decent compared to entries, especially the Classic which is typically over $500 for first on only $40 entry. We have split divisions so we payout top 3 boaters and top 3 Co-anglers for every tournament. It's definitely not the cheapest to fish with us...But in my admittedly bias opinion it's a great value for local organized tournament fishing...Smaller than BFL/ABA for sure, we get 20 boats or so for our tournaments, but it's also significantly cheaper and more personal.

If you have issues breaking bills on the 110's and fish around rocks/docks/etc...But don't want to give up on the 110, try the 110-FX model. The folding lip is much more durable, at least in my experience, and holds up well to those tasks. The standard 110 is my go-to jerkbait, but if I'm fishing shallower than normal or around rocks/docks I'll usually tie on the FX. That folding lip thing is pretty cool in the wind too, usually stays straight as a bullet on casts...Not as much tumbling. I actually the love the stock hooks on the 110's, but they are definitely light wire and do bend fairly easily. I bought a ton of replacements in bulk from MB-USA a few year back and just replace as needed. Unfortunately, I don't believe they sell their trebles in bulk from the factory anymore. FWIW I don't think I've heard of MB declining to replace broken bill 110's until reading this thread. I've had 2 replaced and know several others that have had them replaced as well.

The conspiracy-theory part of me thinks that they are using the anti-livewell stuff to push for states that are already cracking down on tournaments to go over the edge and ban livewell usage....And snowball it from there. MLF has their system in place and would be the only game in town for tournament fishing until other tours adapted. But the smart and logical part of me thinks that it's probably just their way of marketing themselves...Even though I don't buy what they're trying to sell. I think they significantly overplayed that angle. I personally don't care for the BPT and every trickle of info or rumor that comes out about it only furthers those feelings...But I wouldn't go as far as buying into the conspiracy-theory stuff.

Had a good trip to Lake Gaston this past weekend. Took 3rd in 2-day tournament with 10 fish for 23-15. Lot's of 3lb+ fish but no true big ones to put me over the top. Weighed in a few spotted bass too, Gaston is the only lake I fish that has them so it's still cool to catch them for me. Practice... Day 1...Culled a small LM with this Spot for the smallest fish in the limit. Day 2...Couple nice LM's a spot that was eating very well, had 2 shad tails visible in it's gullet. Everything I weighed in came on one of these, most were on the bladed jig.

This goose launched a sneak attack on us this weekend when we came to this dock...Dock defense activated ?

Like I said, that's how we operate, not even including food/drinks...But again, our rules specifically state these things so no one has any expectations otherwise. To put in perspective...I'm a long-time boater that is a firm believer in co-anglers chipping in for expenses during normal tournament days - BUT, expecting a Co to kick in $40+ for a day when you don't even start the outboard is silly. The only exception I could see making sense is if the lake in question is long drive and you catch a ride with the boater, then chipping for gas in the truck makes sense...But generally you aren't going to travel very far for electric-only events. I know for us the only reason we fish them is because they are super close to home for most of our members. If your boater is expecting more than the ramp fee and you don't offer he's going to have some feelings on it...Regardless of whether you or I think that expectation is reasonable or justified. It's a tough call, this is the exact reason our club defines this situation with clear rules.

We do 1 or 2 electric-only tournaments a year since there are a couple good electric-only lakes in our area. Only thing we expect the co-angler to split with the boater is the ramp fees....As opposed to 'normal' tournaments where co-anglers are expected to chip in up to a max of $40 (including ramp). Just how our club operates, but it's worked out well for us. We actually have rules on the books about both situations though...So it's easy to work out. If a boater asks for more than half the ramp for electric-only he's breaking a rule - And conversely, if a Co doesn't offer something for a normal tournament he's also breaking a rule. Might sound funny to some, but those rules make things go so much more smoothly on this topic.

Different perspectives I guess. I'm sure we can agree it's at least more palatable than the floggers/cones though

Guys have been using the dish soap trick for probably as long as bass fishing (or dish soap) has existed...Live coverage is just showing it to the masses now. It slicks off the water surface and can push pollen away making it easier to see fish/beds/whatever. It's not pure dish soap - Only a light mixture.... A few ounces of soap in the lake isn't hurting anything, heck it might even be helping things since I know Dawn is supposedly the #1 clean-up product for environmental disasters like oils spills. I'm surprised that people think negatively of it.

No clue lol...Now that they do the Classic sort of midstream and not at the end or beginning of a season, it makes things weird. The rule would seem to indicate that they wouldn't get an auto-invite just like Ott, but the Classic win also comes with auto-invite to Elite series, so maybe there's a contingency for if they accept that invite?

Unless something's changed, which I guess is possible given all the changes in all the tours...The Classic winner gets an automatic spot in the next classic only if he's registered for and competes in all the Elite Series events for the next season. Ott's already out in that case, since the 'next season' is the current 2019 season and it has already started with Ott not fishing it. That rule has been in place for a long time, I think since 2000 or 2001, so BASS isn't trying to stick it to Ott - He and all the BPT guys knew the deal going in. I'm guessing that Ott's Classic spot will be treated like the double-qualifiers where they'll just take the next guy on the AOY-qualifiers list.

Fished a little 10-boat 'ice breaker' open tournament this past weekend before my regular season starts and won with a limit weighing 11-15 . This was the big fish of the day, came on a spinnerbait in/around shallow wood...One of my favorite ways to catch em.

No, I said I don't bother with claiming an estimate if I didn't actually weigh the fish...Usually anyway, or unless someone asks. You didn't quote my whole post...It was off on a slight tangent, but I thought the general idea of it was in agreement with you.