JHoss

Agreed that a leader would help. Braid tends to foul most treble hook baits.

I'm SHOCKED so many people hate the keeper between the seat and butt section. That's my preferred location for any open keeper. No matter what degree an open keeper is set in front of the reel, I always get my line wrapped under it once in a while.

Agree with most of the rest that there's a 100 different rigs to throw a bladed jig and 90 of them will work. I experimented a lot and wound up with a H MF Glass rod, 7.4:1 reel, and 18 lb fluoro. I think the slower glass rod is key to consistently hooking fish. I'm quick on the trigger so that extra split second for a fish to really get it makes a huge difference. I also tend to reel into them pretty good before I set the hook hard- almost like you need to clear that blade and then drive the hook home.

I've always been taught to offer to cover gas and beverages/snacks. When I fished as a co in a 10hp league, I always covered the entry fee since gas was so nominal.

Apologies if I mistook you're sentiment on tournament fishing. I get your point on the arms race, it's even made it down to my local Jon Boat trail. Guys in 16 ft tin rigs with $40k in graphs and ducers fishing for $200. Just playing devil's advocate. I'm imaging the Harris Chain or something like that. What if he only had 3 days of practice and that was the 2 hours he'd dedicated to graphing that stretch? Should he sacrifice checking on a different stretch to come back and do that stretch? Just give up on what could've been the winning spot and not check it at all? Would it have been ok if he'd come down the canal on his trolling motor and didn't stir it up? Is there a way he could've graphed that canal with you in it that wouldn't have hurt your fishing? I've never fished a truly high-stakes derby so I can't 100% say what I would do. I like to think I would be as courteous as possible and give you a wide berth if possible. If not possible, I'm having a conversation to see if you mind if I sneak around or when you'll be done so I can decide if I'm coming back. I think the biggest takeaway from this thread is to just talk to anyone who might have issue with what you're doing. Then decide if you want to respect what they ask or not based on how they respond and past history with them,

That's wild for a rod with that price tag...

Obviously there's nuance and exceptions to the unwritten rule. No one would fault you for that. But if it's an hour til weigh in on the second day of the second event of the year where you caught two fish the first day and one the second day and you roll into a pocket with Greg Hackney who was the leader after day 1, you're a donkey to try and crowd him and fish that pocket. Giving him space and getting respect that gets repaid later in the year will go a lot further than catching another fish that moves you from 98th to 95th. Also, the OP is discussing local trails, which is whole different animal than these national tours your discussing. Is it really worth gaining a bad reputation for an outside shot at a couple hundred bucks? For me, absolutely not. I'll get more value out of having good relationships with the other guys on the trail. Prime example of what I'm saying. Few years back I was fishing the classic for my kayak trail. I had bad day one and was middle of the pack going into day two. When I launched I knew I had no shot to win, but I could probably sneak in the money with a good day. I had a 1/4 mile stretch of narrow river a mile up from the ramp. At blastoff, a guy in the top 3 went downriver and I went to my stretch. I had been fishing for about an hour when he started to approach it. I went back down towards him to head him off and let him know that stretch was my best spot and I'd appreciate having it to myself if he hadn't planned to fish it. He agreed and we went our ways. With a couple hours to go I'm still in that stretch and have caught some fish, but can tell I have no shot at the money. He comes back down river and I tell him that I'll clear out if he wants to fish that stretch since I had no shot. He thanked me and fished it. He wound up 2nd and made some money. I wound up middle of the pack and made an ally for the next year. I hope that works out well for you. You've also said you don't tournament fish and hate it. The OP asked for advice on tournament etiquette. Most of us who regularly fish tournaments are saying to honor the unwritten rule. I'll let OP pick and choose who's advice he wants to take from this thread. Very well said.

Ooooo I had not considered a big shaky head, but that sounds like a money presentation.

Does the X10 not have a built in hook keeper?

You don't have to. But you reap what you sow. Violate an unwritten rule in baseball, you're not getting ejected but enjoy 95 mph to the ribs. You're not getting DQ'd from an event for not giving up a spot, but you're also never getting that favor returned. I know exactly who respects space and unwritten rules in my trail and who doesn't. To be clear, no one is saying to give up a spot if you're trailing another angler. We're saying if you have NO chance of winning and another guy has a legit shot, let him have the space.

Another vote for Omnia. I like the frequent sales and the 10% cash back they do. The app that comes with the membership is nice too. I did have a couple orders in the spring not ship out as fast as they claimed it would, but a quick email got things moving.

I prefer no trailer as long as the bait sits right without one.

