Mossypumpkin Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Like Wayne said. Doesnt really matter cuz it's not gonna change the way I fish. We are doing some New England contests lately and having fun with that. Those are enough to keep me busy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhonse Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 My input....someone mention that they shocked up fish around 15lbs in NC and that suggests there are giants everywhere. FALSE! NC is 1000 miles south of here. NC is in no way a cold, northern state. Sure, its not Florida, but lets be real. Today its in the 30's with snow coming down. Prob in the 60's in NC...your fish are still growing!! You have to remember that Travis and I live in the mountains of NC not the flat land. These are by far the highest mountains east of the Mississippi. It was 26-27 at my house the last two mornings and I had 3 inches of snow yesterday. This is coming from a yankee, I was born and raised in PA till I joined the military so trust me, its not as warm here as everyone thinks. It is consistently colder here than in PA in the summer. The NC state record is definitely 15lb 14oz. I have met Phil Cable who has the Jordan Lake record of like 14-6 and a few other guys with mid teen fish in the piedmont, they were almost all 20 years ago or in the spawn bedfishing or both. As for shocking up 15-17lb bass, Chris I know we texted about this but I will say it again, there are lots of things wrong with that story. 1. I have heard it about literally every "big fish" lake in the piedmont. Jordan, Harris, Falls, Michie, Bond, Cane Creek, you name it. 2. Where are the pics? Because my better half is a biologist that used to work extensively in fisheries I know a good many of they guys that shock. They always have a camera. Also they rarely see big fish so they get really excited when they do, If you follow their FB page you will see they freaked out about shocking a 20lb striper, they posted pictures of that thing like 30 times. None of this is to say though that I don't think our lakes can produce high teen fish, I mostly fish in NC, SC, and GA. Randall has a damn near 16 from GA, and I know guys that have 14's in NC and SC. Most of the guys I know with mid teen fish, say they have seen MUCH bigger fish, and these are guys that seriously know big fish. There are several lakes in the mountains here that I would bet money on have a 17+ in them somewhere. To briefly address the original topic. California has more DDs swimming around for certain, but me, I could care less. Lakes in Mexico probably has more than Cali, and I KNOW lakes in South Africa do. I think even Don would have trouble if a stick from S. Africa started competing on here. Honestly the swimbait fishing here is leaps and bounds better than it is just east of here out of the mountains, its like two different worlds. So do Travis and I have an edge over my buddies Chris and Dave from the piedmont? Yes, but at the same time Dave has won what like 2 tourneys? Of course Travis has won several as well. No its not completely equal at all, but I doesn't have to be. Its just for fun, I just like catching big fish. Which I don't get to do nearly often enough. (btw Cam I would take a 7+lb smallie like you have over a DD LM every day of the week, even though it probably won't win a tourney, I would be way more stoked about that. Im going to try for one this winter in TN) You two definitely have the upper advantage being on lakes that are applicable to swimbait fishing. But whos to say there isnt a teener fish in harris? Not you said it, but that slot limit as i stated in my other post "and sure you know this terry since you use to live right by it. Allows fish to get up into the 7+ pond range so whos not to say there isnt a teener in there. 17 does sound a bit extreme to me and without correct documentation im not gonna stand behind that 100% but because of the conditions of the lake (i.e. The slot limit, the abundance of baitfish, and not much competition from any other species) those seem like pretty good factors o me to produce a teener fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R8R Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The site is based in california and the tournament format was created for fun big fish wins. This is for fun, for people entering the tourney for the prizes then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. This was about getting in the water and catching big bass anywhere. For example.if I enter a tourney and I actually decided to fish and caught a big bass about 9lb er and loss to a DD. I will be very happy because that is what it's all about catching big bass. The prize is just a bonus. So for people that enter in the tourneys but didn't win but caught a big bass in your area, I'm sure you would be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDBEAD Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Cool, then if it's for fun and not about the prizes then it shouldn't matter with the format right? Ideally then there should no prizes either if it's solely for fun, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 I'll chime in on something I've seen come up a couple times. Yes, it's a "free" tournament, but every single guy would be lying if they said they didn't want to win a freaking FREE LDC and all the other