Tennessee Boy

Yes for new line but not line on the reel. I have a system for keeping up with what line is on what reel. Sometimes I lose track and use the caliper to identify the line. I don’t carry the thing on the boat like Pirch does. It’s a handy tool to have around. I use it to identify line maybe once every couple of years. I have used it see if the manufacturer’s are fudging their numbers. I haven’t found any that do.

I would give it a try. It depends on how big your two graphs are, how big your engine is, how long you fish, and your fishing habits. My guess is you’ll be fine.

Mark Menendez’s is an old guy on the trail and I admire what he said in the video. When we got GPS it robbed from us. It robbed our ability to triangulate. So new skills are going to evolve with forward facing and old skill will have to keep up or get out of the way. Makes me respect the guy even more. No crying, no excuses, just determination to keep growing in an ever changing sport. He made the top 50 and I’m cheering for him.

Has anyone ever hit 100 pounds in 3 days?

I would like to point out that Trey McKinney is the only angler in the tournament whose weight is higher than his age. 28 lbs - 19 years old. There should be a belt for that. 😃

Yeah he’s boat flipping everything under 7 pounds.

Everything causes cancer in California. That’s why I never go there.

My micrometer is a higher quality, more expensive one compared to the caliper in the picture which was less than $20. You get what you pay for. The micrometer has a mechanism that limits the pressure you put on the line so it delivers more consistent results with thin braid which is never perfectly round so the measurement changes somewhat depending on the pressure. A more expensive caliper would probably do the same. Both work perfectly well with fluorocarbon, mono, and heavier braid. The accuracy of both is more than adequate enough to measure fishing line.

I can really sympathize with him. I was a software developer for 36 years before I retired so I spent my share of time staring at screens and there were never any elderly crappie fishermen around. 😆

I have the digital version and the old fashion mechanical version that I've had for 30 years. The digital one is faster and easier. The mechanical one is a little more accurate when measuring braid.

The Rules Concerning Wind 1) There are no rules 2) Wind causes current and current is very important in positioning the fish. Always consider the current caused by the wind in addition to other currents. Remember that any water being moved on the surface by the wind has to go somewhere when it gets to the bank so the current at depth might be different than the surface current. 3) The bait fish tend to be more concentrated on the bank the wind is blowing toward. 4) The ripples and waves caused by wind reduce the light that penetrates the water and the light that does penetrate flickers. 5) The waves caused by the wind can muddy the water when they crash against a muddy bank and they can also wash fish food into the water. 6) As you get older the waves caused by the wind get bigger and are more likely to cause you to loose your balance and fall out of the boat.

Great article! It's a topic that doesn't get enough attention on this forum.

This could be the answer to the issue everyone’s been complaining about. People hate watching angler staring at screens. If the images are projected onto their sun glasses then it will look like they’re staring at open water like they did in the good old days.

I’m well equipped with three Humminbird Solix, 360, Live, and target lock. What I don’t have is Koyoya Fujitsu level skill. If I ever get to that level I’m gonna start speaking Japanese so I won’t be able to answer any questions.🤭

I’m 61 years old. If I was currently on the tour the scariest thing on that video would be the single guy that lives in his camper and does nothing but travel around and fish. That’s the true advantage that the young guys have over the old guys. You can’t compete with that. Time on the water has always been the key. In the modern world it’s time on the water and time with the technology.

I’ve never liked the gaudiness of tournament bass fishing. With rednecks you see it in excessive horsepower. With geeks you see it in the number of fish finders and transducers. It would be better for the sport if tournament organization put reasonable limits on both. It will probably never happen.

If I’m not mistaken the Damiki rig originated in East Tennessee. Not the technique, that goes back to the cavemen, but the name Damiki Rig.

I’m not comparing tournaments, I’m responding to a suggestion that one bait is all that’s needed for all tournaments in 2024 by pointing out that it isn’t even true for one tournament 2024.

There were 70 fish weighted by the ten anglers in the final round of yesterday's MLF tournament. Let's look at what those 70 fish were caught on according to the stats on the MLF website. 17 fish Soft Plastic - Wacky/Neko Rig 15 fish Soft Plastic - Jighead Minnow 11 fish Jig - Bladed Swim Jig 9 fish Soft Plastic - Creature/Craw 8 fish Crankbait - Lipless Crankbait 6 fish Jig - Flipping/Pitching/Skipping Jig 3 fish Spinnerbait 1 fish Jig - Casting Jig You can draw your own conclusions from these numbers. Personally, I'll be throwing more than one bait in 2024.

It was definitely a big weekend for FFS. It dominated the BASS tournament and humiliated the anglers that didn’t use it. From what I could tell only one angler made significant use of FFS in the MLF tournament and that was the winner Jacob Wheeler.

It depends on the store here. Some places are over $4 and some are just a little more than E10. There’s no logic to it. I think they charge the high prices because people will pay it. Most people are filling up a small can for their lawnmower and they don’t worry about the price.

I agree the NCAA is likely toast and that’s good. It’s hard to imagine what the future will look like for college football. It may get to the point where college football players make more than NFL players due to the NFL salary cap and the fact that NFL fans have no desire to supplement the income of NFL players.

He caught it this morning around 10AM and they are showing it over and over. I'm trying to watch both but Toledo has most of my attention. There's some impressive fishing going on there.

He said in a tournament like this. This is definitely a FFS tournament. Not all of them are. Right now the leader in the MLF tournament has caught all of his fish on spinnerbaits and bladed jigs.

If you don’t like screens you can always watch the MLF tournament at Santee Cooper. Most of them are fishing shallow cover. Wheeler is the only one I’ve seen who is off shore. Very interesting how different the two lakes are fishing. Santee Cooper is much further along in the pre spawn which surprises me. Schappler is impressive. He just shares some great wisdom on FFS.