OCdockskipper

My experience has been different than yours, at least with the 4" & 6" regular (not Fat) models. I have had dozens, if not hundreds, of bass throw the Roboworm during a fight and once the worm breaks the surface tension of the water, it sinks. These are with worms that may have been used for an hour or more, if it takes longer than that for the salt to dissolve from the head, then that is why I haven't seen it. There is an old thread where Catt has a picture of a bunch of Roboworms sitting at the bottom of a clear bowl. The entire worm is flat, the tail isn't floating up. Any chance there are different formulas on different coasts?

Did you notice in their write-up, they described their offering as the real deal (TRD). Roboworms are my goto T-rig & drop shot worm, but unless they have changed their formula for this bait, I doubt I would use it for a Ned Rig. Regular Roboworms only float until they break the surface tension on the water, then they sink. I prefer the Elastic formula for a Ned rig because of its buoyancy and durability. But I would still probably buy a pack...

The main reason I don't use them is I have found that local factors such as weather & water conditions are much more of a predictor than the tables. It is like when you choose to use the restroom; your body does signal when it wants you to relieve itself, but if you are on a crowded bus, you wait until a later time to actually do it. Local factors trump celestial events. The other reason is I don't want negative thoughts affecting my decisions while out on the water. If you read that it is going to be a poor day and you go the first hour without a bite, it would become easy to give up mentally. However, without that preconceived notion, an hour without a bite just tells you what isn't currently working for that day.

Bowling is an example that has changed, for it used to be (30 years ago) difficult to average 200. With changes to equipment and lane conditions, averaging 200 now is not difficult at all and outlandish averages over 230 are not unusual. It is much easier to become a PBA member than it once was, unfortunately. That said, the point is if you enter a scratch bowling tournament, there is no distinction that prevents any of the top talent from entering as well. I recall some folks that would complain that when the PBA tour used to come to Orange County (usually Fountain Bowl), you would see pro's bowling local scratch tournaments as well. Pete Weber, true to his nature, would usually mouth off to the locals, which never helped the situation. Point is, in a competition, if it is an "Open" event, that includes everyone. If you don't want to compete against the best, fish a club tournament or bowl in a handicap league.

I believe the odds are 100% that fish are in that water compared to being on shore or up in a tree (unless we are talking about walking catfish).

Say what? Bluto: What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! Otter: [to Boon] Germans? Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.

I don't know what you are talking about, that black guy looks nothing like Glenn...

4lbs, 15 oz. If you count the number of scales, divide it by the month the fish was caught, add in the number of tattoo's on the arm in the photo, it allows you to make up whatever number you want. I would hazard a guess that nearly all anglers overestimate a bass's weight by at least 25%. A while back, I spent a few outings guessing the weight of every fish I caught & then weighing it. It was pretty eye opening and helped get my estimates closer to the truth.

It was private when they started selling lots, but in the early days, enforcement of keeping people out was often given a backseat to giving potential buyers a look into the community. Potential was defined as the ability to fog a mirror... My parents first took a look during the summer of 1970. At that time, they would let you stay at the campgrounds for a day or two as long as you spent some time in the grasp of a salesperson. So while my parents were looking at lots, my sister & I fished from the bank at the campground. She caught a 4 lb carp & I caught a 5 lb catfish, the biggest fish we had ever caught up to that time. We begged our parents to buy there . They ended up buying a lot & then building a house that was complete in 1974. At that time, only about 25% of the waterfront lots had homes (although most had docks). That number now is about 99%. Back then, even during the summer, it seemed like we had the lake to ourselves during the week. You are so right about the amount of development there, both inside the gates as well as the surrounding area. Out of curiosity, did you know any members of the bass club The AmBassadeurs? A few of their members lived on their lake, I was the typical kid always talking with them, hoping to get a chance to fish with them on their real bassboats (I had a 14 foot Sears Gamefisher).

