Fish Chris

Nice.... uhhh.... Shark ! :-) Hey KS, that was an AWESOME kitty you got there ! Did you keep it ? Nothing better than fresh fried Flathead :-) ......course that one was pretty darn big. A nice 10 to 15 lb'er would probably be better eating. Peace, Fish

I told you I drive myself crazy with hook choices, right ? :-) Well, I think I have decided against the 5317's and the 5304's, as they are both a longer shank than I prefer, and might actually be a bit too heavy. Here's the hook I think I am going to go with: http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=1391&CATID=57 Yes, this is the hook I was using when I straightened one on a 4 lb Spotted bass.... but, I think by going up from a 1/0, to a 3/0, the wire diamter should go up sufficiently too. Plus, if I hadn't mentioned it, I'm thinking I might have damaged that hook a little, myself, by purposely bending the hook out just a bit, to give myself more gap. With a 3/0, I won't have to do that anymore. Anyway, I think I have found the molds I need, although they will need a bit of modification... Thanks again, Fish

I'm kind of surprised to see that so many of you guys are self taught ! My late, great Uncle Elton showed me what fishing was about, when I was about 2 1/2, with a cane pole, and redworms, catching Bluegill in his own private pond....... But I don't think he, nor my parents, nor anyone else, realised the affect that would have on my entire life ! Other than that though, my parents were not much into fishing, and my Uncle lived 2000 miles from where I grew up. So, I'd like to think I taught myself a lot of what I know about fishing...... But interestingly, I had never caught a single bass over 10 lbs, up until 10 years ago (and whether this is coincidence or not) I had also never owned a PC. Then I got the PC, started surfing for big bass info, learning and sharing, started my own website within 1 year of getting that first PC, and bam ! Big bass left and right, from that point forward :-) So anyway, I think I had built a solid foundation of fishing basics, on my own, just through trial and effort...... But websites such as this one, and of course the people visiting my own site, who often knew a lot more than I did, put my learning curve into high gear ! :-) Anyway yes, the kids nowadays just have unlimited knowledge available through the Internet ! The ones that use it for fishing, are going to do things that I could only dream of, at there age. And that's very cool ! :-) Peace, Fish

Hey Dampeoples, I might call Barlows, and see if they have a specific mold, for the hook "i think" I have settled on. It would certainly be easier than trying to modify a mold.... But also, I plan to talk to Owner to see if they can direct me to a mold for that specific Owner jig hook. It seems odd to me that Owner (or any hook company, for that matter) would sell blank jig hooks, and not the specific mold for that hook ? Hey LBH, I haven't seen the Hookerz yet, but I did check out the Mustads and the X-points. The problem I see most often, is that the vast majority of the jig hooks I see are either too long a shank (great for actual jigs, with skirts and all, but not for a Huddlebug, or Basstrix Bluegill) and / or too light of wire. The one short shank, with decently heavy wire that I have found, is the one I have been using.... the one I stuck the 11.8 and the 13.0 on, but which straighted with a 4'ish Spot. But my thoughts are, by going up 1, or even 2 sizes, in the same hook, the wire diameter should also increase, plus, I'm thinking my practice of "opening up" the gap a little before using them, might have weakened them. So with a size or two larger hook, I will have an even wider gap, without having to bend them out at all :-) All this said, if anybody can show me a 2/0 or 3/0, short shank, 2X strong, round bend, black, 90 degree, surgical sharp jig hook "of ANY brand", I'll at least give it strong consideration... and probably even ask the company for a sample. Hey Matt, I'll send you a PM..... Thanks guys, Fish

Hey Matt, that is REALLY cool of you to offer ! I might even take you up on that..... But now that I compare hooks, I can't even find an Owner jig hook I'm completely happy with :-( Most styles don't include a 2/0. Most are too long shanked... or too light wire. I gave up on Gamy's more than a year ago. I've never really found another brand of hook that was truly surgical sharp... maybe Daiichi. Do they even make jig hooks ? But hey now, it's 2007..... Has Mustad or Eagle Claw ever finally came out with a truly "sharp hook" yet ? Geeeez ! I'm so freaking rediculously fanatical about hooks, I just drive myself crazy ! :-( ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyway, hey Matt, if I ever could find a jig hook I was completely happy with, what do you think about this ? http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/blank-molds/ Doable ? Heck, if the jig hook that I thought was perfect, turned out to be something you might like too, you could pour a bunch of jigs for yourself, before sending the mold back to me. I'd supply the hooks... as you would need a few to build the mold anyway. Please let me know.... But either way, I need to find some good hooks. Deep sighhhhh.... Fish

