Mattlures

I agree. I ocasionaly keep bass but only from lakes that I feel have a large population of smaller bass. These are generally the larger lakes in my area. The smaller lakes tend to have smaller populations but produce the biggest bass so I don't keep any from those lakes. When I do keep them, I try and keep males. Obviously I don't know for sure but if they look like they have eggs I will let them go even if they are 2 pounds. The ones I keep are between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds. When I do go out to keep a limit, I am targeting those small fish so I usually catch a bunch and keep the ones that look like males.

I would say that soft swimbaits are more of a CA thing then hard swimbaits. I am excluding the hollow body type baits in this statement. I see tons of reports and pictures from non CA states and they use a lot of hard baits. CA guys use a lot of soft baits. Its possible that when guys figure out a swimbait bite, they don't talk about it locally. They try and keep it to themselves. Out here in CA swimbaits are one of if not the most common technique. If a big fish is caught its assumed it was either a bed fish or a swimbait fish.

I am good. I have been through many web battles, I have thick skin.

Snook I am not sure you got what I was saying. When I fish for salt water fish the boat is a must. LMB on the other hand, I catch my biggest bass when I am on shore, usually from driving to a spot and parking and walking to where I cast. If you did get what I was saying, then I missed it

For LMB its about even but I catch more big bass from shore, usually after I beached my boat. Why? stealth. When I fish for saltwater bass its 1000 to 1 in favor of the boat

The trump card, the one thing that trumps all is....YOU. Your ability, your experience, your knowledge, your intelligence. In most bodies of water there is a bass within casting distance of where you are fishing. Yeah captain obvious (location) is important but not as important as what is in your head. You take somebody who has never fished before and put him on a good bite and he probably wont catch a thing. You Put KVD in a tough lake he's never fished before and he will figure it out.

Beat me to it. A great starter bait is a Hudd 68

Jigs are fine. Any patent would have long since expired if they ever had one to begin with. Now soft plastic baits could be another story and it doesn't matter if you bought the mold from Janns or lurecratf etc. If the bait is infringing then your liable. Realistically the chances are very slim that anything would come of it but you asked. I do know some baits have been protected and defended like beavers. It is not difficult to design your own bait and make molds. It is also much more rewarding. Plus when you make the same type of baits that everybody else makes you will soon learn that is difficult to make a satisfactory profit in a flooded market.

Mad basser, congrats that's a great bass! Hey Deep ! Are back in the states? You fishing again yet?

HA HA HA , aint that the truth! WOW Catt you caught that many DD"S That's impressive. You must have many pictures of them. Why don't you share all the pics of those and any share a lunker certificates you have to. To consistently catch big bass you need to stop fishing for small bass and lean the habits of the big bass in your lakes. Already a lot of good advise in this thread like doing your home work and fishing the lakes that have RECENTLY produced big bass. Another very helpful resource is the local biologist. Call them and have a bunch of questions ready. Ask them where and how many but also ask them what the big bass in your area eat and try to match their prey. Also ask them about how the act differently throughout the year. especially if they change prey species. The idea is to match what the big bass are eating when and where they are eating it. I know that sounds obvious but a lot of guys miss it. Don't use a 5 in trout colored jerk bait when bass are eating 10 inch trout. Don't use a big silver senko when bass are eating hitch. Use a bait that looks like the prey species. It should be around the same size. Use these baits when bass are feeding on those prey species and of course where they are feeding and you will increase your odds. Consistently catching big bass is all about stacking the odds in your favor. Do enough things right and you will catch them. The more things you do wrong, the less big bass you will catch. Small bass make a lot of mistakes so try and think of them as a separate species and it will get easier.

I am with Tom. Most days that I fish for LMB I am targeting big bass. If I averaged those bass on those days only my average would be very high, like 6-8 pounds. However occasionaly I will go to a pond or a lake know for smaller bass and I will just enjoy catching a lot of smaller fish. So if I averaged all of my days those small fish days would kill my average. I would probably end up around 3 - 4 pounds.

My local stores and TW get my business. I will occasionaly buy something minor at wallmart because its open 24 hours.

Somebody had to say it, I know almost everybody was thinking it. First if that bass was only 6 years old, That bass would have to consume more calories then probably any bass that ever lived. If it was even possible for a 6year old bass to be 17 pounds it would have to me morbidly obese. A 17 pound SKINNY 6 year old bass is beyond the realm of reasonability. In other words I cant say 100% impossible but I would say 99.99% impossible. A 17 pound skinny bass is almost impossible A 6 year old 17 pound bass is almost impossible the two together??? You get the point. I spoke to the biologist who did the autopsy on Dottie(Steve P) for over an Hour and he shared with me his findings. He basically said she was the perfect storm. Everything had to be in line for a LMB to grow that big. He also said she had an incredible growth rate and was not as old as he predicted. I don't remember now but I want to say she was 15-16 when she died which would have put her around 10 years old when she was first caught at 20lbs. You can see pictures of her with Mike Long and I believe the measurements were 28.5 x 28.5 or very close to that. My point is Dottie was incredibly obese. This alleged 17 is thin and supposedly half her age, but yet still weighed only 3 pound less. It simply does not add up. It is so wrong I could not give it the benefit of the doubt, so I called it out.