cool prizes. I could give zerofucks about having champion wings by my name. That does nothing to make me a better fisherman. Obviously, I favor a different format but I also agree that you'll never make everyone happy. Overall weight favors CA, TX and a few others. Length favors southern states generally. % of state record favors others. I'm all for a change but regardless, it's not changing the way I fish or my goals of catching the biggest fish in PA. Word to your mother. I would have loved to win that LDC. The ldc was the reason i wanted to win. And to push the alpha rat. That obvious. I know you'll probably give hell for that statement but I freaking love the bait. Back on to topic I believe every swimbaiters ultimate goal is the same. Well most of them I hope. And that's to catch the biggest fish possible or as many trophies as possible. The tournament is great where else can you enter a swimbait only tourney for free based on your ability to produce a big fish and to boot even win a sick rod? Its awesome. But like I said northern states don't stand a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R8R Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 I'll chime in on something I've seen come up a couple times. Yes, it's a "free" tournament, but every single guy would be lying if they said they didn't want to win a freaking FREE LDC and all the other cool prizes. I could give zerofucks about having champion wings by my name. That does nothing to make me a better fisherman. Obviously, I favor a different format but I also agree that you'll never make everyone happy. Overall weight favors CA, TX and a few others. Length favors southern states generally. % of state record favors others. I'm all for a change but regardless, it's not changing the way I fish or my goals of catching the biggest fish in PA. Word to your mother. I would have loved to win that LDC. The ldc was the reason i wanted to win. And to push the alpha rat. That obvious. I know you'll probably give hell for that statement but I freaking love the bait. Back on to topic I believe every swimbaiters ultimate goal is the same. Well most of them I hope. And that's to catch the biggest fish possible or as many trophies as possible. The tournament is great where else can you enter a swimbait only tourney for free based on your ability to produce a big fish and to boot even win a sick rod? Its awesome. But like I said northern states don't stand a chance. +1 And for the people that think they don't have a chance. There has been a contest for 8 months now.post your smallmouth and spotted bass. There is your chance to win a free ldc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The only way to make it even remotely close to an even playing field would be to split the country into four sections. NE, NW, SE, and SW.. Then do a total length plus weight total for each fish from each section of the country. So lets say a 26" 11# fish from Alabama would be bigger than a 25.5" 11# fish from Georgia. Even though the weight is the same the length is the tie breaker. The sections/divisions of the country would only compete against themselves until the last month of the season then the top 12 anglers would compete against each other (the top three from each division) for AOY in a sudden death shootout. As for spots and smallies there is a calculator that can be used to level the playing field for those two species. I believe it is the AMI Calculator. Or you can use length first and weight as the tie breaker because we have all caught skinny fish that were either post spawn or under nourished. Ultimately it does not matter though. Big fish don't just jump into peoples boats you have to put the time on the water. A 7# LMB is a nice fish no matter what part of the country you live in. And the vast majority of bass anglers will never see a DD fish in their lives let alone catch one regardless of what part of the country they live in or what type baits they throw..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaswimbaiter Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The only way to make it even remotely close to an even playing field would be to split the country into four sections. NE, NW, SE, and SW.. Then do a total length plus weight total for each fish from each section of the country. So lets say a 26" 11# fish from Alabama would be bigger than a 25.5" 11# fish from Georgia. Even though the weight is the same the length is the tie breaker. The sections/divisions of the country would only compete against themselves until the last month of the season then the top 12 anglers would compete against each other (the top three from each division) for AOY in a sudden death shootout. As for spots and smallies there is a calculator that can be used to level the playing field for those two species. I believe it is the AMI Calculator. Or you can use length first and weight as the tie breaker because we have all caught skinny fish that were either post spawn or under nourished. Ultimately it does not matter though. Big fish don't just jump into peoples boats you have to put the time on the water. A 7# LMB is a nice fish no matter what part of the country you live in. And the vast majority of bass anglers will never see a DD fish in their lives let alone catch one regardless of what part of the country they live in or what type baits