Supermat

NM

Swimbaits, jigs, chatterbaits, rattle traps, and 10" worms

With all but two of those baits my retrieve would be VERY simple. A swimbait isn't like a ripbait, jerkbait, etc... You're not trying to imitate a minnow with a bait that big and as such, you don't want a lot of sudden movement. I rarely see 10" fish darting and flashing like you do with shad, I see them do 3 things: swim fast, swim slow, sit there. For me, the sitting there is BORING so I swim fast or slow depending on how the fish are responding. I don't add jerks, pops, etc... as I think it takes away from the realism of what your bait is doing. Now, your 3:16 Baby Bass, you can either slow roll him on top or twitch him, both are EQUALLY effective and should produce. The only other bait I'd treat differently is that 12" huddleston. That bait I would put in a glass case, set up really high where no one will bother it, and then let my grandchild go through college thanks to it. Those are my recommendations, its about the 6th or 7th time someone has given it to you straight in this post. One of these times you're going to have to believe that 95% of the time the most effective thing you can do is throw the bait out there and reel it back at a slow to moderate pace. There isn't a "secret retrieve", there isn't some secret time of day, I definetely can't tell you your "secret spots" but if you take your baits out and just do the chuck and wind you'll eventually succeed.

Senile, Didn't mean to talk down to you at all. The point I was making is that its quite common to catch small fish on big baits. How many you catch depends on the waters you fish. There are places where you can catch 20 1-3 lbers a day on a 6-8" swimbait out here and places where you can throw them for 6 months and never get a dink to bite it. Its all location-specific but the potential is there for you to catch a bunch of solid fish if you pick up the swimbait.

Senile1, You have NO IDEA what a little bass is capable of! LOL! I've caught smallmouth as small as 2 pounds on 8" swimbaits, smallmouth as small as 1 pound on 6" swimbaits. Largemouth... I've caught 10"ers on 10" baits. Its mind-blowing what they'll try to eat, you're going to have no problems at all catching the fish in your waters. Here's an example, the bait is 9"!

For the most part, no, we don't. But the truth is, CHUCK AND WIND. You overthink it, you hurt yourself. Its 60 percent confidence, 30 percent skill, and 10% right place, right time.

Its pressure bro, anytime you leave a background uncovered in this neck of the woods people come out of the wood work and start fishing your spots! Its crazy, I was with a friend last year and he had 15 boats so up on a backwater spot where no one fishes overnight... and he had pulled his backgrounds! One guy actually admitted that he knew my friend fished three lakes so he just took the best guess and went for it! You guys are blessed that you can truly show your pics without people climbing all over you!

Awesome fish! BTW, nice reelgrips, same color i choose to use, they're awesome!

Nice one Dan! Looks like a lot of fun!

Obviously there are a lot of things that will come with time but yes, basically you just chuck and wind. You want that bait cruzing along just screaming, "I'm a dumb fish, come eat me!"

That's just awesome! Man am I glad I'mnot competing with that pair!

*hint hint* Pull out Ken's rigging system, put ballhead in bait, hook exposed out of back, pull backward like you want to fish it. Its awesome! And yes, the huddlebug is a pretty killer bait.

7.0 to match, 7.2 to beat

NM

Chris, For once and probably only once I've got to disagree with you. RW, I disagree with you as always! lol! ;D I'm fairly certain that the reason this one lake is the way it is comes down to one thing... stunted Kokanee. Trout are great, and I've personally seen a 14" smallmouth eat an 8" trout but even a 10" Smallmouth can eat a stunted 6" Kokanee. From what I understand the nourishing benefits of Kokanee are the same as that of trout so now you've got a food source that can do for smallies what trout have done for largemouth. Don't get me wrong, the heavy trout planting is doing one thing... making the big ones bigger, but i really think all those 3-5 pounders got that way by choking down 6-8" Kokes. The Kokanee derby a couple years ago was won with an 8 incher... that's with all the best kokanee guys in Norcal competing! Food, food, food for those brown bass! Anyway, that's my take on the matter. Matt

I wouldn't downsize... those baits are typically balanced for that size/weight hook. Downsizing will completely change the action of some baits. Then again, for certain instances that could be a positive as well.

