JHoss

When you say Northern OBX, are you referring to the Corolla area? I've fished Back Bay a few times, which is connected and very similar so I'll try to help a bit. I've found the canals and creeks easier to break down than the wide open sound or miles of shoreline. Some hold fish, some don't and I've found that to vary day to day. I typically cover water with something like a bladed jig, buzzbait or spinner bait until I find an area with fish. Then I'll slow down and pick it apart flipping a T Rig or Wacky. I'll also fish hollow body frogs, toads, flukes, swim baits, cranks, etc. There's plenty of things they'll eat. I suspect there's plenty of duck blinds down that way too. They're a good thing to check since it's one obvious piece of cover you can break down quickly. Hit a couple and you'll know if that's a pattern worth running. If I'm not finding them in creeks, canals, or on duck blinds then its time to cover water. If the water's up in the bank grass then I'm throwing buzzbaits, speed worms, swim jigs, etc. If I'm fishing off the bank, I'm going with chatterbaits and rattle traps. I'm sure there are guys who have spent enough time out there to have found hidden honey holes in the middle of nowhere, but I aint one of them. The last thing I'll add is to be cautious in your kayak out there. Sometimes when you're fishing in those creeks or canals, you don't realize how much the wind has picked up on the main sound. I once made a long run across Back Bay to fish some canals and didn't notice the wind picking up. By the time I left and headed back I was dealing with 30mph and 2-3 footers in my face. Nothing for a boat, but my overloaded kayak was taking on water and I barely made it back without sinking. If you find yourself in that situation, hug the shoreline. At least then if you have to get out to bail water or you flip, you should be in thigh deep water while you're getting things right again.

Sounds like a nightmare. I'm with many here and would withdraw from the event. I did it once as a Co with a buddy and his young son. We were only allowed two rods in the water at a time which further complicated things. I ended up just sitting back and watching for much of it so the kid could have some fun. When I was invited back, I politely declined. It sounds like there's an abundance of co-anglers and I doubt it would be hard to find more folks without boats who wanted to fish, so why pander to them? Like @J._Bricker pointed out, you won't have a club without boaters.

I doubt there's any appreciable difference in the stretch between 50 and 65 lb braid. I use 50 unless I'm going to be around a lot of wood. Then I'll go up to 65. You could try backing off the drag the slightest bit to give a bit of give. But probably would just be better to take 10-20% off your hooksets when they're not too far out.

My first yak was a 12T. It's not the best, but it's a fine first kayak. I fished local tournaments for a year before upgrading. I was able to stand and fish at 6'3" 220 with a lot of gear. I would assume a 10T is very similar but with slightly reduced weight capacity. Start on small, calm water without a ton of gear while you get comfortable.

I've got a few packs but haven't given them much run yet. Maybe a nail weight or some lead wire on the hook shank would be enough. Weightless would probably be the most realistic but I don't have the patience for that in open water.

I'm surprised no one has suggested something like a Panorama or Bellows Gill thrown weightless or on rage/ozark rig. Can't see I've tried either, but seems like it would be the best way to match that hatch if that's what you're trying to accomplish.

Never heard of this. What trails have it banned?

1) This is largely personal preference. I use a similar speed/power rod, but a glass hybrid, and have found 20lb fluoro to be my preferred line. 2) Any cheap line will work as backing.I prefer mono to back braid and braid to back fluoro, but anything will work. I have mono, braid, and copolymer backing on various rods based on what I had laying around when I spooled up. 3) Line is a personal preference like anything else. I've used everything from Vanish up to Invisx and have settled on a mid range line like YoZuri T7 or YoZuri Mainline as the best option for me. It gives me a balance between a decent line and not breaking the bank every time I have to respool. The biggest thing you can do to save money here is add backing and just have a 50 yard top shot of fluoro. My tournament partner the last two years only uses high dollar fluoros like Sunline or Seaguar Invisx/Abrasx while I use the cheaper stuff. The majority of the fish we've brought to the scales have come from the cheap line, so I really don't see a point in paying up for the premium stuff.

I also am using 10lb. It broke between the spool and the rod tip as I was spooling up, so the only option would be a bad spool or it hit something in my garage, which is entirely possible because my garage is a mess. I haven't even made a cast with it yet. First impressions aside from the breakage have been good. It seems comparable to power pro, but at a better price point. Honestly, I gave it a shot because my LTS didn't have yellow or blue Power Pro in 10lb and the mid-point marker in the Revolve spool intrigued me. I never noticed it on the first spool so I'm pretty sure one of those rods has 120 yards and the other has 80. I went slower on the second spool and was able to pick up on the midway marker, which was neat. I know 100 yards is more braid then I need, but for $10/reel I shouldn't have to respool for a few years.

Anybody using this yet? I bought a couple spools to go on some new spinning setups. When I was spooling the last rod, the line broke about 20 yards in. Both sides were severely frayed. I want to believe it rubbed against something in the garage while spooling and that's why it tore. But now I have confidence issue with it and likely won't get to test it out on a fish before the first tournament of the year. If you have used it, have you had any issues with it?

