Mattlures

Muddy I will give you something to chew on. That dead bass was infact Dottie. But...........that was one huge coincidence that she just happen to float up as NatGeo was finishing up their storry. Hmmm Little did they know she had died earlier and somebody(not me and NO I aint telling) decided to plant her for them to find. The word is she was found floating earlier that year. :o

Bass most likely arent going to be influenced to bite a frog becuase of the Megastrike. However they should hold it longer and it will certainly increase your hookups. Lubing a frog is just like lubing a swimbait.

Thats a cool story, you should have taken a pic of the splatted dear. Along time ago a buddy and I were putting the stock on a buck in a cut alongside a major road. The buck sented us and bolted up and away from us heading stright for the road. The other side of the road was a open space preserve(no hunting) as soon as the buck cleared the crest we heard a horrible crash. We snuch up the ridge and found the alittle red sports car totaled and a mangled deer with litteraly on of its anters in the grill of the car. The girl was shaken up but wasnt hurt and the cops were already there directing traffic. My friend still has the one anter that wasnt stuck in the car. It was a big forky. Stupid deer!

Before I answer your question you need to understand that there is no accurate big fish list that I am aware of. Most are outdated. There are also other big fish that arent reported or not reported to whomevere is in charge of a certain list. That doesnt mean that the lists are bad info, what it means are there are more big fish that arent on SOME of them. Ok to answer your question. Dottie was a known target. Mike Long caught her at 20+lbs. When he did this he wasnt as famous as he is now. He was still building his resume as a big fish hunter. So he reported her. That basicaly ruined Dixon. Everybody knew that a 20+ fish was caught and released and she looked young. She was caught 2 more times by guys looking for her. They werent the only ones looking for her though. A week before Mac snagged her Mike caughta 21.1 but did not report it because he knew Dottie hadnt come up yet. We all knew she was there but it wasnt fun chasing her. Too much hasell and it was realy expencive. Now that shes gone its a little different. Out here our lakes go through cycles. the guys who are in the know, have a good idea of how big the fish are in each lake and if they are getting bigger or declining. Also we have lakes located throughout different elevations. what this means is they spawn at a little different times. They do overlap but over the years the guys who are in touch the most have an idea of how each lake spawn. Some lakes the biggest fish will come up first and other lakes they are last. So when it comes to hunting the biggest fish durring the spawn one must play the percentages of which lake gives you the biggest fish at what time. The more in tune you are the easier it becomes to narrow the choices. Now with each "record potential" lake there is one or more known fish. They generaly spawn around the same area. So basicaly it comes down to who ever has the most knowlege has the best chance of finding a monster. The guys that I know who have the most knowlege are also arguably the best sight fisherman in the world so they have a good chance of catching a giant when they find them. Dottie took the guess work out of it. We knew she was there, it was just a matter of finder her when she came up. The guys who found her just put in more time. They didnt look at other lakes. Just went to Dixon everyday. BTW I went there 1 time this year it cost me $38 for a permit and a boat rental. Imagine doing that everyday for 3 months. Now thats how the spawn game woks. That should give you a little insight on why we white out a picture. Because If Mike holds up a fish I know where he caught it. Just knowing the lake and the date is huge. The spawn is not everything there are monsters caught out of the spawn also. The thing is though that same fish that weighed 20lbs durring the spawn might only weigh 18. so even though its the same exact fish it wont make the "list" because it wasnt as heavy. This is one of the biggest reasons you see most of the dates of these giant fish durring the spawn. Not because thats the only time they are caught but because they are bigger. Now regular fishing is similar in that you know which few lakes have fish that are realy big. Contrary to what people think not all our lakes have 20lbs swimming in them. Only a few and they are mostly only that big durring the spawn. If you know where a monster lives you can target that specific fish. I saw my 15 follow my bait so I knew where she was hanging out. I was fishing for her. In most cases though you go to known big fish spots and you try to aproach them as perfectly as possible. A lot of big fish are seen following swimbaits. You better believe I remember where I saw them! So to answer your question in a nutshell. The answer is yes we do hunt specific fish but more often then not we try to pinpoint a specific bite that gives us the oportunity at a big fish but not nescasarily a specific single big fish. Edit; also a big fish out here is not a fluke. There are usualy a couple more as big or a little bigger and few more that are a little smaller. So If a lake kicked out a couple 17' s and a 16lber 2 years ago there was probably an 18 and a few 16's in the lake at the same time. Now 2 years later that lake hase WR potential. Its all in the cycle. Its a very small window of catching the right fish at the right time of the year. Look at Castaic back in the 80's it kicked out many huge fish. i havent heard of a monster out of that lake in 20 years. Same with Mirramar. or San Vicente or El Cap but they all have lake records of over 18lbs. But probably nono of them have a 15 in them and V, Cap and Mirramar probably dont even have any teens

