Little reminder that next week we've got a guy coming outta retirement to fish the MLF Redcrest Championship. Guess who:

Will he be "vanilla"? 🤣 I doubt it but had to say it anyhow hahaha! Tx to whoever sent me that a while back, finally got a use for it!

You might not know it, but Ed is a tech wizard. He built the first computer ever used by a company eventually called Microsoft and sold it to Harvard dropout Billy Gates.

Bahahaha nope! 🤣 Okay, Ed ain't anti-tech by any means, but he sure isn't the guy who I'd pick (or even he would pick) to come up with projecting your depthfinder on some 'lecronical glasses. But he has. Learn ya some more:

1. Why did you decide to figure this out – did Elon Musk or John Crews tell you to do it?

> "[Laughs] Neither of them told me to do it, and really the reason was as simple as my neck was hurting [from looking at FFS] and I couldn't see my 12-inch screen as well as I wanted to.

> "...the last 3 events of last year, I made the first cut so basically that was 18 days of staring down – 3 days of practice, 3 days in the tournament for 3 tournaments. So really I was just trying to make myself more comfortable – not trying to be cool...just wanted my neck to stop hurting and see the screen better.

> "And instead of getting one of those mounts that brings the depthfinder way up above the deck...thought it would be a little cumbersome when you're bouncing around in waves – I thought you've got to be able to put [the display] in goggles or glasses they make.

> "I didn't know anything about it. I called my tech guru Chris – he's an angler and very familiar with Garmin which I have – he's very talented with all technology...[he said it wasn't possible yet].

> "That didn't seem to me to make a lot of sense. So I went on amazon...started cobbling together a bunch of parts to make it work.

> "I haven't used them in an event. I am gonna use them in practice, but they're not really ready for prime time."

2. Do you see the display better with them on?

> "Absolutely, 100%. I have it hooked into my GPSMap 8612 Garmin unit – it's hooked in through the HDMI port. I still don't know much about how the video is transmitted.

> "What I can tell you is it appears to me to be clearer inside the glasses than on the screen. It also looks like you're sitting in a movie theater. But you can see a surprising amount more than you can when you are 5-6' above a 12-inch depthfinder. Maybe it's clearer by a function of being larger."

[Not the wire – they are not wireless.]

3. Do you have a positive or negative feeling about more tech in fishing.

> "Yes. I like technology. I have used Google Earth for 15 years, almost since it started being a thing. I've used Humminbird 360 from the second it came out, and did the same with Garmin [LiveScope] and side scan. I am not against technology in any way.

> "However, I feel like B.A.S.S. is the steward of bass fishing tradition. And to me that means all bass techniques, lures and everything else that the general bass fishing population does.

> "I understand that only a small fraction of people who fish for bass fish tournaments. And I believe that FFS is terrific technology. I love it – I always dreamed of knowing if there was more fish around and what they were doing...and now we can see it. But I don't think that it should be 90% of the game in tournament fishing.

> "Because if we do that, I feel that a lot of the traditions, techniques...and the appeal to the 'every man' which bass fishing embodies, will be lost. When I walk into Toledo Town Tackle at Toledo Bend and you see 1.5 squarebills and 6XDs and spinnerbaits and Senkos and D Bombs 4 and 5 deep on pegs, and you go over to what I call the crappie jig section and it looks like a swarm of locusts went through it....

> "...to a great extent it's a much-diminished amount of tackle you need for this. Same with the rods – I wonder how many flipping sticks are being sold vs spinning rods. [Kyoya] Fujita has 2 rods on his deck and wins the tournament – you have to wonder how that impacts the industry. And as [tackle sales] potentially decrease, will that decrease sponsorship? I don't know but it makes sense that it could."

4. How many FFS trannies are you running this season?

> "2."

How 'bout last season?

> "2."

5. What's your feeling about these younger guys – is it all FFS or not?

> "I don't know. When they're asked about it, they say absolutely not. I know that some of the guys -- like Trey McKinney and JT Thompkins and Tyler Williams -- I know that they come from places where more traditional techniques dominate. Shallow-water stuff. So I assume they are just as competent as everybody else with those techniques. They're just probably better [than most] with FFS.

> "What I think the real situation is, they are committed to it nearly 100%. Whereas I am committed to it like 50%. And I think that's part of the issue with me."

More about Ed's brain chip deal 😆 is on OutdoorLife.com.

Even if you never thought about it, you knew it was coming.

