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Originally posted by RADDADDYAlso, what is the primary reason for overall winning tournament weights being greatly diminished all over the country over the past 25 years? Knowledge is easily accessible, the learning curve is shorter, and equipment is better, but weights keep dropping.
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Originally posted by archerquote:
Originally posted by RADDADDYHow much experience do you have fishing from the Sampit River area? I’m sure none. If you have fished tournaments as you say you have, you KNOW certain circuits do a poor job of keeping fish alive. Bottom line-you are a poser. Those of us that actually participate know the deal.
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Originally posted by archerI’d love to see the data to support the fish kill from these tournaments you guys are coming up with. Bass tournaments have been fished on fisheries such as this (fresh water/salt water in close proximity) for years and given the heightened nature of “animal rights” in this country, I assure you some group of granola munching tree huggers would’ve “raised awareness” and protested the mutt out of them if that was the case. I’ve fished bass tournaments in tidal fisheries up and down the east coast since the 80’s and have never witnessed such a thing. I understand human nature tends to steer some towards negativity when they’re confronted with something they don’t understand but some of these “concerns” are unfounded and unsupported. Tidal fisheries and lakes with lock systems have tournaments on them countless times throughout the
ride to the Cooper gonna be nipply
Classic, another big talking alias. My father has been bass fishing since the 50s in SC and I have since the 70s. During the 50s-early 80s, you would never have to leave 1 creek on Wylie, Wateree, or Murray (home lakes) for 10 fish over 4 lbs. on average during most of the year (limits used to be 10 if you fished tournaments back then which I’m guessing not). That kind of fishing doesn’t exist anymore because of shear pressure, but is a good thing for me because it drives the market. I don’t know how long you have been at the bass fishing game, but it seems you don’t understand how good fishing used to be as compared to now. There are still decent numbers of fish, but the size is nowhere close to what it used to be. Equipment and knowledge are far superior to what existed during the 50s-70s. Tournament fishing was in its infantile stages. If you don’t believe me, speak to guys that have been in the game for THAT long like a Rick Clunn, Guy Eaker, Paul Elias, Roland Martin (Santee in the 70s) or younger (my age) guys that still have lots of experience like KVD, Greg Hackney, Kelly Jordan. Go to the still younger guys that have been doing it 10 years or less like Casey Ashley, Bryan Thrift, Andy Montgomery; see what they say on the subject. I speak with these guys often, especially the younger ones who were ON MY PRO STAFF. After you do a little more research and get better info from the best of the best, please report back.
As for lures, my father and I started RAD Lures Fishing Products (Ron A. Davis) in 2000, and we started making hand-tied bucktails, jigs, and ice flies.
In 2004, we introduced the Chatterbait. You may be familiar.
2008, sold RAD Lure Fishing Products to Z-Man Fishing Products.
2013, started new company- Davis Fishing Technologies, Inc. Teamed up with Strike King. Our new products include the RageBlade, Naked RageBlade, and Blaster with more coming. I also sell them components.
As for calling certain circuits out, I have had private conversations with the directors (larger circuits) to d
I saw a bunch of those guys screaming past Garris Landing on Friday. Reminded me of the time I sat in the passenger seat of a bass-boat running 65mph on Lake Murray - I thought I was gonna die.
100 miles is a long way to go fast on a boat.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 21 boy that won’t move out)
1 - 17 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
Congratulations, Britt Myers! One of MY hometown guys. The Chatterbait definitely was a major factor in his success as it was for Kelly Jordan and probably Brett Hite this week and Rick Clunn (winner) in the St. John’s River for the first tourney of the season in the BASS Elites. 2 in a row baby! Congrats Z-Man as well.
I watched quite a bit of the webcasts. enjoyed it too.
Rad, I’ve been bass fishing since the 70’s. Santee, Cooper River, Murray, Clarks Hill, Hartwell, Wateree, Wylie… several different tournament trails. Fished with a lot of great fishermen, everyone from Harry Thomas to Carl Maxfield to Brent Riley.
