AlabamaSpothunter

Hackney was just on record as saying he wouldn't and likely couldn't requalify in the 9 derby Open format on the Bilge podcast. Was Nixon a turncoat who left BASS high and dry with Boyd's shiny used car sales pitch? I know he fished some FLW stuff back in the day. It's irrelevant now anyways, just like all the other "legends" or hammers that won before scoping......he'll be lapped by younger wizards on the scope going forward.

As for him earning his way legitimately onto the Elites, yeah I can't agree with that. The hardest thing in Bass fishing in qualifying through the 9 derby Open schedule, and outside of that you got to get even luckier and place in the top 20 in a Nation event, and then win the end of the year Nation derby. Bobby Lane, and Ish Monroe proved just how hard it is this year, and beyond that the future of the sport is dudes in their 20s and early 30s that will outfish most of the old "Legends" using the scope.

Unreal, absolute BS.....I'd be livid if I was a loyal BASS member trying to make the elites and this guy just got handed his spot. Makes me lose some respect for BASS now, seems very unfair. Sport needs a heel, all the MLF turncoats will be that for me lol.

Yeah I'm wondering how he qualified, because you do in fact have to. He didn't qualify through the Opens, didn't qualify through BASS nation. ETA: If I were BASS I think I'd blacklist the big names that jumped ship to the MLF. Let the little guys go to the opens or whatever, but the big guys who very well could have killed BASS should have an extremely tough time getting back into the elites if at all. I'd play for keeps if I were BASS now that the MLF ship is sinking.

If I caught as many topwater fish as you Katie, I'm not sure I could fish stuff like underspins lol. I feel I'm always "forced" to fish an underspin, usually tying one on out of frustration after trying 6-10 other baits for open water schooling fall and winter Bass. When they won't eat my Jerkbait, everything else stinks in my head. I've noticed though that they get the better quality bite over my other sneaky/finessy presentations. Milliken has really opened my eyes to using sneaky little minnows in open water for big fish. Be it an underspin with paddletail swimbait, hover rig, or now what I saw last night in the video, those Drift Frys and he rigs them on a 1/8 ball jighead. Will be buying those very soon. Wish he taught like TacticalBassin, but if you read between the lines he's the best teacher I've found.

@NorcalBassin Bunch of slaunch donkey Spots, very nice! Been catching them on the Underspin the last week as well, three post in a row......very un-sexy, sneaky effective bait.

What makes Bass fishing special to a large degree is the ability, and really need to use so many different baits to catch them. I get a great enjoyment out of learning new baits, so much that I think it actually hurts my overall numbers sometimes. I often switch baits in the middle of a hot bite only to waste time throwing a bait they won't eat meanwhile a bait they will is laying on the deck. Most of the pros I try to learn from have a million rods on their decks, Milliken is likely the biggest influencer on my game, and he's got every dang bait under the sun on the deck, and he does so for a reason. He wants to present scoped fish with as many baits as it takes to get them to fire.

In about 10 years, I have no doubt that Jake will out fish the both of us combined. You can't buy or learn time on water from such a young age, and you can't buy or learn that true love of Bass fishing, the Basshead factor. Every hall of fame pro I know of was obsessed and chasing Bass from their earliest memories. Great job Jake!

14ft Aluminum V hull Jon boat.......switched over to the APC R/C prop......much better prop for my usages than the OEM hummingbird endura prop. Better speed and better efficiency.

This dude right here spreads the love better than anybody else I've seen on here, and his buddies often catch bigger fish than him 🤣

I hope I never run into the person behind DST 🤣 One of these years, commonsense will prevail.

I hate to say it, but Faceback groups are pretty amazing at connecting people. I'd join a "Lousiana Bass fishing" group on there, and make a post looking for local fishing friends. I made a good big swimbait friend locally last Spring in one of those groups not even trying, we've already fished twice together.

Exactly what Tim said, I can't imagine how petty of a man it takes to invite somebody to come fish with you, then cry when you catch a fish. Seriously, the guy sounds like he's not a well adjusted adult.

I have the Shakeyhead model, beautiful rod, flawless really. Great rod for the money. Made in Vietnam, and while Megabass is a Japanese company, the Levante rods in America are considered USDM rods and as such as warranted by Megabass USA. If you bought a Levante from Japan that's a different story. JDM just means it was meant for the Japanese market. Megabass does have "JDM" rods with Megabass USA warranties which are the new P5 Destroyer JDM series. This is how I understand it, others might correct me.

Yeah I was just browsing and they didn't have the rods I was looking for.....I'd like to get a Pop-x stick and the FMJ. I'll keep checking, seems these JDM sites get inventory often.

Thanks! I'll go check out JLS. I looked for MB rods at Digitaka earlier and didn't see any. I guess I'd have to weigh if an American MB warranty is worth an extra $100.....$300 is stellar for these rods.

That Milliken video from last night of the Pike biting off the uber hard to get JDM bait on the first cast had me laughing for about 20 minutes 🤣 I'd be scared to death to fish around those things.

Nice, our grandkids will be talking about the great JDM deal days in 50 years 🤣 Japan said it's Black Friday sales all year long. This time last year I was saying the same thing, JDM pricing was better than the best Black Friday USDM deals.

What's the shipping when ordering JDM, and where are you guys buying the Destroyer rods from? Is the JDM warranty the same as USDM warranty? I paid $409 for my recent JDM P5 Destroyer 110 stick.

Yeah I agree customers will adapt, that's why BlockBusters, and CDs aren't around anymore.

There's a concept that is above the head's of people who depend on a paycheck for "doing something", and it's called If It's Not Broke, Don't Fix it! If 9/10 customers of yours hate a change you made, from a business perspective it would be wise not to make those changes.

I'll most likely be getting one as a general free rig/t-rig rod. Most people I've heard from said the new P5s are more sensitive than Conquest/NRX+ rods, and I already know how light they are. I'm sure you'll like it once you catch fish on it.

They certainly seem to be trying to go out of business......replacing website to a terrible one, changing their BF sales to an incredibly stupid model. Nothing last forever, people have a problem leaving good things alone.

To me pictures are a huge part of tech forums. I always appreciate pictures in posts.

I'll be the only one that says reel, but I have to use nice reels, and on the other hand I'm still hammering fish on 25yr old Daiwa IM7s bottom fishing and it doesn't bother me. That said, I want a nice rod and reel that is paired together for perfect balance....life is too short to not have a nice combo or 6 😁