Dirtyeggroll

Was considering signing up to fish a fancy pay-to-enter, high stakes tournament as a co-angler. After reading this thread, not a d**n chance. I am glad I am in a good club with boaters that love to see their co catch fish just about as much as they like to catch them themselves. In many cases a boater will tell me they left a specific spot that looks juicy just for me. Of course these are club tournaments where no money (except big bass) is on the table, so I can see how it could be considered different. Occasionally, I'll get a little excited and make a bad cast (because of wind or odd angle) or a poor choice of cast position relative to the boaters in my club and cast in their lane. I always let them know if I do it by accident, and warn them beforehand and during so that if it continues to just 'front end' me. Relative to the OP's situation, I don't think you were necessarily in the wrong. In a situation like yours, the boater had to make a choice to fish one side over the other. Part of the added challenge of being a boater, in my opinion, is indeed fishing against the co-angler. Every other boater has a co-angler, so its essentially 'fair'. Honestly, if you get angry because the co-angler hit the crevice you missed after passing it or that you didn't put the boat in position to hit, then don't fish co-angler tournaments. Some of these comments really make it sound like it is such a chore to have a coangler and that you are doing a service to the world. Seriously, where does this end. "I'm gonna fish the bank with a frog first, don't fish the outside weededge." or "I don't know how to skip under docks so I'm just going to fish the outside of them and you don't skip under them." Yes you are providing the boat (and all of the cost associated with that) and probably paid some extra tournament fees but you already have a HUGE advantage being on the front of the boat (and yes I realize at sometimes it can be extra work and even a disadvantage, but the overall it is way toward advantage). With all that being said, I do realize it is quite a skill to position the boat so the co-angler can make some good casts. The only instance where I would say that the boater had a right to be upset for the OP, would be if he was working extra hard to make sure the boat was in good position to make sure that you also had a good shot at the same bank he was fishing.

I love the jigs I got. 3/8 oz Blue Craw Dock Rockers. 5.59 lber.

Been getting caught up in the old hype of the original Bass Pro Shops XPS Swimmer. Of course, it’s no longer in production, hard to find and expensive. There is a copy called “The Babe” sold on Tackle Freaks that is currently out of stock, so per the suggestion of @Bluebasser86 I picked up some Optimum Boom Boom 6” Swimbaits (I picked up both pre-rigged as shown in the picture and some weedless that are not shown) and some 8/0 Owner Beast Swimbait hooks. I plan on throwing these in one lake that is way overpopulated with stunted crappie but has a decent population of 5-7 lb bass and in another lake that the bass can’t resist a bluegill or sunfish colored squarebill.

Oooohhh man!!! I should have waited to place my order for 2 dozen+ jigs!! Maybe I need more...

How does this perform compared to a plopper?

I referenced the universal code because it seems all of the eligible sellers for the PARTYINUSA code are out of high speed Tatula SVs

You just missed out on an eBay sale. Find one on eBay for 164.99 then wait for a universal 15-20% off code. There was a code that ended yesterday at 9 PM.

Dang it! Pretty sure I accidentally bought a left hand Tatula SV 6.x from the auction site and wasted my code when I meant to purchase a right hand 8.3 and didn’t realize it until it was too late to cancel.

7ft Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 Medium Heavy with a Daiwa Tatula SV 7.2 and 50-lb sufix 832 braid.

I haven’t had a lot of success casting weightless senkos on casting gear. I better start practicing.

I am wanting to throw weightless baits (senkos, texas rigs) into heavy cover (thick reeds, lily pads and brush piles). It seems it would be hard to throw super light baits with casting gear, but it seems necessary for heavy gear because I am targeting 5-6 lb fish and heavy gear would be needed to get them out of the cover. I was thinking heavier action spinning gear would be easier to cast, but I haven't heard much of people using heavy spinning gear. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would a heavier action spinning rod be easier to cast than with a casting rod?

I would start by finding the Creek channel (if there is one). I would fish the stump fields that are near where the channel makes a turn. Additionally I would find the areas off shore that have rapid depth changes of at least 2-3 ft and fish those. Grab a bottom contact bait and drag it slowly on the bottom as if you are using the bait to map what’s down there. Areas where you can feel stuff and have depth changes are likely to hold fish.

Finally got one on a Magnum Squarebill (or as I like to call it “the Mondo”).

HA! I tried to say that once. My wife ended up counting her pairs of shoes. 43. She said I have way more lures than that.

Went fishing with my adopted dad. It was hot and windy and we didn’t catch any keepers, but he really enjoyed it and so did I.

