earthworm77

Albie wins

I look at this from a different angle. I know I could learn a lot from Pro's but more realistically, I'll never fish with one. Instead, I'd rather fish with a guy like RoadWarrior. I'm sure he could put me on to a few horse smallies! Kent if I'm ever over your way....you know I'll look you up!

I normally would deep six them but steel wool would work, a buddy of mine swears by wiping them down with Cocacola

I also like Costa Del Mar's the best. I really do not wear the glasses as much as I should but those are the ones I use.

Early spring when the water temps are in the low to mid 50's is typical hair jig time. I do not fish them at any other time of year......I have my own tackle company and don't sell a hair jig after May 1st.

No way, as soon as the jig hits the water, it would have cooled down a bunch. If it got too hot, you wouldn't have been able to pick it up. 76 degree water would have really cooled it down instantly.

I'll sometimes use a jig with a hint of red or orange...maybe like 5 strands, not too overpowering but its there.

I use jigs on a year round basis. The color you should use depends on your water clarity and forage base. I have lots of stained water in my location and I opt for a simple black jig with a black trailer. I make my own baits. Without knowing your conditions it is hard for me to provide and specific info that can help you out.

George, as a guide, do you have as much time to fish as we might expect? I would guess not and I realize it is a tough job. I've recently begun guiding part time and although I'm having fun, it is pressure to consistently put my clients on fish.

Take what George said to the bank, he should know as he is a guide. It is true that few solely make a living by fishing. Most people do not realize it but only the top pros get the freebies that loe lunchbox expects to be given by a sponsor, it just don't happen like that.

I used to be a bartender, that was the ultimate for fishing. At work at 9pm out by 2am. Tons of cash and time to fish.

This is the problem I have with this debate.....it should be based on angling and angling only. Who cares if a guy promotes his sport or sponsors better or has a TV show. Who is the best bass fisherman? Why didn't they include Doug Hannon, the Linder's, the late Bill Murphy..the guys who are really catching the big fish. Snide, I don't doubt that Dance is a knowledgable angler but consider all of his shows are fished on those private farm ponds...if I had the access, I'd look pretty good too!

The recent series in Bassmaster has me thinking a bit. What should really qualify an angler to be known as the best of all time. I thought there were a couple of guys who shouldn't have made the top ten and a couple that were omitted that should have made it. Not to pick any favorites here, I was thinking about qualifications. Look at a guy like Clunn. Resume is self explanitory, 4 Classic titles. No doubt in my mind the #1 pick. After him however, it becomes a little unclear. I look at a guy like Larry Nixon who has won a Classic and 4 mega bucks titles and is a down right threat almost everytime out on the water. I don't know if he should be a #2 but he could be. How about Denny B?? The first million dollar winner on the circuit. That sounds impressive but consider a couple of things. There were guys before him that won way more, they just had smaller payouts. So does he make the list because of the economic boom for bass fishing? He's got a classic. How about Rolo. This guy boggles the mind. He was so dominant in the early days of the sport winning an unprecedented 9 AOY's. He is perhaps the most consistant angler of all time. But consider this....he hasn't won an AOY since 1985...20 years. He has won a few tournaments in between but could his success be attributed to simply being way ahead of the learning curve prior to 1985? His lack of consistency after 1985 suggests that the competition simply caught up to him. I think he belongs in the top 10 but maybe not so close to the top. KVD is one of the anglers who I do not think should be on this list. He is a fantastic angler but he will forge his own place here within the next ten years. It is simply too early for him to be considered. He has had a great career thus far but I expect him to really become a dominant force in the future as he a Ike shoot it out. He is the next generation. Bill Dance....here is a guy who has been the face of bass fishing for many years. I think he was given too many accolades in this competition. He has done a lot for the sport but that doesn't qualify him to be in the running for best bass abgler of all time. He won in the early days of B.A.S.S. but his absence from tournament fishing in favor of TV and self promotion tells me he might not have been among the best. Maybe it is just me. I think Clunn, Nixon, Parker, Davis and Daves are my top 5. I could think of at least a few names who are very diserving of this acknowledgement such as Stacy King, Charlie Campbell, Hank Parker, Paul Elias, Ken Cook etc. There are so many names, so many guys who won a Classic, AOY title, MegaBucks etc.

