corn-on-the-rob

If you haven't already, try googling "Michigan bass tournaments". That should give you a laundry list to sort through and try to find ones in your area. I would try to find a club, it seems as if you are newer to tournament fishing and they are a great place to start. You meet new people, learn a ton, and get your feet wet in the tournament scene, it is an absolute blast even if it is for little or no money. There is nothing like putting a bass in the livewell that you know you are gonna weigh against other people. If you need any more help message me or post here. And before I forget.... O-H Rob

tubes, grubs, and drop-shots are guaranteed. Jerk-baits and rattle traps as well. Spinner-bait and blade-baits at times. But if I had to pick 1, tubes will always catch you about any fish in the great lakes no problem any depth, any time of year.

I do live 15 minutes from lake erie and it is the lake I fish most so I get plenty of good days too

If it is a lake where you consistently have trouble catching a limit of bass, it may be about location, but can very well be that the lake is genuinely tough (low population, heavy fishing pressure, etc). I have a handful of lakes in Ohio that are like this and in club tournaments with 20 anglers there have been tournaments won with a single small fish or only 5 guys out of 20 catch a fish all day in others. When a lake is this tough I fish for just that one bite: high percentage area, downsize my bait, fish slowly and methodically. If I catch a fish I do it all again, if I am lucky enough to get a limit I will up-size and look for a bigger one or even just stick to the small baits since it is so tough. Now if other people consistently catch limits of fish and you don't, then they likely have more experience than you on that body of water and have figured some stuff out. Pay attention to the obvious cues, if everybody and their mother is always fishing docks, it is a good bet that it is a producer and a well established pattern on the lake. It may not be the best one, but a good starting point. If you are always on the docks and everyone is offshore.... you get the point. My general advice for limit fishing is time on the water, high percentage areas, downsized baits.

Smallmouth (profile pic 5.7lbs) 3'' watermelon seed grub on homemade football head Largemouth 5.1lbs rageblade no skirt with LFT magic shad 4.9lbs 1/4oz T1 terminator spinnerbait All lake erie fish

For some reason I always reach for a bottom bait even though I know weightless plastics can be deadly. This year on tough lakes I will be using it much more to try and get a couple fish in the boat when pickings are slim. The same reason weightless plastics are deadly is why I believe a drop shot is deadly, it is a very similar presentation just down further in the water column.

To me smallmouth are the "here today, gone tomorrow" fish. I have pulled up on multiple rock piles in the same area all in different depths and have a school of 100 on each (showing on graph), then all become ghost towns the next day. But it definitely is the exception. Just sucks when it hits you right on tournament day. It certainly is a blessing to catch smalllies like that though, just gotta know where to find em, but once you do, it's on.

I fish up north in ohio. On clear lakes like erie watermelon (seed, red, candy) any of them are killer.

Nothing too absurd for me but I caught maybe a two pound bass in the fall two years ago and when I landed him about a dozen LIVE 1/2 inch shad/minnows exploded out of his mouth and were flopping around the boat. Must have been swimming around with his mouth open vacuuming up everything in sight!

Grub. Swim it, jig it, drop shot it, topwater it, ANYTHING it.

anything on the bottom. Grub, tube, jig, drop-shot, worm, whatever.

One fairly large bag is usually perfect as long as it is your only bag. Just put it between your legs when running and on your seat or back deck when fishing. Now I get taking 8 rods just in case but are you taking all 8 onto the boat? A buddy of mine bought an 8ft long, thick cardboard tube (similar to what rods ship in but much larger diameter) and put 6 rods in it and just throws it in the bed of his truck worry free.

roboworm fx sculpin (purple, watermelon, white) powerbait 3'' and 4'' minnows (shad, chartreuse) any trick worm of any size (any color) finesse tube (green pumpkin, watermelon) these cover 99% of my drop shot baits\colors but don't be afraid to get creative!

It sucks. Usually I consider march 1st the beginning of spring and expect to be pond fishing by mid March and on the boat by April, but the "outlook" has temps in the mid 30's for highs and 20's for lows through march 20th. Gonna drive me insane!

Improved albright for knot. The leader length varies but for me never more than 5 feet usually around 3 feet. Like BB said it is mainly about abrasion resistance 65%, visibility is the other 35%. If you are using a jig rod with braid (assuming heavy braid in medium/heavy cover) a leader is usually unnecessary.

