Mattlures

Pitchinkid, thats cool you got bit but sorry a Musky ate it Hooked_On_Bass he was using a shad they are only about $6 each. still not cheap enough to just get swallowed by a musky but not that bad. I would probably recomend a leader next time.

Tuson you are sooo right its scarry. It can definatley be NOT FUN. I actualy felt worried that I would mis my chance. If I wanted to go to a different lake because I knew I could get a 10+ I would be second guessing myself all day becuase I should have beed an Dixon even if I caught a 13lber I would think what did I mis? maybe I could have found her that day. I went up there a bunch and it wasnt that much fun. You hop in your rental and after an hour ever seeable spot has been looked at by arguably the best sight fisherman in the world. Then you hope she well move up later so you just keep looking. It wasnt fun. I was one of the few guy who would actualy throw swimbaits after the morning search. In a strange way I understand Jeb being relieved when Dottie died. It was just as much worring about sombody eles catching hes as it was hoping to catch her yourself. The amount of time those guys put in was rediculous and definatley obsessive. I would not call it fun at all.

They were not unpreparred. there is a certified scale at the lake. They were unpreparred to foul hook the fish. When that happened they called thier lawyer and told him they fish was foul hooked and he told them to let it go so they did.

Muddy No need to apologize at all. Its all good. WRB, When Jed caught Dottie she weighed 22lbs 7 oz. on a CERTIFIED scale in frront of witnesses. later when the DFG showed up and reweighed her she had barfed up some lunch and dropped some egges and weighed 21.11 again on a certified scale. the 25.1 weight was not on a certified scale. I believe the reasson the lighter weight of 21.11 stood was becuase at that time Jed and the guys were members of the world record bass club and they required that the fish be weighed by the DFG. there was a prize of $25,000.00 for the largest fish caught each year and I think Jed had to accept that weight to claim that prize. The IGFA does not have a time restriction on submitting the paperwork for the record. Jed could still submit it for Dotties weight of 22lbs 7 oz and Mac could still submit it for 25.1. I dont thnk Mac would get it but I think Jed would. I am guessing the resaon they dont do it is all the negative stuff that they would have to put up with. Its a shame becuase I think Dottie deserves better.

Muddy when I said Wrong I was reffering to you saying it was all about the money and Mac and Jed making an offer. You are correct that I should not have said "wrong" as that is your opinion and just becuase it is different then mine does not make it wrong. The reason I felt it was wrong is you comparred it to a wealthy person trying to buy there way into something or a tournament guy thinking he has rights to a spot over a shore fihsermaon or a guy with a Zebco. Which I totaly agree with you. What I dis agree with you about was this was not the case in this instance. They had been hunting that fish for years and Kyle(I think that was his name) Found it first that morning. They did not pressure him or bully him. They simply made an offer. The offer was regected so they backed off and just watched. If they would have pushed or harrassed or escpecialy casted at the fish then they would be way out of line but from all the info I have heard It didnt go down like that. There is a differnce in the way it happened and the way you presented it. BTW I dont even know those guys personaly. Everytime I see one of these post about them and Dottie I just try to clear up the facts. So many of the posts have the facts all backwards and twisted.

First off in the last 5 or so years lake dixon has been the most preasured lake in the country and probably the world durring the spawning months. Every boat gets rented and the shorleines were filed with guys. That filming was when the spawn was over. To Muddy and bocabasser You are right and also verry wrong. I completly aggree with you that just becuase somebody has money or a better boat or are in a tournament etc does not give them any more rights to spot period. I never said that and I am also very annoyed when somebody comes in on my spot. I am also very curtious towards others guys on the water. IF and this is a big if, they presured or bothered the guy then that is wrong. if they simply made an offer and did not persist when they were denied then I dont think they did anything wrong. I wasnt there that day so either way you guys and my self are just geussing as to how that went down. I do know after talking to a 100 guys that that guy was not bothered by them so I assume they just made the offer and accepted his NO. Now as for somebody coming up and flipping on a world record bass when I am there first and working the fish, Yes I would get physical over that. I am verry easy going but that would definatley fire me up. Also to clear up some of the misunderstandings, Mike long caught her first, at 20 lbs. the Jed caught her at 22.7 thats the time and weighing that bothers me, then Mac caught her at 25.1

