BassNJake

Best lesson I ever learned about golf was to count how many shots it took to get to 50 yards and then how many shots it took from 50 yards and in. Most people work at their long game instead of working at shaving strokes off their short game. I bought this book Radical Golf and it changed the way I looked at the game. My score went from 115's to mid to high 80's(public courses) as I adopted this new approach. Radical Golf- Amazon

Or maybe not .... ... ... A second trend revealed in the Tennessee River system involves elevated levels of admixture detected in Nickajack and Norris reservoirs despite an absence of historical stocking. These elevated admixture levels could potentially be explained by angler‐mediated fish movements ......

I used to fish a trail that had their championship on the Chick, seems more than a few guys dragged fish back to their home lakes and released them there. Not sure how long it would take for 5 fish at a time to make an impact on the 830 billion gallons of water estimated at my lake. I guess those guys are like ...

I never buy heavy action rods. I make my own by breaking the tips off of my MH rods. Stories like this will make me consider Lew's for my next purchase. Glad it worked out for you!!

A few years ago John Cox fished the entire FLW season without using a fish finder. ( I believe he had a unit but only used it for navigational purposes) He said he was getting away from his strengths and his results showed I'm pretty sure he lost the AOY title to Andy Morgan in the last event, so he still did pretty well Jordan Lee's story is similar to Wheelers, where they would get dropped off at the lake because they were too young to go on their own. They both said all they ever wanted to do was fish, they were both dedicated, invested a bunch of time early on and their respective families were there to help them reach their goals. Sounds like the American dream to me

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This is because at any place of employment, there are people that are better at their jobs than others. Usually, they are the people who are putting in more effort or have found a way to be more efficient when they do whatever the task may be. Coincidently, there will also be people at most any place of employment talking about how the person/s at the top doesn't deserve to be there or how they lied, cheated, stole and/or slept with the boss to get there. Wheeler is one of the best because of all the work he has and is putting in. His understanding of his electronics is at the highest level and that come with putting the time in on the water.

Shout out to Randy Haynes !!

Well, being hard on yourself is one thing, having unrealistic expectations is another. With Covid19+ it has pushed a lot of tourneys into the fall when fishing is tough and the pros have seen it too Scott Martin is a very accomplished bass angler. At the Central open on Lewisville Lake he fished for 8 hours a day and after 2 days caught one bass just shy of 3 pounds. It happens and we have to accept it, within perspective. The best major league hitters have more outs than hits. I am competitive and have cycle of self examination, looking to fix flaws to correct and become better at whatever I put effort into. The problem with this approach is you can get trapped by just looking at the flaws and failures and not seeing or putting any stock into any the success that you have had/made. There are times when you have rapid rises and others where things will plateau. I know this is already a long response but I remember reading where todays unsuccessful outing could be just a scouting trip for the next time out. Dragging a lure around and find hard spots, rocks and sunken timber can make for a future successful trip.

Sounds like a faulty o-ring on the push piston. Sometimes lubing it up will bring it back to life.

When I was starting to tourney fish I became what I would consider obsessed as well. Slowly, I started to see that I can only control my side of the variables. Did I make accurate casts? On those casts were the lures gently placed into the water or was there a large disturbance? Was my concentration level at 100 for the entire duration of every cast? Was I able to feel the lure or the bottom the entire cast? If not were you line watching when you lost feel? There are about 22 million other things that you can control on your side of things which also means you can improve on their weaknesses. When I watch the professional tournaments I always look at the bottom of the standings to make sure I understand that even at the highest level they cannot control what the fish will do.

This view point always makes me laugh. Marking schools of fish and getting them to bite as you sit directly over them is a definite skill. I have a much harder time doing that than finding a section of weeds/points/drop offs and catch fish.

I fish a moon eye jig with a fluke jr/minnow type bait Damiki style where you drop right on them after you mark them on your graph Or cast and short hops or just lifting the rod tip and letting the bait move a little at a time

I think they tried to sell the point that sponsors would pay more for the extra exposure. That didn't happen and just like FLW of yesteryear as soon as times get tough, sponsorship money dries up. Hence, the rumored 45K in entry fees that the BPT anglers will have to pay this year for 7 events. Seems like the no entry fee died pretty quickly too Kinda like their assault on 5 fish tourneys and the every fish counts campaign I think with the cancelation of last years schedule BPT kinda broke their side of the agreement

Looks like thats not his initial plan. He just could not commit by the BPT deadline. He's shopping a TV show around and his other obligations are going to take up a lot of his 2021 schedule

I like it too. When I fished tourneys there was always the pressure of the clock Its like your standing at the bottom of the hourglass and the sand is piling on your back You know you are gonna run out of time and the burden gets greater the closer you get to weigh in The BPT format throws a wrench into that and can make it seem like the last 30 minutes of ^^^ one of those type of events; but all day. The pressure of the scoretracker throws so much more into the mental side of things affecting decision making. Guys can get spun out knowing someone else is catching them. Its Bass tournament fishing just different than the other type of events and I can treat them like NASCAR and INDY

Dude, he finished 18th in points on the tackle warehouse tour. Thats an automatic berth into the BPT if you have the special decoder ring .... AKA a large amount of sponsors

How does she run? Love blade baits and that looks like an awesome custom version

I have a few blade baits that I removed the stock hooks and just add a single hook on the rear hanger Hang ups have been reduced In warmer water I'll add a few pieces of skirt material to the front hook hole for xtra attraction

Someone at the TVA doesn't understand the Danger buoy needs to be at the top of the structure This way it can be seen from all directions BEFORE you get to the high spot

See this is where I should have read the whole thread before responding. Your example is one that differs from my experience because I did not consider smaller bodies of water Which is another of the endless variables that may or may not come into play at any given moment

If you present a bait in the most perfect manner and the fish are not there you cannot get bit. Often times being in the area where the fish are located you can catch them with multiple presentations, using different baits of different sizes and colors This is what leads me to believe that location is more important than presentation or the other variables The right timing has to occur at the right location (if you know every fish in the lake would bite at noon, you better get to the best location at noon) So for me, I try to find the area that is holding the fish then what depth are the fish at Once these two are established then I can start sorting out the rest of the variables I generally start out with a moving bait to see if the fish are aggressive and will slow down and go smaller during my search

That will be me both Sat and Sun Norris Lake TN I'm guessing water temps will be low 60's and I'll b throwing topwater

We used to watch safety videos on this when I poured concrete on the highways. Some guys last thoughts were they can make it across the three lanes before that car can Also your perception of 55 mph vs 75 mph can be deceiving

My old tourney partner has one and he uses it to record tug of war with his mini weiner dog. He gets some hilarious footage.