>> As a culture, we are getting farther and farther away from nature with each generation. Kids have so many more choices on how to spend their time now << Nboucher is absolutely correct... I said this once before, when this same subject came up, but when you purposely surround yourself with people who fish, like most of us do, it's easy to believe that "everybody on the planet is a fisherman". But the fact is, the overall number of anglers (looking at all types of fishing across the board) continues to shrink, and I personally believe that within 50 years, fishing will be a thing of the past..... Of course, so will I. Nothing lasts forever. Enjoy it while you can. Peace, Fish

I think you might be surprised about how this lure would work in other parts of the country. For one, its really not that big of a swimbait. And about the paint, I think the trout pattern means very little (plus their are those other color patterns). To a bass, its a small fish, and therefore, its a meal. Then, with two razor sharp Owner ST 36's swinging around underneath it, even just those crazy "slappers" are liable to get this lure wrapped around their head ! But anyway, if the size still puts you off, the new 3:16 baby would certainly work for you. Peace, Fish

Okay, so I had this goofy occurence a little while ago, that shook my confidence in my Owner jigs. I really don't want to use anything but Owner hooks, as I still believe they are simply the best. {I just hope they don't slowly start to go downhill in the future, the way Gamy's have} Alright, I landed an 11.8, and a 13.0 Largemouth, setting the hook with my braided line, from close range on those two, and no problems. Then, I hook an estimated 4 lb Spotted bass.... Oh sure, it pulled some drag, but come on, it moved towards me on the hookset (relieving pressure) unlike the 11.8 and the 13.0 which felt like hitting a stump.... and my darn hook straightened on me, causing the fish to come unbuttoned ! Okay, it might have hit a bony portion of the fishes mouth, and had all the weight bearing out on the point (really hard on a hook) or, it might have just been that one in 1000 "bad hook". I hope not. But anyway, I had Owner send me some sample jig hooks, that are of heavier wire. I think I have settled on the 5304's in the 2/0 size (I prefer a round bend, but they aren't offered in a 2/0 with 2X wire), and I'd like to pour them into 1/4 and 3/8's oz standup and football style jigs. I have two buddies with melting pots. However, this hook has the 60 degree eye bend. Where am I going to find a mold for this specific hook ? It seems weird to me that a bunch of companies, make a bunch of different jig hooks, but wouldn't each of these hooks need a very specific mold to work right ? .... and if so, where could a guy find these molds ? Will do some surfing now, but open to suggestions from you hard core lead pourers. Peace, Fish

Do you mean like a "hard-core" fishing boat (a small to medium aluminum) or one of those "go fast, drink gas, and sparkle-a-lot" things ? ;-) Anyway, small aluminums are really easy to find, and if you look around, you can get a steal of deal on one, that's been parked on the side of a driveway, or in a back yard for like 5 to 20 years, and NEVER gets used...... Which is totally okay for the boat itself, but I'd try to buy one without a motor.... then, either pay the big bucks for a brand spanking new motor, or at least pay a good chunk, on a like-new, garaged one, with very low hours, to fit that old boat. Then you will be good to go :-) Peace, Fish PS, Careful on the old, used trailer too. Look for rust, especially at the joints, and I'd recommend new bearings and bearing buddies before the first trip out.... Oh, and as far as tire tread goes > Most small trailer tires get dry rotted before the tread is 10% gone (unless there mine.... I wear out a set of tires every year) so, I'd most likey put some brand new rubber on it too.... but this stuff is cheap. Especially if you get a steal on the boat and trailer.

Yea'...... Here's my 3:16 Blue trout. Is this just about as pretty as Jessica Alba, or what ? :-) Of course this is still pretty darn sweet also :-) Peace, Fish

Yes, the big Northern strainer was on the Slammer also. I know, they do look like a chunk of broomstick with hooks on them, don't they ? But I'm convinced that they still work well, as top water lures, because so much of the lure is out of the water, or hidden in chopped up water, and bubbles. If you could make one swim at the same depth and speed as a Hud, I think the Hud would just blow it away 99% of the time. BTW, to backtrack a bit, I pulled up over the top of that same tree I hooked the Northern at, on my first stop of the day. There were actually two good ones hanging out there... like an 8 to 9, and an 11'ish lb'er. I threw my Hud out past it, and as I brought it over the bigger ones head, it turned, and kicked towards it. My heart was in my throat.... but then it just bumped my Hud, with its mouth completely closed :-( Of course it had no intentions of eating it, but rather, it just wanted to check it out. So anyway, I'm about 98% sure that the big Northern I lost 8 hours later, was the very same fish. Two close encounters in the same day, and I still didn't put her in the boat :-( Oh well. Peace, Fish

Okay granted, it was a little fish, but tell me this 1 1/2 lb Smallie didn't have some really big ideas when he slammed this 9" MS Slammer :-) BTW, I hate to report this, but about an hour later, I hooked, and fought to the side of my boat, an aproximate 11 lb "Northern strain" Largemouth (certainly would have been my PB Northern).... and was reaching for the net when it popped off, and swam away :-( :-( :-( Still crying about that one. But their is always the next time :-) Peace, Fish

