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• Johnny McLean of Little Rock, AR writes:

  Wednesday, March 30, 2016

  RE: Potomac River issues – Interesting article. Hopefully the fishery will be the first priority and politics won't get involved.

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• Andy Williamson of Lake Andes, SD writes:

  Wednesday, March 30, 2016

  Good article by Alan McGuckin on the Ken Cook/Rick Clunn connection. One correction: Clunn's "There are No Limits" speech was at the 1984 Classic, not the 1990 Classic. At the 1990 Classic, his "message" was that there are limits, and we must strive to take better care of our planet regarding pollution, among other things. Thanks, Alan.

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• Jason Law of Pembroke Pines, FL writes:

  Monday, March 28, 2016

  RE: Potomac River issues – Very Disappointed that B.A.S.S chose to go along with Maryland DNR and their "options." B.A.S.S had the opportunity to speak up and allow tournament anglers to unite and stand up for tournament organizations across Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia (the latter two only share the water and have no restrictions). After B.A.S.S leaves, the rules are directly back in place against small tournament anglers and clubs who can't regularly meet these requirements. Mom and pop who go out on that same same Saturday can take home and kille five bass over 15 inches for dinner. Yet catch-and-release tournament anglers are being held to blame.

  The state is targeting tournament anglers. The state is in full decline of responsibility of the pollution of the river, the effects that the dredging and installment of the National Harbor and the effect the snakehead has had on the bass fishery. These three things, along with a decline in natural grass habitat, are solely where the blame for the decline in fishing should lie. Same goes for the Upper Chesapeake Bay – just look at the massive fish kill up the Gunpowder River. Yet the state chooses to listen to a local guide who swears the fishing is in decline because of tournament fishermen and the relocation of fish.

  There have been enough studies done across the country to disprove the notion that a bass caught in Potomac Creek and transported to Mattawoman Creek won't go on to spawn and reproduce. They don't stop spawning because they were moved 20 miles, they spawn because that is what is natural for them to do at that time of year.

  Is the fishing in decline? Yes. Are the fish in decline? That's up for further discussion and the ways they (anglers) fish. The fish may just not be in the areas river anglers are used to catching them. There is/was a ledge bite on the river if anyone chooses to get away form the community holes and go deeper than 4 feet of water.

  With less and less areas to fish (restrictions in place) and less grass, the ledges may just become a more popular option for Potomac River fishermen.

  I'm not a Potomac local, but have seen my fair share of fisheries and know when something is not right. I fished the Potomac from 2011-2015. I caught the tail end of the good days and it was good. The last 3 years the vegetation was getting harder and harder to find and a couple of severe weather events happened on the river that destroyed even more vegetation. The snakeheads took a firm hold and salinity levels were reaching near-record levels. They were catching blue crab up by DC.

  The river is in trouble and I'm here to to tell you it isn't the tournament anglers and organizations that are causing it. In fact, we have done more to promote the resources than any other group out there. We're just the easiest to blame ... until it comes to money.

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• Remi DeMatteo of Poydras, LA writes:

  Monday, March 28, 2016

  RE: Bass Pro Shops acquisitions – Here we go ... first Ranger, now Cabela's. Bye bye quality and customer service.

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• Carol Hogan of Niota, IL writes:

  Saturday, March 26, 2016

  RE: Hartwell Strong Performer – Glad to read your article about Richie Eaves. This outstanding young man loves only one thing more than fishing and that would be his family. He has worked hard for years to get to the FLW pro league. We are friends of his parents and have watched him evolve to this point. We are not rich by any means, but we think enough of his talent that we have helped sponsor him. We believe in his dream.

  Thank you for being the first to let the public know who Richie is. We believe in our hearts that all the fishing world will know who Richie is by the end of 2016.

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• Richard Elliott Jr. of Teeswater, ON writes:

  Thursday, March 24, 2016

  RE: Gustafson's good start –Nice to see some Canadians doing so well. Congrats Gussy and Tight Lines.

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• Mike Blue of Cypress, TX writes:

  Thursday, March 24, 2016

  Been following "the master" since I was a kid. Great job, Mr. Clunn. Nothing but admiration.

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• Dennis Pentecost of Milford,IL writes:

  Thursday, March 24, 2016

  I am 62 years old and have had health problems for the last couple of years and lost my desire to get up at 3:00 am and go fish a tournament, but Rick Clunn has inspired me to get going again!

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• Dennis Pentecost of Milford, IL writes:

  Thursday, March 24, 2016

  I am 62 years old and have had health problems for the last couple of years and lost my desire to get up at 3 a.m. and go fish a tournament, but Rick Clunn has inspired me to get going again!