Check out Red Hills Fishery. I know they're working on Titan Bass, but I think they have a line on pure Floridas as well. https://www.titanbass.com/

Impossible! But my logic is why waste the space for a bait I maybe will use 0.01% of the time and only after everything else failed? Realistically, I'm not going to get through my rotation of baits to get toa lizard in a standard tournament day. I've thrown a couple packs in the boat when I'm heading fun fishing and want to experiment, but they come back out when I get home. I saw Banjo Minnows for sale at Dick's when I was there last week... If you have confidence in them, throw them. If you don't have confidence, maybe it makes more sense to stick with a similar profile you already do have confidence in.

There's people who "Scope" and people who use FFS to enhance their traditional fishing styles. It takes an incredible amount of time to become a good enough "Scoper" to consistently chase individual/schools of fish with it. The guys you see on Pro Level tours and some Youtubers have devoted that much time and effort to become good enough that they can float around staring at that screen and catching "floaters"- those bass that constantly roam and chase bait vs setting up on cover. I'm not good enough with it yet to go out there and just look for fish all day then cast when I see them. Instead I use it to enhance traditional fishing techniques. So I may mark a bunch of brushpiles on Sidescan then go back and fish them with my FFS, but I'm using the FFS to make sure my cast is landing in the right spot vs casting to a fish. Same goes with weedlines, points, rockpiles, etc. In the year I've had it, I've probably caught 20 bass that I specifically targeted with scope and hundreds without it. The other main way I use it is to leave it on when I'm going down the bank. Inevitably, the trolling motor will swing out and shine some kind of cover that's a few feet offshore that I wouldn't have known was there without it. Then I can run a bait by or through that cover and maybe pick up a bite.

I jokingly sent a link for this to my fishing buddy and asked if he was down for a road trip. He responded by asking if this was my way of coming out of the closet to him...

The jerk bait being made famous because of an article about the most famous "jerk bait" of all time... oh the irony.

THIS! It's near impossible to run a legit experiment on bass in the wild. How do I know? because in my experiments, Caffeine Shads crush Super Flukes. In all seriousness, there's too many variables to control in the wild to test this. And even if you studied them in a tank, there's enough diversity in a bass population, that your finds won't be accurate from one lake to the next. I would think this is the worst possible way to experiment. This would give you a gauge of the mood of a fish population on a given day. A better way would be to cycle baits every X number of casts throughout a day. Still won't be perfect as the baits won't go past the same number of bass or specific cover, but would be more representative of what their bait/color preference is that day. Some pro Scopers have been know to experiment in practice to find the best bait combo. They'll cast to 10 fish with X head and X plastic, then the next 10 with X head and Y plastic, then the next 10 with, Y head and X plastic, etc etc until they can say they're getting more bites on a certain combo. That's as close to a legit experiment as you're ever going to get with this.

Agree with @Bluebasser86. I carry a couple packs in the boat, but it's rare I opt for them over a creature bait. Honestly, I think those couple packs are coming out of the boat before tournament season starts up. A Brush Hog or Baby Destroyer accomplishes the same thing and are more versatile IMO.

I was going off the second 9 he caught which was on the Big M. Looking back it seems like he caught his 3 big fish that day on 3 different baits. Can't decide if that's more or less impressive than finding a single bait they want.

Appears to be the Big M Series from Megabass. The one I got a good look at appeared to be the PM Strike Chart color. https://megabassusa.com/product/big-m-4-0/#bwg95/1620

That was me. I think Scott is who they were referring to. He probably self-reported and it took BASS a couple days to make a decision and announce.

No, this info is completely legal because its publicly accessible so everyone has fair access. If a pro came on here and messaged you asking for info, that would be a violation because it's not public. ETA: Technically, someone could have a public domain that only they and some local guides know about. The guides could post waypoints or intel and it's technically legal to use because the info is publicly available online. The intent is there to circumvent the rules, but no actual rules were broken. NPFL is looking better every day. I've listened to a few interviews and podcasts with Brad Fuller, their TD. Seems like he's doing a better job than most at addressing these major issues, and is the only one who's consistently transparent about it.

Any oil based attractant is essentially useless because it can't be diffused in water. I sometimes use Baitfuel on my soft plastics. I've had times I've worked a bed fish for 10 minutes with no interest, but as soon as a I put some Baitfuel on there, I get bit. I've had other times I've put it on and watched fish ignore it all the same. I think a lot of it just depends on the mood of the fish. I don't see a point trying to use it on reaction baits, though I may play with it on something like a jerkbait. Like many have said, it's all about what gives you confidence. If putting a little stink on your bait give you confidence, then keep doing it. I'm with you on this. Plenty of studies out there to show that certain smells in the boat repel fish. If I think I came in contact with something like that, I usually wash my hands in the lake as best I can and sometimes if I'm feeling especially paranoid, I'll pour some Baitfuel on my hands and rub it in like hand sanitizer.

I was reading an article yesterday about how Denny Brauer liked fishing areas with lots of wake in the summer. Said it oxygenated the water the same way wind hitting a point does. Not sure I agree enough to put up with that stuff, but interesting perspective.

I was thinking the same thing. Must be some fine print in there somewhere.

Confirmed on Bass's website that there is a $1000 incentive for whoever's Basstrakk is closest to their total weight. Guess most guys would rather punt that chance at a grand to save fishing time and chase the real money.