Finessegenics

https://www.bassmaster.com/opens/news/2023-bassmaster-opens-will-feature-new-elite-qualification-format/ Hey everyone, haven’t been active on here much as of late. Busy working and fishing. So I was scrolling through Instagram just now. I saw a post from BASS that says beginning in 2023, to qualify for the elite series, an opens angler must fish all 9 opens event. This is opposed to the current format where an angler can qualify for the elite series by finishing high enough in the points in one division (northern, central or southern) by fishing the 3 events of their division. The comments on the post were overwhelmingly negative. A lot of folks were saying how they basically killed the working man’s dream of making it to the elite series, as it takes an insane amount of money/time off to fish all 9 opens events. That sentiment seems reasonable to me. What are your thoughts? The way I see this it is essentially creating a farm league for the elite series. What’s weird to me is these ‘elite qualifiers’ anglers will still be fishing against those who signed up for just one division. Why not create a whole separate division/ league?

My picks haven't changed since I made them a month ago. I'm super excited for the next 3 events, northern swing is always fun for me

There’s no standard besides your own perception of what a ‘fast’ should feel like. So you’d have to pick one up yourself and fish it to decide if the action is true. Anything anyone else tells you would be biased to that person’s experience

1/15 or 1/16. I have some 1/20 but yet to try them, they should be good too. Even in some really fast current, I won’t go above 1/8. The lighter the weight, the more natural the drift.

Im not familiar with that exact color but green pumpkin gold flake is a pretty versatile bait. I like to use the color in murkier water on a bait that will be moving a lot; like a chatterbait trailer or even a tube with a stroking retrieve. I have no proof to back this up but I believe the sun reflecting off the gold flakes makes it look like a baitfish's scale reflecting the sun. I dont go out of my way to seek the color but I own a few bags in different baits of the color. As most colors with a green pumpkin and/or watermelon base, it probably imitates sunfish and crawfish well

You can probably use it for Shad Raps or other light crankbaits that don’t cast very well. I personally wouldn’t seek a rod for that purpose anyways. A ML or M fast action with the drag backed down a bit has been just fine for me.

I like to fish hair jigs with the stroking retrieve. Little wrist snap, sometimes a double snap, let it crash to the bottom and repeat. How long you want to wait to snap again is totally up to you. When I think the fish are aggressive, I snap the instant it hits the bottom. The bait is in constant motion this way. Once you try this a few times you’ll get a good cadence going and it’ll become effortless. A lot of the times, when I go back up to snap the bait, a fish is on. 3/8 oz is about the heaviest I’d use in 8ft but the faster ROF could be the ticket. 1/4 oz is generally what I like for stroking jigs (I’m usually fishing shallow). It’s a classic technique to fish along weed edges, but I use this anywhere the bait can easily cross several ambush points during my retrieve (boulders, log jams, etc..).

Not my favorite but for the price I guess they're ok. Wire was a little too soft and bendy for my liking and I also prefer r bend spinnerbaits anyways. I didn't care to get them replaced after I snagged the couple I had. Looking at their website, I don't remember paying that much for them. They used to be cheaper. I still have two of the magnum ones for pike and it seems like the components on those are better than the standard one.

I would agree punching or either a heavy enough worm weight to not necessarily crash through, but slice through the weeds are just about the only techniques you can use there IMO. You can rig a senko weightless and fish the submerged sections. The worm should lay on top of the grass and slither across it. It has been effective for me for LMB. Also @TOXIC makes a very good point about punching stick worms. No need for an original senko as a cheap alternative will do just as well. If you wish to try the weightless technique, then go with a senko. No other bait on the market has as good of a shimmy as it when it is rigged weightless.

I was going to say the same. Multiple split shots in front of the bait, snap half the size of the lure...yup.

I had a decent event, I selected Lester for my FF and Drain the Lake. I’m really looking forward to the northern swing now!

That can be tricky to fish. A Texas rig would be good but in my experience you’d either have to go really light, or heavy enough to crash clean through the weeds. My reasoning is if it’s light enough, your presentation can sit on top of the weeds. 1/16 or 1/8 oz bullet weight has been the max for me. That has been somewhat effective for me with something subtle like a 4-6” finesse worm. Easier to do the shallower it is, but definitely doable in 8-12 feet of water depending on the wind that day. Now, you’d equally wanna try a heavy weight to punch through and get to the bottom. Sort of like punching except you’re going extra deep. Might want to use a lighter wire hook so you can get better penetration at distance. I think retrieving a spinnerbait over the grass would be a good idea too but I suck at gauging where it is in the water column and keeping it there. when I’m fishing one deep. With some practice you can probably really tune that in.

Decent day for me too. Didn’t catch much of the live but the scenery around Pickwick is beautiful! Wherever Atkins was fishing looked cool. 5 12 85 45 26

I watched the game as a neutral, Tampa’s goalie was really off his game. Wishing you guys luck. I’m still a bit bitter over the 2014 conference finals though…

I've thought about it as well but no way I could afford one!

My experience has been the opposite, in the sense that I have not noticed such a clear-cut pattern with my big fish vs average ones. Overall, flowing water has been much more productive for me.

Having the same problem since I first started participating in FF. It's weird but after it 'fails' the first time, I resume the download and I get the same failed message. If I then download the angler lineup image after failing the first time, it actually saves to my hard drive. Not sure what that's about. And sorry if that was hard to follow, I'm not good with computer lingo

Feeling good about this one. I know it's just a tiebreaker but I've been horrible at guessing the winning weights this year. I think I was only a few oz off for the SJR event but besides that I've been so far off.

If you're not really using them on the water then a basic drybag from Amazon for $10 is plenty. We have one that we take diving and other water sports for just that purpose. Drop things in, wrap it up, and clip it off to something. Its never leaked on me. It's for a kayak. I'm more concerned of keeping them safe in case I ever flip. A tether and waterproof box should do the job though.

Both will work whenever. When you begin to fish spinnerbaits a lot you will start to develop preferences. A gold blade and nickel blade reflecting light will both look and feel like a fleeing baitfish to a bass. I don't know how big threadfin get but you may want to experiment with different size spinnerbaits rather than the color of the blades. Try not to overthink it. I use the screaming Eagle's because they have relatively smaller blades compared to others on the market, and that reflects the baitfish my bass feed on as well as making the spinnerbait easier to burn. I've been critical of TacticalBassin before but they have a few good videos explaining spinnerbait choice. Give those a watch to see what's out there.

Can you link it? Or do you know the model number?

Following this post because I am also looking for a case/bag like this for my phone, wallet and keys

There's a custom rod maker in my area who's very big on ornamental wraps. He makes some cool stuff and has repaired a few rods for me. I just don't see the appeal of paying to have a decorative wrap done. I've held some of the rods and they're still very lightweight. My guess would be it was too labor intensive to bother with continuing for rod manufacturers. To be honest though, I couldn't care less how a rod looks...could be hot pink or the nastiest combination of colors you can imagine. Subconsciously, it might have an effect on me when seeking a new rod but that's impossible to say. I'd just never pay to have my rod look a certain way. To each their own!