Todd

What an honor

At least you got one! Thanks for the tips Mattlures! Seems like there are a lot of us trying to learn how to use swimbaits properly right now.

There is a very interesting article in this month's BASSMASTER magazine about Joe Everett and his quest to catch this ONE fish that his friend had caught in 2006 I believe. She weighed 19.5 lbs then. Sure enough Joe caught her this year, but unfortunately she had lost weight. Here is a link to an audio interview with Joe. It is very interesting. http://assets.espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoors/bassmaster/audio/a_radio_JoeEverett_April22_08.wma

Stacking up some fatties! Great fish! Like the looks of that gan craft

I have no idea about the nest raider on Allatoona. I could be wrong, but I think that the nest raider is mostly designed for sight fishing bedding fish during the spawn.

You ought to check out this article by Mike Bucca. It is very informative about swimbait fishing on Allatoona. http://tackletour.com/reviewintervieanother sitekebucca.html He throws mostly big Huddleston Deluxe, 22nd Century Triple Trouts and Hampton Shad (not on the market yet). I email back and forth with Mike some, and apparently the swimbait bite isn't that great on Allatoona during the summer though...so don't get discouraged if you don't get bit much. Good luck!

Thanks everyone! Hawghunter1744...that ought to be a great time to go!

Gotta love the carrot stix! Ya every single reel in his boat was either a Revo STX or SX. My kind of guy! I bet you two killed them in March. I'll be back in Texas in December and am hoping to fish with him again.

I got to go back to my home state of Texas for about 8 days and really crushed some fish there! I fished some ponds around Dallas, out at my uncle's ranch, Lake Texoma and Lake Fork. We hired Jason Hoffman on Lake Fork for a father son fishing trip while I was there. He is a great guy and I would highly recommend him...check out his website www.lakefork.us Here are a few highlight pictures from Lake Fork: My first chunk of the morning! Another Fork chunk Photo of my big fish of the day, 6 lbs 8 oz and my big brother and Dad. I guess I'm looking at that tail Took a while to pull this one out of the tree...you can see our Guide Jason balling up about 4 feet of Braid that we cut out of the fish's mouth. We caught some real nice fish at my uncle's ranch too: 6 lbs 1 oz at night on the black live sammy! Dad's 5 lb 15 oz 3 lbs 2 oz Gotta love it when you can "spook" em in the middle of July in the middle of the day! Here is another 3 pounder. By the way, I've got this kistler rod in the photo for sale in the flea market section. Texoma Striper trip: It was quite a trip! Can't wait to get back there in December!

awesome fish!

Awesome! I landed my first swimbait fish recently too and I'm a believer too. Not sure how good swimbaiting will fit in with low-budget fishing though haha!

You could try a Luck Craft Sammy as well. I personally think that the bigger sizes are easier to learn how to "walk". Also, try rigging it with a snap to the bait eye, or tying a Rapala Knot. http://www.animatedknots.com/rapala/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com I think one of the biggest keys is learning to give the bait a bit of slack after you twitch it, so it will actually slide to the side, instead of just constantly pulling the bait forward. Hope that helps!

awesome awesome

I would work that same area out good with that same crankbait using the same presentation. Every fish tells you something. If the pond was small enough I'd then quickly cover the whole pond with the crank. If it did not produce more bites, start over with some plastic. When I'm fishing with a partner I'll change baits more frequently in order to find "the one" bait that is going to produce the most fish.

great job!

It is a verrryyyy muddy pond. It is really a creek fed stock tank and cows are always "murking" it up. I caught a large bluegill on a t-rig worm there the day before, so I know there is some good forage for the bass.

Thanks for the comments! The bait is a Reaction Strike Bass Harasser 7" slow sink model. http://www.reactionstrike.com/caclassics.html I don't own any huddleston lures........yet. I caught it June 22nd at about 5:30 p.m.

This girl weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. She was pretty skinny. I would like to catch her again in the fall after she fattens up! This pond fishing was a good confidence boost after an awful tournament Friday night on Lanier. My previous PB was 7lbs 8oz. Slowly working my way up to double digits! It was great having my three best friend there! They are really starting to love fishing and want to start buying their own equipment! I have to give credit to Bill Siemantel. I started reading his book "Big Bass Zone" recently, and it has given me much more confidence to throw the big baits. One of my friends caught a PB today too! His was a nice 4 lb. 14 oz.

Those are two healthy looking fish right there!

Wow 8pm to 8am! We do not have any tournaments around here with those hours, that I am aware of. Sounds like an awesome way to have a tournament! Congrats on a quality bag of fish, even if you only won second. I bet you got "big fish" money too.

Hawgcaller...If I can just manage to catch one fish this year, like the ones you've been catching, I'll post a picture of a genuine Ike freak out!

I really like my carrot stixs (that doesn't look right plural...hmmm) ...but I still haven't tried the avids. I have to say that I picked one up at the store the other day and it was very very light too. I'd just go to a nice tackle store where you can look at all of your options and take them to the counter and ask them if you can put your reel of choice on the rods and see which feels the best to you. Also...Not sure if you have a specific reason for wanting a 6'6" rod, but you will notice a substantial difference in casting distance with 7' or 7'3". Just my two cents.

I bet that 21 lb. carp made you think you had the lake record! Must have been a crazy battle on DS gear!

Great fish!

Ya we hardly ever catch Stripers under three to four lbs though. And never on a drop shot rig! That was the smallest striper I've ever caught or seen anyone catch. The fish is actually really far away from my body in the photo and makes it look much bigger. Oh yes...it is a carrot stix! I bought a 7'3" bait caster a couple weeks ago and was so impressed that I went out and bought a 6'8" spinning rod yesterday.