Logan S

Put it in perspective...Big events like the Basscat Owners or Triton Owners tournaments on this side of the country pump out 350+ boats routinely. 207 is big for western standards but still pretty normal if it were in the central/southern/eastern regions of the country. Not trying to argue about it or anything...But I don't think people would disagree that the physical number of bass anglers out west is lower than it is in the rest of the country. I'd be happy to be proven wrong in the future though.

And it only has 100 boats fishing...Compared to 200+ at some other Costa events. We just had a Costa series here on the Potomac that had 160+ at one of the toughest times of the year. The Costa is the only big national trail out there and they still only draw 100 boats for Clear Lake, one of the top fisheries in the nation. A full field for Costa/Opens is usually 150 boats, the Western series never even got within 20 boats of hitting that number in any of the 3 events. It sucks for guys out west, but the numbers just aren't there. It's unlikely BASS would put an Opens series out there to compete with the Costas for the limited market.

All tournaments are a test of angling ability...The Opens are supposed to be a qualification route to the Elite Series. The old format was qualifying many anglers who either did not accept the invitation in the first place, or did accept and washed out after the 1st year (or before the end of the 1st year). This was apparently an issue for BASS so they changed the format slightly in hopes of increasing the chances for recruiting more accomplished anglers into the Elites. It makes sense to me and as someone that hopes to fish them in the future I actually like the new format. One thing I hope they do is keep some variety in the schedule...The Opens for the past several years have essentially been on the same locations at the same times. 'Regular' guys hoping to fish the classic still have the Federation route, which IMO has always been the more logical choice since the bulk of the events you fish on that path will be on your local waters. Even Co-anglers have qualified for the Classic from the Federation. I know I'm in the minority on this - But I don't believe money to be as big of a limiting factor as most others seem to. Does independent wealth make it easier? Of course...But there are plenty of pros on tour that got there from modest beginnings, just look at recent example like Palaniuk or Swindle. If an angler truly has the skill AND desire to make it to the top, they will find a way to make it work. There is no age limit, you can have a 5 or 10 year plan to give you time to save your money. I think the reason so many point to money is the RISK in trying it....It's really not about having the money, it's about the consequences if you bet on yourself and don't make it. A wealthy person could 'afford' to lose it, so it's easier on them. I would bet that for every Elite angler that was independently wealthy before qualifying, you could find an angler from a modest background that make it through hard work and planning - I'd actually argue there are more Elite anglers in the second category than the first. It seems most people don't like it becasue they can't try to 'jackpot' an Open anymore...Or at least can't do it as easily. I'm pretty sure that was one of the main reasons for the change.

Even though spinning reels traditionally have 'lower' gear ratios their actual speed is usually faster than average casting reels. Example...Stradic Ci4 2500 has a ratio of 6.0 but does 34 IPT, compared to a Metanium XG which had an 8.5 ratio and does 35 IPT - So the standard spinning reel is just as fast as one of the fastest casting reels on the market. Ratio is just a number, IPT is the real metric. But then again, most spinning techniques are moved with the rod and not reel anyway.... I generally user faster reels for most things, but it's really just about function to me...I just like using the best tool for the job. Example...Early in the year I use a 6.2 for chatterbaits on the river becasue the grass is not very thick, however as the year goes on and it gets thicker I swap to a 7.0 because I have to reel too fast with the 6.2 to keep it at the level I want. Is it a requirement? No, but it's a lot easier to control the bait and actually 'fish' when I'm not forced to reel like a mad man to keep the bait where it needs to be. I don't like limiting the tools available to me, no sense in discounting anything whether it's old school or modern.

You don't catch fish with the warranty/replacement/insurance program.....But if the insurance policy is that important to you, go with St Croix. It's not like either choice is a dud. Personally? I'd take the XX over any St Croix rod series. It's a better rod than LTB in its price point and it's very close to the Legend Elite/Extreme but $100ish less in cost.

Some 4-blades will have better holeshot...But 50hp on a an 18' glass bass boat is underpowered and your mechanic is probably right that a different prop won't help simply becasue the horsepower isn't there to make enough of a difference. The blade configuration is only one aspect too...Pitch, diameter, and venting are all big factors on the holeshot. Different props have different combinations of these attributes so it's not just 3-blade vs 4-blade.

Hasn't burst into flames yet...

