Randall

I see and hold hundreds of fish like this every year on small lakes. Many of them are big fish and I have Never seen one harmed by it if the jaw isn't used as a lever. I have found fish that died from an infection caused by a wound from my or others hooks. Fish that died from ingesting senkos and big worms. Fish that died from being in an improper livewell or a livewell that wasn't used correctly. Also when I see big dead fish I usually go to check them out to see if I can figure out what killed them and if I can match it to a fish I have caught. The usual things that gets them is choking on a bluegill, a bait broken off , a senko, brush hog or big worm they can't pass or a hook left in after being gut hooked. But, I have never seen a fish with a broken or injured jaw. Also you should see how hard I will pull a fish across grassbeds in summer hooked in the lower jaw. Or, how hard I will pull a fish down if it tries to jump with my swimbait attached to it's lower jaw. If that don't break thier jaw nothing will. The truth is I don't see anything to cause me to change my mind and until I do I will not change. I think it's the best way to hold a fish if done properly.

This is one of those things that you will get a lot of opinions on and many will differ. I will give you my opinion on the subject. First I will suggest Bill Murphy's book it is the best book written on the subject of catching big bass. The lakes you fish may be a little different but the info in the book can still be applied. 1. I fish for big bass with what I consider the best big bass tactics for the lakes I fish. I was only skunked five times last year out of over 200 trips. Part of that is because I use tactics more along the line of Bill Murphy's when they fit and use the big bait tactics at other times. This is where there is a learning curve. Knowing when and where to use each. Bill Murphy's tactics will catch small fish as well as larger fish where throwing big baits culls some smaller fish. Also when it comes to swimbaits six inches is the size I catch the most big bass over ten pounds on. I caught an eight inch bass today on a six inch bait so the six inch bait will catch almost any bass worth catching and will still catch the giants. I hear guys here in the Southeast saying that on thier lake you have to have big eight inch plus baits on the lakes they fish to catch many big bass because of all the small fish. On the other side is guys that say the big baits will not work because they don't have enough big fish for them to work. Well I go to those types of lakes including many of the ones they are talking about and catch big bass on my five and six inch baits. Only time I start on a lake with a eight inch or larger bait is when it is a trout stocked lake or I already know the bigger bass are targeting large baitfish for some reason. If I just used big eight inch baits on all the lakes I fish I would both get skunked more often and catch fewer eight pound plus fish. 2. I have already covered this to a point. You can catch fish on big baits here in the South. But on most any lake I have been on the bigger bass target the larger five, six and seven inch size baits most often with six inches being the best size. Also, my number one big bass tactic is a splitshot rig with a six to eight inch straight tail worm and it works on lakes with lots of smaller fish as well because I have learned to look at structure and lake know where the larger fish live. But if you want to find a true big bait lake go to a good lake with stocked trout when they are stocking and throw big baits till you arm falls off. I know of a couple lakes in GA like this and the big bait (eight inch plus) fishing is almost too easy at times comapared to the lakes I usually fish. I am sure if you look real hard you can find one or two in Northern Alabama. 3. I actually spend less money now than I did in the past. I have finally found the few baits that work best for me and fit into my "big bass system". My swimbaits are mostly those priced in the $20 -$70 dollar range but I don't lose many in a year. With swimbaits don't waste money on junk baits and buy the best ones that work on your lakes and match the forage to start with. Plastic worms and jigs are the other things I use most and they don't cost any more than they would if I were after small fish. 4. Start at Guntersville to get your confidence. I know some people that killed them with swimbaits on Guntersville last year. One guy that I taught how to fish swimbaits had five that went over 40 pounds last year in the middle of summer. He had six fish all seven to nine pounds in about four hours of fishing. The best five were all eights and nines. 5. That would be your best bet or even find a buddy to commit to fishing just for big fish to shorten the learning curve. 6. If you don't ever commit to learning it you will still be fishing the same way years from now. You just have to decide if it's worth it to you or if you have the confidence to fish this way.

That looks great. I bet your paint stays on better than the factory paint as well.

I modify about half of my lipless crankbaits by taking out the metal or lead balls that make it rattle and adding back weight with a few different methods. I have used plumbers putty or water weld to seal it back or fill holes and can sand the bait back even. I am starting to experiment with filling the bait with the two part resin I use to make swimbaits and can use micro balloons in the resin to adjust the sink rates of the resin and bait. On the ones I have made so far it filled the bait but took two holes drilled. One to fill the bait with resin and another for the air to escape as the bait is filled with the resin and for the gas to escape as the resin hardens. It's a little more complicated than the super glue method but after the bait is done it works better than other methods I have tried. I also think it will last longer than the super glue. I have always had balls break free and start to rattle again when using super glue.

Surface swimbait strike!

I am about 50/50. I prefer hard baits because they are more fun to fish for me but I still use plenty of soft baits.

Out of the s action baits that you can get in the US it is one of the best ones. Good bait for the money. I catch a lot of fish on it.

I know of two clubs fishing there next weekend. 20 boats each at the most. This time of year there are always going to be a bunch of club tournaments on Guntersville.

Lipless crankbait, jerkbait, jig.

I like big 1 1/2 oz to 2oz spinnerbaits in 30 feet of water if I am fishing near or on the bottom. Ledgebusters are my favorite brand. I like a single willow blade 99% of the time. Most of the time at this time of year I use them slow rolling them over the bottom. I move the bait as slow as possible with the blade still turning hitting any cover I can along the bottom. I use the blade size and shape to adjust the lift on the bait to adjust to the depth I want it to run. If I want a smaller profile bait I take a 3/4 oz spinnerbait with a long hook shank and wrap lead wire on the shank of the hook or crimp on a weight to make the bait a 1-1 1/2 oz bait. I have caught fish in summer burning them at the surface.

