paul.

that's a nice lookin' fish there buddy. way to go.

i usually use a 3/0 ewg, but no bigger than a 4/0 when fluke fishing. the 5/0 in combination with a 6" fluke might be a little too big for some of the smaller sized fish to get situated correctly in their mouths- even if you are waiting a few secs. the fact that you are losing the fish when you are reeling them in AFTER you have set the hook suggests that this is a penetration issue. unless there's a technique issue on your hookset, which there doesn't seem to be, one word will fix all of this without affecting anything else - powerpro. happy hooksetting! just make sure you have good enough reflexes to dodge the fish as they come flying back at you through the air. ;D

thanks for the welcome buddy. i'm pretty sure i went off the deep end myself when i bought that tru tungsten bluegill. never dreamed i'd be buying baits for what i used to spend on a rod or reel. there's probably no turning back now. at least i'm among friends. ;D

daniel you are the man! is there any bait you don't know about? ;D

i just couldn't stand it any longer russ. this thing is just phenomenal in every way. ;D i've got a couple of other great swimbaits too, and i'll have more soon. matt, jay, randall, t-rig and some others have been great sources of info and knowledge. i honestly cannot thank these guys enough for all they've done to help. i have to give you props too buddy. you were the one who really got my attention about these baits. i had been thinking about using them for a while, but your posts pushed me over the edge and convinced me that it wasn't just a west coast thing. it's great having guys like y'all on here.

nah, i'm done with hawg caller. i figure i've been here long enough that i can dispense with the formalities and just use my name. to answer your question buddy, that is a tru-tungsten tru life bluegill swimbait. otherwise known as "legal dynamite" for bigguns anywhere they are feeding on gills. thanks to everyone for their kind words as always. maybe with fall coming on i'll luck up and get another nice one or 2 before year's end. good luck to all y'all too and remember, there's still room on the bandwagon. give swimbaiting a try.

now how big does it look? ;D

man! this sure is a big bait, ain't it? maybe it's too big. :-/

i said it in yesterday's post. i was ready for a lunker. well, thankfully it happened sooner rather than later. i got this long, lean 8-13 on one of my new favorite baits today - the tru tungsten tru life bluegill. this big girl is now my swimbait pb. 8-) earlier this year, i made some difficult decisions which i was really honestly starting to regret. but i have been determined to stick to my guns despite some "growing pains." after catching a few good fish early, i decided i was going to do some things differently for the rest of the year. i was going to learn swimbaits and catch some big fish on them, no matter what it took. i was going to stop relying so heavily on live bait to produce lunkers. i was going to start trying new spots and methods. in short, i was going to quit trying to rely so heavily on the things that have worked for me in the past and actually try to become a better, more versatile fisherman. finally, it seems i might be starting to see some dividends. i was out at one of my favorite lakes this afternoon armed with my swimbait rod and the tt bluegill. i resisted the urge to even bring another rod or other baits to prevent me from giving up on the swimbait. this is what i have been doing a lot of lately to force myself to learn these baits. after about 10 minutes of casting, i noticed a BIG wake in the the shallows-a lunker on the prowl!!! i focused a little more closely through my costas and actually saw the fish in the clear water - a hawg for sure. i cast the bait in the direction she was headed. no matter what you do on a cast, this bait makes a huge splash when it lands. but contrary to popular belief, i have learned that unless it lands right on top of one, this does not seem to spook fish. it actually seems to attract them. this biggun came right over and was literally inches from the bait. i had the bait in floating mode (no balls/weights inside) and gave it a twitch to "180" it. she absolutely came unglued. she flared out her gills and sucked it right in. i set the hook and started cranking with the big 7 foot rod and never looked back until this fish was in my hands. i learned this from matt (mattlures) and he is right on the money about how you need to fight a fish hooked on a big swimbait. i will not attempt to explain why, because he does a better job of it than me. i'll just say, "thank you matt!!!" now this fish is nowhere close to what matt, chris, jay, randall, and some other guys are getting on swimbaits. but after catching this one and one over 7 last month on swimbaits, maybe it's a start for me. sure hope so. i am going to continue on the journey towards becoming more proficient with these baits. here's some pix. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

great as usual. and what cool lookin' rods and reels.

here you go man. just watch the video and you'll get some ideas about this and other jackall baits as well. basically though, you can fish this bait in a variety of places and ways. don't listen to us. experiment and let the fish tell you how they want it. that's what matters. http://www.jackall-lures.com/flv/2008/2008.html

now THAT's whackin' 'em. great job randall.