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• Dennis D. Hartsock of Oregon, MO writes:

  Wednesday, March 23, 2016

  If Rick Clunn says you need co-anglers, you need co-anglers. No questions asked!

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• Charlie Hartley of Grove City, OH writes:

  Tuesday, March 22, 2016

  Rick Clunn's win! Another reason to love bass fishing, it is magic! Great person ... great angler!

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• Raymond Bialek of Bel Air, MD writes:

  Tuesday, March 22, 2016

  RE: Potomac River Elite Series – Change the tournament on the Potomac to start out of Virginia. The rules will not apply.

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• Todd Langford of Ashburn, VA writes:

  Monday, March 21, 2016

  RE: New Maryland Regs – Nice work, Maryland, after having no input from fishermen. How about Blue Plains or Piscataway or Broad Creek pump stations that run unchecked into the river. Oh, and the snakeheads. This is a knee-jerk reaction to tougher fishing. Let's look into real, tangible threats like pollution instead of blaming tournament fishermen. Virginia waters are just fine and we all fish those, too! Look at the BFL results from Smith Mountain! What a joke.

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• Jeff Mitchell of Fish Lake, IN writes:

  Monday, March 21, 2016

  Bernie Schultz, I know you are fishing for money. I know it is your career. I know people may be watching you while you are fishing and being respectful. I know people may be watching you and, in your opinion, not being respectful. But they are public lakes! If a guy wants to take out a rod and reel and fish in the area you are, he is allowed. The lake doesn't shut down because the Elites, FLW or any other tournament is there.

  I'm sorry but I lost some respect for you this weekend when you complained about another person fishing in "your" area.

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• Rick Pierce of Mountain Home, AR writes:

  Monday, March 21, 2016

  Rick Clunn wins at the St. Johns. How cool is that! Rick is one of the few truly great anglers ever to compete in B.A.S.S. Wins, Classics, intuition that many still can learn from.

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• Christian Thompson of Lake City, FL writes:

  Sunday, March 20, 2016

  RE: Potomac River Elite Series – Sounds like B.A.S.S. needs to move it to the Kissimmee Chain!

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• Gary L. Powell of Las Vegas, NV writes:

  Saturday, March 19, 2016

  Thank you for the stats. Big Rick Clunn fan here. Go Rick!

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• Chris Lawson of Athens, ON writes:

  Saturday, March 19, 2016

  RE: Johnstons on FLW Tour – Looks like the "rookie brothers" are steaming along. So far, so good.

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• Richard Fox of Front Royal, VA writes:

  Thursday, March 17, 2016

  RE: New Maryland regs – No matter what caused the problem, it's a step to solve it. The fishing was great long ago before there was hardly any grass. The grass made it better. There are a lot of tournaments which could be a factor. Nanjemoy Creek used to be a hot spot but it's faded away. Could it be a lot of spawners were removed by tournament fishing and it did not rebound? They have had off-limits areas for years with slim results.

  What about all the lakes like Okeechobee that have more tournaments than the Potomac and it's warmer there, but it's still awesome year after year. I am nether for or against tournaments and I applaud Maryland for getting the ball rolling and hope Virginia and the District of Columbia will get on board. It may cause a downfall in tourism today, but it will be a disaster in the future if the problem is not solved. I hope all work together for us and future generations for the great sport of bass fishing.

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• Steven Rockweiler of Luling, La writes:

  Wednesday, March 16, 2016

  Great story on Preston Clark and his success at Santee. A testament to the growth of a man, and a really good fisherman. We only go around once in this life, and to have a family and not be around to see the kids do things and grow up ... that is a heck of a price. Says a lot about him when he said his real goal was to be a great father and family man. Competitive fishing can be fun, traveling all over the country, but there is a price to pay for that glory.

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• Walt Reynolds of Clewiston, FL writes:

  Wednesday, March 16, 2016

  RE: Sonar on Hall induction – Very well written, Miles. I was in attendance that evening, as I have been many times before. I have known all the inductees for many years and once again they are among many others who every day show the world that the outdoor industry and the sports involved are a great asset to our country. No other segment of our country has more "real" people involved and showing others what being in touch with God's creations can do in providing a peaceful and fruitful life.

  Being selected by one's peers for such an honor as the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame is the greatest event in a person's life and again this years inductees are the cream of the crop and very well deserving. After more than 40 years in the industry, I must say it is a life-changing experience when one becomes part of it.

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• John O'Neill of Tahoe, CA writes:

  Tuesday, March 15, 2016

  RE: FishMoji – It's about time we (bass heads) have an app of our own. I downloaded it – it's pretty cool.

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• Charlie Hartley of Grove City, OH writes:

  Monday, March 14, 2016

  RE: Sonar on Hall induction – Classy, well-written piece, Sonar. Stay thirsty (humble), my friend.

