paul.

summer heat does not necessarily dictate to fish deep even though that is conventional wisdom. this is the time of year when d.o. (dissolved oxygen) and the thermocline play a big part in fish location. even if the fish are in deep water, they are not necessarily on or around the bottom. they might be suspended halfway down for instance. i have caught plenty of fish staying in less than 5 feet of water when it was blazing hot outside sometimes. sometimes i've even caught nice ones flipping in 1-3 ft. of water. a lot of times finding submerged grassbeds is a key this time of year too. that said, you might be right. it could have just been one of those days that it was tough no matter what you did. better luck next time.

fantastic. obviously y'all had a blast. wtg dude.

glad to see things take a turn for the better. maybe if you told us where those monsters that got away were, we could help you out with those.

thanks y'all. honestly i didn't weigh the fish. it's hot and i was in a hurry to get it back in the water. keeping 'em out too long is really stressful to a fish during the summer. and she had to fight this one for a while anyway 'cause she was using real light tackle (6 lb. test on an ul spinning outfit) so the fish was worn out to begin with. weights don't mean that much to a 7 year old anyway. all that matters to her is just that it was a huge bass, bigger than anything she's ever caught before by herself. i'd rather place emphasis on having fun and taking care of the fish than on weights and measurements at this stage in the game. right now, they're all nice fish to her. that said, i'd conservatively guess it was in the 5-6 lb. range. 8-)

took the young 'un fishin' yesterday afternoon. don't even know why i brought a pole. ;D i stayed so busy taking her fish off for her and taking pictures that i hardly got to wet a line. and i had to endure some of the worst smack talk in the history of fishin'. : "hey dad, maybe you taught me a little TOO well!" "hey dad this one's too big for me to hold by myself for a picture!" all kinds of stuff like that. "i don't think i need to post this em. people might think you can fish better than me", i said to her. "you BETTER post it dad!" she said. what a great little fishergirl she's turing out to be. she's unstoppable now. here's the lunker she caught all by herself tonight. no help from dad at all. 8-)

i'm trying to teach my little emily to fish by herself this summer. she has her own little spinning outfit now. so far she's caught 2 with no help whatsoever from dad. she's lost a few more. she makes the casts. she works the baits. she hooks and fights the fish. and she gets 'em in (sometimes ). even though she's reeled in many nice fish for dad, catching her own is obviously so much more special for her because she does everything herself. she is so happy. i used to have to ask her if she wanted to go fishing, but since our first "lesson" she's asked me to take her fishing every day. and yes, she is already feeling her oats. ;D she's already talking smack after a few lessons. already saying how she's gonna be a better fisherman than her old man. (won't be very hard to do ;D). she even refuses to take another pic until she gets one a lot bigger than a pound. she's already refusing to use live bait 'cause she likes tricking 'em with her "secret baits". i am in trouble - big time. but i love it. here's some pics. she was worried about showing her secret bait, but i told her y'all wouldn't tell anybody.

no bobber.

cool post george. you've got serious skills man!

likes these guys have said. it's just part of the deal sometimes. you do the best ya can and at the end of the day that's all you can do. if's a blood sport. the only way not to kill one every once in a while is to stop fishin'. and i know you ain't gonna do that. i had one die a few years ago that was close to 9. hated it, but like you said, it woulda been even worse to waste it so it was supper. better that than to just let the turtles eat it. don't sweat this man.

i've caught a ton of fish that probably ended up weighing over 10 lbs. problem was, i caught them back when they weighed 1 or 2. ;D

