fourbizz

I've got 7lbers on it, doesnt make it a high probability big fish technique.

To over simplify the technique: Light or Medium Light rod. I prefer ML. Light line. I prefer 10lb sufix braid with 5#-12# flouro leader (3-10ft) Razor sharp hook. I use owner mosquitos in size 4-1/0. Size 1 mostly Weight. Depends on cover and depth. 90% of the time I use a 3/16 cylinder Baits. ANYTHING. Most commonly 4-6" straight tail worm. Suppler the better Tag length 3"-15ft. 12" is a good starting point Presentation Most typically: Cast to known cover or cast far on structure. Allow to sink to bottom. After touchdown, keep your line tight, without moving the weight. Shake. Pause. Shake. Pause. Lift weight off bottom and move 3-10ft closer to the boat. Repeat shaking and pausing, then moving, until under the boat or out of target area. Rinse. Repeat. This is a VERY versatile and lethal system. Honestly one of my favorite techniques. Don't hope for a lot of big fish. I think that if I were to throw a drop shot, any day of the year, under any condition, i could avoid the skunk everytime. Of course, working for 12 hrs with a 3" leech just to catch a 10" fish doesnt sound that fun, so i still get skunked once in awhile ;D Do not be afraid to try different applications or baits with this rig. I will use everything from tiny 2.5" minnows to 17" worms with this rig. Also, crawdad imitations fished with a very short tag can be downright deadly. Have fun!

Congrats bud! Nothing better than reaching a new milestone!

Congrats bud!

Right on Randall! I wont fish another one of bill's baits because of this stuff. And i've poked a few big ones on the 8" bbz. Stand up for the REAL big bait makers who do it themselves!

Metallica was thrash metal not speed metal.

The real metallica died before the black album.

Freshwater: LMB-13lbs1oz SMB 4lbs15oz Spotted Bass 5lbs2oz Northern Pike 36" Brown Trout 24" Rainbow Trout 23" Cuttbow ~21" Brook Trout 17.5" Colorado Cutthroat 14" Greenback Cutthroat 10" Dolly Varden ~20" Mackinaw (Lake Trout) ~3lbs Crappie 17" Bluegill 11" Channel Cat 15lbs Alligator Gar ~10lbs Striped Bass ~8lbs Yellow Perch 14" Walleye ~3lbs Common Carp ~12lbs Sacramento Pikeminnow ~8lbs White Sturgeon 47" Silver Salmon, ~8lbs Sockeye Salmon ~5lbs Pink Salmon ~4lbs King Salmon 57lbs Landlocked Sockeye (Kokanee) 18" Saltwater: Amberjack ~45lbs Lingcod ~30lbs Halibut 147lbs Yelloweye ~6lbs Theres probably a few more.

And a special thanks to Slomoe

My all time favorite metal band. That might not last too much longer though. L.O.G is catching up fast!

Why? Still getting royalty checks from it?

Downriggers and swimbaits. There are no other fishing items on the planet that can cause the catastrophes they can Bummer on the rod, never had that happen! As for the Castaics...well...that WILL happen ;D THe company is now owned by NatureVision, but when Jason Scott still owned it, he replaced some Platinums for me, and then some. But that is only a defect in the sense that every platinum ever made is a defect. Just wait till your jr gets there. built like a tank. just got another in the mail today myself

I like it. I think a properly weighted 3 piece bluegill is WAY better than a two piece bait.

Pretty much what tyrius said has worked for me. If you wanna help your chances, try and find something to relate to the homeowner with. If he has a classic car sitting out front and you are into them, talk about it etc.

Soft swimbaits are KILLER in dirty water. I just dont understand where this clear water misconception comes from. I have caught big fish on the hudd, which is as subtle as a softbait gets, in water that had clarity of only a few inches! I just dont understand how people will throw a brush hog, lizard, or worm, in ultra dirty water, but claim that swimbaits will only work in clear water. :-?

dang it! why is it filtering out that word for cat that starts with a P?

I'm glad you left Burley's kitty alone!