they throw..... And have a playoff like the NCAA? I dont care about the prizes, one of them I would not even accept, its about an even playing field. No one is going to be happy with the results anyways, let the cali guys have thier wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBF_Baits Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The only way to make it even remotely close to an even playing field would be to split the country into four sections. NE, NW, SE, and SW.. Then do a total length plus weight total for each fish from each section of the country. So lets say a 26" 11# fish from Alabama would be bigger than a 25.5" 11# fish from Georgia. Even though the weight is the same the length is the tie breaker. The sections/divisions of the country would only compete against themselves until the last month of the season then the top 12 anglers would compete against each other (the top three from each division) for AOY in a sudden death shootout. As for spots and smallies there is a calculator that can be used to level the playing field for those two species. I believe it is the AMI Calculator. Or you can use length first and weight as the tie breaker because we have all caught skinny fish that were either post spawn or under nourished. Ultimately it does not matter though. Big fish don't just jump into peoples boats you have to put the time on the water. A 7# LMB is a nice fish no matter what part of the country you live in. And the vast majority of bass anglers will never see a DD fish in their lives let alone catch one regardless of what part of the country they live in or what type baits they throw..... I like that system but I have no solution I think the way the contest is now is the best whether it be fair or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 I'm a Cali guy but 100% side with the non Cali guys on this one. But I also respect this site for whatever it is. I always hear all the big sticks stopped coming on here for certain reasons. Too many noob questions or are their egos tucked too far up in their vaginas? Way off topic my bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The only way to make it even remotely close to an even playing field would be to split the country into four sections. NE, NW, SE, and SW.. Then do a total length plus weight total for each fish from each section of the country. So lets say a 26" 11# fish from Alabama would be bigger than a 25.5" 11# fish from Georgia. Even though the weight is the same the length is the tie breaker. The sections/divisions of the country would only compete against themselves until the last month of the season then the top 12 anglers would compete against each other (the top three from each division) for AOY in a sudden death shootout. As for spots and smallies there is a calculator that can be used to level the playing field for those two species. I believe it is the AMI Calculator. Or you can use length first and weight as the tie breaker because we have all caught skinny fish that were either post spawn or under nourished. Ultimately it does not matter though. Big fish don't just jump into peoples boats you have to put the time on the water. A 7# LMB is a nice fish no matter what part of the country you live in. And the vast majority of bass anglers will never see a DD fish in their lives let alone catch one regardless of what part of the country they live in or what type baits they throw..... Yes, by all means, lets make it as complicated as possible. That's sure to give people fewer things to criticize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volfan Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The only way to make anything truly fair us to make it random, which would take all the skill out of it. So you would have to stick a 5 lb fish to qualify, with the winner being selected by lottery. But that wouldn't be terribly fair to the guys with the teeners...so can we just leave it alone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil_watson Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The only way to make anything truly fair us to make it random, which would take all the skill out of it. So you would have to stick a 5 lb fish to qualify, with the winner being selected by lottery. But that wouldn't be terribly fair to the guys with the teeners...so can we just leave it alone? what about by bags of fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIMBO Posted November 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Pretty cool ideas..hopefully the owners of this site take a look at this and try and meet somewhere in the middle ..I feel a different format that evens the playing field a bit more will increase the participation I will even offer up a grand prize out of my own pocket.. Hopefully this doesn't fall on deaf ears Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedonnguyen Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 there's some great ideas and a lot of good information in this thread, but I'm not sure that making things more complicated will make anything better. sometimes simplicity is the best option, as i'm sure the owners of the site have far more things to worry about than this site...like working their day jobs to pay their own bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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