A-Jay

I caught my personal best LMB while on a 5 day trip to Lake Baccarac in Mexico - November 2013. "Came on the third day late in the afternoon just before sunset. While fishing a ¾ ounce SK Redeye Shad (Sexy Shad) in front of some bushes on a “nothing” bank, I hooked what eventually turned out to be a new PB. The fish hit like a freight train and immediately ran for the bushes, I managed to turn her. Next she went way under the boat attempting to get free, I managed to foil that one. Then in a last ditch effort she went straight for the trolling motor, but my man Dwight had my back. With cat like reflexes and lightning speed, he snatched that baby up and out of the water leaving this now less inspired Trophy bass nowhere to go but in the net. Once our guide Manual placed the net bag onto the deck, with my heart just about pounding right out of my chest, the bait fell from the fish’s mouth. Wow, lucky for sure and quite a rush. This fish weighed 11lbs 11 ounces was caught on Nov 11th (11-11) ~ now that's going to be a hard one to forget. After getting a weight, photos and successful release, I had to take several minutes to collect myself – I had a bit of the shaky hands thing going on. It was cool. By now the sun had just about set and once I could no longer feel my pulse in my face, I went back to fishing. The magic continued on my very next cast. An 8lb 14.25 ounce bass sucked down that redeye shad and the fight was on. To tell you the truth, I don’t really even remember the fight. I was still numb from the previous events. Somehow the fish ended up in the net, there was a weight and some pictures taken in the dark and then she was released. That’s 20+ lbs in two casts. It was like dream – the good kind. " As for my Personal Best Smallie ~ here's that deal . . . Headed north on the interstate at zero dark thirty this morning. Got on the water at daylight and made it up to my ‘spot’ just before sunrise. It was a calm & unseasonably warm morning with air temps in the high 50’s and water temps in the low 60’s. Started out working a flat that has an inlet dumping out onto it. The water was back to its usual clarity (super clear) and the bass were already chasing bait when I arrived. With plenty of neck turning swirls all over the place, expectations were high . . . . . . . . My first two presentations were both topwater (a walking bait & a twin fluke rig). I had the twin GoPro’s mounted and at the ready, hoping to capture some early morning topwater action. I was only casting into 4 or 5 feet, so it’s not like they weren’t seeing it. Well, these baits drew zero interest. I was unhappy as I fully expected one or both baits to get hammered. Didn’t happen. After about 20 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to force feed the bass, a little breeze came up along with some cloud cover. By the looks of the sky the clouds weren’t going to last too long. So I aborted the topwater and headed up wind of what I though was the prime area. Busted out a spinnerbait & went to work. I got a strike right away but I blew the hookset and was left with a torn trailer. Replaced and went back to launching that bait for all I was worth. After about 10 minutes, I had a nice rhythm going; bomb a cast, burning back – bomb a cast, burning it back – you get the idea . . . . .. Then, made a cast, turned the Calcutta 200D handle about 5 turns and the bait just stopped. I put the boots to her and there was that familiar feeling – the one where I kind of know it's a big fish but so often in these waters, the ‘big fish’ have big teeth. So I say out loud “hope it’s a bass” – but not actually believing that the chances are very good that it is. It’s pulling pretty good but it doesn’t jump – not helping my cause. Pulls some drag – then I get a glimpse – Holy Smokes, it looks like a bass – Holy Smokes – It Is A Bass and it’s BIG ! Turned on the Gopro’s in time to catch the end of the battle & the net job which went pretty easily thankfully. Once I lifted her up out of the drink and laid the net bag on the deck – I was Blown Away – This bass was Crazy FAT ! Put her right in the live well, took a minute to compose myself (insert go completely nuts off camera) and then weighed her – came up 7.29 lbs - twice. Totally Insane. Oh and blind in one eye. I didn’t measure her length or get a girth (I wished I had) before I released her. But she was stressing in the live well and I definitely wanted this one to swim away. SO as quickly as she came – she was free . . .I may never catch a heavier smallie - but I'm good with that. A-Jay