about a month ago, the fishing really slowed down for me. all my deep water honey holes just weren't producing like they had been. it took me longer to realize what was going on than it should have. but i finally figured out that the grass had died off of in the deep water and the active fish moved shallow due to lack of oxygen in the depths. we are constantly reading and hearing about how we should fish deep cover and structure when it's hot. and this is good advice AS LONG AS OXYGEN LEVELS ARE SUFFICIENT. but if they are not, it might be time to try the shallow stuff. although the size is just average, i have been catching fish like crazy in shallow water (sometimes only inches deep) in the lakes i fish. it hasn't seemed to matter much what i've been throwing. topwater, cranks, spinnerbaits, jigs, plastics, flukes, senkos, and swimbaits have all gotten hammered. everything has gotten bit as these shallow fish seem to be red hot compared to their deep water counterparts. also contrary to popular belief, many of these shallow fish have been caught in the heat of the day (because i am too lazy to get up early ;D) here's one from today. this is about the smallest one i have caught lately, but i post it to make a point to anyone out there who is intimidated by the size of these baits. "regular size" fish will hit swimbaits, and hit them well. this one was only about a pound. most of what i have been getting lately is in the 1-3 pound range. hopefully a big one is coming soon. i need a lunker. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

i agree on this site being the best. another one i like is tackletour.com.

not really a big fan of this or any other storm bait. but if you want a great lookin' bluegill/crappie swimbait that will absolutely catch the crap out of fish, get yourself a jackall giron. i can personally vouch for the effectiveness of this awesome little bait. kinda pricey, but imo worth every penny. http://www.extremelures.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=164

well i haven't been on here much lately. 2 weeks ago was vacation with the family at the beach. we had a great time. but since i have been back, the fishing has been crappy to say the least. i have all but given up on catching a lunker until cooler weather gets here. truth is that's probably a good thing 'cause i'm kinda burned out on the whole "targeting big fish" thing right now. i just can't seem to catch one here lately and it's tough to try in 90 degrees plus when you go for an hour without a bite and know you coulda caught a bunch of smaller ones in that time. i just don't have what it takes to be a full time trophy hunter i guess. :-[ so at least for now, i have gone back to just focusing on just going fishing and trying to catch a few. but must of all, just trying to relax and have fun. for me anyway, it's tough to beat a fluke when the fishing is tough, at least it is where i fish. so i went out a few minutes this afternoon and caught a nice 3 pounder (give or take a couple of ounces) on a mann's hardnose. even though this is certainly nothing special, i was happy. it's amazing how the best cure for bassin' burnout sometimes is just setting the hook. but during these tough times i also do something else. i take inventory of my fishing. i examine everything and make whatever changes i think are necessary to catch more and/or bigger bass. even though i fish for fun and relaxation, i take catching these little green fish pretty seriously. when i am not achieving the standards and goals i set for myself, i start taking a look at things. there's always 2 possibilities. either i have set unrealistic goals and expectations, or i could be fishing better/smarter. so that's what i'll be doing for a while - taking inventory. : until i have it figured out, i'll just be trying to have some fun and catch a few. here's tonight's fish. the good news is that i think the g-loomis rod i got in the mail today will ease the pain until i catch another decent fish. ;D hope y'all are catchin' 'em better than i am.

i guess i just figured i've been on here long enough i can dispense with the formalities and use my real name now. besides, no big fish for me lately has put me in the mood to forget this trophy hunting stuff and just go fishing from now on. hawg caller is officially gone as of now. if anyone else wants the name, they are welcome to it. once again dave, that is just great about your trip and your bait. i know this just makes you wanna go back to the workshop and come up with another bait. jackall will be calling soon, either to sue you or to hire you - not sure which. ;D

very nice dave. that's great.

interesting question dave. i also like the camera vs. scale question. which would it be worse to forget? hmmmmm. anyway, i always keep a cheap $4 disposable camera in my tackle box in case i forget my digital one. no more worries about not having a camera.

very, very nice. keep those bigguns coming. you are whackin' 'em for sure.

fantastic post man.

cool. glad you had fun and caught a few. it's really hard for me to focus on trying to catch a big fish in miserable 90+ degree heat. if i'm gonna be out there, i want some ACTION. nothing wrong with havin' fun and whackin' the little ones every once in a while.

sorry about that buddy. still, not a bad trip though. you'll get her next time i hope.

nice fish man. way to go.

that's fantastic lee! great pix man.