Logan S

Lot of towing for me... The Potomac is 30 minutes to an hour and half depending on the ramp I go to. Upper Bay, Conowingo, and Anna are all about an hour and half away. Deep Creek is 2.5 hours and Gaston, Kerr, and Smith Mountain are 3.5 to 4 hours. There's other places around here that I fish occasionally, but they're all 1 to 3 hours away too. There's a 500 acre electric-only lake that's only about 15 minutes away so I fish there quite a bit if I don't have a full day, especially summertime after work...Fish a couple tournaments there each year too. There's a few other electric-only lakes that are 30 to 45 mins away too, but I don't fish them very often. I've gone as far as FL to the south and Canada to the north, but obviously those aren't regular trips. I do have a medium sized creek behind my house with smallmouth in it, so I take advantage of that quite a bit too...

The crowds are fine...Most guys out there know how to fish in a crowd and not be total d-bags about it. There are handful of community holes that will have the big flotillas on them, but the rest of the river is fairly normal for a good/popular bass fishery. There's a reason those spots draw so many boats .

Nose-up means the transfer weights are probably stuck in the tail (casting position)....They are supposed to roll back to the front as soon as you move the bait. As for floating, the standard Vision 110 is not a suspending bait, it's a slow floater - Depending on water temp and your expectations it's normal slow float could appear 'fast'. If anything damaged the bait I would have guessed it would sink rather than float more, but strange things do happen. I'd see if you can get the transfer weights unstuck and check it again...Just be careful with tapping or hitting it, the bills are not the strongest.

I haven't used the Levante Perfect Pitch to compare to the XX version...But I have the Levante Shakeyhead and the XX Shakeyhead. There is a very noticeable difference and the XX is definitely worth the price to upgrade. The Levante is a nice rod on it's own, but you can't really compare it to the XX. It doesn't blow you away when compared to other rods in it's price range like the XX does. It just doesn't really stand out from it's competitors. I'm not planning on getting rid of mine, but I also don't plan on adding any more. Having said that, the current sale price of $170 does make them more attractive.

I love the original EMTF for 3/8 to 1/2 oz swingheads, so I'm interested in seeing how the Braillist turns out....But I think you'll want at least an F6 in MB rods to handle anything 3/4. The swinghead technique is more similar to cranking than flipping/pitching and it's generally done in open water, so you can get away with less powerful rods for the head weights. IE, I wouldn't use an EMTF for flipping or pitching 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs...But its darn near perfect for the same weight swingheads. I still think 3/4 will overpower the F5.5 Braillist though. The Perfect Pitch would do it well, although I prefer a longer rod for this technique. I've used it for heavier swingheads and it does fine, but I usually throw them on an X4 711 instead. In the current MB lineup, the Destroyer Valdiva looks like the best fit...But I haven't used it so I can't say for sure, it looks good on paper though.

The In-Fisherman Largemouth Bass book is great. I first bought and read it when I was about 13 or so and have re-read it several times over the years. Some stuff is a little dated, but the fundamentals are solid gold. Get the Smallmouth book too if you can. I keep both at/on/around my tackle bench for occasional or spontaneous references. I think it's a great book for beginners all the way thru to seasoned anglers...A solid foundation never goes out of style, which is why I keep them handy and not buried in storage .

It's super easy/quick to put them on standby these days...I sometimes do that to save power on tournament days (since livewells running all day), probably not necessary but easy enough to do. The backlight on the graphs use a lot of power, so just dimming the screen with everything else still running will save a good amount of power if you're worried about it but want to keep everything running. With a good battery and normal running around it's probably not going to matter either way. I like to turn off my transducers when fishing crowded community holes on the Potomac and Upper Bay...I don't need depth readings in 0 to 3 feet of water and a little stealth when there's a bunch of other boats around is never a bad thing, even if it's just a placebo (but I think it's actually real). Instead of depth I just use full screen GPS maps on the bow graph in those situations.

That's a toad, especially for Deep Creek...Nice catch!

Megabass warranty is to original owner only, so even if it's not expired you won't have it if buying used. If that's a major factor to you, then Dobyns might be the better choice from that standpoint. I'm a huge fan of the XX series and MB in general so I'd pick the Megabass...But both choices are good ones.

These are my thoughts as well even though I have the thru-hull setup. For navigation purposes, you're moving too fast to do anything if you find yourself suddenly in shallow water...Mapping is much more effective for staying out of trouble.

TotalScan has 2D sonar while the LSS-2 (Structure Scan) does not. LSS-2 requires a separate 2D transducer and TotalScan is an all-in-one package. If you are taking the transducer from the Elite up front and don't have another source for 2D on the stern (like a thru-hull), the TotalScan makes more sense I would think. You probably won't be able to mount the TotalScan in a place that will allow on-plane depth readings though...If that matters to you. I use the LSS-2 with a separate 2D thru-hull for my console HDS.