So then does that mean GY is a thief for copying Nick Creme's plastic worm??? Each guy who copied that bait did it with one...well two things in mind, make money and make it better. Some did, some didn't all made money. Don't player hate!

We should be able to find that out....I'll try.

Senkos would outsell all the copies combined. Still, at $6 a bag, they are #1. I have to disagree. Do you realize how many copies there are? As far as being the best, it is all a matter of what works for you.

On some days it seems like you can do nothing wrong but on others, you likely would have been better off sleeping in. It is all about consistency in my book.

Not to be a doubting Thomas but I think most of you guys....even without knowing you, have rated yourself way too high. If 9 is a Pro, a 7 or 8 is just about right there. Let's be serious for a little while. I don't put much stock into the word Pro, but I've met very few fishermen who were really amazing at what they did. Maybe we have a board full of them here, but again I doubt it. How do you prove it? I've fished about 80 tournaments with the past 6 years, I've won 45 outright and finished in the top 3 in about 70. I'd say that is consistant but I'll be the first to tell you that these are club events. In the grand scheme of things....who cares. What does it all mean? Maybe I have a knack for it but how can you really judge how good you are? Go to the Classic? I know there are non Pro's who can and would beat the snot out of guys like Ike, Van Dam etc. They just have no drive to compete like that. Simply put, I have confidence that I can catch fish just about anywhere in any situation but as far as rating myself overall......I'm not sure that there is a consistant number. I know that on a cloudy day like today, I can go to my favorite lake and catch 3lb and 4lb bass on a jig and pig until my arm falls off. I know alot of guys who have come with me and can't do that. This is all relative. It is good to have confidence but not an ego. My rating: Confident but not arrogant! I can't put a number on that. T-R said-"Walk softly but carry a big stick". He obviously meant a 7ft heavy action Kistler Helium LTA. I followed his advice and I've done well with it.

It is the first color to dissapear from the spectrum as it passes through the water column. I think it starts to break up at about 10ft. In shallow water those red hooks might work out but as you get deeper, unnecessary.

Low Budget, I've been echoing your sentiments for several years, especially because I pour my own baits that I know are just as effective if not moreso than the Senko. However, you must understand this, GY targets the tournament angler as his consumer base, therefore, these anglers will likely pay much more for a bag of baits that they know work well and are essentially 1 fish/1bait. The strategy is smart and it works. I make the same type of bait for 4.00 a bag. I am making a good profit on them and the fact that many people refuse to pay 5.99 or 6.99 for Senkos helps me out. If you knew what GY pays to make a bag of baits and the turnaround profit on them, you'd really think he was greedy. Some said this is capitalism and they are 100% correct. So stay the course on your boycot and stand true to your beliefs. I haven't purchased a bag ofSenko's since 1999. It helps to have several friends on the gY staff who regularly replenish me but I don't use the bait all that much anyway.

That fish is a Virginia state record but about 2lbs shy of the all tackle record.

