Although I am far from a river legend, I did win a little $ on the river before I migrated south. I can say if I had a steady pattern or spot to catch 2 1/2 pound fish I would start on them every time. If it became apparent I was not going to get a better bite in these areas I would feel comfortable taking my 2 1/2 average and going looking for bigger bites. This is particularly true in a pro-am event. In a team event I would probably pull the plug on the 2 1/2 pound fish a little quicker.

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also 2 years ago when he burned (going through and hooking as many fish as possible in areas he will not fish but competitors will) competitors spots before a tournament and indicated that its all part of tournament fishing

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The angler that practiced “defensive” fishing by hooking all the spawning fish was not Swindle, it was David Dudley.

As stated above I am sure it is a fuse. The fuse probably blew because you have a crud in the pump or the pump is bad. Pull the pump out and check for debis and spin the impeller to make sure it is smooth. It is not a bad idea to carry an extra pump, as they only take 30 seconds to change out.

It is true that any jackplate over 6″ voids the warranty on a Ranger other than Z series. Regardless of the brand of boat you will see performance gains by adding a jackplate. The plate will set the engine back into cleaner water and allow the prop to get a better bite. A hydraulic is the preferred chioce in most cases as it allows you to make the adjustment for optimum performance on the fly. A manual let you adjust your engine also but obviously it can’t be adjusted on the fly.

The best rod I have found for swimming a jig is a St. Croix Avid 7′ MH power with an Extra Fast action. The light tip allows you to cast a 1/4 ounce jig a long, long way and the MH power gives you the power to get the fish out of the grass and headed in your direction. I feel the reel is probably the least critical component in the set up, as long as it is 6.2 or 6.3 to 1. I use a Shimano Chonarch 100B with a 6.2 to 1 ratio. As for line I use 50lb. braid 90% of the time.

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I thought it was disgusting how Luke acted after he knew he had won the classic!! I have never seen someone have such little emotion after winning the biggest event fishing offers. Anybody agree?

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Are you kidding me??? Disgusting? Throwing a tantrum like a 3 year old because you didn’t pay attention to you livewell and killed your fish is disgusting. Spending three days talking about a dude that beat up a light pole because he cannot control his emotions is disgusting. Not giving every angler that worked his tail off to qualify for this event the opportunity to represent himself and his sponsors is disgusting. I find it hard to beleive that in 12+ hours of programming that each angler and at least a little bit about his road to the Classic could not have been touched upon. I personally was growing weary of the same handful of anglers featured over and over. Anyway back to my point you may call Luke’s reaction boring, dull, lackluster,uneventful, or boring, but certainly NOT disgusting. I think I will call it “Professional” or “Acting like you’ve been there”.

Way to go!

Congrats Terry on a great bag of fish. Good Luck in the BFL.

Jeeeesh BBB! Did you not get your coffee this AM? At what point did this interaction become harassment? Nobody was yelling, screaming, demanding or threatening in any way from the way I read Jakes description. I agree that Jake had every right in the world to be in the spot and continue to stay right where he was, BUT the tournament angler also had the right to ask them if they could also fish the spot. I have been in the exact position the tournament anglers ran into. I have asked the angler in the same spot I wanted to fish if it was ok for me to fish. I have had responses from both ends of the spectrum from “You got the whole d**n river to fish, you ain’t got to fish here.” to “Sure, come on in they are really biting this morning.” On more than one occasion the angler sat back and watched me fish. We talked and shared a few fish tales, and they later showed up at the weigh-in to see how I fared. You never know if you don’t ask.

This really seems like a silly post to me. The guys that are complaining about being at a disadvantage should remember what this BENEFIT tournament is about. The 75K that was raised for the sick children is what we were all there for that weekend. In my opinion anyone who felt disadvantaged by the way boat numbers were determined has 2 choices, either raise some money for the 2004 tournament, or take you whining someplace else.

Ugly Bass- I don’t know who your source was, nor do I care. But if you are implying the alcohol was involved at the bass boater’s end you are 10000% incorrect. If you are not implying that, your statement is very poorly worded. To say something like that is totally irresponsible if you do not know the facts.

Did you catch these on 9 or 10? Sounds like fun.