BassNJake

I live about 30 minutes from Cherokee and about an hour from Douglas and have fished them both many times. You go into any baitshop from November to March they'll tell you to throw the Damiki rig or some variation of it on Cherokee at that time of year. I'm sure a lot of the more technically savvy anglers are using Google Earth and are going through satellite pictures from previous years to find points, breaks, structure that may now be sitting in 10 feet of water. I read somewhere that Brandon Palaniuk said he puts in an entire work week(40 hrs) just studying maps before an event. Pretty sure Tommy Biffle ain't doing the same thing. Lets say 20 pros are buying waypoints ... aren't they going to be buying them from the same guys/guides and aren't they going to be the same places? I dont buy into the secret spot theory. So wheres the 20 way tie for first at every event amongst the same 20 waypoint buyers?

Nobody is going to admit they purchased way points and got outside information. Really, its all speculation. Unless you were there when "Bobby Best Guide Ever" gave the way points to whatever pro. I'm waiting to see if more guys fail polygraphs this year, because of this rule. The thing is that you can still share information between elite series pros so some guys (Jordan Lee who seems to be buddies with everyone) have the possibility of getting more info than somebody like Dave Lefebre( Dave doesn't even really like Dave)

I agree ... what's next? I see the hummingbird 360 imaging as a lot bigger of an advantage than running a tunnel hull. Using a different type of boat adds to the strategy of tournament fishing. Do I run 120 miles and sacrifice 4 hours of fishing time? Do I run upriver where I'll be sharing very skinny water with half a dozen guys for 3 days? How much tackle do I need when running a small aluminum boat VS a 21 footer? To me its all part of the game and done within the framework of the rules. Next year there will be guys that will use aluminum boats just not tunnel hulls and people will still think they had an advantage.

I never really saw it as an advantage. Whatever you're driving you still have to catch them. Several people ran tunnel hulls at the last open on Douglas Lake. It worked out for Ott but he was fishing the same water as Drew Benton who was not running a tunnel hull. So Ott's water wasn't some unreachable creek arm that only he was able to access. Skylar Hamilton a local favorite ran a tunnel hull on day 1 but only weighed a couple fish before switching to his regular Aluminum boat for day 2. Mike Watson also ran a tunnel hull but he blanked on day 2. 1 guy ran a tunnel hull and won 2 other guys ran tunnel hulls and they finished 27th and 37th So was the advantage the boat or is one guy a better fisherman at his home lake than the others?

Amazing!! I love his sweet sweater against the bomb site background

My preference would be in the garage. I often work on tackle, check lines/retie, replace tackle based on seasonal patterns, do repairs and cosmetic maintenance(wash,vacuum) Also, sometimes I'll use the excuse that I'm going to the garage to work on the boat/fishing stuff and I wouldn't be able to do that if I kept the boat at a different location

I'm with 12poundbass, i don't know if i'd keep mine on the water unless it was on a lift. Then I wouldn't trust my gear not to be stolen so I'd have to load and unload each time. (when I fished BFL's I saw a guy at the hotel get his stuff stolen when his rod lockers got broke into) As it stands I live less than 5 minutes of where I put in at and dont mind doing it everytime. That being said there are many docks on my lake where the owner has left his/her side imaging unit on the boat so they obviously are not afraid of theft like I am.

Man, I hope not. However, most everyone I know is watching bassmaster live and not the espn2 show thats on 2 weeks later. So i could see that happening.

Found this information about the upcoming BASS Nation championship on Lake Hartwell. The champion will receive a Bassmaster Elite Series berth, paid entry into their division of choice in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens, a prize boat to keep, plus a “B.A.S.S. Nation’s Best” prize package, which is a fully rigged tournament-ready boat for one year. Second- and third-place finishers will earn paid entry into their division of choice in the Bassmaster Opens, and the “B.A.S.S. Nation’s Best” prize package, which is also the use of a fully rigged tournament-ready boat for one year.

Getting him started on the frog early, way to go!!

I've had days where they wont eat a senko until I dip it in Spike-it. There are days that switching from a 5 inch senko to a 4 inch or vise versa made all the difference. Or going from a 1/2 ounce jig to a 1/4 ounce one. At a lake in Ohio the fish prefer an Xcalibur rattle bait, I can't get a bite on that lure at the lake in TN I fish. but tie on a red eye shad and it's on. I will change colors when they are not taking the bait completely. This is only done after changing my retrieve and switching sizes. My experience is changing the rate of fall will draw more strikes than changing the color. Other times it is the opposite which is pretty much how fishing goes. Like others have said I have tried rotating colors when I'm catching fish and noticed no difference. I think the color issue comes more into play when they are not eating it. I get a couple bites and I dont hook up, I know I'm around the fish just got to make little adjustments to get them to take it better.

