Mattlures

Randal nails it again. If at all posible remove the hook. Dont bite your line and leave the hook in. If you learn how its not that hard to unhook a gut hooked fish. Out here in sandiego the saltwater boats wont let you on board if you have a bannana. They are very superstisious. I have one to add to Randals list #3 biggest myth is the best color at night is black. people who say that are just passing on bad info and havent tried the other colors.

The guy before them (I think his name was Kevin) was there all day sunday and couldnt get her to "go". Mac Jed and Budda were there watching him fish for her. they offered him money to let them fish for her but he declined. Keven had to call his woman and tell her he wasnt coming home until dark and used one of thier phones so even though they tried to buy their chance they were cool to the guy and game him his space. Now Kevin couldn't be there the next day so it was fair game to who ever got there first. I dont think it was unsportsman like or anything else that could be concidered wrong when they were the firt ones to the rental boats the next morning. They bought a camping permit which gives them first shot at a rental boat. there were some kids there the day before and there were first in line outside the gate but Jed and co were already inside with their permits. If anything I would consider this smart. But there is no doubt in my mind if Kevin would have came back the next day they would have beaten him to the fish. They are very agresive at that lake. They put in the time and have paid their dues. Your observations are not wrong, you dont make a lot of friends fishing in a small lake that holds the world record and is fished by all the other big names. Its very competetive. One thing to consider is Keven had the better part of a day and couldnt get her to go. They had her biting within a couple hours. yeah I know they snagger her but she was still biting. I beleive very few guys have the skills to get that fish to go and even less would get her in.

I wouldnt biuld a mold from sratch. You would have to buy the jig mold that you wanted and I could make it fit the hooks. I am realy happy with the hooks I use in my baits. They are mustad ultra points and they are very sharp and so far I have never had one bend out. I have not had a single customer tell me they had one bend out either. I do make my own jigs to my specs and I use these hooks. I did have Byron Velvick send me some owners for me to make him some baits with. When I compared them with my mustads I found that the owners were slightly sharper. I mean it was realy close and I think the mustad was stronger.

Molds are very easy to customize. All you need is a dremell and a steady hand. Matter a fact you dont even need that. If you find the mold you want, send it to me with the hooks and I will customize it for you so it will take those hooks

Daniel that was kind of an inside joke amongst friends. The part about those new guys never being heard from again because the guys caught and brought in bigger fish is pretty far fetched. All the trophy hunters are competetive with each other. If you go to sombody elses water and show them up then you just bsiyoby. Its like bunch of friends ribbing each other. Again the author sesationalized this. One of the major themes about the book was all the feuds between fisherman and bait makers and record believers vs doubters. All the guys out here know each other and have a healthy respect of one another. Jed Budda and Mac are depicted favorably but they are the worst guys to fish around. I have been on dixon before durring the spawn when it was just me and them crusing the shorelin looking for big fish. They each had a boat and comunicated by cell phone. They would work like a team to make sure I had very little water to look at unless they had already been there. They didnt break any laws but they dont make any friends out there either.

Mike Long is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. When Mike took Monte burke(the author) out fishing with him, Monte kept asking him about the other anglers. He kept trying to dig up dirt to make the chapter "San Diego Zoo" more interesting. Mike asked monte to stop asking questions about the other guys but Monte wouldnt sooo. Mike brought him back to the dock and ended the interview. That is why Monte painted Mike out to be a jerk but you wont find that in the book. Also Jed, Mac and Mike Winn are all friends with Mike Long and John Kerr. Mike Long was trying to keep the world record club from going under when he reported those big fish dead but it didnt help. They got too close and scared the insurance company. I know most of those guys in that book and Monte did a good job of portraying them IF HE LIKED THEM. Mike kicking him off his boat and Crupie being anoyed with him led Monte to make them look like Jerks. Overall its a very entertaining read and fairly accurate but the fueds were highly exaggerated

I had problems exactly like you are having but I think it has gotten better since the forrums came back up. I havent noticed it anyways.

dont think of the other 10,000 baby bass in the lake. Those bass are stiaying close to the shore and hidding in cover until they are big enough to hold thier own. Think about what happens to those real baby bass when they venture away from the safety of the shallows. Imagine one of those bass out in deep water swiming past ambush point. It wouldnt last long would it? thats the point. fish my baby bass like its one of the stupid one and it will get eaten.

Thanks LBH I thought it was a nick name.That looksa like a lot of fun. we have Makos and threshers out here that jump but I havent chesed them yet.

so is a "spinner" a bull shark?

I want it! If it doesnt work for you I will trade you an expesive swimbait for it. BTW I have no idea if the bait is colectable or anything like that. i just like the idea that it screaches and I would like to try it.

