Jim- Indiana

That was epic! I'm listening to him here on Friday, and it's interesting to listen to him strategize on his plans for the following days. He is burning the fish in the community hole and getting most of his weight, but super selective on how much pressure he is putting on his other spots. As I watch ...he is setting on 24lbs, so only 5's will do him any good ... you can burn a bunch of 4 and 4-1/2 pounders hunting for a 5 only to gain a few ounces total. Most of which he is appearing to save and be careful with, are on the big lake, but I doubt if he will let the wind keep him from going ...it can get awful bad out there ..... I came back into the river in 10 footers in 05', and can get fairly scary . should be interesting!

BASS has already cancelled a College Series Event at Lake Hartwell, but seems it more has to do with the Colleges not allowing their students to participate in any sporting events, and not a decision brought on by BASS. Hopefully, the Elite Series and Opens will continue as scheduled, but "liability" seems to be a driving factor on decisions..... I agree ...it would be a great opportunity, but likely lots of moving parts to make it happen.

I do not think they even questioned it at the time, and if they did, the proper way would be to call the director and get an immediate ruling ...... putting that it indeed was a violation aside, the director had options as to what the penalty should be. Having them eliminate the largest fish from their bag, would have rid them of any advantage of keeping the fish .... that is what I say should have been assessed as a penalty.

The rules all read the same throughout all of the FLW run circuits, as far as "Fishing is defined as having a lure attached to a line and a rod and reel with the rod in hand" , and I have fished several over the years. I have heard of it frequently happening, and had I hand lined a fish to the boat because of a broken line or reel, I would have unknowingly kept the fish, and others have as well.With that aside....having them not count the largest fish, would have rid them of any advantage.

The only details that I have came from news site, mainly the FLW site. It was the championship round, and someone in the story said there was a camera man onboard. ... so they either mention it themselves to someone, or the camera guy did. Whether it was an infraction or not is likely arguable, I am just saying they got the penalty wrong. Eliminating the largest fish from their creel would have eliminated the weight of the deemed illegal fish, and that was one of the options the tournament director could have made. Granted .... it's over now, and the rules state that the decisions of the tournament director are final.

A little more info ...first place was listed as a 27,000 boat rig, plus an entry into the 2020 Toyota Series Championship, and a chance to win $200,000 for 1st place. The disqualified team ended up in 8th place, which paid $ 0 After a little research .... I will go out on a limb saying that FLW Tournament director "blew" this one. As far as the violation, of the line not being connected to a rod and reel as the rule states, I think many a bass have been counted over the years, that were "hand lined" in as a result of the line breaking at or in the reel. Even if determined a violation, the penalty assessed is at the discretion of the director, in which he has several options. Being it not was a flagrant or known violation, the more appropriate penalty should have been to eliminate the largest fish in the bag. Assuming they had 20lbs, and the largest fish was less than 6lb 7oz, they still would have won! The total amount they originally weighed is unknown at this time.

Wow! .... what a tough call to make! The leaders by nearly 6 lbs in the 3 day tourney, had their final day weight disqualified, because of how one of their fish was caught . They had broken off a fish, and a bit later hooked the line ... pulled it in, and the fish was still on it! Being it was their line and lure, they kept the fish which was determined illegal. The rules state ...."Fishing is defined as having a lure attached to a line and a rod and reel with the rod in hand" Although they did not say how much their total disqualified weight was, they had averaged 21lbs per day, on the previous days, and only needed 13 -6 to win, and likely did not need the "illegal" fish anyway! Per the rule definition ...seems likely the officials made the correct call. I know the rules change from tournament circuit to circuit, but a couple of "like" events came to mind. When watching the BPT this past week, the same thing happened to Fletcher Shryock .... his line broke about halfway to the fish, and motor the boat over to grab the line .... by the time he had winded it up, the fish was gone. Both Marty and JT Kenney made the remarks, that had the fish still been on, that it would have counted. I also just watched the 2019 Redcrest, and Zack Birge did the same thing, and was able to score the fish, and not penalized. Both the BPT and the FLW College Circuit are both owned by Major League fishing, it is reasonable to determine that the disqualified anglers had watched the events, and kept the fish accordingly ....what a tough call! Having lost 11 grand for being DQ ed in a Super BFL, I know this event will haunt these kids for a long time! I cannot verify, but I heard they were even crowned the Champs, only to come back a bit later, and take it away!..... I guess rules are rules!

