Triton_Mike

Redtail, Theres a cure for ya. USE GOOD line and good habits of retying and checking your line for nicks and fryas. Also good fish fighting skills along with several lure retrievers will also help. Their are some titanium split rings called Ultimate Lure Savers that you can use. http://www.ultimateluresaver.com/faqs.cfm I personally don't use them and because I rarely if ever lose an expensive bait. Just use some TLC when fishing your expensive stuff. T Mike

Big Tex??? Louisiana???? THeir state record is 15lbs out of Caney Lake. THey got 7 more lbs to go. Arkansas state record is 16lbs. They got 6 more pounds to go. Oklahoma's state record is 14lbs. They got 8lbs to go. I have to ask what evidence do you have that Texas will "SOON" exceed the world record when they have only caught one fish over the 15lb range since 2000??? I think you have the Share A Lunker program mixed up with the World Record. mike

bigtex, I know your proud of your state but since the famed Fork had the largemouth bass virus a while back they haven't had but ONE top 50 fish in Texas top 50 rankings since the year 2000 almost 6 years ago. That fish only weighed 15lbs and a little change. Sorry but the WR isn't going to come from Tejas anytime soon unless Fork or Alan Henry does a huge turnaround. I do think the Share a Lunker program is an awesome program that ANY state could benefit from due to using strong genes to produce a super fish. However your gonna need some egg yolks (protein in the form of trout) to get them over the 20lb barrier. That has been the key ingrediant in California. Japans current record is 19.34lbs and was caught in 2003 I believe. They would have a better shot than Texas at the WR. T Mike

bassdocktor, You can put a 3/0 hook in the 3/16th round head Do it mold. All you have to do is slighly modify the eyelet portion of the mold to make it fit. Anyone with a dremel tool can make it fit. Do it pretty much has a lock on lead molds. T Mike

rattletrap, Then why hasn't a 19,20, 21 or 22lb bass been caught in Georgia if 4lbs is only egg roe and full tummy?? LOL Mike

If Yamamoto discountinued the 031 (Blue Pearl) color in Senko's and Flat tails I'd be in BIG trouble!! The 031 color is the closest color to mimic teh color of baitfish. Silverish with silver flakes. Awesome color for spots. T Mike

I hate beating a dead horse but I have to comment to Playmaker, There is a HUGE difference between a 15lb fish and a 22lb fish. 7lbs to be exact. There are only 28 fish in the 15lb or bigger range that have been recorded that have caught in Georgia. That by no means are they numerous and caught every year. Recently we have had a surge of fish in the 15lb range but in previous years it hasn't been a common occurence every year. There very well could be a 20lb + fish in Georgia. But I'll put my money on the fact that their isn't. A 22lb fish is a RARITY fish. Heck a 20lb fish is a Rare fish and we are no threat to the current world Record. BTW I finally found a GON issue stating the top 40 Georgia bass of all time 1. 22lbs 4oz 2. 18lbs 1 oz 3. 17lbs 14oz 4. 17lb 9oz 5. 17lbs 4oz 6. 17lbs 7. 16lbs 11 8. 16lbs 9.3oz 9. 16lbs 9oz 10. 16lbs 8oz . . . 15. 16lbs even 16. 15lbs 15oz . . . . . 28 15lbs even . . . . . . 42 14lbs even Notice the HUGE gap between 1st and 2nd a 4lb difference. I can handle a 1 or a 2lb difference but 4lbs seems to be a stretch. Roadwarrior. Question for ya. I'm rusty on my smallmouth stuff but wasn't their a 10lb smallie caught below Wheeler dam?? I'm not sure how big it was but I think that was the former record at one time. Do you have any history/information on that fish? T Mike

rattletrap, If you look at my avatar you'll clearly see that I am from Georgia myself. I have no issue withwhatever state that has the record. Just the facts or lack of that surrounds the so called record. T Mike Acworth, GA

