paul.

y'all did real good. very nice. congrats to you and your husband.

very nice. way to figure 'em out.

very cool pix and post. that's a real nice fish.

that's one of the really cool things about this bait. it's a swimbait that does not require specialized swimbait equipment. here's what i've been throwing it on. pfleuger trion baitcast reel. 20 lb. berkley big game (green) gander mtn 6'6" med. hvy. fast action rod. the minnow casts very well with a 4/0 1/4oz. weighted swimbait hook. not quite like a rattletrap mind you, but not bad at all. trust me, you'll get plenty of distance out of it.

i love hot peppers of any kind. but they have to be pickled. because besides being addicted to hot, i'm also addicted to vinegar and salt.

consider the following list: chemically sharpened hooks, attractants, electronics, high modulus graphite rods, high speed multi-bearing reels, weedless trolling motor props, super fast outboard motors, high strength minimal diameter superlines, invisible flourocarbons, polarized sunglasses. do you consider any or all of these to be cheating? if not, then live bait is definitely not cheating.

you know we're buds and all, so i hope it won't make you mad that i laughed several times during your story. ;D sorry for your trouble man. glad you managed to overcome and catch some fish in spite of the circus.

it's the cold water. i've always seen it when water temps are low. never any other time.

shane, a livewell would work provided the water was clear. the clearer the better. that seems to be the biggest key. would probably help even more if at least one side of the livewell was colored dark. one thing to take into account too is that it is especially important to get bass caught out of deep water back in the lake asap. taking them out of deep water and keeping them in shallow water (such as a bin or livewell) for any extended period will really mess up their equilibrium and once they are released, they may not be able to get back to the depths on their own. in fact, many times if you catch a bass out of deep water and try to put it in a livewell (especially in cold water it seems) the bass will float belly up because it cannot adjust its swim bladder. if it stays like this too long, it becomes too weak to swim back to deep water on its own once it is released. at that point, the only hope to save the bass is to "fizz" it. either that or use some sort of elaborate "weighted upside down holding pen on a rope" device to lower the bass back to the depth you caught it. so basically what i'm saying is that if you are keeping deep-caught bass out of the water too long for a picture or any other reason, you are running a big risk of killing them. just sayin'. please be especially careful with the deep-caught ones. just something to remember as winter approaches.

congrats on that big fish. hope you get another soon.

after much internal debate and soul searching, i am ready to give up a very closely guarded secret for taking the best possible photos of your fish. before i do i want you to notice the picture below. this is another shot of the 9-12 i posted in the outing section. see how the fish's spots and lines seem to "pop" for the shot? it's almost as if she got all dressed up for this special occasion. i have been asked on many occasions how my fish are always so "pretty" for their big moment on film. people always assume that i tinker with the photos somehow and adjust the color or contrast to bring out the bass' natural pattern in such vivid detail. not at all. i'm not that smart. ;D in fact, the picture you see below is "stock" except for the fact that i cropped off some of the edges. here's what you'll need. go to wal-mart and get yourself one of those big 30-35 gallon storage bins in blue or gray. fill it with clear water. best if taken from the lake you caught the fish in, provided it is clear. if not, it's a good idea to make sure the water is treated to remove any harmful chemicals that might be in there. using livewell solutions and/or hydrogen peroxide in proper amounts is a good idea. at any rate, the key is that the water must be clear. in order to avoid "shocking" the fish with an abrupt temp change, it's nice if the water is approximately the same temperature as the water the fish was caught from. but if you are gonna err, cooler is better than warmer. in fact, many guys use ice in their livewells to keep their fish alive in the summer. but like i said, i like to keep it the same temperature because the fish ain't gonna be in there long anyway. put your prize catch in the bin for about a few minutes while you get your camera. by the time you have everything set up for your photo, or shortly thereafter, your fish should be "ready". you will notice that her spots and stripes will have jumped out in maximum detail, almost as if by magic. not only that, but your fish will have been in the water relaxing and recovering from the stress of being caught rather than out of the water laying on the ground or being held by your buddy. the reason this works is that it capitalizes on the chameleon-like tendencies of the bass to brighten or darken her coloration based on her surroundings. the clear water in combination with the dark container encourages maximum contrast in the bass' natural pattern. taking advantage of mother nature's little trick will give you prettier fish pictures than you ever thought possible. of course the sad thing is that i have not found any way to improve MY appearance for the pics. at least the fish look good. ;D i am sharing this in hopes that it will not be abused. i know that most folks on here are very conservation minded and would never do anything to intentionally harm a big fish. please always get your pix as quickly and efficiently as possible and get that lunker back in the lake so she'll be even bigger and prettier when you catch her again. hope this works for y'all. anxious to see those pictures.

