On 4/29/2026 at 7:02 AM, Bird said:

Biggest change I've seen is fishing pressure.

Many more local tournaments, night tournaments, even on some of the remote lakes I fish.

I'll add this. Most of these local derbies and weekly clubs now have boats that look they belong on the Elites too. You show up to a Tuesday night league with a dozen boats, and 11 of them are 20+ foot long fiberglass bass boats with twin talons/poles and 3 or 4 graphs, powered by a 225 HP outboard.

And you know it's too much when it's filtered all the way down to the lowest level of competition at your local lake. A pro tour is one thing but a local derby is now ultra competitive with the latest and greatest.

1 hour ago, gim said:

I'll add this. Most of these local derbies and weekly clubs now have boats that look they belong on the Elites too. You show up to a Tuesday night league with a dozen boats, and 11 of them are 20+ foot long fiberglass bass boats with twin talons/poles and 3 or 4 graphs, powered by a 225 HP outboard.

And you know it's too much when it's filtered all the way down to the lowest level of competition at your local lake. A pro tour is one thing but a local derby is now ultra competitive with the latest and greatest.

That's a bummer to read. I wish people didn't feel like they had to break the bank to be a local hammer

bfs has definitely blown up. the pressure bass have been getting in recent years has blown up. bass are eating smaller and smaller lures, so a light casting rod and reel is the way to go. but yeah man, I get it. every time you take a break from fishing its like you go through withdrawal!

19 hours ago, gim said:

I'll add this. Most of these local derbies and weekly clubs now have boats that look they belong on the Elites too. You show up to a Tuesday night league with a dozen boats, and 11 of them are 20+ foot long fiberglass bass boats with twin talons/poles and 3 or 4 graphs, powered by a 225 HP outboard.

And you know it's too much when it's filtered all the way down to the lowest level of competition at your local lake. A pro tour is one thing but a local derby is now ultra competitive with the latest and greatest.

On my local lake it's crappie fishermen who make the most use from livescope/FFS. They limit every trip.

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

On my local lake it's crappie fishermen who make the most use from livescope/FFS. They limit every trip.

Definitely a thing here too. Primarily ice fishing though.

Muskie fishing with a scope is also popular. Given the lack of fish we now have, a lot of muskie anglers simply don't want to fish the old fashioned way anymore. You could go all season and not catch one now.

18 hours ago, austin_the_fisher said:

bfs has definitely blown up. the pressure bass have been getting in recent years has blown up. bass are eating smaller and smaller lures, so a light casting rod and reel is the way to go. but yeah man, I get it. every time you take a break from fishing its like you go through withdrawal!

BFS was becoming popularized when I stopped. I was always interested as a casting reel mainly kind of guy, but it's hard for me to justify the cost when a spinning outfit does the same thing, as intended, for a fraction of the cost. If anyone can enlighten me on how BFS is preferable here, other than enthusiast preference rather than practicality, I'd be happy to hear it. Because I really don't get it. If BFS was as affordable as any other gear I'd certainly opt for it, but I don't get the price at all. One common thing I've seen is baitcasting accuracy, but I've never found that to be true. Just as accurate with both. Controlling the spool with the thumb on casting or controlling the line with your hand on spinning is one and the same to me.

1 hour ago, gim said:

Definitely a thing here too. Primarily ice fishing though.

Muskie fishing with a scope is also popular. Given the lack of fish we now have, a lot of muskie anglers simply don't want to fish the old fashioned way anymore. You could go all season and not catch one now.

Ma I’m noticing this as well. Every crappie boat out there is loaded down with electronics and FFS. And I’ve also noticed out on my lakes and some of the local guys with YouTube channels. Boats ain’t no joke anymore. Idk where the money comes from to have something like that you are willing to park for 5 months of the year lol.

The biggest change for me I’ve seen though. Is kids fishing. Since moving to the Midwest. I actually se kids walking or riding bikes with fishing poles. Headed to local ponds and stuff. We lost that where I was in Florida. So I think that’s really cool.

2 minutes ago, Joedodge said:

Ma I’m noticing this as well. Every crappie boat out there is loaded down with electronics and FFS. And I’ve also noticed out on my lakes and some of the local guys with YouTube channels. Boats ain’t no joke anymore. Idk where the money comes from to have something like that you are willing to park for 5 months of the year lol.

