OCdockskipper

A side story to the "aiming for larger size only" theme. My sister lives in Georgia and has 2 ponds/lakes on her property, one about 5 acres, the other about 3 acres. The first time I every fished them, I caught a half dozen bass above 3 lbs (along with some smaller bass) in the larger lake and about 30 bass in the 10"-12" class in the smaller lake. I assumed the rest of the bass in the smaller lake were stunted, based on them all being in that same size range. When I went back there earlier this month, the same thing held true, bigger fish in the bigger lake, stunted fish in the smaller lake. However, this time, I noticed that most of the fish from the smaller lake had full bellies, that they had been eating well. Further, their heads were more developed, they looked more like a miniature size of a full grown fish as opposed to a stunted fish. It suddenly dawned on me that a majority of these fish in the smaller lake weren't stunted, but were actually Suwanee bass, a subspecies that live in rivers in South Georgia & North Florida. They are tough little guys, max out around 16 inches, fight more like spotted bass than largemouth and are voracious. I always enjoyed fishing both lakes, but now I do for a different reason. The bigger largemouth in the larger lake typically require me to flip in the brush with a heavy rod & braid and literally yank them out of the water while the smaller Suwanee in the smaller lake are fun with a lighter rod and various moving baits that they hammer. A side note to the side story. The smaller lake is not exclusively Suwanee bass, there are a few largemouth in there, including one that is pushing DD. I hooked up with her the first time I fished that lake. After showing her fat head, she took my Ned rig and dove into a brushpile, breaking me off. I keep expecting her to show up as I'm fishing for Suwanee's and will throw a big 10" worm or swimbait occasionally to see if she is still there, but she hasn't made a 2nd appearance.

Li'l Stevie

Tom, it would be great to have video footage of you as a marshal and watching the conversation between you & the pro meander over to personal bests. You could casually bring a photo out of your wallet of one of the 17 lb fish and then say "this one was a good one, it just barely made my top 5". Those anglers over 40 would love to have you in their boat, I wonder if any of the younger guys would be a bit intimidated.

A funny addendum, I had taped all of the "Bassmaster Live" Episodes for this tournament that were broadcast on ESPN2 last week. I was curious how it would all play out on TV compared to being there, plus I wanted to see if i would end up on TV . So midway through the first episode, they show the footage I had shot over skype where Brandon Lester catches the 5 lb bass. I rewound it, called my wife into the room and showed it to her, letting her know I was behind the camera. She didn't seem too impressed and then asked "If he had dropped the fish on the carpet, would you have had to put him in timeout?". She catches just enough of the fishing shows I watch to be dangerous...

Control. You are able to put the boat exactly where you want. It also allows you to fish from the front, putting you 5 to 10 feet closer to the target as well as keeping the boat further away from the target. Decades ago, one of the first guys who put an electric motor on the front said he did it because "it is easier to pull a chain than push it".

With the motor in the front, yes. What happens without it is the back swings too far as you maneuver; you stop the trolling motor and the back still keeps swinging around. With the rudder, the resistance it creates when you turn stops the back of the boat when you stop the motor. It sounds like a pain, but it really makes a positive difference.

The caveat to that is what is the forage in that body of water. If the bass there never eat anything swimming along the surface or that they can cause to boil, I have found topwater action to be spotty at best. My home lake is an example. Forage consists of bluegill, shore minnows, crayfish & the young catfish & carp. All of those tend to hang out near the bottom, so a zara spook or whopper Plopper in 5 to 6 feet of the water is an anomaly.

Yeah, I did, although for the most part, there really doesn't seem to be many jerks on the Elite series now. You have different personalities, some quiet, some outgoing, but since a good portion of these anglers are guys who benefited by the other anglers leaving for BPT, you tend to find an attitude of gratefulness. An example of this was Brandon Lester, who asked whom I had marshaled for on Lake Havasu. I told him the three names and then added that I was a little surprised at how difficult one of the anglers seemed, even though we were both from California. I chalked it up to the old Nor Cal not liking So Cal thing, which has been around for generations, but Brandon confirmed that angler had always been a bit complex and not always the easiest guy to get along with. He said some guys become known names in the bass fishing world and it kind of goes to their head. He then said that whenever he starts to do that himself, or begins to think how tough it is to be a pro, he thinks back to a tournament on Lake Norman that was blazing hot. Brandon was moving down the shoreline, just miserable when he looked up and saw a couple of roofers working on a nearby home. Suddenly, being out fishing in the heat didn't seem so bad. Great example of a good attitude and wonderful perspective.