a bit off topic, but those MLF scales would bother me a bit. Sprague weighed one at 4-5 and called for a redo because he knew it was off.... changed scales, and it weighed 5-10 . He made the remark .....I wonder how many others were off! With so much on the line .... it would seem like they would have a "calibration" weight on board. Things aren't as fast and furious with the 2 lb min weight, if I were fishing....I would have them check the "calibration" weight, just before weighing the fish..... just sayin'

Here is a link to the BASS site for info regarding the Opens .... I think that you can just sign up to fish as a co angler and they will pair you up if they have pros without co anglers. It's probably best to sign up with a pro, in order to get a guaranteed entry. .... it should tell you here https://www.bassmaster.com/bass-pro-shops-bassmaster-opens

Being that I considered the Detroit River, St. Clair, and the Western Erie Basin my higher end "home" tournament waters, I have to somewhat agree. i don't recall a cancellation day in the 20 years that I fished .... it was "use your best judgement" As of late .... all leagues seem be be more cautious, but knowing the conditions that I braved (8-10 footers) it's likely a better idea. Regarding the Chick tournament ..... I had heard there was lots of floating debris, that was taken into consideration.

Bass do not need to see to feed as they can detect sound and movement taken in by their lateral lines. Trying to get them to eat one specific thing (your bait), it helps if they can see a little, for them to move any distance to get your bait.

Maybe 9nine and Franco will step up and tell us about Wheeler and his fish, if they think Jonny was so wrong!

I cannot fault him for much, unless using a current well known situation, to drive business to his channel is considered "wrong". Having fished offshore for most of my 25 yr tournament history, as a whole, he is pretty much dead on. Although I don't think anyone measured the water clarity to be 3" visibility, the visibility one sees on the surface, is not always consistent throughout the water column ..... depends on inflow, current, wind, etc. Whatever it was ....it was good enough to be able to catch fish! He was specifically targeting good spawning creeks with minimal inflow, and staging areas that were used as they were moving in. As the "tuber" stated .... he had previously located several of the key spots, and rotated until he found one that was active showing fish, using side imaging, live scope etc, as he had all of the major brands on his boat. The large blades were used for maximum vibration for the fish to sense with their lateral lines. A 1 ounce was used in order to handle the largest blades, and the trailer was likely the most important part. The swim tail swimbait allowed him to slow the retrieve, and it helped hold it up in the water column.... a 1 ounce with a curl tail would have drug on bottom in 7' of water, especially to slow roll it. The difference between what Wheeler and Aveena were doing... Aveena was targeting individual brushpiles that were holding some fish.... not necessarily feeding, but would catch a few if the mood and presentation were correct. ... some maybe not replenishing, or just not biting. Overall .... I think the "tuber" did a pretty good job ..... likely better than JT or Marty, as "offshore" is not their deal ....talking is!

There is not much doubt, at least for Eufaula, that the 2lb minimum was well received by most viewers. Eufaula seemed to have plenty of fish in the 2 to 3 lb class. Although Florida is known for it's giants, Okeechobee really doesn't have a good population of 2 to 3 pounders ..... lots of fish from 1 to 2lbs, then it goes up to the larger fish. I surely hope we don't have to listen to JT and Marty hashing it out, while waiting for them to go to a "scoreable" fish catch! I would rather watch and listen to the anglers, even if they are not catching them!

You might consider revising your title a bit. I took it as you were looking for the website link that showed the northeast bfl info. I would put boater looking for non boater or something to that effect....good luck!

