AlabamaSpothunter

You'd have to make a deal with her but in all seriousness the place I'd like to fish the most is in Maine where @Swamp Girl fishes. Katie fishes some of the last untouched LMB fishing waters in the country it seems. The idea of fishing for Bass that haven't seen many, or any humans is extremely exciting to me. There's nowhere in the South that Bass haven't seen copious humans and lures.

The Johnstons are the biggest scumbags in fishing imho. What they did last year at SJR is unforgivable especially considering they'd never acknowledge they did anything wrong. It's all good Cooper and Gussy make up for those two awful Canucks 😁 Attendance and viewership were way down from my understanding. It's pretty hard to relate $150k Glitter rockets with 18-22yr olds dominating using a screen to the average Bass angler in America. BASS desperately needed a Livesay or Cox to win, but the exact opposite happen. My favorite line is "I've been dreaming of this since I was a kid" 🤣 BASS is getting dragged in the comments across social media, and I have to think they'll limit the technology next year after seeing the NPFL numbers, along with the BPT numbers. I can't wait for the Redcrest this year though, really cool format that at least somewhat limits FFS and it's on arguably the healthiest LM lake in the country. It's gonna be a smash fest.

Cayuga Lake would easily be my first choice, just an incredible lake that can produce state record LMs, and has the most 5-7lb SMs I've ever seen caught in a high level tournament a few years ago when the MLF BPT went there at peak spawn timing. Next would be the SLR for obvious reasons. Those are the two on my list.

Congrats to Easton! By all accounts he's a fantastic young man, and obviously one of the world's greatest scopers. If they don't limit FFS usage on the Elites, Easton is destined to become one of the all time greats. I doubt we see another March Classic that isn't one on the scope though, and thus I'll always pull for the Livesay and Coxs of the universe.

Let's GOOOOO Lee! Scoping vs hoping.....who's gonna take home the title

I could believe that if star struck is code for not being able to find or see them on the scope 🤣 The kid fished the Classic last year and got 16th, I'm not sure how an Elite Series event is too big for him, yet his first Classic wasn't too big.

Agreed with the JDM Stradic comments, what an amazing reel, let alone for the money. I personally prefer 3000 sized reels, but the 2500 would be perfectly fine as well. I always opt for the highest speed reels as well. Pair that with any 7" M Fast spinning rod and you got a combo that will work for the vast majority of spinning rig applications.

Pretty sure he's been using a Drop Shot and Neko Rig. Those are just the baits they've discussed on live. Who knows what kind of sneaky baits he's been mixing in. I feel like the whole world is rooting for anybody but a finesse guy using scope 100% to win 😁 How epic would it be if John could pull this one out.

I'm a huge fan of the kid, but Florida is the perfect storm for him. It requires years of expertise, and most importantly it renders the black box almost pointless unless you're brilliant like Scott Martin did last year......still one of the most impressive things I've ever seen in pro Bass fishing. It wasn't being star struck, it was the fact his black box couldn't produce its magic down in the dirt and grass.

To me at least, strolling means keeping the bait in the strikezone as long as possible, so the less rod action, and reel retrieve speed the better imho. I like to think of it my mind as producing the action of a dying flickering shad. I'm sure you see it during cold Texas winters, but those Shad hardly move at all and will just roll on their side when it gets really cold. With the right light weight rolling jighead and minnow, you can really get that bait to seemingly just hover and roll in place. Another thing on the scrounger or at least the ones I use called the Shakey Fish only roll to about 45 degrees each way, whereas a Queen Tackle Rolling Strollin Jighead and Drift Fry rolls a full 90 degrees each way and creates significantly more flash. To me a scrounger is far more like a naked bladed jig than strolling a minnow. Either way I should fish the scrounger way more than I do.

If there is a Bass God, ole' Johnny Cox is winning the Classic tomorrow. I didn't have high expectations for this Classic, but between the class of fish being caught, and the diversity of techniques that Ray Roberts has allowed, this is shaping up to be a really great Classic. Imho, it's already way better than last year on Grand. Bring it home Cox!!!!!!