sweet! you're on fire dude. stay on 'em.

what a chunky fish! really cool. sounds like you hurt 'em pretty bad.

fantastic! that's what it's all about right there.

great pix! sounds like a real nice outing. congrats.

hawgs! congrats big time.

congrats mrs. m. you always seem to whack 'em and your posts are always cool. way to go.

any catch is a good catch. congrats to ya and stay at it. you will be suprised at how much better you will become and how quickly you will do it.

congrats to you and kent both. that's an awesome smallie for sure. total lunker. way to go. hope you get another soon.

no offense taken. actually glad you brought this up. this gives us a golden opportunity to discuss the power of catch and release. yes i absolutely know that a lot of the fish i am catching are repeat customers and i've said that several times on here. i'm not going to go back and check the weights, but from memory, this fish was a little over 8 early pre-spawn. when i caught her post spawn, she was a little under 8. now, after a big fall feed, at 9-12, this is the biggest this fish has ever been and she demonstrates potential to be a 10+ by next spring if she continues to survive and eat well. the important point here is this. if this fish had been caught by someone, kept, and mounted at 8 then she would have never had a chance to be 9. if i would have kept this fish yesterday at 9-12, then she would have never had a chance to make it to 10. some people complain that they don't think they'll ever have a legitimate shot at a big bass where they live and sadly, for some people that is true. not because a trophy is not possible in their waters, but because other folks are just not gonna allow it to happen because they keep fish before they have a chance to reach their full potential. even sadder is that some of the very folks who complain about not having access to big fish have shot themselves in the foot out of ignorance because they are keeping the fish that have a shot at becoming giants. that is one of the big reasons we don't have more trophies available to us - angler impatience and the "bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" philosophy. people catch a 6 pounder and it's the biggest bass they've ever caught. " no way i'll ever catch one bigger than this!" they think. so off to the taxidermist the fish goes and with it goes any chance that the fish could have become a real monster. either that or the fish is mishandled for way too many pictures and shortly after it is finallly released, it dies anyway. once either scenario happens, the angler who caught it has no chance whatsoever of catching it again down the road when it weighs 2 pounds more. he has also deprived someone else of the chance of catching it. and probably worst of all, he has removed that bass' genetics from the system, making it much less likely that there will be any more quality fish produced in that particular system - particularly if the system is small to begin with. not that i have a problem with someone keeping a big fish. they caught it and it's theirs to do with as they choose. i'm just saying that folks shouldn't cry that they can't catch an 8 pounder out of a pond when they kept the 6 that would have become their 8. the reality is this. you can have a pond with one 6 pounder in it and 20 2-3 pounders. the 6 pounder has demonstrated some real growth potential whereas the others have not. if i had to bet on one of those 21 fish to reach 10 pounds, my money is on the 6. why? because it has already demonstrated some amazing growth potential and out-performed its competition. and if i want to ensure that fish the absolute best chance at becomming a giant, i am going to remove some of the 2-3 pounders to further eliminate competition for food. not every bass has a chance to become a legitimate trophy any more that every person has a shot at standing 6'5" or becoming a world champion body builder. genetics are far more important than most of us realize. it takes big ones to make big ones. so yes, i am catching a lot of the same fish. that's how i designed it from the beginning. sorry for the soapbox. hope it didn't sound too preachy. but to me, catch and release is our best shot at making sure that one day all of us catch the fish of our dreams. thanks. i have several spots that the fish i show y'all come from. some of them i help mange. this particular pond i do not own. but i do all the management on it by myself. it's my pride and joy. but it's not that hard. trust me, if i can produce fish like this, anyone can. just remember the formula. thanks again for the nice words y'all.

thanks y'all. to answer questions, yes i weighed the fish. 9-12. and i don't know if this qualifies as something "special" being done to the pond, but the formula is simple. good habitat + ample forage + selective harvest = trophies. it will work anywhere in the country. manage properly for big bass and it's not that hard to produce them.

had a few minutes to get after 'em today. grabbed my rod and jumped in the truck. still had the matt minnow tied on from the last outing i posted. and since this little bait produced an 8+ last trip, why in the world would i change anything? after a few casts, i felt the bait get slurped up and drove home the steel. good 'un! after a few tense seconds, i got a good look at her and this was no doubt the best fish i've had on in months. i was able to close the deal and i sure was tickled. what a fish! another whale on the minnow.

this one is o.k. but this one is my favorite by far.

first few times i read through this, it quacked me up. but now your story is old and i just don't give a duck anymore. seriously man, glad you got to keep your rig. i know you'd be sick if you lost it. glad you got a fish too.

toad! gotta love it when they're proportioned like that.