I saw an Insta reel of a guy spooling up a wire for a castable camera – looks like it's made by a company called Reelview Fishing outta Boston, MA. They've just started to show what they have, and it does not seem ready for prime time yet. You can see stuff like this this on their site and on their Insta:

Don't know how it works and they don't say. But it looks like you spool up a fishing line-like cable which goes through or interacts with some kinda gizmo on your rod, which then transmits the real-time pic to your phone or I assume a screen on your boat.

Gonna leave it there for now....

Btw in case you're wondering, it looks like underwater "wifi" is technically possible now, just for commercial or military applications.

Aaaaaand a company just came out with a sensor it sounds like can be used with any bait:

> PROBE is a smart sensor weighing only 0.2-oz (7 grams). It easily attaches above the leader and provides anglers with...insights about the lure's journey underwater....

> Lure depth and movement graph: Detailed view of your lure’s journey and movements underwater. You are finally able to see your lure’s exact swimming depth and where the fish strikes.

> Water temperature at each depth: Using PROBE, you see the temperature at different depths throughout the lure’s journey underwater.

> Depth target indicator: PROBE calculates the sinking speed of the lure after each cast. This is used for the following cast to give the angler a live estimation of the bait's depth as it sinks and notifies the angler when to start reeling in to hit the desired depth.

> Casting distance: See the length of your casts.

> Personal logbook: All your data is saved for you to look at later [on the app]. Your information is yours to keep; no information about your fishing spots will ever be shared.

Kinda sounds a little like that KastKing iReel.

- Former MLF polygrapher Mark Teceno talkin' on the Zaldains' podcast. Mark sounds like he's big-time experienced. Skimmed through it, few things that jumped out – some I have heard from pro anglers, interesting to hear him say it publicly:

1. He says MLF gave fines for violations – I guess meaning instead of DQs or publicity about the violation/punishment.

2. Poly concerns apparently were not the only reason for an MLF fine or "sanction."

3. Info apparently gets passed using phones, aka technology.

Definitely a biased interview, but for sure some good info and an interesting window into how a part of the pro scene goes down.

Quick thoughts:

- If conventional polys are useless instead of being a deterrent or mostly good, then what?

- No phone use in boats except for emergencies period! Social media posts are not more important than the integrity – or perceived integrity – of pro bassin' in my 2c.

- To me the whole question of rules and rule violations is one that 100% has to be figured out ASAP and not just at the top level. For all tourney organizations.

I'm runnin' and gunnin' here – pls lmk your thoughts.

Won by LA's Tyler Stewart and it sounds like he DID NOT USE FFS – like most of the top 10. West Point was not on my bingo card for a non-FFS lake, but cool to see something different. How Tyler caught 'em:

> "...back home – the Ouachita River has a bunch of marinas and I catch them like that all the time on it. Most of those docks were in 15 or 20'. The fish were definitely sitting under the floats, like a foot under the water. I was slow rolling it through there, trying to get one to react." ...some laydowns and catching a few spotted bass off rock places as well....

His main bait was a 1/2-oz Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer – which far as I know in LA is pronounced "Chat-uh-beet Jack-ham-uh" 😁 love ya LA peeps! – with a Pro Point Machete Minnow trailer. He also dragged the ol' ball 'n chain and flipped a little.

The top 10's baits broken down – deets from the MLF site:

Neko rig = 50% – Yamamoto Senko, Missile Magic Worm, Yamamoto Kut Tail Worm, Berkley MaxScent General, Berkley MaxScent Hit Worm Magnum, Berkley PowerBait Bottom Hopper

Jig = 50%

Shakey head = 30% – Missile Magic Worm, Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrel, Berkley MaxScent Hit Worm Magnum

Bladed jig = 20%

Flip plastics = 20%

TX rig = 20%

10% each = Carolina rig, Wacky rig, Crankbait, Jerkbait, Damiki rig

Shout-outs

1. NC's Todd Walters (2nd) talkin':

> “I was always shining a beam on ‘em, even in a foot of water. I thought I was pretty good at LiveScope until you see guys like Drew Gill and some of these other younger guys that are doing things with it that I wasn’t able to do. So I spent my whole offseason figuring out how to not only see fish in open water, but to see fish in shallow cover.

> “I was shining the whole time, in Perspective and Forward. I can see more with Perspective, but you can see more detail in Forward. So I look at Perspective [and] once I find what I’m looking for, I hit pause because they will interfere with each other, and then I’ll use Forward to look at one specific piece of structure.

> "I listened to Drew Gill’s podcast, and he’s right – if you frame it correctly, you can see a lot of things other people can’t." 👀

2. Colby Miller (4th) is the same dude who just won the Toyota at Rayburn.

3. Drew Gill finished 5th. Young man is tearing it up. Fished that Big Bite Shaking Squirrel worm again, but this time on a shakey head instead of a Neko. He fished bank structure...with FFS.