Now John, I would challenge ANYONE on this board to go to California and see how easy it is to catch a 10lb fish much less a 15lb fish. Yes they are fed trout but that doesn't make them stupid and easy to catch. THere are still TONS of serious anglers in California that still haven't caught a double digit fish. I for one would love to see Georgia start gorging our spots with rainbows Earthworm is right on. There is alot of story swapping on George Perry's record. He also stated for a while that he caught the big bass on one particular Creek Chub bait then it ended up being another model creek chub. Sure anyone can doubt the legitimancy of a fish but when you start swapping stories thats where the red flag goes up. T Mike

lightningrod, I didn't say the lack of bigger fish in Georgia PROVES anything I am just saying it is unlikely. LEts use Texas top 16 fish as an example. 1 18.18 25.50 1/24/92 Lake Fork Barry St. Clair 2 17.67 27.50 11/26/86 Lake Fork Mark Stevenson 3 17.64 28.00 4/1/89 Lake Fork Stan Moss 4 17.63 26.25 8/29/90 Lake Fork Jerry L. New 5 17.29 0.00 2/14/88 Lake Fork Larry Barnes 6 17.08 25.50 2/26/91 Lake Fork Troy Coates 7 16.90 27.66 2/16/86 Pinkston Lake Earl H Crawford 8 16.86 25.50 2/8/93 Lake Fork Bryan Turner 9 16.80 28.75 5/31/97 Sam Rayburn Tommy Shelton 10 16.77 0.00 3/1/90 Mill Creek Herchel Brickey 11 16.75 25.50 3/8/90 Lake Fork Stephen R. Trepkus 12 16.63 27.00 2/28/99 Lake Fork Flo O'Brian 13 16.59 26.00 5/15/87 Lake Fork Guy Weatherspoon 14 16.54 25.00 2/27/91 Lake Fork Bill Reed 15 16.44 26.50 3/10/96 Lake Fork Chris Adams 16 16.17 26.00 1/15/88 Gibbons Creek Troy Johnson Notice how the weights all creep upward to State Record of 18.18lbs... Lets do California 22 pounds, .5 ounce Bob Crupi Castaic Lake - California March 12, 1991 3 21 pounds, 12 ounces Mike Arujo Castaic Lake - California March 5, 1991 4 21 pounds, 11.2 ounces Jed Dickerson Dixon Lake - California May 31, 2003 5 21 pounds, 3.5 ounces Raymond Easley Casitas Lake - California March 4, 1980 6 21 pounds, .5 ounce Bob Crupi Castaic Lake - California March 9, 1990 7 20 pounds, 15 ounces David Zimmerlee Miramar Lake - California June 23, 1973 8 20 pounds, 14 ounces Leo Torres Castaic Lake - California February 4, 1990 9 20 pounds, 12 ounces Mike Long Dixon Lake - California April 27, 2001 10 20 pounds, 4 ounces Gene Dupras Hodges Lake - California May 30, 1985 11 20 pounds, 4 ounces Johnny Garduno Miramar Lake - California March 25, 1990 Again they all creep upward to the current record.. Lets do Florida 1 20 pounds, 2 ounces Fritz Friebel Big Fish Lake - Florida May, 1923 2 19 pounds Riley Witt Tarpon Lake - Florida June 21, 1961 (I can only find 2 fish listed out of florida but it still goes with the logic I am trying to get across) Again they all creep upward to the current record.. I can go on and on with every state but Every state but Georgia has weights creeping up to their current state record which atleast has a 5lb gap. The second biggest Bass in Georgia I don't even think is 18lbs which I believe came out of Dodge PFA doesn't even make the top 25 biggest bass of all time. I'm just using logic in my answers. You are correct it doesn't prove it wrong but the odds are certainly stacked against it if you look at the previous stats/records. My prediction my good friend Mike Long from California will eventually break the 22lb 4 oz record.. T Mike

I have gone 15 miles off shore to fish Chandaleur islands in a 12 foot jon boat with a 25hp motor. LOL. That was in my stupider days. I also went fishing in the tail end of a hurricane in the Louisiana Saltmarsh. I launched my boat 3 miles from where the actual launch was due to massive flooding. Once I got out into the march there were 2 water spouts off in the distance. Caught over 200 trout and 40 + redfish on that trip. : T Mike

bassnleo, I was going to go Aluminum as well until I saw the price of aluminum LMAO!! I could have easily spent $800.00 for aluminum. Instead I spent $120.00 total for wood. T Mike

