Chaz Hickcox

Apparently I am the only one here, but IMHO I like the Castaic Swimbaits the best. They have an assortment of selections such as boottails, and other kinds of swimbaits. Again this is just MHO. I personally really like their Hard Head Originals, been using them since 98 and have never gone wrong with them. www.castaicswimbait.com/ P.S. By the way, I am in no way affiliated with Castaic, I just want to see them catch on so I don't have to order them offline anymore and I can go to Bass Pro to get em.

I will usually take a baby bluegill, a baby crappie, or a threadfin shad (all Castaic original hard heads), cast past the beds then swim it to the bed and let it sink in the middle of it. Usually this by itself will trigger the ol' boy to strike. I also do the same thing with a weightless wacky worm.

Hey they make Crappie rigs that look a lot like that. I use them when I am trying to get the bait suspended on a dropoff or something. You can spend the money on the rig, or you can get a three way swivel then use a pre-packaged snelled hook on one of the prongs with the weight coming off the other. Another thing to do is to put a clear bobber about a foot or two above the swivel to keep your bait suspended and not falling to the bottom.

Yeah it does, I had to stop using cranks because I was having to buy a new one every outing.

ROOSTERTAIL - These will catch anything anywhere and it's always hidden in my tackle box somewhere.

That makes sense thanks for the advice.

Thanks Marty. I'm going to guess they're called 'Grass Pike' for a reason. Funny story - I was fishing for bass on a lillipad flat when behind my frog a very large (I'm guessing 24in or so but I can't be certain) arrow-shaped fish exploded about 3 ft out of the water just behind the frog. The guys at the ramp said it was probably a bowfin but I've cought a lot of those and this thing was sharply pointed whereas bowfin have blunt noses. I am going to guess it was a large pickerel and start targeting that sort of place. Thanks again for the input.

I have never seriously fished for pickerel, heck I have only caught one and that was a fluke when I was fishing for bass. I am looking for a winter game fish and haven't a clue about how to go about fishing for them. My real question is what are the mechanics (presentation, location, etc...)? Should I think of the same mechanics as LM Bass or more like the musky where they are in less specific regions and constantly on the prowl?

x2 Summertime in clearwater you will call up the active summer fish from extreme depths where they are escaping the heat of the day. Primus was spot on as well, except one thing, in murky water you can call em up from 10-15 ft if it's loud enough.

Everytime you post something it's HUGE!!! I think we need to test your fish for performance enhancing drugs.

RW I fish a river that is completely below the fall line and is quasi-tidal. I say quasi because the tide is not from the normal moon and sun pull that one would think of in say the California Delta or the James and Patomac in Va, this river's tides are controlled by the winds over a period of days. With that being said, I have found that weather plays more of a factor in fishing than the moon phases. Water level is there too, but not as much. Would this type of system also fall under your statement?

Sounds like they're fattening up when the sun brings the shad together, but then they go their holes when the shade comes. If you can get to the sparse cover, I would guess they are suspending off of that while they wait. At that point it would come down to finesse and reaction strikes. Basically, slow down as much as possible.

It really depends on the size of the forage. I have personally found that the bigger swimbaits aren't always the way to go, especially when the forage is smaller shiners. As far as using it, I don't know because I have not used either one. I would guess that either one would be good twitched all the way back to the boat, much like walking the dog. I personally use Castaic Rock Hard and when I do a steady twitch cadence back to the boat I generally can get a strike. As far as matching the color, that doesn't matter too much, a twitched swimbait will generally look like a small fish in distress and will trigger a strike. Unfortunately the Castaic Rock Hards are only available, for the time being, in rainbow trout. They have been working on their rock hard baby bass and shad for almost a year now and they should almost be ready.

Glenn's got a really good one here. Covers all the wickets. http://www.bassresource.com/fish/fishing_log.html I totally breezed over the other post saying the same thing.

Ok, so I have learned something here. Quantum, a subsidiary of Zebco which is owned by the A.C. Bradley Co. based out of Georgia. As their actual assembly plants are in China among other parts of the world where labor is cheap, their actual production and testing is American. So, as an American did not make my Quantum reels, the money paid into Quantum will in fact contribute to our American economy.

Ok, so I was proven wrong. Da** Chinese cheap labor. :'( But it's still a home grown company.

That's cool, but at least with Quantum I know an American made my stuff. If that doesn't entice you, then the Ports of Entry aren't just for entry. Why are you so bitter ? Jaded, sorry

I bought one of those Berkleys and they're great IMO. I have the 7' MH rod, and can cast pretty much anything I want to with it. But then again I am not one much for being choosey with reels and rods (see the Quantum string). I figure if you learn your gear you can pretty much do anything you want. I use it to toss really light shallow cranks, and then switch to 3/4 oz jigs. Yeah I have to adjust the brakes on my reel when I do that, but then again, learn your gear and you'll be fine.

That's cool, but at least with Quantum I know an American made my stuff. If that doesn't entice you, then the Ports of Entry aren't just for entry. ** Moderator Note ** This post has been edited for off topic, political comments. -Kent a.k.a. roadwarrior Global Moderator

Hmm...: I know weird concept huh? Buy something for it's usability not its aesthetics? Who would do that?

Keep it up, seems like you have a lot of years yet to go. If your 5th now, where will you be in ten years? Maybe we'll see you with a couple BASS Angler of the Year awards and a TV show like Roland Martin. Keep it up bro!

Nice....you should have gotten a ticket from the CG. No distress signal, no help. Perhaps next time you'll rethink your safety strategy. : According to Texas Law vessels less than 20m are only required to carry some kind of noise making devices, i.e. HORN, or a whistle. I am going to give Gomer Pyle here the benefit of the doubt and say that he had the required equiptment in the form of a built in horn that most vessels have. As for everyone else, the USCG states that it is unlawful not to render assistance to those who are in trouble. So J Francho, I would venture to guess that those other boaters were in fact negligent in their duties on the water, and NOT Private Pyle there. I have had some issues on the water before, and I have a 17'9" Javelin with an 85lb trolling motor. When my main died I considered myself in distress, and was properly assisted by an unfortunate family who happened to be the first to get to me. I say unfortunate because they took 45 minutes out of their skiing time to assist me. I will say it again, the other boaters were negligent and it is unfortunate that none of them can be reprimanded.

Hey pictures can be decieving, nice fish by the way, but so can length. I caught a 20.1 inch bass, was sure it had to be at least 5-5 1/2. When I cought up with another boat that had a scale onboard she came up at 3 pounds 13 oz. I was severely disappointed. Even the other guy was surprised how light she was. Skinny bass suck.

Warranty is no issues, my engine is 'yesterday's' 1993 Johnson. I just want to ensure the most out of my engine.

true enough, but I use smaller swimbaits like the Castaic Hard Hard headed originals or something not more that 4". Out there swimbaits aren't the reaction baits people think about. I have seen shad school with the baits and have watched bass be chasers all the time. At that point you cast past them and slow retrieve by them until they decide to eat. Swimbaits out west are not like the YUM Money minnow design, they look like the real thing. They have to otherwise the fish aren't fooled. You have to imagine the ultrarealistic swimbaits were created in California because nothing else was fooling the fish. It started with the A/C Plug and evolved from there when the A/C plug just wasn't cutting it enough. They weren't designed to be reaction baits. They were designed to be 'living' baits. Forgot line test, Havasu, Mead, and Powell when fishing for LMB or SMB for that matter you line cannot exceed 6lb test ultraclear mono or flouro. Braids are a dead givaway and cannot be used, unless for topwater where it doesn't matter. I spent 8 years with my heaviest line being 8lb test.