OCdockskipper

From what I understand, quite a few Elite anglers wanted the change. The Classic competitors are supposed to be the best anglers from the previous year with a couple of amatuers or non-Elites mixed in (for what is a once in a lifetime experience for most in the latter group). If someone wins an Elite event and still ends up ranked in 70th place for the year, many anglers consider that win a fluke and not worthy of qualifying for the Classic. The Opens are 9 shots a year against very large local fields, which may be tougher to do than finishing 37th in the Elites for the year. The Classic qualifiers from Bass Nation & the College series have quite a gauntlet to run to make it.

About 3 years ago, the Elite series changed their rules so that it is no longer "win & you are in" the Classic. That is why Rick Clunn and others who won in 2016 weren't in the last Classic and why John Murray & Timmy Horton aren't in the upcoming Classic. Winning an Open event, assuming you fish all 3 of a regions events, does still qualify you.

I believe this also gets back to confidence baits, the 3 or 4 ones that you have had success with in the past and know how to make produce bites. I have noticed that when using something I don't have alot of confidence in, if I don't get bit pretty quick, I decide that particular lure may not be in the fish's wheel house today. However, if I am using something that I have a lot of confidence in & I don't get bit, I decide that the fish are not where I am at. For that reason, I will fish a confidence bait much longer without getting bit than a non-confidence one. In my mind, I have removed one of the variables (something they will bite) and now all I have to do is find them & get that confidence bait in front of them.

Looking at some of his scores, maybe the person in last place should just make Indiana Finesse's picks for him ... With that comment, I believe I have just Karma'd myself into pulling up the rear next year.

I was looking forward to the ham...

Congrats to ALK402 once again for winning our group, he finished in 238th out of over 30,000 entrants. We ended up with 3 of us in the top 1000 (myself & Gundog joined ALK), but none of us snagged an event win over the 11 events. Next year I'd love to see a couple of us cash in & get those BassPro gift cards, give some bragging rights to BassResource..

Berkley Nanofil with P-Line Fluorocarbon leaders on all spinning gear. Trilene XL on casting rods for crankbaits, topwaters & presentations where I want some stretch. Power Pro braid on casting rods for flipping, frogs or other no stretch presentations Trilene Big Game for Umbrella rigs or large swimbaits.

Correct, no fishing today. Must be tough on the nerves on those who are close to achieving goals, interacting with the fans while all thoughts are about what is going on out on the water. Both Palaniuk & Christie seem to deal with that kind of stress pretty well.

No, he is weighing in, but has obviously given up mentally (based on his conversation at the weigh-in). I was being a bit facetious in my previous post. I was a Marshal on Ish's boat once. Let's just say the experience was very different than the next two days on other boats. It may have been me, but then again, it may have been him. He hangs out with Ike & John Crews, so draw your own conclusions from the company he keeps.

Yes, except Ish Monroe. His attitude gives off the impression that he is above it all and bad luck only happens to him.

There is if while out fishing, you discover that the HOA began a "weed eradication program" the day before. No wonder the water looked purple in some parts of the lake. The fish are sluggish, scattered and apparently distracted. Then again, I would be too if someone poured a liquid on my house & it began to break up and float away. Largest bass of the day was out in the middle of the lake, suspended, nowhere near any cover or structure. Only cast out there because a catfish broke the surface and I was getting tired of hauling water. Couldn't duplicate catching him, apparently the Ned rig falling past his nose was too much to resist. Lucky me...

So it sounds as if the Ned rig (on this river) only catches the larger fish, basically culling the smaller ones... Who'd a thunk it?!?

This little guy was such a bad*** that he went for the center hook. Interesting how both your & mine were caught on the same lure, Rapala X-Rap

While Alk402 has locked up first place in our group, Dave Lefebre's drop in the standings has tightened up second place between myself & Gundog. Unofficially, it looks like I am 5 points ahead going into the last day. 11 events, 40 days of competition and we are only 5 points apart? How in the world does that happen?? BTW, quick prize update. Turns out that Glenn's dog ate the ham, so Glenn has decided to substitute an unpaired sock and a Zara Spook with a missing treble for the 2nd place finisher. Speaking of Dave Lefebre's fall from the top 5, I was looking at the overall leaders, the folks who have a legit shot at the 1st place prize of the boat. After yesterday, there was a 2 way tie for 1st, with 3rd just 23 points behind. Unfortunately, the owners in 1st & 3rd had Lefebre, so they dropped 71 points just on him. The guy in 2nd (WMFisher) actually gained points with Wheeler & Pirch, so he is sitting pretty going into the final day. I can't imagine how the 1st & 3rd place guys felt when Lefebre weighed in... As for this event, it looks like KBeeB374 in our group has a very good shot at the $2500 BPS gift card. All 5 of his choices are in the top 12 and none look to be leaking oil. The only downside is that he has neither Combs, Pirch or Marten, who are leading for big bag & big fish respectively. The percentages of folks who have Combs & Pirch is low, so that might work out, but 40 points extra to Aaron Martens might be a problem. Here is hoping that the Lee brothers, Feider, Clausen or JVD nail big bag or big bass and all 5 have a great Sunday so that KBeeb can claim this event.

