Logan S

I feel like some of them have a death-wish based on where I've seen them and the fact they had no lights/flags and their color choice for both yak and clothing might as well have been camouflage. If you're going to put yourself in an area where motorized vessels will be running for the love of all that's good make yourself visible. EXTREMELY visible. I have a few other pet-peeves about yakkers, some are fair and maybe some others aren't so fair (just being honest)...But THIS particular issue bothers me the most.

The hardest part about being a 'hardcore' fisherman with a job and family is balancing time and money. Money for boats, travel, entry fees, gear, gas etc. Time away from home, time off work, time spent on fishing-related stuff while at home, etc. Many times, having more of one means less of the other.... I've been a bass-head all my life. I now have a career, house, wife, kids, dog and I'm still out there as much as possible...Most of my life decisions were effected by fishing in one way or another. I got a job and worked way more than a teenager should so that I could buy my first bass boat at 15. HS and college fishing didn't really exist for me (graduated HS in 03, college in 07), but I fished tournaments locally as a boater as soon as I was 16. I had zero social life due to working toward the boat and then truck and after that fishing so much. I was also little too cavalier with my school/class skipping in HS/college in favor of fishing trips and it almost bit me...But when you've got a truck and boat and a tournament on the Potomac the next weekend, how are you supposed to sit in school on a beautiful spring Thursday? ? It all worked out in the end, barely. I got a degree in Meteorology because it was semi-related to fishing/outdoors (and I liked math/science)...Which was a mistake since scientific/specialized degrees are tough to find job in without going to school for your whole life. Realized that almost immediately after graduating (and not finding a job) and took an entry level IT job and started climbing that ladder. IT is universal and once I was at a point where I had more choices in my employers, I could pick the ones that offered lots of PTO so I could keep my tournament trips on the books. My wife has known me since HS and knew I've always had fish on the brain...It was part of the 'deal' when we first started dating and I'm fortunate that she still understand and supports my passion. I try to keep the fishing trips/days close to 1-for-1 with my wife so that she can have her time for herself while I'm with the kids. If you're going to have a family and still fish a ton, you've got to make sure your duties to your family aren't neglected. For me it results in essentially nothing outside of fishing and family for me...No other trips or hobbies or vacations on my own - which is fine with me, those are the only 2 things I really care about anyway . I have a longer term pipedream of fishing professionally like you, but I need more money saved for that...And I need to get better . I plan on giving it a shot one day, no age limit and I'm still pretty young anyway... Not sure if that's what you're looking for or if it helps, but here it is anyway...Logan's story .

I read once that a top-line, new bassboat has always been about on par with the price of a new Corvette - Seems to still be true since MSRP on a new Vette looks to be about 55k to 90k depending on options...Near mirror to bass boats. IMO it's a good barometer since both are 'luxary' items/vehicles. Small market, higher cost to build...Any product like that will carry a higher price tag.

No experience, but very interested to hear the results ...I've got a '17 ZX250, no plans on modifications but it will be awesome to see the potential that's there.

All day, every day...On my breaks or slow times at work, I'm always working on more important stuff . Many, many fish have been caught thanks to my day-dreaming!

Fishing out of a smaller rig, whether its as small as a kayak, a john boat, or just a smaller boat, will always make you a better overall fisherman when you get into a full sized rig. It forces you to fish whats in front of you and be thorough since picking up and running long distances is not an option. You have to figure out how to catch them where you are, instead of going to a more favorable location. I don't fish from a kayak, but I started tournament fishing long ago in a 17' Tracker with a 25hp and I think I'm a better fisherman now because of it.

Just another way to catch 'em, no issue here. I would add that if you do think it's unethical, that's cool - your call. But you may want to consider taking a break for the approximately 2 month period (maybe more/less depending on location) around the spawn window, since you'll undoubtedly end up catching bedding fish on accident that you can't see. I guess it depends on what you actually think is the unethical part though...The actual catching of the fish or just the intent to catch it.

