24 minutes ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

The magazine actually has some decent content that isn’t on the internet but it’s not the same magazine that I got as a kid with a couple thousand words or more on what happpened in the tournaments.

I haven't flipped through one in years, but figured any of the technique/product related articles would've been covered on YouTube or somewhere else on the internet. What kind of stuff is in the magazine that you can't find elsewhere?

Hanselmann caught a 5 ft wide sting ray 

17 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hanselmann caught a 5 ft wide sting ray 

Gonna go out on a limb here and say that's not the area where this one gets won. 

52 minutes ago, JHoss said:

I haven't flipped through one in years, but figured any of the technique/product related articles would've been covered on YouTube or somewhere else on the internet. What kind of stuff is in the magazine that you can't find elsewhere?

Yeah. Event coverage, interviews, pictures. I’ve only gotten three issues so far. It was better than I expected but not the old magazine I remember from the ‘90s.

ITO!!!!!

BASS magazine is very important outhouse material for me. I have a stack next to the pot where I do my best work. I predicted 48 pounds for the winning weight, I can't remember who all I picked but if you picked Palanuik you're having a rough day. Whiffed on day 1.

They send me the magazine for free..

 

I'm clueless as to why. 

Hackney, Christie, Swindell all in the 90's on the Sabine. So much for expierence.

6 hours ago, LootyDjibouti said:

I enjoy watching the anglers have to grind it out. They’re the best in the world, so who’s gonna go prove it when it’s tough… 

 

Ike and GDP are both from south jersey and doing well - water looks pretty similar to home! 

 

Yeah it's like watching guys play golf in Scotland or Pebble Beach with 40 mph gusts.

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

Hackney, Christie, Swindell all in the 90's on the Sabine. So much for expierence.

 

But muh intuition.

3 hours ago, IYAOYAS said:

BASS magazine is very important outhouse material for me. I have a stack next to the pot where I do my best work. I predicted 48 pounds for the winning weight, I can't remember who all I picked but if you picked Palanuik you're having a rough day. Whiffed on day 1.

 

The good news he's only 7 lbs back from the cut line and 12-2 back overall.

9 hours ago, F14A-B said:

They send me the magazine for free..

 

I'm clueless as to why. 

Same here. 

Didn't get skunked, like I am more than capable of... LOL

Jay has about a 75 point lead over Trey.. Trey is second now. That’s a pretty solid lead however there is a lot of fishing left to go this year..Jay is whacking them on the Sabine and is currently leading the tournament. 
 

I’ll tell ya, some of these kids are exceptional fishermen. 

Taku punching 

 

Pat Schlapper is such a Wisconsin name. 😄

I had the privilege of filming videos and hanging out with Pat 2 weeks ago.  He's a pretty sharp stick.  

7 minutes ago, Glenn said:

I had the privilege of filming videos and hanging out with Pat 2 weeks ago.  He's a pretty sharp stick.  

Of course he is. He's a Wisconsinite! 

He’s used to this size fish! Typical for WI , where a 3 # is a nice fish, and 5#, is rare!

 

On 5/16/2025 at 12:23 PM, scaleface said:

 

 

 I've never been to the Sabine, but from tournament coverage its by far the most similar US bass water I've seen to the urban and semi urban rivers and waterways surrounding the Tokyo area that guys like Taku and Fujita grew up fishing. Particularly the Tone river and its ditches and tribs in Chiba and Saitama, which is Takus home turf. Some might be surprised to know that one of Takus signature techniques in those waters is punching floating debris accumulations with downsized jigs!

