corn-on-the-rob

Actually kind of cool that it stuck with you

Some footballs from a couple weeks ago, all weighed on a good scale. 14.25'' 2.24 lbs Would have been barely a keeper at 14'' but weighed that much... 3.00lbs 4.3lbs Fat fish.

A lot of people think braid doesn't get twist but it sure does, though the twist does not have nearly as noticeable consequences. I had a dedicated drop shot rod with a FC leader that by the end of the year the braid was so twisted that the first 20 ft of line looked like a twizzler! Obviously this still could have been minimized by proper management (making sure the soft plastic is threaded on perfectly straight, not reeling in super fast, etc.)

Beer is fine on the boat for passengers (in moderate amounts), maybe one or two for the boater but I wouldn't recommend it (for the boater). When I say that it is fine, it comes with a massive stipulation. People who tend to get out of control or do stupid things when they drink because of some inherent lack of control or need for attention (you know the type) will not be getting more than a beer or two as a passenger in my boat. I haven't been a boater long enough to have the situation come up; my father and I have never drank on our boat because that's not what we go out there for, like bagwell said, get home and get at it. In summary, as long as control and safety are not compromised, it is fine by me.

Yea when I said I was embarrassed it was meant to be mostly satirical! But yea fishing up here can get tough. I have on multiple single days caught 22lbs+ which I can say is pretty awesome though not too unexpected on the big lake.

I'm embarrassed! Though I am young and from Ohio, this is not exact but best 5 around 24lbs.

So for some reason my post turned nearly off topic haha, it's not meant to seem so patronizing, but merely a collection of my thoughts on what it takes to be successful in an oversimplified way.

Contrary to those who are on the outside looking in (those who don't fish) you can eliminate nearly all of the luck in fishing. It's about preparation and execution. When properly done only about 10% remains. Gotta be on fish to catch fish. And it is important to differentiate between fish and tournament sized fish. Honestly this is the hardest part of the game, you won't even get the chance to prove your other skills are at a winning level if you aren't in the right location. You could be the most mechanically insane angler but who cares if you are only catching average or below average fish. Conversely, put a mediocre angler on good fish and he will do at least decent. Find the fish. Mechanical skills are important, but even at an average baseline you can be successful. More importantly mental toughness and awareness are critical. If you miss bites due to a lack of focus or don't adapt to fishing conditions because of confidence issues or stubbornness, good finishes will be tough at any level. Lastly, to comment on mechanical, landing fish can be one of the most impactful elements. You can be on the winning five fish but only land two of them. Yes it is bass fishing, there is nothing to can do for some lost fish, but be sure that if given the opportunity, a lost fish isn't because of failure to correctly execute. I didn't really answer your question, I am still new to tournament fishing myself, so my biggest take away would be this: If it takes 10lbs to place, pretty much treat any fish less than 2lbs as small (even if 2lbs is above average for the lake). This goes back to tournament sized fish. If your honey hole generally spits out 1.5lbers, you need to find different fish for the tournament. It is important to note that fishing this way tends to be more polar, fishing for the above average fish can leave you high and dry some days where a limit of average fish was easy, yet fishing for these above average fish will give you the opportunity to finish higher than you could ever with the average fish. It's the difference between taking the risk to place low a few times to place high a few, or just finish average most of the time.

bluegill and crappie are tied for 1st place, then yellow perch, then walleye.

There is a color called blue gill, its like smoke with gold and blue flakes. I know kalins has the color.

i appreciate everything on the end of my line. Except maybe the 8 billion sheephead on lake erie.

Well I think the biggest discrepancy is that there is a personal definition for dink, and the literal definition. If I recall, the word was used to denote particularly small fish when the word "small" was not sufficient to classify it small enough. For example, a near (above or below) 12 inch fish, whether it keeps or not, is generally small as far as bass go. But add only a couple more inches, and you start getting significantly larger bass (with each inch). So I need a word to call a fish that is small, yet even smaller than the 12 inch fish I already called small all the way down to just a couple inch bass. Hence, a dink. The word "dink" I don't think was meant to replace the word "small" but to use to describe fish a significant less size than what was already considered small.

Smallmouth commonly have red eyes in certain areas. Likely just a run of the mill smallie.

Dink = not a keeper Small = less than 2lbs Decent = greater than 2lbs Good = close to 3lbs to about 3.75 Big = 3.75 to 5lbs Whale = over 5lbs That's my scale based on Ohio fishing.

Waiting for tom to blow this out of the water!

tube drop shot lipless crank jerkbait

Other than obvious line care like checking for nicks, my leader will only get changed if it becomes to short or if it has been a week or two since last use.

Also, I like a MH moderate for mine. I was having too many issues with a medium powered rod driving the hook home on big bass.

Fishes very similar to a spinnerbait for me, except I burn a spinnerbait more. It seems to be very "jig" like to me, as in it tends to catch bigger fish on average. I use a trailer on all chatters, the vibration imparts too much good action on trailers to pass up.. No skirt in clear to ultra clear water with a more natural trailer. In stained to muddy I like a white or anything black skirt with whatever trailer to match or contrast.

Had my second club tournament this past weekend. I caught or had on about 20 bass that were too short. Got bit on a jig, slammed the hook set, to have the about 3lb fish jump off.only keeper sized one I had on all day. Meanwhile, at some point we saw a 6 plus pounder and two about 4lb hanging off of beds completely disinterested. I was pretty frustrated, mainly because if I only boat that 3lber, I would have finished middle of the pack.

To me, this is very similar in concept to throwing a 3 inch or less tube, grub, or stick bait. Obviously the mushroom head holds the concept together but the aforementioned technique had caught me countless numbers of big bass seemingly in similar proportion to "average"sized lures.

We never took my dog out much fishing, he didn't like the boat. Was really scared and whined the whole time trying to find a way off. When we would get near rocks or docks he would get near the edge as if he was gonna try to jump it but never did, I guess he didn't really want to swim. One time we were fishing in thick pads and I saw him get close to the edge but didn't think anything of it. There he went, tried to step on out on to the pads as if they were dry land, and in he went. A big surprise to him.

she doesn't get excited much then does she BB?

Right on, and for the most part braid is very durable, but zebra muscles and sharp rock eat it for breakfast, no matter the brand.

Like jb said, regardless of what line is at the end of your setup you should be diligently checking for nicks and any signs of potential failure. Heck if I saw a nick in FC and a nick in braid, the braid nick would scare me more. Are you not satisfied with the braid/FC set up? What prompted the desire to change?