So the guy that never catches anything is against keeping honey holes a secret. Hmmmmm.... Reminds me of an old Russian story...

For our group, it looks like ALK402 will indeed cruise to the title. While B.A.S.S. is giving away a boat to the overall winner, I believe the BASS Resource winner gets his pick from the line of 2017 Oldsmobiles. Thanks Glenn!! Gundog & myself continue our drafting off each other for second, I have slid into second with him close on my tail and enough different picks to give him the chance to pass me down the stretch. Second place overall wins a ham. In looking at the day one scores, we have lots of folks in the 1200 & 1300's. I know the smaller field increases the score, but I think there are about a dozen of us with a realistic chance of winning this event and the Basspro $2500 gift card (from B.A.S.S., not from Glenn). Day 2 will be big, but how cool would it be for someone from our group to snag that prize...

Pittsburgh fan or Pennsylvania native? Just kidding... That was a good article, it is always difficult to compare teams from different years because of the differences in the opponents they placed, but that seemed pretty fair. I guess I give a bit more credit to the teams like the '76 Steelers, '85 Bears & '00 Ravens because they ended up being Super Bowl Champions. That isn't a rub against the '91 Eagles, they, like the Ravens, had to drag their offense to the finish line nearly every game.

Yes, it is so big it has a speedometer...

I would be very surprised if a rock thrown in the water could injure a fish. I would expect them to spook as it hit the water, who knows. Went to Lake Mead in the 90's when my son's were 4 and their 3 cousins were 8, 6 & 4. Those five boys spent the entire week throwing rocks in the water (no one else was around, we were houseboating). By the time we left, I think the water level was up about a foot...

I have had a few experiences fishing very small, private bodies of water for multiple days. My experiences have varied: 1) 8 acre hotel lake in Orlando near Disney - fished it 3 mornings in a row & 1 evening (2-3 hours) each trip produced more fish than the previous outing. 2) 3 acre "lake" along the Blanco river outside of Austin - 3 mornings, all 2-3 hours. The first day produced the most & biggest bass, 2nd day was slower, 3rd was a little bit better, but not as good as the 1st. 3) 5 acre & 3 acre ponds in South Georgia - fished both 2 days in a row, the larger in the morning and the smaller in the evenings. The larger produced better on day 1 than 2, the smaller better on day 2 than 1. 4) 12 acre lake in San Bernadino, CA - Fished it 6 days in a row, mornings in my boat, evenings from shore. The 2nd day was the best, the numbers dropped a little for the next 3 days, only the 6th day was slow (which may have had more to do with a major weather change). So in conclusion, I don't know. I do make changes in baits & techniques often to try to avoid having the fish see the same thing over & over.

Yes, but not for most applications people use frogs in. I have a heavy spinning rod with 15 lb braid on it & use it for skipping smaller sized frogs under docks or casting them into the backs of pockets where dead weeds have floated to the surface. It is fairly open water, there isn't much cover that I need to winch the fish out of. The no stretch braid helps with the hooksets. I don't use this setup when fishing other waters that feature large expanses of lily pads or other heavy cover, that gets 65lb braid on a heavy baitcasting setup.

James, unless I have my bearings wrong, the house off your left shoulder with the blue roof is the one my parents built in 1974 and sold about a decade later. Both the house & the area around it looked very different then. When they built it, none of those houses that go up the hill existed, that was all open land. In fact a guy in a glider crash landed there in the late 70's. I doubt that the brushpiles I planted off the side of the dock in 1978 are still there...

I am giving him the opportunity to either elaborate on the claim or give it a disclaimer. Those two defenses I listed are generally considered two of single season best in the last 30 years or so and I was curious as to why he considered that Eagle defense to be better.

Not disputing, but rather asking - Better than the '85 Bears or '00 Ravens?

Following your logic, Adam Vinatieri is a great Colt, but not a great patriot. He has spent more years in Indy than in new england.