I'm not suggesting anything changes....I'm saying pump the brakes. Cart before the horse would be talking about changing the standard tournament format after 1 BPT event, which is essentially what many here and elsewhere are doing. Sorry, but I have no idea how this relates to what I posted?? I listened and read the Steve Kennedy stuff, it's interesting...His point was that tournament mortality was not necessarily a bad thing overall since the C&R mindset has reduced harvest so much AND that a sizable percentage (significantly more than tournament weigh in #'s) of bass will die each year (in their year-class) from natural causes anyway. In other words, tournament mortality is statistically insignificant to the overall bass population in a large body of water. I'm not connecting the dots to what from this to what you quoted though...

Sorry, I'm going to disagree...They aught not have to do anything. Why do they need to change? Just because BPT says so after 1 event? It's really easy for BPT/MLF to say, "Everyone should do it our way," when they have the logistical and financial support of a massive professional tournament organization to make sure things go smoothly AND they only have to worry about a maximum of 40 boats at a time....Without that support, they might be singing a different tune. They also aren't doing anything at local levels, which is where most bass tournaments happen. Professional or semi-pro events are a very small fraction of bass tournaments nation-wide. Where is the BPT equivalent to a BFL? Give people the option and they might use it...But as it stands right now the overwhelming majority of tournament anglers can't use the MLF/BPT style even if they wanted to. Give me that option in a reliable way and I'll take it. I'll get off the soap box now, thanks for listening.

It might not be win-win if BPT keeps bad mouthing standard tournaments. Many states are tightening the screws on traditional tournaments, MD is one. MD has already cited MLF in the past when creating new regulations, it wouldn't be a stretch for them pass tournament regulations prohibiting livewell usage - they already talked about it (I've been at the meetings). The problem is that the style is not workable on the local/regional level - I have first hand experience in this. Something like a BFL would be chaos, if not outright impossible. So what are all the local tournament anglers and trails going to do? BPT has the biggest platform right now and the most influential anglers. What they say is going to be heard. IMO, they are potentially hurting many thousands of bass fisherman by hammering on the anti-livewell stuff....Which in my opinion AND experience is way overblown from their side. Not only that, they are driving people like me away from their trail - I don't really need to be lectured on livewell usage by guys that have spent 20+ years carting fish around in livewells for money. I don't like the format and several other things...But whatever, that's really not too important. The fact they seem to almost be pushing for standard tournaments to go away is really bothersome to me, and I'm far from alone on this.

I'll bite ...Few flaws from my perspective. My opinion only, although pretty much all my fishing friends feel the same way. We all watched most of the live coverage. Lee is unreal and this is not meant to take anything away from his victory...He beat all the other top pros playing by the same rules. But he won the event without ever catching a 5lb bass. In FL. During Pre-spawn/Spawning time. I'm not calling it a 'dink-fest', just saying that there's no question (IMO) that the format favors smaller fish in greater numbers. Whether that's good or bad I guess is up for debate. IMO, a limit is preferable...Doesn't even have to be 5 fish (though that's the standard now), just something. Weights resetting meant that the top anglers basically quit fishing on the 2nd day. It also means that anglers will often shoot for 'good enough' as opposed to the best they can do. How cool would it have been to see Howell or Robinson or Ott or anyone else break the 100lb mark on day 2? If the format is going count all fish, let those guys keep the pedal to the metal and really put some crazy numbers up. At the very least...Go take the live camera out of the dude's boats when they're coasting and give it to another angler in the mix! Since weights reset, the drama on cut day ends up being on 20th (or 10th) place. It's entertaining but at the same time, I want to watch the guys at the top smashing fish...Not watch guys who have 'kind of figured it out' scrape up a 20th place spot (no hate, just obvious observation based on their placement). Some other observations.... I don't really understand what the separate periods accomplish since they don't need to run back or be anywhere for the start or finish. Seems like it's just a built in break for the anglers, which is fine I guess. I don't like or dislike it, just don't see a need. My initial thought after the 1st event is that I'd rather just have the extra fishing time (or viewing time as a fan) and no break. The free ride time in the morning and not needing to be back at the ramp for the end of tournament is an interesting twist. I really don't know how I feel about it. As someone that's made the gamble of long runs on tournament day (with success and failure), I can see two sides to it. It would be nice to have that risk taken out of the equation, but at the same time it takes away that reward for choosing to be bold. I can see myself both liking and disliking it in certain situations. I thought the overall live show was pretty good, although I had a ton of technical issues and needed to refresh constantly. I know some seemed to have no issues, but I'm a tech guy and I'm 99% certain the issues weren't on my end. I watch BASS/FLW the exact same ways and have zero issues with either. I was bothered by the anti-livewell comments made by anglers and the announcers and the little commercial they run slamming normal tournaments was in poor taste. It's all fine to promote their system, but but actively putting down the standard format is not a good look and could result in some negative unintended consequences. The fact that many of these anglers will still be fishing in the Classic this year, yet were slamming livewell usage is a bit hypocritical IMO. The MLF format is not workable on a large scale at the local level, at least not yet, so what do they expect 99% of the tournament trails out there to do? Quit fishing? I also believe their fish-care comments and concerns are way overblown...Livewells are not a death sentence for bass, not even close. Finally, just for my own defense from criticism of being a 'hater'...I actually like the catch-weigh-release format, though I prefer 5-bass limits. I have fished in many CWR tournaments (with actual scales, not length - exactly like MLF style) and will be fishing in 7 or 8 more this year. My club uses the format for some tournaments, so I am very aware of the challenges and limitations of putting this type of tournament on at a local level. That's a lot more than I thought I'd write...Oh well, nothing else to do except work . Enjoy.