Anyone try these yet? Just picked up a couple packs from my local tackle shop. I've seen some of the pro guys talk about them and figured I'd try them out. First impression is these things are huge- idk if many bass around here would normally try for a crawfish of that size.

Perhaps things are different in areas that are hotbeds for big tournaments. Here in SE VA, we don't have many big lakes or rivers so it's almost all local stuff. Things are definitely different when the interaction is with someone you'll compete against again and again. When I kayak fished, it was common for glitter boats to cut me off or not respect my space. I don't know if they were in tournaments or not- I was too busy cussing them out and lobbing obnoxiously large baits across their bow to ask. But since moving to the Jon Boat, I have had significantly fewer issues. As far as the Ike video posted, I remember watching it years ago and thinking he gave the guy more than enough space and courtesy. I'm far from an Ike fan and think he's crossed some lines before, but that wasn't one of those times IMO.

I love my aluminum for the type of fishing I do- fishing shallow and trying to get back into places other boats can't go. If I had a fiberglass boat, I would've wrecked it by now.

@Bazoo don't let all this drama scare you away from the tournament scene. I've been fishing tournaments since I got into bass fishing 6 years ago and have competed on a couple local kayak trails, a national kayak trail, and a few local boat trails. Some have been great and drama-free. Some have had so much drama, I walked away. Ask around or try a few until you find the one that fits you. As far as the etiquette questions. I absolutely will back off a spot if I'm out of contention and someone in contention is already there or I know they fished it before and want to hit it again. If I'm remotely in contention, I won't give up a spot. Generally, give people the space you'd want and you'll be fine. The big no-no on the rip-rap situation described would be jumping ahead and fishing the same direction as the other angler. If the first angler is fishing it fast and will be cover the whole stretch in a few minutes, I wouldn't start on the other end and work opposite. If he was seemingly picking apart a small spot or two on the rip-rap, I see no problem with that. I've had times I planned to fish a spot but someone beat me there and I saw them caught fish. I usually will try and talk to that guy to explain I had planned to fish it and make sure he doesn't mind me going in behind him. You don't want people thinking you fish the bent-rod pattern. If I'm beating the bank in a creek and some guy comes down the middle scoping and obviously fishing for a different group of fish, I don't really mind if he gets too close. When in doubt, have a conversation with the other angler and work something out both folks are happy with.

Has anyone used Mend It on Max Scent baits? Just curious if it works as well or if fish seem to be less interested in the Powerbait smell.

Agree with the others its probably too big. I often like to trim the nose of my trailers flat to bulk up the skirt, but that's quite a bite more bulk than I'd want to throw. My favorite trailer for small chatterbaits is the drop minnow by GLF. Durability is ok, but the action is great.

My absolute favorite place to throw em is around cypress. Especially if they're in 2+ feet of water. With my scope in perspective mode, a lot of times you can seem them moving between trees. The trees make for easy reference on where to cast. I also throw it at deep fish on scope. I haven't had much luck with fish following it down and eating it or eating it when shaken over their heads, but quite a few have eaten it on the fall.

Bought and sold mine on FB Marketplace. Make sure you're careful about the title/key words. I got my Pursuit for a song because he misspelled "kayak" or something and no one was seeing it.

Some bass are inherently more aggressive than others. I suspect those quick bites are the most aggressive fish hitting it before any other fish has a chance too. Your less aggressive bass probably tend to be cautious and follow the bait for a bit to see if it seems real/safe to eat. You convince a few, which eat later in your retrieve after they've studied it long enough, but most probably just watch it go by.

My statement was purely in reference to a comment about BASS needing a senior tour without FFS. NPFL provides a FFS-free tour and many of the older Elite guys fish it (and have more success than they do on the Elites). I love what NPFL is doing and I love that we have three leagues doing different things. I will point out that the average age of winners on the NPFL this year is 37.65 while the average age of winners on the Elites this year is 32.0. While not a major difference, one definitely seems to favor older anglers than the other.

My point is that NPFL already bans FFS and is basically the senior tour you're looking for.

NPFL seeing this post...

THE DRAMA. I swear kayak bass anglers are the most dramatic of all fisherman. To be clear, I'm not saying anyone on this forum is like that, but as a whole, that community complains more than any other. I'm saying this as someone who got into bass fishing from the kayak side and spent 3 years fishing numerous state trails and some national stuff. It's not just the national toxicity of groups like KBN, even the local stuff became too exhausting with the drama from both other anglers and TDs. Beyond that, there's the obvious things like lack of speed, inability to fish and steer/move at the same time, decreased space, etc. I didn't really notice the pain these things caused until I got a boat. Using a foot controlled trolling motor is the biggest game changer from my kayak, even a significant improvement over the Xi3 I had on the yak.