Mattlures

Cart7 you only argument is "I think so" or "In my opinion" and considering the source that's a pretty weak argument! Your knowledge of trophy hunters is miniscule. T hunters have won major tournaments. Like I said before John Kerr won the US open the first time he ever fished a pro event. Lake mead is in a different state and is defiantly NOT his home waters. Mike dominates the local tournaments. These are large events. Bill Seimental also wins a lot of large tournaments. Byron who is a swimbaiter has won many tournaments and fishes on the big tour. He is not in the top ten but give a season without basscenter and we will see how good he does. I give you examples; you give me "I think so" Well now I will give you my opinion and back it up. I believe a top tournament guy would have an incredibly hard time flying to Cali and catching our big fish. Here is why. First they have honed their skills. They are the best at what they do they have spent most of their life fishing for small bass. These are the type of anglers who can adjust but it is very difficult for them to learn how to fish all over again. Fishing for big bass is like fishing for a different species. If you keep that in mind it is easier to learn. However these guys have thousands of hours on the water and they know how to catch fish. Tournament sized fish. It is very hard for an old dog to learn new tricks. I think it would be easier to teach a younger or less experienced fisherman to catch monsters than it would be to teach a top pro. At some point all that knowledge they possess would start to creep in and they would doubt the "new" techniques and revert back. Now to back this up. KVD has caught 2 bass over 10 lbs. only 2 now I don't care were he lives he has fished in probably every state and many tournaments in Texas and Florida. You honestly think he has NEVER tried to target big fish? I don't think so. If he came to Cali he may or may not be able to catch monsters. I think he would struggle and go back to catching keepers. He would probably stick a few but he would NEVER even come close to the top trophy hunters. Now you think that a Top tournament angler could adjust easier just because they can adapt to different water. First off every T hunter that I know started out by catching small fish. At some point they got good at it. In the rest of the country the natural progression is towards tournaments. This is where you can compete and show how good you are. Well out here its different. You might get more fame, glory, and respect by being able to catch big fish consistently than by winning tournaments. A lot of the trophy hunters do both. They focus on big fish during the best seasons and when they are just fun fishing and fish the tournaments in-between. Kendammit you are absoluty correct. Mike Long is a freak. He is the best trophy hunter alive and he is also very dominant at the tournament level he fishes. There are no others as good as him. There are a few trophy hunters that are real good but Mike is at a whole other level above them. I am just trying to get as good as that little group. The average guy who targets big bass is usually just a good angler that has caught a lot of smaller fish and want to catch bigger fish. They are by no means great. I fall into this category. Yes Mike fishes his home waters. Why would he go anywhere else? The biggest bass in the world live here and he knows it. I am sure he could go to Texas and Florida and use his knowledge of big bass behavior and be very successful. Now just to clarify I have said this many times. I believe Mike Long is the greatest bass fisherman ever. But I don't think trophy hunters are better than tournament guys. I actually think the top say 10-20 tournament guys are the best bass fishermen in the world with the exception of Mike. But after those top guys the top T hunters are up there.

bassmasta7 Ish responded exactly how I expected. He is a class act.

Swimbaits are the #1 tool out here but Randal is absolutly correct. Mike L caught a 15lber on a 5in Senko and a 17lber on a jig(not spwaning and in deep water) this year. But he did get his 21.5 on a swimbait Yeah I wasnt going to get sucked into this one either but I just cant help sometimes!

I have 3 of them and absoluty love them. You are talking about the VS right? I also have 2 Shimano Calias's believe it or not there is not a big diference. The price is definatly the biggest diference in the two. I will have to admit that the shimano is slightly smoother but you have to fish them both for a while to notice the slight diference. I have had my VS'S for two seasons now and they are all perfect with no problems at all. I believe they are the best low pro's for the money.

One thing I would suggest is, instead of having a new account mention the name of your PS member. You could have your PS guy give you a list and dates of what stores he contacted. What this does is helps him sell your products to the stores. Istead of him going to the stores and "selling" your product, he can go into the stores and recomend your product because of the results he has had with your baits. It just creats a little diferent angle for you PS member.

bassnut1276, Mike does not fish the national tournys. Not becuase he isnt good enough but because he doesnt want to. Fishing the big tours is not all that great. It seems to me like an almost miserable life. Constant travel and presures and obligations. Mike has young kids a wife and makes a good living. Yes he fishes southern Cal tournies but thses are not "club" T's these are W.O.N wich is the biggest tour out west and there are usualy at least 50 and usualy more boats per T. Aaron Martins, Dean Rojos, and I believ Kline and Yelas all fished the W.O.N. its not quite the FLW or BASS but its probably right under them. If you havent heard of him google him. The last #s I remember were, his biggest was caught in 06 at 21.5lbs #2 was 20+lbs and he had about 12 between 18-20lbs He catches so many big fish its unreal. Nobody even comes close. He has all the major sponsors and has been on the cover of tons of Maggazines. He does not get the same attention as the big T guy's because the media is controlled by the big tours. look at the TV coverage. ESPN, Bassmaster magazine FLW. They focuss on thier sport. Thats were the money is. Next time you run into Rojas or Martins or Ish ask them about Mike L Again I dont want anybody to think that I am putting down T guys. I am not I am simply defending the Hunters.

