Fish Chris

Here's a couple.... I was once night fishing in a North Louisiana swamp, by myself, at night. As I maneuvered my boat down a channel with trees and vines grown all the way over the top of it, I turned around to have my headlight shining straight at a big watersnake (Copperhead ?) hanging from a tree, and looking straight at my face, from about 1 foot away ! Yikes ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last week my buddy was telling me about one of his solo night trips, in which he had on his I-Pod, cranking up some heavy metal (that in itself would freak me out..... it's already hard enough to see at night.... but then to take away the hearing too ?) So anyway, he said he started to smell something weird... like a barn yard or something. So he takes off his headphones, to find that he is basically surrounded by wild pigs, snorting, and grunting ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyway, I wouldn't consider myself a wimp, and I wouldn't even think twice about fishing at night, by myself. Done it plenty of times..... But the wild things out there can certainly be kind of spooky at times :-) Peace, Fish

Sounds good. About the paint, I'm not much of a color believer anyway, but most especially at night, which is when I plan to throw the Mouldy most, anyway. BTW, I was throwing the MS Slammer one night last week and stuck an 8.1, but it ripped off the soft plastic tail ! I only have one replacement, but it was at least a mile away, up in my car. So, I started throwing it without the tail. Looked totally stupid.... But I could tell that without the soft plastic tail to deaden the action, it was way louder ! I ended up getting 4 more bites on it "without" the tail, including a 7.1 lb'er. So, when I saw that the Mouldy's were "all wooden lure" with no plastic tail, that intrigued me even more ! Glad to hear the Mouldy's are a time tested lure :-) Thanks again, Fish

The lure ? ...or the real thing ? If its the lure, what do you throw it for, and what do you think of its construction, and action ??? Fish

Yes, actually it might be..... I always get the Shad mixed up. I just know its the BIG kind :-) Just to be crazy, I might have to order one :-) Will post my findings here. Peace, Fish

if you mean "price wise", I hear ya' ! I'm a poor guy who fishes too much, and doesn't work enough, but this is just one of those things that I knew I had to have. Been wanting one for many months.... But hey now, if you meant "the size of the lure", I have to tell you, being a hard bait, with two, loosely swinging Owner ST 36's, these baits will stick a lot of smaller fish in the 3 to 5 lb range (which are pretty much available anywhere in the country) than say a Hud, which really needs to be inhaled most of the time. Plus, these big lures draw a lot more attention, in many situations, than smaller lures do. Peace, Fish

I'm actually very intrigued by it. It's 10" long (which means it must be like 4 1/2" tall too !), and 7.5 oz. Although I've never heard of trophy bass eating American Shad, and threadfins sure don't get 10" long ! More like 5" max, and 1/10th the weight of a Shad like this. This lure is castable, but it would be quite a workout, compared to say, a 5 oz Hud..... If ever I was in a place where big Stripers were eating American Shad, I'd definately want to try one. I'm really curious to how a trophy Largemouth would react to it ??? And at only $20 too..... Wonder how it swims ? Hmmmm.... Fish

....this morning. The first two were purchased from the Musky Shop online. This first one is called a Big Fork "Papa Chubby". It's an 8" lure, and weighs only 2.75 oz. It will be a piece of cake, to throw all night, on my regular swimbait rod. I was very intrigued by the jitterbug type of lip, and the fact that it was only $20.99. This one is called a Mouldy's "Magnum Hawg Wobbler". It's an 8 1/4", 3 oz lure, which very much reminds me of the proven big bass bait, the MS Slammer, but only half the price, at $22.99, and I also like the fact that it has no soft plastic tail, to deaden the action. I hope this, and the lure above are NOISY as heck ! Okay..... and now for a beautiful work of art.... the only one of these lures I'm likley to throw in the day time.... The 3:16 Junior Wakebait trout. Ta Da ! :-) At $90, its one of the cheapest hardbaits made by 3:16 lures. But I know from trophy bass buddies that this is a VERY effective lure ! And its basically got a life time guarantee. Nice that it floats too, as should I ever break it off on the cast, I'll be much more likely to get it back. Oh, this ones only 7 1/2" and 3.1 oz. Again, easy to throw all day. I'd sure like to have a regular 3:16 wakebait... 10", 7oz. Definately a workout to throw, and $150 each ! ....but I will have one by next Spring for sure. Can't wait to stick some fish on them :-) Will post them of course... Peace, Fish