Following the laws and being ethical aren't neccesarily the same thing. I found an elk that was too small to be legal (must be at least a 4X4).I was about 7 miles from the nearest road. Now legally I am supposed to report this to the DOW. Best case scenario, another 8 hours of suffering for the animal and at least one lost day of hunting. its right rear leg was blown off at the knee. It was too weakened to get up and you could SMELL the leg. When I got close it made the most miserable sound and tried desperately to get up. Legally I couldnt put it down, but ethically I couldnt let it suffer. An easy choice.

Very cool Paul! Congrats!

I get my clear from a friend. Retail for the PPG clear I use is about $120 a quart if i remember correctly. But that is more clear than you would need in a lifetime of building baits for yourself. Best bet would be to go to an autobody shop and convince them to sell you an ounce or two. I think for most people, devcon is just cheap, very easily applied, and fairly durable. it is WAY more prone to hook rash though and some baits with very realistic carving (fins, scales, gills, etc) the d2t just looks sloppy, IMO.

if the baits are hard plastic, hardwood, or urethane baits, use automotive clear this gives a much more scratch resistant coat than epoxy. if you are using a softer material, the devcon is probably better. you can also look into dick nite's lure coat. dippable, brushable, and sprayable. it is a moisture cure lacquer.

As far as glues go, there are really only 2 choices imo. The 3:16 softbait glue and "Mend-It". neither are glues, but an MEK solution that melts the plastic back together. so it dries soft and pliable, just like new. You can REALLY stretch a baits longevity with this stuff. They are pretty much identical as near as i can tell, but the 3:16 stuff is cheaper. I think the Matt BB could do really well in those conditions this time of year as this years juveniles will be about that size and *might* be hanging around those tree tops. The 3:16 k9 would do well for over the tree tops, but with a bottom treble, you are not gonna comb through limbs very easily. I absolutely LOVE the Rising Son, but it is only fishable down to about 2 ft, if you are fishing shallower water, or there is good vis, fish it. If i had good water clarity I have no doubt that fish will come up 15ft to mouth punch the rising son. Another noteworthy bait for those depths w/ trees is the 6" Osprey Tournament Talon. between the tophook and the line tie position it comes through limbs real well.But all that being said, my favorite baits in the trees are mission fish and hudds. But you will donate some baits. I put $160 worth of hudds in tree limbs last november, and that was with 3 different lure retrievers on board. Tommy, Not familiar with Toledo bend, most of my knowledge gleamed from your posts. There is one lake that I night fish that sounds similar to your situation, so I will tell you what I use there. It is a shallow lake, very clear, and clogged with hydrilla. limited structure, but there are some humps, holes, points, and ridges. I concentrate the majority of my efforts on deepwater weedlines on or near this structure. My number 1 big bait here, and most everywhere else really, is a 3:16 Wake jr., color unimportant. as i mentioned above, with sufficient water clarity, fish will come a very long way to smack this bait too. pricey, yep, deadly, yep. the rising son, again (broken record ). perfect for suuuuuper slow crawl along the weedlines. I have caught fish on a few different big baits at night. the one i make, the bbz, the slammer, and a few others that i will not be mentioning on a public forum ;D. But this might come as a surprise to some, in the dark, i'm usually throwing a giant worm :-/

I really like the 6" Hudds. I dont throw softbaits that size very often, but when I do, its the baby hudd. I own probably 10 of them and all are rof12 save one. I like the 12 for water 10-30ft but this small bait is affected by line planing WAY more than the 8" so it is a bit tougher to keep down. It would work very well at the depths you mentioned using a tough 20lb line ( maxima ultragreen, pline cxx, etc) As for the 8" on a nice slow retrieve the rof 12 will stay planted to the bottom in 30 ft no problem. The 8" doest plane up real bad at all so if you count it to 15ft, it will stay in that general zone for most of the cast, depending upon retrieve speed. Basically the 12 in both sizes. If you want to super slow roll above and through the branches the 8" rof5 with a suitable head hook can work real well. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BAIT KNOCKER!! hudds don come through trees very well, but it is worth constantly unsnagging them.