They did not find it the day before. They found the guy(cant remember his name) fishing for it and offered to pay him to let them fish for it. I dont think there is anything at all wrong with that. There is nothing unsportsman like about it either.The guy didnt have a problem with it either. Now if the guy said no and they persisted then thats where it would cross the line. Just throwing an offer out there is a nonissue. When the guy said no he asked them if he could borrow thier phone and he called his girlfriend to tell her he was coming home late. The guys watched him fish for her. Now if they would have casted at it it then that would be a huge problem and I would probably hurt somebody over that. After that they bought a camping permit which allows them to get onto the water a few minutes before the fisherman waiting at the gate. They werent the only ones that knew that fish was there. They were smart enough to get the permit and get to the fish first the next day. I have fished around those guys and I cant say I like them but I dont think they did anything wrong. If I rolled up on a guy bedfishing for the world record and I had money to offer I would probably polightly make an offer to. The realy strange thing about this whole story is when Jed caught her she weighed 22lbs 7ounces on a certified scale with several witnesses including the lake ranger. But when the fish and game weighed her she had lost some eggs and barfed up some food. When the F&G weighed her she was only 21.11. I still dont know why the second weight is the one that counted or why Jed never submitted the paper work to the IGFA. He broke the record. I dont get those guys.

I dont see anything wrong with the way it realy went down. I do think it looks bad to say the "chose" not to fish for it because of the weather, That is just not true. I see nothing wrong with them offering to buy that spot. It would have been much worse had they just started casting at the fish while the other guy was fishing for it. I would like to see that show.

Ha Ha. When you read of guys catching big bass on swimbaits, they are almost always talking about real swimbaits and those real swimbaits are usualy big baits. The smallest baits that consistantly produce big bass are probably around 5in and represent what big bass eat. The spro shad is a very small swimbait it is not a big fish bait. It is a numbers bait or a tournament bait. I am not bashing it at all, I think its a neat little bait and I dont think its cheap. I am just trying to give you realistic expectations. All baits will catch big and little fish. Some baits just tend to catch bigger fish on average but those same baits will catch dinks just like a tiny dropshot worm will catch a big fish every once in a while. Where I fish, Big bass dont realy feed on the shad too much. unless they are under the the smaller bass picking off the ingured. I would classify all the "new" shad baits as made for targeting 1 1/2 -4lbers with an ocasional better fish. Your bait is not even close to too big. Dont be afraid to throw it.

Stained to me has always meant darker or colored wtaer with a few feet visability. That water looked murky/muddy. Not chocolate milk muddy but it looks like only 1 1/2 - 2ft vis.

The Dancin eel has to be the all time under achiever. the bait was extremly advanced for its time. It had a ton of action and was just an all around ingenious bait. However it didnt produce. I have theory. Way back when I used to stock ponds I would stock bull frogs. The bass would eat the small bullfrogs but they would not eat the tad poles. Even when I had bass in aquaruims they would eat them and then spit them out. I think they must excrete some type of bad taise as a defence mechanism. I think the dancin eel mimicked a tadpole to the tee. The problem was bass dont like to eat tadpoles, hence the Dancin eel never lived up to its potential

I agree with you Matt. Maybe they did it this way I am not sure but I have a simple solution. Instaed of taking away a spot and giving it to a woman angler. They should have just added 1 more spot to the event. Pretty simple huh?

On baits that are fished slowly then the hooks and line become more visable and some fish definatley avoid them. If you have ever been under water or seen underwater footage of a crankbait you will notice that the focal point is the bait itself and the line,bill,and hooks kind of blend into the background. Because these baits have a lot of vibration and are usualy moving fast you almost dont notice these things unless your looking for them. Plus the dirtier the water the less you see. Also the fish usualy only see these baits for a second. They either react or they let it go by. My jigs and soft plastics are all simple designs with no eyes and very little detail.

Ok you guys might be suprised with my answer. On most baits like spinner baits, buzz baits, crank baits, jerk baits, and soft plastics, etc detail means almost nothing. NONE of those baits look like real fish. they look like lures. Now the colors can be verry important but fish dont see the detail on those baits. They are reaction baits. fish see a moving vibrating image and react. Back when I use to fish Rapalas I would catch a bunch of fish on the simple foiled baits with black on top. When the "new" ones came out with the shad images on them I thought they would be an improvemnet. I was wrong. The simple black silver ones would out fish the "fish" ones 10 to 1. In soft plastics the fish get a good look at the baits and I think detal could hurt them. They are usualy very simple in design and the fish dont see anything wrong with them. Now where detail is VERRY important is when a bait realy does look and act like a real fish. When fishing "real" swimbaits, the baits are made to look like real fish and they are generaly worked slowly so the fish get to look them over. This is where detail becomes important. I also think color is always important except at night.

I tend to be brand loyal and boycott other brands if they are blatant knock offs. I will buy the original unless the alternative is better wich happens about 1% of the time. For the most part when I see something new or different I can tell just by looking at it where it would work. Then I compare it to what I already use in that situation and if I cant think of an improvement I dont by the bait. I do have some favorite brands though and I tent to give them the bennifit and give their new products a try.