Personally I don't think the World Record is legitimate. My reasoning is this. The 2nd biggest bass caught in Georgia is like 5lbs lighter than the World Record. Atleast California has several fish in the 20lb range. T Mike

bassnleo, To be honest I don't know how much extra weight I put in it. It's an all electric boat and it's not going to get on plane anyway . I have 246lbs of thrust to push it ~~ I need more power I am almost finished wiring it up. I'm waiting for a trollign motor receptacle to get in stock then i can finish up the front deck. T Mike

I agree with earthworm 10000%. He nailed it. There is nothing new about techniques that will land you bigger fish. It's all about mindset and learning about the habits of bigger bass vs smaller bass. I also agree it was a very good book. T Mike

You definitely need something bigger than 10ft. I would say 10ft is good for small ponds or very small lakes at best. My best advice I can give you is think WIDE. Width is pretty much what gives you the stability in a boat. I have a 16ft boat with a 48 inch bottom that I am working into an all electric bass boat with front decks and stuff. Maybe this will give you some ideas www.tritonmike.com/boat.html Mike

Matt, I think you are referring to Ralph Manns. Ralph from what I know is a retired Fisheries Biologist from Texas. Very informative guy! You can find him all over the www.bassfishinghomepage.com quite often. T Mike

I wasn't fishing a tournament that day. I was fishing with a client however. Here is the link to the Alabama Rig that I use http://www.geocities.com/tritonmike_99/bamarig.html T Mike

It was nice knowing ya JT ~ LOL. Only on the internet!!!! LOL ;D Unbelieivable!!! I will nip these posts in the bud where I see them elsewhere on the web. T MIke

I caught 3 fish on one cast on some schooling spots with my little Alabama Rig that I came up with. Here is the picture. The very next cast I caught 2 fish. Had a limit in 2 casts T Mike

IF your trying to make the weighted falcon hooks the best way I know how is to wrap the hook in solder wire and shape it with a solder gun. It's very difficult to get lead to flow in such a small space like you are talking about unless you use one of those spinning molds. T Mike

Reel set is the same exact way you want to set on a dropshot bite . Same principle but different rods, line, tackle etc. T Mike

Avid, An old wise man once told me that "if you do what you've always done, you'll catch what you've always caught". In short I think you need to rethink the way your thinking. Those double digit bass are a different breed from the 8, 7, 6, 5 lbers we catch and they aren't getting caught for a reason. I would like to suggest you get Bill Siemantel's book "BIG BASS ZONE". He talks alot about the BIG FISH Mentality. Then again if George Welcome wrote a book I'd read that too. Probably no one in the Southeast United States has caught more 10lb + fish than George and Scott Welcome of Stick Marsh fame. Part of that is due to fishing the Stick Marsh regularly, but another important part of that is knowing the habits and feeding patterns of big fish. Here is a link to Bill's book if your interesting. I have been fishing hard for 25 years and this book proved alot of theories that I already had and taught me other theories I knew nothing about. Great read if you want to learn about Swim Baits and big fish but it's not just limited to Swim baits. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0883173131/002-9520006-5396847?v=glance&n=283155 T Mike

If you want to make a single wire weedgaurd all you have to do is put the weedgaurd in the mold and close the handles and smash an impression in the mold. no dremel too required. T Mike

AHbasser, Pointer 128's, Pointer 100's, 3/4 oz spinnerbaits, Sammy 128's, Sammy 100's and Senkos. Sounds like who's who of Largemouth baits. All of those baits are PRIME TIME Spotted bass baits. The ONLY thing you should change when targeting spots vs largemouth is the location where you are fishing. Spots PREFER rocks and current if you have it. Not to say you won't catch them off wood because you will but Spots like rocks like Largemouth like wood. Don't think for a second that you need to downsize your bait for spots. A 3lb spot will kill a Real California swimbait T Mike