Every single smallmouth tournament is the same thing...every angler using a tube, black hair jig and dropshot. So boring. Then you look at the top ten of a largemouth tourney and youve got all kinds of stuff mixed in...jigs, Texas rigged worms, buzzbaits, deep cranks, wacky senkos, walking baits..and on and on. Sorry for the ***** fest...just venting.?

Disagree 

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Disagree 

Agree...to disagree.

I also saw jerkbait, swimbait, ned rig and spinnerbait being used.

I also like that they have to use some skill to land the fish.

It's not 65 lb braid where they water ski the fish to the boat.

 

I'm glad I can appreciate all aspects of the sport.

I enjoy watching tournaments where every minute of competition, the players have to make decisions about whether to target LMB or SMB.  Particularly when there's some distance between them.

I guess I should have said I find them boring. Maybe if I spent time targeting small mouth I'd find something in it.

8 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

I guess I should have said I find them boring. Maybe if I spent time targeting small mouth I'd find something in it.

Oh...that is different.   My club has a SMB river tournament every year.  Hate it.  I'm too old.  The good fish require long floats with light 'rapids'. (They call them 'riffles', but much of the year,  I think they're rapids.)  Fun when I was younger.   Less so now.

19 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

I guess I should have said I find them boring. Maybe if I spent time targeting small mouth I'd find something in it.

I catch em on a lot of different lures...the problem I have is there is an 18" limit everywhere...21" at Dale Hollow.

In the heat of summer, the preferred method to target smallmouth is most definitely going to be a drop shot.  So ya, its kinda boring to watch right now.  The only thing worse than fishing a drop shot is watching someone fish a drop shot if you ask me.

 

In a different time of year, a bigger variety of lures/tactics would be used.  For some reason it seems like the big smallmouth tournaments are all pretty much in the summer time up north.

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

In a different time of year, a bigger variety of lures/tactics would be used.  For some reason it seems like the big smallmouth tournaments are all pretty much in the summer time up north.

This could be one reason . . . 

btw - I agree with you on watching guys stare at a sonar and fish vertically.

Can't watch it. 

A-Jay

I personally find all fishing tournaments boring.  And I cannot stand to listen to the idiots calling the weigh-ins.  

12 hours ago, MickD said:

I personally find all fishing tournaments boring.  And I cannot stand to listen to the idiots calling the weigh-ins.  

Boom shaka=laka GGGGGgiant bass .

12 hours ago, MickD said:

I personally find all fishing tournaments boring.  And I cannot stand to listen to the idiots calling the weigh-ins.  

Yep.....IMHO fishing isn't a spectator sport.  I don't think it should even be a "he man mines bigger than yours" contest.   Fishing should be a family activity.  Leave the contests at the pay lakes.   

 

(there, I said it)

There's an old forum member who won the Hobie Susquehanna tournament at the end of July.  He posted day one and two videos on youtube that give a little different look of smallmouth fishing.

Post them here.

I can honestly say I use as many different lures for smallmouth as I do for largemouth.  A lot of the same for both and a few more speciality for the small jaws.  Tournaments as a whole are going to get more boring as more are keyed in to the front facing sonar.  IMHO

10 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Tournaments as a whole are going to get more boring as more are keyed in to the front facing sonar.  IMHO

This. Video game fishing is boring. 

27 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Tournaments as a whole are going to get more boring as more are keyed in to the front facing sonar.  IMHO

The upcoming BASS Elite event on Oahe is going to be 90% drop shot fishing and watching a screen.  Snooze fest galore.

I find watching these guys video game fishing just as interesting as the guys punching every square inch of a mat. To be able to understand your electronics like that and target fish is impressive. 
 

Just watche Justin Lucas use a dropshot to slake an insane number of large mouth in NY. With smallies mixed. Pretty impressive in that format, maybe not when you your trying to cull ounces and don’t go towards the count if they are to small. But hey to each their own! Tight lines

Pretty sure zaldain came in 4th at st Lawrence, said he was winding the whole time. I’m not exactly sure y’all are watching closely 

On 7/22/2022 at 6:02 PM, Woody B said:

Yep.....IMHO fishing isn't a spectator sport.

Golf is just as bad.  Make sure you be very quiet while the person is hitting the ball.  No reserved seating or cell phones allowed either.  And this is coming from someone who used to be an avid golfer that understands it too.

 

The weigh ins are decent.  I've been to a couple of AOY events at Mille Lacs and they do a pretty good job of talking to the anglers and asking them how their day went.  Plus it was held at the casino so we hit up the seafood buffet for dinner too!

Video as requested.

 

 

On side note, I had one of the best days of my fishing career on a cicada hatch in the general region of the video.

I LOVE spectating fishing tournaments 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Pretty sure zaldain came in 4th at st Lawrence, said he was winding the whole time. I’m not exactly sure y’all are watching closely 

Fair enough..although I'm pretty sure Zaldain forgot there are baits other than a mag draft style swim bait like 3 years ago.