Women have not qualified because there has never been a big market for women. Not much incentive. Most little girls dont grow up dreaming about being a pro fisherman. If womans pro fishing continue to grow this could change. I doubt woman will ever become much of a threat. In other sports woman usualy cant compete. There is always an exceptional woman who is competetive but not a world beater. In pro pool the woman are no match for the men and the girls make more money on tour. I cant explain why woman arent as good as a group but its just the way it is. I predict that if womans pro fishing grew big and the girls made a lot of money then you would see a few competing and holding their own agaisnt the men but it would be far from equal. As for getting beat by a girl, I am not so politicaly correct to say It wouldnt bother me, because it would. Not a lot but it would bug me. However I would not alter my tournament strategy because a girl was in it and I am sure NONE of the men will either. I do agree that the classic (while grossly overrated) is an all or nothing event. You fish this one to win, not to place. Unlike the rest of the tournies through out the year. I also feel angler of the year is MUCH more prestegious then winning one event even if it is the classic.

For me it would be the oposite. I would be excited at the chance to compete against the best. Its kinda like playing a golf tournament and having Tiger in it. Its not that I believe I could compete with Mike but how cool would it be to win and beat him. Its funny how 2nd place finnished 10lbs behind him fishing by himself. He does this all the time!

Written by Tournament Director, John Cassidy Sunday, 25 January 2009 44 Teams blasted off Saturday morning at Lake Otay and found fishing to be better than expected, While 43 of the teams were fishing for the cash, one fisherman, fishing by himself hit the "Mother Load". Mike Long fishing alone with swimbaits and reaction baits brought to the scales a 5 fish limit that weighed in at 25.93lbs. Mike also hauled in the big fish of the tournament with a 13.20lb lunker. Here's how the top teams did at Lake Otay on Saturday. Place * Team * Big Fish * Total Weight * Total Winnings 1. Mike Long alone * 13.20 * 25.93 * $4,990 2. Wade Strelic - Wes Zimmerman * 3.91 * 15.20 * $1,045 3. Brian Johnson - Aaron Johnson * 3.66 * 14.90 * $660. 4. Greg Miser - Justin Iacino * 4.02 * 14.57 * $840 5. Ted Holverson - Shane Spencer * 8.87 * 13.62 * $790

Ha Ha Catt, yes I cant spell and I dont care to go back and spell check. It is not important to me. But you got the point. Muddy you are wise not to accept everything people try to feed you. However the research goes along with what I and probably everybody else has seen and experienced for themselfs. Weather they except it or not.

I would imagine that a bass's memory varies between fish. It would also be influenced by how many times it ate that crank bait. Yes I could see the same fish hitting a week later but what about the time after that, I think it would take longer each time and at some point if it kept happening it would assosiate danger with it and stop eating it all together. Again this depends on the bait and fish. I would think a crank bait would be "learned" faster becuase of how unnatural it is. This is of course a guess though. I think some info is retained short term and some long term. Catt aslo asked the question of " if bass kept being harrassed when they spawn then wouldnt they lean to spawn deeper?" HMMMM funny he asked that becuase that is exactly what they do out here in our clear pressured waters. Of course they need sunlight or the eaggs wont live so The bigger older smarter ones spawn as deep as they can while still getting some sunlight penatration. Imagine that

Catt you continualy change waht people are posting to try and fit your argumant. You keep trying to say if a fish hit a lure once and gets caught it wont ever do it again. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE SAYING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the study in the aqurium said they fish hit the bait less each time they treid it. LESS!!!!!! meaning they did not learn instantly. GET IT???? probably not. it takes time and some animals learn faster then other. Does a dog sit the first time you teach it to? no it takes a bunch of times with treats or priase. Does a dog learn not to poop in the house the first time you scold or beat it? No usualy it takes a few times. Fish are probably no where near as smart as dogs. For a single fish to completly stop eating lures it would need a lot of negative experiances. Plus we dont know how long they remember. So on your lake X if every single angler threw the exact same bait the fish would become conditioned to it over time. Not instantly but over time. Some quicker then others. Of coure the new fish would not learn untill they were caught several times. That would also deoend on the particular bait. So that is why a single bait that works will never totaly stop working. You could never apply that much continued pressure. and even if yyou did there are always new fish. Its the older more experianced fish that make fewer mistakes. they have learned to aviod certan baits,sounds,shadows, etc. There is way to much evidence to support the FACT that fish learn/adapt/condition/instinct etc. The only way you can even argue is to change what people are saying. I do totaly respect your opinions but you have been totaly and completly proven wrong on this issue. I do admire your stubonness though

George I agree with you. I know there not human and do not have the brain power that we do. I was just using that as an example to make it easier to understand. And I was trying to explain why some baits would be easier to learn then others. Of course thay cant lean as fast as we can but the whole point is they do learn. Catt and RW I hope you guys dont get upset over this thread. Its nothing personal just our difference in opinions.

