corn-on-the-rob

Just spit balling, but is there any screen protectors out there designed to do this? (similar to the ones we use to protect our phones) What have your googling efforts turned up so far? anything?

As a Cleveland native, the one question that has been resonating in my head for a while now is: If healthy, how long will LBJ keep playing? The way he has been unleashing during playoffs is mind blowing. It will be years even before he his below superstar status and just "great". I am along for the ride and I hope it is long! (I am still a little salty about "the return", it is like taking a cheating ex-girlfriend back... But, when she is out of your league, you take her back with open arms!)

I am definitely a bait sniffer. I can't help it.

This one is an absolute COW.

"no big fish"

I use the crap out of a chatterbait all year except for the extreme cold beginning and end (less than 40 degrees). Honestly, its not about when for me, but where. There are some lakes that they seem like they don't want it at all, or they'd rather have a spinnerbait, other lakes, they cant get enough chatter. Regardless of where and when, I have always been more of a slow and steady retrieve with them (and the occasional pops/speed changes). I want it to be thumping hard, flashing bright, and looking like a good size meal that is moving slow enough that they have to have crazy discipline to turn it down! If I want to burn for a reaction, I am probably going to use a different lure.

Like you said, those depth ranges depend on line size, retrieve speed, and length of cast as well. And rarely do these match up perfectly with the rating on the box. In most cases, you typically want to be bumping bottom/cover with any depth crank, except for fishing suspended cases or ultra shallow runners at times. Therefore, instead of trying to match exactly, try to use a depth rating that is 1ft to 3ft deeper than the depth you expect to fish. In the case of making contact, a little extra depth is better than not enough. Keep in mind, if you are fishing from a boat, your transom/trolling motor transducers are already about 1ft to 2ft underwater, so take that into account when estimating the depth you'll need for your favorite areas! Your 8ft area is probably closer to 10ft.

Damiki Gladiator. They are a compact/finesse spinnerbait, but unlike quite a few out there in the smaller sizes, comes with a up-sized hook so you dont have to sacrifice hooking/holding power by downsizing to a smaller spinnerbait..

You will find that while everyone has their favorites, you must be able to adapt to different conditions, lakes, seasons, etc.. It is important to be at least a little diverse to optimize your chances, so it comes down to developing yourself as an angler. 1. Discipline. On days where you want to practice and get better, tell yourself to commit to a smaller amount of lures/techniques, maybe even one all day in order to get better at it. 2. This one might be even harder, but those days you are crushing them on any given lure, find the willpower to throw something you don't have much confidence in while you know they are biting and you can probably catch a few to boost it.

You may also be underestimating even what it takes to sustain the healthy population and distribution you are seeing. If all the bait, fish, and ideal conditions you see only output the bass you see, imagine how much more it would take to have an even bigger size class of fish. That and regardless of ideal-ness of bait, cover, etc., these fish are expending calories in a river system AND have a short warm season to grow in ohio.

Hey guys, I wrote another blog style article for the FLW and I thought I would share. This time I went over some of the basics of a college club/team and gave insight into my personal experience. https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2017-03-20-developing-a-successful-college-fishing-team

Where is it out of? Both species?

Just go on barlow's tackle. Inexpensive bulk, and high quality.

It is used incorrectly very often, mainly because the average fisherman is likely doing 80% or more pitching, but calling it flipping, let alone, the crap ton of fisherman who NEVER flip, but call it that.

Great video. A ton of good information in there. I would like to see a few more action shots! Maybe add a couple catches where you talk about what you did fundamentally, and how the fish reacted, and what you did to land them. (third person recording over the clip unless the fish are extremely cooperative for a live take).

I know this isn't a huge secret, but I still don't like telling people. A small realistic minnow imitation on a short drop shot is insane. Not only is the presentation great, but if the situation/cover allows you to roll with it, it is so easy to hook up and land with the light bites on a DS hook. The key for me is to always start passive and slowly get more aggressive with it. Work the edges, work the center with long pauses. THEN start trying to simulate digging. THEN when nothing else works, start running the minnow in to the bass like you own the nest. If this doesn't work, the bass is going to be a tough cookie to crack.

Rubber cement contact glue. Can roll it off pretty easily if you don't want it, but sticks well enough to get the job you want done.

Great advice! My only commentary is be careful storing (salted) soft plastics in the same boxes as any hooks/hardware, under the right conditions it will rust quickly!

I feel ya catt. I take it the part you are specifically disagreeing with is my comment about studies? While I agree with everything you have said, I feel that you can only extrapolate the data on these lakes on very or somewhat similar fisheries, basically all I meant to say is that many lakes are/can/will be impacted at least a little differently than the next whether it be positively or negatively or not at all; there is not an absolute for ALL lakes.

Though these are usually tense topics, I encourage everyone to stay open-minded and calm because we can all always learn something, or at least gather other view points. The trouble with any topic like this, is that though there have been some studies, there is no hard fact that points either direction. The only fact is that depending on the lake, the year, etc., it may or may not effect the bass, or it could hurt populations, or it could help populations. It is insanely difficult to discern which case your lake may be unless you have the data which is extremely hard to obtain, let alone a large enough sample across time to actually correlate it with enough certainty. The only qualm I have about the topic are people on the extreme ends. 1. The guy who doesn't think he has any impact on populations and routinely keeps large bass to kill, no matter if during the spawn or not. 2. The guy who says don't bed fish but he is out slamming fish during the spawn season but doesn't think he is affecting anything because he isn't sight fishing. If you are fishing during the spawn at all, you cannot say for certain that the fish you caught by not sight fishing was less impacted than one that you left alone because you could see him. End of story.

Live target koppers has a nice smaller sized frog. A bit expensive, but very nice.

I have about 4 or 5 orras. While I like abu garcia products and use them frequently, most other reels in this price range outperform the orra. I would personally reccomend the lew's LFS or fleuger at this price-point.

Strike King 3XD all day.

Definitely my late grandfather. He passed when I was 12, before I was old enough to become my own man. As an adult, there is so much we would now have in common and share together. Between my schooling, cancer diagnosis when I was 15, meeting the love of my life, and fishing, there was so much I wish he could have been there for. My family always talks about how different our life would be with him here; how big a part he would have been. I take a lot of pride in what I have accomplished and overcome in life, but it never feels complete since he wasn't here to see it. He was definitely more of a eatin' fish kind of man, not so much a bass fisherman, but regardless, a day on the water with him, for him to see what I have become...

At low level tournaments AND as a beginner, don't expect to make money off of these tournaments. The cost of fishing them compared to what you can win is only barely significant even if you are consistently doing very well. All I am saying is at this point in your tournament career, do it for the fun and experience, not the money! If the club needs boaters, and you are okay with taking your punches until you get experience, do it. If they need co-anglers, even though you have a boat, do this. It will help get your feet wet in tournament fishing in general, and you will get a feel for how other boaters in the club fish the lakes. Either way, go out and have fun, don't over think it, and catch some fish!