Big-O

Hey Sam...that's a TROPHY in itself, Huh Big O www.ragetail.com

Excellent and you gave'em a smorgasboard to pick from... Big O www.ragetail.com

A cool front headed was headed my direction this week so I ran hard and fast to the lake Called one of my friends CUATRO just before I left and he said don't leave the ramp without me... We got there Monday night at 9:30pm and eased out to try to get bit by something besides mosquitos. That night was good but the bite was spotty and the most exciting part was CUATRO hanging a big fish and immediately after the hookset, the fish blasted underneath the back of the boat, only to surface behind the motor and she quickly threw a 10" Thumper back at us...Then I heard OHHHH NOOOO did you see that SOW!!! I smiled and quietly replied "Yeh I saw her, and I saw somebody else besides me get their butt kicked too". ;D The next night a thunderstorm blew in and we ran from one end of the lake to the other trying to stay as far from the lightening bolts as possible. We caught fish just about everywhere we went but the bigguns seemed to be eluding us. Then at about 1:00am I feel the boat rock and hear CUATRO groan...When I turned to see what was happening, he was leaning back into a fully bowed rod saying "This is the one Big O, this is the one". We were in open water so I jumped down from the front deck and told him to let wear herself down before trying to bring her too close. She made several deep surges stripping drag each time and it was quite the entertaining show After she tired and laid on her side, I reached down and grabbed a set of JAWS. WTG CUATRO, that was another fun adventure for the books and I really enjoyed having you back out on the water with me. BTW...This trip, we never ran short on refreshments, hehehe Big O www.ragetail.com

Wondered where you've been Robert...Nice fish and welcome back Obviously you haven't forgotten how to catch'em. Let's go South A...... Big O www.ragetail.com

BigBassChaser, I was using a 5/0 heavy wire Gammy and 20lb Lake Fork Parallelium Pro line on that particular rod. And I venture to bet that your skills are just fine too Big O www.ragetail.com

Chin Up friend...all's not lost you know her where abouts now. Just remember, big fish have big boney jaws and need a sharp hook and heavy hook set to penetrate'em. Then alot of luck to finally land'em Big O www.ragetail.com

X2...ease up quietly within casting distance of your located sweet spot. Most of the time, if there are fish along the dock, they'll definitely be on the point because the submerged structure is both shallow and deep opportunity for feeding. 6 ft is shallow water and the fish will treat it as such. The advantage this gives you is primarily all day fishing opportunity because when the fish are actively feeding shallow, they'll be on or around the top of the dock, then moving down to the base of it or under it in off peak times. That spot will most always be the key spot for obvious reasons. Watch for bait working along the length of it because the bass will be there too. Good fishin' Big O www.ragetail.com

Here's a group of photo's that illustrate placing a weighted hook in a Space Monkey without boring the weight thru the head of the bait. You can use the point to penetrate the nose to chin area prior to inserting the eye of the hook back thru from beneath. With this style of hook, always place hook in bait prior to tying on line. I used this style of hook for many years, but now I am partial to screw lock hooks like the Moaner Hooks brand shown above in Shane's post with the Smokin Rooster. This is much easier rigging, holds head up much better and the hook gap is much larger providing better hook up %'s. Hope that helps Big O www.ragetail.com

