CWB

My wife had serious back surgery 7 weeks ago and is finally getting close to her old self and moving around better. As my son is going off to college to play baseball (and get an education) this week, we decided to have an end of summer family get together at the cottage. After my wife was settled down in the chaise lounge, I went in and grabbed a couple of rods as my cousin wanted to go wading and fish the docks and boats. Water was 3-4 feet deep at the end of most of the docks. I gave him a rod with a t-rigged senko on it and I took a rod and wacky rigged a senko on it. We were both doing pretty good. Fish seemed to be under every dock or boat, sometimes more than 1. Matt was learning but he was having some trouble skipping the lure under the pontoon boats that were tied to the docks with the motor facing out. I gave him a quick lesson but he was still clanking it off the pontoons. In between docks, we would cast out to the inside weed edge. I had a tap and the line went screaming off. Set the hook and nothing. Pike or Musky took my bait. I decided to re-rig with a 7" Anaconda and let Matt fish the docks. We both got a couple more and came up to my favorite dock. A little deeper water, out farther into the lake and dug out around it causing weeds to grow around the area. Also, there was a pontoon boat facing out so Matt could skip the senko under it easily. He tossed under the boat and I cast at the end of the dock. Matt hooked a decent fish and as I was watching him, I felt a tap on my worm and set the hook into something big. Thought it was another Pike or Musky until it ran past me in 4 feet of water. Huge bass. Felt pretty confident about landing her as she ran into shallower water with nothing but sand bottom. Tried to jump a few times but could only shake her head. Finally lipped her and started shaking. Definitely bigger than any bass I have ever caught and had those huge bug-eyes. No camera, as we were quite a ways from home, but I'm guesstimating 7.5#. One of the homeowners took a couple pix on his cell phone and said he would email them to me but haven't received them yet. I measured the length on the rod and when I got home my guesstimate measured 24-25" and the girth had to be pretty good as this thing had a belly as big as mine. Just goes to show, when your not paying attention.....

Steve- I have a love-hate relationship with you. I love the fish you catch and the pics and stories but hate that I'm not there with you. (Hint Hint) ;D I did get a monster for up here this past weekend but nothing like that pig.

I caught one about 10 lbs some years ago and thought I had a world record bass on. Doublebladed black Buzzbait at dusk. Then I got it to the boat and it did an alligator death roll. Great fighters. Last year had one engulf my Rage Shad and thought I had a new P.B on. Ended up 9-10 lbs.

Don't forget the backwards rigged Ika. Great for skippin' under post docks and will glide under floaters.

Me too Big O www.ragetail.com Big-O isn't biased by the way. ;D Love the Rage Toad but have to agree with SoFla on the Rage Shad. By far my favorite bait to fish. I know a guy from Wisconsin that would rather throw a one legged Horny Toad but that's another story.

I tried matching a spinning reel to a baitcast rod and it didn't work too well.

I'm with R.W. on the Yo-Zuri. Great all-around line at a great price. Use some KVD Line and Lure Conditioner.

For all you "SHE-MAN-O" guys (I miss Muddy) Check the link on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270600909794&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT $145.99 Might have to get one myself.

The Red Eyes remind me of a pot bellied rattlebait made by Rebel some years ago. I had a similar problem with a Crankbait that didn't rattle. Sent email and described problem. Chris said to try rapping it on a tabletop to shake the rattle free. It worked plus they sent 3 free baits + a hat. C.S. second to none IMO.

My dad caught a bass near 8 lbs several years ago on this bait. He was the first in the area to try this bait. Needless to say everyone of the neighbors went out and bought all of them they could find. One of the original soft body weedless frogs. I still have a few unopened as souvenirs.

Put on some Motorhead and blast it as loud as you can. Any fish within a mile will be so pumped up, they'll hit anything you throw!

They are also Big-O approved! EWG worm hooks??

Backwards Fat Ika (thanks) skipped under docks and boats. Rage Shad. Not so secret but killer. Shadalicious swimbait through sparser cover along drops and deep weedlines. Eeliminator slowly over shallow weeds. These are always tied on my rods.

I've been using the Gamakatsu wide gap weedless finesse hook, size 2/0, with great success. I use 2 o-rings on a senko and criss-cross them and slip the hook thru where they cross so it is at 90 degrees to the bait. These things hook and hold and being weedless is a big plus for me. http://www.***.com/Gamakatsu_Wide_Gap_Finesse_Hook_Weedless_5pk/descpage-GFWH.html

5/0 Gammy superline or 1/16 oz weigthed superline hooks work great for this. I prefer the Shadalicious in 4.5" for up here.

That was actually the smaller of 2 I caught within 1/2 hour of each other. The bigger one broke the line as I dragged him on shore and away he went. They cruise the shallows in early fall, maybe to lay their eggs. I would rather mess with a snapper than a softshell. They are nasty. The ones I've caught can't reach their tails with their necks out but they can go about 1/2 the way back their body.

Got this beast on a shiner off my dock. Pretty good fight. Feet were bigger than mine.

I still have a few bags like Raul but I'm afraid to use them. I loved these and the Gillraker worms by Zetabait. Still have some of those too. Now that I think about it, I've got some of just about everything. No wonder the wife is always asking where the money goes.

I use it religiously, sometimes along with JJ's. It goes on every bait I throw. A couple years ago I saw a hawg just cruising the shallows and I would cast a senko in front of her and she would stop and take a look and mosey off. I decided to smear some megastrike on the bait and the second cast she stopped turned nose down and inhaled it. Last year I got ahold of some of the crawfish scented stuff that was intended for Japan and am guarding it with my life.

Tops my P.B. Raul. My finger is 4 feet long too.

Way to go Big-O!! Lovin' the Eeliminator.

Not just Strike King Rage but Strike King Period. Perfect plastic Ocho is every bit as good as a senko and the shimmy stick is pretty darn close for less. Perfect Plastics are great and I still like the Elazteck baits. Coffee Tubes and Shadalicious also, not to mention the rage baits, which no other company comes close to. I do use others but have found S.K. makes just about everything I need. Can't go wrong with S.K.

I know this isn't the best solution, but when this happens and I'm on fish and the bite stops, sometimes I get so P.O.'d I crank up the big motor and blast off right in front of them and try to continue on the path I think they will be fishing. This is probably the equivalent of road rage by getting cut off. On smaller natural lakes I fish, there does not seen to be any etiquette. The locals tend to be the worst, and I'm a local. I wouldn't think of pulling 30 yards in front of another boat and fishing the same drop or weedline he is fishing as I would hope noone does that to me. But it happens more than I would like so the only way to let them know is to blast off as close to them as you can get and hope they get the message. I'm 6'3" and can take care of myself, but have never needed to. Maybe keep this in mind. Violence is never the correct solution but opening someones eyes can wake them up. Tournament or not, we all pay the license fees which entitle us to fish where we please so I don't care if someone is fishing a tournament or not. This could be my only day in the month I can get out. I don't appreciate someone thinking they have more right to a spot because they are in a tournament. I would move off from the Elite pros if nothing else, just to watch them. Difference is, they would ask me if it's O.K to share the water.

Rage Hawg. Watermelon/Red Flake or Black/Blue Flake. Like Leo said, c'mon Big-O- How about a slightly smaller version????

Mend-it is around $10.00 and will fix a ton of baits, plus they look like new when done. Not sure how much a soldering iron costs but I do know you probably cannot use it on the water for immediate repairs. Mend-it for me.