Toledo Bend BASS Elite Tools, Recap, Tips 2024

Fujita was in full submarine mode as he put his 4 live transducers to work last week. I'm not sure FFS advancements/technology is in the best interests of our sport but it did earn Fujita a fat paycheck. FFS will rule and continue to expand until tournament organizers limit it's use.

Love seeing the way you set up your rod's an reels for different techniques an scenarios. Good luck on Fork my friend.

Thanks for the recap and I appreciate it. I am curious as to your opinion on what Kyoya Fujita was doing. According to BASS (for whatever that is/isn't worth, but all I have to go on at present) he was fishing primarily "community hole" places. IF that is true (and I know from an interview he intimated that at times he had them to himself and at others it was glass to glass), do you think that his being from Japan and (supposedly) fishing very heavily pressured water in Japan afforded him an advantage in the fact that BY fishing heavily pressure waters routinely in Japan, he has better learned how to fish those types of waters. In other words, by fishing heavily pressured waters, has he learned some "tricks of the trade" for fishing that type of water.

While I don't know whether that is indeed what the kid did or not, I do have a fisheries biologist that is a good friend of mine and he says that it is entirely possible. My biologist friend grew up fishing Lake Biwa in Japan and has said on numerous occasions over the years that if American bass fisherman think our water is pressured, try Japanese lakes. So, his statements coupled with the BASS presser on Fujita has me wondering if that was true and wondered what you knew about it.

As to your comment about should you stay shallow or go scoping offshore seems to be a common theme. Not just on T-Bend but also on the MLF's Santee tournament. Of course, bashing LS (aided by our boy and his desire for clicks/coin) has been picking up steam of late. I saw a video that "The Wheel" did on his win on Santee. Yes, he was using what is the current rage. That being the ball head jig with some plastic minnow on the hook and the LS in play for fishing offshore. As an aside, I got into a bit of a debate with one of my Lake Fork guides about that and the proliferation of LS. My point, based on the Wheeler video I saw, was that Wheeler talked a lot more about sticking with the offshore bite, but concentrating on areas where other people aren't. He also added info. on his rational about addressing the weather pattern/lake condition, in that he looked for the hardest bottom returns he could find on nothing looking flats with very isolated structure AND realizing that the bass were glued to the bottom and taking all that in and figuring out how to make them bite, in what (as I've read so far) was a "tough bite" situation. So, my point to my guide was that, yes, Wheeler won on a ball head jig with some plastic and his FFS, BUT (and to me its an important "but") what about ALL the other factors that Wheeler mentioned? Hell, the vast majority of everyone in BASS/MLF have FFS, so that SHOULD be an equalizer in that if everyone has it, nobody has a technological advantage over anybody else. Its just another tool, BUT its how WELL you use that tool and put it together with all the other pieces that determines how good you can put the puzzle pieces together Also, last I checked, Wheeler has one a few million on the tournament trail long before FFS sonar was even a thing. As an aside, I think that there are some considerable similarities between T-Bend and Santee, at least in regards to making a decision to beat the banks or go offshore. Really good cases can be made for either one and in The Wheel's case, if not for some late action, it well could have gone to the stump players.

In retrospect, what do you think you would have done differently if you had the redo on T-Bend? Do you think you would have stayed shallow, stay offshore or just commit to one or the other, etc? Also, and I'm particularly interested in knowing this, do you think you had some indecision as to whether to go offshore or stay shallow and how did that effect your overall game/fishing ? Based on this vid, it sounded like you might have, so I'm just seeking some clarification. Going forward, do you think you need to put in some more "scope time" as to how to take better advantage of the technology or more or a decision as to when it may play the most vital role?

Well, sorry for the long post (book), but I always value your opinion and you usually respond and the information is invaluable. Also, I have utmost respect for you as a "corporate" (and by that I mean you are a COMPETITVE fisherman that just happens to own a bait company) fisherman, but unlike most, IMO, you actually WANT to fish and to WIN and your not just there to pimp your product like a number of others in your situation.

IN conclusion, good luck on Fork and I hope you do well. I know its not exactly your favorite lake. I fish it very often and I know how tough it can be. The worst part for me is knowing that I can be zeroing, but I know someone, somewhere on the lake, is slaying them. Happens every day. Of course, as always, there are many "different bites" on Fork from hour to hour and minute to minute. So far, from what I have seen this year, it looks like the bass are going to the banks a bit earlier than over the last couple of seasons. Maybe you can get lucky and pull and MDJ and just happen upon a crowded "bass highway" at the right time. Every time I go by that spot, I think back to how he slayed them that day. I'm just a weekend hack, but if I was doing Fork, I think I would split (depending on weather) my practice between both shallow on isolated, seldom used flats, and scoping offshore. To me, the biggest factor that gets missed on Fork for tournament anglers (hell, its applicable even to the local guides that fish it every day) is not taking into enough account how much pressure that place gets. Were it I, I'd look for the water that LEAST looks like some place ANYONE would ever fish, and focus my efforts in those areas. If you look at tournament wins over time, it often ends up that the winner is doing just that. Almost like, "If you see a boat anywhere near……..move."

According to the haters of FFS, fishing is supposed to be easy, a simple boring to watch video game. Like shooting fish in a barrel. So Kyoya catches over 100 pounds using FFS. If it's so easy, why didn't everyone using FFS catch the same. I mean, you just drop your trolling motor, and wham, there's the bass, and you watch your bait go to the fish and eat it. Right? 😂🤣 The best of fishing to you, John, on Lake Fork.

It was informative to be your Marshall on day 2. Thank you.

Seems FFS will continue to rule the tourneys!

You did good as always ❤❤