Mattlures

Ok so I finaly got out and went fishing. It was my first time freshwater bass fishing in 08. It was cold windy and rainy. At one piont it go so bad we decided to hide in a secludded cove in the trees for a little protection from the weather. I had been getting follows on every other cast, no monsters but decent fish. I was testing prototypes and a few of my normal baits. While we were hiding from the weather a made a long cast along some sunken trees in about 20ft. I let the bait set for a minute and twitched it a couple timesthen let it set som more. Then I started a very slow steady waking retrieve. as my bait went by one of the bush/trees it got eaten. Not a huge bite but not a slurp either, kinda inbetween. I swung hard and started cranking. The fish never came up and was coming towards me untill she got close to the boat. Then she turned and and decided to fight. I realized I didnt bring the net (idiot!) and I was in the back of the boat at the time. My budy was getting ready to grab her and then we saw her and she started heading for the trees. I told him I would grab the fish and he neede to get on the trolling motor and get us out deep. The fish made 3 attempts to get into the trees and each time I stopper her as and we got father away from them. Finaly she gave up and I lipped her. My scale was wet and had water in it so the screen was messed up. It said 4 lbs 4oz. here are a couple pics. what do you think was my scale off or has it just been too long since I caught a 4lb+ fish

Oh man I litteraly could write a book trying to answer your questiuon. Its just not that simple. There are so many many variables. I honestly beleive that the soft baits account for most of the good swimbait fish, probably 80%. However that doesnt mean they are better or even more effective. For starters there are a lot more soft baits to choose from. You can find a soft bait for almost every situation but it is more difficult to do with the hard baits. Hard baits tend to cost A LOT more so guys tend to preffere the soft baits. At any given time on any lake there is more than 1 pattern going There could be a topwater bite in 12 ft along the tree lines where a Slammer or Punker or 2x4 would get bit but at the same time there might be be fish stacked up in 20ft just outside a prime spawning flat where you could slay them on a Hudd or one of mine. There are just so many baits to choose from now. Most are inferior but there are still a lot of good baits. Bassicaly it comes down to experience and confidence and personal preference. There are very few easy answers. What makes it even more complicated is that just about every bait is called a swimbait now a days and there are a ton of guys that want to sound like experts passing out bad advise. I'll atempt to give you a few very basic giudlines. For the bottom you want a bait that sits upright and sinks fairly fast. Not like a rock thoughTop hook preferred). For the top you want a floater, for deadsticking and or waking(generaly hard baits). A slow sinker can also make a great wake baits(see osprey, baby E). the middle of the water is the toughest one. There are realy good choices from hard and soft. For bed fishing I dont think its even close the soft baits reign. Man I am just rambling now. You prety much have to think about what situation your going to be fishing and then determine what your best choice will be.

Here is what you are looking for http://www.doalures.com/pinch_weights.htm you can also just buy rubber core sinkers and pull the rubber out http://www.watergremlin.com/Rubbercor/rubbercorindex.htm

Jay I just noticed this thread. Those are very nice looking. I am honored that you mentioned me as an insperation. That is a huge compliment. My only advise to you is if your going to make a buisiness out of it you will NEED to be efficiant. When I started, It was soo dificult to make my baits I almost quit. I was litteraly making minnimum wage selling my baits at $15 each. When you do get something dialed in the most important thing you can do is create an efficiant system to producing your baits. What your doing right now is fun and exciting. I remeber those days

I realy like your paint job! I see a lot of nice painted baits but there is something very natural about that bait.

Its smart. There are thousands of soft plastic baits out there. for every good design there are a thousand knockoffs. He chose differnt names and it works. If he aint getting big pros(which he is) its not because of image or reputation. Its because he is competing with Berkley, Zoom, Yum, Robo etc. It would be hard for a newer soft plastic CO. to get any of the big names unless they through a lot of money at them. NOBODY is going to think bad of an angler because he uses a worm called penetration or any other racy name. Nobody cares. Now I can see a few people not using the product because of the names but if sombody has a problem with a pro using one of those baits then they have issues. If they are bitting a dirty sanchez colored worm then Thats the color I'm using.

