Mattlures

People use black because that is what everybody says to use. In thoery black has a better outline on the surface wich makes sense but everybody seems to think that black is easyer seen on the bottom when actualy white is easery to see on the bottom. I do a lot of night fishing and have caught many bass over 6lbs and a few over 10 at night and my experiance is color makes no diference at night. I have rotated rods every other cast with black and white lures and other colors too with out any noticable diferences. I had similar results with brass and glass and rattles in worms too. One thing that did seem to get bit more was baits with scent.

Roadwarior, I chase that d**n fish most of the times I go out. I know your sickness. I lost a very big fish this year that I never saw. It makes me sick to think of how big it was. That fish lives here, and there are more than one of them. sombody will catch it. my dream trip is right here in So Cal. Second chioce would be Mexico where the big fish are a little easyer to catch and third would be catching some peacocks

You guys should try bluegill swimbaits. they are legal every where

Wow! I cant believe nobody mentioned the bible that all trophy hunters have learned from. "In pursuit of giant bass" by Bill Murphey. If you want to catch big bass out west than this is absolutly the best book ever writen.

There is a C&R only lake here that I have caught 118 bass in one day between 1lb and 5 1/2 lbs with most around 3lbs. I would have rather caught ! 10lber and I have caught a few of them. There is nothing like catching those double didgets.

Stickling, That is a picture of a replica. not a replica of the actual fish but one that was built to fit the measurements. Perry and his family ate the bass that night for dinner.

That picture of Perry must be of another large fish. he was a good big bass fisherman and caught other big fish, but the record was never photographed. The Lady who claimed to have caught the record was not belevable. Her story was very inconsistant and the fish in the photo was at least 5lbs under the record. She and her son claimed they thaught the world record was 24lbs and thats why they released the fish. Her son who was with her when she caught it had submitted entries for line class records and also had his boga grip scale certified by the IGFA before they caught that fish. They only had one photo were she stuck her arm all the way out and her fist was bigger than her head. The fish was no were near 23lbs. also it had a huge sagging bulge in the lower part of its belly. They also didnt turn the fish into the ranger. they had one witness who was a guy camping. The IGFA apropriatly threw it out. When somebody does break the record they will keep the fish and get it certified. That show with Hank Parker is funny. He had no idea how to use the big baits. also an 8-9in bait out here is a medium bait. I know guys who throw 15inchers. This thred is very interesting to me. I am suprised at the diferent opinions. YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THE RECORD FALLING TO A GUY FISHING FOR CRAPPIE(or using playdoe for trout) I would be crushed!

Another thing that you may not know about our lakes is that they go through cycles. The probability of those bass that you mentioned being the same fish is minute. Bob Crupie who has the #2 (which I believe to be the true world record) has caught many bass in the high teens from castaic, but that lake hasn't produced a big fish in a while. The way it works is like this. One or two lakes will kick out a few big fish and then they taper off. I beleive this is because they are of the same spawn or at least the same year class. Castaic continues to produce big bass but not huge ones. Our lakes levels are continually going up and down witch can destroy a spawn. Usualy when one of those 20lbers were caught several others in the high teens were also caught within a year or two. When Dickerson caught that 21 his partner caught a 19 the week before at the same lake, but it was not the same fish. I fish alot of these lakes so I kinda have an Idea witch lakes will kick out big fish each year. You said you think that all are big bass are of florida strain, well of course they are or at least have some in them. Bottom line is , If the record is caught in a legal sporting manner in a public lake where it has lived its whole life. and it meets all of the IGFA reqirements than it will be the world record. It wont matter if the bass ate trout or anything else. Now if somebody were to raise a record fish in a aquarium or small pond and then catch it of course it shouldnt count. One more thing you said all but two of the fish came from Cali and the others were from Georga and florida. I dont know anything about the Florida fish but I do know if George Perry were to submit his fish today without a picture or a carcass and have his brother in law as his witness the IGFA would reject it. I dont know if he caught it or not but I do know that based on the lack of proof it should not be recognized. Bob Crupie with a photographed and documented 22lb1oz bass should be the world record holder.

