5bass

Congrats young man!I hope you will soon be the new Jr. WR holder.Lets have the story,I want to hear how it wrapped you in some grass,jumped 3 times,made 6 runs under the boat and the net wasnt big enough,etc......come on,lets hear it. ;D

Anybody on Bassmasters or FLW Outdoors.

You can use any type of wood,Christmas trees are just the easiest to mess with.You can get treetops from any tree and put them in a bucket of cement,it's really that simple.Obviously a bigger,thicker brushpile will hold more bait which in turn draws MORE bass but a small pile can be productive too......anything a bass can get beside,behind or in to hide themselves will be helpful. Placement of the brushpile is more crucial than size or type of wood.You need to sink them at least 15' down so they cant be seen by every fisherman that goes by.Also,brushpiles are mainly used by bass in the summertime so if you know at what depth your average thermocline is in your lake,drop them in at least that deep or slightly deeper.I prefer 18' to 25' on the ends or deep sides of main lake points. If your lake doesnt have a hard current flow,the hardwood piles could last 6 or more seasons,pine piles typically last 3-4.

Get some good polarized glasses,then you will want to just cruise quietly down the bank,far enough off just to see the edge.It doesnt necessarily have to be a distinct spawning flat but where ever you look has to have decent sun penetration.Look for anything that may look like a hubcap laying on the bottom.This is the bed,the silt has been brushed away by the male to get to a little firmer bottom.Look way ahead of your boat.......if the fish are not locked on the bed,they may move off into deeper water if they see your boat or you make a bunch of noise.Looking way ahead allows you to see a bass moving off the bed if spooked.After you pass by,they will come back and you might never know they were there. If you spot a fish or two on a bed,approach them like you would be trying to steal a bone from a sleeping pit bull.If you happen to spook them on the approach,leave for about 10 minutes and go back,chances are they will be back by then.If not,move on,come back by later. Make long pitches/casts to the bed at first,you may be able to move closer after you determine the mood of the particular fish you're on. Forgot to add,if you're water isnt at least stable in the low 60's yet,there may not be much spawning activity going on.You may be looking too early.

Of course crawdads dont hibernate in Dance's ponds......they are all heated and cooled......the lowest temps in his ponds are 62 and the highest they ever get is 72. ;D Must be nice Bill :-?

Only until a smallie plasters it......

Since you have a boat now,gather yourself some brushpiles,anchor them real well,go to any main channel points you know of,get on the ends of the points,drop your piles in,mark your point on GPS and BAM!......you're on some fish in the summertime.Larger plastics and jigs will be best to fish your piles with but if you want a real challenge,back off the piles and hit 'em with a deep crankbait. Making your own brushpiles is an easy way to learn where the bass will be in the summer.Those brushpiles are the basses "summer home",sort of like a condo. Sink the piles deep enough so that they cant be easily seen without electronics and if you know at what depth your lake stratifies (thermocline) sink them around that depth or slightly deeper.

From my experience,a steady 55-56 water temp will get them goin'.

Exactly,the fish dont have clocks and watches.What triggers the fish to get in gear is the longer periods of daylight.

The first article I read stated that the guys were apparently real close to a dock and there were several on-lookers watching Mac as he fished for it.Those people clearly saw the foul hooked white jig when the fish came up.

Matt,I thought the pic on the Bassmaster mag cover (bass on tool box) was the one he claimed was 13 pounds.Regardless,neither one was anywhere close to 13 pounds.

That's exactly what I was saying.....maybe his 22 pounder actually weighed 15 since he thought the 6 pounder weighed 13,making his scale off by 7 pounds.

Edit: Just saw EW's post. Much better picture and that bass is not even close to 10 pounds. Sorry Mr. Perry! You're either a liar or have very bad judgement when it comes to estimating weight. Or his scale was a real piece of crap.

;D

Thats a bad way to look at it.Wouldnt you like to see a pic of Perry's fish?If you would acknowledge the lack of proof and facts about it,you may see things differently.But maybe not. Just check out his "13 pounder",that will tell you something about him or his scale that was obviously WAY off.

I agree EW,the guy had a picture taken of a "13 pounder" that was at most about 6 pounds,it's on the cover of one of my Bassmasters.Maybe his scale was off and his "WR fish" actually weighed about 15,that would have been more believable. And for someone to say that $75 wasnt jacks$%^& and why would he lie for $75?Well,in 1932,during the depression,$75 greenbacks was a whole lot of money. And IGFA was not so "stand-up" during the years that they denied the smallmouth record......that guy had more than enough proof about his fish.Way more than Perry and that "22# largemouth".

I agree flechero,everything is total speculation.Nobody knows for sure what any other person is thinking or what goes through their head.Even the people who defend the guy,they dont know anything either,no more than the critics anyway. The only thing factual in the whole mess is that the dude had caught and admitted he snagged by accident,a 25 pound bass,the biggest bass ever held live out of water,then he released it. After that,the rest is total speculation. EW,if he was wanting to set it up for a future catch,I highly doubt he would have paraded the thing around the dock or have it all over the internet.Plus,I dont see why he would've even considered catching it in the future when it was right there in front of him......that fish is a senior citizen and could die at any moment. I do,however,think that after he realized that it was snagged and witnesses saw it was snagged,he made the decision to release it and possibly catch it another day.In my opinion,if all the other people had not noticed the fish was snagged,I think he would have carried on through with the IGFA process right then,but remember,that's just my opinion.

Eagle (made by Lowrance) Fishelite 480 is a bargain at under $400

Wow,some thread you guys have going here. I buy into that clout/prestige/recognition theory,however,the "WR hunters" all know that the WR bass could generate tons of money.I can fully understand that being a factor in why they fish exclusively for WR fish.Heck,if I lived in California,I may fish for the WR exclusively too........and you could bet the ranch that I would have dollar signs in my eyes if I was ever to see the WR on a bed. Those guys know about the loot that fish could bring,they arent fooling anybody. Carry on.

If I remember the story right,he was fishing a 10-12 ft deep bed and the monster nosed down on his jig,he lost sight of the jig and set the hook.......I cant say that I wouldnt have done the same thing.........if I see a bass go nose down on my jig and then I lose sight of the jig,I'm setting the hook HARD!Whenever your bed fishing and you see the bass go pretty much vertical near your bait,9 times out of 10,you are about to get bit.And I'm sure at that point the dude was shaking like a leaf knowing he was about to battle with a real monster.

squid,I think Perry's bass was more fishy than this one.Nobody could even find a pic of his WR bass.And on the cover of Bassmaster a while back,Perry was on there with what looked to be maybe a 6 pounder......which HE claimed weighed 13+ pounds.Maybe the Perry bass actually only weighed about 15 pounds. I hope the Dixon Hawg sticks as the WR.......although,deep down,I dont think it will.

Matt_Fly,I have read 3-4 articles about it and been in on a few different discussions in different forums and I have seen no mention of a treble or stinger hook anywhere.Just curious how all that got dragged into the debate. As far as I can tell,(from various articles),he just had a white jig,the fish nosed down on it,he thought the fish had it and he set the hook........hooking the fish in the side. I'd like to read the stinger/treble hook info,wherever it was that you found it.

Thats correct.

From what an eyewitness said,there were a few people around them that saw that he had foul hooked it.......could be why he 'fessed up and said something,could just be an honest guy......who knows.Who cares?What a fish!And if his scales were "ON",it went 25 even on them.

Aside from the obviously HUGE belly,look at how thick the tail is and how big it's eye is.