Oh yeah if you dont like the canyon plastic bait you should try the original. The 3:16 mission fish. They look similar but you will see the diference as soon as you fish them. Just goes to show that knock offs rarley are as good as the originals.

Ryan the money minnows are suposed to have the split belly. They can take a falcon hook instead of a screw in type hooks. The advantage to that is the bait looks more realistic without hardly any hook showing. I personaly prefer the Falcon type hooks for that reason. The Baby E is not realy a sinking type bait. It is designed to wake. You slow rollit just under the surface and it makes a nice wake. All of the unrigged paddle tail baits will fall nose down if you rig them with the weight in the first half of the bait. They make weights that can be possitioned on diferent spots of the hook shank. If you slide the weight towards the back you can make the baits fall more level. Also prety much all plastisol baits can be aired out to loos their "new bait smell" all fresh plastisol has an oder, some are stronger then others but let you baits sit out for a week or two and the smell should be gone. Dont set them out in direct sunlight or the colors will bleach out. I like your comparrisons. Might I make a suggestion? You should break them down into catagories. A Castaic is nothing like a Basstrix and the swimming senko and that Gambler thing well they would just be MISC. I would start with Unrigged or riggable paddletails. That seemed to be the majority of your subjects. Keep up the good work I cant wait to see all your videos. I will send you a few baits to play with too.

They are two diferent tools that almost do not replace each other. There is a time and a place for both. I caught a big fish the other day on a floating hardbait proto and I was talking To Mike Long afterwards. He told me he has never caught one at that lake before on hard baits, only soft baits. It was my first harbait fish from that lake. Generaly hardbaits are much better on top then soft baits and soft baits are better on the bottom. This is not set in stone but thats the general idea. Hard baits can float and you can deadstick them and make a lot of noise with them. Soft baits can wake but will sink if you stop retreiving. Soft baits are generaly better for the bottom because you can rig them with the hooks on top so your not getting snagged. There are soo many diferences and even some that are hybrids, you just cant have one or the other.

osbornj2 The gills will sit upright nose down just like the picture. Thereis no line tied on them, thats just how they sit. A belly treble will not affect it.

fish-fighting-illini Your experience goes with what I said. The storms are cheap baits. the bigger ones are simply not good producers, let alone BIG BASS producers. The little Stoms work but they catch little fish. We are not talking about catching 2lb bass. Any bait made can consistantly catch small bass. They are stupid and make alot of mistakes. Big bass have already made those mistakes and much more weary. You story is a classic example. " I tried swimbaits but they didnt work" or " I tried swimbaits but I caught the same sized fish I aways caught" Well to these statements I simply ask. What swimbaits were you using? Your answer explains your results.

utahbasser those are some nice smallies. where did you catch them and what did you get them on?

In the actual magazine article there are a bunch of pictures to go with it. Newman filled up several other boats livewells and they held up a bunch of them for the pics. It realy was incedible.

I like the concept if done properly. Their RS trout swimbait looks real good. To bad the bait itself is not getting great reviews. I see no reason to put a squid skin on a crank bait. Now if they put a shad skin over a shad shaped bait then they would have something. However todays paint scheams are so intricut and realistic they can match those skins. I can see an advantage with heavy scaled fish on a hard swimbait. Maybe if they did a baby carp pattern they would have something but I see no advantage on a crank. If anything its a potential weakness in the finish. BUT...... like any other lure you just never know. the fish might really like some of those patterns.

I would use a 1/4 ounce 5/0 Falcon hook. You can get them at TW. If you dont see it on their site call them. Also you can buy pinch on weights. I beleive they are made by D.O.A. There prety cool . You can use what ever hook you want and add diferent amounts of weights.

You are correct, there wasnt enough weight. The bigger the bait the more weight it will need. The less weight you use the slower you will have to retreive it to keep it from rolling. The weight needs to be below the bait or at least below the center line. Keep adding weight untill the bait is stabilized. Also if the bait is crooked, put it in boiling water for a minute or two and that will straighten it which will make it run more true.

