Supermat

My favorite bait to pitch and flip is the Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver or the *** Beaver Craws. They tend to slip through heavy cover better than other baits as there aren't any long appendages to hang up.

It all depends on your fish. The EWG is an awesome hook to KEEP fish hooked up, problem is it will miss some of the fish that just slap at the bait. If your fish tend to eat the bait well then use EWG's by all means, they're excellent hooks. Personally, I prefer the 2x owner trebles for almost all my needs. The tips are turned in slightly which doesn't help on slapping fish but they tend to hold fish really well and won't bend out where other hooks will. For the baits you're using you should be using size 4 and size 6 trebles.

I use the P-Line Split ring pliers for split rings, cutting line, removing hooks, etc... and they're still working great after a hard season's use. Honestly, it doesn't matter what you get as long as you spend a little more and invest in a QUALITY pair.

ROFL! ....oh yeah, almost forgot about that. BTW, you'd have taken 3rd or 4th.

3 fish... that all?! Pathetic!

Its hard to say if the whole problem was there when you left the store. Over-spooled reels are a MAJOR problem because if it moves to the edge of the spool it will bind up and keep it from turning. Braid could be REALLY bad if you didn't notice. As for the backlash, I've had the same problem if I try to peel it out. I've found that rather than pulling out the line while freespooling and applying pressure with your thumb, turn down your drag and pull line out against the drag. This works with ALL backlashes. Pulling against the drag instead of your thumb will stop most minor backlashes in half the time. Matt

1) 6-8" swimbait 2) Brown/orange round rubber jig 3) Lucky Craft Staycee 90 4) Spook 5) Lucky Craft LV-500

The bait looks STRANGE out of the water. I really don't like the buzzbait tail at all. That said, once I saw it in the water I was pleasantly surprised. The bait looks very similar to some of the other double-jointed hardbaits. Nice fluid motion, plenty of sound, and a very different look from the bottom. (side of bait instead of belly) Check it out, it wouldn't be my first choice but its definetely not a bad one. Matt

A friend of mine won one at a tournament a couple years ago and just loves it. I've played with it a few times and honestly, it impressed me. Its a very different feel from anything else... not sure whose blanks they're using? Anyway, the one he has is very light but I've seen him land fish to 8 lbs with it and its definetely sensitive.

The Hud is an incredibly effective lure... truly incredible, but there are times when its not the best option. Fish Chris, a good friend of mine, will admit that he sometimes struggles with the big bass at this time of year. I firmly believe that part of that stems from his choice of baits. There are times when an ultra-realistic, lifelike bait are not the best choice. It took me a long time to grasp that but I believe there are times when a hard surface bait or a hard slow sinking bait will work better BECAUSE their action is slightly mechanical. I've personally seen it matter. That said, MOST of my big fish still come on the ultra-realistic baits. Matt

T-rig, You can't tell me that you don't see the similarities in those two baits. They're IDENTICAL except that he dropped a joint, everything else about them is the same. Anyway, I checked out the rest of his stuff and he's got some neat ideas, especially in soft plastics. Have you ever ordered from him or picked his stuff up somewhere else? Also, why in the world do ALL japanese companies make their rainbow trout look so funky? Anyone ever notice that? A Foiled bait just doesn't look like a trout and that's that. I've never understood why they continue to make baits that way. THIS looks like a trout!

Looking forward to the next one for sure! I hope "knock off" didn't leave the wrong vibe... I really am impressed. That bait you made is SWEET! I've tried to make a few baits and they've never turned out how I wanted. You've got a talent and I don't see a thing wrong with re-making a bait that isn't available anymore, especially if you put a sweet color scheme on it and let us drool over the pics!

Raul, I don't see the problem with that... he ought to use a "swimbait" rod anyway if he wants to get serious about it. The topic isn't, "what is the lightest weight japanese bait that I can get?" its, "what's the best bait?" Typically your heavier hardbaits will be better baits as they've been built more consistantly with better components and are a lot less likely to break from abuse or from the strain of the fight.

T-Rig, Crazy! They even rip each other off on the japanese market! Your second bait is a rip-off of the Imakatsu Hasuzzy. http://www.imakatsu.co.jp/products/pro_a010.html As for the japanese baits, I've noticed that they are never quite as realistic as the baits you can buy here at home. Some of our very own bait makers are blowing the rest of the world away, including the japanese market. This guy is the first that comes to mind... www.316lurecompany.com

Chris, Randall, and others... I like where this is going. Here's one to complicate it even further: I was out fishing today and had a couple short strikes on my bait. I thought you know what, I'm going to throw on a stinger hook and see what happens, hopefully I don't hurt a fish. The very next bite I actually hook up, she comes up to the surface, thrashes, and immediately throws the bait! Bear in mind, that is the first fish I've lost after a solid hook up in nearly a year... and the first fish on a stinger hooked bait in nearly a year. What did we learn? If they're goign to eat it, they'll eat it, otherwise you're just risking hurting them and you'll probably lose them anyway with the stinger rig. Go figure!

Tritonmike, that looks killer! That is a PERFECT knock off and its a sweet color. Nothing like pounding them on something you've made yourself.

10.8 lbs back in January. I lipped a 12 for a friend the other day, does that count?!

