Logan S

I frequently catch spawning bass in July and sometimes August on the Potomac and Bay. The main spawning time around here is April and May. My theory is that many wait until the grass is tall/thick enough to give current breaks from the tides. These are flat areas that would be unprotected earlier in the year. Caught a couple spawners just last weekend on the Bay out on the flats actually... Don't think this is the situation you have, but just an anecdote that shows all bass don't exactly 'go by the book'.

Yea I was mostly joking ...I do have a "I need to have everything available to me" type of mentality when it comes to rods/reels though. All of the places I fish I could get by with a 7' M/F spinning rig with 10lb braid (if leaders are allowed, if not I'd make it 8lb FC). I agree picking 1 is easier than a couple...Because you just go with the most utilitarian or universal thing you have.

Sort of related to the topic...But in one of the early BASS Classics Stren was the 'official line of the Classic' and all the competitors used the same line. I can't play along with the scenario...I go crazy enough trying to slim down to 18 or 20 rods in the boat most of the time so getting to 1 would probably make my head explode ?.

I don't have my facts wrong. They encourage anglers to kill snakeheads even if they decide not to keep them (IE - they should be killed but it's not required) with an added caveat that if you are going to keep one, it must be dead.

One thing about this statement.... MD and VA DNR's don't say that you can kill them, they both say that you SHOULD kill them. It might seem like semantics, but that distinction it pretty important when determining the 'official' stance on the fish by authorities. They don't want them in the ecosystem.

If you kill it and chuck it...It'll become a meal for a turtle, eagle, osprey, buzzard or something else within hours. No need to get philosophical about it, the river wastes nothing. I think it's important to realize that the Potomac is a huge ecosystem that's very different from other bass fisheries...It gets influxes of predator and prey species from the bay/saltwater constantly so a new predator like the snakehead is probably not THAT big of a deal in the big picture....BUT, since the snakehead guys seem to be hellbent on illegally stocking them in every other waterway in the area they COULD and probably will end up in a place where they do real damage to the fishery. Black Hill (Little Seneca) comes to mind as one such place where there could be a negative impact and they were just recently found there. If people don't want to kill them on the Potomac that's their call, I think everyone agrees that they aren't going anywhere at this point...But any snakehead caught outside the Potomac should be killed immediately IMO.

That's exactly what his post said....

The 3 major inflow creeks to BH all have dykes and good amounts of grass that filter out the water pretty well...It's rare the 'main' lake areas dirty up. There were couple seasons where construction runoff killed most of the grass and it stayed pretty stained but aside from that it's generally about as clear of a lake as you'll find even in heavy rains.

30 would be tough if you wanted to keep them individually in a 3700 size...The space just isn't there to give each one a slot Check out the Plano FTO boxes. They don't store baits individually, but they don't rub or bang against each other. The hooks go into the slots so you get the rubber-band effect without having to use rubber bands. They're nice boxes - Hold a decent amount of baits and prevent tangles.

I use an alternative solution for your problem...Just pack the boxes so full that moving around and banging against each other is impossible . Seriously though, the Bass Mafia Coffin is good for what you want to do since it has so many divider options. I'd look at the Plano FTO boxes for this too. I used to use Coffins for my hardbaits but I got rid of them because the outside dimensions are bigger but the inside dimensions are smaller compared to normal 3700's...So they don't fit in most 3700 slots (like the ones in my boat) but hold less tackle. I still think the Coffin is the best option for terminal tackle though and still use one for that.

Around here everyone calls that a Rock Bass, including MD DNR. I've also heard it referred to as Red Eye, Goggle Eye, and Warmouth. I've also seen/heard completely different fish referred to as all of those names. Sunfish/Panfish have lots of different regional names and nicknames.

This is an excellent answer to the question...I was going to write something similar but there's no way I would have hit the nail on the head as good as this. Well said.

We'll just agree to disagree...That statement by FLW seems pretty accurate to me, since the path to the pro tours is through the boater side of the Open tours. I don't see it as negative toward co-anglers at all. Comparing 'skill' in a tournament setting between boaters and co-anglers is sort of an apples/oranges scenario. Both sides face challenges that the other guy doesn't on tournament day. Different skill sets IMO.

What about a casting rod with spiral wrapped guides? Ultimate sensitivity? ?

No one is saying that and this change by FLW doesn't imply that in any way. I never hear people claim that about all co-anglers...Even among the most grumpy and grizzled boaters I know.

