Pumpkin Lizard

Yeah basically a finesse Carolina Rig, aka the Petey Rig.

Subject to change

Decade club sounds so much better.

He's focusing on growing his business. His rod commercials are unique. I think they are funny and definitely fit his off color sense of humor. The sport needs characters.

That definitely was happening. I think it probably does in MLF too.

Even if Trey puts together a 40lb bag he won't catch the leader. That would be an average of 8lbs. Crazy.

The fishing on Lake Fork has been unreal. Maybe it's the moon. I think the Top 10 may all crack 100lbs. I went fishing twice yesterday. Once before my son's soccer game and once after dinner and I limited out (5x15+inches) in 45 minutes. Is the fishing great everywhere right now?

I vote jigs. Big topwater, Swimbaits and glidebaits are a close second.

Mt. Tom Pond in Bantam/Litchfield and nearby Lake Waramaug which I spent tons of time in a canoe on both.

The youth movement is undeniable. The dice is basically a jig that you can drop shot with. It might be enough to get me to bother with dropshotting again.

Bad tournament for "cRanKbAiTs aRe deAd" crowd. That was me. I watched the scales this morning. There is nothing wrong. The scales are fine. Bass Fishing fans are crazy complainers.

Yeah but if you wait a minute you’ll get three more chances to hit that circle.

It's not as exciting as other sight fishing because spawners are more or less chained to the bed. Feeding bass are not they can spook or move out. Catching fish in the spring during pre-spawn is not the same thing as catching actual spawners. You might catch a few randos blind casting but based on how indifferent they are to presentations when I am intentionally casting to them I would guess that is not happening frequently. When I used to bed fish after I let a fish go I would keep time on how long it took them to return to the bed and start defending again. It always took less than 5 minutes. They are utterly committed to guarding. They are utterly resistant to change. If I fished tournaments I would. But for fun fishing? Nah.

I don’t hate it. I don’t even dislike it. But I tend to stray away from it a bit for a few reasons. They often don’t even seem interested in what I am using to invade their space. And often it boils down to “frustrating a fish” in order to get them to bite. And I fully realize that fish aren’t biting out of hunger all the time. But for me I’m less interested in catching them that. I’ll make a few casts to one I can see and sometimes catch one but I hardly ever purposefully bed fish. When I see big brown trout on their redds I won’t fish for them period even if the season is still open. For one you will actually harm the population by doing so, but it just seems like a cheesy way to catch a fish and outside my own personal code of fair chase.

Just because they struggle to figure out how to attach a file to an email doesn't mean there aren't lots of them and have resources. Boomers have tons of money, are retiring/retired, buy boats, buy gear etc. It's a coveted demographic believe it or not.

I bet there would be if they made it. Bring back the old pros, no FFS. The boomers would love it. It's basically batting practice for those guys. It's a smart move to not have conflicts with the Elite Series.

They should turn it into the Senior Tour. There's a market for that. There might be an appetite for it among older pros but it remains to be seen if it actually has anything but niche/cult fanbase.

Or it just has a really vocal but small cult following...

Maybe not so many are so against it? I really have enjoyed the mix of new school and old school in the events this year.

Totally forgot about the drop shot. Not much fun to fish. I hate casting it too. Carolina rig can be awkward to cast but it least it’s fun to fish.

Lipped crankbaits. I don’t have much need for them since I am not in deep water much. I personally love using them.

I think that out of the box they are overdressed. For jigs and vibrating jigs hold them upside down and trim them so that they extend only just beyond the hook. The skirt ends up with a nice flaired shape. It also helps the vibrating jig get that erratic darting motion that they don’t have right of the pack.

At this point, I think he has earned the space. I think he'll be respected. I hope he goes all out tomorrow.

I got my clock cleaned but at least Justin and the kid from Maine made the top 10.

That river and the sound are hardly tidal. The outer banks mitigates that. There really isn't enough movement for it to be a real factor.