I think they are worth it, especially the Vision 110 series....If you're a color junkie like me, there's well over 100 different colors in the 110 series alone so you can always find something to match what you're looking for. Nothing is magic, but they are extremely well made products and I don't mind paying a little more for that. 'Worth it' is up to the individual...But if the question is "Does the quality/value match the price tag?"..IMO the answer is definitely yes. This video is pretty cool in showing how their baits are still hand assembled, QC'd, painted, etc...I have no connection to MB, just a guy that likes their stuff.

Boats with more expensive retail prices will have more expensive used prices...Your example is not really apples to apples. A new Tracker 175 might be 18k...But a new 190 might be 25k and a new Nitro Z20 might be 55k. Check the prices of used 175's and I'd bet the depreciation is the same or similar percentage wise. FWIW, there is a Blue Book for boats just like for cars...The accessories portion of it is a little funky, but the basic info is enough to get a good estimate.

This Spro has hauled in quite a few bass...Instant confidence when the frog rod comes out of the locker thanks to this guy.

Anna will be great in April, late April will almost certainly have the fish spawning. Anna can be challenging but that time should be the most lenient on you. Recreational traffic isn't an issue in April unless it happens to be a crazy warm weekend day...Bassboat traffic will be heavy though. I'll be there the weekend of the 21st for a tournament . Uplake, midlake, and downlake are fairly different from each other and fishing is often noticeably different in each section (like 3 lakes in 1 almost). Stripers and hybrid-stripers are also plentiful if that interests you. Deep Creek will probably be fairly cold, the spawn usually is around Memorial Day up there so unless we have really warm spring expect prespawn fishing and cool/cold water temps. DCL is a cold mountain lake and the weather can be very unpredictable, it could be beautiful but it could just as easily be downright nasty...DCL has smallmouth so that might be a deciding factor for you. There's also a nice population of walleye, perch, pike, and pickerel so you tend to get a good amount of bites on a given day - They just won't all be bass. DCL is more of a numbers lake, larger bass are in the lake for sure but are fairly rare. Most of the boat docks won't be in the lake yet, FYI. If you want spawning, sight fishing, and/or shallow largemouth I'd pick Anna. If you want prespawn fishing, smallmouth, and/or a side of multi-species I'd pick Deep Creek. Anna is much bigger than Deep Creek, probably 5 times the size, if that matters to you. Both have less than stellar reputations for bass fishing at times, but neither are really that bad in reality...I actually think both are great and love fishing both, the time of year is definitely in your favor too. Bad weather can strike either, but if you want a safer bet weather-wise it would be Anna.

You guys know that there is a qualification path to both the Classic and Elites that doesn't include the BASS Opens directly right? It also has a footprint out west with a regional on Clear Lake, CA. The Nation path will also qualify some anglers with full rides to an Open Series (including a boat), which in turn can lead to Classic/Elite qualification. No other sport has as many ways for a 'regular guy' to make it big and BASS does more than any other organization to make that happen (IMO). Seriously, what more can BASS do to provide a pathway to being a professional fisherman? Yes, the footprint out west is smaller than what it is in the eastern and central regions...But it does exist. FLW has the Costa Western Series and there are other western tours like WON where a western angler can make a name for themselves outside of BASS - And try to leverage that into sponsorship help in order to make the Opens work if they want to. The one constant in all of this is that it takes time, money, and skill...There is no way around any of those no matter where you live and what path you want to take. The BASS Open Series is the semi-pro trail and primary qualification method to the Elites, it's supposed to be hard. The Nation path is there for the grassroots anglers to still have a shot - Without the larger commitment that is required in the Opens.

I don't think Helix units share mapping over ethernet, so if you want mapping on all three units you'll need individual map chips for each one. The only HB units that share mapping data are the Onix series (and maybe new Solix?)...At least to the best of my knowledge. I doubt you'd need 3 though, since you should only need 1 of the console units to have a map chip. At most you'd need 2 (1 console, 1 bow). The built in base map might be good enough for you on the bow unit also...So if it were me, I'd start with 1 and only add a second for the bow if I felt I needed it. I was a HB user up until this year and that's what I did for my setup (map chip in console, base maps for bow, linked via ethernet to share other data).

The Elite field size is actually bigger this year than in several previous years (maybe ever), so they didn't narrow it.... They changed the Opens format for 2018, but even under the previous format there still wasn't anything out west in terms of qualification to the Elite Series (excluding the 1 spot for the Nation, which could be a western angler)...So it's not like they took anything away from western anglers that existed previously. It sucks for guys out west no doubt, but even if there was a western qualification route an angler that makes it would still need to travel across the country to compete in the Elites....So the travel is going to be a factor regardless.

