bigpoppabass

I would hit both of them.

I hope you didn't jinx yourself going public with the state record quest and can't wait for the report..... Fish are going to have heart attacks when they feel the effects of predation getting surprised and caught in their deep water refuge aread..Jordan Lee said his impression of fish on Lake Fork was that they were disbursing due to fishing pressure during a time they used to team up to coral prey. Nowhere to hide! PS. Still saying an edge on the bass tour rarely holds up for the long term. Especially if it does not involve making predictions of fish preferences and patterns. Been hearing a new name or two every year. Last year it was the Japanese fells on Champlain. This year it is a 19 year old whose name I do not remember already.

It is prob cuz they don't throw sbs much. I was pumped to meet Steve Kennedy at a sports show to discuss an elites torney he won with in Caly with a huddleston. He hardly remembered it. I think somebody just handed him one to use and he never threw it again. Weird.

What's funny is after typing message mentioning Jordan Lee above, I got a tiktok vid feed of Jordan Lee talking about the Lake Fork torney, and the role ffs unquestionably played in it. He stated what I now know having fished Champlain many times. With ffs, you can now target disbursed fish with accuracy. And if they want to eat like during an early pre-spawn scenario, it is a game changer. PS. I have fished Champlain during Memorial Day weekends many times. I found good fish in small pockets (almost spawning pairs) pre spawn and hadn't moved up in 20 feet of water. I could spot them with my traditional scans, but could never really target them well making random casts to the tiny area where I thought they were. The structure area was so small. So when I watched the Elites on Champlain on tv, it brought back memories of these fish I had scoped but had little chance of catching. With the ffs you can hit those spots with accuracy rather than wasting your time trying to get a bait to them.

We can disagree, the best sticks left for mlf years back and never returned.

There is always a newbie hot hand on the circuit. Jordan Lee for example. But I agree it has to got help if you are watching fish target bait.

Jacob Proseniak(sp) spoke at a MA sports show this year. He said he doesn't use it all that much fishing privately. But he did admit and surprised me when he said he uses 3 yes 3 ffs units during a torney, because they might help him to locate that one torney winner he needs.....I don't see how these units improve fishing outside of lakes with pelagic fish populations chasing bait schools like shad alewives......in most cases a suspended deep fish is an inactive one. I have spent way too much time drop shotting unsuccessfully over inactive fish....The pro circuits tho are not real life, they hand pick dates knowing that fishery should have a prime bite at torney time. And that is why locals get pissed and look like jerks fishing the same water.

That's awesome.

Another thing when dealing with biggest fish in the lake, they usually have a weakness for a single bait. Gotta find which one. One fella out here Dave Lynch, caught a state MA pin award winner 2x in one year on a certain ms slammer, the second time to get the pin for biggest fish in MA caught that year. He was prepared with a cooler the second time to certify it and release it. There is something about that slammer that triggers this one fish. He will tell you, he has swimbaits that get used once or twice a year for a particular spot or fish. It can get technical. PS. I have had similar experiences but with an og monster jack. I now have a collection of about 30 of them. There are certain lakes where that bait just triggers fish. Won 2 early season 2 fish torneys on em.

Don't have any idea how to catch that fish. Your swimbait has done good work and has located the home of a giant. So long as it is not a spawn situation etc., it will be there for good. Focus on possible feeding windows, fronts etc. would be my suggestion. PS. I have never been a fan of Deps 250. Most overhyped bait or all time. I have said that before. It doesn't have any flash or wobble.

Jealous of you folks. Still all AGM over here. BTW, I wonder if you will notice getting on plane is easier with location of battery.

We have a licensing course out here, and the instructor I had was teary eyed about kill switch use having pulled a body. There is no way am I chancing a running motor circling me like a shark with every circle narrowing and eventually chopping me. It happened another time when a fellas steering cable broke on a turn. His dog somehow didn't get thrown but driver did.

Some fellas throwing a Muitt Mouse years ago won a regional attorney but had outboard trouble and could not run full out and hopped from spot to spot. They got dqued for not wearing pdfs doing that. Lost decent lunker money too.

What say you about requiring nonboaters to wear a life jacket when law requires one such as when outboard is running? Every year I feel like a dick for asking someone to put one on. And I get a little annoyed when nonboater regularly thinks it is my obligation to provide one. So I usually bring a bright orange cheap one with neck support of course to treat them like a child in the boat. Then I get even more resistance. This scenario has been playing out for years. PS. Just one of these annoying things, I have to insist when they decline to wear one, cuz I know when they fall out of boat and drown, the family isn't going to believe me when I say they refused to wear or to bring one. But sometimes, I let that happen. PS 1 Given the power of modern trolling motors, I rarely take mine off when I am the nonboater. Another reason for peeps just to want to wear them like a bike helmet.

Be sure to watch the classic 316 mission fish vid on utube if you have issues hooking up on soft plastics. Simple things like pointing the rod tip at bait during retrieve are covered.

Wow great input made in this topic. Not much to add except two things. 1) You can go goofy with colors. Pure bright whites with black circles on eyes (i call voodoo pattern) or bubblegum work too. 2) My other suggestion is to go big or go small. I am still haunted by a follow a once had on a small white jointed Bettencourt mouse. You can throw this thing on a frog rod. That fur can sometimes be a trigger.

I still the think the reel is more important. Those first generation curado 300s were casting marvels with any diameter line but they lacked cranking power....With a long rod you feasibly should be able to get away with very low diameter lines, since the rod is doing most of the work. But once the rod is not bent, the line strength becomes more important. I learned that lesson flyfishing for trout. If you have to grab the line, the fish has the advantage then.

I agree and then there are all of these utube vids with peeps fishing em under calm conditions. That never works for me either. I suspect some fellas have their go pros on all of the time...I like gliders that sit under the surface at rest or ones that suspend a little to fish like a jerkbait.

At the recent sports show Oliver Ngy said don't overlook speed as a trigger.

If you go with a small jon be sure to get the four pronged bases that allow a bass boat seat to be used on it. I call them spiders. They make my cartopper (10 foot jon) super stable. I use two even if I fishing solo. I use the back seat to hold an extender handle from trolling motor to the front seat. The weight of handle naturally sits downward due to weight when not in use.

Sending one of those Boss baits to another SU member. I was tempted to get one. Reminds me of a slightly lighter and thinner Hinkle at a good price under $200.

Just a heads up to those peeps chasing baits next year. There is a VIP sign up that gets you in first. The VIP tickets were sold out and the wrong line I was in for VIPs was about 75 long. At least that was the case on Sat.