Catt first off your up to late! But Ok I have answerd your question already but I will do it again. Ok fist bass dont live that long and they dont teach other bass. They only learn from experiances. Now figure that a lot of bass die and are kept when caught. Each year a new crop of inexperianced bass are born. They srtart the cycle all over again. So each year the older class numbers go down while the lower class go up. The older a bass gets the more times its been caught and the more it has learned to not eat lures. It makes fewer mistakes then the younger dumb bass that are replenished each year. What I am trying to tell you is the older a bass gets the smarter it becomes but there are certainly less older smart bass then young stupid ones. The longest a bass can live is probaly 18 years but the average lifespan of bass that make it to catchable size is probably only 8 years. Most just dont live long enough to become completly uncatchable. They bass with the most experiance would be the smartest or weariest. So if it is highly pressured on a small lake it sees more human contact. Is sees more lures and it sees other bass getting caught they learn faster. Now a bass on a huge lake wouldnt see the same amount of human contact simple beecasue there is less of it per acre. OK now pay attention because here is your answer. For a fish to become completly uncatchable it would have had to experiance evey single lure and every technique in its short lifetime and it would have to remeber them all. That is impossible. That is why there are no super mega uncatchable bass. However there are some fish that are almost uncatchable. Dottie is a good example. That fish was firt caught by Mike Long at 21 lbs in 2001. That fish lived in that little tiny 70 acre lake for 8 years after Mike caught and released it. Nobody was ever able to cath that fish except when it was on a bed. That lake was beaten to death by guys hoping to cath that fish throwing every single big fish bait known to man and regular baits to. The fish was too smart. Nobody could cath it. It had grow up in an invioronment where it had seen everthing. It had learned to not get caught. Verry few fish get that old and see that much pressure to become that smart. There is your answer. Also you have to consider that some lures would be easier to learn then others. For instace. You may have eaten 500 burgers in your life. You go to MC donnalds and eat a burger and get sick. would you stop eating burgers? No. But if you started getting sick every other time you ate one from any place you would learn that something is wrong. Now if a bass has been eating trout its whole life and then it eats a Hudd and gets caught, it might not make the connection because the bait is so realistc. But if it happens enough it will learn that Hudd is not a real trout. It will see hooks and line and it will be more cautuos. Everybody who swimbaits out here has seen a big bass come up and inspet a swimbait. i dont mean follow I mean get within inches of it and then turn away. It realized that something wasnt right with that bait. Ok now take a spinner bait or crank bait or any othe non realistic bait. A bass has obviously never had a possative experiance eating one. so It eats it as a reaction or out of curiosity. But It is going to learn one of thos baits alot faster. Kind of like a human eating a lemmon. You bite into one and its horribly sour. are you going to do that again? No. See ultra realistic baits would be much harder to learn if that bass thinks its eating the real prey it is immitating. Plus you have other verry natural baits like worms and other simple type baits. They dont have any "loud" traits so it would be easier to fool the fish with them over again. Plus the one thing that was mentioned in the article was that we dont know how long a fish can remember things. I am sure they forget some things but they probaly dont forget that lemmon.

Roadwarrior I can see how some think that the fish are dumb. They are wrong but I do undertand it. On big bodies of water there are so many fish, new fish all the time plus millions of lure variations that it might not make any difference. Plus some fish are dumb and we dont know how long they remember. But if you think all you have to do is find a big fish to catch them I completly disagree. I bet every time you or I or Bizz goes out, our baits, have been within feeding range of a big bass. I also bet we dont catch one everytime. Its just not that simple. Older bass with more learning experiances make fewer mistakes then youg dumb bass. Just like every single animal in nature. Fourbizz is 100% correct Dixon can be a zoo. At any given time there are 1-5 world class sight fisherman on the lake just cruising the shore. The lake tapers realy fast. Its a gamble when you leave the dock. After about 1/2 hour you going over water that has already been looked at. I would also like to point out, that rarley are any big fish caught out of there that arent on beds. they are too darn smart. And no the bass dont sit around eating trout. trout are only stocked for about 4-5 months. and the bass eat the same forrage as any other bass like gills, shad, dads, and all other baby fish. The reason they are so smart is the water is clear and the fish are super preasured plus the big ones are almost always released. This makes them harder to catch. It not that "our" fish are smarter. Its that they are in an inviorenment where they are forced to lean faster. These fish get fished for and have lines in front of them every single day. On a big lake bass may go a while before they see a bait especialy if they live in areas that dont get fished much.

Dottie was caught 3 times in 5 or 6 years and never because she ate a lure. She was only caught while spawning. She was way to smart to eat a lure. There are many big fish out here that we see but cant catch. They are known fish. they have learned to aviod us and ignore our offerings