Logan S

This is the most accurate statement in the thread. And on the topic of screen/tech restrictions...I think it's a self-limiting issue. There's only so much real estate available on the bow and console to cram screens in and guys are maxing out right now. Also, when FFS was limited to only Garmin... having that extra 3rd screen up front was 'necessary' for anyone that didn't run a Garmin ecosystem. Now that all 3 major brands have a version of FFS it's not really needed anymore and IMO is overkill. I bet you actually start seeing the pros start going back to 2+2 again instead of the 5 unit setups. It's just not worth the added expense, management, power draw, etc. I think the whole for/against argument around FFS is like some of the other 'hot button' topics in bass fishing, in that it exists 1000% more on the internet than it does in real life. When you show up to a tournament, no one cares who has what on their boat...They just show up and fish. In the big picture of tournament bass fishing (at any level), the expense of adding FFS is really not THAT much. So anyone that truly believes they are being held back by not having it yet should just bite the bullet and invest in it...and be ready to realize it ain't as magic as you thought it was .

If it's stuck back there and you do happen to free it up, it's likely to just get stuck again. The plastic can swell if they get really hot and it probably swelled in that channel for the weight transfer causing it to get stuck in the first place. If so, it'll probably just get stuck again and again. I had one do this to me, I could smack it back into place, but it'd get re-stuck every 2 or 3 casts. It's a freebie you found floating...Would be cool if it worked out, but I wouldn't put the effort into it. Karma questions aside, MB might replace it - but if there's rust inside they might deny the claim (they are all fisherman too, they will probably know a found lure when they see it). How much is your time and effort worth? Just go grab a new one if you are deadset on having one. Then you can pick your own color and know that the hooks are the right ones .

It's supposed to sit nose-down diagonally (I guess at like 45 degrees?) when 'in-action'. After a cast, when the weights are in the tail from the cast, it will sit nose-up almost vertical...But as soon as you start moving the bait the weights will roll into the correct position and it will sit nose-down as it's supposed to. Sometimes the weights can get stuck in the tail causing it to sit nose up all the time...A good tap or two will unfreeze them (if not, send it back to MB for a replacement). There are no magnets in a Vision 110. The weights roll back and forth with gravity. The Vision 110 has 2 ball bearings for the weight transfer, not 1. I don't know of a 110 off the top of my head with a single ball for weigh transfer...Jr, +1, and FX are all two, the ITO Shiner is 3. #6 Katsuge Oubarbs are the direct replacement for a standard 110. #5 G-Finesse have been said to be a very good alternative...However I prefer the factory outbarbs.

I was actually there last Sunday as well, I think I saw your boat out there (not to many out). I was solo in a black Skeeter. Was my once a year day trip to the hotside. I had tons of followers on FFS but nothing ever committed so I quit....Went up shallow and sight fished for cruisers and did pretty well. Nothing huge, but lots of a fish if you could hit them with a cast before they saw you. Only reason I have 2 in hand is because I saw both at the same time - caught one, flipped it in the boat and then picked up another rod and fired at the second fish and caught him too .

For Pointer 65's specifically - #8 round bend lightwire trebles, I prefer VMC for the brand. I personally don't like EWG's or short-shanks on jerkbaits, but others do. #6's and #4s will cover probably 75% of your typical hardbaits. Add in some #2's for the larger baits and #8's for the smaller ones and you'll have 99% of it covered. If you use short-shank EWG's you can usually go up by 1 size on most baits if you wanted a little more hook...But a lot of it is preference. EWG's scratch the bait a little more and as a result, the points dull a little faster (just my experience/opinion).

For all the blunders MLF made during the transition to BPT....They really nailed their marketing campaign against traditional livewell tournaments and their fake fish care stuff. It's wild to see it still working this well even after MLF itself abandoned it. On to culling...In general and in the long run you save a lot of time by eyeballing it. MOST of the time, it's easy to tell. You just know which fish is your smallest and then cull that one when you upgrade so no need to waste time. If you've made a few culls, sometimes it helps to 'reset' and go thru your fish real quick to confirm the smallest. To do that, I throw all 5 into my net in the bottom of the boat and then pull out the obviously bigger fish leaving the smallest 2. If they're close, I'll balance beam them real quick and then I'll know which fish is my smallest again and be ready to fish again. If I'm catching all the same size fish and it's not obvious which is the smallest, I still just livewell them immediately like normal and then when I get a limit I do the same 'reset' that I described above...but I balance beam all of them, leaving the lighter fish on the beam and the heavier fish goes in the well...Whichever is left at the end is my smallest. Even doing all the fish like this, it's done in a minute or less and I'm back to fishing. I have a scale in my boat but the only time it gets used is if I want to weigh a big fish just for the heck of it...It doesn't come out during a tournament because the fish will get weighed on the tournament scale .