I'm sure we can debate how big each circle should be...I'm sure the Gear/Equipment circle will spark some discussion ...But I made this to be easy to read so it's not 'to scale'. Although I personally believe Gear/Equipment is actually a very important factor when applied appropriately. (I literally made this in 2 minutes, don't put any thought into the physical size of each circle in this image ) Now, for actual steps to take. I would recommend reading the In-Fisherman books on Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass, they will seem a little dated compared to what you might see online these days but the information is as good as it gets. I read both as a young angler and re-read them from time to time as refreshers. I would also suggest joining a bass club and fishing some tournaments. Even if the tournament side of bass fishing isn't as interesting to you, 1 season in a local club would be a literal crash course in bass fishing.

The Curado DC exists already in Japan as the new Scorpion DC. You can buy one right now for $250 plus shipping, should be $275ish or less to your door in 3 or 4 business days. I don't think you'll see upgraded Citica's, but you can get a Castias MGL from Japan for $140ish. It's not DC or 50/70 sized, but it might fit your 'budget w/performance-spool' need. I know they aren't USDM models, but the buying process from Japan is so easy now that they might as well be. USDM models would be more expensive over here anyway since the exchange rate is still in our favor....You can actually buy USDM model reels from Japan and even with shipping they're cheaper than the US retail price (just as an example, Chronarch MGL is $230 vs the $280 US retail).

They just didn't sell in the US if I had to guess. I think the fact that JDM reels are now very easily ordered from Japan is also cutting into the US DC reel prospects...Shimano probably realizes that most of the guys that want a DC reel are just getting them from Japan right now and not waiting/wishing for a US model. When the previous model Exsence DC was available for $250ish it was one of the best values out there...I still kick myself for not picking up a few more. But the exchange rate helped with that big time so it wasn't really a 'fair' comparison to other US reels in that price point I do agree that the Tatula line is cutting into Citica/Curado sales. I'm a Shimano guy, but at the price point I'd pick Tatula over Curado....Daiwa hit a home run with that line of reels. A Curado DC would be too expensive to go up against the Tatula though, it would be competing with the Zillion at that point...But the Chronarch series is already there and would actually be cheaper (most likely) than a Curado DC. Would be awesome if we did get a US DC reel series, but I doubt it will happen.

Every few years one of the commercial fisherman will catch one in the Potomac and other tidal rivers around here...I'm sure they are in there fairly regularly, we just don't see them. We see saltwater species while bass fishing in the summertime every year, even more if its a year light on rain. If there are no physical barriers on a warm-water river connected to the ocean it's a pretty good bet that Bull Sharks will visit from time to time. I'm pretty skeptical of Bull Sharks in Lake Michigan though, the amount of physical barriers and the fact that for most of the year it's too cold for them makes it seem like more of an urban legend to me - But stranger things have happened I suppose.

My co-angler at the last tournament snapped this sunrise pic as we were running upriver after launch on the Potomac. Practicing for the next tournament, panorama pic taken from the middle of the Susquehanna Flats on the Upper Chesapeake.

We hold a few tournaments a year on a 500 acre electric-only lake here in MD - And it's crowded with 20 tournament boats and then all the other fisherman and lake users. We request to hold our tournaments there and agree to park our truck/trailers in the overflow parking so as not to crowd out other park users. I can't imagine 35-40 tournament boats and this lake is 200 acres larger than yours. I would guess the reason for the limit has more to do with overcrowding the other lake users than it does with fishing. Stuff like this doesn't come up out of the blue, it's likely they got complaints and had to 'do something'. I'm usually against this sort of thing, but it does seem to be at least partially justified. Only my opinion though.

2018 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule came out yesterday....They'll be coming back to MD to fish the Upper Bay. July 26-29, 2018. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/bassmaster-elite-series-2018-slate-features-exciting-mix-new-and-familiar-fisheries

Quality swinging football heads are widely available for $2 to $3 each from TW and other retailers...Probably even cheaper if you hunt around, wait for sales, or pour your own. Yes, I'm sure a single hook and whatever rig you add to it will be cheaper, but you're talking dollar/cent margins, not like a $20 to $1 difference. IMO, if you're intending to use the actual 'Biffle-style' technique, you actually do need to use one of the swinging football heads to get the best action, deflection, and snag-resistance. But if your system is working, keep on rockin'

I'm a fan of the XX Tour Versatile for things like jigs, texas-rigs, etc...It doesn't get as much love as the Perfect Pitch, EMTF, or DSR - But it's a great rod and if 7' is a hard length limit for you it might be your best bet. It's a heavy-powered stick, but it does really well on the lighter end of its range. The XX Spinnerbait Special is also a great rod and not just for moving baits - But between the 2 I'd pick the Tour Versatile.