4. Check the brush TN's Jake Lawrence (7th) was fishing:

> "...the brush had to be laying flat on the bottom. It’ll be a 10-20' long sapling and somehow none of it sticks up more than 2' off the bottom. ...I don’t know if the fish wanted to be in it more, or if it is that much harder for people to find and not being fished as much."

5. Stats – 1 mention in the top 10 of FFS but at least 1-2 more guys in the top 10 were using it. Structure fished:

• Brushpiles = 80%
• Rock = 40%
• Shallow wood = 30%
• Rocks = 20%
• 10% each = Sand, Junk

Startin' off with a poem:

They are learning things

I am learning things

We are learning things

Things being learned are

😁 Last line was inspired by Yoda. Little more musin's – no particular order:

1. What is this whole thing like? Is it like saying someone's a great guitar player because of their amp or their computer? Being a great (not just good) guitar player is really about "the hands" (brain), not what gear you have or tricks you know. So...?

2. These young pros are politely ticked off that people think they're good just because of FFS. Do they have an advantage because when they came up they learned to fish with this disruptive technology – and thus have more experience with it? Yep, in some situations. Let's see what happens.

3. I encourage the younger guys not to accept any limiting (and thus negative) labels. Also the "older guys." Labels given by other peeps mostly are no good. Been talking with my son about this. Know who you are and walk in it!

4. To me it seems like Trey McKinney didn't win only because of FFS. Everyone fished the same way (pre-spawn locations) with pretty much the same baits, and most used FFS (plus mapping, side scan, etc). He won because he had his 2 major areas to himself, areas he found. How can you find TWO good areas that other Elite fishermen did not find on a lake that can fish small? I have no idea but to me that sounds like a skill – using FFS? – and a risk.

5. Reminder: Beware of thinking what you see on Live is 100% of what any fisherman does. It never is.

6. In my 2c, what we have been seeing is fish being caught pretty much the way they have always been caught – based on the fish season (pre-spawn, etc). Suspended fish have been caught before, just not as efficiently or as much, which is why guys didn't spend more time doing it.

A major thing FFS seems to do is allow guys to be much more efficient – not burning spots, not burning fish, making fewer casts, etc. I think it also helps nail down the potential of areas they find with maps and side scan. Would you do all that if you had to make your living doing it?

7. Really interesting how this whole FFS thing is evolving. I fully expect the older pros to catch up faster now. It's not like it's some secret code or whatever. Plus these guys are some of the best fishermen and most serious competitors you will ever find in a boat.

8. To those who are so anti-FFS that you are projecting your emotions on me and others – I encourage you to be careful. If you are being fed by negativity, be careful. If you are consumed with negativity, be careful. If you seek out people who spew negativity (con OR pro FFS or anything else), be careful. Don't eat junk food because junk food will eat you!

9. If you don't like to watch Live with FFS, don't! Watch what you enjoy, do what you enjoy – why waste time and energy?

10. I ain't gonna be anti-FFS. A few people say I'm wrong or even a sell-out. Yep after 20+ years of being the exact opposite I've done a 180. 🙄 Like I've said before, I learned a while back to love bass fishing for where it's at. I have no problem calling out stuff I think is bad – I just haven't seen any evidence that FFS is more bad than good/neutral. But I'm watching! And I do make mistakes – don't tell my wife I said that....

My job is covering the latest, coolest stuff in bass feeshn, whatever that happens to be. That is what I will continue to do until the Lord says stop.

11. Here are some misc thoughts I've been having about FFS in tournaments – stuff I'm mulling, no particular order:

> No tourney wins or high finishes anymore without being good with FFS? If so, does that say more about the fishermen, the fish or the tech?

> Is negating/erasing overall bass fishing experience or experience on a particular lake okay? Many changes have been made over the years to level the playing field for rookies – does it need to go the other way now?

> Will limiting the field to 1-2 transducers make any difference? Would limiting screen square inches make a difference? Either way, should FFS straight up be banned/limited in some tourneys?

> I think most of us love seeing battles with bass in shallow water – blow-ups, tangled in cover, etc. Can we see more of that without banning FFS or...?

> Will the tech pendulum ever swing the other way? Meaning diminishing returns from FFS, or fish get so spooked that turning off units becomes important?

> If the cost to compete (cost of electronics, and for that matter entry fees) is too high, my 2c is we will have lost something – something important – that has made tournament bass fishing so great.