I tried to see what you were saying, I stared at the photo for a while and just couldn't see a pixel change at all. (probably because its not there) The boat and fish appear the same, the background is 100 yards away so of course its going to look different. I guess the reason this topic bothers me so much is that I put a photo of my PB largemouth on a site once and I had some lurker try to convince everyone it was a fake. I can't tell you how offended I was, as fisherman all we have is our reputation. When someone who doesn't know you, or your reputation starts to tear that down it is very uncalled for.

Naysayers, naysayers... why don't you call this number... 209-772-1472 and ask them what the new lake record is? I'm sure the MARINA could CONFIRM that fish/photo for you. (Not that it really matters, I don't think any of us know that guy) Hey Chris, Urban is a fisheries biologist. He and I were arguing about those fish yesterday and he, like the rest of us, doesn't know what they are.

Lol, its not like every bite here is a 5+ lber. There are so many guys out here who have never caught an 8+ its not even funny, just like every other state. But you are correct, we do have a high top-end fish. Typically when I'm throwing smaller hardbaits like the lucky crafts I'm looking for those 2-6 or maybe even 8 pounders, above that I have a whole different kind of bait I throw. If you horse your 3-6 lbers or if they get the upper hand, you better believe those fish can bend those stock lucky craft hooks. Heck, I had an 8 pounder yesterday spinning our 17 foot boat around in circles, I couldn't believe the power she had! You just never know with these fish, its always better to be prepared because the one time you're not the biggest fish of your life is going to break your heart.

I'm definetely a hook snob myself. I just feel like its the first potential failure in my setup so I want it to be at its best all the time! I don't think there is one hook for every job. My problem with the lucky craft hooks is that they're way too weak! They're sharp and they hold their point but if you put the screws to a big fish that point will bend a lot of the time. My main hook for hardbaits is the Owner ST-41. Its a "2x" hook. The hooks is STRONG and also holds a point really well. The only problem is that the tips are slightly turned in... if that bothers you its not the hook for you. IMO the benefit to that turned in point is that its harder for fish to throw it. There are also times that I'll use the Gammi EWG treble but there is all of about ONE application for that hook in my book. The other hook I'm currently experimenting with is the Duel Outbarb hook, its a Japanese hook, its hard to get, its expensive, and I'm still on the fence about them anyway. The concept is AWESOME but I'm not convinced that it matters. What it comes down to is that I'm always pursuing big bass. I catch a lot of small fish but they're not my goal. When I hook a big bass on a small bait I need the best available hook to get that fish in the boat and most of the time that's the ST-41 Owner. Matt

Because even if they put top-notch hooks on them half of us would change them out anyway because they aren't our particular favorite! I know that every time I buy a lucky craft the first thing I do is take those hooks and put them in the garbage. Sure, they're nice, but they aren't nice enough!

You nay-sayers are amazing! ;D Here you are all the way across the country doubting a catch when three guys who fish the lake and know the point where that fish got caught are all standing around twiddling their thumbs and mumbling about how it should have been their fish instead of doubting the catch! ;D Just a clue... if all the locals don't even question the catch, regardless of markings... maybe you should follow suite. That is one SICK fish and he got her on a spot I never take the time to fish! (oops) As for the colorations Chris is quite correct, that is a hot debate out here. There are no spots in the water or any water around it but these smallies sure look "funny". My biggest smallie out of there had the "traditional" colors, very bronze on the back, but still had the strange markings. Who knows? My partner is a fisheries biologist and we still go back and forth on the matter, he doesn't know either!

SHHHH!!! Those are a California secret! The basstrix line of baits are top-notch, they fill a spot in the market that no one else can even touch. Those that you linked to are only one of the lines he makes, some are thinner, some have boot-tails like swimbaits, etc... Do they work? Well, Fish Chris' 18 lber ate one! I've caught a TON of fish on them as well, just no 18's. ;D You can a handful of things with them, stand-up jighead, ball/arkie head, dropshot, or tube head and swim them. (They're hollow like a tube) Good luck!

I ended up going with a 7-turn uni-uni knot. Took it out today and caught one crankbait fish, seemed to hold up fine but we'll see after a couple dozen more fish. Thanks for the help guys. How strong is the nail knot in comparison to the Uni?

Hey all, I know there are a few experts out here and I need some help! What is the best knot to use to connect 20 lb braid to 15 lb flourocarbon? The diameters aren't all that much different, basically connecting 6 lb to 15 lb. What's the best way to go? I don't care if its tough to tie as long as its strong. Matt