Between those 3 reel options I'd definetely use the Calcutta 200. The other sizes will overpower such a small rod and I've personally burned up a Catala throwing swimbaits. That's not to say it didn't land a bunch of big bass for giving up but still, it failed prematurely. Your rod is not necessarily the ideal rod to throw but since you're beginning go with what you've got instead of blowing tons of money in an experiment. Just keep in mind that if you tangle with a top-end fish that you're going to be a little undermatched, apply as much pressure as you can and don't let her get turned away from you and you'll do just fine. Matt

This topic came to me while reading a topic about how line visibility might affect bites. As a lot of you guys know, I'm a swimbait fisherman by nature so a lot of my thoughts, topics, and examples revolve around that type of fishing but what I want to discuss is the potential use of too much hook. Here is my example: I throw a lot of a swimbait called the Huddleston Deluxe. Its an 8" bait that is about as lifelike as any bait can be. www.huddlestondeluxe.com I used to use a "stinger hook" setup that consisted of two 1/0 gamakatsu trebles connected to the belly of the bait via 80lb sevenstrand wire and I caught a lot of big bass with it. A lot of the fish would inhale the bait but more often then not they'd barely be hooked on one of the bottom treble hooks. Often I'd land a big bass that had a single point of the rearmost treble right in the lip, talk about scary! I was always wondering how to get a little more hook on the bait because even with these belly trebles I would miss a lot of bites. One day I went out with a friend named Don to one of his lakes. Don told me that he would throw the very same bait with nothing but the stock jig hook. IE, this 8", 5 oz bait had the same amount of hook as a standard 1/2 oz flippin' jig! I told the guy he was nuts and that I'd teach him a thing or two about stinger hooks. 8 hours later he'd had 5 bites and landed a couple 3-4 lbers and I hadn't had a bite. This is a common occurance with swimbaits for one guy to get the bites but I was curious. I decided to cut all my extra hooks off and just use the stock jig hook to see if I could get bit. 15 minutes later I was staring into the livewell at my beautiful 11 lber. Since that day with Don I've started fishing the bait with only a jig hook. Do you know what I've found? Not only do I get more bites. (Probably because the bait looks more natural) but I rarely miss a bite, they now engulf the bait and get the jig hook squarely in the roof of the mouth! My tail biters have become hard biters and my fish losing problems on small treble hooks have been completely resolved. A year ago you could never have convinced me to throw a bait this size with so little hook but now I'm convinced. With all this in mind I ask you, is there such a thing as too much hook? I know with the rest of my baits I believe in as much hook as I can get away with! My spooks have a pair of 1/0 hooks instead of three size 1 hooks. My double-wide beavers get a 7/0 hook, my 10" worms get an 11/0 hook, and even my dropshot worms go on a HEAVY DUTY 1/0-2/0 hook. What do you think? Would it benefit all of us to back off the hooks a little or do we need to add more to stop the short strikes? Matt

That Gamakatsu Round bend is a very weak hook but is also quite stealthy so it still gets used at times. I've bent it out all the way up into the 1/0 and 2/0 sizes! I've also bent out some of the Owner 1/0 and 2/0 hooks but so far the 2x Owner has treated me well. Never had a problem with the Gammi or Owner 4x hooks. Matt

Swimbaits: 400-500 Topwaters/Ripbaits: 75+ Buzz/chatter/Spinnerbaits: 75+ Cranks: 200+ Soft plastics: 200 lbs+ Spoons/blades: 30+ All in all... WAY too much tackle but you just never know when you're going to need it!

I'm definetely a fan of the owner 2x hooks! The only exception is on really light weight baits like blade baits, then I'll go with the Gammi EWG, problem is that if its not a 2x or 4x you really need to slow play your fish to keep them from bending out. Matt

The more I fish the more I find that the mass-produced baits are rarely the "best" because there is always some guy in a garage that spends his time thinking of ways to fix the problems or irritations that the mass-produced baits cause each of us. Maybe they sink too quick, a sharper hook would be nice, they squeek too much, they don't squeek enough, they don't track right, etc.... I've dug through as many of the "little guys" as I can stand and the best buzzbaits I've found come from D&M baits. These guys make their baits with super-sharp owner hooks, single blades, double blades, with or without clackers, a ridiculous number of color, size, and weight variations. My personal favorite is the longest version of the Double blade/double clacker in the 1/2 oz size. That bait is a solid 7" long! You wouldn't believe the fish that will come out of the wood work to smack a BIG buzzbait! http://stores.ebay.com/D-M-Custom-Baits That is the link to their ebay store. Matt

Gar-balls, There are a handful of differences and I for one am a fan of the copolymer in MOST situations. The main difference here is that they have something very similar to flourocarbon coating. What that translates to is a line that remains very thin but is literally harder (more resistant to abrasion) limp so that it lays better on the spool, thin because the coating gives it its strength instead of its overall size, and of course its going to be less visible as its coated and is a smaller diameter. For me the key is diameter, for example: When I swimbait I typically use 25 lb P-Line CXX mono but lately I've been playing with the 30 lb P-Line CX Premium. The 30 lb premium is obviously stronger but it is also a thinner diameter than the 25 lb. For me that is the best of both worlds unless I'm going to be in really heavy cover. In the thick stuff I'll go with the CXX because its thicker and as such the line has to get cut deeper before it breaks. Hope this gives some clarification. Matt

There are a multitude of ways to work the bait but my two most common are very simple. During the times when you would throw a spinnerbait pick up the chatterbait instead. During those pre/post spawn feeding frenzies run the bait fast in, around, and through cover to trigger HARD strikes, during the lazy summer months fish it as slow as you can and still get a "thump" out of the blade with a single tail grub instead of the double tail trailer.