I know there are many bass clubs in MD, I'm sure some are down your way too...But I don't know specifically. Alternatively, besides the tournament at Black Hill...The only thing that actually happens in MoCo are the meetings, which are not required. You just need to make it one so you can officially join and then you can simply meet everyone at the tournament venues and most are about the same travel time either way (you might even be closer to some, actually). If you can't find a more local club or the ones you do find are closed, you could make try to make FOBA work for you. We have guys in VA, Hagerstown, Baltimore, etc...So it's not all MoCo people anyway.

You're not playing devil's advocate when you start the thread yourself...And no one has really disagreed that FLW was a step below BASS prior to the BPT-exodus. Also, I expressed my thoughts clearly in my first post in the thread. BASS and FLW will continue to be what they always were. New guys will come in, some will leave - same as it's always been. Back in the early 2000's all the top talent went to FLW when they were throwing crazy sponsor money around (not too different than the BPT thing now) and many said BASS was done...They weren't. They aren't done now either and neither is FLW.

FLW Tour still pays over $100k for winning...And many of their top guys left for BPT. Why aren't you out there taking their money then? They're scrubs, right? I'm aware of who the BPT has and doesn't have and the flaws (my opinion) in their selection process, I'm not even really a fan of BPT or FLW...But I can't understand why someone with no qualifications is trying to downplay anglers that clearly have made a living in bass fishing. Troll on and enjoy.

I'm not really sure what your point is. Seems like it's just to put down a group of pro anglers for the tour they used to fish with...If that's the case, maybe posting up your own trophy case might be in order - To lend some credibility to your claims. It's 1 event and it's not even over yet. Several top tier anglers didn't make the cut at all, including KVD.

I wouldn't use it if I didn't think it was the most effective choice...Same goes for the other lines, they all have a place. More bites is tough to say...Though I did have an experience once that seemed to suggest the flouro made all the difference. Fishing Lake Erie, dropshotting in 40 to 60' using braid/leader. First day we did very well on that setup...Second day not so much. Ran into a buddy who said he swapped to flouro and started catching. I swapped my spools over to one with straight 8lb flouro right there on the water and sure enough, the bites all returned. Same exact rod, reel, bait, weight, etc in the same areas...Only difference was swapping my spool to one with flouro. Not sure what difference really was, I suspect it was the way the bait moved with the chop on the lake and the drifts we were doing...But it was definitely better.

