WRB-2.0

The thinking that bass grow to their maximum weight and then die is only true if caught at that weight and the fishermen keeps it. Bass grow to a maximum weight, then stop gaining weight and slowly loose it as the die of natural causes or disease. The reason is they can no longer catch prey easily. Lets say that giant bass can live 15 years, then at age 12 or 13 they should be prime weight and loose a few pounds by the time they reach 15 years and die. The world record Perry bass has been and always will be a controversy. Not because of George Perry, because the IGFA broke their own rules allowing records that did not meet the standards when grandfathering the fresh water records based on fishing magazine contests. All the IGFA salt water records have proper documentation. If we think the bass record (smallmouth & largemouth) is questionable; take a look at the musky records that change constantly. Until someone breaks the 22.25 lb record or the IGFA changes it; Perry's bass is the world record. Bass only get to be giants when allowed to grow to their maximum size, a very rare fish in today's world. Potential places where a new record could be swimming; Arizona, California, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Cuba, Japan, South Africa and Mexico. Didn't mention Georgia or Alabama, no bass in the past 75 years over 17 lbs have been reported in those states, to the best of my knowledge. WRB

The largest I know of was 20.4 lbs, Lake Hodges, 1985, caught by Gene Dupras, post spawn in May. There has been a least 2 bass in the 18+ lb range from the CA delta last year. The Florida strain bass were stocked, as I recall, back in the early 90's in the delta. The only problem is the water management in the delta is very political and they could easily impact the fishery. The Perry bass was hauled back in a pick up and must have lost a few pounds. WRB

Mark Davis is one of my favorite touring pro's, good interview. Mark always comes off as a good ole boy that stumbled into bass fishing. Don't let that demeanor fool you, Mark is very innovative and skilled bass fishermen. Thanks for posting the interview. WRB

The official California state record for largemouth bass is 21.75 lbs., caught by Mike Arugo on March 5th, 1991 at Lake Castaic. Mike reportedly was trolling a Renosky 8" soft plastic swimbait, fishing out of a rental aluminum boat. The rental doesn't have a livewell or any means to keep a fish alive, so the bass was put in the boat, then taken back to the dock a few hours later to be weighed. The bass was dead and had lost weight from dehydration. Because the bass was dead, it was measured, weighed, examined by a Fish & Game biologist and certified. The Arugo bass is the heaviest largemouth bass officially ever weighed, photographed and examined and IMO opinion should share the world record. The fact the the fishermen wasn't a known big bass expert and didn't know how to handle or promote this bass, it is lost in the history of bass fishing. The next world record bass could easily be caught by another weekend angler like Arugo, the odds favorite it. Hundreds of weekend fishermen bass fish every weekend on lakes that have potential world record bass. Only a small hand full of dedicated trophy bass fishermen, who fish alone, target giant bass. A few giant bass fishermen have self promoted their skills to off set the expense of tackle and lures or help their guiding businesses. The problem with self promotion is a double edge blade that cuts both ways; you become well known to the public. Fishermen with spotting scopes watch every move and decimate any spot they can locate. Most giant bass fishermen prefer to remain under the radar as long as possible and go about catching and releasing the bass quietly without fanfare. I agree with Matt (Mattlures) that bass are heaviest and most vulnerable during the spawn and sight fishing beds results in some of these bass being caught. Bob Crupi, Mike Arujo, Ray Easly were not sight or bed fishermen, they all caught pre spawn bass, bass that were staged in deeper water. The giant bass are only on a bed for less than a day, the odds are very small to be at the right fish at the right place at the right time. The thought that the next world record will be a trout fed bass from one of California's small deep reservoirs isn't that far off. However IMO the world record could also be from the California delta; over 1,500 miles of bass water with a good food supply, no trout. The delta offers something few other bass locations have; sanctuary to grow to be a giant. WRB

Where I fish the majority of the time the deep clear highland class reservoirs are used for water storge; drinking water and irrigation. These lake are small so the bass can easily migrate a few miles and go from spawning nurseries to deep water sanctuaries and set up their summer location where prey and safety is nearby. Big higland reservoirs need to be broken down into 1/3 sections or even large creek arms as separate ecosystems and fished accordingly. The bass in the upper 1/3 could be in post spawn and the bass down by the dam in colder water could be just staging into pre spawn/spawn period. I would fish the bass that are the most catchable; pre spawn given the choice. I rarely offer specific lures choices,however I did for one reason; to get you out of your comfort zone and target shad eating bass with high % lures that have worked for me during the post spawn to summer transition period. Good luck.