The Next World Record: Anybody's Guess.... JACKSONVILLE , Ga. -- The decades have not been kind to Montgomery Lake, the legendary site in Georgia where George Perry landed the world record largemouth bass. But visitors still ask Ed Van Otteren to take them there. And he always does, knowing they won't stay long. ''People are always surprised to see there's not much to it,'' said Van Otteren, who manages the state-owned Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area that surrounds the blackwater slough. ''Usually, they just take a couple of pictures. Then they leave.'' But year after year, like pilgrims to a shrine, wandering anglers are drawn from a lonely stretch of Georgia Highway 117 into a dense swamp where history was made one summer morning long ago. The day was June 2, 1932 . A farmer named George Perry cast a lure into the Telfair County lake and landed a place in history: a 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass that is still the official world record. Today, the shallow sliver of swamp is nothing like the lake Perry fished in 1932. ''When it's really low, you can just about walk across it,'' Van Otteren said. Flanked by the dark Ocmulgee River and studded with the angular, nodding trunks of tupelo trees, today's Montgomery Lake is filled with silt -- a haven for alligators and rooting wild boar -- but no bass. Though the lake has lost its luster, Perry's feat 67 years ago is still the *** of the fishing community across the nation -- and the world. Measuring 32 1/2 inches long and 28 1/2 inches in girth, the monster of monsters was unbelievable -- even then. Today, such a fish would be worth millions to anyone fortunate enough to land it by legal means. Mr. Perry's fish was taken to a general store a few miles away in Helena , where its weight was affirmed through certified scales at the nearby post office, according to news accounts of the day. At the urging of friends, the lucky angler entered the fish in Field & Stream magazine's Big Fish Contest, which he won. In addition to winning $75 in prizes, Mr. Perry became the world record holder. And Georgia earned an honorable distinction that is memorialized in museums and exhibits from Texas to Tokyo . Seventy-three years later, bass fishing has ascended to become one of the nation's primary pastimes, hooking 60 million Americans, according to the 600,000-member Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. Fishermen and women, the organization claims, even outnumber the nation's golfers (24 million) and tennis players (1.7 million). The resulting $40 billion industry grows stronger each year. And so do the desires from other states that want Mr. Perry's record broken by a bigger largemouth from their waters. In Texas , for example, fisheries biologists have been working diligently since the mid-1970s to breed a master race of largemouths in efforts to topple Georgia 's enduring record. ''We like things big here in Texas ,'' said Allen Forshage, director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens , Texas . ''Ultimately, our goal is to have the new world record right here.'' But so far, it hasn't worked. In the interim, the fisheries center has a nice display devoted to Mr. Perry, complete with a life-size replica of the famous Georgia fish. ''We also have the biggest bass from Texas right next to it, but (Mr. Perry's fish) dwarfs it,'' Mr. Forshage said. If Mr. Perry's record is eclipsed, the state from which a new record is caught will certainly benefit from the recognition. With growing interest in trophy management and catch-and-release programs, the likelihood of a new record increases each year, said Mr. Schultz, a veteran of the B.A.S.S. pro tournament circuit, the PGA of fishing. '' California , for example, has received tremendous acclaim and produced some incredible specimens,'' he said. ''A guy came within a half-pound of the record a few years ago. There could be a new record. In fact, it's probably swimming around somewhere right now.'' Although a world-record catch for a tournament professional would be comparable to winning the lottery, average anglers could cash in as well. Georgia's fisheries professaionals would love to see a new record hoisted from Peach State waters. But as the years tick by since Perry's 1932 catch, the record remains unbroken - for now. Georgia , meanwhile, is content to enjoy its acclaim, despite the not-so-subtle efforts in other states to make sure the record falls. ''I know they like things big in Texas . But here in Georgia, we feel like the environment (Perry's) fish was in had a lot to do with its size,'' said Beth Brown, communications director for Georgia's Department of Natural Resources. "So we're not actively trying to produce larger bass. We feel like the right mixture's already in the Georgia population,'' she said. ''Our record has stood for decades now. It was the great catch.'' Meanwhile, back in Telfair County , visitors still pull their cars onto the sandy shoulder of Highway 117 to read the bronze marker placed in 1984 by the Georgia Historical Society honoring Mr. Perry's enduring feat. Besides being a world record, Perry's catch is also '' Georgia 's Official State Fish,'' according to the inscription. Residents of the middle Georgia county 130 miles south of Augusta are proud of their community's place in history. Here is the complete TEXT of the George Perry Bass historical marker: World Record Bass Marker Near Jacksonville , Ga. World Record Bass State Historical Marker Located on Ga. 117 four miles east of Jacksonville , Ga. Approximately two miles from this spot, on June 2, 1932 , George W. Perry, a 19-year old farm boy, caught what was to become America 's most famous fish.The twenty-two pound four ounce largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)exceeded the existing record by more than two pounds has retained the world record for more than fifty years. Perry and his friend, J.E. Page, were fishing in Montgomery Lake , a slough off the Ocmulgee River , not for trophies but to bring food to the table during those days of the great depression. The fish was caught on a Creek Chub Perch Scale Wigglefish, Perry's only lure, and was 32 1/2 inches in length and 28 1/2 inches in girth. The weight and measurements were taken, recorded and notarized in Helena , Georgia and Perry's only reward was seventy-five dollars in merchandise as first prize in Field and Stream Magazine's fishing contest. The longstanding record is one of the reasons that the largemouth bass was made Georgia 's Official State Fish. Montgomery Lake is today part of the Department of natural Resources' Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area. 134-4 GEORGIA HISTORIC MARKER 1984