Lake fork taxidermy that mounted FC first bass is verry good. Roberts fishmounts and Lyons and Ohaver are world class and are quite a bit better then lake fork taxidermy as you can see by looking at those pics. I perfect blue ribbon competition skinmount can only looks as good as FC second fish. However it will most likely never even look close to that good. a replica gives you a canvas that is 95% good. A good taxidermist can easily make it 99% Most skin mounts are around 75% good and they get worse and worse with age. You never see replicas with deformed bodies, over tourqued mouths and overstreached fins but those are common traits with skin mounts. Also replicas will look freash for as long as you have them with a little dusting. Skin mounts get yellow and cracked and even more deformed with age. FishChris's beatiful mounts will look just like they do now 20 years from now as long as they stay out of direct sunlight and he doesnt drop them. Replicas are more natural and they are superior in ever way. If I accidentaly kill a big bass I will honor it by making a mold of it and then make a replica.

Ten minutes is usualy enough time to get a usable bond. However it will get much better permanent bond if you let it cure for several hours, like overnight. The reason your getting a better bond with only applying to one side is there is lee Mend-it so the solvents have evaporated and it hace cured. It just takes longer when you apply to both sides but it will be a better bond. i have found that it works on all brands of plastisol. 3x is a completly different material. If you guys have any questions about Mend-it just ask me. I have been using it for about 5 years.

I havent been paying attention but Fourbizz is pretty smart so he is probably right. But its no biggy I'll answer. My most used tools are my dremmel my scallpel's and my airbrush. I have a bunch of wood working tools but I dont use them that much. out of those my bandsaw would get the most use. For the most part I have a good idea of the machanics of a bait before I start so it I dont have to spend much trail and error time anymore. Now after I get a bait to look and act like I want it to I put it to actual use and thats when I find out the little things that need to be adjusted. Once you have a system or design that works its easy to expand.

Nope I cant get first. I didnt sign up and the fish was not accuratly weighed. I am just curious as to what its point value would be. I am a little rusty on my math formulas.

That same factory in China that made those "Akita" baits makes baits for a lot of other companies. They make those same baits and sell them to other companies to put their own name on. A few co's actualy design thier own and then have that factory build them for them but most just buy thier stock products and resell them. I had them manufacture some baits for me so I know first hand about their quality controll issues. The lures look nice but they are poorly made and will have lots of problems once they are put in water. The ones that I had made I had to completly reseal with epoxy. It was very time consuming so I no longer have them make any lures for me. It was a learning experience.

I didnt sign up but what would my 15.1 LMB be? the state record is 21.12

they all are

You guys are awsome. I understand thats alot to pay for any bait. I realy do. If I could make them with less of my time they would cost less. Trust me I aint getting rich! ;D As with any handmade non high production product, They will cost a little more. These products are not for evryone but Its nice to have options

Mend-it is soo much easier to use

I had about 1/2 hour phone call with Rick Clunn about 2 years ago. He wanted to order some baits and he wanted to know how to fish them. He told me that they never used to bed fish because they didnt know how and it took too long to get a fish to go. He said now when they have T's durring the spawn they have to bed fish because the winners do know how and he needed to learn to stay with them. I gave him my bed fishing routine from start to finish. I offered to give him the baits but he refussed and placed his order. He is a verry nice guy. One of the biggest reasons the older guys cant keep up is stamina. KVD probably makes 100-500 more casts in a day then the older guys. The younger guys are in better shape and have more indurance Plus they are probably more hungry. They want it more and are working a little harder for it. When you are in deep concentration mode for hours it magnifies your exaustion. I used to play pool at a very high level. I would be completley exauhsted after an 5hr match. But I was only a little tired after practicing for 5 hours. Fishing at the highest tournament level is a lot more physicaly demanding then it looks especialy when the T's are multiple days

