Hawkeye21

I don't think I have a problem at all. Although I did just place an order on Dicks website for $50 of lures this morning. Whopper Ploppers are sale for $10. Two Ploppers and a few other things and I got to $50 real quick. Luckily I just got my tax refund back today.

Unless you're fishing a pond that has WAY too many small bass in it like the one pond I fish.

I remember fishing in my first bass tourney last year on May 1st. We were in a backwater area on the Mississippi and there were a lot of carp back there flopping around in the shallows and making the water a mess. Because of that I will always remember that this is the time of year they start spawning. Most people that are not aware of them mistake them for bass jumping out of the water and wonder why they don't catch any when they cast in their direction. It's almost always carp.

I believe this is the time of year carp spawn. When they do they make plenty of noise by splashing around in the shallows. I would avoid bass fishing in those areas.

Get yourself a kayak and then you don't have to worry. You can fish any shoreline you'd like.

Canada was an experience like no other. No motors at all, just canoe. Had to drink the lake water and catch most of our meals. We caught so many large pike and smallmouth. I remember how clear the water was. Could see the bottom in what seemed to be close to 20 ft of water. As great as it was it was still a ton of work and a week seemed to be plenty. I still remember the first place we ate when we were on our way home, KFC.

Do some research online to find out which house owns the pond. You can check assessor websites or realtor websites like Zillow as well.

I use my 7ft MHF Lightning Rod Shock for just about everything.

After growing up with using mono I started using braid and absolutely loved it. Braid is by far my favorite and for a few years it was all I used. After trying to build my rod arsenal into individual setups for different techniques I found that there are benefits for each line. Right now I use braid and fluoro with one having mono. I can't stand the mono line and it reminds me of the issues I had with it growing up. Mono always seems to have the most memory and has always been a pain on spinning reels. It like to jump off the spool and it clumps up and gets in knots. I've had pretty good experiences with fluoro so far and have really noticed the extra stretch is has. Braid is still my favorite.

As much as I'd love to fish some of the great lakes in the South I'd much rather spend my time on a lake alone. One of the greatest experiences I had was canoeing up in the Boundary Waters. We camped out for 3 days on one lake and only saw one person during that span. We had the entire, huge lake to ourselves and it was amazing.

This is how I feel to. I put them all back in the water. The fish may survive or it may die and become food for some other wildlife. Could be a bird, raccoon, or catfish. Not sure why so many people get so emotional about things like this.

I think not allowing it for televised tourneys makes sense since not many want to watch it but how many are actually going to be trolling? That doesn't affect a kayak bass fishing tourney though.

But now that brings up the argument. Why shouldn't it be allowed in tournaments? I have yet to hear a legitimate reason. I'm not trying to say that it needs to be allowed but I keep seeing people say it shouldn't be allowed yet none of them can give a solid reason as to why other than their own personal feelings.

I feel that way too for the most part and I think most bass fishermen feel that way too. Just because we prefer it that way doesn't mean we should outlaw the ways we don't like though, right? The people I'm talking about come off as some type of bass fishing purists that feel it should only be done a certain even though the other ways are legal.

What is?

I didn't really understand how the Alabama rig isn't considered an artificial bait and according to what I posted it doesn't look like my 3 treble hook jerk bait would be legal either. Not a big deal though, that can be easily removed. This is what I use. https://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-QuadZilla-4-Arm-Spinnerbait-Silver/dp/B00FPQPECI/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1492111088&sr=8-25&keywords=umbrella+rig

I think you can have three hooks on a lure like a jerk bait. You can't have a line out with more than two hooks on it. Here is rule from their regulations. "HOOKS When fishing by hook and line you cannot use more than two lines or more than two hooks on each line when still fishing or trolling. When fly fishing, you cannot use more than two flies on one line. When you are trolling and bait casting, you cannot use more than two trolling spoons or artificial baits on one line. A third line may be used when possessing a valid third line fishing permit. You cannot leave fish line or lines with hooks in the water unattended by being out of visual sight of the lines. One hook means a single, double or treblepointed hook, and all hooks attached as a part of an artificial bait or lure shall be counted as one hook. An Alabama (umbrella) rig is not an artificial bait or lure." The thing is, it's allowed in many kayak fishing tourneys but some members were complaining that it shouldn't be allowed. Some say it's not fair and other have some sort of moral reasons why it shouldn't be allowed. None actually offered a legit reason as to why though. Your idea about trolling while traveling to another location is exactly what I do and see no reason why it wouldn't be allowed in a tourney.

There are lures you can fish that work like the Alabama rig but are legal. In Iowa there are laws on the amount of hooks on a line so the Alabama rig is not allowed but I found one that works. Instead of having multiple little swim baits with hooks it only has one in the center and the rest are spinners. This gives the look of schooling fish still and it works.

It's either straight braid or straight fluoro for me. I've never been a fan of adding more knots to my line. I also don't see a huge benefit to doing it.

Oh, come on. You can't get away with saying that without giving your reason. Nothing wrong with not liking it but I'm curious why.

When fishing from shore there are always locations that look like obvious bass spots. Fish off points and in coves. Look for trees laying down from shore into the water. Look for stumps sticking out of the water. Fish around vegetation. Look for lily pads and try top water baits. Once you fish all the obvious spots and still haven't caught anything then it's time to try everything else. Sometimes you just need to cover a lot of water. I'd throw a spinner bait, lipless crank bait and chatter bait so you can cover a lot of area and hit a lot of different depths.

I have a feeling that hatred for jet skis is the one thing that all people on the water can agree on, except of course for the ones that own jet skis.

Aren't there laws in place to stop a true monopoly?

You're really going to find it hard to buy any products in your life if you truly want to hold up to that mentality. I completely understand what you're saying and respect it but it can be a huge waste of time. Almost every product we buy are owned by some huge company like Luxottica.

Nothing upsets me more than being on the other side of a pond and not having the lure I need. Sometimes you lose your lure and need to tie one back on right away. Since I trout fish a decent amount I make sure I have what I need with me because I may get pretty far from my vehicle so I have a tackle backpack. I also carry at least two poles with me when bank fishing.