Mattlures

I think your second question answers your first. If the manufacturers had more weed less trebles to choose from you would probably see them being used more

NEVER EVER fish braid with medium to large sized soft swimbaits. It is the worst choice of line there is for them. Braid cuts through large soft plastic baits very easily. I tell guys this all the time and I see the results of braid cut baits many times.

One of the biggest reasons guys don't think big baits equal big bass is because......THE BAITS ARE NOT BIG. A long worm is not a big bait to the fish. Most baits that guys think are big, are not big to the fish. Small bass will eat anything they can chase down and fit in their mouths. Big bass preffer to eat big easy meals, but will still eat a small meal if it doesn't take a lot of energy to catch it. The size of the bait is not always what makes it attractive to big bass. Some baits consistently catch big bass and some don't. A Jig is not a really big bait but its not tiny either. It looks slow moving and easy to eat. If you want to target bigger bass, use baits that are know for consistently catching bigger bass. It means nothing when you hear somebody say "I caught this big bass on this little bait". Its the law of averages. There are millions of bass fisherman. There are millions of guys throwing small worms, and other small baits. There are going to be a few big bass caught on them. For ever big bass caught on a tiny bait there are thousands of dinks caught on them. I would say that probably close to half the fish caught on swimbaits (real swimbaits) are big or at least over 4lbs. Probably at least 1 out of every 10 fish caught on a jig are good quality fish. If you look at the guys who are consistantly catching big bass, they aren't using small baits. They are using swimbaits, jigs, live bait etc.

No its not meant to be burned. Fish it just fast enough to make the tail kick. It should be swimming at slow speeds but if its not swimming as much as you want there is a little trick you can do. Run a paperclip through the hook eye and submerge the bait in boiling water for 1 minute. This will soften the bait up a tad and if its crooked at all, it will straighten it. Make sure it cools down in a perfectly straight position, like hanging from the hook eye with the paperclip. The bait will then be a little more active at slower speeds. Adding a treble will make it more stable and its recommended for better hook ups if your not fishing weeds. ( I wrote the same response in the other thread )

No its not meant to be burned. Fish it just fast enough to make the tail kick. It should be swimming at slow speeds but if its not swimming as much as you want there is a little trick you can do. Run a paperclip through the hook eye and submerge the bait in boiling water for 1 minute. This will soften the bait up a tad and if its crooked at all, it will straighten it. Make sure it cools down in a perfectly straight position, like hanging from the hook eye with the paperclip. The bait will then be a little more active at slower speeds. Adding a treble will make it more stable and its recommended for better hook ups if your not fishing weeds.

its the ultimate bluegill

I disagree with some of this. Big bass mainly feed on smaller fish when available. A quality realistic swimbait replicates those small fish. I disagree that those swimbaits filter out the small fish so you get more big fish bites. Thats not how it works. Those realistic baits mimic what those big bass are used to eating. Its not that they filter out the small fish, its that they attract the big fish. Every bait has caught a big bass. You cant judge a bait on that. Whats important is, how big is the average fish caught on a specific bait. Swimbaits catch bigger bass on average then any other bait period. Jigs and live bait would probably be 2nd. Big worms would probably not even be in the top ten. Why? because they are long and skinny and little fish love them to. That would bring the average way down. But fishing big worms in areas that hold big bass is good choice. Obviously fishing in a lake that has big fish and fishing an area that hold big fish are a no brainer. Thanks captain obvious! .The OP asked which baits target big bass. You want to target big bass? Fish where they are( captain obvious) and use baits that consistently catch bigger bass. Swimbaits, Jigs, livebait. and yes big worms and big senkos. But those big plastics catch a lot of small bass to.

Sorry for taking so long. I am making them now. I almost have enough to start prepping and painting. Please do not ask about pricing on this site as I do not want to spam. Thanks guys! Matt

I can assure you that Huddleston swimbaits are not a waist of money. They have caught more 10+lb bass then probably any other bass fishing bait in the last 10 years since they became available. I recommend buying a good quality bait to start with don't waist your money buying cheap junk because thats what you will end up with. A Hudd 68 is a great bait. Not counting any of my own baits here are some other great small swimbaits. Rago mouse and rats and bv 3d. Osprey winged talon, 7in MS Slammer. I have heard the S waver is good too. The hollow belly baits are good baits that produce well but I don't consider those as real swimbaits. If you want to try those then I recommend the original, Basstrix. They are still the best ones.