Wow I still cant believe how uninformed some of you still are Cart is just plain wrong and obviously has no clue what goes on out here in trophy hunting land. Months without a bite? Who? A newbie maybe, but even then he will still get bit if he puts in his time. Craig is almost right except he said Mike Long only does so so? Have you seen his resume? He completely dominates the tournament scene in southern Cal. He consistently wins large tournaments by several pounds over the next place. He has also won many tournaments fishing by himself or his very young son in the larger TEAM tournaments. Mike Long is in my opinion the greatest bass fisherman alive. Bill Siementel also consistently wins tournaments. He is also a well-known trophy hunter. If a trophy hunter was to go out and catch one fish a month and only get a couple bites well then he is no where near as good as a top tournament guy but this is not the case with the best trophy hunters. Mike probably averages about 30 bass over 10lbs in a year. With 10 being the minimum. He has caught almost 60 bass over 15lbs! Also while he is out hunting for these giants he catches tons that are small to him, 5-9lbs. When most people make this comparison they only have their own experience to go by and most fish tournaments. Many have tried to trophy hunt but give up because it is to hard for them to reteach them selves. Also people only consider the top end tournament guys. You are talking about the best there is. There are millions of tournament guys out there. KVD his largest bass is only 11lbs. He has fished everywhere and is arguably the best tournament guy there is. Besides Mike Long he is probably the second best angler alive but 11lbs? You would think after all his years and overwhelming amount of time on the water he would have caught a few teens by now. This just goes to show you that the tournament guys are the best at catching small fish. There is nothing wrong with that either. If I were on tour I would play the odds and fish for a limit. Wait no I wouldn't! I would get killed. My only chance would be to go for broke. Cart7 thinks it would be easier for a great tournament guy to adjust to trophy hunting then visa versa. This shows his knowledge of the subject. Not much! It is extremely difficult for a tournament guy to unlearn everything he knows and change the way he fishes. I don't know of any tournament guys who consistently catch fish over 10lbs but I know a few T hunters that can completely dominate tournaments. Mike Long's partner John Kerr WON HIS VERY FIRST PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT!!! The us open on lake mead fishing against all the big name pros! Now absolutely by no means am I putting down any tournament fisherman especially the top guys. I have great respect for them and several of them are my friends but I do take a little offence when somebody discredits the top trophy hunters. 99 times out a 100 this is just ignorance. BTW I am not even close to being as good as them!

I get alot of great pics sent to me of good bass caught off my baby bass. I also prefer to fish them late spring throught the summer.

Manny I would definatly rather throw Raul's bait. I bought a couple of those storm waterdawgs and have not gotten bit. It could just be the funky colors but I am pretty sure I could get a fish off of Raul's. Hey Raul what is it an Evergreen, Jackle?

Well then it could be one of mine on the back of the tail mine had MATT going downward with the t's conected. The only other one I could think of is a 3:16 but you said no letters. It wouldnt be an osprey because they say Osprey on the tail.

Although your rod is not ideal it will still work fine. My baby bass is small and it fishes small. The lead inside is only a 1/2 ounce the rest of the weight comes from the plastic. Your rod wouldnt work that great for my gill though.

No not many people use the ospreys anymore. They were hot for a while but the fish learned quick not to eat them any more. I asume your bait is an SR plastics. Does it say SR7 or SR9 on the back. BTW if it does its a good bait and should be waked just barly under the surface. I make my own version(discontinued) and I get a lot of bites at night on it

Thanks guys for believing in my baits but I gotta agree with Raul. I dont think that bait is to big at all but personaly I dont like the looks of it. I would rather just throw an M.S. slammer. Now they arent verry impresive looking either but they are PROVEN!

Mike Long!

In pursuite of giant bass by Bill Murphy

Thanks I kinda figured they would get bit just because they wobble through the water. I doublt them looking like grasshoppers helps. I have never seen one swimming through the water. It must be a reaction bite. I dont know about those red billed baits. Maybe that big red bill would trigger strikes? Either way I am prety sure I wont try them.

Ok I just opened my new bass pro catalog and I was looking at some of the lures. I know these arent knew but I was just wondering if they work. I am talking about the baits that look like grass hoppers but they are cdrank baits. The Cicada type cranks and the ones with the jitterbug bills. Also I saw some crank baits wityh red bills. Have any of you guys used these baits with good success? I am not a crank bait guy but I am curious.

