Omtt 3/2/13

[mixermarkb]

I'm not 100 percent sure those are all A-rig fish. I fished the winter bass-o-thon series, and had a similar experience as far as being close to fish but still getting my butt whipped. I think it all comes down to decision making skills. Time on the water sharpens those, but those guys catching 28 pounds are just better than I am at picking up details and making adjustments throughout a day on the lake.

Maybe it is an A-rig thing, but in the bass-o-thon, I saw a lot more jerkbaits than anything else. It isn't a matter of just throw the wires and catch fish. Those guys have to be making the right adjustments, figuring out small things on the retrieve and presentation of their baits, that others are just missing. A rigs are just another tool. I think we would be seeing bags of similar size, even without the rig. Our lakes are just on the upswing, and there are fish to be caught. Some guys are just flat better than me at it, which is why I'm entering derbies, because competing makes me a better fisherman.

[mixermarkb]

PS, I've thrown the rig off and on all winter, and my best day and biggest fish have been on Warts. The rig has picked up a couple, but for me at least, the old faithfuls have done just as well, when I've been on fish.

[Tfsh4bass]

My comment was based off what Bill said...and I am not saying the Arig catches fish for them because you have to be around fish. I was saying that rig is deadly and it is especially deadly when guys who know what they are doing throw it...those guys know what they are doing. Also, IMO tournament fishing doesn't make you a better fisherman time on the water does because you are always fishing against the fish not the guys in the tournament. I fished tournaments after I graduated college in 1992 up until 2003...all local buddy stuff, CPA, Heartland, BFL, Mill Creek, Cape Fair, etc. and I am 3 times the fisherman now because I fish around 80 times per year usually daylight to dark and spend a lot more time on the water.

Guess they just hammered them the last 2 days, with limits up to 29 pounds
and lots of bags over 20. All on the umbrella I;m told.

[dtrs5kprs]

Might have been some F&F fish also.

[mixermarkb]

Yep. I wasn't meaning to argue with you or Bill. I'm just going by the fact that fisherman who are catching fish tend to well... Lie their butt off as to how.

Not calling anyone a liar by name of course, I'm just bs-ing about how the Arig is the hot bait, but sometimes people don't tell the whole story at weigh-in..

[Bill Babler]

Fann boys don't need an A-Rig to catch a big bag anytime. They are both more than solid sticks. These guys are jerkbait machines and they also love to swim a grub, and catch big ones doing it.

Would just about bet you they threw the Rig and followed behind it with the sticker.

[nobutt56]

it is amazing to me how they do it. i am not good enough to fish with those people but still consider myself above average. no way could i catch 28lbs under any condition...except maybe dynamite! i have and always will refuse to fish an a-rig. i consider it a way to cheat. please i dont want to argue with anyone just my belief. even if i used one of those darn things i couldnt catch 28lbs! my son and i went fishing today. on the third cast i made caught a 4-14. that was it for me for the day. my son caught a small fish and that was it for him. we fished 4 hours. we caught both fish on jerkbaits. fished the baxter area. good luck to all

[Tfsh4bass]

Fann boys don't need an A-Rig to catch a big bag anytime. They are both more than solid sticks. These guys are jerkbait machines and they also love to swim a grub, and catch big ones doing it.

Would just about bet you they threw the Rig and followed behind it with the sticker.

No they don't...been sticks for a long time

Yep. I wasn't meaning to argue with you or Bill. I'm just going by the fact that fisherman who are catching fish tend to well... Lie their butt off as to how.

Not calling anyone a liar by name of course, I'm just bs-ing about how the Arig is the hot bait, but sometimes people don't tell the whole story at weigh-in..

No worries and I wasn't taking it as being argumentutive. I was just going off what Bill said because I never saw a tournament boat where I was so I had no clue what they were throwing. Also, I don't care what anyone throws if it is legal...just don't care for it myself.

[rs00765605]

I may get a few death threats over this, or I may be completely off, however, I believe it has more to do with electronics than anything else. I think a lot of these fish are being marked the day before a tournament in deep, off shore structure. With where I believe the big fish are this time of the year, I think that is entirely possible to distinctly see these fish better than other times of the year. A good side scan graph like a Humminbird 998 is necesary to do this and I have been working on this just a bit since I upgraded, but haven't been on the 'Rock that much recently. There was a wave of this going on last year too about this same time.

[mixermarkb]

I was a hater the whole first year. Kinda jumped on board late last year, and I've caught some fish on them. I'd still rather throw a bunch of other things first though, the rig will flat wear you out. I'm still playing around with them, but really haven't gotten the confidence in them to throw them as a first choice all day long kind of bait.