Yep, Falcon Lake Craw...and I like it Alot ;D Big O www.ragetail.com

Finally got back on the water for a little while this week and two of my Buddies, Wendell and Ronnie met me the first evening to share a few hours of fishin' time Prior to them arriving, I spent a couple of hours running around cking to see any changes from the last time I was there and noticed several things... 1) It was hot, 101 in the Shade 2) the water temps were up 3) It was HOT, about 130 in the SUN 4) the lake was down and the water clarity was good over most of the Lake. 5) Did I say "IT WAS HOT", I got really thirsty while I was out there cking the lake and I had to stay hydrated you know so I want to apologize for not having enough refreshments on board when they arrived. Should've put my Big O Ice chest in the boat We tried several different places and had just enough success to keep things interesting but never hit any fish of the Larger Caliber...Big Thumpers and Rage Hawgs seemed to be the ticket. Actually the most memorable part of that evening was Ronnie telling a story from their distant past when he and Wendell were fishing the Texas coast at Port Aransas. They were casting from the rocks on the jetty and according to Ronnie, Wendell had one of his prize 11 ft surf rods staked out in the boulders with a big hunk of cut bait at the end of the line soaking in the channel....Ronnie went on to mention that Wendell had been heavy into the refreshments previously and was passed out on the rocks for a long period of time...Said he looked like a Beached Mini Walrus all sprawled out there when all of the sudden the prize Rod bowed over as if a tug boat was on the end of it. Ronnie being quite a distance away, started yelling to Wendell, "Wake up! Wake up! Whatever that is, it's gonna BREAK MY ROD". Then after just a few moments SNAP....the Rod handle broke below the reel and what was left went skipping out across the surface for the longest time...Ronnie quickly realized he only had one chance to save it and rared back with his other 11 footer and made the longest cast he could and actually landed perfectly 3 ft past the skipping prize rod, snagging it by the reel. Ronnie fought and managed to bring his rod and reel back to shore with the big monster on the other end....By this time Wendell was wide awake watching his good Buddy struggling with the situation. Wendell jumped up like Captain America and grabbed the wounded rod then actually landed a giant Sting Ray. Now that's a STORY... After Ronnie and Wendell finished telling all the details, I was quiet thinking to myself...I've never heard a better story in my life Dang I like going Fishin' with friends... Since they both had to work early the next day, I took'em back to the ramp around 10:00pm but was glad I got to fish with'em for a little while. Early the next morning, I decided to switch to a Rage Craw for a faster fall rate without increasing the weight. A couple of medium sized fish got me excited about the bite opportunity before I pitched the Craw into a deeper tree on a ledge and just before it touched the bottom, A heavy fish nailed it and headed straight down. I set the hook and got her headed my way then I eased the boat out to deeper water and let her play for a minute before landing her (Photo below). By 10am I had marked several other spots where the structure was similar but no more bigguns. Spent the rest of the morning looking for another evening/nightime jaunt and found the pattern I was looking for...Took off to avoid the daytime heat and got back out after an evening thunderstorm, one of my favorite times to fish and that's when it happened. Just after dark, I eased up to one of the marks and casted an Okechobee colored Rage Hawg to the sweet spot. After it settled to the bottom, I lifted the rod tip and felt the fish...a quick hook set later and the war broke out. She made several hard pulling surges and I could tell she was free from hang ups and I again eased the boat toward open water. She was coming up fast and surfaced with a big thrash about 10 yards from the boat. Then she made two more deep drives under the boat before I felt her slow her anger at me. I stepped off of the front deck to get in landing position and she made me pay for a mistake I've made too many times...She wasn't even close to being done and she blasted at the side of the boat two more times then took off like a rocket behind the boat only to surface again with a vengence throwing my empty hook and weight right back to me...That was the hottest big fish I've hooked in three years and I'm still in awe at her relentless aggression. I think that's just a nice way to say "I got my Big O Butt Kicked AGAIN" Big O www.ragetail.com

Here you go friend...and if you have anymore question, let me know http://www.ragetail.com/Eeliminator.html http://www.ragetail.com/SmokinRooster.html Big O www.ragetail.com

X2... When they came out in the late 70's, I was in Northern Fla. and used them as a joke...found out they worked just fine in certain situations. But so does a a variety of colored shoe laces and they last much longer ;D Big O www.ragetail.com

WTG Burley...keep it up Big O www.ragetail.com

Me too Big O www.ragetail.com

Keep'em....I'll tell him you said thanks at our next meeting Big O www.ragetail.com

You're doing just fine and WTG on the new PB If they don't want to come to the top to visit you, go to the bottom to visit them...A little T rigged Soft plastic will probably do the trick for you Big O www.ragetail.com

Can you say F-A-T-T-Y, or maybe B-I-G H-A-W-G....Yep, I believe you can ;D WTG Man that's a Great looking girl for any water especially where you're from Big O www.ragetail.com

Sounds like you two had a great day, those are some nice looking Northern Bass for sure. And the boat must've done you proud as well Congratulations Big O www.ragetail.com

Approximately 3/4 ounce from my figures...and that's with the salt content in the plastic. I think it's safe to say "Annie a full figured Worm" ;D Big O www.ragetail.com

I'm sure they'll be at *** in September and possibly at BPS too. There were alot of them handed out at ICAST to a variety of folks and hopefully everyone else can get them soon as well. Thanks for your interest Zero Big O www.ragetail.com

Hey RW, Those little 7" Thumpers were made from "SUPER DUPER EXTRA STRONG" plastic....NOT!!! ;D But we are working on making little improvements here and there for durability standards Glad you like'em Big O www.ragetail.com

I think you have'em figured out now Fat-G Fine looking Fish and thanks for listing your full tackle set up...really helps for understanding personal tackle choices and needs. Big O www.ragetail.com

That's terrific ETB If you ever wear out the head of the shrimp...just cut the front half of the body off and thread it on a small jig as a trailer...a jig has never had it so good Can't dip in JJ's though, will make a mess Big O www.ragetail.com

Excellent and congratulations on the New PB... Big O www.ragetail.com

Good Times and Good Friends....That's what it's all about Big O www.ragetail.com