Tennessee Boy

You have to make your bait more appealing than the 1000s of real bait fish that are there. I agree with others that a spoon is a good choice. A spoon mimics an injured/dying bait fish so it's appealing because it's seems easier to catch for the bass than a real bait fish. Still the situation you describe can be tough because the fish you are targeting may have spent the entire day at the all you can eat baitfish buffet.

Will you be giving us live updates from the water?

Those look like JDM chips. I should have known. 😆

This thread has generated a lot of interesting comments. I’m puzzled by the fact that no one is talking about what type of chips (brand, color, type) catch the most fish. 🤔

Well I hope it's okay for me to post on this thread because it's not a hypothetical question for me since I already have everything mentioned except for the bag of chips (I already ate them). So do I catch more bass with my high tech bass boat? Probably not. I caught more numbers of bass before I got a boat when I was wading creeks that got very little pressure. I was young and had no problem hiking a mile to an out of the way creek where the bass hadn't learned to avoid lures. So I agree with you that your approach to using stealth and a canoe to fish out of the way places has clear advantages over a bass boat on busy public waters. As for Spotlock, I love it. Makes fishing easier in many ways. Does it help me catch more bass? Yes but only because it makes me more efficient. Now for FFS - I also love it. Do I catch more fish with it? I'm convinced that I probably catch less with it. We have solid data from this year's Bass Pro Tour events and the data shows that for about half the field, FFS does not help and even hurts them catch fish. If it doesn't help half the pros what does it do for the average angler like me? Well, I catch fish with it that I would never have caught without it. I also know that I don't catch fish when I'm messing with it. It can definitely be a distraction. My FFS skills are probably more comparable to Alton Jones or Brent Chapman than to Drew Gill or Jacob Wheeler so it's not increasing my catch by much if any. For me the boat and the technology greatly enhance my enjoyment of the sport. I enjoy fishing large reservoirs that offer a large variety of stuff to fish. I can fish off shore structure, creeks, all types of cover on a given day. I can crank the outboard and go to a place 10 miles away with ease. I can spotlock exactly where I need to position the boat and forget about it. The technology does exactly what the critics often say-It takes the mystery out of fishing. I don't care for the mystery that comes with making random cast. I like knowing where the structure is and knowing exactly how the fish are set up on it. I love watching how they react to my lure. Call it cheating if you like. For me it just makes the competition between me and fish much more real and less random. It enhances the narrative. I know I caught the fish off a stump on the edge of the drop off and he followed the lure for about 5 feet before he hit it. Before the technology existed, I just knew I caught the fish over there. I need to buy more chips.

I like the analogy. The opponent is the fish. What happens between your ears is play calling. Where you fish and how you fish is situational depending on the fish you are facing on a given day. The skill required when the rod is in your hands is akin to player skill. Execution and the fundamentals are often underrated. Time spent on the practice field is critical to success. The rod and reel are like the football player's shoes. They get a lot of attention. Companies will pay big money to get a prominent player to wear their shoes. The importance of the rod and reel has about as much to do with success as the brand of shoes the football player is wearing. The shoes need to be the right size but a shoe has never made a touchdown.

I have it and I like it. It connects directly to a fish finder unlike the original 360 which connected directly to the network. Make sure you have a compatible fish finder, many older models are not.

Kentucky lake is over populated with them. There is no size limit. Spots are very tasty.

Randy Blaukat was a name few in the fishing world remembered until he realized that you can get people to pay attention to you by saying something controversial. Take a look at the number of views each of his videos have gotten. The ones about fishing are not very popular. The ones where he is complaining about something have far more views. The social media companies have realized that people are more likely to watch something/click on something that makes them angry so that's what they try to show us. If we can all just ignore this stuff then maybe these companies will stop trying to drive us all insane.

I’m craving a Blizzard for some reason.🤣

After considering advice from your doctor or after doing your own research, have any of you decided not to get PSA tests?

@TnRiver46 I saw a TWRA electrofishing boat on Old Hickory lake one day and decided to follow them around to see where they were getting fish. I followed them for about an hour and did not see them net a single fish. Apparently they can't catching anything on Old Hickory either. 😆

The negative effects of electrofishing on fish have been well studied and documented. Studies on the effects of FFS on fish have only just begun and some biologist believe changes in regulations may be needed for some species. If the science shows FFS is doing damage then something can and should be done. As for what is fair and sportsmanlike, that should be left up to the sportsman. Do we need to talk about using live bait or trolling? There is a great episode of Bass After Dark where they had several biologist discussing the 2025 Black Bass Symposium that is held every 25 years and was held in August. At 1:22:00 is where they talk about FFS.

I'm not a doctor and don't want to give medical advice but I suggest everyone familiarize yourself with the controversy around PSA screenings. I won't go into the controversy because I think you're better off getting medical advice from something other than a fishing forum so look it up yourself or ask your doctor. Personally, I do get an annual PSA test.

I'm not supposed to cut my main line when I'm trying to cut the tag off a new knot but I do regularly. Then I say words I'm not supposed to say when I toss my untethered lure into the water and watch it sink out of sight.

I have a 90hp 4 stroke Merc and it is incredibly efficient - I rarely run it wide open - I don't use much gas. I typically use less than a gallon per outing. I have a 22 gallon tank, I'll add five gallons from a can when it's gets below half a tank. I'm much more concerned about the gas in the tank getting old than I am about running out of gas. I only use ethanol free. That other stuff is nasty. 😆

Are you willing to carry an extra battery to power your chiller? My guess is most people would rather bring ice.

Yes, I can't say I was surprised by the results. I drop about a 1 inch piece of FC in a glass of water and it sank quickly to the bottom. I did the same with mono, it stayed on the surface due to surface tension. When I pushed it under the surface with my finger, it slowly sank to the bottom.

Just about everyone uses Linux. If you have an Android phone you use Linux. My Tivo DVR runs on Linux. My Humminbird Solix apparently runs on Linux based on the Linux license information in the manual. I wouldn't be surprised if other brands of fish finders also run on a Linux kernel. I'm sure there are other things I used that use Linux that I'm not aware of. I was a software developer before retiring. I did all of my development on Linux for the last 15 years of my career. I wouldn't say open source software is better because I don't think the software license determines the quality of the software but Linux and open source software have had a huge impact on computing. In retirement I use a Mac. It's runs on a Unix core so it has all of the Unix features like Linux plus it has a well designed interface and more software is available for it. Macs are a little pricey though.

Fun Fact A friend of mine was showing me an old Packard from the 50s he was restoring. He said when they were sold new both the radio and the automatic transmission were optional add ons. The single speaker AM radio option cost more than the automatic transmission option.

Cut off a short piece of it and drop it in some water. If it sinks quickly it's FC, if it sinks slowly or stays on the surface due to surface tension it's mono.

I have had that happen with my Ultrex a few times when something stops the foot pedal from turning. For example of something is under the foot pedal that prevents one side of it from going all the way down.

So you could tell your friends "The app said it was a 40 pound bass..and it was using AI so it has to be right". 😆

Can you buy a smaller ball to make the app think the fish is bigger?

I enjoyed Roland Martin's book - it has a lot of good tips. That said he does not do his due diligence when it comes to science. In the book he repeats the widely repeated myth that bass avoid sunlight because they do not have eyelids to protect their eyes. So pay attention to his fishing tips but don't put much stock in his science lessons.