That book is a great read. I was not able to put it down until I was finished. Monte Burk, the auther did exagerate in the chapter "The San Diego Zoo" His intention was to dig up dirt on some of the guys and get them to talk bad about each other. He went with Mike Long and kept asking him question about the other guys. He was trying to get Mike to say something bad about them. Mike got anoyyed and broght him back to the dock and ended the interview. In the book Monte does not paint a very favorable picture of Mike because of this. Mike also tried to "kill off" that big Dixon bass by telling everybody he found a huge floater. While this was true it obviously was not the same fish. This is what made Jed Mac and Mike W mad. They didnt want people thinking they had mishandled the fish. They didnt realize Mike L had done them a favor. He relieved some of the pressure from the lake and was trying to save the world record club, but that part didnt work. Also just for the record after Mac caught that same fish(now 25.1) they were all at the lake the next day and were talking and shook hands. The heated fued the Monte greatly exagerated is over.

Shtucka, there is a little chalenge to catching the males. It can be fun. Anybody can cacth them though. If you catch enough of them you will start to learn more about the females. I used to not even try for the big girls because they were to hard. Now I have learned how to read the fish, both the males and the females. It is an important step in learning how to cacth the big girls. I assure you catching the females is a huge challenge and definatley a contest. Of course there are always exceptions and every once in a while I will stumble across a gimme. But this is not the norm. JT each fish(I am only referring to the females) is diferent and diferent baits will get diferent reactions. Drop shotting is a technique I will use when my main go too's arent getting the reaction I am looking for. It does have its time and place. The biggest problem I have with it is, the males can too easily defend it. They can and sometimes do completly prevent the female from even getting close. Thats why I never start with it. However I have ended with it I prefer the fat Ika over a lizzard though.

sounds like it broke. If its the little 10lber than there is no breaker. I dont know about the other sizes. I would contact the store that you bought it from. I have broke one before but It had several years of use before it finaly gave out.

Allen you make a valid point that has been debated to death. The truth is spawn fishing has little impact if any on the fishery. We have no seasons here in Cali. You can catch and keep bass anytime of the year and the bass populations are always high. Water dropping hase a MUCH bigger affect on the spawn then fishing for them. People do catch and keep them but most prefer to let them go. The advise I gave was to help cacth the females. If they are caught and released quickly the male will continue to gaurd. He is the main defender. I rarley tell anybody my whole bed fishing technique because There are those who will keep the big girls. I dont want to help them.

The title does not say its ok to use bad grammar. It simply says spelling is over rated, meaning there are other things that are far more important in getting sponsored than the spelling of your resume. Cart I think you got it and didn't even realize it. ALL SPONSORED FISHERMAN ARE SALESMEN!!!!!! Nobody pays you or gives you product just for you to fish. They expect something in return. You need to benefit the company somehow or you're not worth the "free" product. This is reality My getting sponsored has nothing to do with the world record living here. I used their products and spoke well about them. I recommended them and they heard about it. I mentioned them on my website. My swimbaits have become one of the more popular brands of swimbaits. They are in magazines all the time and have been on TV several times. I am a good bass fisherman but I choose not to compete because I simply do not have the time. I am sponsored because I am useful to the company that sponsors me. I provide a service. I help test their prototypes and I do use their products and recommend it to others. Does this mean that this would work for everybody? No it's just an example. Glenn's post says it all. There are millions of guys out there fishing tournaments that will never reach the elite level. Unless they learn how to "sell" themselves first and a product second then they will never get or keep a big sponsor. I am helping the youth by telling them about this reality. Like I said before I get many resumes sent to me and I basically ignore them. There are certain guys who I seek out to give stuff to. These are guys who I feel would be most beneficial to me. As far as spelling and grammar goes, get this in your heads. Nobody is going to sponsor you based on your spelling and grammar. They may decide to NOT sponsor you because of it though. So yes it is important to use good grammar and spelling on you resume and you should. BUT if you want to become sponsored you need to make yourself marketable first. You need to be a "salesman" Every big pro is a salesman! If I get a couple resumes a week imagine what Berkley gets. They must get hundreds weekly. You are competing with thousands of other hopeful sponsories. Why should they pick you over everybody else when 98% of the other resumes are well written? That is the question you need to focus on. That is my whole point. BTW Mr. Cart I have no hard feelings towards you. I obviously struck a nerve with the spelling thing. GOOD that was its intention. I wanted people to realize that the resume should be sent AFTER the potential applicant has made himself or herself marketable in some way. If you read all of the post you will get the point. I believe it would be extremely difficult to get any real sponsor on just your fishing credentials. Only very successful anglers carry that kind of weight, but even they have to be able to "sell" I also did a spell check just for you

alot of pigments will work to color plastisol. The dyes and powders that you buy from lurecraft, MF etc are fairly inexpencive and mix well. I have experimented with many types of pigment and have found its just easyer and cheaper to use the pigments that they sell. Now with that being said the best way to learn is to experiment and see if the oil paints will work. Because they are oil based they should work. A few things you will need to check for is 1. does this stuff mix with the plastisol 2. does it stink when heated in the plastisol This was usually why most of my coloration experiment failed. 3. do the colors bleed or fade after a while. I am guessing that your oil paint will probably bleed but other than that should work but this is only a guess