I am goint to list the biggest swimbaiting myths that I hear almost daily. #1 our bass arent as big as your bass, will those big swimbaits still work? Do you make any smaller ones? Have you ever looked at the size of a bass's mouth? Trust me your bass are big enough. They are probably untargeted so you dont realize that you even have big bass(6-8lbs) The biggest oldest wisest bass dont go waisting their energy chasing down small meals. Give them a easy big meal and sell it to them properly and they will eat it. #2 You should buy cheap baits first and see if you like them and then upgrade. Wrong! buying the best proven baits will only shorten the learning curve. A lot of guys try this and end up giving up because those cheap baits didnt produce or MORE IMPORTANTLY they didnt produce big bass. Of corse not all cheap baits suck but most do. #3 swimbaits are only good in clear water. WHAT? No you just have to fish them slower and tighter to cover. #4 when swimbaiting your only fishing for 1 bite Wrong. I certainly do not stop fishing after I get my "1" bite. Yes there are times when its tough and you get skunked but the more time you spend on the water fishing them the easier it is to determine when to use them and when to just drag worms. Trust me Mike Long aint fishing for 1 bite. Maybe "1" giant fish but certainly more then 1 bite. Matt Newman caught 28 bass over 8 lbs on consecutive casts throwing a Hudd. #5 We dont have trout in our lake we shouldnt use a trout bait. Now this one isnt that bad but its still wrong. What do you think would happen if they stocked "your non trout lake" with a bunch of 8in trout? every bass from 2.5 lbs up would gorge them selfs on them. Its been proven many times the trout baits work anyware there are bass. BUT that doesnt make them the best choice. If a trout bait was all I had I would throw it if not I would choose a diferent pattern in non trout waters. 4Bizz, Randall care to add to my list

Steve I wish I could take all of you guys who are sooo wrong about swimbait sizes and fish sizes and fish YOUR water while you all watched. I have heard your exact statements a thousand times and it bothers me every time! Not the statement itself but that guys actualy think that way. Please dont take this the wrong way. I am not attacking you in any way what so ever. First the average swimbait fish caught out here is no where near 10lbs. The average is probably 4.5lbs. There are a lot of little 2.5-4 lb fish that would bring down the average. 10-15lbers are still rare. Only a handfull of guys actualy catch them with any regularity. A 6in swimbait is practicaly made for 5lbers. The bait may look big to you but its nothing for a 1lber to eat a 6in shinner. Now what Forbizz said is dead on on. little tiny swimbaits under 1oz are not big fish baits. They are numbers baits. There for tournament guys. I would consider my baby bass as the smallest big bass swimbait. Like 4bizz said once you get up to the 2oz baits you are actualy using big fish baits. There are a lot of good 6in baits on the market right now. When you hear guys talking about swimbaits, the ones they use to catch big bass, they arent talking about tiny 4in baits. I also agree that a 10-12 in bait wouldnt be your best choice but dont believe for 1 second that your small 7llbers wont engulf an 8in Hudd or a 9in Slammer. They do it all the time. Your just fooling yourself if you think your going to start catching big bass because you start using a 4in Basstrix. You will get bit but Your odds of it being big are poor. Now as for your rod rating. Thats a whole other thing. Just because your rod is rated up to 1oz doesnt mean it cant handle 1 TINY EXTRA OUNCE!!! An ounce isnt going to break your rod and the diference between 1oz and 2oz on a rod isnt much. You can throw the 6in baits on a xhvy flipping stick just fine. You can even throw them on a 7ft hvy rod. Its not ideal but it will work. Your bass are NOT too small! You probably have more big bass than you think you do. Just nobody is targeting them. Dont be afraid to throw those GIANT 6in baits. (I am being sarcastic) Dont take my post the wrong way! There are thousands of guys who share your opinions and I try and preach to them on a daily basis! If you are wanting to catch bigger bass then get some big fish catching swimbaits. The little tiny ones will just catch you more small fish. If it has to be under an ounce, Go buy some jigs! If your trying to win tournaments then your on the right track. If your looking for some big bass then you need to expand a little If you need any help just ask. There are a few guys on here who actualy KNOW what they are talking about. Dont listen to 100's of guys who act like they know. (not specificly talking about guys on this site. Just anybody in general)

Well after looking through their site I can tell you, they can match your fish. I have no doubt. Like I said before, if they have to customize something its going to be more labor and it could cost more but they could EASILY do it. Extremly nice work. Far better than any of mine. That picture of the pumkinseed was incredible! You have picked a great shop!