Let's go @softwateronly! Congrats on such a beautiful smalljaw and PB! Awesome trip Clayton!!!! That's more big fish than many will catch in years or a lifetime. Too many awesome posts/big fish to keep up with since I been gone, seems Spring is here or just right around the corner for the Bassresource universe. Bad time to be a Bass it seems 😁

Great post Katie! To me arguably the greatest thing about Bass fishing is the ability to constantly evolve and figure out new ways to trick them. I've always felt it's a true arms race between Bass and angler. They're always learning, and we're always inventing new ways to tricking them. It's always so thrilling to catch a big Bass on a new bait. The bait monkey gets a bad rep, but at the end of the day, that monkey is a large part of what's Bass fishing so magical in my book.

You're the Queen of K.I.S.S. though Katie 😎 You don't need no stinking Glitter Rocket, electronics, or gas/electric propulsion 😁

Firstly, I agree fully with @Columbia Craw. I'd really love to offer specific advice related to your specific way of fishing bladed jigs, but I just don't get to rip them from grass that often. I will say that when it floods around here and I can finally fish them over grass, I've caught quite a few fish after I immediately ripped it free. The thing I perhaps love the most about the rod is that it has a really pronounced delay on the initial action of the tip section. The tip is glass and then the rest of the blank is composite. To me this allows the fish to actually eat the bait with the slow glass tip, and then after the short delay I can really load the fish up and drive the hook home with the much stiffer composite section of the rod. The rod is indeed an amazing crankbait and really any moving bait rod......trebles or single hooked baits. The two baits I use to lose more fish on were a bladed jig, and a blade bait. Once I started using the chatterbound for both of those baits, it was true night/day difference. Alpha Angler is such a good company that I bet if you contacted them and posed this question to them, they'd give you a straight answer. Jake Boomer is the owner and will happily give you advice on his products.

I surely love to catch big Bass on the Pixie Wands, but there's no way I could Bass fish in the current manner I do without the usage of baitcasters. It also works the other way, no way I could I fish the way I do with spinning gear. I can't imagine fishing in a world without power Bass fishing technique. Baitcasters are so good these days, they can throw everything from micro stuff to 5oz+ swimbaits. They can skip, they hardly ever backlash, and require fair less maintenance in my experience than spinning reels. Ultimately though, Bass fishing is what you make it......there is no one set path, technique, or philosophy behind Bass fishing. If only using spinning gear leaves you fulfilled within the hobby, then that's the right path for you.

@Pat Brown Way to go Pat, what an awesome fish, congrats!

I don't think the video is available to the general public including myself. I have no doubts it exists though because my friend who is a top level pro saw it and was talking it about the first day of that event. Then after the event was over, other major players in the industry started to confirm the video. The way I understand is the deal was that if Scott self-reported the violation, the video wouldn't be made public, so I guess whoever made the video is honoring their word.

Yeah that might have been my last straw for BASS, I'm amazed at the fact they would carry Martin's water at the expense of their integrity. How they didn't think that knowledge would come out is beyond me.

@JHoss Imho it's easily Scott Martin considering the story that was put out by both him and BASS is absolutely false. He specifically solicited info and it's on video, the person who filmed the video threatened to go to BASS if he didn't self report. It's one thing to break a rule, it's another to lie about breaking said rule. What Skeeter did was pretty innocent even though I would have done the same thing NPFL did.

@Fishlegs What an amazing day! Such beautiful and healthy fish as well.

Back to back to back posts of members getting on the board for the first time in 2025......Let's GOOOOO gents!

I kind of disagree......that's not a grey area rule. He specifically asked a cameraman if another angler was catching them. You can learn a ton of info just from the answer to a seemingly innocent question considering Skeeter knew where his friend was fishing, and the techniques/baits he was using. A "yes" by the cameraman could have told Skeeter they're biting spinnerbaits on willow trees on the windblow side of the lake for example. Now you can argue that the NPFL should be more like the MLF with a live Scoretracker that's made known to the anglers. I believe even though BASS has Basstrak, the anglers are not allowed to view or learn those results while on the water competing. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Incredible news Catt!!!!! Those poor Toledo Bend Bass, imagine how sore their lips will be in the upcoming months 😎

Honestly any lure can strike magic this time of year from a 9"/3.5oz glide bait to a 5" whacky rigged senko. Imho, the bait that offers the best chances at catching your next PB is the one you have the most confidence in as cliche as it sounds. The best tip I can offer though is use red/orange baits. It amazes me how many anglers still haven't embraced throwing red baits especially in the winter and spring. My two biggest this year have come on a red blade bait, and orange Shad Rap. The last 3x out I've crushed them on a Fire Craw bladed jig. Take your confidence bait and buy it in a red/orange color and see what happens.