I think most of you are right. I personaly believ you realy need to be in touch with your water to "know" when to put your swimbait down. Most rookies are not even close to being that dialed in. It takes a lot of time on the water throwing swimbaits do develop a feeling for when and when not to throw them. I also beleive unless you are dialed in, you should just keep chucking away, you will be rewarded. Sometimes I feel like I am dialed in and I just "know" I am waisting my time but even then I get suprised. Other times I just "know" I am going to get bit and I almost always do. Theese feeling are strongest when I have been fishing alot especialy on the same lake. If its been a while I will just keep throwing. It breakes down to this. If your dialed in enough to know when not to throw swimbaits then by al means throw something else. If your not sure and especialy if your used to catching small (keeper) sized fish keep throwing the swimbait. I always try and stack the odds in my favor. I am fortunate to have some very good sticks around me so I usualy have a clue before I even get there. without that luxery I always start with the swimbaits unless I "know" its time to change

Thanks for posting RW. When guys ask me how to fish the baby bass, I tell them to think about where baby bass hang out and hide. Then I tell them to think about where a baby bass should NEVER go. Thats exactly where you threw your BB. that big fish just coudnt hepl it self to that pour little lost bass! I am glad you are having fun with your baits. Avid I have more

They only weigh 2.5 ounces. Dan thought I was wrong so I double checked. I put 4 of them on my postal scale and they weighed 10 ounces. Soooo yep 2.5 ounces each. as for them costing 35$ I have actualy had quite a few guys thanking me for making them so afordable. Remeber these are wood baits that are hand carved and the paintjobs are extensive. I honestly beleive they are a good value.

I can probably hook you up with what you are looking for. Send me a PM telling me what you want and I will try and help.

Spinnerbaits for me too. I realy have no desire to learn them eithr. The Dances eel is the biggest let down ever. The bait looks great! it has a ton of action and the design was cutting edge. I KNEW this was a great bait back when I was a teenager. I never caught anything on it though. I do have a theory as to why it sucks. When I was a kid I would use crawlers and minnows and crawfish for bait. They all caught bass. I would even use bullfrog tadpoles but they didnt work. I had a small pond with pet bass and they would only eat the tadpoles if they were starving and they would spit a lot of them out. I think there is something about the taste of a tadpole that repells bass. The dances eel looks and swims like a tadpole. THATS WHY IT SUCKS!!!

Cali has Mike Long and Butch Brown and GA has Randall and Adam. You sir are a stud and I thank you for posting about all the fish you get on my baits! If you ever come out here to Cali I will show you how not to catch those fish

Sorry Randal I have to say that theese pictures prove its a diferent fish.(your still my best friend though ) I am looking at the markings on the bigger fish. look at the top markings above the lateral line. The first 3 or four top markings are high and then the next 3 are lower and then high again. Now look at FC's fish. its markings are even through out the body. Also on the bigger fish look at the second marking along the lateral line. It looks like a big V. FC's fish does not have the big V also the facial markings are diferent. This tells me its not the same fish. Remember FC also said he saw a bigger one next to his. Plus this guy said there was a bigger one too. I guess this lake just grows BIG smallies. Maybe the next WR will come from there.

What makes you guys think thats the same fish that FC caught? I dont think it is at all. That fish is a pound heavier and caught after the spawn. That fish is much bigger than the other bass. NO THE FISH DOESNT DIE IF YOU MEASURE IT. you takr a few good pictures. You get a lenght and girth mesurement. You weigh it on a certified scale with witnesses and then you release the fish. That fish actualy had the potential to challenge the world record next year when she was full of eggs, but not anymore

Proper fish names has always been one of my pet peieves. That fish is a red eared sunfish. there is no such thing as a bream or brim in north america. Bream are a european fish. Yeah I know a lot of folks callem bream and brim and perch but their wrong. I dont even know why it bothers me. To me calling a bluegill a bream is like calling a bass a tuna. or even worse calling all species of bass(not true ones but the ones in the sunfish family) tuna. Oh well I just need to get over it :'(

What a beautiful fish CONGRATS!! I do have to disagree with a lot of you though. That fish looks exactly how big it is. Most people grossly over estimate their fish so when they actualy catch or see a big fish like an 8lber they cant believ its not 11 or 12 lbs. They think the scale must be off. An 11lb bass is huge and it lookes huge just like that beatiful toad in the picture.

its proven.

Although I am not a sponsor I will definatly go through this sites links to BPS or cabelas. I know that isnt much but If everybody did it than it should help Glenn out a lttle.

Glow will repell LMB especialy at night. Its a gimmik. I have logged literaly thousans of night fishing hours and have done a tone of experimenting. I have proven to myself that glowing baits(I used swimbaits and worms) dont get bit. Night fishing has some general rules. #1 dont listen to people who say the color has to be black. They never took the time to see if any other color works. They all work! (except glow) Black does work fine but so do all the other colors. #2 Always start with topwater. generaly paralell to the shore lines with a very methodical retreive. #3 The bass tend to move up shallower at night. #4 Big smelly plastics #5 Start big then then decrease the size of your baits. Start on top and work your way down in the water column. You should find a patern. #6 many times when I was fishing at night the bite would turn on from out of nowhere and it would also shut off like a switch. You could work hard for 2-3 hours for nothing and all of a sudden its wide open. This can make finding a patern a little tricky but with time on the water you can usualy figure it out.

Nice report. What is that fish in your avitar a koi ? were did you cacth it?