besides obvious factors like fishing pressure, poor management, climate and forage requirements, etc., i think there are 2 factors to consider as to why a truly giant bass, especially a world record, will be so hard to catch. that has to do with the 2 scenarios required to produce the fish. the fish has to be either (a) a true genetic freak of nature that is so big that it always or at least usually hovers above the 22-4 mark, no matter the conditions, season, etc. or ( the fish has be a "smaller" 19-20 pound fish that has gone on a massive feeding binge. the problem with scenario (a) is that if such a fish exists to begin with, the odds are astronomical of running across it. there might be a handful of fish swimming around on this entire planet that will usually be heavier than 22-4. and the sad reality is that there might not be one single bass alive today that meets this description. the problem with scenario ( is pretty obvious. even 18-20 lb. fish are quite rare. and if they go on enough of a feeding spree to reach world record proportions, the chances of catching them are very slim because they are already gorged to begin with and have little or no reason to eat again. that means that to entice this type of fish, the angler's presentation would have to be absolutely perfect. that's why i think a bed fishing scenario has as good a chance as any to produce a record. the fish will more than likely be stuffed from feeding up in preparation for the spawn. it will have the additional weight of a load of eggs. and this already stuffed fish that is full of food and eggs will not have to be tricked into biting because of hunger. i would guess based on the record chase with dottie, other folks figured this out pretty quick too. of course the obvious problem here is that you have to find the fish during a pretty small window - hopefully when she goes to bed for the first time in the spawn phase before she dumps a lot of eggs. when you are talking about a fish this rare, even 1 or 2 oz. of egg weight might make all the difference in the world. just my .02. very cool thread WRB.

i caught my biggest bass on a srike king denny brauer pro model jig from wal-mart. cost at the time was less than 2 bucks. second biggest bass (avatar) was caught on an oldham's trailer hitch jig which i found on clearance for, believe it or not, 25 cents. several other big bass have fallen victim to a bare hook (a few pennies) with a live bait attached (free). the most "expensive" lure i ever caught a 10+ on was a big rapala x-walk - around 10 bucks if i remember right. i can't remember any of the other biggest fish i've caught falling prey to a bait that cost over 5 bucks. imo, too many people place way too much emphasis on the "what" of fishing (as in what they are throwing). i tend to focus more on the "when" and the "where". interesting thread here.

i'm checking with Big O on the pix. trust me, it's just the cutest lil' thing y'all ever saw. the bass seem to be quite attached to it (literally) as well. ;D

well y'all, Big O has officially given me the o.k. to talk about it, so now so i'm gonna. the "baby rage craw" is undoubtedly one of the deadliest sight fishing baits i've ever tied on. maybe one of the deadliest baits, period. and this comes from a guy who admittedly uses live bait on a regular basis. those who were at the ky lake roadtrip got a preview of this tiny bait, which is smaller than your little finger. thankfully, steve was kind enough to give me a few of 'em. little did i know at the time he was handing me what just might be the equivalent of legal dynamite when applied properly. having seen now first hand what these baby craws can do in sight fishing situations, the word "impressed" seems like such an understatement. these little gems have now produced two very nice fish for me, one earlier last week - http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1242705163 - and then an even bigger one, pictured below. of course the bait's effectiveness might not be news to folks who keep up with the pros since the baby craw hasn't even been released yet and it's already making waves on the tournament trail. http://www.ragetail.com/news/new-baby-rage-craw-helps-secure-a-win-at-bassmaster-central-open/ http://www.strikeking.com/journal/00304/1.php and sight fishing is just one application. finesse jigs, clear water, pressured fish, shakey heads, and several other scenarios come to mind in which this bait will undoubtedly shine. it will catch lots of fish. and it will most definitely catch big fish. it's almost like the baby craw takes offense to the "big bait, big fish" theory and hits the lake with a chip on it's shoulder and something to prove. i guess it's that undeniable ragetail attitude coming through. but i do have to be fair and honest and share the bad with the good. so far there have been 3 major negatives i have encountered with this bait - (1) not getting them sooner, (2) not trying them out sooner, and (3) not having enough of them. make no mistake y'all, the baby rage craw is "the little bait that could" (and did, and can, and will). having said all this, i have only had this bait in my hands a fairly short time. i will step aside and defer to Big O when it comes to any questions about the bait itself as he the the man with the plan when it comes to this and all other ragetail products. thank you steve for these incredible little baits. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

epic day. way to stick 'em bud.

awesome fish there wayne! big congrats to ya. way to figure 'em out.