Hitting the lake this weekend so finally rigged some of my builds up for real... I finished my jig rod on the PB701MHF, its on the deck rigged up in the pic. I think I'll try to strip and redo the label on the shallow crank rods at some point to fit in closer with my personal style for my rods (it was one of my firsts). I've also got 2 more drying right now that I'll throw in the boat to test out. Both MHX Mag Bass models...An MB873 that will get chatterbait duty. I've seen elsewhere this blank reported to have an IP of around 750g but when I measured mine it came out to 825g...And I'm actually happy about that since I like a heavier power rod for bladed jigs. The other is an MB842 that I trimmed to 6'9" for poppers...But I'll be a while before topwater time for me so I'll fling it around this weekend with some flukes or swimbaits. I think I've turned a corner on my labels too, I tried using color preserver to seal it before the finish and it turned out really well without any fuss. I think I need to build at least one more spinning rod before April to really be set for the season and I'm leaning toward another PB701MLF. Been a busy winter getting into this...When I decided to start doing this I sold off 12 or 13 of my Megabass rods to fund the startup and first set of rods and I've just about burnt through that .

This thread is/was about a fairly specific situation - Boaters and Co-Anglers fishing in a tournament together. 2 people in a canoe is (or people just out fishing together in general in any boat) is an apples vs oranges comparison. Skipping into reeds is effective because the line angle stays low and doesn't end over over top of a reed/stalk...When you go to move your bait it stays in the water instead of having to come loop up over top of a reed that your line is laying on top of from an overhead or normal cast.

Thanks Mick, bummer about the pics not showing up...They show up OK for me, I'll try to add them manually. I do drag and drop usually, maybe that's not the best way. EDIT - I went back and fixed the pictures, should be OK now.

Got the Bushido finished up. I'm thinking that this will make for a nice lipless crank and large topwater rod...As opposed to chatterbaits that was the original intention. It's definitely not a Heavy power, more like a Medium+ with a nice mod-fast action. We'll see though, all that could change once I get to actually fish with it and try both applications, might be a case of the real world being different from specs. Either way, it should fit the bill nicely for at least one of those applications I was able to mostly save the decal by letting the finish harden without trying to 'fix' it prematurely, then gently filing down the raised portion of finish that popped up on the decal edge and applying a thicker coat of finish on top of everything. It came out nice and smooth, you can still tell the edge is there, but only if you're looking up close. It's my own rod so no big deal. The fixed decal - Not too bad...

I would think that knowing the rules that motorized vessels should be following would be a big help in ensuring a kayaker stays safe. IMO anyone using a navigable waterway should be held to the same standard, motorized or not. Similar to how cyclists on the road are SUPPOSED to follow the same rules as motorized vehicles. There are a lot of parallels between cyclists on the roads and kayaks on navigable waterways.

I have a feeling we'll see him again, he's the Tom Brady of bass fishing for sure...the GOAT, but I also think that just like Brady it'll take more than one retirement for him to be finished .

Finished up the jerkbait rod the other day. Point Blank 6'9" M/XF, 9" Fuji full cork with silver and carbon trim, alconite guides. The logo/spec decals are my frustration right now, seems like no matter how careful I am, the edges are too visible or the finish eats up the decal adhesive and peels it up slightly. I've been applying a light coat of finish and letting it set, then putting the decal on carefully, and putting another coat of finish on top. For the next rod I am going to try using color preserver to try to seal the edges before the final coat of finish...Unsure whether to put decal direct on blank or on top of a 1st coat of finish...Advice welcome I picked up a Bushido CB72/12-25 to use as a chatterbait rod, it's currently on the dryer almost finished. I'm a little disappointed because after measuring CCS on it, it's essentially a Medium power (600g IP) and not the MH to H blank I anticipated with it's 1/2 to 1.5oz rating. It's still a nice rod, but will probably be used for something other than my first choice for it. I've got a Point Blank 7' MH/F next up, have the handle done and will be wrapping the guides soon.

I've been eying that C473MHXS myself for a while, I'm interested to see how it turns out for you.

Feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it on this build. General purpose spinning rod, one that will be on deck almost every time I hit the water so I splurged and went with the Point Blank PB701MLF (thanks for the info on it Mick ). Went with a standard cork split grip, downlocking VSS seat and the same carbon nut and silver trim. I used the alconite Fuji K concept guides down to #5 runners to pass leader knots. I got much better at my labels and thread finish on this build. This blank feels incredible in hand now that it's built, it's going to be hard to stay away from more Point Blank's. I could easily see building up 2 or 3 more of this identical rod eventually. This rod has an IP of 570 (per PB spec and my own measurement) and an AA of 77 degrees. So even though PB calls it a ML, its really a Medium power IMO. Next up, I'm almost finished with a Point Blank jerkbait rod and have a jig blank and a chatterbait blank on in the queue....I'd like to get at least these and 1 or 2 more built before tournament season starts up so more to come .