The biggest change for me I’ve seen though. Is kids fishing. Since moving to the Midwest. I actually se kids walking or riding bikes with fishing poles. Headed to local ponds and stuff. We lost that where I was in Florida. So I think that’s really cool.

It breaks my heart to see all the fishable water is bought up and posted and fenced as private.

1 hour ago, Fyrewuulf said:

It breaks my heart to see all the fishable water is bought up and posted and fenced as private.

It really is a shame. And half or better don’t even want to fish who live in those kind of places lol

Bill Dance’s dancing eel still outfishes just about everything else, that’s about it.

I guess I don’t get the BFS deal. I considered it. And looked into it. It’s basically crappie and pan fishing lol. I’m not a purist with a baitcaster. I don’t mind a spinning rod at all. So I guess maybe that’s why it’s not a big deal to me

Having only recently gotten into bass fishing, I’ve mostly tapped into my youth when bass and pike were regular targets and fish like walleye were a prize back in the 1990’s. I’ve also saw, read and watched stuff just to see how modern bass fishing is and what most guys use so I can use something else.

All the posters who say same ol’ thang works are very correct. When I started running a Carolina rig this spring, the very first bait I thought of was a 6” zoom lizard in pumpkinseed/chart tail. Black or motor oil power worms Texas rigged, black/blue skirted jigs for largemouth, spinnerbaits- all that stuff was popular in the 90’s when I was a kid. I’ve settled on a baby brush hog in place of the lizard(modernized) and switched to electric grape and blue fleck power worms as those colors really get bit lol

I have changed.

I used to fish soft plastics 90% of the time, and even had one year of fifty plus days fishing, no skunks, and caught every fish on soft plastic. Now, I am roughly 50/50 on soft plastic and hard baits.

I am more likely to fish in borderline unpleasant wind and not be too bothered doing so if I think I can catch fish.

I am intrigued by grass and heavier cover. I am more likely to try to pull fish out of unlikely places and in conditions that others may believe are unsuitable for bass.

I am most decidedly late to the "game changing" party. Spot-lock has been the biggest game changer for me, hands down. No more tying off on trees, or fumbling with an anchor. Just hit the button, and the TM does all the work. Amazing. Switching to braid-to-leader would be #2. Really opened up my spinning rod world, and even changed how I run casting rods. Wonderful.

#3 has to be forward-facing-sonar. I have only had it a few weeks, but man, eye opening to see what is going on beneath the waves. So much to learn. I still love tossing a t-rigged blue=fleck worm in shallow lay downs (haven't been able to dial in FFS for that technique just yet).

Strolling, as others have mentioned. FFS blew it up but you can do it without FFS from shore (great success).

Neko is the new Ned.

Gill style plastics reminiscent of the Bullflat. Bellows Gill and its kin are a good example. Also Neko rigged.

Dice, Coike, etc. Again, blown up by FFS. Pros are now in the business of annoying fish until they bite. Maybe they always have been?

Spinnerbait renaissance maybe? For years its been all-bladed jig all the time.

Speaking of chatterbaits, patent ran out and there's excellent competition available now. Strongly recommend OSP Metal Blade.

Grass Piece I expect to blow up now that they're being more mass-produced.

On 5/1/2026 at 1:35 PM, Fyrewuulf said:

BFS was becoming popularized when I stopped. I was always interested as a casting reel mainly kind of guy, but it's hard for me to justify the cost when a spinning outfit does the same thing, as intended, for a fraction of the cost. If anyone can enlighten me on how BFS is preferable here, other than enthusiast preference rather than practicality, I'd be happy to hear it. Because I really don't get it. If BFS was as affordable as any other gear I'd certainly opt for it, but I don't get the price at all. One common thing I've seen is baitcasting accuracy, but I've never found that to be true. Just as accurate with both. Controlling the spool with the thumb on casting or controlling the line with your hand on spinning is one and the same to me.

I'd rather throw a lure on a baitcaster under an overhang, tight cover, and have more efficient repeated short casts than a spinning reel, so there's that. But if others can manage the same with spinning then it's entirely user experience. For me I enjoy a light rod, a bfs reel and having fun catching 1-3 pounders on light line making it seem like giants. I caught a 5lb on a bfs setup. Pretty amazing what modern rods can handle now.