Day 1 started today, about to take a break after period 1.    DC has got a camera.   

Been a scope fest for the first period as usual, but the real fishing is about start for those interested

 

2025 Bass Pro Tour O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 4 - Chickamauga and Nickajack Presented by OPTIMA Batteries - Major League Fishing

I'm loving what Ott DeFoe is doing.

8 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I'm loving what Ott DeFoe is doing.

I was coming to bump this thread saying the same thing.......just love watching dudes fishing below dams in strong currents......throw in some awesome topwater eats, and you got my attention

 

I'm always surprised at how much more attention the Elite threads get vs. the BPT threads.    How can you not love the BPT coverage......constantly making the anglers educate the viewers, 1000x fewer commercials, and the production value is off the charts in comparison.  

 

Tough time of the year to do it, but I sure hope we see a DD caught.    Rojos caught a 9.6.    I follow a guide who live bait fishes with big Gizzards, he's really shown what lives in Chick, he catches a bunch of 35-40lb bags in the winter with numerous 10-13lb fish.    

 

Lastly I'm not sure how I feel about them switching lakes for the second half of the event.   Seems a bit weird.  

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Lastly I'm not sure how I feel about them switching lakes for the second half of the event.   Seems a bit weird.  

Yeah that doesn't make sense to me.  It wouldn't be so bad if they did it for the final day but for the knock out round?  The leader would be crazy to skip the knockout.

That's a great point.     One of the biggest flaws I've always seen with the BPT is how much they change the format, and this just throws jet fuel on that.  

 

Then again I wouldn't be watching the BPT a ton this year without the change to FFS usage so I guess you win some, you lose some.  

12 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

 

I'm always surprised at how much more attention the Elite threads get vs. the BPT threads.    How can you not love the BPT coverage......

cuz I’ve never watched a single second of it 😂 

 

I take that back, I watched Cherokee last year to see the smallies below the small spillway that Poche was fishing. Thats the only time (localish to me)

12 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

1000x fewer commercials

That should tell you something, advertisers prefer more eyeballs 

I've thought about the commercial thing a good bit when viewing the two trails.......my thought is that BASS is actually hurting those companies by playing those same commercials every 10minutes.   After the first hour or two I'm hating those commercials and the products they're advertising 😆

I can recite them all word for word from memory 😂 

I love when they split the event up on different lakes. Just more strategy for the anglers to make decisions. That’s MLF at its core though, putting anglers in difficult situations on new lakes they haven’t had time to properly prepare for. That is the philosophy that built the brand

 

The old challenge cup days were the best TV bass tournament productions to watch

The weights will (almost) certainly drop significantly when they go to nickajack, the only place anyone normally does damage there is right below chickamauga dam 

I’m in 2683 place whooooo. I’m tearing it up

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

That's a great point.     One of the biggest flaws I've always seen with the BPT is how much they change the format, and this just throws jet fuel on that.  

 

Then again I wouldn't be watching the BPT a ton this year without the change to FFS usage so I guess you win some, you lose some.  

To be fair, they’re relatively new and with anything new you tweak things in hopes of making it better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t so you teak it again. 
 

BASS has been around forever and they’ve changed things over the years to try and make things better. They haven’t changed things in quite a while, but now a ton of people are wanting a change regarding FFS. 
 

At the end of the day some people like change and others don’t. Can’t make everyone happy.

19 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Lastly I'm not sure how I feel about them switching lakes for the second half of the event.   Seems a bit weird.  

 

I think switching can make a bit of sense at times as long as the lakes are close and very similar.  In this case they are fishing above and below the same dam on the same river.  The fish should be in similar patterns.  Chick is 36k acres, Nickajack is 10k more.  Santee Cooper is 160k.  Toledo bend is 185k.  Champlain is 260k.  So it's not as if they are making the playing field so big and complicated that they can't scout all of it or at least a defined area of it. if the dam wasn't there or if they were allowed to lock through then it would just be one big lake.  They did it on Sheran harris and Jordan I think 2 years ago and that was a little more different and they fished differently.  

Chick and Nick are actually vastly different, nickajack runs thru a very stunning river gorge, often referred to as the Grand Canyon of the East. Chickamauga is darn near an ocean with a lot of backwater 

I’d love to be able to watch more than 45 seconds without AirPlay cutting out. 

Hmmm, mine is working fine, not freezing or cuttin' out

Mines great. (Airplay) but I can’t run it w BASS anymore.. I suspect this is by intent. No worries. 

Been good for 30 minutes or so now. It was probably on my end 

You knew Wheeler couldn't let the world think DC was the current GOAT for too long......make it exactly one event 😁

 

The biggest tragedy in pro Bass fishing is that Wheeler and DC aren't able to fish for Classics or compete against the kid wizard scopers on the Elites to prove who truly is the best in the world.  

43 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

The biggest tragedy in pro Bass fishing is that Wheeler and DC aren't able to fish for Classics or compete against the kid wizard scopers on the Elites to prove who truly is the best in the world.  

I think Drew Gill is as good as any scoper on the Elite tour.  

 

I think Wheeler's strategy in every tournament is to win while everyone else is trying to cash a check.  My guess is Wheeler spent more practice time on Nick than anyone else.

Agree, if you watch Wheeler or DC practice videos on YT it's no shocker why these guys win so much.    

 

They are always trying to find the one different pattern that can separate them for a win.    So many of these other guys are just trying to make cuts, cash checks, make points and rightfully so considering how hard and expensive is. 

 

I'm sure both Wheeler and DC are clearing over $1mil a year, and it could be significantly more.    Heck DC has won $900k in just Redcrest wins lol.  

I don't understand why Strader is fishing so hard. I guess he just likes catching fish.

Haha, I was just thinking earlier how much I was enjoying watching him fish.......running the bank skipping a whacky has to be in my top 3 favorite ways to catch them.    

 

I think he's fishing for the fans, he actually said at one point he was happy he caught one so the camera stayed in the boat 

12 lbs is very doable. Can Gill scope his way into fishing tomorrow?    If I was betting I would say no.

As much as it pains me, I think he'll scope up that 12lbs in about 10mins lol