Mattlures

We left Sunday(fathers day) and returned Wed morning. The food was great, the crew was one of the best I have been around. The captain/owner couldnt have been cooler. We drove down into Mexico and started fishing at gray light Monday morning. We started on a paddie for a bunch of small yellows. We hit many more paddies for a ton of yellows and some albies. The second day we got more of the same but found tons of bluefin. They wouldnt bite. They were crashing all around us but just wouldnt eat our baits or trolled baits. The boat did manage 4 of them but I honestly think those were the only bluefin bites. Nobody lost any. I ended up with 15 yellows and 4 albies. I started to release them. My buddy Mike had similar numbers but he stuck 1 bluefin which of course was the jackpot at 38lbs. He always wins the jackpot and he always tips it back to the crew. Hmmm karma? No I think he is just good. A BIG SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MARK ROGERS OF OKUMA!!!!!!! HE HOOKED ME UP WITH SOME AWSOME GEAR. I LOVE MY NEW JIGSTICK AND THE OTHER COMBOS,MARK RULES!!! thae jig I was using was custom wrapped by swimbait inc and the yellows liked it Then I went to the bay My sister came to visit me from TX so I took here to the bay. I set her up with some squid hoping to get a good ray or shark. They didnt want to play, but the dumd Halis wanted to. She got one on the squid and I got one one a swimbait. I also caught my PB spotfin croaker. Actualy it is my first one which is odd scince I have fished the bay for almost 20 years. The little croaker ate a 5in swimbait. We also caught a bunch of bass too.

Actualy I changed my mind. Even though fluoro is an edge I just remembered that my bait casting rods all had thos pistal grips back then. Man those were horrible. I would chose a nice rod with a regular grip

I hardley use my electronics now and way back when I was a worm dragger. I am still very confident in my wormin skills. I would probably ask to keep my fluorocarbon line.

Salter!

I agree with Big O except I would use a worm instead. I would recomend a 7in curl tail hand poured(or robo) plastic worm with a 1/8th oz worm weight and a 2/0 worm hook Texas rigged. I like purples and browns. ONLY use this bait. dont even try something else unless you actualy see something like breaking fish. Then you can cast a shad imitator at them. But then resume to worm fishing. The idea is to get good at one technique before you try and figure out another. After a while you will be able to recognize patterns. A lizzard might be a beter choice for you, I just prefer a worm. A guide is another great idea. If you only getting 1 fish per trip there is a lot of room for improvement. It shouldnt take you too long.

If it was a spawning issue the tail would look much worse then the anal fin. That fish has somthing wrong with it.

Yep Agree with FC No question. A ten is a ten period. A 13 is a teener ans is bigger and better. The exceptione would be location and subspecies. I would rather catch a 10 northern strain and have it be a state or lake record then catch a 13 from a so cal lake that has a 20lb record. However ther is a limit to that. I would rather catch an 18 out here then a 10 state record somewher else.

oops I thought you were talking about the berkley worm. I do like the big Anaconda's. If you put some in the bag with the power worms you can make the rage baits have that same good stink as the berkleys do.

I dont ever fish spinnerbaits. I dont like them. But if I did I would buy some revenge baits. I have held them and I have used revenge buzzbaits. They are made from the highest quality components and have arguably the nicests finishes. Dont know if that equals more fish because spinnerbaits dont work anyways but I do know they are high quality

LBH how much do you make an hour at your job? So sombody who is one of the best bait makers in the world charges 75$ for a bait that might take 2-3 hours to make plus the 1000's of hours of development is charging too much? Plus all the expences and materials and taxes etc? .I bet you make more then that and there there are thousands of guys who do your job as well or comprable to you. 3:16 are not mass produced in a chinese factory for a dolllar or two. They are made here in the usa by one of the best in the world. If you are that level in just about any other profession you would be veary wealthy. Be thankful that you have the option of buying a bait like that. If its too much for you that is very understandable but dont judge a man and say his time isnt worth his price. If he sold his bait for $30 he would probably be making minamum wage.

Bizz they have for long time. I like the 12 because you can pinch of the tip after each fish. You can get 4 or 5 fish before the worm is 10in.

I have been saying for years that bass learn and get smarter with experiance. I have observed way to many things that would make me think they are just dumb fish that dont learn. It seems its usualy the older crowd that dismisses this. The younger guys seem to agree. I'm 37 so im in the middle. Not too old to learn new things but old enough to be a sceptic

Down here all of our lakes have monster gills and red ear. I dont think all the lakes have the coppernose but some do and those have kicked out a few high 2's. The average size red ear caught is much larger then the average gill but the top end seems to be around 2.5lbs for both. A two lb gill is rare but a 2 lb red ear is common to the guys who fish for them. Most guys dont even fish for them. There are a bunch of black fisherman down here who for some reason seem to fish for crappie gills and red ear as opposed to bass and those guys are good. I always pay attention when I see them on the lakes because I can tell what they are doing and they always come in with big catches. There is one lake down here Barrett. You have to buy a ticket through ticketmaster and its C&R only. The lake of course is loaded with 2-3lb bass but its also loaded with monster gills. If you target them a 1.5 is a given and 2lber are fairly common. The red ears down here are usualy deep and harder to catch then gills but when they come up you can pick through the 1.5's and go after some monsters. I had one that looked to be a little over 3lbs last year wrap me up in a tree and eventualy came off. My PB was right a t 2lbs on a spring scale

