abkeenan

Did you mark the location of your lost setup? Then go back and try the "open stringer" dragging trick? Nice fish and thanks for taking a kid/s fishing. Lasting memories for sure.

What time should I come over for dinner? What side do you want me to bring?

Swimbait Universe is also a great wealth of information on Facebook Groups. Mike Bucca (creator of the Bull Shad) gets on there pretty often with swimbait advice and info on his baits.

Just started getting into swimbaits the last 2-3 years or so. I have both soft and hard varieties. For soft I have some of the pre-rigged Storm and Berkley. They are decent and cheap. So when you lose one in a treetop you don't sweat it. I also have some of the bigger hollow belly paddle tails like the 6.5" Lucky Strike Magic Shad. They have a nice tail thump/wag and body roll at any retrieve speed. Like was mentioned, the Savage Gear Shine Glide is a good bait especially at it's cost. Bait is nicely done and has a nice glide. I prefer it over the S-Waver's although you can't go wrong with the S-Waver either. When I say cheap and people see the $20-40 price tag they think that is EXPENSIVE. Well in the swimbait world that is now CHEAP. Lots of insane price tags on some baits. Talking anywhere from $100 to $500. The Dobyns Fury 795 is hard to beat for a budget friendly swimbait rig. I have one paired with a Tatula 200. I use 20lb Suffix Advanced mono but Big Game is also a great option. It can throw any midsize swimbait in the 1-3oz range which is about right for TR. I even chuck the 130 size Plopper on it sometimes. And yeah, Bill, don't think I haven't forgotten about that time when you taught us a lesson with that big ol' 5lb bronzeback.

Or just release the ballast tanks/bags and he should be floating again right away. 😆

I sign up first thing when registration opens and then print off this and wave it in her face: 3.03 There will be no refunds of the Entry Fee unless an event is cancelled in advance. In the event a Participant needs to cancel an entry (for any reason), the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Tour will move the Entry Fee forward to a subsequent event as a one time courtesy. Subsequent withdrawals or removals from competition will cause the forfeiture of the Entry Fee. Sorry Hun......no refunds! It's my ONE power move of the year with the wifey.

Good deal. Earlier the better when telling the wife I'll be fishing on these dates no ifs, ands or buts.

Thanks for chiming in BBT Staff. You guys run a class act. Thanks for giving us the stats as well. How many entrants participated this year if you don't mind me asking?

They don't release or announce the scheduled tournament dates for the next year until around November.

That just isn't feasible in the BBT format. You can't have people weighing their own fish and have it as an official score. You need a 3rd party aka a "ref" in the boat with them. There were something like 700+ boats this past weekend. It works for MLF and could work for BASS as they already have marshals in the boat. But it ain't happenin' in these amateur events like the BBT.

Would be really nice if it could be done. It COULD be done but would cost a fair amount dollars and effort to do so. Not sure who would pony up the dough for that study. Johnny.....you out there?

Unfortunately that is impossible to collect data on. Unless you put a tracking device on every single fish and keep tabs on them for about a week or so. Or put some type of heart sensor monitor on them to see if they are still alive or have kicked the bucket.

I can only speak for last years BBT release toon but suspect this year was similar to last year (and even years beyond that). Last year we stuck around weigh in after the tournament ended on Sunday afternoon. The release pontoon behind the stage trailered away from Long Creek Marina as checks were handed out and the tournament was wrapping up. On the way back to Old 86 Park to put the boat on the trailer the release toon was chugging along heading back towards Long Creek after having launched at 86. So it must have dumped the day's fish at some point between those two locations on the lake. That's all I got.

Also kinda lame to fish two lakes in South Carolina - back to back. Not knocking South Carolina or it's fisheries but let's spread the love BASS. I'm sure other states/lakes would be tickled to have a BASS Elite event held there. I've always kinda had an issue with the way BASS schedules their circuit. We've covered that argument in the past so don't want to dig up the dead horse but man......surely there are other venues that 1- Have the interest 2- Have the space that can support the weigh in setup and fan interaction and 3- Have the local business support with room/board accommodations and revenue generation.

BBT Crew.....perhaps next year there will be a side pot for trash fish or other oddity catches?