AlabamaSpothunter

I could accept that if it weren't for the fact that Scott did something maybe a handful of anglers even tried in the past which is using perspective mode to catch gaints of the bed. To that point, nobody had ever done it successfully in a high level event to my knowledge. If you watched the coverage from that event, he was fishing almost side by side with dozens and dozens of other competitors. There was no secret way points, or baits in that event. I've been calling him out since the Okeechobee DQ, but to me his Open win isn't tainted.

I think his dad's legacy hung around his neck like an albatross. At the end of the day, I don't think these guy's main motivation to fish the BPT or Elites is financial. I think it's about the competition and respect. These guys would be fishing derbies for free. It will be interesting to see how Hillary's career progresses and if she tries to make the Elites or BPT. At some point a female angler is going to be competitive on the top level.

Yeah I think everything he's doing is simply damage control to try and hang on to his sponsors and TV show. Sucks because at the end of the day I do think Scott is a tremendously talented angler. I think his Okeechobee Open win is the most unique and cool win I've ever seen. Still blows my mind what he did during that event.

Pretty sure DC is using Davis Baits Shakey Fish. That's what everybody uses around here including myself. Aaron Martins helped develop it. So much money has been won off of it. Will Davis Jr won the Lay Lake Elite two years ago on it as well. Any kind of pintail minnow will work great with them. Davis Baits Shakey Fish Swim Jig 2pk | Tackle Warehouse

Well Strader is at least going to make this thing interesting. Gotta love the diversity of techniques and locations. Guntersville really is the perfect place for a tournament.

My goodness, now he just caught 5.5 LM. I mean 5lb SM and 5lb LM within 10mins of each other. I'm not sure what's more impressive, Connell or Guntersville. Just wow! ETA: Zero FFS usage so far on the final day as well. This is awesome.

Winning an early April derby on Guntersville below a dam on a Scrounger head and SMs/Spots/LMs.......yeah nobody had that on their bingo card. Never seizes to amaze me how next level the top pros are vs. even good anglers.

Like I thought, this is Connells to lose now. This might get ugly, he's been fishing for like 10mins and already near the lead. He's gotta be in top 3 best anglers on the planet. ETA: Daygum, he just caught a 5.1 SM. Guntersville truly is the Disney World of Bass fishing

Been some huge storms here as well, essentially I'm seeing the same conditions these guys are......but I'm chilling in my living room 😆

Lol in my eyes Scott's Instagram post made him vastly more guilty. At the end of the day he traded a dude waypoints for information on "a lake/river right by the one I'm fishing a derby but don't tell me anything about my lake....WINK, WINK". Then goes out and gets his own poly whom asks only questions the client requests to asked......and Scott is the client 😆 The first incident is still the one that is the worst, because it involved BASS covering for him imho. At this point, BASS and Scott deserve each other, two sinking ships lost at sea.

Last year it was on DC's home lake on Lay Lake. He won it for sure. But you are partly right, Thrift won it in 2023 so that would make it not 3 in a row for Connell. Still 3 nonetheless.

That sucks pal, couldn't imagine how upsetting that would be. It still happen, and you still caught her, hopefully in time the sting lessens, and the memory of the catch increases.

Oh for sure, imagine how epic a two horse race to the finish b/t Lane brothers would be. It would be equally as epic for Connell to win three in a row, and especially doing it the way he's doing it this week. They made a big mistake when they didn't knock him out when they had the chance.

Well dang, my buddy Jacob ended up finishing 16th. I'm sure he's really disappointed considering he must have thought he had a real shot at winning after the first two days. I think it was an excellent finish, and he did so well that he got a camera on the boat for all three days. That won't be his last Redcrest I'm sure. Setting up for a pretty epic final day considering not only did the weights re zero, but the weather is going to change everything completely tomorrow. I think Connell is going to win his 3rd in a row. His bite is only going to get better with the conditions forecasted tomorrow, and that shallow spawn bite is going to be way harder.

Does my heart well seeing you post Bass pics @T-Billy, I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one morning and you'll be lost to the Muskie darkside forever 😆 Congrats on getting on the board for 2025, this is the year of the 7lber for you if those dang Dinosaur fish don't get in the way.

One of the rare tournaments where you can watch FFS actually hurting anglers. I think this event will be won by a guy who never turned on his FFS. The guys who committed to old school fishing from takeoff, are the guys who seem best positioned to win it. They aren't wasting a whole period out in the abyss looking for dots.

Bawahhaha.....I was gonna come here and hollar at you about that win 😆 All I can say, and I've said for many years now......Thank God for the Fish 🤣 Schwellenbach thus far is showing that he might be the real deal. True ace stuff that's for sure.

@Smirak Really appreciate the head's up on the retro tackle video, going to find it and watch now. One of the coolest things about Mark's is how often you'll be browsing the isles and bump into a top level pro doing the same thing....just buying tackle. Lot of inside baseball talk as well, lot of the pro guys just shoot the bull hanging around the counter. I've heard GTO in your neck of the woods is the tackle store of the pros and folks in the know....Guntersville Tackle Outdoor @ Waterfront - Guntersville Tackle Outdoor @ Waterfront

"I'm so glad you got me into fishing" What a priceless comment! Way to go Grandpa 😁

Oh snap, you're a fellow Mark's customer.......that place get's the lion's share of my fishing budget and always has since I was little kid. My mom used to take me up there and I'd buy tackle with my allowance. He's helped me a ton, and how many tackle stores can you go to where the employees are top level pro anglers. Absolutely, watching MLF coverage is like night and day vs. the current BASS product. Honestly between the commercials, and unreal amount of talking heads on BASS Live, I just can't get into it anymore. That and the unfettered FFS usage has really turned me off to their product. Just last year I was still firmly on the BASS train wagon and have always been a BASS man my whole life. This was MLF's initial business plan after all, in the beginning they set their goal to be the best at live coverage, and it seems like it's finally paying off for them. They do need to pick one format and keep it though.

Hey friend! Hope you're hanging in there and doing okay!

What else we going to root for, certainly not the Braves 😁😢

Would have thought this derby would generate more discussion and interest. First day was fantastic, so many different things in play.......sight fishing, power fishing up shallow, shaking a minnow and neko with the scope. Some of the leaders didn't even turn scope on for their allotted period, than savant scopers like Drew Gill are getting hammered by the field. My friend Jacob had the lead for quite awhile but ended the day in second. He's an amazing story as he still works full time. I have no idea how you can be as good as he is without doing it full time. He almost qualified for the BPT last year but still managed to win the Invitational at Champlain which allowed him to fish Redcrest. If you watched the Classic, you should really watch this event. Imho, the coverage, the fishing, and especially the format is 1000x better than BASS. It's amazing how fewer commercials they have on MLF, and it's equally amazing how much they focus on showing actual fishing and making the anglers who are on camera educate the audience.

Hang in there Catt, continued prayers for you brother!

Generally speaking, grabbing that line with one hand while trying to grab the fish is a big no no, and will often times lead to a broken line if the fish makes one last surge. You take all stretch and forgiveness out of the equation the moment you grab that line. Your rod and drag no longer have the ability to absorb the shock of the fish's run. You'll get another opportunity in short order, don't sweat it pal.