Bluegill, Crappie, and freashwater bass are all sunfish. However there are certain sunfish like red ear or green sunfish that actualy have the word sunfish inj thier names. Smallmouth will absolutley eat any small fish they can fit in their mouths including bluegill and sunfish. However they would probably preferr smaller gills then a largemouth would eat. I guess it just depends on the size of your smallies. If they are big then they shouldnt have a problem eating a mid sized swimbait. Now the little 2-3lbers might have a problem getting hooked. I havent fish for smallies so I dont have personal experiance with them

Muddy I fish for different reasons at different times. Most of the time its for fun and trying to beat my buddies. But when I am hunting big bass it is different. Now I am fishing for results. It cant always do it becuase I get burnt out that I why I mix it up plus I like to target big fish of all species. Bass is the only one that I get real serious. Now back to the original post I think when guys say they lost a 5lber they realy dont mean that as an exact weight. Its their estimate and its just easier to say 5 then to say between 4-5. I do think it is funny though because I havee heard guys who bed fish say they were fishing for a 14 or 15 etc. Now I think I am pretty good at guessing bass weights when I am holding the fish but when they are 20ft I could easily by off by a couple pounds either way

moloch16 I totaly understand. At times it can seem overdone. But the truth is they are realy good baits and guys are catching fish on them soo they are reporting it. Cant blame Big-o and his baits for getting people a little pumped up. I use them and they work for me too.

Red ear are awsome. I didnt go after them this year when they were up and I regret it.

Muddy again I almost never call anybody out, I let them have their "10" But you asked why it bothers us? Ok here is why. I have been bass fishing for a little over 30 years. I caught my first DD about 5-7 years ago. I had been wanting one forever. I had been seriously targeting them for about 3 years before I got one. My overall size shot way up but I couldnt break 10. Now you have these guys who completly diminish the acomplishment by catching an 8 and calling it ten. I could have done that to but I would always know it wasnt 10 and it would mean I failed at my goal. Basicaly when somebody lies about how big their bass is its a direct insult to those who have caught one. Its would be like you going up to a mountain climber and saying "yeah I climbed Everest too" The difference is anybody can claim they caught a 10 and get away with it. Its like the guy who always has a 1up. most of us have known one of these people and they have irritated us all. like I said I rarley call them out but that doent mean it didnt irritate me. I give them the benefit that they actualy belived it was 10 and arent intentionaly lying. I still remeber catching an 8 '10. I knew my scale was off. I just knew it. Ha ha the scale is never off

You guys are all awsome! Thank you

mrlitetackle i am verry happy you like your baits and thank you for posting. I hope you stick your PB soon. FishDontLikeMe thats the 2nd shot you have taken at me....interesting. The first time you were dogging on my hardgill. Now you like it. I am soo glad you changed your mind. Especialy after you posted a bait that looks just as good :.

I think your estimate seems reasonable. That looks like an old bass too.

what a beautifull lake you got there. I have never fished pads before. Looks awsome

Well Muddy that probably because they realy are holding up a 5 lber but they are calling it 8. Yes Pictures are decieving but in most cases its obvious if you know what to look for. 90% of the fish I see on forrums that guys are calling 10's are not. They are usualy around 8. but I rarley call them out. In a lot of cases they actualy belive the fish was 10. Its even better when they think the scale must have been off because it said 7lbs. Ha ha. Guys who catch big bass are better at estimating thiere weights then guys who have only caught 1 or 2 ten years ago.

Its not that hard to get in but you still cant buy stuff. You need to get a pass. If any of you guys are tight with your local tackle shop you might be able to get a pass as a buyer through them. Or if any of you are sponsored you can ask your sponsor for a pass. The show itself is big and its pretty cool with a lot of new stuff and all the pros are there walking around and talking with people. The one thing I didnt like was some of the products that won awards were realy bad. Like the rocket pole and those rock weights. Lot of big meatings going on and lots of moey being made. I'm still Bummed I didnt get to meet Glenn and Big O last year. I am not going to this one because its in FL. Vegas is too much fun so I have to go when its there, problem is I alway gain 5-10lbs when I go to Vegas. MAN THAT BUFFET AT THE RIO!!!!!!

You guys do realize that Icast is not open to the public right? Plus none of the vendors are selling at the show. Icast is for buys and sellers to make and take orders and to show off their new products. And for the press like Glenn to report to the public what they saw at the show. Most of the products showcased at Icast arent availible for sale untill a few months after the show.