Got to pleasantly disagree with you on some of your points. Tournament weights aren’t dropping…they’re going up. Look at the data. Just take Santee…I remember Danny Bell’s team tournaments in the 70’s with 10 fish per angler (20 per boat) with the winner having 32-36 lbs. Now you’re seeing 32+ lbs with 5 fish, not 20.
You’re blaming tournament fishing for some sort of “decline” in fish size, yet bass fishermen as a whole tend to practice catch and release 100% of the time.
You’re trying to compare reservoirs now to those in the 50’s through the 70’s? The fisheries have changed completely. Santee wasn’t the same place through most of the 80’s that it was in the 60’s-70’s, because it aged. The big stands of flooded willows Roland used to catch big fish in rotted away. What saved Santee? Hydrilla. That changed that lake system, and weights rose dramatically. During a big chunk of the 80’s a 3 lb average in an event there was outstanding. By the late 80’s-early 90’s I remember many events that took 35-40 lbs to win with 5 fish. SCPA killed the grass, and the overall fishery declined. Grass came back, it improved. Tournament fishing didn’t hurt the fishery, poor management did.
Murray was another great grass lake in the late 80’s/90’s, then they killed the grass. I remember the days you mention earlier on, catching a 4lb average back in the day. I also remember when the grass was good it took 5 fish for 25 or 30 lb minimum to win. Still a good lake, but it’s changed the way you fish much of the time because of the bluebacks. Bass tournaments (and bass fishermen) didn’t cause a decline, again poor fisheries management did.
You mentioned Rick Clunn…the guy is truly a great fisherman, and it was great to see him win on the St Johns River. But look
There are 3 large motels in town but most of the anglers either rented houses or stayed with locals who opened up their homes and let them stay.
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Originally posted by RADDADDYDay 2 definitely ended up way better than day 1, but 17 lbs. in my book is pretty weak to make the cut. Like I asked earlier, where are they staying?
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Originally posted by mtoddRaddaddy not sure what you are calling a poor event . Every angler that I have spoken too loves it . It has leveled the playing field,and everyone has a plenty of places to stay. Charleston isn’t the only place in this state that has fish. The river levels up here are still affected by all the water we had the end of the year and 1st of this year but its turning out to be a great tournament.
Pitcher, I agree. We are probably not that far apart. I am definitely no expert on Santee, but I would like to know what Inky or Thornhill have to say on the subject. I have not talked to 1 FLW or BASS pro that would state bass fishing is better nationwide now than in the 70s-90s. I don’t know the 3 guys you mentioned except Maxfield who was a Santee guru. I think he is now deceased. As for Murray, Clark Hill, Hartwell, Wylie, Wateree, talk to these young guns like Gagliardi, Thrift, Montgomery, and Ashley. They will all tell you fishing SUCKS as compared to 10 years ago. It was even better before that. Wateree has sustained the highest tournament winning average with the most wins over 20 pounds in the state over the past few years (taken as a yearly average). As for hydrilla in Santee and Murray, the fish became more accessible year round while there was healthy grass. When it was eradicated, the bass didn’t die. The fish just changed their patterns. Catch and release is definitely a great thing and has conserved bass fishing. Directors need to always use common sense at weigh-ins which gets pushed to the side at times, but the sport of bass fishing will only grow in popularity. The young guys coming along now get just as happy with a 15 lb. bag (5 fish limit) as we would have with a 30 lb. bag back in the day.
As for bladed swim jigs, heavy grass and/or stained water during the pre-spawn/spawn (water temps 55-70) are the optimum time to utilize. They have taken over the lipless and squarebill crankbait bite.
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Originally posted by pitcherRad, I’ve been bass fishing since the 70’s. Santee, Cooper River, Murray, Clarks Hill, Hartwell, Wateree, Wylie… several different tournament trails. Fished with a lot of great fishermen, everyone from Harry Thomas to Carl Maxfield to Brent Riley.
Got to pleasantly disagree with you on some of your points. Tournament weights aren’t dr