Funny how you guys assume the mount is a replica because it looks bad. You are wrong. That is a typical skin mount. A replica would have had a better looking pose and depending upon the artist ability to paint probably would have looked better. I am also calling BS on 17lbs. That fish with that build would have to be 35+ inches long

A lot of guys think bass are dumb and cant tell the difference between a jig and a crawfish. Throw a jig in your tank and cover the hook. Hop it around and see how long it takes for the bass to learn its not food. You can try it a couple days later. The more you do it the longer the bass will remember. After a few times they wont hit the jig at all. They will still always eat real crawfish if they are small enough for them to eat. My point is bass can learn the difference. They will even learn not to eat real food if they can see a hook in it. You can learn a lot by watching captive bass.

Think of lipless multi jointed swimbaits like flags in the wind. If the flag is made of light material like nylon then it will take very little breeze to move the flag. If the flag was mad out of a beach towel it would take a strong wind to get that heavy flag going. A lipless swimbait is similar. A floater or slow sink will swim well at a very slow speed just like the light flag. A medium or fast sinking bait requires a faster retrieve to get it swimming, just like a heavy flag. Because of this, a floater or slow sink are more versatile because you can use them at any speed. The faster the sink rate, the faster the retrieve needs to be. Medium and fast sinks are more specific to faster techniqes.

I believe swimbaits work better in dirty water then clear. One of the best times to throw a swimbait in clear water is during a storm when its dark and windy. Even if its not dark but windy, the waves brake up the light and camouflage most things under the water especialy your bait. The clear water thing is a huge myth. Ultra realistic swimbaits don't work better in clear water. They may be the only things that works when a big bass can get a real good look at the bait. The idea that, because they work well in clear water they wont on dirty water, makes no sence at all. It is just plain wrong. Think of all the pictures you guys have seen of swimbait fish caught at night. Those swimbaits push a lot of water. They are easier for the bass to find then most small baits when its harder for them to see them. To think that somehow an ultra realistic bait in appearance and action wont work well because the water is not clear is just not reasonable. even in clear waters guys fish deep a lot. The visability is limited the deeper you get. Best case scenario is to put your ultra realistic swimbait in front of a big bass that's willing to eat and have it so it cant see the bait perfectly clear. When a big bass eats a swimbait that it can get a real good look at, in crystal clear water(think deadsticking or a very slow retrieve), then the bait itself deserves credit.

Best bass book ever

Tell me about your lakes and what your bass eat. The idea of catching the biggest bass on swimbaits is to replicate what the biggest bass are eating.

My job is to design and make swimbaits. My job is to help people catch big bass. I do that wether they are using swimbaits or not. My job may also be to sell swimbaits but I am not a salesman. I do not go to any trade shows,.I have no decals on my boat or truck. I do not call or visit stores for orders. They call me and I fill orders. I am almost never able to accumulate stock as I sell what I make as its made. I also do not need to convince anybody that swimbaits are #1. the results speak for them selves. All you have to do is look at all the pictures and videos from the last 8 years and you will see that swimbaits have produced more huge bass then any other bait. And consider that only a small percentage of guys are using them. I am on these boards because I like contributing and helping guys catch big bass. I rarely if ever even mention my baits on here and I often recommend other brands and other baits.

Thank you Paul, that was an excellent post!

My opening sentence was to bring attention to the other variables. In a bunch of other threads guys would ask questions about which baits to use and a couple guys would simply post "location" as their answer. Many times their post was condescending with no explaination. Just "location". Basicaly telling the OP that their question was irrelevant and they shouldnt even ask about baits because location is all that matters. But if you read my whole post you would see that I say location is obviously important. It is only over rated when guys use it as the only important variable.

Wrong as usual Catt. my run and gun method is specific to my style of throwing swimbaits. The lure choice is extremely important. Once I have my milk run planned out I only make a couple casts and move on. Sometimes there is no structure. When I am "Structure fishing 101" I am dissecting a spot with multiple techniques. Sometimes I will even anchor.

No I am ranting against people just saying location as their answer to everything. Somebody asks about baits and then somebody has to come in with the condescending answer of "location" as if the op wasn't smart enough to consider that. I am ranting that location is not the only important factor.

Raul, Mickey told me he designed the bait as a worm/swimbait because the plastic worm is one of the all time best baits. I have to hand it to him, the mission fish is a great idea. Many guys who have fished it have had hook up problems. The recommended fix is to bend the hook point off to the side a little. It also helps to set the hook HARD.