TOADally cool. what a brute!

pretty cool trav. glad you had such a nice trip.

i'm not hearing about nearly as many big bass coming out of cali in '09 as i have for the past few years. i have heard that a combination of fishing pressure, drought, and ridiculous regulations have made it the fishing difficult at best. but i don't know. and maybe i'm wrong. maybe there's just as many big fish being caught out there and cali bassers just aren't talking anymore. i know a lot of them are pretty secretive anyway. just wondering what's going on out there these days. i hope i'm wrong and the fishing is still what it used to be out there. i'd hate it for the cali guys, especially my friends on the board, if it's declining. :-/

congrats on a nice outing. glad to hear you're o.k. it had been so long i thought you mighta gotten married or something.

sorry about that man. we've all been there. but if it helps, look at it this way. she didn't get away, she just postponed getting caught (by you hopefully.) there's not a fish out there that's "catch proof". given the right set of circumstances, she will bite again. maybe she'll be even bigger when she bites for ya again. hope so.

congrats to you and your son buddy! gotta love those live gills.

WTG jimzee and pk! y'all are tearin' it up that's for sure. congrats to both of y'all big time.

"just a matter of time". honestly that was one of the first things that ran through my head once i started using steve's baits several months ago. with baits of this quality, it inevitable that eventually mrs. BIG is gonna come calling. all you gotta do is make it count when she does and close the deal. steve is constantly talking about opening up our minds to the "opportunities" these phenomenal baits present. well i seized one of those fine opportunities tonight and ended up hoisting my new ragetail pb. not that these baits have not produced some fine fish for me, because they sure have with plenty of 4's and 5's in the mix. but i told steve i wasn't posting one until i got a really nice one. and i think this one qualifies. 8-) earlier today, i found a couple of late spawners. the little male was probably about 1.5 lbs. the female dwarfed him and i knew she was at least over 7. but she was cautious. i would describe her as locked on but wary. when i find a nice bed fish, the first thing i do is absolutely nothing. i just watch. i see how the fish is acting. many times i intentionally let it see me or the boat just to see how she will react. this tells me how "catchable" she is. based on this fish's behavior, i diagnosed her as a "come back in low light" fish. i figured she could be had then. so as the sun set, returned to the nest. it was too dark to see the fish now, but i could tell by the swirling movements in the now glassy calm water that she was still there. time was short, but my confidence was running high since i had the rage craw tied on. it had been a while since i had bed fished so i had to mentally talk myself through it before i cast. "don't get too close, don't let the line lay on top of the water, don't overwork the bait" - all the things that will make or break you with a big sow on a bed. once i figured out my best angle of approach, i went to work. on the first and second casts, i could tell both fish were getting very worked up by the increased swirls around the bed. third time was the charm. i reeled the bait into the nest and just killed it. i could literally feel both fish looking at the bait bait as the water around the nest churned with agitated fin and tail movements. gave the craw a twitch. "tick!" that was the little male. quickly pulled the bait away. i didn't want him. twitch, twitch with the super sensitive crucial rod. THUMP! with authority. that had to be her! i lifted the rod tip just a hair to make sure she actually had the bait in her mouth. yep. time to drive some steel. stuck her hard and held on. she surged for deeper water but i turned her and she gave a couple of beautiful jumps in the fading light. it is sights like that that define what this great sport is all about and put a big exclamation point at the end. proudly lipped her and saw that she had been drilled perfectly "top dead center". no way she would have gotten away without breaking the line. unhooked her and quickly got some nice photos before releasing her to fight again. she was a gorgeous fish. well over 26 inches. could've easily been over 9 pre-spawn. but i wasn't complaining. this was probably her last spawning fling of the spring before moving off into deeper water to recover and she was totally spawned out. even skinny, i thought she was a gorgeous fish. THANK YOU STEVE AND RAGETAIL for a sweet memory that will last a long, long time. believe the hype, every bit of it. ragetails rock! here's a pic. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

great lunker man! TOADally awesome. chalk up another one for live bait.