I didn't plan it this way, but there's just enough silver in my Skeeter to match my truck...I'm OK with it . For me, the color I want on a boat/truck is the one that's got the best deal. Lucky coincidence that both look darn good together (IMO of course ). Speaking only for myself, it's not anything secret or crazy...Work hard, plan, and make it happen. I've owned bassboats since I was 15 and all were the same process. It required discipline, patience, and sacrifice, especially when I was much younger. Nice thing about bass fishing is that you can get in where you fit in, the fish don't know the model/year of your rig. I caught a lot of fish and won a lot of tournaments in boats that were far from the latest and greatest, competing against guys with those latest and greatest rigs. IMO wraps are not very attractive and I don't want the added attention of 'the guy with the wrapped boat'. Wraps can protect the finish underneath, but over time the knicks, scrapes, scratches, etc in the wrap itself will begin to be noticeable. I'd rather just keep the boat clean, but I'm also not one to go crazy matching the colors.

Retie when necessary...Sometimes that means after every fish, sometimes after a few fish, sometimes without even catching a fish at all. I'm not sure why anyone would try to assign a rigid number or schedule to it.

It's just a braided steel cable with soft rubber coating attached to the colored nylon rope pieces. There's a small metal eye on the end that clips onto the main line after looping thru the fish. The cable length is about 10". The rope is just buoyant enough to stay near the top of the well, so it doesn't 'pull' on the fish upwards at all....Which is another issue some might not realize with weaker or smaller fish. You can also use a balance beam very quickly since the cable loop can just by slipped right on the beam. Overall, it's a very non-intrusive tag. I'm glad to hear people use the bags with success...I personally don't see them as helping me since I've got my system dialed in, but more options are always good. This is a very new development and manufacturers have not really caught up to it yet. I'm sure we'll see some great innovation on non-piercing tags and other ideas (like the bags) now that there is an actual demand for them. Here is what it looks like on the fish. Sorry to side track from the Glory Bags!

I recarpeted my 20' Stratos a couple years ago. It's relatively easy skill-wise but it's definitely hard work and time consuming. Remove every lid or panel that can come off the boat, it's a lot easier to work with off the boat. Getting the old glue off can be a pain, you can use solvents but I found that even with chemicals there's still a lot of physical scraping to do. Save the old carpet pieces if you can so you can use them as a template for the new pieces. Make sure you cut all the new pieces from the same direction (grain) otherwise the sections will appear different. I used DAP Weldwood Contact Cement for glue and was very happy with the result. I no longer have the boat, but after 3 full seasons on it there were no issues with the glue failing or carpet coming up. I'm sure it will last many more years for the new owner too. Just be aware that it sets instantly so you have to be sure of your placement! It's a step process for the lids, gluing the flat main part and setting it, then gluing the sides and 'flaps' of carpet before clamping it all down for the full set. You'll want to have lots of clamps and furring strips along with some heavy weights (I used lead dive weights) for working with the compartments and glue. Good time to do a deep clean with all the lids/decking off too... If you mess up the grain of the carpet, you'll be able to notice it...Like I did here . It faded enough to not be noticeable after a season of use. All in all, it's a big job...But everything I heard and was quoted was $1000+ for a professional shop to do this, I got it done for about $350 total (carpet, glue, trim stripping, misc hardware) and a couple full days of working so I'm glad I did it on my own.

I haven't used the bags so feel free to stop reading now if you are dead set on them... We've been dealing with the non-puncture tag rule on the Potomac and Bay for a couple seasons now. I've actually been using the gill-loop style tags for about 10 years anyway so I was ahead of the game. Just as fast as normal tags and no big clips to blocks the fish's face/mouth. They don't ever come off either which is a big complaint about the clips. It's essentially the same thing as what you were doing before with your clips only its a soft wire. IMO, this is the best style tag but unfortunately very few are available commercially. Mine are no longer made, but they should be easy enough to DIY, which is what I plan on doing if these ever break or fail. I've read about the bags, but I just can't see that being a better solution...Open to being proven wrong though, I'll just need to see it first hand.

My daughter is too young to take out fishing for real yet...But she loves hanging out in the boat while I rig tackle and stuff. She loves all things related to fish and water so I'm hopeful that she will enjoy fishing, we'll probably start going on short trips in the boat this season.

Largemouth I'm not sure on, biggest one I weighed was 5-11 (right side in pic) but I got one that I think might have been bigger but I didn't weigh it since it was a practice day (left side in pic, longer and bigger head - but spawned out). The 5-11 was caught flipping a Rage Bug into log jams and the unknown LM was on a Shakeyhead/Trickworm skipped under a dock. Smallmouth is also unknown weight since it was also a practice day, but it was easily my biggest SM of the year. Caught on a Pointer 65 and 6lb line . Spotted bass is yet again unknown even though it was on a tournament day...I just had a 4lb LM that day also so I never bothered to weigh the spots individually. I probably had 5 or 6 spots of similar size to this one also on the same trip...Spots are only found in 1 lake that I fish on a regular basis and they are relatively new to that lake as well. Big spots all came on a Vision 110. I typically only weigh single fish if they are the lunker of a tournament bag. I have a good idea of what the unknown fish weigh but no reason to post a guess .