I was able to marshal for 3 days at the just concluded Elite event on Lake Eufaula. It is a long way from my home in Southern California, but I have a sister who lives in southern Georgia, so I stayed with her during the event. This was the 3rd time I have marshaled and originally signed up in anticipation that it was going to be a shallow water battle (it had been scheduled for the start of April). The Covid19 postponements changed this to a early off shore event for the most part, but it was still a good time. This post is going to be a bit long because I want to give a clear representation of what to expect for anyone one who is considering doing this. DAY 1 - BRANDON LESTER After the marshal meeting on Tuesday, I found my Day 1 pairing to be Brandon Lester from Fayetteville, Tennessee. I met Brandon at the launch ramp at 4:30 Wednesday morning and found him to be a very fine young man (same age as my sons). Not real emotional, very even keeled and very much a consummate professional. Brandon was boat 51, he was a little concerned that the spots he wanted to start on might have other anglers on them. Sure enough, as we move down the lake, his first spot has a boat on it. Brandon said he prefers not to fish spots he has found while other anglers are there, but understands anglers who want to share spots. We get to his number 2 spot, an offshore hump not far from the main channel. A couple of casts with a crankbait nets a 2 lb bass to start the day, but the action quickly dies down. After a few minutes, Chris Johnston pulls around to the opposite side of the spot and asks Brandon if it is okay to fish it. Brandon graciously says yes and both anglers throw different baits in the area. Brandon hooks up with a 2nd fish, but it is short & he releases it. After about 20 minutes, Brandon decides to go to a unique spot that he believes no one else will find, it looks to be nothing special but is a well hidden gem. Sure enough, as we get there, Brandon Palaniuk's boat is there, to which I remarked "maybe this is a spot that only people named Brandon find". Brandon (Lester) smiled and responded "These guys are good, it is tough to find stuff that they don't find. He moved down the lake towards another offshore hump, positioned the boat, set the spot lock and started casting with a deep diving crankbait. His first 4 casts result in 3 fish, nothing giant, and then he switches over to a large plastic worm on a heavy shakey head. About this time Chris Johnston pulls up to our right & says "Looks like we found the same spots". Chris is about 40 yards away, so while they are casting the same direction & fishing the same area, they are not casting to the exact same spots. Brandon catches a couple of bass, including a 3 lb bass, with the worm & then switches over to a drop shot. Nothing for a few casts & then he switches over to a Big TRD on what looks to be about a 1/5th oz Shroomz head. First cast nets another 3lb bass, next 2 casts a couple of 2 lb fish and the 4th cast results in another 3 lb bass. All the time, Chris Johnston is not getting bit. From what I could tell, it was a small area that the fish were stacked up on that Brandon was repeating casts to and it was out of Chris's range. Chris made some humorous, self deprecating remarks and took it all in stride. I took a few pictures and texted them into B.A.S.S. as Brandon caught fish after fish. Within moments, I got a skype call from B.A.S.S. and they wanted to put Brandon on BassMaster Live during this flurry. I get my phone in position aimed at Brandon when he once again hooks up. This time the fish is pulling drag, and after a couple of minutes, Brandon lands his largest fish of the day, a solid 5lber. The B.A.S.S. guy on the other end of skype responds, "Nice timing Brandon", which drew a big grin. The rest of the day, Brandon jumped around between his offshore spots & some brushpiles, seemingly catching something at just about every spot. He had small culls throughout the day, catching a total of 43 bass, with his best 5 going 19lbs, good enough to put him in 21st for the day. DAY 2 - CHAD PIPKINS My day 2 pairing was with Chad Pipkins from Lansing, Michigan. While close in age to Brandon Lester, Chad has a very different personality. A ball of positive energy, always moving and doing something efficient with his time while constantly using positive self talk to keep him focused on what he is trying to accomplish. Engaging & charismatic, Chad is also a consummate professional like Brandon, in a different package. Chad was boat 71 for Day 2, so he fully expected to not have many of his spots open by the time he made it to them. Sure enough, we passed about 4 spots he wanted to fish that were occupied until we made it down to his first stop. Fishing started a little slow, even though Chad could see fish on the spot with his depthfinder. He tried different lures and angles with no success. Then, he moved from being downwind of the fish to being upwind & spot locked the boat. Casting with the wind allowed him longer casts, which would get the deep diving crankbait down in the zone for a longer time. This resulted in 3 bass in about five casts before action slowed back down. The changing of position seemed to be the trigger for the day, he would stop on different spots, not get a strike, only to then shift 180 degrees to the fish and pick off one or two. Later that morning, Chad stopped at another offshore spot that actually had 3 different good areas all near each other. He had been finding the fish moving from one location to another each day, but always somewhere on the spot. This day was no different, when he finally found where they were, he hooked up on 8 straight casts. This flurry caused B.A.S.S. to call me via skype and after a few minutes of filming, we were joined by Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona. It was fun playing camera man for the interview and Chad was very comfortable being on camera. Following that, Andy Crawford from B.A.S.S. followed us for a few hours taking photos. His gallery can be seen on the Bassmaster website under the trending "Day 2 with Pipkins". I'm the dude in the back of the boat, face completely covered and taking pictures of Chad as he is landing fish. I had forgotten to take my life jacket off during the flurry, so I look like this enormous tub of goo . Chads day was not as good as his day 1, he ended up catching 24 bass, with his best 5 going 17-8. It was more than good enough to make the cut and he ended up just missing the top ten the following day, finishing the tournament in 13th (one spot behind Brandon Lester). DAY 3 - GARY CLOUSE After 2 days with 30 something anglers, the final day was with someone closer to my own age. Gary Clouse, the founder of Phoenix boats, met me at the takeoff dock, where he was currently sitting in 21st place following the cut. Gary is what you would expect out of someone who built a thriving company like Phoenix, straightforward & personable with the ability to focus on exactly what he is trying to accomplish. Gary is originally from Missouri but now hails from Winchester, Tennessee, home of his company. Not reliant upon sponsors allows Gary the freedom to choose products he wants on his boat with no conflict. The best example of this is found at the bow of his Phoenix, where he has Humminbird, Lowrance & Garmin screens, all 3 doing something different than the others (and chosen for being better at it). Also fishing offshore, Gary's Day 3 started much slower than his first 2. He picked off a 2 lb bass on his first spot, but then hit a dry spell. After a couple of his other spots didn't payoff, Gary made the choice to run brushpiles he had marked in practice instead. Over the day, he would hook up at every other brushpile, most of the fish in the 1-2lb range. Near midday, he did cap his limit with a 4 lb fish and allowed him to relax and try to cull. As the afternoon began, the action picked up a bit, but the culls were small, 4 oz or so per fish. With less than 45 minutes to go, Gary pulled up to a channel bend not far from the launch site. He didn't get bit on the brushpile there, but then noticed a fish off to the side of where he expected it to be. He made a cast and immediately hooked up with a 3 lb bass. As the clock counted down, Gary hooked up with 2 more better fish, getting his total up to 13-6 for the day & putting him in a tie for 29th with Gerald Swindle. He left them biting, had he found those fish 20 minutes early, it is foreseeable he could have culled out another few pounds and moved into the top 20. In all, it was a very memorable experience. If you are considering signing up, I would recommend taking (& texting in) photos as well as getting connected with B.A.S.S. via skype. It allows you to be more than just a passenger on the boat, between those activities and keeping a running total on Basstrak, you are helping the angler document his day.