FC that is my only DD this year. I am having a tough yeay. This fish was a huge relief. I kept wanting to go fish for other fish but I couldnt do it without atleast 1 good fish. Now I wont feel guilty about it

Mike always catches them, always. John and Butch get them too

Thanks fellas and ladies. I dont normaly trust the calculators but it was within 1 oz of my guess and I am ususly realy good about guessing my fishes weight so I am ok with it. I was on foot and a long way from my truck. It was just about time for me to leave to pick up my daught from daycare so I didnt have enough time to hike all the way back to my truck then back to the fish then back to my truck again. If it would have been my PB I would have called the wife to pick her up and I would have made the hike.

Muddy I have had fish throw up thier lunch as I waas fighting them and it has cost me a pound before. If I caught one like you said I would look for wittnesses imediatly to verify I did not stuff the fish and then I would use my metel clip stringer and clip through both lips so she couldnt throw up. Of course this depends on how deep her lunch was and if I had to wait for a scale etc. lots of variables In the big marlin tournaments they sew their mouths shut because the dump thier lunch when the hoist them up to weigh them

Its been tough for me but I have gotten a few decent fish and 1 big one http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1242978073

I got this one a little while ago. I actualy saw her follow in my swimbait earlier in the day so I knew where she was. I gave her a long rest and went back and deadsticked my floating gill. It took a while but she couldnt take it any longer and them BOOM I took her measurements which were 27 1/2 X 20 1/4 and I took a bunch of pics I geussed her to be 15lbs. Earlier in the day I came up on one of my friends who had a good one and I went to get my scale and weigh it for him and realized I left it in my truck. I was too lazy to go get it. I hadnt stuck a big one in a while so I wasnt too worried about it :-[ Anyways If my fish would have been a little bigger I would have went back for my scale but I knew she wasnt my PB so I was ok with just my measurements and pics. When I got home I checked the bass calculator and it said 15.013786764705882 Soo I call her 15.1 I gave her some oxygen and sent her on her way

Those a great pics, thanks for posting. I think you look a little bit like me. Your obviously a handson devil and good stick too !

oh man :-[ Tred is a stud, this news realy bums me out. I will pray for him I saw his show where he shot a mallard with a bow and arrows he made and the duck was flying. That is impresive

get a bottle of Mend-it. It works like glue, only when it dries you cant see it or feel it. It wont stick to your hands or hardley anything els. It chemicaly welds soft plastic baits back together. You wont have to worry about melting you baits with a lighter or torch. Mend-it makes clean perfect repairs.

Muddy I understand your point about not believing and having proof. Take a bunch of pictures and have your fish weighed at the dock or take a pic of the fish on the scale. If its that big they will write an article in the paper and save the clipping. Having a skin mount doesnt prove anything either. You can buy them on ebay everyday. As for it being about buisiness with me? No, I have always know it it the right thing to do to rlease big bass well before I made my first bait. AND if you had an open mind (BIG IF) and did some research on skin mounts vs a replica there is no way a reasonable man would choose a skin mount. They are soooooo inferior to a replica. The real issue is not buisiness or money. Its common sence.

Thats eactly why huge fish should be released. Ottis's bass may have had another couple years of growth to it. who knows how big it COULD have gotten. The fish in my picture went 15.1 I comparred pictures from last year and I belive its the same fish a friend of mine caught. she was a high 12 and empty. I would have never caught her if he would have kept her. Now she is still swimming and the next time she is caught she will probably be a high teener. Just becuase there are laws and limits does not mean its the best choice. I like having rights and freedoms but I also think we should police ourselfs. The whole reason we have laws and limits is because too many people cant police themselfs.