I doubt that, if it hurt their bottom line they probably wouldn't do it...The Marshal fee will likely be the same or similar to the co-angler entry fees and all the Marshals will still be booking rooms and all that other stuff. They also won't have to pay out winnings to the co-angler field. The money aspect is probably a wash for FLW. I don't think a professional level tour should have co-anglers, so to me this is a good move for FLW. BASS Opens and FLW Costa are still high-level tours for co-anglers to compete in. I think the prize stuff is kind of cool. I wouldn't really be interested in marshaling for FLW normally, but with that added I might do it...It's obviously like a raffle or lottery, but it's enough to make me think about doing it if they come to a local spot.

My boat ownership history from about 13 years old til now...AKA the history of my spending habits for more than half my life ?. 12' hand-me-down aluminum v-hull that was probably 40 years old, w/electric motors. 17' Tracker TX17 w/ 25hp Mercury 20' Stratos 20SS w/200HP Ficht, followed by a 200HP ETEC when the Ficht blew up. 21' Skeeter ZX250 w/250HP Yamaha SHO. (Current)

I was in KVD's boat and asked him about it...He didn't give me a sales pitch, he just turned it on and showed me. He didn't have it on because he said it didn't really apply to how he was currently fishing, but he turned it on and within minutes a school of baitfish had appeared and was circling around and following the boat. He explained that in shallow grassy water (what he was in at the time) it's not as valuable. It's true strength is in a more traditional shad lake (like a typical reservoir). It can get the shad schools moving around which gets the bass moving around. I don't own one, but based on that quick demo and explanation I can see it's merits. I might add one in the future. Most pro boats have one installed, including lot's of guys that don't promote them...That tells me something too.

Lots of people throwing 'what-if' scenarios around here that obviously wouldn't apply to the situation originally described. Situations like this where 2 shorelines are within casting range (canal, cove, cut, etc) are tricky on the boater/co-angler dynamic for all the reasons you see in here... Lots of people also assuming the boater picked the 'wrong side' and was dumb for doing so...Maybe that's true and maybe it's not, but I can easily think of several reasons someone might do that intentionally which would make perfect sense. Most obvious one is that he simply wanted to work that good side in a specific direction for whatever reason...But he fished his way in on the bad side before turning around for the sake of thoroughness. I do that or similar things fairly often, usually when the wind is blowing into the cove/cut/canal I'm targeting but sometimes for no other reason than personal preference on that particular spot.

Daily occurrence on some lakes around here. Most of them are oblivious to the fact that they are in the way or being rude so I typically just let them pass. I can't imagine ever thinking it'd be a good idea to get between a fisherman and his target - you know with the hooks and all...But it seems that common sense isn't as common as you'd think. Kayaks on the boat ramp is what really gets me boiling though. It's impressive how a single person in a kayak and car can manage to block a 3-lane boat ramp for 30 minutes. If a group of them comes in, forget it, might as well go back out on the lake for an hour. If you ever mention anything to them, even a friendly manner, you're just the jerk fisherman to them. Oh well...Such is life at the boat ramp during the summer months.

Was only a matter of time...I really hope that authorities somehow catch some of the people transplanting them and make an example out of them. I don't think they'll poison BH to get rid of them, its big enough that it would probably be cost-prohibitive to do so.

Umm...Yea. Unless you're paying me to guide you or we're out fun fishing, I'm getting first crack at the water we fish in a draw tournament. FWIW, I don't cry when my backseater catches fish, I enjoy it. I've already had 2 co's win the co-angler division of tournaments in my boat this year. I was happy for them and we had a great time on the water.

I don't worry about console-lines or windows...I just tell my co's to use common sense and not skip ahead of me. This means they have the freedom to cast forward when we're moving or fan cast off the back if fishing open water. Seems to work out fine for me and the co-angler's I've drawn. Out of several hundred tournaments I can count the number of poor co-angler experiences on one hand. The situation you described would fall into the 'skipping ahead' category IMO, especially since he told you he was planning on looping around. Like I said originally, he probably could have explained it better...Good news is that it seems to be water under the bridge and not a big deal on the water.

I've actually done that...Asked my co-angler to please not mess with a fish that I missed or am coming back to for whatever reason (like a bedding fish). Flame-on ?. None had issues with it BTW... You asked a question and I answered, sorry you don't like my take on it.

He told you his plan, what you did was effectively the same as casting in front of him -- You hit a target he planned to hit. Sorry, gotta side with boater here. There's some grey area in that he could have told you more specifically, but then again you also could have asked him first... He could have avoided this by fishing both sides at once on the way in...But then he might have been labeled as a 'backseater' ? No-win situation for him.