abkeenan

You mean you don't already have one on a rotating turret with a laser motion sensor guarding your bait monkey stash? Color me surprised.

Or buying a Barrett .50 Cal to shoot a gopher living under your porch.

That's a heck of a nice gesture Pepe. Some great people on this site/forum.

Nice report. Love the Bassermetrics.

Problem with the real time weigh in of a fish, pic and then prompt release is that is lends itself to cheats. You can stuff a bunch of lead in a fishes mouth and snap a quick pic of it and the scale reading. Nothing you can really do about it unless someone grossly cheats where a skinny 15" bass somehow weighs 4.25lbs. Most of these tourneys are buddy/team where if they are going to cheap its a collaborative effort between the partners. Sure we would all like to think that everyone is honest Abe but when money is on the line people will do some silly stuff to get a leg up. Another reason that on-board scales wouldn't work is because some competitor would UNDOUBTEDLY claim that his scale is off, other boaters have tampered with their scales and that is why he/she/they lost to Joe Schmo by a fraction of an oz. When you don't have one constant scale that is even for the playing field someone will have an issue. Only way to do the real time MLF style system is do it exactly has MLF does it.....3rd party official with no skin in the game taking the measurements/weights/recordings. Good luck finding 10-20 volunteer officials that want to ride around in a boat for half the night unpaid. Maybe an idea would to have a portion of the entry fee go towards a raffle at the end for the officials. 10,20, guys show up....each boat throws in an extra $10 that goes to official fees. At the end of the night pull boat #s and that official in that boat # wins the $100, $200, etc. More drawings depending on paid entries? Door prize baits for officials?? I don't know. Just making suggestions and they still probably wouldn't work to get someone to come out and ref. Or get in contact with community service programs where people can work off their community services hours by being officials. Dunno....that's all I got.

Back to the original topic of hook sharpening....anyone see these new hooks released at I-Cast???? Supposed to hold bait better and also keep fish pinned better. Not sure if they work but I always like seeing people doing things outside the box. Trapper Tackle Hook

Added a couple more pics of the wood sled.

I would agree with your buddy. LOL! In the end it's about putting fish in the boat and whatever floats your boat!

Exactly. Sometimes it's hard for us mere mortals to filter through the sales pitches of the Pro's/Elite's of the bass fishing world. Gotta keep the sponsors happy to keep yourself happy in the fishing industry so a white lie here and there is necessary. Fib about a bait you used to win a tourney, etc. But when it comes to rods you can't really fudge on that. With social media and TV coverage you can see exactly when these guys are using. Yes they feed us line after line about their sponsors products and how you have to have it to catch fish. But at the same time if they aren't winning they aren't feeding their family or making deposits into the bank account. You aren't going to use crappy gear or the wrong rod/reel setup when earning a check depends on it.

Why are you so against fiberglass? lol.

I don't have any glass rods. But I do have 2 that are composites of graphite and glass.....used for jerks and cranks. I already laid out why I think they are better for trebled baits but we haven't really mentioned line. I use 10lb line on jerks and cranks. That isn't exactly line you want to be horsing a fish in or flipping fish in the boat. Drag is set fairly loose and I will play a fish until the time is right to land/net him/her. A moderate action rod is better suited for that IMO. Jigs, T-Rigs, or other bottom contact baits I am using 15lb typically. I am throwing those on fast or extra fast action MH rods. In that situation I do horse the fish in and have the drag just about on lock down. More than one way to skin a cat and that's just how I like to roll.

How about now?

Not sure about the "get hooked better" part. But I am telling you from experience that switching to a softer rod has improved KEEPING fish on the line. When they jump, shake their head and do everything in their power to get off that give in a soft rod is like a shock absorber and maintains an even pressure (drag set accordingly also). With a faster action rod the rod want's to pull back quicker and snap back straight. It will cause you to lose more fish than with a softer rod. To each their own but I have used both and I choose the softer rod with treble baits. And yes, another bonus of a soft rod with a moderate tip is the loading of the rod when casting the bait. Improves distance with less effort.

The parabolic bend is true. I used to use a stouter fast action high modulus IM9 rod to crank with and it really wasn't designed for that task. I ripped a lot of baits out of their mouth and lost quite a few when they came to the top to throw it. Since I switched to a softer rod with a moderate action (Shimano TC4 reaction/crank series blank) the fish stay pinned with the forgiveness of the rod. Really makes a difference. I also use either mono or softer/stretchier fluoro (InvizX) when cranking or jerkbaiting.

I honestly think hook sharpness matters a lot more on trebles than it does on single hook baits like a t-rig, jig, etc. With a single hook typically you are letting it rip on the hookset. Plus, the fish already has the bait in it's mouth for starters. Most hooks are plenty sharp to penetrate the fishes mouth with a reasonable amount of force. Even less force is required for people that use braid. I've said this before with trebles, sometimes the fish isn't trying to eat your bait. It just slashes at it either to stun the bait or just to run it off from their territory. I have seen first hand what putting on a good set of trebles can do to improve hook up ratios by a substantial margin. From wiggle warts (VMC stock hooks) to Zara Spooks (crappy chrome plated ones), and jerkbaits you can bet you will get more fish stuck by swapping to Owner Stingers, Gammy's or Daiichi Death Traps.

Hey now! I need all the help I can get!

You never wish ill will on someone and their toys.....but sometimes in situations like that you wish a lesson would fall from that sky and hit the perpetrator on the head,.....or hull......or lower unit.

Bass Blaster is always putting out cool pics and blurbs about what is going on in the fishing world. Get an email or two a week from them and always have interesting baits, fish or just general cool bass fishing thingies. Just thought I'd share 2 from this weeks issue: Guy caught this on 1000 Islands during an FLW Federation event. Went 8.13 and caught on a drop shot. In the 2nd pic the other fish is 5lbs for reference. I also thought this was pretty neat.

We had to replace our buoy a few years ago. When we pulled it ashore it has prop marks all up and down it. Not sure if that is someone being a jerk and running over it for fun or some moron that just shouldn't operating a watercraft. Either way kinda scary.

Paid Dave a house visit I see?????? Surprised he let you in his basement hoard. Must really like and trust you.

If TR ever truly gets to the point where it is like LOZ it will be time to find another lake. I hope it never comes to that.

I got into a political argument a few months back with a member here. I won't do it again. It's not worth it and Phil I'm sure doesn't want to deal with it. Funny thing though, this individual has never posted a single response about fishing on this forum EVER. Not a single mention of a report or contributing in any way to the sharing of fishing information.

+2

Holy crap! That is HUGE! The bass isn't tiny either.

I think it's almost impossible for them to get the two ploppers before the submerged hook. They are attacking from below or behind and will almost ALWAYS attack the rear bait or straggler.