Mattlures

yeah that saying is a load. Alot a bad things can happen. Getting hurt loosing/breaking gear, boat issues. I take a good day of just about anything else over a bad day fishing. Now a good day fishing is hard to beat. I'll take a good day hunting over fishing but there aint too much I like more than fishing. Hey Biz did you get the package?

Hey FC your pics and awsome. Your mold is done and I shipped it out this morning!

If you want it bad enough you will get it. If you dont want it that bad you will continue to do what you have always done and get the same results. Sure you may eventualy get a good fish but even then you probably wont be preparred to land it. Most people will say" start fishing for big fish" And I agree but I think the first step is to"stop fishing for small fish" there is a diference and when you figure it out and do both you will get your big bites

Biz I recomend you keep a few smaller fish each time you go. That way she thinks you are helping her. If you never keep a fish she will know that you are not following her only rule. If it makes you feel any better, most ponds need some harvesting to promote big bass.

good catchin Randal. that sure is an ugly bass though. you should have stuffed a burger down its throat before you put her back

If you realy want to know what it weighed go check the scale. Get a 5lb sack of sugar or flour and weigh it with the scale. That will give you a good idea of how accurate it is. Just a little warning. Most people dont like what scales tell them when they actualy weigh the fish instead of just guessing. Not trying to pick on you but I remember my first bass that I KNEW was my first 10lber. I was possative. I couldnt believe that my stupid scale was lying to me when it said 8lbs 10.oz. It was obviously off. I had caught 8lbers before so I knew this scale was wrong. Well I checked the scale against 2 others including a certified scale. Guess what..... It was very accurate.

Congrats Jay that is awsome. I still have never fished a bass tournament. Maybe I should try it. As long as I aint fishin against you guys!

If you look at the size of his hand and the way he is holding the fish I would have guessed 3lbs. I dont think he got robbed at all. Most people grossly over estimate the size of thier fish. When ever I show sombody an 8lber its always over 10 and a real 10lber is usually at least a 13. A 3lber is a good fish. it just sounds small. Also if the winning kid weighed his fish on the same scale than its all relative.

Jay I like you. You tell it like it is. I also have opinions of Seimental but I'll keep them to myself. I read the book and I honestly found it borring. Not saying it doesnt have good info and Bill definatly knows how to fish but I just found the book non exciting. Now if only Mike long were to write a book..... Oh wait that would be a very bad thing. As Biz has said there is a ton of pressure out here so if you do figure something or somplace out its better to keep it quiet. I have learned that the hard way. Its almost impossible to not give up your bite if you post a report. If there is any background at all in a pic sombody will know exactly where you were. Even if do keep quiet there is a good chance sombody will recognize you and watch you. It used to be easy. That book says to think out side the box. Exactly. If you figure out something that works, THATS NOT IN A BOOK, you own it until you blab. Figure out tactics and baits that work for you in your waters and you will own that bite!

All Rays were released and mostly unharmed except for a couple small gaff holes. They should be fine. No Dan I havenent lost any weight. I have been at around 210-215 for the last ten years except the weight has migrated from my chest and shoulders to my gut :'(

But I also caught one big one that I estimate around 150lbs. We tried to weigh the small ones but they bottomed out the 50lb scale and they were only about half way out of the water so I guestimate them at around 75lbs

The one thing people tend to overlook when talking about these expencive baits is the guys who fish them have a distinct edge. Not because the baits are the best in the wolrd(you havent seen my top end bait yet ) but because there are only a few people using them. Think about how good a Senko would work if only 100 guys had access to them and there were no copies.

you realy need to take a good look at the work they have done and compare it to the other guys. You may look at a mount(or a picture of one ) and think it looks great until you compare it to a truly great mount and then the first one looks bad. Price, I dont know, but in Taxidermy you absolutly get what you pay for. A cheap price will look cheap. BTW when you measure girth you need to measure all the way around the fattest part. At least you got the lenght right and that is the most important one. If you have pictures bring the to the taxidermist. This will help him match your fish.

Avid it probably ist the same surgery but I had my shoulder done a few years ago. The went in and cut some bone out and cleaned it up. It hurt for a couple weeks but after that it only hurt when I over used it. The doc told me the more I used it the faster I would recover. He also said fishing would be good for my recovery as long as I wasnt puting a lot of heavy strain on it. He said no big game ocean fishing but freshwater was fine. It was sore and a little painful to cast but it got stronger from the exercise. Setting the hook was the only thing that hurt. It maid me wince but what are you going to do when you gotta bite? SWING! Russ it aint me you gotta worry about. Her husband doesnt look that small.

Holy Moly Avid you got yourself one beautiful daughter!!! hey if she ever becomes single You could be my father in law :) I'll give you all the free baits you want!!!!

