paul.

first a question. i know you put your 7 lb. bass back dave, but did the other people release the other big fish you talked about? it don't matter how many big fish are in there - if people are keeping them soon there won't be any. i'm assuming your goal is to catch a big fish out of there again (maybe your 7 again now that she's 7.5 or 8 this year ) i'd check your water temps. if they are at or close to 60, i'd bust out the polarized glasses for some sight fishin'. the full moon is right around the corner so bed fishin' should be ON!!!! other guys have given you some great advice, but i'd take a walk around the pond and just look carefully every time i went before i even picked up a rod. you may just see ms. BIG sittin' there on a nest.

when you are fighting a fish (especially on ul equip.) it's kinda hard to gauge time. i'd say 3 minutes maybe.

i thought the fish mighta been spawned out at first too, but upon closer examination, it looked like she hadn't spawned at all. her tail wasn't tore up and her underside wasn't red from fanning so i think she was just a skinny fish. probably explains why she bit on such a crappy day, b/c she was hungry. there was a small wave of spawners last week but rain and cold weather rolled in and shut it down pretty quick. i don't think the majority of fish have spawned around here yet. with regard to the setup, it's an ultralight shimano reel i've had for years on a 5'0 ul rod. whenever i use little bluegills for bait on this, i always use a super sharp gamakatsu treble - size 4 yesterday i think the hook is so sharp it usually sets itself with minimum pressure. i do crank down on the fish and pull back, but CAREFULLY. you cannot go trying to jerk their heads off with this setup. easy does it.

nice fish man! boy you cali guys sure are kickin' butt and takin' names! i am starting to think there's something to the whole thing about being named matt too. ;D maybe i should change my name. either that or put and "izzle" or an "izz" on the end. maybe i'll just use the best of both. how about "mattizzle" for a forum name? ;D seriously, great job y'all.

we've had a bad cold front through here the past few days. i got to go a little while today and i figured the tough conditions would be just right for the little ultralight bream buster. got lucky and caught this nice 6-14 on a small live bluegill. it's funny 'cause i didn't figure it was all that big at first. initially, it didn't put up much of a fuss, but i figure that's just b/c she didn't know she was hooked yet. she sure came alive once she figured out what was going on though. it was just an absolute blast on the ul rig with 6 lb. test. made the drag on the little reel beg for mercy zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. i just love using the small stuff every once in a while.

looks like you're puttin' the smack down on 'em. nice fish man.

what a hawg!! great job and congratulations big time!

you're slayin' 'em man. that's awesome dude!

cool deal dave. i know there'll be plenty more as long as you are throwing that trick stick.

i knew with the nasty weather rolling in this evening that the fishin' should be off the chain. only had a few minutes to get after 'em tonight but they made it pretty easy. caught several dinks, some 1's and 2's, one that was probably about 4. then right before the lightning got a little too close for comfort i got a pretty nice one - 5-12. the black and blue chatterbait and a red rattletrap did the damage with the biggest coming on the trap. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

dave, that has to be the nicest compliment i have ever received on this or any forum. sure means a lot to hear you say that buddy. thank you very much. i am truly humbled by those kind words. i just try to give back a little of what God has been good enough to bless me with. in like manner i am thankful to all on this great forum and elsewhere who have been generous enough to pass on their knowledge to me. there's a lot more to this great sport than just catchin' fish.