It’s not well understood by most people that hydration is more than just water. Often overlooked key components of hydration are glucose, sodium and potassium. These are needed to maximally absorb water. Gatorade really is scientifically formulated for hydration and drinking a Gatorade for every 2-3 bottles of water can really help a lot. (Fruit and or fruit juice can achieve a similar effect.)

In Iowa, somewhere along I-29 on an oxbow lake, I broke off what for sure would have been my new PB. It was probably 8+ lbs. I was fishing a chatterbait in old lily pad stems with monofilament. My rod bent over and wouldn't budge and I thought I was hung on a lily stem. Then it slowly started moving, then started swimming, then became dead weight again. I knew it was big. I got it right up to the boat and it surfaced like a small whale. I thought for some reason it would be a smart idea to lip it even though the net was within my reach. I grabbed the line to move it a little close to me to grab it by the lip, I bumped the fish on the side of the boat and *plink* the line snapped. There went the monster with my chatterbait in its mouth. I still lose sleep over it.

This is a couple days old, but it was one of the last times I went out and one of the best fishing days of my life. It was my first frogging attempt of the year so my drag on my reel was still completely loose and I missed about 8 blowups on only a few more casts right at the start of the morning. When I finally realized the drag was loose, after a fish had held on to the frog and pulled out some drag and then spit it out, I started putting them in the boat, and they were good ones! After the sun got high I switched over to a magnum Christie Critter and started pitching it as far back in the reeds as possible and was glad I did! I caught my new PB for this state at 6.3 lbs (6 lbs 4.8 oz) and my best five fish were right under 28 lbs (2 of the 5+ didn't get recorded on the GoPro). Then I went back 3 days later after a little rain and cold front and found them roaming in the lilies with a black and blue chatterbait. Best 5 for that day were ~23 lbs.

This year a whopper plopper. I hooked up with a ton a really nice fish and boated a few of them last year. So, I bought a rod to dedicate to a plopper to help keep from ripping the trebles out. I’ve thrown it a ton this year and haven’t even had a bite!

Surely other people do this, but not anyone I know personally. I make a ‘top box’. Depending on what I plan to fish, I will put some duplicates of all the things o have tied on and soft plastics in a Plano that stays on the deck. That way if i break off or need something else I don’t have to dig through a tackle box or through storage compartments to retie. I do this in addition to the Tackle bag I bring as a co-Angler and in my own little boat.

Had them dialed in today. One of the best days of fishing of my life. Here was the recipe: Step 1: Forget your phone. Who really needs it anyway when you're fishing by yourself? What could you possibly need it for? Picture of a PB maybe? Step 2: Get to the boat ramp and realize you forgot your net. Well good thing you also forgot your phone so you can't call someone to bring you one... Step 3: Dial the fish in on squarebill. Yep, catching fish on every 2nd to 3rd cast. Of course, the best bite of the day is going to be on light wire treble hook crankbaits, you know, since you forgot the net. At least you changed the stock hooks to #4 Mustad Ultrapoint Triple Grip. Step 4: Donate your scale to the lake. Weighing fish is for chumps. I mean, you've probably already caught the biggest fish in the lake at about 6 lbs on a previous trip. Not anything any bigger really worth weighing. Step 5: HOLY $@#& you just hooked up with a GIANT on a squarebill. Where's the net! Where's the net! Oh no, you forgot it. What are you gonna do? FISH JUST JUMPED!!! OMG its HUGE! Heart's really racing now. Lip it? Start to shake with nerves. Oh no, you're gonna get hooked past the barb. Who cares, the fish is worth it! Wait last time you tried to lip a fish with trebles you knocked it off on the boat bumper. Step 6: Taking drag, back to the boat, taking drag, dives under boat, back up, going for trolling motor, back up, getting closer to boat. Grab that beast under the belly and put it in the boat!!! 23.5 inches and thick! I'm guessing around 7 lbs. Biggest bass I have ever caught in my adult life (I once caught an 8-8 on a minnow when I was 8 years old). Step 7: Stand shaking with a giant fish in your hands. Realize the you're wearing a GoPro. There is a record of this fish! I will add a YouTube link later today when get it all edited. For now here is a picture with evidence of how bad they wanted the little KVD 1.5 Bluegill color.

I was only somewhat serious. I was playing on the bag vs boxes title. I actually use a laptop bag with a single Plano box. All the little compartments are great.

A laptop bag serves the purpose very well. Lots of extra little compartments for pliers, extra line, o-rings etc and the main compartment can usually fit a 3700 series Plano box. Convenient and keeps a person from bringing too much. In fact, I separate large Plano boxes I will switch out based on what lake I’m going to (clear vs dark water or time of year).

I use a backpack and fill it with Plano boxes.

Amber with green mirror at my favorite.