Mattlures

Ok I'll buy most of that except the part about luck. I dont believe in it. And Yes Mike L is a freak. He is the the best of the best of big bass.

rattletrap I know you are being funny but you are right. That can be a good bed bait.

Thats not the way it is out here. Our females dwarf the males on their beds. Mac's 25lber was bedding with a 1.5ber. and I completly disagree(respectfuly of course) that catching big bedding females is rare. I do it all the time. I do not like to teach people how to do it because too many people will keep the fish and their is so much pressure down here I have to keep my edge. If you need proof I have a lot of pictures I will tell you this. The guys who I consider the best sight fisherman in the world will NEVER and I mean NEVER romove the male. Did I say NEVER? well just in case I didnt......NEVER!!!! I learned from these guys including Mike Long who has caught about 60 bass over 15lbs and at least half were bed fish. Beleive me there are definatly guys who know how to get the big girls to bite on their beds. Removing the male spooks the female. Then it becomes extremly dificult to catch her. Now I am not talking about little females(under 8lbs) Those are easy and will sometimes protect when the male is removed but try that on a big girl out here and its over, you loose.

Out west our bass definatly relate do deep water, however I read Doug Hannons big bass book and I believe he said that it is not an important factor out in FL.

Believe me Ken I and many others are teying to break it. Mike long catches fish every year that are over 18lbs. He will probably be the one

Ken your wrong. I am not asking for 1 in a million. I am asking for reasonable proof. If that was Perry in that pic I would be a believer, period. If they can actualy authenticate that pic I will be undisided. I am not that stuborn. I do not have a problem admiting when I am wrong. Why do I care so much about the record? Good question. maybe because I know it exists right here in my lakes and I am obseesed with trying to catch it. I lost a fish two years ago that I estimate around 20lbs. It could have been 17 but it could have been bigger. I will never know. The record in in my mind each night before I go fishing in one of the lakes I know to have fish in that class. I target big bass its what I dream about. I am addicted KU the editor said his guess was as good as mine regaurding the pictures authenticity. Thats what he told me. So with that I still do not believe. reasonable proof is all I ask for.

janalon, The problem with the picture is that nobody knows anything about it. Its not Perry in the pic. It did not come from his children or brothers or sisters. Someone found it. there is no history with it. Its just a picture of a very large bass. The editor of the magazine that printed it called it alleged and could not authenticate it. As for weakley not in the pic, clever retort! but that is a mute point because the fish was never submitted It was however wittnessed and videod, so there is no question to the fact that Mac caught it. Yes I know he foul hooked it. So Perr's ghost lives on. I am a nay sayer because lack off proof and I will remain one until reasonable proof is shown. If that happens I will admit I was wrong. I dodnt have a problem with doing that. I swear if that would have been Perry in the pic it would have been enough for me. It would have been reasonable proof. But it is not reasonable to find a picture witha huge bass in it and assume it was Perry with nothing else to go on other then the big fish. Like I said before it could have been a floater. They found a 24lber dead and took pics of it a few years agou out here. It could have been from another state. who knows?

Night fishing is on of my strengths.I have have fished thousands of night hours I catch a lot of big fish at night. I will give you a good basic stratagey. Start big and work your way smaller. Start on top and work your way down. This ALWAYS works for me. For instance. I like to start with a large 9-7in waking swimbait. If I get no bites I will throw a 5in waking swimbait, still no bites, Buzzbait. Maybe a spook or jitterbug but usualy the swimbaits and buzzers. If I dont get hit on those than I will fish the mid depths. I start with a swimbait again and usualy 7-5in. I usualy just swim them slowly. Next choice would be a single blade spinnerbait, and then maybe crank bait. If I get no bites on those then I go worming. I start with a large power worm 10-12in next, a 9-7 in worm and finaly a small creature,senko,reaper,dropshot. If i cant get bit on those than I go home. I dont waist all night on a bait either. over time you will learn what should work and when you are waisting your time. Live bait can be deadly at night also. shiners and crawler are my favorites. never had much luck on dads. This meathod may seem complicated or time consuming but In most cases i have figured out a bite within an hour. I have spent many nights rotating rods with identical baits with the exceptions of rattles or scents or diferent colors and these are my findings. the bait does not have to be black. Black is good but pretty much any color works at night except glow. glow is a gimick in freshwater bassin. I like scent and I believe It gets me more bites. Color is not important. Rattles never seemed to help but they didnt hurt either so I still use them sometimes. One thing that is very important is being quiet. If you are shore fishing it makes a ton of diference to walk quietly, like you were hunting. This applies mainly when fishing shallow. I dont use lights. I think it tells the fish I am there. The warmer the water the more pronounced your presentation should be. the colder the more subtle it should be. On hot summer nights i usualy never get past the top water and in the winter I almost always end up slow worming. This should get anybody started.