Sounds like an awesome trip Congrats btw - hope that gator doesn't come back either. A-Jay

Well I am a HUGE fan of the Rage Bug. It has accounted for several very respectable bass for me the past few seasons. Especially hanging on the back of a swing head or a vibrating jig. A-Jay

While most of all the baits you've listed have quite a bit of Action, and all can & do catch bass depending on how you fish them, you may want to consider the 'profile & size" of each as well. That Chigger Craw & the Rage Bug both put out a decent vibe. Additionally, I think a Grass Pig is a paddle tail swimbait - nice action though. Good Luck A-Jay

Hello Rob and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ General consensus here seems to be that your gear may be a bit under powered to both over come the grip on that jig that a solid fish may have on the bait with it's crushers as well as drive the hook point into the bass. I agree with it. A-Jay

I have & Love Both ! A-Jay

You might if the first time you walk through it's dark . . . ? A-Jay

Great Smallie ! Congrats on the PB and the chance meeting with a Legend. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Tranx 300 A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Sure thing. Although I'm a little surprised you'd be willing to take my last name. A-Jay

Haven't been over that way this season. Smallies near the 75 corridor north of 32 and west to TC are all post spawn - Green bass as well. Pike are biting pretty good though. Good Luck and hope you have 14 footer fisherman friendly conditions where ever you go. A-Jay

Congratulations ~ A-Jay

Had a most excellent trip today. Got to spend it with Lynn and we even caught a few. This lake is carry in and paddle only, so we were in the Old Town Canoe. We visit this one a few times a year and are rarely disappointed; and that rang true again. The sun was shining shining, the scenery was sweet and the resident green bass & pike population were fairly cooperative. Lynn was a busy lady landing several of both. A swim jig & craw, as well as a 4 inch weightless stick bait, were her effective one two punch. Good Times. A-Jay

Barely . . .But Lynn was whacking'em pretty good. #callmenetman A-Jay

My wife took me to school today ~ And I liked it. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

A spinnerbait now for me may not be the best presentation as the smallies I seek are often pretty deep. But come August & into September, it's just about my favorite deal to get on. Burning one high in the water column has resulted in quite a few plus size brown bass sliding into the Frabil. If it please the court, I present exhibits A & B . . . Solid examples of the subject matter at hand and a couple of memorable spinnerbait catches. A-Jay

Congrats - I'd take that right about now. I'm hoping to be on the water enough & in the right conditions to experience the spybait magic I keep hearing about. My experience so far consists of learning how, where & when to NOT fish them. So I've got that going for me. A-Jay

Before the spybait stuff - I'll say that the few times I use FC as a leader, (drop shot, ned rig) I'm never going under 8lb test. Everything less than that is either Big Game or Maxima Ultragreen. And the PB Musky I got this spring while SMB fishing came on 10 FC mainline on casting gear. So my confidence in it went WAY up after that. And not to hi-jack the thread, but my personal success with spybaits is not really close to what I'd like it to be. I'm still very much in the 'learning' stage right there myself. A-Jay

“The past beats inside me like a second heart.” A-Jay

For a good while after being burned repeatedly by FC, I wrote it off. Fished braid & Mono exclusively for several years, even caught a few. As improvements were made and more and more experienced, successful anglers reported better results with FC, I gave it another try. Currently my FC use is relegated to rigs that present horizontal moving baits, it's been good. I prefer it over braid & a leader for those applications. But that's where it ends for me. As for FC needing 'extra' care as in line conditioner and when correcting over runs; I use line conditioner on all my lines. I feel it improves casting distance when I need it. And if I was over spinning my reels so much that I needed special line to deal with it - I'd improve my technique rather than complain about the line. Any line will fail after repeatedly being put through that deal. A-Jay

Elephants Love Peanuts ~ A-Jay