Ok Let me clairify things for you. First off you said that I had my facts mixed up. The fish with the black spot that was 21+ and 20+ was the same fish. It was from Dixon. It is #4 and I think #9 or 10. Mike Long caught it and then 2 years late Ged Dickerson caught it. this fish was found floating and verified by Mike. This is not the#2 and#3 from castaic. I highly doubt those were the same fish. Now in an earlyer post you said that all the 2olbers come from a small area. That maybe true but what you dont realize is that there are probably 50 lakes from San diego up to the middle of the state that have lake records over 17lbs. They may not be 20 but they are close. So its not like its only a couple lakes. Its all most all of our lakes. Also there are several of these lakes that do not stock trout but there lake records are still in the very high teens. One interesting thing that you posted earlier was You thought something WRONG was going on out here. That is a very negative way to look at it. I would think something vwery WRIGHT is happening. There are many factors that make our bass big. We have deep clear water. We have good Florida genetics and we have the perfect climate for these bass to get big. Add to that good food sources and a group of freaks that hunt these giant bass and release all of them and you have a winning combination. Instead of thinking that we have it wrong maybe you should try and get your state to stock trout into some of your lakes. Would that mean your state would start producing 20lbers? probably not because there are many other factors but i bet your fish would get a little bigger. The reason I got mad was because by questioning the legitimicy of a record from Cali you would be trying to take away the acomplishments of the guy who catches it. I contend that even though our fish get bigger I think it is easier to catch a double didget in Florida or Texas or Mexico. Why? because our lakes our usualy open only on the weekends and they are so crouded. Our big bass are old and smart and have seen every lure imaginable. Another thing to consider is this. In our state we cant use the basses natural forage for bait like you can in Florida. We cant use live trout or bluegill. our live bait is limited to crawdads and shinners. Our stores jumbo shinners are only about 6-7 in long and they do not live in our lakes. So should a Flrida record count that is caught on a live shinner? Out here if we used trout we would get a ticket. I think those shinners are cheating. How do you like that!!! actualy I dont but I am trying to make a point.

All of our lake records are over 17lbs. We only have a few lakes that are under 500 acers. All of our lakes get pounded every weekend. We have tounaments on just about all of our lakes every weekend. Not all of our lakes stock trout. hodges doesn't and a 20lber came from it. Only one lake stocks trout year round because it is the only one cold enough to. All the other lakes stock trout in the colder monthes. Alot of the trout stocked are to big to be eaten by the bass. The trophy hunters out here can go days with out bites. to say that any body in the world can come out here and throw a trout swimbait and catch them shows ignorance. I would estimate that less than 1% of all california bass fisherman have caught a 10lb+ on a swimbait. It would be far easier to go to Florida and pay a giude and use shinners to catch a big fish. The IGFA has recognized several line class records from Cali. Dixon lake has not closed. If it did close the Department of fish and game would not stock the lake with trout. I dont care waht the ranger said, THE FACT IS IT HASN"T HAPPEND!!!. When you guys see all the big fish caught out here dont think that every body is catching them. There is only a small group of guys that are consistant. If you realy want to know why are bass get so big its pretty simple. We release them. All of the guys that consistantly catch 15lb+ fish let them go. If we went around killing the big fish every time we caught them we would not ever come close to the record. I had to re type my first response twice because I got mad after reading the all the posts. Every body is intitaled to thier opinion. Dont hate us because our bass have the wright genetics, climate and food source to get bigger than your state does. Nobody out here is fishing some stocked pond were they are growing some stupid unfished world record.

Upper Otay was stocked with Flrida fingerlings in 1959. The other San Diego lakes were stocked with them in the 70'S. We do not stock bass in our lakes. They have lived thier whole lives in these lakes. castaic lake has 29 miles of shoreline. Is that shooting fish an a barrel? Our lakes are only open 3 to 4 days a week but there is usualy close to a thousand people who fish them each week. The smaller lakes dont get as many fisherman but they still have around 100 guys on them each day. You try fishing a 100 acre lake with 100 guys. Its extremely pressured! florida strain bass are all over the world. acording to your argument the ONLY place they should count is in the south east. I dont think so. Funny thing is the IGFA doesnt agree with you either.

