Aaron Martens gets it done!

[magicwormman]

6 hours ago, BassPastor said:

Agreed I like them both. Hope Montgomery can win one of these things down the road. 

His day will come! For the time being, he will just have to be satisfied with the 42 grand!

[Bill Babler]

What they do and what we CAN do are two very different things.  A good fisherman friend and I were talking about it last night.  Montgomery and Rose were pitching bladed jigs under pontoons on lifts and skipping them in a 6" gap 25 ft.   Hackney was flipping stuff that most of us would have been caught up every single cast and Martins was fishing deep cedars with tops out to 35' and not getting hung in the tree.

I will tell you with any amount of practice I'm not that good period.  Just do not have that ability.

[crazy4fishin]

33 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

What they do and what we CAN do are two very different things.  A good fisherman friend and I were talking about it last night.  Montgomery and Rose were pitching bladed jigs under pontoons on lifts and skipping them in a 6" gap 25 ft.   Hackney was flipping stuff that most of us would have been caught up every single cast and Martins was fishing deep cedars with tops out to 35' and not getting hung in the tree.

I will tell you with any amount of practice I'm not that good period.  Just do not have that ability.

Thanks Johhny Raincloud!! please do not destroy my dreams with real life facts about my abilities 😉

C4F

[Seth]

Two things I took away from this was fish adapt in a hurry and it doesn't hurt to fish behind somebody. Montgomery talked about the fish moving to the bushes as the water came up and he was right. Those largemouth went to the bushes in a hurry. Rose fished those docks behind Montgomery and was picking off quite a few fish even though Montgomery was fairly thorough about fishing it.

[Quillback]

Those guys are accurate with their casting, Jacob Wheeler is another guy that can put a top water exactly where he wants to, every cast.  It takes practice.  

[Royal Blue]

1 hour ago, Bill Babler said:

What they do and what we CAN do are two very different things.  A good fisherman friend and I were talking about it last night.  Montgomery and Rose were pitching bladed jigs under pontoons on lifts and skipping them in a 6" gap 25 ft.   Hackney was flipping stuff that most of us would have been caught up every single cast and Martins was fishing deep cedars with tops out to 35' and not getting hung in the tree.

I will tell you with any amount of practice I'm not that good period.  Just do not have that ability.

Agreed.  Andy Montgomery is the best skipping and flipping guy that there is right now.  I watched him Sunday take a dock apart and get bit way underneath where I'd never even think to try to get my jig.  It was pretty impressive.

[bferg]

53 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

What they do and what we CAN do are two very different things.  A good fisherman friend and I were talking about it last night.  Montgomery and Rose were pitching bladed jigs under pontoons on lifts and skipping them in a 6" gap 25 ft.   Hackney was flipping stuff that most of us would have been caught up every single cast and Martins was fishing deep cedars with tops out to 35' and not getting hung in the tree.

I will tell you with any amount of practice I'm not that good period.  Just do not have that ability.

Watching Montgomery and Rose pitch/skip those jigs under docks was amazing.  Like watching a professional golfer land it within 3 feet of the cup every time.  Just an amazing skill disparity between those guys and an average dude like me.   Add onto that they they made about 4 casts in the time it takes me to make one (and I think I fish pretty hard).  Just like in any sport:  the gap between pros and avg joes is huge.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

I've learned a lot watching MLF the past couple years and used some of it Saturday.  I caught fish in one area and had moved to another location that looked similar.  When I didn't get bit I went right back to the first spot and just worked them over.  Started with power fishing then slowed down and then went finesse.  I caught more fish out of that one area than I have in years.  Sometimes I think after I catch a couple there aren't any left but that's just not true.

[Bill Babler]

43 minutes ago, Quillback said:

Those guys are accurate with their casting, Jacob Wheeler is another guy that can put a top water exactly where he wants to, every cast.  It takes practice.  

Wheeler was absolutely amazing with that Spook.  We all can fish it but there is not a guy here than can drop it in the places he did with that type of speed and accuracy.  Charlie Campbell in his day could fish a spook better than anyone, but Charlie did not have that type of ability to drive nails with it.  For one he did not have to.

Pete had some guys watching last week and kept wanting him to get them to the bushes.  He tried several times and told them they couldn't do it.  Did not go over well but you simply cannot be hung up cast after cast.  I think Hackney or one of the bush flippers said if you can't play checkers with it stay out of the bushes there are better options.

One of my best options is to see them chasing and throw a Fin in the middle of the fray.😂

[Bill Babler]

One of the things I hear more than anything from clients is that "I fished when I was a kid and I was pretty good."  I always know when I hear that, it's going to be a long day.  Even though  both professional fishermen and guides are in somewhat the same business, I cannot do what they do and for the most part they cannot do what I do.  They Catch fish.  For the most part most pro-fishermen cannot guide worth a hoot.  They know fish are there to be caught and really do not understand why you cannot catch them.

I think Evers said, now is the time to bring kids to Table Rock.  I don't know a lot of 10 yr. olds that throw a square bill within inches of cover and when they miss a fish flip a jig under it and catch the fish.  I think they lose track of how good they really are and to try and put kids into jerkbaiting, dock and bush flipping and bank running a square bill is not a remedy for success.

Dropshotting is a different matter.  Without the 3 footers that Martins was fishing is the way to get them catching them, or dragging a ned or swimming a keitech.

They for sure can get you around them, but its hard for them to make it easy for others to catch.

Now I'm in the fishing business and fish everyday and their skill level is so far above me I cannot even touch it.  Let along folks that fish once a month or even once a week, that want to flip bushes and shoot docks.