K_Mac

That makes good sense to me. It may be too easy though...

A good friend once gave these words of wisdom: "Argue with a fool and your libel to act like one". I don't always remember this advice, but I try to use it as a guide. Life is just too short.....

Most often the bite will be a tugging or feeling of heaviness, but other times they will take it and head for other parts.

I love night fishing, and have caught some of my biggest fish (including my PB) at night. I enjoy the quiet and solitude, and the excitement of a strike in the dark. There are many good articles and threads on this topic on this site. Good luck.

I'm always a little suprised by the passion this discussion raises. :-? Captain, you are an articulate advocate for the west coast, and as you know I respect your views even when I don't agree. I have a couple of points (for what it's worth). First, I don't think Weakley could have easily denied foul hooking the fish and I'm not sure that he ever seriously considered it. The fact that he took a few minutes to consider his next move does not bring his integrity into question as far as I'm concerned. Secondly, I don't think it is a California thing when it comes to questioning every detail of any potentially record breaking fish. Maybe the trout stocking is a part of it, but what really suprises me is how cynical we have become.

Avid I agree with you. I think an argument could be made that Weakley's bass was the largest bass ever landed. As Matt Fly said, since it wasn't weighed on a certified scale we can't know for sure. As far as Weakley telling the truth and doing the right thing, I believe he did. There were several eye witnesses that knew it was foul hooked and I think the chance of it being recognized as a world record was very small. It sure was a monster though.

I agree with everything above. A c-rig is my favorite in scene 1, with a deep crank a distant 2nd. In place of the the worm you could use a variety of other plastics (lizards, creatures, tube,etc.), but that's the way I would do it. Good luck. One other thing, a top water lure is always worth a try. A Spook will sometimes bring fish out of deep water, esp. if it is fairly clear.

Cajun is right. Welcome aboard.

In an effort to help Brad and George with this unselfish offer, PM a list of the offending and dangerous lures to me and I will send the proper mailing label to assure the material is handled properly.

Derrickp I don't understand your response. You asked a question and it was answered thoughtfully by several members. Lighten up.

Welcome

One of the fundemental truths of addiction is that a person will not recover until he or she is ready. Interventions, switching drugs/lures, beating with large numbers of big fish/facts will rarely have any positive effect on the addict. My Father-in-law has a very serious addiction to spinnerbaits/heavy line. I have spent years trying to show him the error of his ways. I personally have some C-rig dependency issues. In the interest of public service I offer the following: How do you know if you are afflicted with single lure dependency? Honest answers to these questions may help: 1. Do you have 10 rod/ reel/lure combos in the boat but use only one? 2. Do you often continue to use one lure when those around you are catching more/bigger fish on something else? 3. Do you find yourself using that lure even when you said at the beginning of the day you were not going to use it? 4. Do you continue this lure even when fishing freinds and family tell you there is a problem? 5. Do you lie when asked about use of this lure? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions you may have a problem. Most experts would recommend a 12 step program to begin the road to recovery. Now repeat after me: "My name is (your name here) and I am a (your lure of chioce here)holic."

Will speaks the truth. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. Welcome home.

I'm with Papa. Doing the right thing is always the right thing.

Well said. If I had to use only one, on most lakes and in most situations, it would be a C-rig. I would use a jig or weightless plastic in close cover. Just my .02

A lob cast is a good way of putting it. Much of your casting is probably done with a lot of wrist action, but not a C-rig. A long rod and heavy weight are the standard. I use a 7' heavy rod and a 1 oz. weight most of the time. I would use a little longer rod if I had one suitable. Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to throw it a long way. Hang in there. It is a very good technique. Good luck.

FlyRod I really like the idea of cutting a pocket in the worm to hold a rattle. I will give that try. I am not sure it is very manly to use a lady's Revlon nail file to sharpen the punch/cutting tool though. I will probably buy a small fine file and some emery cloth to do the job. It may not work as well, but will be done using real tools. : Thanks for the input.

Some great ideas so far. I will sometimes add a glass bead between the weight and hook to make a little noise. I've used insert rattles, but haven't had much luck with them.

Here you go http://bassresource.com/fishing/flipping_pitching.html

I picked a C-rig. On pressured lakes finding deep, off-shore structure is my favorite technique. A C-rig will allow you to thoroughly work your chosen spot. As RoLo said, a topo map is a good start. At the other end of things is pitching/flipping to shallow cover. Catching shallow fish in clear water is a challenge, but a jig or plastic bait quietly placed in the nastiest cover you can find is sometimes the way to go. You have to be vehwee, vehwee quiet. I don't have the patience to be be very good at this but it does work.

KU, thanks for the post (ok Glenn-the re-post ) I have always tryed to gently wiggle the hook free and if that didn't work, cut the hook off and hope for the best. Thanks again.

We have all experienced that sinking feeling of knowing we didn't pull the trigger on a fish. It happens to the best of us. Jig fishing takes concentration, and the minute you lose focus, that is when Murphy's Law comes into play. The more you fish a jig, the better you will get at detecting when something changes. As has already been said: Hooksets are free! I would rather make a couple of false hooksets and look a little silly doing it than miss a good fish by not swinging away. Jigs are great baits, and are well worth the time and effort needed to grow confident using them. Good luck.

Generally speaking, I prefer targeting bigger fish in deeper water. I like the challenge of finding and catching big bass. I have also had some great times catching a lot smaller fish, esp. when I'm with someone new to fishing. I agree with Captain Cali, (what a great alias BTW-it suits you as a champion of west coast bass fishing) catching a lot of fish on a new lure or technique is a good time. Knowing it catches fish gives me confidence to use it in spots were it has a better chance of catching big fish.

It's hard to say what your fish weighs from the picture. As many others will tell you, a good scale has a way of reducing the weight of fish. Nice fish. It is a legitimate lunker by any standard. BTW, welcome to the Forum.

Gloomisman Your post got me thinking, so I dug out an old Earth Science textbook (Earth Science, Tarbuck and Lutgens). I have too much time on my hands right now, so here you go: The fraction of the total radiation that is reflected by a surface is called its Albedo. This is about 30% for Earth as a whole. It varies greatly depending on cloud cover and particulate matter in the air, the angle of the Sun's rays, and the nature of the surface. The amount reflected is as follows: Clouds-average of all types and thickness 50-55% Concrete 17-27 Crops, green 5-25 Forrest, green 5-10 Meadows, green 5-25 Ploughed fields, moist 14-17 Road, blacktop 5-10 Sand, white 30-60 Snow, fresh-fallen 80-90 Soil, dark 5-15 Soil, light (or desert) 25-30 Water 8* *Typical Albedo for a body of water. The Albedo of a water surface varies greatly depending on the Sun angle. If the Sun angle is greater than 30 degrees, the Albedo is less than 5%. When the Sun is near the horizon (Sun angle less than 3%), the Albedo is more than 60%. Among the reasons for differential heating of land and water are the following: 1. The specific heat (amount of energy needed to raise 1 gram of a substance 1degree C) is far greater for water than for land. Thus, water requires a great deal more heat to raise its temperature the same amount as an equal quantity of land. 2. Land surfaces are opaque, so heat is absorbed only at the surface. Water, being more transparent, allows some solar radiation to penetrate to a depth of many meters. 3. The water that is heated often mixes with water below, thus distributing the heat through an even larger mass. 4. Evaporation (a cooling process) from water bodies is greater than from land surfaces.