From about March until a couple of weeks ago it was a Keitech Noisy Flapper on top I'd follow missed strikes with a weightless senko Or making a second pass of the area pitching/flipping/jerking a bottom weighted senko Last couple of weeks as the water in my lake is being dropped, I've had to abandon the shoreline and fish deeper points and break lines with a crankbait, jig and a shakey head. I'm drooling at the thought of following the fish as they migrate towards the backs of the creek channels This is usually my best topwater action for the year

@RichF Seriously great discussion. I enjoyed hearing a different opinion than mine, but one I see quite often about the Opens. I thought that the Bass Nation winner got an invite to both the Classic and the Elite series? I believe that is how Ike and Brandon P both qualified for BASS but that could have changed as well. (or I'm mistaken which happens too) I really like the FLW format as far as the Costa and BFL's go. I do not like that there are co anglers fishing the FLW tour. ( a couple years ago a Pro's catch was disqualified because the Co Angler put his fish in the pro side livewell) An amateurs mistake costing the pro. I think it would be awesome if the Elites didn't have to pay entry fees. Kevin Short had a good article on bassblaster about entry fee's and payouts.

@RichF My first reply to this topic was about professional fisherman. You stated this was bad for amateur anglers. I think we are looking at this from 2 different sides. I don't think of the opens as the Triple A or minor leagues of BASS. Bass Nation fills that role. I view the opens as another opportunity for professionals. If I fished professionally, I would enter every event I could and I'm sure my sponsors would appreciate/encourage it as well. If this was a minor league then there would be rules in place so that touring pro's could not fish it. I'm not sure where the misconception that the opens were a step down or the Triple A of BASS came from. My point with Randall Tharp is he waited until he had already won over a million dollars fishing FLW before he felt like he had the financial backing to fish the Elite Series. He fished BFL and Costa before fishing FLW and he was tearing it up there too. Out of his 39 top 10 finishes, over 20 of those were at the BFL level and the 6 years prior to him switching to the FLW tour. This is the type of success and commitment it takes to attract the sponsors to fish professionally. FLW didn't give him the platform, he earned it through his success fishing the actual lower levels like BFL and Costa. His continued success led to more sponsors. Guys that have massive talents have many options to grow their fishing game and their marketability. https://www.flwfishing.com/anglers/randall-tharp-122881 You have also mentioned BASS trying to become a mainstream sport. I've never heard that and cant see how anyone could compare them at all. Which mainstream sport requires the participants to pay an entry fee to all the events? Which mainstream sport has it's biggest event of the year on a 2 week delay before it is on TV? If bass fishing does become mainstream, I'd hate to see the animal activists and PETA type protests that would be held. I have enjoyed this discussion/debate, I just think we are looking at it from 2 different perspectives.

Just want to make it clear, I am just giving my opinion. Below I use you and your but I mean anyone that fishes the opens not you specifically. I have always seen tournament bass fishing as 2 fold; having the skills and having the money. One of the best fisherman I ever met fished out of a john boat, had 2 rods and a handful of lures. Could he have competed against even the best local guys? I know he could have, he could catch a bass in a mud puddle. However, we'll never know because he couldn't afford to fish in tournaments. What I am saying is that winning an open doesn't dump enough sponsors in your lap to fish the Elite Series the next year. Using your example of the person saving every penny and uses all their vacation time just to fish the opens. What are they going to do next year, if they qualify? Quit their jobs all of a sudden because of the financial windfall that comes with qualifying for the Elite Series? If your are fishing the opens to make the Elite Series you better have sponsors already in place and then pick up more when you qualify. Randall Tharp turned down 3 invitations to the Elite series because he was not financially able to afford it. He had some sort of team sponsorship with FLW that allowed him to fish that trail. Once he made a name for himself, he was encouraged to fish the elite Series by his sponsors. https://www.bassmaster.com/blog/third-times-charm If your fishing the opens to make the Classic who are you going to fish against when you get there? The same pros that you are complaining about fishing the opens. If you cant hang with a bunch of "financially able" anglers and a dozen or so pros, how are you going to hang in the biggest event in bass fishing? Which pros do you want to eliminate from fishing the opens just the BASS guys or should the FLW guys be excluded as well? What about guys that fish Costa and BFL or BASS Nation? BASS used to have a lot more guys that always donated and never really competed. Now they have to stay qualified or re-qualify and that makes the tour more competitive top to bottom. Not allowing the win and your in makes the classic more competitive because of the variety of lakes you have to fish to qualify for it.