Fc let me try again. You find a replica blank of a largemouth that has the same length and girth of your small mouth. Then you cut the head off of the blank. Next the cast a blank from their biggest small mouth mold. Now you cut the head off of that blank. Now you take the small mouth head ans attatch it to the largemouth body. Fiberglass can be heated and repossitioned a little bit. They could fuse the two parts together and finish with bondo. If any of the detail on top of the head was smoothed out they can put a little epoxy putty over the eara and then run a scale tool over it to blend it in. You would never know the head didnt belong on that body. The benifit to this is, I am sure they can find a largemouth blank to match the body of your small mouth. If they make their own molds or blanks then they can easily do what I have described. If they just prep and paint blanks then Maybe they cant but Lyons and Ohaver could. Now when I described how silicone molds work, I was giving my opinion that I dont think they can get much extra girth out of a mold. And if they did, it probably wouldnt be correct. It would just be wider. Also if they were to do this it would be a lot more work then my suggestion. Either way its goint to be extra labor. Hope this helps. Do they have a website? If they are as good as you say I would love to admire some of their work.

FC I have a a suggestion. Actualy its a solution. You know nowadays when they do a trout mount they usualy use an artificial head for skin mounts. All your guys would have to do is find a largemouth replica that matched your measurements and use the smallmouth head form their mold. Trust me I know what I am talking about. It is more work for them but If they are making their own molds and repro's then they are perfectly capable of doing this. They may charge a bit more but you would have the correct size. Any silicone mold used for repros has to be backed with something for reinforcement. It is not very flexible if al all. the purpose of using silicone is a more detailed mold and ease of demolding. Talk to them about what I said and see if they will do it for you.

Matt I am glad there is no hourly checks. that would encourage fishing for small fish. The idea behind this T was to encourage guys to not hold back. Swing for the fences, winner take all. The man who won the event Don Osborne was just being modest. He knows darn well that catching big bass is not luck. In this rare instance luck did play a roll in that he was the first boat out and got his fish on the first cast. The weather was soo bad that nobody else could get another big fish all day. Don called me after he prefished the lake and we joked about what he would say when he caught his first big fish. I called him on his way home to congratulate him on his victory. Trust me the guy knows what he is doing and I dont consider him lucky at all even though thats what he said. He is just a nice guy and was being hunble. As for the Texas T's I think they sound like a blast and I would love to try one. Maybe If I visit my mom (she lives in Tyler) I could donate some of my money to you Texas boys, or maybe I just might get "lucky" and leave with a bunch of Texas cash 8-)

I am with Bizz. one fish as long as its big beats 100 3lbers. I had several 100 fish days with 2-4lber being the norm. I gt board and started fishing for bluegill becuase I could catch trophy sized gills. I would rather work my butt off for 1 10lber then catch keepers all day long. However those 100 fish days were defenatly GOOD days

I marked fishing is my living but its bait selling, not the actual fishing. I to fish for fun but my fun is in results and I am extremly competetive. Ints not tournaments but its similar. We know who is sticking big fish and cool to be the hot stick. Of course where I live I am fishing against world class trophy hunters so Its prety rare that I am up there with them.

I hate Mickey! I wish he would just die! he makes it real hard to beat his hard baits. Dang that thing looks good. :'( This coming from somebody who is in competition with him. 4 Bizz talks about what works for him. I have never paid him a cent and he says good things about my baits that he catches fish with too. Same with a lot of guys. If something works for you why not give it some props?