I had 4 anglers make the cut & 2 in the top 10 fishing today, HOWEVER my 5th angler was Mark Menendez. I found out last night that he withdrew late Tuesday night after injuring his back. That means it is worse than a last place finish with 100 plus points. It is 0, no points at all. I marshalled for the tournament (recap coming tomorrow), and there was no announcement, either Tuesday night at the marshal meeting or as part of the takeoff. I didnt hear any of the other anglers mention it. There was an article on Bassmaster.com that is dated the 10th, but I was in Brandon Lesters boat at the time so I wouldn't have been allowed to access it in time to change. Crap.

That big bluegill is great to see. There used to be an issue with many of the bluegill being stunted, looks like that is a thing of the past.

If you don't have access to any of the "residential lakes" such as Lake Forest I or II, East Lake in Yorba Linda or the ones in Irvine, then become good friends with James (Bass_Fishing_SoCal). The no wake area of Canyon Lake can be alot of fun in a kayak and you have alot of different options as far as types of water to fish. It starts off with steep rocky walls just off the causeway and as you go back, there are points that fall into the old channel and some calm coves. And boat docks galore, sharpen up on your skipping skills . Main lake has good fishing as well, but it is a bit tougher in a kayak with all of the water ski traffic.

I agree and would add two more factors, type & availability of forage. If most of the forage is slow moving, my experience has been the bass tend to chase less distance. They have probably been conditioned that the good things to eat don't move away from them. If there is plenty of forage available, that also seems to cut down the distance. Swimming past multiple possible meals to get to a lure doesn't compute, whereas the lake or pond with a scarcity of meals will have bass on high alert for any forage anywhere.

Most predators will eat their own species, they just typically don't target them. Most fish take it a step further. they will eat their kids & siblings. I believe that term is incestrial canabalism.