Well first off, I can't include any of the 1 to 3 lb fish that do a kamakaze move on an MS Slammer, or a dink that sneaks in and grabs a Huddlebug or a crawler, out from in front a 10 to 13 lb'er...... Because with fish of that size, I still consider myself skunked at the end of the trip. I think I average less than one fish per 10 hour trip..... So I'd say, .08 fish per hour ? Fish

I had been meaning to send an e-mail to the mods, but I wanted to see if I was the only one ? It takes me full minutes... sometimes 2 or 3 minutes to open the forum list, during busy, day time hours.... then another 1 to 3 minutes to open an individual post... then another 1 to 3 minutes to get a reply page to open. Sometimes my PC just times out... Or, it will say its "done" opening, but I have a blank page and have to refresh 2 to 5 times. I have a high speed connection, and have only experienced this here, and then mostly from 7 am until 10 pm, during highest usage hours. It's 10:30pm my time right now, and its taking about 30 seconds per page.... Slow, but way better than during the day...... Anybody else ? Thanks, Fish

I plan to use my Mouldy's Hawg Wobbler and my Big Fork Pappa Chubby's, next week..... Then, depending on the type of action I get, I might just order another of either of those two, plus a Bucher Top Raider to try it too. BTW, you guys don't know how long its been since I got all excited about trying new lures ! Probably 15 years ! Heck, I threw just about nothing but the old Castaic trout for 6 years..... then switched to the Hud for the last 3 plus. Aside from those, I used the Castaic Baby Bluegills for 7 years, then switched to Basstrix Bluegills for Spring sightfishing. However, even with all of these new big top waters, it's really just an expensive experiment, because as soon as I figure out that one is "usually" better than the others, I'll probably just stick pretty much to that one. As far as the common train of thought >>> This color works better in this water clarity, and this size works better at this time of year, and this action works better in this water temp, and yada, yada, yada.... I think it has more to do with marketing than anything, and often just ends up confusing guys who are new to the game.... but this stuff is pretty much ignored by guys like me, that just keep a much narrower focus, towards a singular goal. Did I just say that ? I think that's what I meant ;-) Peace, Fish

you are totally right "for a lot of places, where over recruitment is an issue", but I kind of like to fish in the rarer places where recruitment is low. Of course you can guess why, right ? ;-) And in these places, zero harvest is needed to maintain the already awesome trophy bass population. Point being, every fishery is different, and should be treated on an individual basis. Peace, Fish

IMPO, the difference between one color and the next "especially at night" is somewhere between zero and none. Peace, Fish

I just assumed your boat was like 16 or 17 feet, with at least a 60hp. It just has a little bit of that "speedboat" look to it ;-) As it turns out, you have the same motor I do :-) BTW, 18mph is still way to fast to fish. Peace, Fish

on the contrary, I think keeping a few fish below the slot would probably be the smart, commendable, caring, thing to do. This is what makes a slot limit work ! However, because I don't care for the taste of bass, and don't feel like going through the hassle of dragging fish home, cleaning, cooking, and disposing of carcusses, I release all of my bass...... But, I'm the first to admit that this isn't always the best thing for the fishery. The only fish that I feel should ALWAYS be released, are the trophy sized one, of ALL species. Peace, Fish Chris

that's interesting. I have had a whole bunch of (probably 10) different digital scales, and while a couple were way off (like an old Normark that weighed 4 oz light) they ALL always weighed consistently. Only once, I had a Berkely that weighed spot on, for a long time, then suddenly it just got whacked out. It would say a 20 lb Catfish was 3.4 lbs.... then 27.1 lb... then 1.9 lbs.... So I tossed it, and never looked back. Now days for "average" big fish, I use a Berkeley 50 lb digital, which I have checked against certified scales, and found to be spot on. Sometimes I will weigh a fish, and be like, "Ah come on... can't I get 1 or 2 more tenths" ? So I will zero it and try again.... and often, after the fish has dripped off for a few more seconds, it will go down to the next 10th" ! Doh ! Why didn't I just trust it the first time ? Maybe if I dip her again. :-) In any case, for really big fish, I use my Salter 55 lb digital, which has been certfied by the Dept. of Weights and Measures. Peace, Fish

