BassNJake

Thanks for sharing, I love a good story that ends in a new PB!!

As mentioned a little splash can often get their curiosity. I'll pitch/skip a buzz toad under branches/docks a lot to imitate fleeing bait/food and spark their interest. One thing I have found when pitching is I can control something a little heavier which reduces the splash. My best pitches are what I would describe as a line drive a few inches off the water and thumbing the spool sets it into the water. My worst pitches are often with lighter weights and are more like a rainbow. They start low, rise some and then are on a downward arc towards the water usually creating a larger splash. This usually occurs when I'm a little too far to pitch but too close to land a soft cast.

An anchor for the front and one for the back, otherwise you may get blown in a circle.

I fished as a solo angler fishing 1 day tourneys for about 10 years then BFL's as a co angler for 3+ years and never did the topic of fishing the leaders water ever come up. (why would it in a 1 day event?) So from my tourney experience which is around 100 events I never knew about this "unwritten" rule. I would never pull up on a guy or cut off a guy fishing an area. This is common courtesy. Seeing where the leader is catching his fish and then fishing that spot because you had a better boat draw is a d*ck move. Not fishing an area because there is an imaginary line around it indicating that only the leader can fish this water is not something I would inherently know. Especially, when I also found that spot first.

For me it's the litter and the cigarette butts I have a ton of grocery/walmart bags stored in the boat and bring home at least 1 full of crap I've pulled from the lake every trip. The lake is not a garbage can or an ashtray.

Where can I get a list of these "unwritten" rules? Do they change lake to lake or do they vary if I'm fishing a BFL as opposed to an FLW tour event? Who enforces these "unwritten" rules? Is there an "unwritten" rule of going to a spot someone else caught 20 lbs from and essentially hole sitting there for almost 2 days, so the other guy could not go back to it?

The other guy(Jason Lambert) had a lower launch number on day 3. They launch according to the standings for days 3 and 4. So Randy left first closely followed by Lambert who passed him on the way to the spot. Randy should have pulled up his trolling motor and dropped anchor forcing Lambert to move. As that is a written rule. Rules can only be enforced when they are written. All this "unwritten" rules and "ethics" talk is non productive IMO. Nobody has ever told me what the "unwritten" rules are, so how would I abide by them?

I'll get checked all 3 days this weekend, then on the 4th of July and again on labor day weekend. Seems like they are out in droves on the busy holiday weekends.

Great to hear about a successful return to fishing!!

^^^ this ^^^

As @BASS302 said, there is a nice little article on @everythingthatswims and his partner. Good luck and hope you are smashing them right now!! https://www.bassmaster.com/news/college-anglers-battle-team-year

I loved fishing Presque Isle when I lived in NE Ohio. Unfortunately that is also where I got the nick name "North Wind" Be safe as the lake can get nasty in a hurry, if so you always have the lagoon and the large mouths

I am pretty sure he is talking about the same thing. I have used those before and they work well once you get the rigging down.

I've only seen the issue with the top guide and it was on an older rod. Anything that is newer should not be an issue unless you get a defective set of guides.

It was the older steel/chrome type guides that had the issue.

I saw on another forum where it was brought up that someone doesn't just all of a sudden act in this manner. Lambert has fished against Randy for 20+ years, perhaps there was some inside knowledge of how Randy would react or that getting a reaction out of him might throw him off his game.

I've got a tin boat too, everytime I hear thunder in the distance I think of this and pack it up.

Thanks for the write up!! I was a marshal for Swindle when they fished Douglas Lake. He was very focused and had his game face on. There were times when he would throw out some one liners but he was concentrating on making the cut. We sat in the ramps parking lot for about an hour waiting to see if he was going to make the cut and during this time I dont think I stopped laughing. Hoping to get to be a marshal for the classic next year!!

The trokar tube hook is what I use. I'm not a huge fan of the EWG hooks with tubes as I used to miss a lot of fish.

I wondered if this was going to be brought up here. I wonder if Haynes knew that Lambert caught his fish on that spot on day1? This is why "unwritten" rules do not work. It was pretty fitting to see Lambert went to a different spot and killed them on days 3 and 4.

I will do the double hookset now and then especially when I'm fishing a buzz toad. Kinda remember watching Al Lindner doing it quite a bit too

I also look at tourney fishing like this. However, it took many,many tourneys to be confident in fishing for larger fish while watching guys load their livewells with keepers.

Cracking a tube is a very under used technique

Chatterbait, swim jig, swimbait, wake bait, popper, walking bait depending on how high the weeds were growing. Seems like you determined that a moving bait was needed to get bit and that a fast moving topwater worked once the water got warmer. Perhaps the popper or walking bait would have worked earlier. The double fluke rig sounds like it might have also worked fished thru the weeds

Usually after I break one off, the next one gets off because I over compensate and use a wimpy hook set.