Royal Blue

Man...I fell apart on this one.

If I posted every time I got my butt kicked, I'd have more posts than Phil Lilley!

That color on that crank is nearly impossible to find right now. KVD can sell some baits!

I've started doing that more with chunk type trailers. It definitely has more action.

That would be a much different look. I think I limit myself way too much on what trailers I use. A brush hog like that is a good idea.

They look almost exactly like the Big Bite Baits craw chunks. Are you threading the trailer on the hook, or just running the hook through the body of the bait?

45lbs 7oz

Oh man...Not only do I really want to catch Champ on this one, but it would mean getting an extra bait if I can somehow move up? SO MUCH PRESSURE!

I'm sure it'll get watered down now with the tour needing 80 officials, but you won't be pulling one of their boats either I wouldn't think. The cup events where you drive and everything must pay better than a little bit of exposure. It'd be fun though.

They're scattered at all depths right now. You'll get a bunch of different opinions on this board about that too. I'm one that is convinced that there are ALWAYS some shallow fish. On Wednesday several of our fish were literally right on the bank, but we also caught some on a jig in 25-30 feet of water. Don't be afraid to throw a deep crankbait still on the points down there, but if there's wind at all I'm throwing a spinnerbait almost exclusively and paralleling the bank. I'd roll it through tree tops too.

I talked with MLF earlier this year about becoming a boat official with them. It was my understanding at the time that I was just barely close enough to qualify by location for the position. You had to be within 3 hours of Tulsa. You also had to have a truck capable of pulling one of their boats to whatever location and you had to have room in the truck for the camera guy and the angler to go to the launch every day. I'm on the potential list for them going forward, but my work schedule makes it difficult to go for 3-4 weeks a year. Pay has not been discussed yet, but I plan on reaching out to them once this dust settles and pursue it further. I'd consider another line of work if I could supplement my income this way.

I'd always have a rod rigged with a jig, one with a spinnerbait, and some sort of topwater. We've caught a few on a big worm still as well.

I'm kicking around buying a kit from Mudhole Customs and assembling it at home. There are multiple spinnerbait rod kits on their site and they're on sale right now for around $120-$130 depending on handle and grip material. The shorter rod I got from Dutch is an Ark with a shrinkwrap one piece Mudhole grip and so far, I'm ecstatic with the way it performs. I had it out Wednesday and had a 3lb largemouth crush a 3/8 oz Molix blade right as the blades started turning and it kept her pinned perfectly. I totally understand wanting a little bit stouter rod for bigger blades though.

If you have wind or even a ripple you need to throw a spinnerbait too.

I think he meant they were dragging a c-rig around on the bottom. That was how I interpreted the comment anyway.

I used it yesterday and caught 4 on it. I really like the action on it and had no problem handling a nice 3lb largemouth at all. Thanks for the deal!

Yeah...I was gonna say that no one was gonna feel sorry for Bo on this one.

I wondered about this too. I drive right by there every day but never when they're open. Might be my excuse to leave work early tomorrow!

The one I broke was a 6'9" Lew's TP-1 so I pretty much agree with this.

Got our butts handed to us up the James yesterday Put in at 6:30 and fished til 2:00. Between the two of us we caught quite a few, but most were 14 inch fish. All but the one keeper were very fat and healthy looking. I did snap my spinnerbait rod fighting the best fish of the day. I lost the fish obviously... It was a Lew's TP-1 and I'd had it since they came out. 2-3 years before breaking the rod that got more use than all of my other rods seems pretty good to me but I'm now obviously in the market for another rod specifically for spinnerbaits. I've come to you people for suggestions. Thanks in advance!

So I should've kept my mouth shut about beating Champ.

I went yesterday. Only trolled for a little while but caught a 22 inch walleye and a 15 inch crappie in maybe an hour or so on the flats by the island right near the state line. Had 2 short spots in that time too It was hard to stop dragging the deep worm. We had a handful of 15-16 inch largemouth and one 15 inch small mouth doing that. All of the trolling fish came on #9's. Are you guys using snap weights to get them deeper? I basically tried to stay on flats yesterday in 18-20 feet and I think it cost us some bites by not getting deeper.

I'm not kidding. I'd go in a heartbeat.

You guys...it's early, but I still have a lead on Champ.

Exactly!