Your fish may indeed be fine, however removal of slime coat does lead to a percentage of fish dying days or weeks later due to infection. Just because an experienced angler chooses to ignore this doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. Aaron Martens is a pro angler who places fish care high, watch him and you will see he tries to avoid having the fish hit the carpet when he boat flips them. Doesn't always happen but that doesn't mean you can't make an effort to try. Mike Iaconelli on the other hand, has on film, on multiple occasions, thrown fish 20 feet in the air in anger just because they weren't big enough or because he lost at something. He has every right to do that, he caught them so he can release them how he chooses. He may indeed care greatly about the health of bass & bass fishing...he just has an odd way of showing it.

Wait, so you agree that doing things to remove the slime coat is not good, but mentioning it in passing on a fishing forum is "taking it a little overboard"? I don't think NCBassraider was scolding anyone for the practice, he was just stating a fact that many newer anglers may not be aware of. If one chooses to not follow the advice, that is one's prerogative. If you are going to keep and eat the fish, it is a moot point. However, since a majority of anglers on this forum practice catch & release, it really wasn't out of line to mention it

Just for accuracy, Canyon Lake became a private lake back in 1968, that is when the Corona Land Company started selling lots. You could go there for the day if you took a tour of available lots, but they stopped being open to the general public. In 1990, Canyon Lake incorporated as a city. By that time, all of the lots had been sold and the area was over 95% built out.

Actually, he isn't being negative. His opinion is based on fact, how lying on the dirt or boats carpet removes a fish's slime coat and causes a certain percentage of death in the days following release (not immediate). Pro anglers get paid to get a bass into the boat and have it survive for a few hours until it is released, they don't get penalized if it goes belly up a day or two later due to infection. Not saying anything negative about boat flipping or pro anglers, just laying out the rationale why it may not be best to use pro anglers as an example of the best practices for fish survival. A hook in the mouth of a fish is very different than removal of the slime coat, as far as survival goes.

James, no worries, I have the answers for you. I dug up my fish tag logs that I used on Canyon Lake in 1978 & 1979 and will give you the answers as to how to catch those Canyon Lake largemouth during September & October: 1978 - During September, a majority of the bass my sister and I caught & tagged hit crankbaits off the main lake points of the larger coves. The best producers were a Bagleys Killer B II and a Rebel Humpback, you may have to do some antiquing to find these models nowadays. As the month progressed and turned to October, most of our fish came further back in the coves, a few on topwater lures (Jitterbug & Hula Poppers) as well as on crankbaits. Did I mention that as a teenager, I threw crankbaits 90% of the time? 1979 - Earlier in the summer, I got a job working at a McDonalds. As September rolled around, I met a cute brunette who I dated for 7 years and then married in 1986 (we just celebrated our 31st anniversary a couple of months ago). Therefore, I didn't do any fishing in September and my sister, who was never good at documenting anything, didn't make any notes about the fish she caught. Sorry... I'm sure you can slay them now with this near 40 year old information...

I'm sure you are overestimating if you believe any of your 25K posts were in agreement with anyone...

I also like the Torpedo's, both the regular size & tiny for my lake. It does seem to be more effective in the fall than the spring or summer for me (poppers in the early spring, walking baits later & into summer).

26 lbs, 3 oz. Congratulations on setting a new world record...

I don't see any ruler in either picture. There is a tape measure in both pictures, but no ruler...

It is interesting about how, unless you travel alot, locale has much to do with ones number. Out west, we don't have any walleye, pike, muskies, etc while much of the deep south doesn't have access to the various species of trout. I would have to say the midwest probably has the most species available but ironically, the least number of types of bass (Northern, smallmouth & spots only, correct?). Not true bass like stripers & white bass, but the those fish in the sunfish family that are called bass.