I have fished about the same amount, with the same routine, but there are definitely alot more people out on the water, a good portion of them inexperienced. So far, the extra pressure hasn't knocked down the numbers I have been catching (I had back to back 50 fish Saturdays at the beginning of May, postspawn). There is a heavy human presence here during normal times, so while the fishing here can be very good, you have to know what you are doing to catch them. The extra pressure didn't hurt the bite because most of the anglers were using methods & techniques that were not of interest to a majority of the fish. Oddly enough, when I am out at sunrise, I am still the only boat on the water. The newer anglers get started around 9 am, just about the time there is usually a little bit of a lull between the morning bite and how the fish position themselves during the day.

It isn't JUST you, there seems to be some people who feel the same way. I'm not, in fact, I am kind of getting bored with MLF. At the beginning of the year, I would watch the Cup episodes every Saturday evening after fishing, now I have 2 or 3 weeks worth of episodes backed up, with the feeling that I may not get to it. I have found I watch MLF for the fisherman, specifically some of their personalities, while I watch BASS for the fishing & competition. Speaking of personalities, being a California native, I was always an Aaron Martens fan. However, hearing some of the comments he makes about competitors during the Cup events is kind of turning me off. Every other angler is lucky or doesn't know what he is doing or getting in Aarons way, it is a little much. Maybe it is his lack of a filter that is having him say things in a manner that he really doesn't mean, but he is coming off kind of arrogant.

As an impressionable teenager back in the mid 70's, I wore a black cowboy hat with a B.A.S.S. decal sewed on the front, ala Ray Scott. My younger sister got one too, so you had these two southern California kids out in a 14 ft Sears Gamefisher chucking crankbaits in Canyon Lake looking like a pair of Black Barts. It made the adult anglers smile whenever they came upon us out in the water & they would usually stop & chat. I also took a T shirt that had some fishing picture on it and sewed on Rebel, Mr Twister, Western Bass and a few other patches.

Last spring, I was fishing out of the back of a cove, with my back to greenbelt area where the cove ended. There had been about 2 dozen coots up on the grass, when I heard a sudden commotion and all of the coots splashing into the water. I turned around and saw a large Red Tailed Hawk standing in the greenbelt with a coot pinned under one of his talons. The coot wasn't struggling, he had probably been knocked senseless from the hawks dive bomb and now vice grip. Then, within 10 seconds, crows started to appear and dive down at the hawk. They weren't trying to save the coot, they were just trying to drive off a predator. The hawk stood there and didn't flinch as crow after crow swiped at him, all the while keeping the coot pinned down. After about a minute, the hawk tired of the harassment from the crows and flew off, leaving the coot behind. After a few moments the coot stood up, wobbled his way towards the water and kind of plopped in to join his friends (who all had just stayed in the water watching the spectacle with me). The coots surrounded the wounded one and they were all squawking & chirping, but the victim seemed to rebound quickly. Within a few moments, he was chirping back and swimming away, probably irritated that none of his friends tried to save him. I was fortunate enough to get a picture during the middle of it.

Mister Twister curly tail (longer than the grub but sorter than the phenom), color red, rigged weightless with an exposed hook. We had a small dingy with an electric motor and would troll this through the boat paths in the summer when the weedbeds got high.

I have seen a split with that. Those who have embraced America, become citizens, learned how to speak English, that group is interested in the history of our holidays. They are all ears if you speak with them. The other group not so much. If America is just a place they can make some money and their loyalty is to their homeland, then there is no interest at all in our country or its cultures. For them, America is just a means to an end. I don't like it, but I understand it.

The head size puts her solidly in the 8 lb class, depending on how thick and fat she was (or wasn't), she could range from 7 to 11 lbs. In my opinion...

I have always used the Bigfoot switches, so i can't compare, but can say the Bigfoot does its job day in & day out. As for not mounting it, it may want to roll a bit on its side from the wire, so you could mount it to a small piece of wood that you then place on the mat. The extra weight of the wood should keep it in place. I spent a couple of hundred dollars on a higher end rechargeable battery that ended up lasting a little over 3 years. When it died, upon recommendation, I replaced it with one from Walmart that was $89 and is already lasted 16 months. Even if it dies in the next few months, I still come out ahead compared to the price of the high end battery. For comparison purposes, I get out once a week, run a 46lb thrust and Garmin depth finder and charge it after every trip with A BPS on board charger.

Throw it in the lake for 6 months. Don't ask me how I know.

Too cool. But where in the heck did you find an open casino? I'm in Vegas and Covid19 has this place shut down!!

Members of this forum have their own private pond? Please tell me that J Francho is not the designated game warden for said pond... ?