Pre-BPT, I don't think many would argue that the BASS roster was better...But I will say this, the FLW tour had a considerably larger field (150+ vs 100-ish) and no matter who the anglers are, larger tournament are always harder to win. FLW being semi-open also means top local sticks could also be at each event trying to jackpot it. BASS had the better roster, but difficulty-wise I don't think the FLW was too far behind. I think many of the FLW pros that jumped to the Elites and now BPT are better for having fished through the FLW trail. I also think that some of the FLW pros that jumped to the Elites for 2019 will be standouts as well.

Most of MLF/BPT's 'conservation' points are pretty hollow...Which would normally be fine with me, that's their thing and they market it. But the constant drum-beat slamming traditional tournaments and other trails is really off putting to me. Sort of a "throwing stones from a glass house" type of thing to me. Some of the angler's comments on-air have surprised me...I've lost a tiny bit of respect for some of them, especially the ones that were laying it on thick, yet will be fishing in the Classic in just a couple months and using those evil livewells. I'm hoping they will tone it down after this first event...But if this is how they're going to operate all the time, my interest is going to fade.

Been pretty clunky for me and few buddies....I'm sure they'll get better, but cutting to commercials mid-catch is pretty annoying - And it's happened at least 3 times for me. Don't know his name yet (edit-Chad McKee), but the announcer on the far left, I think the college football guy, is great. I was skeptical of adding a non-fishing guy, but he's excellent and seems like a real professional. Don't think I'll ever get over 'every fish counts' and the cheap shots (IMO) on livewell usage though...But its fishing and it's live, so I'll watch.

The bigger 'issue' to me with the off days is the fact that when it gets down to the cut-day, one group will have been on the water the previous day and the other group will have been off. I'd much prefer to be on the water every day...I think it's advantageous to those anglers that were on the water the previous day. Yes, I know how things change and it may or may not be advantageous in every single circumstance...All I know is that if you gave me the general choice (like at start of season) of fishing the day before or not, I'm choosing to fish every time. The live shows are heavily discussed on forums like this one in pretty high detail...So even BASS/FLW guys could surf them in the evening to see what their competitors did that day. It would probably be easier in MLF/BPT just due to the fact they won't be on the water all day, but if the anglers on any tour want to see that info they won't have a hard time finding it.

But presumably you fish out of your boat now...And catch fish, right? If you've been boating a while and are comfortable running it and fishing, I'd suggest just jumping in head-first as a boater. Being a Co is great for general tournament experience, but all of the 'hard' things about being a boater can only be learned as a boater. So if your goal is to fish as a boater all the time, I'd just start now. When you fish tournaments, even local stuff, there will ALWAYS be guys with nicer boats and gear....I've got a pretty nice rig myself, yet there's still guys with nicer stuff. Use the gear you've got and have fun. One little 'secret', you'd be surprised how many guys with multi-thousand dollar electronics setups essentially only use them as temp/depth gauges...If you put in time to understand and maximize your basic units, you'd actually have a leg up on many anglers with better gear that don't do that. Now, if you're new to boating...The co-angler route is awesome and I'd recommend that to get started.

Needs Mid-Atlantic too...I'd settle for MD and VA just being in the same forum though! Most, if not all, MD anglers spend significant time in VA and one of the most popular bass fisheries in the country (Potomac) is the border between MD/VA. So we are split between SE and NE forums. I asked once about the mid-Atlantic, MD/VA thing, site staff doesn't want to change it...Which is fine, it's their site - And if they honored 1 request I'm sure there'd be a flood of others so I get why they want to keep it how it is.

Can't go wrong with those...But if it were me I'd take the faster, higher-HP boat and never look back since they are similar in price. Not all about top speed either...Higher HP has many advantages on a bass boat. Beyond that, I'd take a look at the front deck size and layout along with the storage layout....That's where you'll spend the most time, so make sure you like how it's laid out.

There was an 11.18 lbs bass caught in the tidal Potomac here in MD...Not FL strain. Not too long ago, 2008. There's a picture in the article, though it's not the best quality. Pretty cool story, he had to use his boat as an ice-breaker to get to his spot. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/new-maryland-record-bass

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