All through the winter, I've been thinking about my bass-fishing future. I read Siemantel's and Murphy's books several times over, and one point Siemantel mentioned so many times struck home: You have to be tired/ bored of catching dinks before you feel the need to step up. I caught maybe a thousand bass last season, give or take a hundred. I wish I kept scores like goose52 does. Anyway, with the gas prices as they are, and a recent pay cut, I figured I won't be able to fish as much as I did last year. So when I do go fishing, I'll chase the big ones. I'd rather not catch anything than catch a mess of one pounders. At least that's the way I feel right now. Let's see how long I can keep it up.

I found some good deals, bought a Mattlures signature SB rod for a hundred dollars (that was a steal), a Curado 301E for about a hundred-seventy, some 20 lb Ande mono. I bought a 6" Spro BBZ jr rainbow floater, a 6" foiled trout wood lunker punker, a 6" Matt tournament light trout, a Matt soft male bluegill, one 7" and one 8" mission fish in baitfish and rainbow respectively. And with this meagre collection, I plan to catch a DD

There's two lakes nearby which yielded me a few 5+ fish last year. I know there are bigger fish. I know some key areas in each; points, ridges, humps and so on. I know the spawning flats where I caught the biggest bass. I intend to keep throwing those swimbaits until I stick the big ones, or my arms fall off. That's no joke. I am determined to get something meaningful out of the several hundred dollars I spent on the swimbait rig and the baits.

Next week, the weather forecast looks pretty good; We'll break the 50 degree mark. If there are big fish to be caught, the top-middle-bottom approach will catch them. I don't care if I have to fish for 8 hours to get one good bite. But I'll be there when the fish will bite.

Only advice that I would add is don't take any other rod or lures. I find that if I intend to go Hawg hunting leave every thing else at home. What happened when I started throwing the big baits that after a couple of hours chucking I would get discouraged. If I had other Set ups with me I would often put down the big bait and never pick it back up. Also you will get tempted to switch if your fishing partner is whacking them on something else. Put your head down and remember that your fishing for fish that not many others are. Once you start getting confidence start adding the swimbait into the rotation. I feel that I have become a better angler at other techniques due to what I have learned throwing the big stuff. Good luck on ur endeavor and keep us posted on how you do.   8-)