gobig

These are my favorites super spook, punker, gunfish

Lamiglas dropshot speacial 2

The optimum line of swimbaits are good swimbaits. The line through works good in open water. It is a good middle/upper of the water column swimbait. If you think you are going to crawl it on the bottom you will loose it with the quickness. What is drawing you to this particular swimbait? And what kind of water are you fishing? Murky, clear, a lot of weeds etc... Choosing the wrong bait can get expensive or be frustrating. I will also mention that I own only few swimbaits that are under six inches. The smaller baits have a time and a place but 95% of the time I am throwing baits that are six inches or larger. As for swimbaits I prefer, I'll just give you my top ten from this year in no particular order. 8in Hudd ROF5 (Butch Brown rigging) 8in Triple Trout Trashfish with a 8/0 beast (refer to little creeper website for rigging) Hudd 68 ROF 5 MS Slammer (owner st36 hooks with hyperwire split rings) 8in BBZ floater Keitech swing impact fat 5.8 (A-rig or on a jig head) 6in slow sink BBZ1 Osprey tournament talon Original Black Dog Shell Cracker Floater ( I have never thrown Matts hard gills but I hear good things)

I use Bubs rig about 95% of the time. But if its real thick the miller is the way to go.

There are different types of vegitation. Some float, some go to the bottom but have tunnels so to speak. If you look at a tree the trunk and branches go up and the canope is on top. This is similar to how a lot of the vegitation grows. You can punch just about anything that forms a mat, including trash. The best way to tell if its a mat or solid weeds is to throw the rig in there. You will feel it break through. When you lift up you can tell the depth when the rig hits the bottom of the mat. I punch a lot of really heavy cover so my opinion and preferences vary from this. I want a long (7.5 to 8ft) heavy action rod that has a good parabolic (more of a C shape bend then a J shape) bend to it. 65# braid is the lightest I would use. I have tried all kinds of set ups for punching and there are only two that I use right now. This is the order in which its rigged. Punch stop (paycheck), bobber stop (eagle claw 8-12), river 2 sea trash bomb weight, paycheck skirt (optional) and as far as hooks I use a trokar flippin hook or the paycheck punch hooks which are gami's. Both have welded eyes.The second rig I use is a miller weight.

I have caught fish where there is only 6in of water under the mat.

I feel the same as others. This is by far my favorite med crank. Plus they don't cost a small fortune. I am also a big fan of the DD22.

x's 2

In my opinion its mainly the type of water your fishing as to weather bass primarily hit on the fall or on the bottom. For instance on the delta (primarily shallow with vegitation) most of the hits come on the fall. When I fish Berryessa (deep rocky resivoir) its a totally different game in most cases. The majority of the bites come on the bottom.

I don't know if they have changed in quality but the swimbaits I bought in the past from reaction strike were pure crap. I had to return one 5 times to get a bait that didn't fill with water or that would swim right. As mentioned the ones that work do catch fish but the joints break way to easy. I wouldn't pay for the shipping if someone sent me one for free.

Full face helmut works great. Much warmer in my opinion.

Anyone else get this warning when trying to log on to the this site?

There are quite a few things that will work on those fish. Spoons, dropshot, swimbaits, A-rig, float n fly, senko's, etc... and don't rule out top water especially in clear water. I have found that suspended fish generally tend to feed up. But at times you have to put the bait right on their nose for extended periods of time to get them to go. I am in complete agreeance with the idea that bass use structure to pin prey. I use the deep to shallow approach often. The surface is another barrier where prey is pinned. Shadows also create cover. When you approach these fish you have to think about "what can they use in their environment to their advantage?".

If there still there tonight I might get a few more. I got 4 rainbows, two fives and two twelves.

Were ready.

Its back up.

Anyone else get theirs?

WRB, couldn't have said it better myself.

My idea of punching is penetrating anything that forms a canopy above or below the surface. For instance on the Delta when the tide comes in and the once visible surface mat goes subsurface, it is still there. Dead tullies or trash that blow into a pocket also form canopies. In my mind its not just limited to a surface mat. Most of the time I feel there is no need to sling the bait up in the air. If you can pitch or flip with some degree of accuracy you can hit areas in the mat where you can shake your bait through. Out here everyone and there mother punches on the Delta. 90% of the people sling there bait up in the air and I feel the fish have become wise to it, especially the larger ones. The other mistake that is even more critical that I often see people make is that they blow out the mat with there trolling motor. Or they allow the boat to hit the mat.

A parabolic bend means that the rod has a more consistent bend that starts closer to the handle, more of a C shape. Where a rod with a fast action is going to bend closer to the tip in more of a J shape. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. There is more of one school of thought on the subject. I believe it makes a big difference. Especially with heavier baits. Because there is a deeper more consistent bend, it slows the speed of the rod as it flexes. This absorbs impact and It also takes away from the increased leverage a fish has with heavier lures. Which helps keep them pinned. The rod is less likely to fail because the flex point is in the backbone of the rod and you have more power fighting fish in the middle of the rod.

The miller weights work good in really thick stuff. Not to mention the brass adds some flash to the bait. Most of the time I just use a normal 1.5 tungsten but I feel the millers have a spot in my arsenal. For the most part I agree with skeet22. I will add that I like to use several different baits for varying actions. A RI sweet beaver is a gliding bait with little secondary action. I have the most confidence in a sweet beaver. My second choice is the pit boss which has a tone of secondary action. Because of the way the appendages hang off the back of the bait they go right through the mat and don't hang up. And last but not least I will punch a senko. I have two rods that I punch with. One is a phenix ultra swimbait 7'11''MH. I want a rod that has a good parabolic bend with a lot of power and this rod fits the bill. The other rod that I punch with is a gen2 Bub's punch rod made by Irod. Both are close to the same action. If I had to pick one over the other I would choose Bub's rod. I like the balance a little better. As for the reel I use a Shimano Castaic. People seem to either love or hate this reel. It has a thumb bar that engages the reel with out having to turn the handle. Like a lot of other people I make a cast and switch hands. If I get bit before I change hands I can set the hook right away.

Both baits work all year long but punkers seem to work best for me from spring through fall. I tend to throw them when fish are more active and willing to chase. This is going to sound contradictory but if your getting a lot of follows on a wakebait and the fish seem unwilling to commit, try a punker. It's a great cat and mouse bait. Incorporate pauses and twitches and get those fish to react. I tend to pick up baits like the floating bbz in low light conditions or when there is a good chop on the water. Some of the best days are when there are 3ft rollers. Everyone else is trying to hide from the wind but I welcome it. I also like to long line these types of baits over humps submerged trees, and long tapering points. They also work well along ledges. Try dead sticking and fishing them really slow. The real answer is really kind of generic. You have to mix it up and see what the fish want. One thing your going to see throwing big baits is that bigger fish live by their own set of rules. You will learn things that contradict common bass folklore. Just look at what the A-rig exposed. We were told that in the winter you need to slow down and fish deep. And that suspended fish are inactive. I hope people continue believing this because its going to fatten my wallet.

I have caught a lot of fish in the 5-7lb range on a senko. My pb is pretty close to the 8lb mark. Out here several fish over ten are caught on them every year. It is not my favorite bait to fish. But when fishing tournaments it is to effective of a bait not to have one tied on. Smaller Senkos catch big fish but try incorporating the larger 7in Senko's into the mix if you want some larger fish.

Swimbaits, Jigs, Swimbaits