billmac

The thing is, MLF could switch to, or incorporate a "best 5" model with no trouble whatsoever. Also, in the list of priorities for the different tours, we are forgetting the fish themselves. I don't think there's much question that MLF treats the fish with more care and respect. I still like BASS. They started it all, and bass fishers owe them a lot. FLW and MLF were built on the foundation they laid. But this is natural selection, if you can't adapt, you can't survive.

6 day tournaments may be a bit hard on the body of water.

Will the 5 fish format part of the tourney be immediate release?

Definitely looks like a Hellbender on the bottom. Left one reminds me of a Creek Chub Wiggle Fish but they were jointed. Might be the same company though. I have no idea about the other one.

I know this is an old thread, but I was surprised to see it. Here in upstate NY, the premium fuel at a lot of stations is ethanol-free. I don't have to go anyplace special. I can get it at my local Stewarts.

I was bummed out that I couldn't serve as a boater for my local college group yesterday during an in-club tournament. When I went outside in the morning and it was about 28 degrees, I wasn't quite so bummed. I think I would love to fish for a living, but fishing only when you want to has its perks too.

Agreed. This would also be easier on the fish than the stupid scoop and hug. I think of all 3 major tours, BASS has the least respect for the fish.

I typically go with spincasters for kids. As they progress I would move them to a spinning reel and finally a baitcaster if they really got into it.

I do think it would be nice to level the playing field down to skill alone. I like what the MLF did (does?) with identical rigs for some tourneys. I always thought the way the old Classics were run, with a secret location was pretty cool.

Is that even legal?

Similar but the beetle spin didn't have a curly tail. It's like a spinnerbait but I find it a little more versatile. You can fish it like a jig or just do a straight retrieve.

I'm just learning my first bass boat. 40mph seems like I'm screaming across the water. I can't imagine going 75mph.

I have a 16 ft boat. I'm sure bigger is generally safer but I'm wondering what the most common dangers are for bassboats. They don't seem very capsize-able unless you were going crazy fast in really high waves. Being low, they are certainly swamp-able, perhaps more than the bilge pump could keep up with. I assume most boats have enough foam in them so they can't really sink.

I'm mainly thinking of what size line it takes to punch through the plastic bait when setting the hook.

If using mono or fluoro, what is the lightest line you would use for a texas-rigged plastic? How about a bait with a weedguard?

Maybe I'm not dedicated enough but I'm not paying $15 bucks for a single lure (honestly, probably not even $10). I'm also skeptical that expensive lures are generally so astonishingly productive that a lot of lures in the same category aren't just as good. I'm wondering what baits you have found that are cheap (or cheaper) alternatives to the really expensive baits?

So with it T-rigged, what size line are you using? It looks like mono or fluoro.

How do you rig this?

So it's early October, you're on a natural lake with both large and smallmouth. Water temps are in the 50s. You have 1 rod. What do you tie on? Two rods? Three? Four? Mine 1. Jig and spinner. 2. Above, and drop shot. 3. 2. above, plus a frog. 4. Haven't decided.

If you are going to represent what the jersey stands for well, then wear it and don't worry about it.

So I'm thinking of putting something like a Garmin striker 4 on my bow, but obviously it's small and low. Does anyone use, or has anyone heard of raising the bow finder up on some kind of pedestal?

Wait for climate change to prevent winter altogether so I can keep fishing.

Context!

Ah, I thought it was some super secret code term.