thanks for all the nice words guys. it was good to hear after i MISSED a real nice one today. > oh well, sometimes it's the ones you miss that keep you coming back for more. i bet matt, chris, jay and some others on here have more "finishing moves" than the WWE or a mortal kombat game so they would probably be better qualified than me to answer, but here goes anyway. i divide successful bed fishing into 2 parts. part 1 is getting the fish interested. part 2 is getting the fish to commit (bite) once it is interested. this "triggering move" falls into the part 2 category. there is nothing more frustrating than working a fish up and almost ready to bite, but then not being able to close the deal. sometimes they will repeatedly go nose down on your bait and stare at it for what seems like an eternity, only to lose interest and back off. to me, when a fish rolls on your bait or goes down, these are signs that the fish is almost "over the edge" and ready to bite. do the right things at this point and you will soon be holding a fish. do the wrong things and you can turn a fish off and sometimes even have to start all over and work the fish up again, costing you valuable fishin' time. yesterday i got both these fish to show definite signs of aggression toward the bait, both even went nose down on it several times but eventually turned away when i kept doing the things i did to get them interested. sometimes what you have to do with the bait to get them to bite is totally different than what you had to do to get them interested. what i did to get them interested was a shaking presentation ("shaking" the rod to make the bait just barely quiver). but once they got interested they would not bite the shaking presentation - they'd just look at it a few seconds and swim away. so what i did was once they got "nose down" on the bait i gave it a HUGE POP with the rod tip making it jerk violently. this was the "triggering move" that sent both of these fish over the edge making them bite. but the huge pop was done with the rod tip DOWN which caused the bait to violently scoot across the nest and dig into the edge of it. if i had done it with the rod tip up, i would have just jumped the bait out of the nest and out of harm's way. in trying to figure out why this worked, my theory is that once a bed fish is eyeballing your bait and you give it that huge "POP!" with the rod, it can trigger a "reaction strike" the same way a crankbait or spinnerbait bouncing off a log does with a non-spawning fish. that's just my theory anyway. who knows? i do firmly believe that each individual fish is different. next time it could be just the opposite - the POP! could get their attention but the "shaking" could be the strike trigger. the important point to remember is this: IT OFTEN TAKES A DIFFERENT PRESENTATION TO GET THE FISH TO BITE THAN THE ONE THAT GOT IT INTERESTED. i think a lot of guys get frustrated because they keep doing the same thing with the bait in the nest over and over again and cannot close the deal. i love bed fishing for this reason. it's the ultimate mental chess game with a fish. fishing the nest at the right angle, finding the sweet spot, finding the right bait, learning to read the fish's body language, working them up, triggering them, using the male to get the female interested, bait and switch tactics, and when to set the hook. all those little but critical do's and don'ts will make you or break you with sight fishing. i know this will sound like a big fat DUH! to those who have been bed fishin' for a while, but maybe to those who are learning (like me) it will be helpful. good luck and please release 'em.

yeah, me too. problem is the lake where i usually catch my larger fish looks like chocolate milk right now from all the rain. >. you never know though, i might get lucky. these were caught at a pond.

caught these 2 sight fishin' today. caught the bigger 6-2 on the right first using a berkley powerbait beast t-rigged with a gamakatsu 6/0 superline hook and a 5/8 oz. bullet weight. the smaller 5-1 on the left fell for a paca craw with the same hook and weight. both of these fish were relating to the same bed. to me bed fishin' is the most adrenaline pumping, exciting rush in all of bassin'. in my book, there is absolutely nothing like seeing one roll over and go nose down on a bait before slurping it up. i got to see everything unfold today up close and loved it. to make things even better, today i figured out a new "triggering" move with the bait that made both of these fish hit. it was pretty cool. of course both these fish were released unharmed. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

congrats on the cool new pb! real nice fish man.

rock on HG!!!!!! cool pix and post. great fish. i know you are stoked.

swiss bass. california pictures. lol ;D just kidding. great fish man.

well it's officially spawn phase here now - at least on one of the lakes i fish. there will be beds all over the place any day now. i did manage to find a couple of pretty good fish up shallow "cruising" today, staking out potential nest sites. even though these "cruising" fish can be difficult at times, they have already become territorial to some degree and can be aggravated into biting if you do things right. i returned in low light conditions to the area i had spotted this one hanging out and managed to get her to go on a hardnose fluke. she followed the bait several times and swirled at at several times too, trying to scare it away from the area she was in. finally she had enough and sucked it in . weighed 6-3. ;D not a giant, but pretty fun on the spinning rod. i am so pumped for some bed fish now and it won't be long at all if the weather holds. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

hey b@ssman, that's an awesome fish. i don't blame you for wanting a replica on a monster like that. very cool you released her. hope everything works out for ya with a great replica. wrb, i agree with you totally. i have used both formulas and have found the one you quoted to be accurate within a couple of ounces on fish that i have actually weighed with a reliable digital scale. i have found also that the other formula tends to weigh fish too heavy. i'm glad you posted this.

totally awesome! that is just flat slayin' 'em right there matt. congratulations!

the first 2 fish are real nice. as for the third one....... :Pyuck! seriously, congratulations.

use powerpro without a leader all the time in some very clear water. have outfished guys using straight floro or mono. i really think a lot of the "line visibility" thing is in people's heads. just in case though, i "camoflage" my powerpro with a sharpie.

this sounds like a cool guy with a REAL fishing show. excuse my ignorance, but i have never seen it. i have directv and as far as i know the only outdoor channels i have are the outdoor channel and versus. i haven't seen the show listed on either of those. can you get this world fishing network for directv? if so how? thanks

congrats on the new pb.

nice fish daniel. gotta love those big plastics.