Of course your right. I guess my hope would be, that a post like mine, would help to "educate the educators" on how to get the point across, in a truly effective way. I don't think we have any shortage of passionate C/R anglers here on this forum. It's just that a LOT of the time, people let this passion get in the way, and they tend to come off in an abrasive manner. In a nut-shell, would any of you listen to somebody who told you > "Your an idiot ! And you should do what I do, because I know what's best" ? The fact is, even if you do know what's best, that person has already put up a wall which is a mile high ! I say, if somebody "really cares", then they need to force themselves into a calm, relaxed state of mind, and try to educate people with smooth, friendly logic. I still believe that most people, if given all the correct information, will make the right decisions.... and we can't let ourselves worry about the few that will just never get it. Peace, Fish

Hello Dabnis, this really is a great forum, with a lot of friendly guys, who all have one thing in common..... We all love to feel that pull on our line ! :-) Of course you have heard a bunch of guys say, "It's your legal right, yada, yada, yada". Then their are always the people who will act like a guy is a baby killer, if he keeps a few small bass for dinner. But then, as you replied, "It's not like your stealing their fish"...... and unless somebody on this board is fishing the exact same waters you are, this is probably also true. So here's a thought for you > Forget about everybody else for a minute.... and I do mean "everybody".... not just the guys that might give you grief, but also, the guys that say it's totally okay to keep those fish. Instead, think about yourself ! Do you like to catch fish ? How about BIG fish ? Have you ever pondered how your decisions might affect your own fishing in the future ??? Consider the following; Way back about 10 years ago, a buddy of mine caught his new PB bass, a 13.2 lb'er ! Whoo Hoo ! I think his previous PB was like 8 and change. Needless to say, he was stoked, and I was stoked for him ! But the really amazing thing, was that 1 week later, I caught the same exact fish ! Granted it had lost a few ounces, so he still had my catch topped, but with much thanks to my buddy for releasing that fish, I now had a much bigger PB myself ! So anyway, at the time, we couldn't believe that we had both caught the same exact monster bass. That must have been like a 1 in a million thing, right ??? Skip forward to 10 years later. My buddies and I, have caught SOOO many big bass more than once, that nowadays we hardly batt an eye. On the contrary, when one of us catches a big bass, in a certain lake, we often look back through our photos, almost expecting to see that same fish, that we had caught in the past. I've caught several big fish that I myself C/R'd in the past.... I've caught big fish that my buddies C/R'd.... and my buddies have caught big fish that I C/R'd. So, here's the bottom line to all of this rambling; Sure it would be cool if one of the big fish I have C/R'd, is caught by some guy who is just getting into bass fishing, ......or his wife, who will rub it in for the next 20 years..... or his little son, who is so fired up by the experience, that he grows up to be the next Mike Long...... But I've got to be completely honest with you here, while all of the possibilities I mention above would be great, I release big bass, first and foremost "FOR FISH CHRIS" ! .......because my experiences have shown me that it's not just "possible" that I might catch that same bass again in the future (maybe when it has grown to be even bigger), but rather, it's entirely likely ! Especially with the class of fish that I'm after, I could single-handedly (and in a big way) hurt my own chances of sticking a big one in the future..... Or, I can help my own chances. Yes, that choice is totally mine. But as much as I love to stick big bass, that choice is a no-brainer. Anyway, I've been around this block WAAAAY too many times to get worked up about this kind of thing anymore....... Rather, I sit back and think to myself, "Hmmmm. Apparently this person hasn't yet learned the things that I have". But it's cool. Live and learn. Great fishing to you, Fish Chris

Often I here people talking about Strippers over here.... But come on now... This is a "fishing forum" :-) Anyway, even my favorite Summertime bass lake gets really tough from late August through some time in October. The Stripers start to come on in late August, but for the last several years I have been getting sidetracked with Bodega Bay Halibut, Bat Rays, and Leopard Sharks. So, by the time I get started after the Striped ones, I hear... "They have been biting good for 6 weeks".... then I seem to hit the tail end of it :-( But this year, the Bodega bite just never happened, as the bay is just whacked, for reasons unknown to me. So anyway, don't get me wrong, I'd love to get another DD bass or two before the years over..... And "IF" there is enough water in my trophy bass pond to keep the ramp open, and "IF" they start dumping some trout again this Fall when the water cools, I might have to give it a another fair shake..... But I'm just starting to think about that 40 plus Striper ! Even caught a 50 and a 100 lb'er last night.... then woke up :-) Seriously though, when your dreams change from Largemouths, to Stripers, is this a sign ??? Just rambling I guess, Peace, Fish PS, I mostly threw the Huddlebug yesterday, and caught a 7.5 lb Largemouth (blind in one eye, but still fat and apperently doing well) and a 3 1/2 lb Spotted bass. So, that might be enough to keep me going a few more trips... at least tommorrow :-)