Anybody who thinks that a record bass from Cali shiouldnt count is just plain WRONG!. That has to be one of the most rediculous things I have heard. First off these bass were stocked as fingerlings decades ago. None of the original bass or even their original offspring are alive. Thse bass have grown up in the most presured lakes in the country. Most of our lakes are at least 100ft deep. It doesnt matter if they are only a 100 acers. These fish live in super clear water and are extremely hard to catch. There are only a handfull of guys who can catch them with any kind of consistancy. These bass were not grown somewhere and then stocked. The trout are stocked in the lakes in the winter monthes to be caught by trout fisherman. The fact that they eat trout just means they are ating what is available to them. In Florida they eat giant shinners, in Mexico they eat Talapia. In Texas they stock share a lunker fingerlings all the time. Should the record only count from Florida or Georga? Of course not! Perries record shouldn't even count. If he submitted it now with as little proof as he had it would be denied. Also who ever said that the Dixon bass was #2 is wrong. It was #4 and #10. If you think its fishing in a barrel, I invite you to come out here and try it. I garantee you will leave with a diferent opinion.

get your scale certified before you fish the lake.

That is exactly how you learn. I used to force my self to learn swimbaits by only bringing them and nothing else. The temptation can get the best of you if you bring your confidence baits. you would be better off leaving them at home.

I like that show. It is diferent and intertaining. So what if the guy is an ego maniac. I still like the show. I watched him bow down a mule deer doe. That is an impresive feet. Arent you guys sick of seeing the same typ of shows? variety is good. I agree I would like to see more bass fishing but if I would much rather see less quail hunting shows. They are boring.

out here in Cali the tropky hunters throw bluegill swimbaits.

Glenn that was a great story! i have a similar one but without the happy ending :-[ I wa teaching a friend how to cast a baitcaster by casting into the lawn. As I reeled past some bushes one of my neigbors cats jumped out and hooked itself in its mouth instantly. I was using a 7in T rigged plastic worm and I never seen the cat untill it was hooked. I would not have had a hook on if i did. Any ways that poor cat gave me one heck of a fight. it jumped about 5 times and was hissing and making all kinds of noise. I had to get some leather gloves and wire cutters to free him. The cat did end up fine cause I seen many times afterwards but when ever it seen me it took off and it didnt come in my yard anymore.

I decided to have a little fun ang go carp fishing with my ultralite gear. I ended up catching the world record goldfish

Mike Long all he does is catch huge bass. Every year he has few over 15lbs

The rain is one of the best times to catch big bass because it camoflauges the fisherman. The surface is choppy so they cant see you and they cant hear you. the light is reflecting from all diferent angles so they dont get a real good look at your lures.

You guys should read " In pusuit of giant bass" by the late Bill Murphy. It is the trophie hunters bible. The techniques and stratagies will work anywhere and that book has definatley helped me catch more big fish. I also like "tracking Trophies" by John Hope, I think :-[ in this book the author puts transmiters in big bass and studies there habits in there natual inviroments Very intresting

Your list is verry good. One that I think needs to be added is fishing at night. Definatley a good time to get big fish. As far as top water goes, believe me big fish hit top water. Big is relative. I have caught probably 50 bass over 5lbs on buzzbaits but I think buzzbaits are a poor choice for trophy bass. They are great for fish under 8lbs but there are much better choices for double diget fish. It doesnt sound like tinusp is trying to target big bass as much as he is trying to weed through the smaller fish. In situations like that I think the best bet is to throw big baits. Big baits is the best way to weed out the smaller fish. In the day time throw a big bulky jig or big plastic worm. At night Throw a waking swimbait or big worms. Most of the things that tinusp mentioned are right on for BIG fish but not nessisarily true for fish under 10lbs. Fish under 10 tend to be more agresive and will even chase a fast lure.