I dont disagree with you guys. It just kills me that twice now the record has been beaten but they did it wrong. Weakley IMO made no mistakes other that setting the hook a second late. Duclos on the other hand. All he had to do was keep the fish and have it certified. It just kills me! When Mike L breaks it evrything will be in order. For now 22.4 is still the mark to beat.

JB the problem with that picture is not the picture itself. The problem is its not Perry in the picture and nobody can authenticate it. It could be anybody in that pic and that fish could have been caught anywhare or even found floating. I asked an editor at bassmaster magazine about it and here is the response I got from bassmaster mag "Yes, there's an alleged pic of Perry's fish. As to its legitimacy, your guess is as good as mine!" I actualy want to believe it. I realy do. Than I could sleep at night If only it was Perry in the pic. For now I dondt think the picture has clearified anything. I will say that if it was Perry in the pic I would not dispute the pic itself or the size of the fish.

here is the response I got from bassmaster mag "Yes, there's an alleged pic of Perry's fish. As to its legitimacy, your guess is as good as mine!" I actualy want to believe it. I realy do. Than I could sleep at night :'( If only it was Perry in the pic. For now I dondt think the picture has clearified anything. I will say that if it was Perry in the pic I would not dispute the pic itself or the size of the fish.

Ok let me respond to Matt Fly who is confused. First off I never put these guys on a pedistall and called them the greatest anglers. I said Mike Long is the greatest he has caught more big bass than anybody on earth and has dominated the tournaments Big tounaments but not national ones. Dont you have your favorites? I think he is the best why should that bother you? Matt you said you saw videos of these guys. I dont think you have. I think you were referring to Butch Brown or somebody eles. I believe you are lumping all the trophy hunters into one person, or saying they are all the same. Thats like saying all tournament guys are as good or the same as KVD. To Say the spawn was over and thats why Mac has not come back.... Oh realy how do you know? That fish came back two days later but never got within 10 ft of the bed. Also a few weeks later Mike Long caught a 21.5lber (on a certified scale) out of the same lake ON A BED. I dont know if Mac will be back. Maybe after a year he will get the bug again. Maybe he is done. Like I said before you guys think they should have been prepaired. All they had to do is call the fish and game. Just so you know, I fish that lake too and I did not know they had a certified scale there. I also do not have my scale certified. I should but I dont. Matt your facts or opinions are a little off. I will agree about the scale not being certified. But like I said If they would have hooked it corectly they would have called DFG and it would be over. To say the scale was not accurate and the fish could be off by lbs is a stretch. Maybe an ounce or two but like I said they did test it. Your right about going to the middle of the lake for 10 minutes. They said they called their attorny and he told them to release the fish. Maybe it took him that long to go through the Fish and game rules and or the IGFA rules. I dont know. But seriously it was not a crime and I think I would have wanted think about for a bit and collect myself before I made the next move. The FACTS are they did the right thing and you guys are still attacking them. thats why I defend them. If I knew they did something wrong I would be on your side I dont care were they come from. Some of you will attack anything that doenst come from your state. Not me. Get over it already. I hope you and Rollo dont get mad over this. No need to. its a discussion. All I am trying to do is clear it up some. The reason I make my rounds with the same arguments is people have the same questions or misconceptions. I know a lot about this particular subject so I try and clairify it. Lets stay civil. The world record is Perry's The biggest bass ever caught is Weakley's The biggest should have been, was Duclos's

here is a link to dans post http://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=5&topic_id=6578&mesg_id=6654&page= Natural. It is not that easy or cheap. The cost of rental boats there is rediculous. $30 a day plus a $5 permit. You cant bring your own boat. That fish also likes to live around the boat dock wich you are not alowed to fish off of. That fish is getting tougher to catch too. This time she waited for bad weather to spawn, which is why it was dificult to see clearly what was happening.

I am defending him because he did the right thing. PERIOD!! He never claimed he hooked it in the mouth. He never submitted it as a record. He did not keep the fish. The facts are he caught it, knew it wasnt right and released it. Thats why I defend him. I think it is shameful they way some people attack him for what they think he was thinking. I dont even personaly know him but I know other guys out here just like him. Every time sombody catches a big bass out here jealous people start making rediculous acusations. It is wrong. How would you like it? put your self in his shoes. I konw what happened I talked to the ranger personaly. I actualy saw the deserted bed the fish was caught on. The ranger watched their every move and he told me he could tell by their actions that they were never trying to snagg that fish and that the white jig was clearly on the fishes side and everybody knew it. Not one time did Mac or his friends say they caught it in the mouth. NOT ONCE! When I am wrong I admit it. can you?