Several thoughts come to mind..... First, I do put another small puncture right behind the tip of the lip, (careful not to puncture further back, or it will rip a larger hole when you hang the fishes weight on it). Also, I puncture just slightly off to the left or right of the very tip, as their is too much connective tissue right in the center. The tissue under the jaw heals very quickly (I know from catches, and then "re-catches"). I do have "experienced" buddies who hook the scale under the gill, being careful not to get it around any gill rakers..... but I just have a mental block with that. I can just imagine the fish unexpectedly kicking, and doing instant, fatal damage to its gill structure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As far as not weighing a fish, because you want to be able to stretch it later, that's all fine, but you should know that because their are so many BS'ers out there, it won't do you much good. On the contrary, if you don't show good evidence, with photos, measurements (although I often slack on those myself) and actual weights, >>> "Your claims themselves will begin to lose weight" ! I know of guys that will say, "I caught one that weighed X lbs" and instantly, people start rolling their eyes, and adopt the "what ev" attitude. I don't want to be in that same boat. Of course I understand that if a guy is not fishing specifically for big fish, and rarely, if ever, catches big fish, then the actual weight might not be as important to that guy, as it is to me. But I think even someone like that should know that whenever he puts a line in the water, ANYTHING can happen ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interestingly, just yesterday a guy caught a nice catfish. He asked me, "What do you think, 3 or 4 lbs" ? I told him, "Buddy, that fish is a minimum 6 lbs, but I'd give it 7 and change ! In fact, I have a scale right here.... Would you like to weigh it" ? So the guy says, "No. That's okay". Huh ??? I could see if the guy had bveen exagerating the heck out of the weight..... But I promised him it would be over 6, and maybe a little over 7, then offered again, "Are you sure you don't want a quick weighing" ? No... That's okay'. I guess he didn't want to weigh it, because he wanted to call it the "smallest weight possible" ! That's a new one for me.... Peace, Fish

I see a lot of these types of lures at the Musky Shop. Some with a single blade, and some with two blades which are counter rotating. The size and weight of many of them seems great for big bass. Price is good too. I have to believe these would at least be good night time baits. Anybody stick a big bass on one of these ? I'd like to try one.... maybe with my next order.... Peace, Fish

Hey Alphawolf, that is a really sweet boat.... probably a bit bigger and faster than I need, but hey, it's aluminum, and its a G3 :-) Hey Micropterus, that boat will allow you to catch the biggest bass on the planet. All you gotta' do is bring the boat to that fish :-) I like it. Hey Fishin Buds, yours will work just fine too :-) Sorry if I missed any of you with small aluminums. Here's my "dream boat"..... No, really. I fished out of a 12 ft Montgomery Wards Seaking for 10 years, and caught so many huge bass, catfish Sturgeon, Carp, Stripers, etc, etc, it was just rediculous..... But I wanted something a little more stable, and with NO STINKING BENCHES ! So, I surfed until I found my G3 V143T. Then, I just started doing whatever I had to, to end up with it on my driveway :-) I really do see myself fishing out of it for 10 to 15 years, until its basically worn out, then getting another very similar boat to replace it. Nothing against high per bass boats, but they would be WAY too expensive for me to operate 140 days a year, like I do with my boat.... Plus, I have this habit of running my boat up onto the bank, in various locations, to fish from shore (great trophy bass technique.... caught 7 of my 9 DD bass this year, from the shore). Don't think I'd want to do that with a pretty, shiny high per bass boat. If I had that kind of money, I'd spend it on a pretty new truck. Peace, Fish

Well I love my Okuma's of course.... But here's the thing that might surprise you; I use almost nothing but spinning gear. It's not that I think that spinning is for everybody, but it's certainly for me ! Actually though, I've heard a few guys say that they won't use braided line because it doesn't work well on their baitcaster. Well, I'll tell you one thing > I feel SOOO strongly about my braided line, that if I did use baitcasters, and had problems with braid, I'd switch to spinning gear, before I'd ever think about switching to rubberband... I'm sorry, I meant to say "monofilament" ;-) Anyway, my swimbait rods are Okuma Guide Series GS-S-761H, which are 7 1/2ft heavy action. Then I use an Okuma Inspira 45 reel, loaded with about 275 yards of 50 lb TUF-Line XP. Way more line than I need for bass, but when I chase Bat Rays with the same gear, I still gotta' chase them, or else I'll get spooled ! Seriously, 400 yard runs ! Peace, Fish

as long as the lure holds together, I'm not really worried about the durability of the paint. In fact, I find a lure which has been anihalated so many times, that it barely has any paint left, to have a "very special appeal" :-) You should see some of the Huds I have thrown.... I swear they had almost no paint left, and were like 30% glue, yet they still worked at least as well, if not better. I have a theory about that.... A big, lazy bass doesn't want to burn a lot of energy chasing a strong, healthy, clean fish.... but instead, it wants the easy ones, missing an eye, crooked back, skin falling off, etc :-) On the other hand, being a HUGE fan of artwork of all kinds, especially if it involves fishing, or fish, I think custom painted lures make awesome collections / displays. Peace, Fish