BassNJake

I believe both Hackney and Christie both committed to fishing the opens at the beginning of the season. This FLW super tourney thing came about later. Also how big is Jason's backyard? OK and TN are not exactly neighbors. Good event so far too, just watched Jacob Wheeler land a 9.9

Saw this in a couple of places: While Power Poles offering will retain #1 share at BCB and we will focus on that product as our main pole offering. JL Marine is a good company with a strong foot hold in the market. We remain extremely interested in the coming of their trolling motor this July. We do have a depth of knowledge on that product as well as the belief it will be a premium market product. It also will likely be the most expensive similar product in the market as things heat up in the Pole Anchors and GPS Trolling Motor war. One must recognize that Johnson Outdoors, MinnKota with Talon, has acquired significant market share as a vertical anchoring system. The newer design definitely has a following and the product will retain prime position in MinnKota product guides and promotion. Many like the various depth ranges and our main opposition is the bulky universal bracket. The ability to tilt it for clearance is a positive also. We have not been a fan of that product due to the mounting system. Minn Kota is releasing a new product this month named Raptor. It is a hydraulic pole system with active anchoring for constant contact with the bottom and has been in development for over three years. The product inspired over a million dollars in a test fixture to insure that the durability is above standards other products have. The new systems are in operation and you should see them in the market within days. We do have the original Raptor products in house also. Minn Kota had a lock on GPS bow trolling motors, Power Pole had a lock on anchoring systems. Now consumers can choose from three different anchoring poles and five (5) different conventional bow mount GPS trolling motors. We think all have an edge is some fashion, parts of MotorGuides design makes a lot of sense for some. You as buyers will make the decisions.

Do you have a lure retriever? 4 cranks can be gone on 4 casts when fishing the ledges. They might be out on the ledges but they be around some type of cover that is out on the ledge. All that cover likes to grab those treble hooks. A swimbait is always a great option on the ledges. Just make sure you have enough weight in the head to keep it down.

It's that cold mountain water down by you, upstream we have high 70's and its already hit the ledges time for the schools. I'm fishing topwater a bunch and having much better success this year. I having been fishing isolated targets and once the sun is up I look for shaded spots on the sunny side. If you fish the shaded side, there are too many targets to choose from IMO Also want to recommend using some type of gripper tool when fishing with multiple treble hooks. I'm pretty good at the braid trick so I dont need anymore practice

Good question. My approach in this scenario is to hit your best water first. There's a chance you cant get on it whenever you want so I'd start there first. Most tourneys I have a 1st or nothing else counts attitude and I'm just looking for big bites, but knowing its going to be pressured and its on a small lake would lead me to camping out on my most productive area throwing a variety of baits from various angles and letting baits sit longer than normal.

Do you use Mikey's weiner trap?

Tubes are a great all around bait. Texas rig is great. I love throwing one one the back of a carolina rig as well.

You dont even need a truck- a 4 door will work

Unless your like me, I've got an orange spot and a chartreuse spot on my carpet. My wife doesn't know what to think, she asked if I went fishing or if there was a strip club at the dump? She said you smell horrible like rotten garlic and have glitter on your face and hands ???

These are very good, underrated cranks. I'm a grinder when using a crank and these have held up the the abuse of constantly banging on the rocks I've got a darker one (Redbug) and a lighter one (Ayu Shad) and they both work well A must have for me actually.

We should have kept this quiet, now look who took the idea

Pretty much an everyday thing around here. Always surprised to hear the fireworks going off on Wed March 16th or the gunshots everyday Working from home, I'll hear shots fired at 9 in the morning #goodole'boys #thingsthatgobang #TNlife

Mornings are my best time for numbers on the frog/toad In the direct sun, I get less bites but when I do it's usually a better fish No weeds in my lake so I target anything that will provide isolated shade. If you have a shoreline that is 200 feet long and all shaded, you can spend all day picking apart every piece of cover because it will all look good and be in the shade Where as if you have a 200 foot shoreline that has 5 or 6 isolated bushes, there is only shade in one spot, now you have put the odds on your side, leaving you more time to hit these higher percentage type of areas

I fish for neither numbers nor big ones. I fish for that excitement of when a bass hits a topwater I've had a couple of years where my most memorable bass is one that blew up right at the boat, blasting my toad out of the water, soaking the deck and startling me I dont have a most memorable 3 or 4 pounder unless it was on a topwater bite. Most of the memories around those fish are in regards to the situation and not that specific fish This past weekend I landed 2 right at 4 lbs, both on a chatterbait. respectable fish in my book However, the most memorable bass came from about 10 inches of water with a huge blow up and it put on several acrobatic displays before being caught. That one was a 2lb 4 oz. Not the biggest, but the most fun by a lot.

In college I had some buddies who used the inverse of that philosophy when going to the bars

Just some food for thought in all these cases where you are making multiple casts could it really be a timing issue? I was fishing some brush in about 10 feet of water---> got hung up---> retrieved lure ---> chewed about 20 feet of someone elses braided line in my trolling motor---> so I sat there hung on the bush for about 30 minutes working on removing braid from trolling motor and eating a sandwich Even while making a racket I saw multiple small groups of baitfish 1 to 2 inches long swim in/out and all around this bush and my boat. A couple of times I would see bass in the 12-15 inch range cruise by and later I saw 2 large bass and one about 15-17 inches grouped together. They went right to the base of the bush and then moved off under the boat. They paused for a few moments in the last part of shade from my boat. Then I spooked them when I skipped my wacky rig in front of them. Always another variable to consider in this sport

I use this as an alternative to a true soft plastic injector https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/workforce-heavy-duty-suction-gun-16-oz-capacity My molds are made from Durhams water putty and I sealed them with 5 minute epoxy for that shiny look if wanted As bargain budget as I try to be, it's a harder job when you dont have the right tools. I have wasted a bunch of molds and a ton of plastic trying to learn with my makeshift DIY solutions I have had some fisherman I know save all their used plastic baits for me I got a lot of experience melting/remelting those baits

I think you have your answer right there. Maybe some fry guarders

Now that they made it 2 divisions and 4 events it is harder. It also makes it nearly impossible for any one that works for someone else to attempt it. The time off to prepare and fish 4 multi day events does not exist without special circumstances. ex. awesome job In the old 3 open event days: my old tourney partner missed a couple times by a handful of points He believed it took 2 really good open events and a mediocre one. So a top ten, a top 20 and a top 50 would put you in the hunt most years. He was a river guy so he fished the central when they went to the Red river and then the Arkansas river. He fished the southern when they fished 2 river events. He knew under normal conditions he could pull off the 2 top 20's. That other event was always the wild card. One year he would have had the points but his co-angler put a fish in the wrong livewell He was in 3rd place after day 1 in an event and had his big motor blow Sometimes you need a little luck to help out too.

Awesome, thanks for the write up!! I'd recommend the marshall experience as well

Stop horsing the fish in tough guy? You said it was a new set up: is it stout enough to get good hooksets with a texas rig? Did you reel down and feel the fish before swinging? What about your line? Were the appendages ripped off like they didn't get it all the way? If the bait wasn't balled up near the bend, my guess would be hook penetration. Either they didn't get it or you didn't get them

JLee's tax man is doing a little dance too

Senko

The sport of bass fishing is going to be a joy to watch in the years to come. Some of these younger guys are absolute hammers.

Looks like an awesome trip!!