I think its funny That you guys think he should have been prepaired. HOW COULD HE POSSIBLY BE PREPAIRED FOR THAT!!!!!!!!! In his wildest dreams I am sure he never thought that he could or would snag that fish. You guys just dont get it. If he had caught it corectly he would have called the fish and game and the would have certified everything. End of story! Rolo I find it discraceful that you can say that Mac had these intentions and the he would have done this or that. The facts are what he did do. You can only speculate what anybody was thinking. Those kids that were wittnesses were extremly bitter that they were beaten to the spot. Dont take their account as fact. Just so you guys know Mac has not returned to the lake. He used to fish it every day and now he has stopped. He is so sick that the fish came up foul hooked that he has stopped chasing it. Imagin spending just about every day on a lake for years knowing that the WR is in there and finaly getting your shot and then the fish comes up snagged. That crushed him. Maybe he was tempted for a moment to say he caught the fish corectly, after all he is human. But he never denied it. It wasnt like he changed his story after he realized the kids saw him. There were people watching his every move including one of the rangers who I spoke to. How would you like your character attacked after you did nothing wrong because somebody "thinks" they know what you were thinking. Pretty weak! Matt Fly the scale has been tested to be accurate. They tested it on Basscenter. It has not been certified to my knowledge but it is accurate. You also said you have seen video of these guys. Realy? Whare? When? I dont know of any such video of Mac jed or Mike (Mike Whinn) not Mike Long. I do agree that it is not the world record. It is however the largest bass ever caught. In my mind Paul Duclos is the WR holder.

I was already to admit I was wrong and that Perry's record is legit. But I after seeing that picture I still dont believe it. Why? The photo itself looks good but....................... Dan "LightnigRod" posted that exact photo last year when we had this debate on another board. That picture has not "just" surfaced. I am not sure what to think about it. I have been contacted by one of the editors of Bassmaster because they quoted me or something like that in that same issue and I asked him about the details of the photo. I will let you know what he says. I almost hope it is legit so my anger will go away but because I have seen the pic before I dont believe it. It looks like a 20lber that a guy caught with a kid in the pic. That pic just doesnt prove anything to me. If only it was Perry himself in the picture, then I would honestly admit I was wrong and except it. but d**n it! Now I have to continue being mad about the WR because I dont believe it.

A mold that I have not seen that you would sell a ton of would be a 4 or 5 in curly tail worm. Not a regular segmented one but like the Robo curly tail

If the list was current there would only be one bass from Florida and One bass from Georgia. There are a bunch of recent Cali bass that arent on that list. Mike Long has since added Two more to that list. A 19.2 and a 21.5

All you would have to do is offer diferent molds and you would have an instant market. Both Bob's and Delmarts make excelent molds but they have almost the same product line.

for temperary coloration you can use a sharpie permenant marker. The colors will bleed in a couple days but for on the spot uses they work good. plus you have a bunch of colors to choose from

I have never not got a bass to bite that was locked on the bed. They can all be caught. No such thing as uncatchable. I rarly spend more than 15 minutes on one fish and I am not talking about the males. Each fish is diferent. learn their body language and you can catch them. I do not teach people how to bed fish because too many people keep the big females and I need every advantage I can get out here. But believe me they can all be caught. I even cath most of the ones that are just hanging around the area. The only fish that I dont usualy catch are the ones that have hook marks in thier mouths. People think all baits are equal whwn it comes to bed fishing. not true. I use 2 baits, My bluegill and a simple jig. Thats it. The most important part of bedfishing is being able to read the fish. The longer you do it the more you will lern. as long as you are trying to lern.

It is very easy to do. the idea is to set up on a spot and disect it.

Triton Mike I know about it

I think Basswest blows the other mags away. lots of good articles with realy good tips and the pictures are just better than any other fishing magazine I have seen.

before you guys doubt his abilities read this http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Byron_Velvick.html Byron is a friend of mine. He is not cocky and he is one of the nicest guys you could meet. he is on TV so he has to be enertaining. If not he would be boring. Cut him some slack. About Amistad. Byron went for broke. he threw big swimbaits and dumped a few big fish. Once he fell behind he had no choice but to stay with the big baits. It was his only chance to catch up and it didnt pay off. It has in the past and he owns the 3 day world record for a tournament bag on swimbaits. Give him some time to adjust to the rest of the country. Rojas sucked at first when he left So Cal. Now look at him.