Another Mystery: Were There Photos? There is a new mystery brewing over the world's most famous fish, caught 73 years ago this June 2 by George Perry. In the decades since, no one has published a photo of the fish, and Perry received nothing more than $75 in merchandise from Field & Stream magazine - and a place in history. But documents that surfaced in 2004 from the Creek Chub Bait Company, which corresponded with Perry after learning one of their lures was used to catch the fish, indicate the record fish might indeed have been photographed. "These documents certainly imply that he photographed the fish," said Ken Duke, a former Georgia Game & Fish magazine editor who now works as senior publicist for BASS. Duke, a self-professed Perry bass aficionado, bought the envelope of letters and other material off eBay for $380. The seller had acquired a quantity of old paperwork from one of the heirs to Creek Chub Bait Co. Within those letters and photos was correspondence between Perry and the company, along with a signed, original photograph of a 13-pound, 14-ounce bass Perry caught in 1934 and entered in a Field & Stream contest. One letter in particular, dated June 3, 1935 , caught Duke's eye: "You will remember that in 1932 I landed the present worlds record Large Mouth Black Bass that weighed 22 1/4 pounds," Perry wrote to Creek Chub. "You will also remember me sending you a photo of the 22 1/4 -pound bass. "The photo was, however, not a real good photo," Perry continued. "I now have a real good picture of myself and the Big Bass together, so if you would like to have a copy, I will be pleased to let you use it in your advertising." All Perry asked for in return was a handful of Creek Chub lures to fish with. In a response dated later that month, Creek Chub accepted Perry's offer. "We would like to have a picture of the big bass you mention for our filed and will be glad to reimburse you for it," the company wrote. To date, no such picture has ever been found, although - with Perry's world record remaining intact today - it would be an important bit of angling history if someone could locate it. Bill Baab, who retired in 2000 after 35 years as a sports writer and outdoors editor for The Augusta Chronicle, interviewed Perry in 1959 and has authored numerous articles on the Perry bass. But he never heard Perry mention any photos of the record fish. "I'd also talked with his widow, two daughters and a son - and none were aware of a photo of the big fish," Baab said. Perry spent his adult years in Brunswick , Ga. , where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near Birmingham , Ala. With him, perhaps, died the details we'd like to know about his famous fish. Perry later moved to Brunswick , Ga. , where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near the Birmingham , Ala. , airport. With him died many of the details we'd like to know today about the famous catch, which is memorialized today in fishing displays and museums from Texas to Tokyo . (Photo courtesty of Bill Baab)