I catch 2 pounders all the time on six inch baits. But if you are just after 2lb fish then you will probably catch more of them on a four inch bait.

The only two I use much are Mattlures Woody and a sebile in the smaller sizes. All the rest of mine are fifty dollars plus.

River 2 Sea.

I know guys who have fished with Alex Davis http://www.spinnerbaitkid.com/ and all were happy with thier trip. I read all of his reports he posts on other sites and he produces a lot of good fish with photos to back up his reports.

For big lakes, Lake Guntersville was the hot lake in the South last year. I wouldn't even consider anywhere else as far as big lakes in the southeast at that time of year. Guntersville is the place right now. If you have a boat that is all electric lake Varner just outside Atlanta is the place to be. That week is usually the peak of the shallow prespawn bite and a good week for the first big bass to move on the beds.

BPS Walleye Signature Series Trolling rods are 7'6 inches and 8 foot but are telescoping rods. I know the 7'6" rod can be retracted down to less than seven foot. I can carry it in the cab of my Ford Ranger with the butt in the floor and the tip behind my seat. The eight might do it as well. It not a swimbait rod per the label but it's what I use and they are rated to three ounces. They retail for around seventy dollars.

My swimbait rods that I use for Mattlures bluegill size swimbaits are the Bass Pro Shop Walleye Series Trolling rods. They are 69.99 and rated for baits up to three ounces. You can get a 7'6" or 8 foot rod. The model numbers are WA76T-T and WA80T-T . If you want one for heavier baits you can get the 8'6" and cut off a few inches from the tip and replace the tip top guide. For a reel you can get the wide spool model Extreme just for the extra line capacity but you could use a regular model as well. Find them both on sale and you can save a ton of money.

To a fish living in deep water or stained water the color chartruse is filtered out and it appears as a very bright white which is more visible to those fish living in deeper water. So on a deep crankbait that is chartruse with a blue back the fish sees a very bright white with a blue back. To fish living in deeper water looking up at a chartruse spinnerbait going over top of them they see a brighter white lure so it has more visibility and can call fish up to strike it from a farther distance than just plain white which starts to appear more bluish/greyish or a dull white than plain white at deeper depths. Think of fish living in deep or stained water as living in a black and white world for the most part. Another way to see kind of what a fish sees in chartruse is to take a black and white photo or a photo with no flash in low light of the bait and look how bright the white color it turns is.

I figured out a month or two ago how some of the ads pop up. A couple months ago we were looking online for a telescope for my daughter. For the next month most of the ads were telescope ads. Have you been looking or searching for those shoes on your computer? ;D

This is isn't going to help much but I use it all depending on the fish and situation. I have everything from six pound test to fifty plus pound braid and everything in between. I can catch most with braid but sometimes I have to use light line as well.

I know many of you long time members here have been wondering why you haven't seen any posts on here about Lightninrod's trips. He hasn't posted here for the past year but is a long time member here and had had some health issues. I know he has a lot of freinds here so I am posting this to let you guys know about Dan. Dan hasn't been feeling well for the past year or so and went in to get checked out by the doctor and found out he had some blockages in his arteries. Well, I am glad to say Lightninrod just called me from the hospital and he has had a triple bypass surgery and is doing fine according to his doctors. He still has a few days to spend in the hospital and it may be a while before he gets back to fishing and posting some more great reports but he wanted all his freinds here to know that he is out of surgery and doing fine. I just wanted to ask everyone to say a prayer for Dan's speedy recovery.

If you go down the lake towards the dam there is a big rock bluff wall on the left side of the lake with deep water up against it. You can't really miss it and it is way down closer to the dam than the ramp. Thats the only place I would fish in winter for bass myself. Just pitch a jig right up against the rocks and let it drop down the wall. There are a few more banks down that way that the channel runs up against that might be ok. The water will be real cold. To give you an example of how different that lake is, most of the bass there don't spawn until June and sometimes July. This time of year the trout or perch might bite much better.

I don't use the fish dope myself but all my freinds swear by it. The problem with vasoline is it is almost to thin like a liquid and not a soft solid so it don't last a long time or stay on as well. Something more like a wax like chapstick would do it though. I usually have some chapstick in my pocket anyway in winter.

The float is fixed in place attached to a swivel. I use a two way swivel myself with the braid and and bobber attached to one end and the leader attached to the other. Everybody else likes the three way but I see no need for it since I have never had my line damaged by the bobber. I like the fixed weighted bobber. It is more sensitive to bites where the fish eats the fly coming up and taking the weight of the fly off the bobber causing the float to lay over. You can also give the float little twitches which just barely shakes the fly on the fixed bobber on calm days. The braid line makes all the diference in the world. It floats on top better and makes a much better cast. As far as flies/jigs the duck feathers are light but have very little movement in the fly in the water and work better in colder water like low forties. Craft hair jigs have more action and most use them in warmer water like upper forties. I use many other things myself alot like tiny flukes, and flukes on 1/16 oz shakey heads, and wacky rigged flukes on dropshot hooks with a splitshot just above for weight. We had ice out this year. :(The pond in the video was completely frozen over a few weeks back and most of the small lakes I fish were more than 1/2 to all the way frozen over for about a week or two. I don't know how you guys make it all winter with no water to fish.