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• Jim Liner of Pintlala, AL writes:

  Monday, March 14, 2016

  RE: Sonar on Hall induction – Well written, Miles. Come see us.

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• Rodger Timmons of Cairo, GA writes:

  Saturday, March 12, 2016

  Thrift wins at Santee – Why are pros like Thrift fishing these minor league tournaments? Why are they even allowed to?

  BassFan says: The chance at a top prize package in excess of $90,000, as was the case at Santee Cooper, is a pretty good incentive for the pros to fish them. They are, after all, professional anglers, and they can't be expected to bypass opportunities to increase their livelihood. If the tournament organizations decide to legislate pros out of such events, that's another matter, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

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• Hal McCullough of Pell City, AL writes:

  Friday, March 11, 2016

  RE: Yamamoto sidelined with injury – What a bummer. Gary is a class act!

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• Anthony Jones of Macon, GA writes:

  Friday, March 11, 2016

  RE: Thrift's early-season struggles – The media has dubbed Brian Thrift "Smoke" because of his here one minute, gone the next fishing style. His fishing peers dubbed him Smoke because he blows a lot of it, always saying he can't catch any fish.

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• Jim Liner of Pintlala, AL writes:

  Thursday, March 10, 2016

  RE: Balog on the Classic – Another great job, Joe.

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• John Huscroft of Mesa, AZ writes:

  Wednesday, March 9, 2016

  RE: Christie's surprise visitor – Great article. It is what's really important.

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• Dennis Pentecost of Milford, IL writes:

  Wednesday, March 9, 2016

  I was not rooting for Christie to win the Classic, but that guy who told him what Evers had should be slapped upside his head! Is it possible this was set up by B.A.S.S. to create some drama?

  BassFan says: Anything's possible, but that seems highly unlikely. Christie mentioned after day 3 that the gentleman in question was a fan of the sport who was only trying to help him, and that he'd already received an apology.

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• Steven Rockweiler of Luling, LA writes:

  Tuesday, March 8, 2016

  It will be interesting to see what the Elites will bring in at the May event at Toledo Bend. My sons and I just returned from a couple days there and we had a ball. We went last year in March and my sons had a 7.6-pound and 7.8-pound personal best. This trip, my son Eric had an 8-11 and my son Adam had an 11.15 ... and I had an 11.40.

  I read that on Feb. 20, Texas Team Bass had a tourney there. It took 32 pounds to win and the winners had a 10-pounder. I believe there were six bass between 10 and 11.5 pounds weighed, and I did not count the 7s and 8s. It took 17 pounds to make 70th place. Wow!

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• Bob Burkley of Greensburg, PA writes:

  Tuesday, March 8, 2016

  RE: Balog's Classic predictions – Joe, I had KVD as my potential winner for pretty much the same reasons as you. I now can say the torch has been handed off to EE. I believe Kevin no longer has the fire. I think he is so involved in lure design, TV programs and sponsor obligations that tournament wins are no longer of paramount Importance. It's a shame – if he no longer has the tournament fire, maybe he should retire and let the young lions take over.

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• Skip Bennett of Texico, IL writes:

  Tuesday, March 8, 2016

  RE: 2016 Classic – Congratulations to Edwin Evers on his slam dunk, come-from-behind victory. I really thought Christie had it sown up, but that just goes to show it's not over until it's over. I know BASSTrakk has shown itself as not being that accurate, but the live video during the tournament spoke for itself. We all new who won before it was official.

  I'm surprised the fans in the audience showed up, knowing the outcome. Because of the live video, they might as well go to the MLF format, updating each angler as to their position. And not taking anything away from the anglers, day 1's showing of the leaders' baits, I think, changed the direction of the rest of the Classic.

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• Hal McCullough of Pell City, AL writes:

  Tuesday, March 8, 2016

  RE: 2016 Classic – Evers is arrogant, unfriendly and flippant! At the Classic on Guntersville, Shaye Baker sent me to get some drone footage. I was well away from Evers and beached. I am the one you hear in the background telling him I didnt have a crystal ball! We were not in his way and had a job to do as well.

  There are other issues I could mention, but let's just say he isn't a "class act."

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• Mike Webb of Orange, TX writes:

  Monday, March 7, 2016

  RE: 2016 Classic – Rick Clunn has stated that he has been in "the zone" before, and I believe Evers was in "the zone" during the final day of the Classic!

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• Mike Tate of Salem, OR writes:

  Wednesday, March 2, 2016

  RE: 2016 Classic – These conditions, this lake, me and most of my club buddies aren't talking about the Classic or caring anymore. Move it south again. We can find cold and muddy water here. Action, not pros trying to deal with terrible conditions, is what we will watch.

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