Next up...I had been wanting a rod specifically for cold water cranking...Flatsides, balsa baits, shad raps, etc. I decided to try out the MHX-CB841 and I think it's going to fit the bill very well. I used a 9" Fuji full cork handle and dressed it up with a carbon hood and silver trim. Used Alconite guides, a #8 and then 5's all the way out. I went 1 size bigger because this is going to be a rod I use thru the winter, hoping to reduce icing. I'm very impressed with the blank, with a Tatula 80 it just floats in my hand, I should get it out on the water here shortly to really see how it handles. For the CCS nerds like me, it has an IP of 300g and an AA of 70 degrees. I screwed up the label a little bit, just going too fast...Another lesson learned.

Anyone want to get in on a 'your latest build' thread? If not it'll die out with just me I guess . I actually have a couple since I finished my first rod earlier in the fall. I knew I made a mistake starting out with a 'nice' rod for my first build so I decided to build rods for my kids as a way to practice. Both are CRB Color Series 5'6" and I outfitted them with a basic CRB guide kit and EVA handles with matching shrink wrap. I let the kids pick out their colors and then used my wife's Cricut machine to make name labels for each of them. They look pretty good from far away, but are far from good up close . Was a good learning experience and they will fish just fine, the kids are excited either way. Learned a few more lessons with these builds...Most importantly that I was using way too much finish on the guides at first, by the time I finished the 2nd one I was getting much better at it. After these, I got back into making my own rods...To be continued...

My FFS must be broken, it never tells me ahead of time where I can find the fish. I always have to find my own spots or areas and then I actually have to look at the screen and scan around to see if there are any fish there...To make matters worse, when I finally do find some fish, It's not guiding them to my lure and then it's also not sending the signal to the fish that makes them actually bite. What setting do I need to change for the FFS find all of the best locations, find the fish, guide them to my bait, and make them bite for me so I don't have to waste time doing all of this on my own. Seems like kind of a waste to me...But lots of other people have it on their boats, so you know, it's against the rules if I don't have it on mine too... Don't get me started on my lousy maps, spot lock, and shallow water anchors....None of them are pulling their weight either....It's almost like I'm supposed to actually know something about bass in order to catch them. ??

Totally, above Georgetown it might as well be an entirely different river. My favorite Upper Potomac launch was Edwards Ferry, but I haven't fished it since I had an AL boat many years ago.

In a kayak on the lower Potomac, I'd stick to Slavins and the no wake area of Mattawoman. Pohick is another good launch option. You can realistically fish from any boat ramp, but I wouldn't want to be in a kayak on the main river or in the big water of the major creeks...

??? Bassboats are very high performance and also have electronics everywhere. I think it's an appropriate comparison...Both in terms of benchmark costs and in the actual performance. Funny enough, IMO the closest comparison to a bassboat in the auto-world would be a Corvette .

The Core 100MG (and MG7) were/are the best reels Shimano made. Anything on that D-Series platform was a winner...Chronarch D5/D7, Metanium MG/MG7 (and DC versions), and the original Excense DC. Another gem is the 1st generation of the Scorpion DC's...The silver ones on the E-Series platform. All these reels are absolutely viable today and IMO outperform many of the new reels on the market.

For everyone saying the prices of bassboat are out of line...Top of the line bassboats have always tracked somewhat close the price of a new Corvette...It was this way 20+ years ago, and is still this way now. I agree it's a lot of money, but relatively speaking it's not really 'new'.

Power - Length(Model) So on that Tour Versatile you are looking at...F is the power, so F6 is a 6 power rod...which would be in between a MH and a H. 70 = 7'0". LV = Levante. They'll put an S on the end for Spinning rods and a G on the end for Glass rods. So an F5-72XXG is a 7'2" MH glass Orochi XX casting rod. ...and an F3-610X4S is a 6'10" ML Orochi X4 spinning rod. Generally speaking for Megabass... F3 = ML to M F4 = M F5 = MH F6 = MH to H F7 = H And you can interpret the rest from there they go from F0 up to F10 for power ratings. They also do half powers on some, like an F4.5 which is in between a M and MH. Source - owned and fished with 30 or so MB rods over the past 10ish years.

There's a lot of meteorological nuance to fronts you can get into, but for bass fishing it's overkill. What we really refer to when we talk about fronts in bass fishing is a weather system passing over our area...And the textbook example of a weather system has a cold front, warm front, occluded front (sometimes), clouds, precipitation, wind shifts, etc. For bass fisherman, the important stuff to know is... What we call 'prefont' is generally warm from southerly winds with increasing cloud cover and sometimes light rain (most of the time this would be in the warm font area of the system). As the front passes your location you'll get the actual 'weather' as in heavier rain/storms, a wind shift from southerly to northerly winds, and a temperature drop. Once the system has passed, you get what we call "post front" and it starts with gradual clearing of cloud cover until clear skies with cooler temps and northerly winds. How we approach bass fishing is generally different in each of these stages....A warm overcast day generally calls for different tactics than a cool, clear day. The bass aren't sitting down there going "hmm, the barometric pressure dropped from 30.02 to 29.83, I better go over to that spot over there". They are just reacting to the large scale weather conditions associated with the weather system passing by.