SWVABass

I ended up going with 4” pvc. Stuffed bathe ends with bubble wrap. The moving company looked at me like I was crazy until I was done then said “ yea we don’t package them like that.” Currently they are somewhere in the US while I’m in AR, two days from VA. Thanks for the input guys I appreciate the responses.

I’ll be in. Wish they had done this last year whe I ended up third in a contest! But sweet I like rapala gear. Good luck this year maybe someone from the group will get the year end!

I just use an old pencil and drill. When done toss it all

Morning everyone, Today I begin a cross country move from the west to VA. I have about 15 casting rods and 10 spinning rods. I need to build some quick rod tubes, and was planning to use pvc wit a cap on one side and a plug on the other. For those of you that have done this how many rods can I expect to get into a tube? I will be taking the reels off as well. Thabks!

Did you try a jerk bait? That’s about the only thing that comes to my mind..

@schplurg I agree that trying to produce a show to specific group seems to water it down. But I am struggling to understand why you think growing sport would be bad?

Not sure how many folks on here listen to BTL but they have really hit this topic hard since MLF wrapped up there season. They had Boyd on and talked about how they are NOT targeting the traditional fishing crowd. They are trying to make this a “game” and the catches are the “score”. The education on how, where, what and why is all in the media content on the webpage. What I found interesting was when asked about if he thought anyone would leave Boyd said nope all the anglers love it and it’s great. About month later folks jumped ship. Another interesting interview that that ties into this and tournament fishing over all is the interview with Randy Blauket(spelling) and his take on how if you have an aspiration to be a pro you better be rich. Check em out. A lot of what we are trying to understand they talk openly about on those interviews.

@riverbasser on the BPT they had to tell them where they were fishing none of that was secret. The cup events I think they didn’t tell them until it was time. I listened to an older BPT yesterday that had Boyd on. He was saying something along the lines, the more traditional fans will have to adjust our expectations of the broadcast as it is not meant to be like watching B.A.S.S. or other 5 fish tourneys. It’s meant to grab the non fishing crowd and get them to watch. And yesterday Rick P. from basscat was saying the ratings on these shows are higher than anything the sport has ever seen basically. Might not grab us but sounds like it’s grabbing new people and getting them to engage.

I do really well dragging a dropshot or tube in these situations. Also when the coin is flipped and my backseater does the same it shows me to slow down. Another option is fish something similar as your boater but maybe a little different. He throws a square bill pick up a spinner bait and so on.

What is your gear ratio?

Hey man take it easy on ol bubbles he’s a great dude. That’s pretty funny!

Look up the bass federation for Ohio. They should have a list of all BASS affiliated clubs in the state with contact info. I would say starting in a local club is a great way to go. Not to serious, usually doesn’t cost a ton to fish and you get introduced into tournament fishing. Go as a non boater learn from the boaters in the club and build your skill set. Then if you like it and are successful you can then look to fish state/regional tournaments. Hope this helps. There are plenty of midwest guys on here hopefully they can chime in with some state specifics.

Is it strictly sales related? Seems like In my area dicks is leaving the hunting/fishing market all together. The selection of gear continues to dwindle except for the clothing (mainly Columbia and under armour) but those can apply to more than just hunting and fishing.

I personally care the kvd squarebills 1.0-2.0 the 1.5 flat, 3xd a couple lucky e strike Berkley rapala cranks... I would say have a selection that allows you to cover multiple depths. Or you could set up multiple boxes for different ranges a switch them out based on time of year, conditions etc. top water plopper spook poppers buzz baits, whatever you have confidence in. i haven’t had success with a jerkbait... so I carry very few of them.

Canterbury and the Johnston brothers are three that come to mind right away. They have had really good runs at titles this year. My summer has been busy so I missed a lot of live this year.

I don’t tie in the gap. Just cause my oval rings the gap is on the side and doesn’t make fishing the bait effective

I throw mine on a wacky jig from vmc and it has a weed guard works well in cover

Johnston pirch mullins gustafson Kennedy most of them high ownership cept mullins

@Smalls the big ones I know of this year were all either prespawn or off a bed. Multiple 8-9’s caught and people were sight fishing them. The whites have been sporadic. But jerk baits have proved well for me with them this year. I haven’t figured out why the bite has been tough, but we’ve been catching whites up shallow out of the salt cedars. Try throwing a paddle tail around there. For a largemouth look at at the same areas and pitch a senko around wacky or normal just in weighted. It’s a painful process but has been getting me bites. Another bait that’s produced both large and smallmouth t rigged chigger craw. And again throw it at everything they are so spread out due to the high water the pattern is hard to figure. @Dorado I actually smoked a nice eye on a I’ve half shell in May on a drop shot. Totally ticked me off!!!

Right now anglers on the team trail and some other circuits have been killing it on norther lakes. Santa Rosa, conchas and Ute have all fished well. The butte with the rising water has spread fish thin. April was by far the best month. I helped my boater put a 10.02 in the boat and that was awesome. Since then the fishing has declined. Not sure if we had a major shad die off this winter or not. But it’s a struggle to find a five fish limit. I was third this month on two fish for 3 lbs, first was a limit for 8 with big fish 4.5 lbs. give the butte two years after this high water and it should be lights out.

Makes me jealous that when I was in school they didn’t have a team. I might have had more of a drive to do better then at 18 ha. This is awesome to see what BASS has created for college students. Good luck on Day 2 WVU.

Saw that today too

I usually have very little time to prefish so I have to use my first 2 hours or so trying to figure it out. Based on your description I would have a buzz bait, pop r to cover the early morning bite. Spinner bait and squarebill to try to switch off to if top water wasn’t playing. Then to different trigs set up with a different weight to cycle too. Last but not least a drop shot to finesse with of non of the above produced. this gives me multiple options to cover the water column and also different speeds to retrieve to try to figure out what’s going on. Pretty simple approach but it is what works for me. After getting some clues I would try to dial it on from there.

Vmc seedless Neko hook. They are like mono I’ve had no problem sticking fish. Unless you want the weighted jig head. If that’s the case slide a small nail weight in the center of your worm.

So I totally bombed with my picks, got one in the top 35 and that’s it.