That swimbait you are using is a good producer but it is not a big fish bait. It will get a big fish occasional but so will every other bait. What you want to use, are baits that consistently get bigger fish on average then other baits. With Murphy the bait size was not as important as the location. He would anchor up all day on one spot and wait for the big fish to eat. He was not a guy who coverd water much.

bed fishing and the baits used for bed fishing are a completely different game. They do not apply to regular fishing. I agree with most of whats been posted. I will add the big worms do not seem to discourage small fish. They do seem to be more attractive to big fish so they can be a positive thing but when I have used them I still get a regular amount of small fish.

Now watch I will get flamed by one of the copiers!!!

Making a mold of somebody else's bait and copying it is lazy and steeling. When you design your own its yours. If you have the skills to make a mold and copy another bait then you should also have the skills to create your own. There is so much more satisfaction in catching a fish on a bait you designed. If you pour a bait copy, its not your design. You deserve no credit other then maybe you came up with a color pattern but you probably copied that to. The sassy shad patent has long since expired, meaning he got paid for his idea, he reaped the rewards for his work and now its ok for others to use that design. Also the original sassy shad had a very weak swimming action that has been greatly improved in most modern day swimbaits. This subject always ends the same way. The guys who do the copying defend their actions with a bunch of excuses. That are not true. " there is no new ideas" Lie, there are new idea all the time. "Every lure was based of another lure" not true some are and some aren't and most new designes are inspired by old designs but have changes and improvements. "The big companies steel from the little guys so its ok for us to copy somebody elses bait" Its usually the little guys who do most of the copying. Yes it has happened when the big guys steel from the little guys but how in the heck does that justify you steeling from anuybody? now if you just happen to be the actual little guy that got ripped of a big company then it would be reasonable for you to do it back to that exact company that ripped you off. Don't use that excuse to rip off some other company big or small. I do feel that its not nearly as bad to copy for your own personal use but even that is not usually the case. They give them to their friends or "only sell a few" to offset the costs. Either way the guy who invented the design is not being compensated when he should. Like I said earlier, Get some Mend-it and those baits will last a LOOOONG time. You will save money over the cost of copying. Or better yet Use you mind, your imagination, and create something. It is sooooo much more rewarding.

Not cool to copy the rage bait. Design and make your own. Another easy option is get some Mend-it and repair the baits. Mend-it fixes them by chemicaly welding them back together. No hard crusty spots like super glues or pros soft bait glue, (Similar to super glue) You can make your rage baits last for a very long time.

If I said that I never lied before or that I will never lie again then that in itself is a lie. For example I have a 9 year old daughter and just yesterday I took her to the park fishing and she noticed 6-7 drake mallards all mating 1 hen. She asked me what they were doing to here and why they were being so mean. Instead of telling her about the birds and the bees, just yet I just laughed it off and said I don't know. that's an example of "if ever"

Its just one of those things that has always bothered me, kind like littering. As long as I can remember I have always been annoyed when I know somebody is lying to me. I call a spade a spade. Have I ever lied? Of course but I rarely if ever do it anymore. Plus we are talking about lying to brag about something. If it doesn't bother you then don't say anything. Its pretty simple. It also goes both ways. If I see a picture and somebody is being called out and I think the claim is accurate I will defend that person. I have been on both sides, the accused and accuser.

Funny how the I don't care club is ok with being lied to but not ok with calling a liar, a liar. A very liberal attitude. If somebody weighed the fish and its on video then those guys who called him out might just be jelous. I was once called out online after I was on a great bite and showed multiple pics of big bass. He said I photoshopped the pictures. I went out the next day and caught a couple more and took pics and video. The guy that called me out apologized. There is right and wrong and there is giving somebody the benefit of the doubt. If your obviously lying you should be called out. If your estimation is reasonable then people should let it go. There is a real simple solution to all this. If you catch a fish or take a great picture and the fish looks extra big, don't claim a weight if your going to lie about it. If your going to say the weight be truthful. Instead of lying just show the pic and say look at my fish. Let other people think the fish is a certain weight.