It is an open event, anyone can fish. This is a way to qualify for the Elite Series as well. If you have 2 sub par years fishing the Elite Series you lose your spot and have to re-qualify through the opens or BASS Nation. I think it was Chad Pipkins(definitely could be mistaken) qualified through the opens the same year he would have been replaced on the tour. So he did not have to spend a year out of the Elite Series before re-qualifying.

Great job!!

Thats dirty.

I also want to add I think there should be a Western Open division. However, I have read that when there was stuff out west the support was minimal. Supply and demand comes into play and then figure that against the cost benefit ratio and BASS has decided not to invest into that market when it comes to tournaments.

I'm sure I'm in the minority but I think that it is great. It is another move towards making the Elite series the very best of Professional fishing. This prevents some local who is on the right bite at the right time to win and you're in. This prevents a touring pro from fishing his home lake and getting a berth into the classic. This will mean to qualify for the Elite series you will need to be consistent over 5 events not just 3. This new format eliminates those who are not financially able to fish the Elite series. This will eliminate the guys that qualify and then drop out after a couple events because they dont have the sponsors. If you are serious about making it to the Elite series you better have the financial backing to do so. It's 40 grand in entrance fees + hotels/camping for a week + gas for 3 days of practice and at least 2 days of fishing + food and that does not account for the travel it took to get to the event. If you make a check that barely covered your expenses for that week. There is a reason that there are all these guys trying to jump ship from FLW to BASS. It's sponsorship dollars. The same sponsor will pay more for an Elite angler than they will for an FLW angler. I think it was Brent Ehrler that said something about it when he was making the switch and he's someone that won over 2 million fishing FLW. An FLW win = $125,000 for an entry fee of $4500 A BASS win = $100,000 for an entry fee of $5000 Both a Classic win or a Forrest Wood Cup win = $300,000 So it costs less and you can win more money but every year several FLW pros make the switch. Anybody can fish FLW, you pay, you play.(there are some that get priority but not enough to fill all 150 spots) You have to qualify to make the elites and you have to finish well enough throughout your first 2 years to stay qualified. Otherwise, you have to go back to the opens to qualify. I think in the last 10 years there has been a clear separation between the #1 tour and the #2 tour. With the new rules for the Opens, I think it makes the divide even greater. To qualify for the Elites you will need to be consistent over 5 events at different lakes using different techniques. I do believe there are some excellent fisherman in FLW, however they are BIG fish in a small pond. John Cox has qualified for the Classic and for the Elite series and here is what he said... Cox hasn’t written off fishing the Elite Series should he qualify for it. It will come down to which schedule is more favorable to him. “I like fishing new places, but I do much better on lakes that I’ve been to several times,” Cox said. “It’s almost like having a home field advantage.” Thats a big fish in a small pond answer if you ask me.

I thought this was my own personal modification until I saw yours. I've been doing this for several years now and love the reduced amount of snags. I will trim some of the lead on the larger blades to create a lighter bait that has a larger size. I will also add a couple pieces of skirting to give it more appeal as it vibrates.

Happens to my lake every year and I think that the water pulls them out towards the main channel.(my observations + tourney results) When the drawdown starts here each week there is less activity(baitfish, birds, tourney guys) in the creeks and the coves. I have been fishing the first points into the coves from the main channel the last 2 weeks. 1st week I caught a couple Last week I caught a couple more and they seemed to be a little bigger. Now we have a heat wave so that could throw a wrench into my plans, but I'll start out on those points this week hoping to intercept some fish as they start heading back into the creeks for the fall.

That's awesome!! Are you a current UA fisherman? I used to live in that area and fished the dobass series on Ladue that is now run by the Kent State team. I also fished in the EEI series as well. Did you guys have the battle for the paddle yet?

I've never fished there but have to go thru the stop and go traffic past the steam plant everyday. I also have driven by the Bull Run area and that always looks good to me. Docks, rip rap, laydowns/overhangs and a bridge all thru that small stretch.

I used to fish a lake that was fairly clear about 5-7 feet of visibility. It had a lot of smaller blackish rocks on the bottom. Seemed the craws and the smaller baitfish were always darker in color, so black and black/blue were more productive than other colors most of the time. Then you have the school of thought that would go against the grain to show them something different.