Big fish don't just pop out of nowhere Let me direct you to the World Record Largemouth.....that popped out of nowhere, even though I dispute its authenticity due to the times. Granted the area produces some 10lb fish but a 22+.....I doubt it. In my mind Bob Crupi's 22-1 should be recognized as the all tackle World Record. The most coveted record in fishing was was set almost 73 years ago - right here in Georgia . Despite the best efforts of 60 million anglers nationwide, it has weathered the challenges of time. George Perry was just 19 years old that morning - June 2, 1932 - when he cast his only lure into a blackwater lake in remote Telfair County - and landed a place in history. Fatter than a fully inflated basketball - and 32 1/2 inches long - his 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass eclipsed the previous world record by more than two pounds. Perry, a poor farmer, went fishing that day only because the fields were too wet to plow. His fishing spot, Montgomery Lake , was little more than a flooded oxbow off the nearby Ocmulgee River . In a 1969 interview with Sports Afield magazine, Perry recalled the famous strike: "All at once the water splashed everywhere. I do remember striking, then raring back and trying to reel, but nothing budged," he said. "I thought for sure I'd lost the fish, that he'd dived and hung me up." The mammoth bass must have been quite a sight as it sloshed toward the homemade boat Perry and his companion paddled among the cypress and tupelo trees that dotted the dark, tannin-stained water. "I had no idea how big the fish was, but that didn't matter," Perry said. "What had me worried was losing the lure. It was the only one we had between us." The lure, a perch scale Wiggle Fish, or Wigglefish, manufactured by the Creek Chub Bait Co., survived the battle, and the squirming bass was hoisted aboard. Later that day, Perry and his companion, Jack Page, took their catch to the general store in nearby Helena , where the proprietor - a notary public - weighed and certified its dimensions and weight. A customer mentioned a Field & Stream magazine bass contest, and encouraged Perry to enter his fish, which also was weighed and measured on certified scales at the town's post office. Needless to say, the George Perry bass easily won the contest - and its $75 in prizes that included a rod and reel, and a new shotgun. Perry's modesty prevented him from the incessant bragging that could have accompanied a bass half the size of the one he caught that day. In fact, he never even bothered to photograph the fish. Instead, he did what most Depression-era anglers did with their catch: he took it home and ate it. Perry later moved to Brunswick , Ga. , where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near the Birmingham , Ala., airport. With him died many of the details we'd like to know today about the famous catch, which is memorialized today in fishing displays and museums from Texas to Tokyo . Today, sportfishing occupies the throne of American recreation, and has evolved into a $40 billion-a-year business. Outdoor writers have speculated for seven decades over when - and where - the next world record will emerge. In 1991, a 22-pound bass from Castaic Lake , Calif., almost toppled Perry's record. But it made only second place. Perry's record stands. Biologists everywhere insist there will be a new record, and perhaps the winning fish is out there now, just waiting. A new world-record bass would be worth millions to anyone lucky enough to catch it. But so far, no one has. Today, Montgomery Lake remains available to public fishing as part of the 8,500-acre Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area. It is partly filled with mud now, and offers few opportunities for trophy bass. Despite intense trophy management programs in states such as Florida and California, John Biagi, Georgia's assistant fisheries chief, is optimistic the new record still could appear here in Georgia. "If we can set this record, we certainly have the potential to break it," he said. "We have the habitat, the long growing season, the genetics, everything we need, so why not?" In the meantime, visitors traveling the lonely stretch of Georgia Highway 117 between Jacksonville and Lumber City still pull onto the dusty shoulder to see the historical marker erected there in 1984. The bronze marker recounts Perry's feat, to make sure it is not forgotten. Regardless of who catches the next world record bass, anglers everywhere will always cherish the memory of the barefoot farm boy in a leaky, wooden boat who made the cast of a lifetime one morning long ago. In 1984, this historical marker was erected on a lonely stretch of Georgia Highway 117 in Telfair County to alert passers-by to the area's international significance. Research for the wording was done by Bill Baab, former outdoors editor of The Augusta Chronicle. (Rob Pavey Photo)

I love fishing in my boat but I'll tell you what, during the dog days of summer when fishing almost becomes a chore to do in the boat....I go hit the shallow creeks for smallmouth. It is always as blast on light gear and I'm usually in for 100 to 200 fish days. Fish are small but really fun. It kind of rejunvinates you and puts things into perspective.