First off, I like Avid's answers :-) ....probably as good as anything I could tell you :-) But to answer your question about books; In Pursuit of Giant Bass, by the late, great Bill Murphy (mostly Cali bass info), Quest for the World Record Bass by Bart Crab, Big Bass Magic, by Doug Hannon (probably best for bass fishing in Florida, or other South Eastern states). As for videos, I really haven't seen much...... Maybe Big Mouth Forever, by Glen Lau (I think) awesome underwater footage in crystal clear water (good entertainment value anyway) and Bodacious Bass with Bob Crupi and Dan Kadota (low budget, but some decent on the water footage.... all Cali.... and pretty much all live dad stuff). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seriously though, I've learned SOOOO much more about trophy bass fishing from the Internet, and by studying those individuals that were consistently catching big bass. Asking a TON of questions, like where, how, on what, etc, etc. And of course, by taking all these bits and pieces and trying it for myself. What works for my big bass might, or might not work for yours, but you won't know until you try. Hope this helps, And if you have any more specific questions, just let me know. I'll do the best I can. Peace, Fish

Hey Biz.... The mindset ! I couldn't agree more ! :-) I think a lot of people would trip on me, if they saw how much I just sit there, looking around, not even casting, but rather, just taking in my surroundings. People might think, "but your wasting time"..... In reality though, I'm brainstorming again. Just trying to get into my "thinking like a fish" mode :-) It's one thing (and not neccessarily a bad thing) to just work your but off, until you put one in the boat, but it's quite another to "think a big one into the boat" ! I guess it's best to balance these two aspects. But I find that the more times I've been around this block, the less I tend to work (physically), and the more I tend to think...... Anyway, congrats on the nice catch :-) Stay on em', Fish

That's a great fish ! Congrats ! But I just have to say...... It looks more like a 6.4999997 lb'er, than a 6.49999989 lb'er to me ! You sure your not trying to add on an extra .0000019 lbs to that fish ? I know how fishermen tend to stretch these things :-) LOL Continued success to you, Fish

hey Bountiful, I'm glad you have noticed. I've often said, if you fish like everyone else fishes, you will catch what everyone else catches...... but if you really want to make "special" catches, you need to just step completely out of the box. But your right; I never just fish blindly down a bank, covering water. I usually get to the lake around 9 am, and fish until it's dark... while most guys get on the water at sunrise, and often quit as early as noon. I typically fish "inside out".... that is, I'm either on the shore casting out, with my boat beached... or sitting very shallow, and still casting out. These are just a few of the things I do, which are not the norm. But these are things that work for me. Great fishing to all :-) Fish

hey Cigarlover, funny you should mention it; Of the 9 DD bass I have caught this year, the last 7 in a row have been caught from the shore..... although I must admit, several of those required a boat to get to that area of the lake. But anyway, I honestly believe its easier to sneak up on a big bass by shore (from our own element.... earth) than by boat, on their element (water). Yet another reason why I believe a big, flashy, high-per bass boat, that a guy is afraid to scratch, is usually detrimental to catching big bass. Peace, Fish

I could sit here and tell you the whole story.... But if you read my "It ain't over till' it's over" post.... You have already heard it ! One kind of cool thing though; There was a guy and his two kids fishing about 25 feet from me (the kids were just doing back flips over this fish :-) So the dad asks, about how big do you think that fish is ? I looked it over, and guessed.... Oh... about 13 lbs, but anyway, lets see. I reached into my back pocket, and pulled out my digital scale ..... 12.9.... 13.1... then it settles solidly on 13.0 lbs :-) I'm usually within a few tenths, but that was still a pretty lucky guess :-) The guy just kind of stood there dumbfounded :-) LOL Anyway, this one was really healthy / strong and she took off with an explosion, after the photos and weighing :-) I love it when they release like that. Peace, Fish

it's funny you should bring this up..... Of course I have certainly thrown a swimbait a few (million) times in the last 10 years. But after sticking my last two good ones on a little bitty soft plastic dad, it's got me thinking about going back over all of my best {swimbait} areas, and just doing some ultra-slow stitching of what I used to consider a "numbers" or "small fish bait".... a small soft plastic lure. Hmmm... next week might be interesting :-) Peace, Fish