You should be fine. The salt content in the Sassafras is typically barely above freshwater levels. I've fished with my Cores, which are magnesium-framed, on the Potomac, Upper Bay (including the Sass), and Eastern Shore rivers for years with no issues and all these waterways have saltwater influence of varying degrees. Generally speaking, you don't start seeing a noticeable shift to saltier water until you get south of the Sassafras. It all varies month to month and year to year. The 'salt-line' is usually further north in the summer. Keep an eye on your boat wake, if it starts to get frothy you are getting into saltier water - the more froth, the saltier the water. I'm sure you could find a salinity map of the bay if you searched around google....But I wouldn't worry too much unless you go south of the Sass. This all assuming the MGL has similar tolerances to saltwater as the Core did/does.

No Spots in SML, at least that I've ever caught or heard about. Largemouth also far outnumber smallmouth, but there are plenty of smallies to catch for sure. Claytor Lake in SW VA (close-ish to SML) does have LM, SM, and Spots. Lake Gaston has a growing population of spotted bass, enough to actually target them now. Even though you'll catch a smallie every now and then at Gaston, I wouldn't say it's a 'fishable' population of them....So it's really just LM/Spots I think Lake Jocassee in western SC might be your best bet...I'm reasonably sure there are fishable populations of all 3 species, but no first hand knowledge. Keowee might be an option too, but not sure if smallies are as numerous.

You just need to practice more. Trilene 100% is a quality line and 12lb is not going to be terribly thick so it's a good line to start on. Mono and braid handle much better than flourocarbon, so they can mask a lot of little casting errors and/or deficiencies...It's not a knock on your skills, it just is what it is. If all you've ever used is mono or braid, you need to take a little time and re-teach yourself how to cast. If you're not hard-headed about it, it can probably be done in one sitting assuming you already a capable caster. Start with short pitches, move up to medium easy casts, and keep going - Soon you'll be flinging it around just like you always were with mono/braid. People are quick to recommend $40+ spools of line and sprays...While I'm sure they help, it's not necessary if you put a little bit of time in to learn how to cast flouro.

Many tournament trails use decimals instead of lb-oz becasue it decreases the likelihood of a tie, since you are more precise with the weight. Our trail still uses lb-oz becasue that little bit of 'gray' area helps to negate the tiny things like more/less water in weigh bag and other similar small details. I'd hate to lose a tournament by 0.01 lbs, that's like a few extra drops of a water in the weigh bag. Doesn't bother me outside of a tournament scenario.

Every now and then I'll have a day on the Potomac where the pattern seems to be putting your frog near the cheesy clumps...I've always thought it provided just a little more shade under the mat on those super hot/bright days so the fish sit underneath. Plenty of other times where you have to find clean mats to fish though. In general, I don't really like to be around it if I can help it...But I won't leave if it's there like I usually do with the black algae.

Panorama of a storm approaching at Smith Mountain Lake from my last tournament...Never got on any quality fish so this is my only 'good' photo from the trip . I did catch one on this point just before the downpour started though.

It's going to be hard to do all of that with one rod....I wouldn't want to make a habit out of trying to get fish out of pads or other heavy stuff with the F5 rods...But I also wouldn't want to throw senkos, light spinnerbaits, 1/2oz traps, etc on the F6 or F7 rods. There's not really a substitute for a powerful rod, if you need it you need it...But heavy powered rods are not as versatile when it comes to lighter or moving baits. I can't really make a recommendation since I would use multiple rods for all that stuff. ...and to get us back on track, heres some MB/Shimano for you . Black Jungle Deep Cranking w/Citica 200E that I swapped 5:1 gears into. Was swapping hooks on some FF Shads.

If it were me, both the TV and PP would be too powerful for what you're wanting to do...General 'heavy' stuff to me would be frogs, jigs, pitching, flipping, big spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc... You may be happier with the DSR, SS, or EMTF as those are more of a MH or 'light' MH. Just my take on it, I own all of the rods mentioned here and if I had to pick one for what you just described it would be the DSR....But any of the 3 alternatives I mentioned would do well.

I've got 2, love them...The TV is very similar to the Perfect Pitch though and I actually think the PP is more versatile for general heavy applications. I own most of the rods in the XX lineup and ironically I find the TV to actually not be that versatile when compared to other rods in the series, in spite of it's name. My TV's are primarily casting/skipping jig rods. I'll use them for some other stuff here and there...But 90% of the time they are on the deck with a 3/8 and a 5/8 jig tied on. Ask away, you've got a few of us here on the hook now .