Jay and Trey are close.. (AOY) 

What are they doing fishing here?  I watched some live this morning, and they acted like a 1.5 pound bass was a DD.  I can understand going someplace where the fishing will be tough, but tough is when some anglers zero, only a few get a decent bag, and the big fish of the tournament is over 5 pounds.  When the controversy over bed fishing it weather or not the angler is targeting the spawners or the fry there is something wrong.   The winner of this thing most likely wont even have a 2 pound average and many struggle to catch 5 dinks. There has to be a better place to hold an Elite event.  BASS wont hold an elite event in a whole portion of the country because the anglers would be inconvenienced with a long drive and other logistical problems, but have no problem holding a tournament on a body of water where the bass are smaller than the crappie are in many lakes.  Go ahead and give a thumbs down for my opinionated rant, but there is no way any one can convince me this isn't completely ridiculous.

39 minutes ago, king fisher said:

What are they doing fishing here?  I watched some live this morning, and they acted like a 1.5 pound bass was a DD.  I can understand going someplace where the fishing will be tough, but tough is when some anglers zero, only a few get a decent bag, and the big fish of the tournament is over 5 pounds.  When the controversy over bed fishing it weather or not the angler is targeting the spawners or the fry there is something wrong.   The winner of this thing most likely wont even have a 2 pound average and many struggle to catch 5 dinks. There has to be a better place to hold an Elite event.  BASS wont hold an elite event in a whole portion of the country because the anglers would be inconvenienced with a long drive and other logistical problems, but have no problem holding a tournament on a body of water where the bass are smaller than the crappie are in many lakes.  Go ahead and give a thumbs down for my opinionated rant, but there is no way any one can convince me this isn't completely ridiculous.

I get the premise of the idea, but it is pretty boring watching these guys catch 12 inch fish. Heck even I can do that! 😂

Japanese “scopers” are fishing very well without their scopes, take that keyboard warriors 😂 

 

@king fisher, the anglers all seem to love it, as do lots of fans watching on TV, internet, and record crowds at weigh ins. They had one of the local businessman that puts the event on and he said it raises four to $5 million for the community. The reason they don’t go places has nothing to do with logistics or driving, it’s all about the local Chamber of Commerce wanting them there. If you want them to come to your town, you better pony up.

1 hour ago, king fisher said:

Go ahead and give a thumbs down for my opinionated rant, but there is no way any one can convince me this isn't completely ridiculous.

No thumbs down. You are entitled to your opinion. That said on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with brackish water, which has many fishing for the Bass from all walks of life, a five-pound Bass is rare and considered a monster. Most of the Bass are 1 to 3 pounds. And some very expensive bass boats can be seen on the rivers and marshes of the Coast.

Good Fishing    

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Japanese “scopers” are fishing very well without their scopes, take that keyboard warriors 😂 

 

@king fisher, the anglers all seem to love it, as do lots of fans watching on TV, internet, and record crowds at weigh ins. They had one of the local businessman that puts the event on and he said it raises four to $5 million for the community. The reason they don’t go places has nothing to do with logistics or driving, it’s all about the local Chamber of Commerce wanting them there. If you want them to come to your town, you better pony up.

You have very valid points, and obviously BASS as well as the majority of fans agree with you.  But as far as I'm concerned it is ridicules.  There has to be a place with great fans, enthusiastic local businesses, and decent size bass.  I realize there are many considerations when deciding on a tournament venue, but I feel that quality bass has to be given more priority than the other factors that went in to the decision to hold this event on this river at this time of year.

 

I am have never fished a tournament, have zero knowledge of how to organize one, and am basically not qualified in any way to make any decisions on how a tournament is ran, but as a life time fan, I don't like to see the best bass fisherman in the world compete on a body of water that obviously is not even close to an elite bass fishery.

 

Every year the biggest money bill fishing tournament in the world is the Bisbee's Black and Blue in Cabo San Lucas.  Some years have been a total bust, with  very few marlin caught, and one year only one marlin was weighted in, but those years are not the norm.  The tournament is held at this location on the same weekend every year because it is has the possibility of being the best marlin fishing in the world at the time the tournament is held.  I understand any fishery can have a bad year or two, but this is a normal year at the Sabine.  

 

It is an Elite event, I believe they should have the tournament on an elite fishery period.