I am at 22 if you let me split up Northern & Florida strain bass... Northern Largemouth Bass Florida Largemouth Bass Smallmouth Bass Spotted Bass Guadalupe Bass Striped Bass Channel Catfish Blue Catfish Yellow Bullhead Catfish Common Carp Bluegill Green Sunfish Longear Sunfish Warmouth Pumpkinseed White Crappie Black Crappie Rainbow Trout Brown Trout Brook Trout Cutthroat Trout Threadfin Shad (accidently) No perch or teethy critters

Tom is probably more qualified than I to comment on this, but most California fisheries that produce huge fish are difficult for numbers (The Delta being a notable exception). Yes, you have a chance at catching a 17 lb bass, but you also have a chance of getting skunked multiple times in a row. I would wager that you have a much better chance of catching an 8 to 10 lb bass in Texas or Florida than California. You definitely have a better chance in those states of a day of catching 30 fish with the top 5 topping 25lbs than in California. The allure of the remote chance to catch a huge bass doesn't attract new anglers as much as the sure bet of catching a bunch of fish. That is why most California anglers target trout, catfish & saltwater species.

A couple of my thoughts/opinions on the above posts: I would argue that the Elite series has a healthy future. Of the top 15 in the AOY this year, you had three anglers in their 20's (Wheeler, Lee & Connell), four anglers in their 30's (Palanuik, Ashley, Defoe & Feider), seven anglers in their 40's (Christie, Evers, Hackney, Combs, Ehler, Hartman & Swindle) and one at 50 (KVD). I recall Hackney saying bass anglers prime is 35 to 45, so you only have 3 anglers past that prime, 5 in the middle and 7 still entering it. Between the Opens, the College circuit and the nation system, they have a good feeder system to keep new & younger talent flowing in. I have heard the argument against Elite anglers fishing Opens and I find it to be sour grapes. In baseball, bowling & poker (to name a few off the top of my head), the top professionals will compete in the leagues or divisions that feed the major league level. To try to limit the field by excluding top talent is a weak way to compete. While I can't speak for the entire West, I can give some insight as to the lack of B.A.S.S. influence in Southern California. Despite a population of over 23 million people, there is exactly one (1) Bass Pro Shop to cover the area from L.A. to the Mexican border. You can bet Johnny Morris has crunched the numbers and figured out that despite the huge numbers of people, serious interest in the outdoors just does not exist in this area. To further grind that down, a majority of folks who are interested in the outdoors here either fish the ocean for tuna or other species or the mountain lakes & streams for stocked trout. Having fished for largemouth for over 40 years here, I find that difficult to believe, but it is the reality - there just aren't that many bass fishermen here & it is not even a blip on our cultures radar. Brent Ehler led this years Classic for the first two days and there wasn't even a mention anywhere in his hometown paper (The Orange County Register). I live in a neighborhood that has over 250 homes, all lakefront, and not a single person owns a bass boat (myself included). I'd bet you couldn't go down a street in most southern parts of the country and not find at least 1 bass boat for every 10 houses. Bass fishing is part of the culture in the south, hence it draws the biggest crowds despite having smaller population numbers.

fair enough

The complaint about bending hooks and the "need" for beefier Shroomz hooks illustrate Team9nine's point. If you are using light gear with light line and have your drag set correctly, you will never bend a hook. I have caught bass over 8 lbs and catfish over 15 lbs on Shroomz hooks and never had one bend. These fish pull drag of course, but that is why you pay for that feature on a reel. You spent a lot of money on that rod & reel, let it do its job to help fight the fish instead of horse it in. However, if you decide to "customize" a Ned rig and use heavier gear or line and set the drag at a point beyond what it should be, then you may bend a hook. You can choose to solve that problem by using a beefier hook, but that ends up creating other problems with the presentation. The solution that doesn't create other problems was to not make your customization. What ends up happening is folks start throwing 1/4 oz Big TRD's on 15lb test with a baitcaster and then chime in that those Ned Rig aficionados must be fishing on some loaded lakes, because the results this "customized" rig get are nowhere near the other Ned Rig claims. Well, you can use a lawnmower to trim a hedge but if you do, don't complain to Toro that you lopped off your foot...

Actually it does. Doesn't mean you necessarily want to hang around those you share genetics with, but they are by definition "family". Blood can make emotions run to extremes. For example, if someone acts like an idiot, it doesn't bother me much, but if my younger sister acts the same way, it drives me bananas. Something about not wanting believe that someone with the same genes as you can be so dumb or act so outrageous.