Bassfan Feedback

• Steve Magnelia of Austin, TX writes:

  Friday, June 2, 2023

  RE: Stracner's DQ at the Sabine – Based on my understanding of the Compact he would be ineligible for getting a fishing license in almost all states since they are all part of it except Hawaii and Massachusetts. His Elite Series season should be over. I would like to know which state revokes your fishing license for one year for fishing without a license. Seems harsh and counter-productive. This could happen very easily like simply not understanding the effective dates of the license (e.g. year-to-date versus all expire at the same time). Every state is different, so very easy to get mixed up.

  I believe a fine and making the offender buy a license as part of the fine would be a more reasonable penalty. Reserve the revocation of privileges (hunting or fishing) for more serious or repeat offenders.

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• John Gaulke of Ithaca, NY writes:

  Saturday, May 27, 2023

  MLF/BPT will be on Cayuga Lake in early June for an unprecedented early-season tournament. Their hope is that a record-class smallmouth bass will be caught. My fear is that these guys will be here during the peak of the spawn in a goby-infested lake.

  If you wanted to destroy a year-class of smallmouth bass on Cayuga Lake, I can't think of a better way to do it. Have pros going from bed to bed removing bass from their nests just long enough for gobies to dine on their progeny. Cayuga Lake had a big smallmouth bass die-off in the mid-2000s. The population was just starting to bounce back when the gobies showed up around 2012.

  For those interested, NYS just released their 2022 State of Lake Erie report. One sentence caught my attention: Smallmouth bass abundance has declined annually since the year 2000 in Lake Erie. People who tout the "greatness" of round gobies need to step back and reconsider. Smallmouth bass abundance is also down on Oneida Lake. You may get record-class bass with gobies, but your numbers will go down. How far down is going to be the question. We have not yet seen the full implications of the goby invasion.

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• David Harrison of Huntsville, AL writes:

  Friday, May 26, 2023

  RE: Duckett's 10-minute penalty – Agree, Duckett should have been DQ'd for the entire event. Crappie fishermen are using the same electronics to find their fish and schools. He was practicing for the bass tournament.

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• John A. Argese of Greer, SC writes:

  Monday, May 22, 2023

  It's nice for the spectators to have a weigh-in stage with all the fixin's and hoopla. It's better for the resource to have a catch, weigh, release format. I'll have to cast my ballot for CWR format.

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• Chance Huiet of Liberty, TX writes:

  Wednesday, May 17, 2023

  RE: Duckett's 10-minute penalty – Oh, go figure, the owner and CEO is AGAIN breaking rules and nothing happens. B.S. He should be DQ'd for the whole tournament. Ridiculous.

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• Kenneth R. Jackson of Stonewall , LA writes:

  Wednesday, May 17, 2023

  I personally think that anyone who has any real boat smarts would chomp at the bit to return Champion to the market. It is undoubtably the absolute best-riding boat on the water. I would love to see the flagship, which in my opinion was the 210, come back into play, but all of them were and will always be top of the pack. You may pay more but never receive better than what a Champ delivers.

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• Jeff Smith of Oneonta, NY writes:

  Wednesday, May 17, 2023

  RE: Duckett's 10-minute penalty – Duckett has always been suspected of cheating and now is the CEO of the organization that will make it OK for him to do so. As the CEO he should definitely know better. And not only did he commit the crime, he appealed the decision. His business partners should not let his behavior go unnoticed. And all the anglers whose livelihood comes from MLF better look out for his next scheme to get your money into his pocket, like cutting payouts on the TW Pro Circuit.

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• Mike Guerra of Las Vegas, NV writes:

  Thursday, May 11, 2023

  RE: Balog on must-have items – Great article, Joe. The buff advice is spot-on. Can’t tell you how important a buff is here in the desert Southwest.

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• Scott McLamb of Salemburg, NC writes:

  Thursday, May 11, 2023

  RE: Wilks on the lithium advantage – Insightful lesson without the sales pitch. Guess that's why I read the whole thing till the end. Yes Dustin, I like to catch the big girls too.

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• Phil Lampert of Lees Summit, MO writes:

  Wednesday, May 10, 2023

  RE: Wilks on the lithium advantage – $1,999 per battery and $1,499 for the Power-Pole CHARGE. $5,500 to power the trolling motor .. crazy.

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• Reddy Cox of DeBary, FL writes:

  Monday, May 8, 2023

  RE: Lake of the Ozarks Toyota Series – Great job, John and Keith! Be safe and God Bless! Dad.

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• Mark Richards of Houston, TX writes:

  Monday, April 24, 2023

  RE: NPFL DQ – It's incredible to me that a "major" tournament organization holding a multi-day tournament would allow an angler to "win" the tournament without having a valid fishing license! While I understand it's the fisherman's responsibility, the organization should realize that it's a bad look for them and they should check all entrants' licenses at registration to prevent this from happening. It's just not that hard.

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• Steve Henderson of Central, FL writes:

  Wednesday, April 12, 2023

  RE: Poche out for Murray Elite – He and B.A.S.S. knew this may be a conflict. No big deal. It’s his job … maybe he could make another Off The Grid video.

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• Hal McCullough of Anniston, AL writes:

  Sunday, April 9, 2023

  RE: Lawyer berates Opens competitor – Why is there no backlash for another boat running up on top of the Smith kid? Smith was there first and this clown should never have stopped. There is NO RESPECT on the water these days. I dont know the details of other things but running up on someone already fishing is disgusting!

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• John Neer of Alexandria, VA writes:

  Sunday, April 2, 2023

  RE: VanDam going racing – What a gas! I loved all the details of your big “news release”. Congrats on a fun job well done!

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• Steve Miller of New York, NY writes:

  Saturday, April 1, 2023

  RE: 2023 Classic – What a joke! All electronics spot fishing. Should be banned – it's not professional fishing, it's hole-sitting. It was boring to watch and it's not fair to the rest of the competitors. Eliminate down scan and front scan and go back to 2D and 3D only. No usage for periods of time – must stay moving.

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• Steven Ringeisen of Coraopolis, PA writes:

  Tuesday, March 28, 2023

  RE: Walleye cheating case – Losing the Ranger is a stiff sentence but probably still not fair for all the money they won. Also, if the owner is losing the boat does the rider get to walk away from all of this?

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• David Harrison of Huntsville, AL writes:

  Friday, March 24, 2023

  I am hoping Joe Balog writes an article on Keith Poche. Has anyone in the history of professional bass fishing ever skipped the Classic festivities to win a MLF top-level event the day before the Classic starts and then roll in and start fishing the Classic the next morning, with I am assuming no practice? The man fishes out of a jonboat and does it his way, with other competitors going after him in some events. This man is simply one of the best and what he (and John Cox) are doing is so refreshing. Go Keith!

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• Kyle Foresman of Dobson, N.C. writes:

  Thursday, March 23, 2023

  RE: Classic trash clean-up – This is great, would love to see more of this across our great fisheries from the major tournament organizations. Pick up trash and stock new bass.

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• Steven Ringeisen of Coraopolis, PA writes:

  Monday, March 20, 2023

  RE: Lawyer berates Opens competitor – Fishing near a friend who just happens to not be in the tournament seems "fishy" to me at best. Regardless of how everything happened, hopefully all sides learn from this experience and move forward.

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