Brush Hog20

Break out the C/Card.... the bait monkey is calling! ;D Banana breath rents a room at my place as it is.... ;D

Thats a great link Iowa only has a handful but they all shade to green and brown..only one has a redish...all my cranks are red craw!!

Cheating?? Of course not as long as the individual is within the local regs. Sporting? not so much... But then I tend to think the purest form of the sport is when I try to perfectly drift a size 20 BWO over trout in a gin clear spring creek. I often wonder how sporting I am when use artificials with a baitcaster in my hand and on the deck of my triton while glancing at my lowrance.. ;D Plus...not pointing fingers at anyone here but my experience with the bait guys is not very good. they like to leave there bait containers on the bank or in the drink which I detest. Not to mention they tend to gut hook their catch which is not a big deal if they keep, but a lot of the times they keep fishing once past their limit and releasing fish that have to chance.

Brush Hogs!!! two over 6lbs in the last year...not the baby hogs either....the big boy hogs...doesn't matter what color...

Rolo, never hired a guide either. In case you hadn't noticed I am cheap.. ;D ...and your second point is well made. If I created something that cool with my own two hands I wouldn't share it with anybody...

.....not to mention isn't vast majority of the appeal of fishing the ability to skillfully make a presentation of an artificial lure and fooling a fish to bite it??? Thats why I don't fish live bait. So in my mind making lure more lifelike is just the dumbing down of the sport of fishing. Matt himself adimited he caught fish by doing nothing but holding the rod. Where is the fun or the pride in your catch in that? I see why Matt has pride in that becaues he crafted the masterpiece that caught the fish. But where is the enjoyment for those that buy this lure?

I understand what rubba is saying in this thread. I fully admit to being completely ignorant to swimbaits and the thought of spending 50 bucks on a single lure seems execessive. So I would need to be shown its better than my beloved brushhog that I just stuck a 6.5 lb bass on this last weekend or the seven pound bass I caught on a lizard last year. As we all the know the goal is to catch fish not how good the bait looks doing it. I understand the niche market and maybe thats all Matt wants. I admit I know nothing about em and I don't live in "Monster Bass" country so my perspective is probably askew from the most on this thread. But I do know that large bass are rare ,at least in my neck of the woods, and I suspect even in greatly famed waters and unless all the swimbaiters are catching 10lbers every other cast its just not worth it...As a side note I think the baits look great and Matt is a true craftsman. I just will probably never buy one becuase I just don't think for my everyday fishing it adds much comensurate to the cost. So I am the guy and guys like me rubba was speaking of so I get that. Its very likely Matt does not care to reach out to my level of fisherman, but I am okay with that.

I have an endura and a BPS prowler 55# transom mount for my pond jumper and a MG bow mount on my triton.. Of the three I like th Minn Kota the best.. Its quieter than the prowler and lighter. The light on the prowler is handy however and it obviously has more punch than the Minn Kota. I use the Endura on ponds and small lakes and the prowler on lakes over 100 acres. I can work em both all day and while they both are pretty doggy at dusk after 12-14 hours of use neither have left me paddling home. Key is getting a quality battery and charger and take care of the battery..i.e. put it somewhere warm during the winter...

I have had similar experiences with BPS and SLOW shipping and it been getting progressively worse. We are getting a store here in the DM, IA area and I will frequent that, but my days of ordering things from BPS are OVER. I order from Cabelas and Tackle Warehouse now..

I use a flyrod for bass a few times a year just to refresh my skills for trout trips. Its quite fun. I river fish for smallies mostly but have hit my grandpa's farm pond as well. You can use a flyrod for about any application. I know a guy that flyrods for carp and cat's. Give it a try you won't be disappointed.

Congrats.....you will love that little boat. I have a 9' Pond Prowler with a 55# TM. I just bought a new Triton but I bet I still get the little prowler wet pretty often... Just a fun little boat and gets me on some real nice water where I am the only boat and most times the only fisherman...

Besides bass i enjoy crappie and flyrodding for stream/river trout..

I have the 55# thrust model for my little pond jumper. Its tough and reliable and the light is a nice feature that I use plenty. However I bought it to replace my 40# minn kota endura and its much louder than the minn kota and I find myself still using the minn kota about half the time for that reason.

I have the 55. Its okay. Quite a bit louder than the 45 MK I replaced. I still have have the 45 and I still use it about half the time. The light in the prowler is a nice feature.

Personal preference as stated in previous posts. If you have the will; the fish will be there waiting for you... I have been fishing in a blustery sleet storm and caught the largest brown trout of my life...Only fish I caught the day, but was good enuff.. In the pic I look miserable, but inside I was thinking what a great day!!! ;D

I carry 8-10 rods. But I never leave the house without a spinnerbait rod, a buzzbait rod, and a Brush Hog rod.. and lately I could just leave the house with just the buzzbait rod and slay em all day...

+1 Moving fish from water to water is a pretty hefty no no..If you don't agree contact your local DNR for futher explanation... ;D

Way more than is necessary... ;D Not sure which one is my hobbie, fishing or buying fishing gear...

I agree with Catt 100%...Its practice and feel..I have been fishing plastics since I was a little kid...I have had so much practice with it think I could detect strikes if I was casting a log chain... ;D ;D

I also have a rod always rigged with a zoom horny toad that I work the slop with. While I do get drilled occasionally on the slop I get most of my strikes on it slowly sinking in the holes or just of the edge of the nasty stuff.. I have a couple spooks I will throw, but never gotten a strike on em. Topwater is my favorite by far. I am just getting frustrated because I have not had a hot topwater bite in a couple seasons.. I will be on the water before sun up tomorrow and likely till after its down...I am hoping tomorrow is the day! If not I will slay more than my fair share on the trusty Brush Hog...

I love topwater fishing, but I have very little patience with it. I have always been told if they aren't hitting on top within a few casts move on. So I do. My question is how long to you all stick with topwater before you move on to someting else? I generally keep three rods with topwater tied on...Pop R, Jitterbug, and a buzzbait.

Killing a trophy fish for the sake of vanity is not okay in my book....Make the replica...

So far so good. Levies seem to be holding here so far for the most part. The sun is even threatening to shine..

Hey guys there is a new lake in my area! Its called Iowa.. Any advice for fishing this new lake? Also anyone have any advice on how much HP I should put on a new 2000 square foot "houseboat" ..... This post is clearly toungue in cheek, but sure would be nice if it's quit raining.....Or at the very least stop lighting so I can go fishing!!!

Not caught an 8, but have landed a 6.5# and it was the hardest fighting bass I have caught. It pull me around in my little pond jumper.. ;D The only fish I have caugt that pulled harder was a 25" Brown Trout I caught on a flyrod in the white river in Ark. My Brother caught an 18 in smallie on an ultralight with 4# test..that looked like a lot of fun!!! I don't have a lot of big fish experience but there's my .02 anyways.....