Glenn it has nothing to do with my honor, ego, or some big fish club. I had this peeve way before I ever caught a trophy bass. It annoyed me when guys claimed they had caught 10bers when I knew it wasn't true. It was just a lot easier for them to say they did something instead of actually doing it. I have just always thought of catching a big bass as something special. It doesn't have to be 10+ pounds. Size is relative to location. I disagree, there are absolutely some pictures you can tell that the weight is greatly exaggerated without being there. For the record I almost never call people out on this because I give them the benefit of the doubt if the fish looks like it could possibly be the size claimed. A good example of this problem is when somebody catches a legit 10 pounder and post the pictures on a forum. It never fails that there is always at least one comment on how his scale must be off. Or there is no way that fish is only 10 pounds. You know why guys make these comments? Because they have seen so many pictures 6-8pounders that are claimed to be 10 pounders. When they actually see a real 10 pounder they cant believe its only 10. I guess we just have different opinions on this subject.

In so Cal the carp spawn and bass spawn overlap. The carp come in shallow and thrash around making the water dirty. The bass will avoid this area because the muddy water is bad for them to spawn in because the silt will cover their eggs. The carp themselves are bad for the bass spawn because they come through in large schools and will physically destroy the bass nest. They have also been known to eat the bass eggs. So usually the bass start spawning first but the carp move in shortly after and take over that area.

Lund ok your a tournament guy. what if you won a tournament and you posted about it. You won with 35lbs. Then somebody comes along and says they fished the same lake as you on the same day and they could have easily wont that tournament with the 40lbs they caught. They post up a pic and their 5 fish are obviously only 25 lbs. I suppose that wouldnt bother you? And you wouldn't say anything? Its not only about trophy sized fish. Many of us have held a fish out to look bigger (I have to) but that's not the same as knowingly claiming a weight that's much bigger then it actually was. This whole subject does not bother me nearly as much as you think it does. I was just trying to shed some light on why some people call others out when they know they are full of it. I also understand Glenn's position of being annoyed when guys call out every little thing without a reason to doubt. That's just as bad. Rambler I bet that was a cool looking picture.

You wont find a good hard swimbait under $20. There are some decent soft ones around $20 though. Or maybe I should change that to, You will find a much higher quality soft bait then you will a hard bait in that price range.

Lund your missing the point. Say you won a silver metal at the Olympics and you were proud of that accomplishment. You worked hard, and you trained for years. How would you feel if every other person you talked to claimed they also won Olympic silver and gold metals and they had a picture of their metal. Wouldn't you be annoyed if you knew they were lying. At some point wouldn't you call BS on them? It has nothing to do with being insulted with the supposed accomplishments of others. If somebody catches a big bass then I am happy for them. I honestly think that awesome. Its when they are claiming a fish is much bigger then it actually is and he and I both know he's full of it. Think of you telling a bunch of friends a story and then there is that one guy that always has to 1 up everybody's story. Except he's lying. That wouldn't bother you?

Glen I have to respectfuly disagree with you. Here is why. If you set out to do something difficult and you succeed then you have accomplished something. If it was easy and most everybody could do it then its not really an accomplishment. If what you did can only be done by a small percentage then your most likely proud of that accomplishment. Now lets apply that to bass fishing. Only a small percentage of guys have actually caught a 10+ pound bass. Even fewer with a 12 pounder and there are not many who have ever caught a 15+. The guys that have done these things know they accomplished something when they did it. So when tons of guys post pictures of 6-8pound bass claiming they are 10 pounders its an insult to the guys who have caught legit trophy bass. When guys lie about it, it diminishes the accomplishment. You say its your pet peeve when guys call them out, well its my pet peeve when guys claims a fish is much bigger then it is. Now I agree with you if the picture in question looks close or is reasonable. After all most of us get excited when we catch a good fish and tend to over estimate the weight. But when its obviously exaggerated I think they should get "educated". I think there is a balance. Some should get called out when its obvious, and when its reasonable then let them have their 15 minutes of fame.

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MainelyBASS why would you think there has to be a certain water quality for that swimbait to work? Thinking that the water needs to be clear is the 3rd biggest misconception about swimbaits. It doesn't even make sense. The 1st is that people think they don't have big enough fish to eat a big bait and the 2nd is that your only fishing for 1 bite or 1 or 2 fish a day. at least those I can understand why somebody might think that way but the clear water thing never made sense to me. Don't believe that for a minute. Go throw that bait in dirty water. The bass know how to hunt and feed in dirty water and they will have no problem finding your bait especially a big thumping boot tail.