Great attitude ! "You will catcha many big fish in yah futcha Grasshoppa" ;-) But hey now, check this little story out; I met a guy last Weds, who said he's spent a lot of time on my site, and after catching an 11 lb'er on a swimbait, all he want's to do now, is fish specifically for big fish. So he goes on to tell me how, and where he fishes swimbaits, and it all sounds good to me. So, I threw in a few little pointers about "fishing inside out" and shore fishing when possible. He then says, his only problem was, that often after not getting bit for 3 or 4 hours, he ends up going back to smaller / numbers types of lures. That, I told him, was the only thing he needed to change. I saw him about 8 hours later, and he was still chucking a swimbait, at which point I thought to myself, "That guy deserves a good one.... and I bet its coming". Maybe an hour after that, I hear him hooping and hollering from the other side of the lake.... probably only a 1/4 mile, but you know sound over water. So, I fire up the gas motor and putt over to him. He had stuck a fat, beautiful 9.8 lb'er. So then he tells me, he had fished all day without a bite...... and had we not talked, he very likely would have "again" switched to a small fish lure. So then he tries to give me the credit..... To which I replied, "Dude ! Your the one who put in all the hard work for that fish ! That ones ALL you man ! Congrats" ! :-) Peace, Fish

this one makes 8 for this year..... But I have a VERY long ways to go, to top my best year ever for DD's. In 2002 I caught 27 over 10 lbs, from 5 different lakes ! I was just on fire that year. Twenty more DD's, to top 2002, would certainly be awesome ! But I'd be happier to only get one more DD for 2007..... that went 19 plus lbs ;-) Peace, Fish

Hey FivePound, most of you probably already know my stance on getting skunked {It's totally okay, and if you fish specifically for big bass like I do, it's an expected part of the game} However, if it were my goal "to just catch something... anything.... no matter the size" I'd probably not fish anything but a live night crawler on micro-light gear. Their is hardly a sportfish of any species that won't eat a crawler. Sometimes BIG fish too ! Their is a lot to know about fishing a crawler to its fullest though. A big, fat, lively crawler, tail-hooked, on micro-light gear, with a 6 lb flourocarbon leader, is the best recipe on the planet, "for not getting skunked" :-) Now, if it "must be" an artificial lure, I'd say to use medium-light gear, and a little 4" straight tailed worm (back in the day, they called them weenie's). I'd probably Carolina rig it, and work it VERY slowly in areas I already knew had fish. But again, what's wrong with being skunked ??? ;-) Peace, Fish

Very sorry to hear this. But it's just another reminder of what I always say > Fish, play hard, and enjoy life now, because when your numbers up, their won't be time for one more cast ! God bless Mr. Tucker and his loved ones. Fish

Yea', I hear ya'. But I bet you lucky dogs have Alligator Gars too, huh ? ....or just Longnoses ? Not as big, but their fun too. Peace, Fish

and hey Bassnleo, I rigged the Huddlebug (in mudbug color... my favorite) on a 1/4oz, Owner football head jig... hook into the tail end, with the claws facing away from the lead head.... Peace, Fish

Hey Burley, those dang things look so much like the real thing, it's just flat amazing ! Live crawdads are not even allowed at this lake, but I have so much experience (especially back in the old days) fishing with the real thing, that sometimes I'll reel in my Huddlebug (mostly when I nose hook the ones that are pre-rigged) and I find myself trying to avoid the claws ! Doh ! :-) Remember I stuck a few nice Smallies on them earlier this year too ! Very cool little lures. Peace, Fish

I fished for about 9 hours today, without a touch. Mostly just threw the Hud, as usual. A few hours into the trip I made a cast to a spot that just about always holds big fish, and sure enough, I have 4 big followers ranging from 9 to about 12 lbs, come up, then just stop about 4 feet from the shore, mill around a bit, then leave. A few hours later I had one of those fish (I believe it was the biggest one) follow me in again...... But geez, these fish must have seen a Hud about 9000 times by now, and they are just SO clued in :-( So anyway, all boats must be off the lake by 7pm. I was off by 6pm..... but the park doesn't close until 8pm ;-) So I go back to my spot from the shore, and flip out a Huddlebug, rigged on 1/4 oz Owner jig hook. I just know there are fish looking at my Huddlebug...... So I let it sit. Every once in a while I tick it, and drag it a few inches, but I'm talking about 1 cast taking 10 minutes. At 7:50 pm I give it a little pull, and tick.... my line starts to ease out.... Swing ! Fish on ! It end's up being a nice, healthy, 11.8 lb'er :-) BTW, this is kind of a first for me.... I didn't catch it on a swimbait (about 1/3 of my DD's) I didn't catch it sight fishing (another 1/3 of my DD's) and I didn't catch it on live bait (the remaining 1/3 of my DD's). Basically I was just blind fishing with a small fish lure (kind of.... although as I have said, I had every reason to believe there were some good fish right where I was casting, even though they were too deep to see). Once again, who cares if you have fished all day without a bite :-) "One more cast" can just change everything ! Peace, Fish