TOXIC

Great pics. I would rank my season as very good. We did very well on the Rappahonock river for species and size. Our Florida trip produced some hawg largemouth. Our Lake St Clair trip was bumper smallmouths with the added bonus of 5 man limits of walleye on multiple days when the wind was too stout for us to cross the lake. It was our first time targeting them and we knocked it outta the park. Our season isn’t over as we fish the hot water cooling lakes of a nuclear power facility that is 3,000 acres. 😂😎

That’s a pretty big d**n “pond”. 😂😋

Professional Fishing, the only professional level sport where the competitors fish for their own money.

One thing I forgot to mention is Social Media. I wrote an article for Yamamoto’s Inside Line highlighting the importance of it. Hopefully you will continue on to college and continue your fishing. I would suggest a couple f classes in public speaking and marketing. 😉

Without being privy to the balance sheets from all organizations, I can’t let my business brain make a decision on whether or not it’s a good move. I would sure like to know how much the parent organizations make from all of the feeder trails and events to get to the pro level and can see what percentage of their balance sheet goes to payouts, expenses and profit. I have always complained that there are waaaaay too many “pro” level trails, which in my mind is just another way to generate revenue. Question has to be asked, if I am on track and paying to fish the feeder trails to MLF, you just cut my chances by reducing the field. And with that said, there are still trails popping up like the Professional Fishing League to further dilute the product. They are losing me due to the massive number of trails and formats.

I don’t want to seem like a naysayer but coming from someone who has managed the prostaff and reviewed applications to join prostaff, here are a few tips I think you need to consider. It’s not about you. It’s about the product. If you can’t show me how you are going to increase the sales or revenue on my product, I don’t care if you’re on the stage every tournament collecting a check, you’re not going to get my sponsorship. If you can move my product, I don’t care if you never cash a check. It’s up to you to show me how you will do it and believe me there are a lot of ways. Sponsorship isn’t about fishing, it’s about marketing. You better also know and use my product or product line and be able to prove it. Lastly you better know what kind of sponsorship you are wanting because the difference between giving you a discounted purchase plan and paying for your entry fees are 2 different animals. Sounds to me like you have had some good success on the water so you can more than likely”talk the talk” on the fishing side of the sport. There are a lot of things that change on the business side. Good luck in your continued success!

This is great advice. Let me make it very simple for you. Start out with a variety of depth running cranks from one manufacturer. Pick one. For me, I was sponsored by SPRO so I was using their cranks. Out of every color and depth they offered, the most productive color I found was Cell Mate. Clear water, dirty water, stained water….smallmouth, largemouth, snakeheads, panfish, literally everything bit that crank. I am now going to try the Bill Lewis line of cranks since the company that bought Yamamoto also bought them. They have the Cell Mate color and I ordered a bunch to try. I’ll be brutally honest if they live up to the high standard of SPRO. Pics are of both manufacturers.

Since GSM, the new owner of Yamamoto bought SteelShad as well, I get to expand my blade bait arsenal. Along with the regular weights, I see an xxl model and since we were verticle jigged walleye in 50 ft of water, I thought why not. Well, it’s a little bigger than I thought.😂. I guess it’s no different than those monster flutter spoons thrown for largemouth but I’m not sure I have a combo stiff enough to throw this. My punching rod maybe.

Shhhhhhhh……😂😎

I’m not discounting the use of a Senko wacky style but there is no real difference in the fall rate, wacky rigged or t-rigged. The only added weight is in the bigger hook. It actually hangs up more on docks, bridge pilings, brush clumps, etc., as well as grass and rocks because you are throwing it with an exposed hook. It’s all a matter of preference and I know wacky is very popular so I would never say not to throw it if you have confidence in it. I’m just glad to see it rightfully considered a finesse bait. 😎

Hard to beat a Zako either fork or paddle tail. I would add a DShad to the list.

Haha. I just said that I tangled with all the snakehead I needed on the Potomac and the Rappahonock. If I was traveling out of the country it would be for something more exotic. Also we have Northern snakehead not to be confused with the bullseye snakehead down south.

Believe me I certainly would if I thought it had some advantage. To me it just adds cost and gear (different hooks, o-rings and tool) to a bait that works just as well t-rigged and doesn’t foul on slime, grass, wood or rocks. On the rare occasion (yuck, yuck) I put one into the trees, there’s a 95% chance I’m getting it back. 😂

We go to Headwaters last week of January and use nothing but artificials. True that most of the guides use shiners but they will also outfit you with artificials if you request it. I wrote an article on Yamamoto’s Inside Line online magazine about our last trip to Headwaters. You can google it. I go over all of our baits. Here’s a little sample of what we caught.

It’s a little hard considering it changes year to year for me. With your criteria, I would have to say the Dropshot is number 1 not only because I have a very high level of confidence but I have thrown it for longer than the Ned which comes in second due to its consistent performance. It did give me the best year for numbers I have ever had in 20 years on Lake St Clair. The dropshot has given me the biggest smallmouth. I would never think of hitting the lake without both of those baits. I do throw a weightless Senko but I don’t wacky rig. I have never seen a reason to wacky rig either in numbers or size. I would add a Yamamoto DShad (fluke style bait) to your list and condition my other answers on what the fish want as far as plastics on a Dropshot or a Ned. Some work better on one over the other.

For those interested, Yamamoto just published my latest article on running rivers. To keep within the guidelines of no self promotion, I won’t post the link. It’s on the Inside Line Yamamoto site.

I’m no little guy and those pants are a loose fit right off the shelf. They are not advertised as anything special but they are definitely not tight legged. My buddy has both the summer style and flannel lined ones that he likes. In the cold months, I just put some under armor long Johns under them and they are still not tight.

Jeezus fellas, we’re talking about the highest level of our sport and we’re concerned about the pros cheating? Really? I’d like to think there’s a little more integrity in our sport. If not, that’s a pretty sad statement.

I run E10 in all my stuff and I’ve never had a fuel related problem. My 2000 225 efi 2 stroke Mercury never had anything but corn gas run through it. I even screwed up one time and put a tank of E85 in the old merc’s tank. It didn’t like it and ran like crap but it didn’t hurt it. I am pretty systematic about changing fuel filters and have had big water separators in line on my boats but even with that, I am going to pump out my gas currently sitting in my Ranger because I haven’t ran it in probably 8 or 9 months.

This is them.

@Seafury personally, I have fishing pants that I got at Cabela’s but they are Redhead brand so, they are also at Bass Pro. Mine are unlined and have zip off legs but I have never taken the legs off.

For me, I look back at what precipitated all of the rule changes over the years and see if this one measures up. There have been “unfair advantages” like using tin boats, that while certainly available to everyone, still caused a rule change.

When there is a piece of equipment or technology that redefines the sport then I feel it’s definitely worth a look.

Yamamoto makes a smaller swimbait in a couple of sizes and in both paddle tail and straight fork tail. The Zako. I use it alone and as a trailer on various baits. Jigs, chatterbaits, scrounger heads, underspins, etc. If you want to stay small and throw them something different that works very well, try the 2.5 inch Yamatanuki.