Fwiw – I have FFS (Humminbird Mega Live now). I don't use it because a) I haven't had the time to learn it (but want to) and b) when I bass-fish, I want to feel a thump. I am a thump man. That's my own "issue" and I'm cool with it! 😁

Also, I stare at screens all day long and really don't want to much when I finally get out fishing...unless it's 360...😆

1. Couple Ben Milliken Fork bait deals.

Looks he fished the OSP Rubber "Fuzzy" Dice for spawners, and check the weighting of his 6th Sense Provoke 97DD jerkbait:

2. Why "Code E" Meyer chose to fish the Opens.

Good post on Bassmaster.com:

> The Bassmaster Opens were my preference [early in his career] but B.A.S.S. had stopped holding Western Open tournaments the previous year. I didn't have the time or money to fish Bassmaster Opens in the eastern part of the country so I elected to go a different route.

> It has taken a leap of faith to fish the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers this year. It would be easier and safer to keep doing what I've been doing. I feel really good about fishing with Bassmaster and finishing my career where I should have started.

Cody is good people – and has a knack for catching the bigs. I hope he pursues that.

3. IN: Possible new state record smallmouth.

8.23-lber caught by Rex Remington on Mar 3 at 10K-acre Monroe Lake, which ain't exactly known for smallmouths apparently. Didn't see any bait/electronic info....

4. TX: Couple interesting ShareLunkers...

1st ShareLunker caught outta Fort Phantom Hill – flipping!

13.31 caught by TX's Eric Lewis:

> "Around 7:30am I flipped up under a dock and saw my line jump as the bait sunk. I set the hook and immediately knew it was a big fish, but with muddy water it was hard to tell exactly how big. The fish went to the left and wrapped around one of the dock posts. With some work we were eventually able to get her netted and in the boat."

11-yr-old caught a 13.31 outta JB Thomas

5. Peep the new Great Lakes Finesse Juvy Craw TUBE.

It's a Bassmaster Classic release:

> Our take on the traditional mini tube. Designed to pair perfectly with our Mini Pro Tube Head, the Juvy Craw is designed to resemble a juvenile crawfish. When the tube head is pushed into the body the hook shank sits right between the 2 tentacles allowing the hook to blend in and the bait to sit upright with its flat bottom.

> When fished, the Juvy Craw will behave similar to a small defenseless crawfish on the fall and when dragged/hopped along the bottom. This bait features floating claws and tentacles.

Check the YT vid on 'em here. Could be another GLF winner! Already on TW....

6. Vexus has a spring rebate deal going on.

If you're lucky you'll get a tour of the factory, meet Donk and learn about the finer points of gelcoating. If you're cool enough, he'll give you a lil taste of that honey jar he's always got on him (I haven't gotten a taste yet):

They're also having test rides at the Classic, more deets on that soon....

7. How to make your 'lectric-powered boat go faster...

...just make the boat outta plastic! 😂 This reminds me of an antifreeze bottle or something:

8. AR: New boat cleaning station at Lake Columbia ramp.

Water supply lake....

You want your finesse jig to fall FLAT, not head first

From Jewel Baits and they should know! Talkin' 'bout the 5/16-oz Jewel Finesse Jig:

> ...the original finesse jig. Designed with a finesse skirt with a lead down the hook shank, a custom hook with a cross-eye makes a subtle and compact bait that catches fish year around.

> ...fish with 10-lb line to ensure a flat fall. This gives the bait a natural look in the water as it hits the water. Other jigs will go through the water column weight first, and in many situations that tactic works, but the flat fall is what gives this jig something no other jig can match.

> By using a Jewel Finesse Craw with 3 sections removed, the result is a perfect flat fall.

You're probly way ahead of me but I honestly never thought about making it fall flat.

"I think it is pretty much a non-issue."

- TX hatchery manager talkin' 'bout catching and releasing spawners, even after a weigh-in:

> "You can disturb them pretty well and they are going to try to produce during their usual season."

> Even if taken to a tournament weigh-in, the cooler water and air temperatures this time of year increases the odds of survival and improves the chances of the fish continuing to spawn.

Not a new opinion/fact, but good to see someone saying it – especially since so much mis/disinfo and 100% ignorance is spewed on social media.

Not exactly a pic, but another sick cover from Japan's Basser Mag. Japan has really cool graphics in all kinds of stuff:

Fishers of Men Tournament Trail

Bass Chaplain podcasts

Contact Chris Wells the Bass Chaplain

CullGear.com - Versaweb

Advanced Angler

StrayCasts crazy web show!

BassEdge Radio

Champion Jigs

Trophy Bass Co.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.