Deep clear highland class reservoirs go through a similar post spawn to early summer transition. The bait is almost always threadfin shad in these reservoirs and they become the primary food source. Threadfin shad hide in cover during darkness and move out into deep water as the sun activates the plankton they feed. This is key to finding the larger bass as they will stay close to this prey. Early morning and late evening smaller shad profile top water and mid water column lures work well; Basstrix baitfry fly lined, flashtrix drop shotted are very effective, Splash-Its, Tiny Torpedos and Zip N Ziggy's are also good choices. During the 8A to 10A transition period when the sun is starting to bring up the plankton; Pointers and Diawa hard jerk baits work well. Once the shad school up and move into deep water; the compression areas like points and humps become the areas to fish with feathered structure spoons and drop shotted Flashtrix soft plastics that look like shad. Shad swimbaits worked over the same compression areas should get the bigger bass during the afternoon time period. WRB

I'm sure Catt has most of the answers, however if you are interested in learning to use your electronics effectively you may want to buy Don Ionino's book. Http://www.iovino.com/donbook.htm This book is written by a hall of fame bass fishermen who knows how to fish outside underwater structure as well as anyone. Deep structure bass are the same as shoreline bass, except you are fishing targets you can't see. Once you understand how to locate bass on deeper structure,and boat control to stay near the structure, catching them isn't all that different. Good luck. WRB

The world record musky; 56" @ 69lbs, my PB musky was 47" @ 37 lbs. and is my longest and heaviest fresh water game fish. This musky was caught on light tackle fishing for smallies; 8 lb mono and 1/8 oz black hair jig. Spent many hours casting big musky lures and end catching this fish with my bass/walleye tackle, Lake of The Woods, Sabaskong bay. WRB The world record muskie was 63 inches and 69 pounds. I guess we are both wrong; 60" @ 67 1/2lbs, Cal Johnson is currently listed. I referenced the Lawton musky, now removed. You apparently referenced the Spray fish, also removed by the IGFA. However you look at it ; 54" musky is 50 + lbs, a trophy fish. Any photo's?? WRB

The world record musky; 56" @ 69lbs, my PB musky was 47" @ 37 lbs. and is my longest and heaviest fresh water game fish. This musky was caught on light tackle fishing for smallies; 8 lb mono and 1/8 oz black hair jig. Spent many hours casting big musky lures and end catching this fish with my bass/walleye tackle, Lake of The Woods, Sabaskong bay. WRB

Leaving a tackle store without buying something new that I don't need, just can't seem to break the habit. WRB

Your problem with crankbaits is a combination of the rod, the rods position and your drag. Your rod should have a slow enough action so it bends evenly from the middle of the rod to the tip; parabolic bend. A typical bass rod has a fast action and bends mostly at the top 1/3rd near the tip of the rod. The fast action rods are good for nearly everything in bass fishing except crankbaits. With your rod held at 12 o'clock, the rod is lifting their bass out of the water as it approaches the boat. A good slow action cranking rod bends enough to help prevent this lifting action, plus puts less pressure on the hooks. Setting your drag to no more than 1/3rd the line strength or no more than 3 lbs will also prevent tearing out hooks or breaking line near the boat. The only time you need more drag is around heavy cover. Controlling the bass means keeping the fish in front of you and keeping the rod and line loaded up with pressure at all times, give no slack line. Landing the fish will require you to keep the rod tip up so the rod can bend, do this after the fish is under control. WRB

Lack of confidence will soon lead you to thinking that you may not have the skills to catch bass. On the other hand catching bass gives confidence to continue fish and try different techniques, locations and presentations. When you teach children or new fishermen to fish, the first thing you want to do is have them catch a fish, to give them confidence. Knowledge and competence comes with education and practice. You learn a lot from reading and watching others fish. Applying the knowledge and learned skills requires time on the water. Catching bass gives you the confidence to continue learning, developing new skills and spending more time on the water. WRB PS; not all jigs have skirts.

A pegged Texas weight is a bullet head jig. It's how you fish the jig that counts and has given you confidence, not the name. WRB

Getting ready starts when loading the boat back onto the trailer when finishing the days or nights outing for me. It takes about 30 minutes to wipe down the boat and generally put thing s away. When I get home I go through my rods and reels to check them, clean whats needs it and change line and rearrange my tackle for the next outing; this takes about 1 1/2 depending on the extent of what needs what. Then need about 1/2 hour to get ready for the days or nights fishing, load up the drinks and food, hook up the rig and get on my way. 2 to 2 1/2 hours of prep time, not counting shopping for new stuff. WRB

Age has little to do with mastering bass fishing technology, everything to do with time on the water. Age doesn't factor into occasional 1 day tournaments, often won by bass fishermen in there 60's. Denny and Chad Brauer are good examples of young verses older bass pro's. Who do you think has the edge in today's tournaments? or would win a nostalgic bass tournament? WRB

Lets put age into prospective; endurance. Tournament fishing requires a lot more physical endurance than fun fishing on weekends. When you are older than 90% of the competitive field your experience helps to locate bass quicker, however today knowledge is shared better then ever before, so finding bass isn't the edge it once was. Fishing 4 days without a break, then trailering to another tournament a repeating the 4 day tournament plus practicing gets to be both a physical and general health issue as we age. The skills are there, the desire is there for most top competitive pro's, taking the pounding is the problem, IMO. WRB

Catch & Release by Sure-Life is very good and can be put directly onto a bleeding gill raker with some success. The fact the bass revived was a good sign, but no guarantee the fish survived after it was released. Bass can bleed out from a damaged gill raker very quickly as it is a fatal wound. If you have a bad bleeder, keep it and take the bass home for dinner. WRB