Well the actual reason is I don't want the resume itself to be public regardless of the personal info, but didn't mean to come off as lazy. Even if 1 or 2 people helped me out that would be sufficient, so I will be patiently waiting

The fish you pull off the bed will most certainly be affected. But the population will be virtually unchanged for next year. Like RW said, fish populations survive by massively over supplying. The ecosystem determines the population based on its ability to support it. It won't matter if 8,000,000 eggs were laid instead of 10,000,000 because the ecosystem will have a limit of lets say 10,000 per year successful from the spawn surviving until adulthood based on available forage and space. Yes you are one 3-pounder short (if you kill it) but the population generated by the spawn will be unaffected. And if it is "all about the money" a lake with no fish doesn't make a good business. *this is all made on the assumption that this has a well established population aka not a new lake. Also my numbers are not accurate but the concept stands.

I made up a resume for my college bass fishing club and wanted to get some feedback. So, I figured the fine gentleman at BR would be perfect for the job. We seek out more sponsors ever year and already have a decent amount. Members usually just contact companies in person or by phone/email and have never had a formal resume because the club is only a couple years old. I don't want to post the resume publicly due to personal info I don't feel like editing out. Message me if you would like to read it and provide feedback. Thanks, Rob

Winter boredom gets the best of us. I am 24 and post a lot since I became a member but read for about a year before joining. I hope I am not one of those you speak of

I bought two veracity casting rods (the $149.99 model but I got them cheap) and only got to use them for about 15 minutes before winter started. But by feel they are incredibly light and sensitive. I bought a 7' 0'' medium moderate action for cranking and a 6' 6'' medium heavy moderate-fast action for chatter-baits/big spinner-baits. Going to buy the 6' 9'' medium heavy fast action as my jig rod. Super excited to use them this year.

Yea I agree with BB, if you are looking to win you gotta go for that one big bite which in my book means a jig. Careful not to work it too quickly due to the pressure of the time constraint. The tournament is designed to be go big, or go home.

Well I think the issue here is that most things fishing related comes down to opinion and preference which means many people are strong in their viewpoints which is completely fine. The bigger issue is people are defending their preferences strongly based on "feelings" and "I think" and also personifying the fish which I'm sure we all can understand to a degree the justification, because on the surface it sounds true. I rarely bed fish because I think it is boring, my PREFERENCE. But bed fishing does not significantly alter populations in most cases FACT. But what some people here need to understand is there are scientists/biologists state/local that regulate fishing on all public waters. The regulations are based off of science. If the science tells them the populations will be adversely affected from anything (targeting, harvesting, etc.), more regulations are put in place to correct or prevent it.

You CAN get away with just a couple set ups but having multiple very specific set ups for specific techniques can most definitely offer an advantage. I think most people who ask that question don't own a boat. Owning a boat, you have a giant rod locker so space isn't an issue (typically) and also the eagerness to not fish 1-dimensionally.

I hate the launching/loading process. It is the most nerve-racking part of tournament fishing for me because of so much traffic/pressure.

Locked down drag does not mean they horse a fish in. You can play a reasonable sized fish using just your rod and mainly I don't hook a fish and reel him straight in. I don't want my drag to slip on a hookset (I also don't use anything less than 8lb so I would likely pre-set on 6lb). If I feel a bigger fish on the end I loosen the drag to the required tension. In the last two years have not broke off a single fish due to not having my drag set in time. It may seem foreign for those who don't do it but I can adjust my drag in a fraction of a second and have had a lifetime of practice. I mainly fish lake erie and catch 6lb to 18lb drum frequently or 5lb to 15lb catfish on 8lb and 12lb line with out issue (caught a 35lb catfish on 10lb wiith locked drag on the hookset). I kind of rambled so to summarize: I keep it locked for hooksets, then loosen based on feel of the fish so I certainly do use drag frequently for fighting a fish but don't loosen until after it's hooked. I actually think those who don't adjust on the fly are at a disadvantage even if they pre-set. For example: The amount of drag (say I pre set) I need to get a big fish out of cover and to play a fish very close to the boat are different even though it is the same cast. I might need higher drag to get the fish out of cover but lower when it is close to the boat and takes a dive. If you don't adjust the drag when it gets close you could have a break off or it pulls so hard it unhooks.