Shimano corsair. worst reel ever. Dont get me wrong Shimano is still top dog but every company has a flop

I have seen similar things before and Yes you will get a reaction with my gill but if the fish know your right there they may only follow the bait around and nip it instaed of eating it. I have caughten like that but its tougher than you might think. I think if you would have thrown a gill colored spinnerbait or jig or crank they would have ignored it just like your worm.

Randal nails it again. If at all posible remove the hook. Dont bite your line and leave the hook in. If you learn how its not that hard to unhook a gut hooked fish. Out here in sandiego the saltwater boats wont let you on board if you have a bannana. They are very superstisious. I have one to add to Randals list #3 biggest myth is the best color at night is black. people who say that are just passing on bad info and havent tried the other colors.

The guy before them (I think his name was Kevin) was there all day sunday and couldnt get her to "go". Mac Jed and Budda were there watching him fish for her. they offered him money to let them fish for her but he declined. Keven had to call his woman and tell her he wasnt coming home until dark and used one of thier phones so even though they tried to buy their chance they were cool to the guy and game him his space. Now Kevin couldn't be there the next day so it was fair game to who ever got there first. I dont think it was unsportsman like or anything else that could be concidered wrong when they were the firt ones to the rental boats the next morning. They bought a camping permit which gives them first shot at a rental boat. there were some kids there the day before and there were first in line outside the gate but Jed and co were already inside with their permits. If anything I would consider this smart. But there is no doubt in my mind if Kevin would have came back the next day they would have beaten him to the fish. They are very agresive at that lake. They put in the time and have paid their dues. Your observations are not wrong, you dont make a lot of friends fishing in a small lake that holds the world record and is fished by all the other big names. Its very competetive. One thing to consider is Keven had the better part of a day and couldnt get her to go. They had her biting within a couple hours. yeah I know they snagger her but she was still biting. I beleive very few guys have the skills to get that fish to go and even less would get her in.

I wouldnt biuld a mold from sratch. You would have to buy the jig mold that you wanted and I could make it fit the hooks. I am realy happy with the hooks I use in my baits. They are mustad ultra points and they are very sharp and so far I have never had one bend out. I have not had a single customer tell me they had one bend out either. I do make my own jigs to my specs and I use these hooks. I did have Byron Velvick send me some owners for me to make him some baits with. When I compared them with my mustads I found that the owners were slightly sharper. I mean it was realy close and I think the mustad was stronger.

Molds are very easy to customize. All you need is a dremell and a steady hand. Matter a fact you dont even need that. If you find the mold you want, send it to me with the hooks and I will customize it for you so it will take those hooks

Daniel that was kind of an inside joke amongst friends. The part about those new guys never being heard from again because the guys caught and brought in bigger fish is pretty far fetched. All the trophy hunters are competetive with each other. If you go to sombody elses water and show them up then you just bsiyoby. Its like bunch of friends ribbing each other. Again the author sesationalized this. One of the major themes about the book was all the feuds between fisherman and bait makers and record believers vs doubters. All the guys out here know each other and have a healthy respect of one another. Jed Budda and Mac are depicted favorably but they are the worst guys to fish around. I have been on dixon before durring the spawn when it was just me and them crusing the shorelin looking for big fish. They each had a boat and comunicated by cell phone. They would work like a team to make sure I had very little water to look at unless they had already been there. They didnt break any laws but they dont make any friends out there either.

Mike Long is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. When Mike took Monte burke(the author) out fishing with him, Monte kept asking him about the other anglers. He kept trying to dig up dirt to make the chapter "San Diego Zoo" more interesting. Mike asked monte to stop asking questions about the other guys but Monte wouldnt sooo. Mike brought him back to the dock and ended the interview. That is why Monte painted Mike out to be a jerk but you wont find that in the book. Also Jed, Mac and Mike Winn are all friends with Mike Long and John Kerr. Mike Long was trying to keep the world record club from going under when he reported those big fish dead but it didnt help. They got too close and scared the insurance company. I know most of those guys in that book and Monte did a good job of portraying them IF HE LIKED THEM. Mike kicking him off his boat and Crupie being anoyed with him led Monte to make them look like Jerks. Overall its a very entertaining read and fairly accurate but the fueds were highly exaggerated

I had problems exactly like you are having but I think it has gotten better since the forrums came back up. I havent noticed it anyways.

dont think of the other 10,000 baby bass in the lake. Those bass are stiaying close to the shore and hidding in cover until they are big enough to hold thier own. Think about what happens to those real baby bass when they venture away from the safety of the shallows. Imagine one of those bass out in deep water swiming past ambush point. It wouldnt last long would it? thats the point. fish my baby bass like its one of the stupid one and it will get eaten.