#2, a big bass every 7+ hours is excellent time on the water ratio. If you are catching 30+ small bass, you are not targeting big bass in the first place. A blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile, however the squirrel that knows to look under the oak tree finds them consistently. WRB

This is like whipping a dead horse. Blood capillary scenario doesn't hold water or wear only the bottom edge of the tail, it would affect all of the tail. The fact that you may have not spent a lot of time watching bass spawn could explain the belief that female bass just swim up to a nest site and lay eggs. The male does select the nest site and initially clean out a small depression that suits the smaller bass. However the first big egg laden female will definitely sweep out the nest to make it larger; usually form about 18" to 36" in diameter. Subsequent females that find the nest site suitable size, may not sweep out the nest because the male nips at the female and tries to prevent eggs already laid from being sweep away. Whatever your belief may be, worn tails initially occur during the spawn, infections could continue for months after causing permanent tail damage. That it from me on this topic. WRB

Embedded? Nearly all soft plastic lures have embedded hooks added as a standard rigging method. You can't add trap hooks, unless the lure has a specific hanger or the "stinger" hook is directly attached to the primary hook; like a spinnerbait stinger hook. You can't have more than 3 treble hooks and they must be free hanging, like on a crankbait. Getting WR today is going to be difficult, as you joked earlier... Butch Brown is video taping all his trips to avoid any controversy. I fish alone a lot and hope if I'm blessed, there is a impartial witness nearby. WRB

You might want to take a look at a largemouth bass anatomy. The eggs sacks are located in the center of the cavity, just below the air bladder. Bass are nutral buoyant and 2/3rds the weight is in the front 1/2 of the bass. The difference in water temperatures in SoCal where giant bass are not all that uncommon does not very more than 10 degrees between winter and pre spawn; 50 to 60 degrees. A male bass only starts the nest site, the females usually remodel them and visit several nest sites and roll on their sides to lay eggs, then kick their tails to propel themselves away and return to repeat the process. Tail wear is a normal spawning process. If I knew how to post a picture, (Catt tried to help me) could show you a giant bass that only has 1/2 it's tail, it's an old bass. Spent a lot of hours watching these big bass spawn and they definitely wear off part of the tail in the process. WRB

Not unless you reeled in both fish and intentionally made another cast or let the line out with both lure and live legal bait fish. It's not illegal to use live bait, as long as the live bait is legal in the state and lake where you are fishing. WRB PS; In CA a trout for example would be illegal regardless how it happened to get hooked and a bass ate it.

Hypothetical? Giant bass eat large baitfish on a regular basis and it isn't uncommon to see a tail in the throat of these bass. If all you see is a tail, the sallowed baitfish is more than like dead and partially digested, if it weighed 2 lbs. Giant bass rarely target bass that weigh 2 lbs, too big a head to sallow without getting caught in the throat. However a 2 lb trout or shiner has a much smaller head, slender body without spiny dorsal fins and that be a more common hypothetical situation. The underlying question becomes; how did the 2 lb bass get into the bass? Without a creditable witness, the assumption is the angler put it in the bass, because a 2 lb bass isn't considered normal prey. The bass wouldn't be able to regurgitate a bass even if it was a 1 lb., due to the dorsal spines. This is why it is imperative that the bass be examined by a qualified biologist to determine if the swallowed bass was eaten (partially digested) or stuffed in by the angler. You would be surprised what has been found inside giant bass; frozen trout, fish fillets, ice, a variety of heavy objects that include gravel, rocks, lead, and small bass. Unfortunately, a freshly swallowed 2 lb bass would be suspicious. Good question Muddy. WRB

Trying to put this question into perspective; we are talking about a small shallow lowland reservoir used for flood control. Sonar signal area at 8' deep is less than 3' in diameter, a small area. If suspended fish are at 5' depth, the sonar signal return diameter is less than the length of a adult size bass. The boat is moving and the bass are moving away from the boats sound, your chances of actually metering bass, in shallow water are nil. Metering the bottom contour looking for isolated rocks, hard areas, channels and baitfish schools are what you should be targeting and why a sonar unit is necessary. Trying to pattern bass on this type of reservoir isn't nearly as important as locating spots where the bass are. Finding active bass should be as simple as making a milk run to about 20 good spots and taking your time to determine what the bass want to eat that day. If you are fishing large or deep highland or hill land reservoirs, the bass have a lot of choices and several patterns of activity everyday, that change seasonally. Very different lake systems, same bass. The most common mistake a weekend fisherman makes is fishing the shoreline; the bass spend 90% of their day time out away from the shoreline. WRB

Check out the Okuma GS-C-7111H-T, good swimbait rod that can easily double for a pitching rod. You could cast swimbaits at both Castaic upper and lower lakes. Go up the road to Elizabeth lake and flip jigs. Head over to Quail lake and Pyramid, cast swimbaits for stripers. Drive up to Casitas and cast swimbaits. WRB