I wasn't really reacting to any particular comment, just commenting on the as a whole. I am sure of one thing... if I was in the market for electronics, I would pay attention to what Wheeler ends up with, if he pairs it down to one company. He very well may not, and llike certain different qualities of each. I think it is safe to say, that he is honest about what he is using, and not just "plugging" what is on his shirt!

IMO ... there is none better than Wheeler, in knowing how fish react in the current time of year, and weather conditions, with rising/falling water, along with clarity. It all started with riding his bike to the ramp, and hitching a ride as a co angler with his local club .... just a couple rods, and a handful of baits, with a burning desire to win! The last honey hole, was just a long point about mid creek of spawning flats, that he knew would come in to play as bass were staging. There may have been some wood, but he mentioned was void of brush piles, like a lot of the other offshore guys were fishing. He had previously marked some fish, but stated he had only caught one prior, but knew they would stage at some point. I am sure that if he was in the market for a bonified electronics sponsor, all of the companies in play were more than happy to give him what he requested, just to have a chance to be his sponsor ..... if not ....Academy would have surely stepped up. Knowing how, when, and where to use all of the equipment is most important part. It all started with the desire, and riding his bike to the ramp! I might add .... as sort of a booby prize event, along with the money at stake for the heavy hitters tournament, they really need to only use the fish caught the first two days when the entire field is fishing .... wheeler was actually penalized a day of catching his best fish, and moving staright to the finals, all because he was catching them too good!

Just sayin ....if the based the heavy hitters entry to the first 2 days only, it would give all 80 the equal time to catch and score the big one.

I agree, but changes now need to breed other changes! Thrift and Wheeler are now being punished in the heavy hitters deal, as they are getting eliminated from having the extra day to catch a big fish towards that event .... they need to make it the big fish in the first 2 days only.

I did get verification that Jason did fish both days. Conditions sure seemed to suit Oklahoma anglers, but it sure didn't work out for many. Personally... I think that is Jason would have have a BASS Legends option, he would have joined BP and the G'man to come back to BASS. He fished the first BASS Open, but not real sure if the schedules allow him to fish all of them .... just don't think his head is in to the BPT.

Off topic, but thought I would address this comment. Most get started at the local club level, With a couple hundred in tackle and a few gallons of gas to get to the ramp. Jacob Wheeler would drive his bike to the ramp, or have his mom drop him off. He soon had boaters picking him up, to make sure they had him to fish from the back of their boat

The good news is that Drew's new son Colt, and his wife are doing fine! Lucky for him, Friday's action is again cancelled, so he can stick around today, and get ready for Sat, Sun, Mon action!

I also confirmed the same from the BASS site. Additionally .... Drew Benton headed for home this morning (5hr drive), after they induced labor on his wife as she was having some issues. The natural birth day was expected 2/28, but if all goes well with his new son and wife, he may show up in the morning to fish!

Rick Clunn told me in 77' at Toho, that "you just need to learn how to catch them" There's no better way to learn, but likely don't learn much if you are whinning! If it's more about fun....I'd pay the entry fee back to half the field, and pay the balance in the top 2 spots. If there is an "air" of cheating going on.... all meet somewhere, and pick a mystery lake to fish on .

I agree it is likely for the fans (and a few of the bigger bass specialists) but I think it really hurts the anglers from being able to dial in a strategy. After a year ....most of them have now figured out what they need to do for the 12" fish and every fish counts format. Now they change it to 2lb or ? . Do you leave all of the "little" fish baits at home, and replace them with jigs? Will it take dialing in more specific structure to fish? Seems as if they may need to dial in an entire new strategy. From a competitor standpoint .... I would have preferred for them to set a limit number of fish ... say 15 or 20 depending on the fishery, then the small end of the fish size, would take care of itself. You could then set a strategy that is the same for every tourney .... catch your 15 or 20, then go fish for larger fish, or just fish for larger fish in general, and hope you get the limit number. The excitement from scoretracker would still remain to appease the TV producers and their target audience, and the new "heavy hitter" and "jump to the finals with heavy 2 day sack" rules would still work.