A 2011 Summer in Review

So this summer fishing swimbaits has been unbelievable and I would easily consider it the best three months of catching big bass in my life where I easily caught more big fish in the 4-8.5lb class range in those three months than I have in the past five years combined.  Here  are just some of those memorable fish I caught this year, enjoy.

My Personal Best Shoal Bass at 7lb 8oz caught on 5" Tru Tungsten

 

My First Bass on the Bullshad, 5" slow sink model,  a 4lb largemouth bass

 

5lb Shoal Bass caught on the 5" Slow Sink Bullshad 

8.5lb Largemouth caught on the 5" Slow Sink Bullshad

6lb 2oz Shoal Bass caught on the 5" Slow Sink Bullshad

3lb 15oz Spotted Bass caught on the 5" slow sink Bullshad(fish 1 of 4 caught same day)

6lb 4oz shoal bass caught on the 5" Slow Sink Bullshad(fish 2 of 4 caught same day)

5lb 4oz shoal bass on the 5" slow sink Bullshad(fish 3 of 4caught same day)

4lb 11oz shoal bass caught on the 5" slow sink Bullshad(fish 4 of 4 caught same day)

4lb 9oz Shoal Bass caught on the 5" slow sink Bullshad

4lb 6oz Shoal Bass on the 5" Slow Sink Bullshad

4lb 10oz shoal bass caught on the 6" slow sink Bullshad

4lb 8oz Largemouth on the 6" Bullshad

4lb 15oz Shoal Bass on the 6" Bullshad

4lb 8oz Shoal Bass on the 6" Bullshad

4lb  2oz Shoal Bass caught on 6" Bullshad(fish 3of 3 on same day)

4lb 12 oz Shoal Bass caught on the 5" Floating Bullshad

4lb 2oz Spotted Bass caught on the 8" Slow Sink Bullshad Generation 2 Prototype

 

4lb 10oz Shoal Bass caught on the 8" Slow Sink Bullshad Generation 2 Prototype

Even the little guys like the 8" Bullshad

Swimbait and Big Bait Fishing

    An excessive preoccupation of the thoughts or feelings; the persistent haunting or domination of the mind by a particular desire, idea, or image.  This is one definition of a word that best describes my new found relationship with swim-baits, obsession.  Big baits and swim-bait fishing in particular, has preoccupied my thoughts for just over 3 months now.  Since getting into fishing baits that are five or six inches in length and bigger, my ratio of big bass to fish caught has gone way up. In fact,  I have caught 25 bass between 4 and 8.5lbs and I have broke my old personal best shoal bass 5 times due to fishing swim-baits all in the past 3 months.  All this on a river I have been fishing for several years now. The scary part is that's not even counting how many big fish I have lost.  I actually only caught 10 shoal bass over 4lbs all of last year fishing conventional baits like the Rapala J11 and even the bigger J13, and that was out of just over 1,000 bass we caught total all year.  That's only ten out of one thousand bass over four pounds.  This year we haven't even topped 500 bass yet and we already have 27 bass over 4lbs and those all came between the months of August through October.  The following is some of the things I have learned about using big baits for big bass, some of the trials and tribulations I went through, and finally the equipment issues that go along with swim-bait fishing.

 A 4lb 2oz Spotted bass, my personal best river spotted bass on the 8" Bullshad

     So first off, why use a larger than normal sized lure for big bass?  There are a couple of answers to this question; one is simply because they catch big fish and the other is really the reason why big fish hit a bait that can barely fit in their mouth, they want a meal that will fill them up.  A bass will naturally trend towards eating one big meal compared to several small ones because of the fact that they will use far less energy going after one big meal.  They will get a greater benefit from a big meal than several smaller ones.  If you were going out to eat, would you prefer a juicy steak diner or a soy burger from a vegan restaurant?  Personally I want the steak and I think Mr. Bass does too.  Big baits and swim-baits in particular are imitating many different types of forage that bass feed on.  Large shad like gizzard shad, crappie, bream and even baby bass are just a few examples of what these large lures can imitate.  Then there are also big baits that imitate rats, baby birds, and even snakes.  A big bass can and will eat just about anything it can fit in it’s mouth.  A lot of people think that big fish don’t feed as much because they don’t catch them as often as small fish.  This is not true at all.  You just have to throw something that will spark the interest of that old, smart bass that not many others are throwing.  This is not to say that big fish can’t be caught on smaller conventional baits because there is always a time and place for those time proven classics like the texas-rigged worm and spinner bait.
    My first time trying a swim bait, which at the time I thought was giant, was a five inch long Tru-Tungsten swim-bait.  I was fishing a kayak tournament and had my three fish limit but I knew I needed a kicker fish if I was going to place in the top.  I tied on the five inch Tru-Tungsten and proceeded to lose a shoal bass that was easily five pounds and then I hooked and landed a shoal bass that was seven and a half pounds which is eleven ounces off the Georgia state record.  Needless to say I won the tournament.  I was hooked.  Not long after this I discovered what is now my absolute go to bait for big bass, the Bullshad.  The Bullshad is a three-jointed, hard bodied swim-bait that comes in five, six inch sizes with bigger sizes coming out in the near future.  This lure is a little more expensive than a cheap swim-bait like the Tru-Tungsten but that extra money is well spent.  The Bullshad is made from stronger components and a higher quality resin material.  The hooks also swivel 360 degrees due to the hook hangers being actual stainless steel swivels.  This helps prevent the fish from gaining leverage to throw the bait as easily. 

5, 6, and 8 Inch Bullshads

     Now throwing a bait that can weigh as much as 5 ounces or more can really wear on your equipment if your not using the proper rods, reels, and line.  I learned this the hard way by completely killing three of my cheaper two hundred series reels in two months.  Your rod also needs to be vastly upgraded from the normal sized rods used with conventional baits.  The hooks on an eight inch swim bait are huge and are 2x 1/0 hooks and the rod needs to have the power to drive the hook home even on a long cast.  I now use a Shimano Curado reel and Dobyns 795SBMT swim-bait rod that measures seven foot nine inches long and is rated to throw one to five ounce lures.  Getting into swim-bait fishing can be very expensive with all the new rods, reels, and terminal tackle.  The worst part can be the baits themselves.  Once your bitten by the bug you may want every new swim-bait you see because they catch fish like this.

8.5lb Largemouth caught on the 5" Bullshad

    My advice to someone just starting out would be to start small and work your way up.  I started with a five inch bait and now throw the eight inch regularly.  The five inch bait feels tiny now.  Also start with baits that are proven fish catchers like the Bullshad, MS Slammers, and for those lakes with trout, the Huddleston Deluxe.  Make sure you use the appropriate tackle and equipment.  The line used needs to be twenty pound test or higher.  I recommend using a high quality mono-filament line like P-Line CXX.  The little bit of stretch you get with mono-filament helps to keep the fish from pulling the hooks out of it’s mouth.  If you can’t bring yourself to spend the money it  takes to buy high quality swim-baits, you can always start with cheaper ones like I did.  The Tru-Tungsten isn’t being made anymore but can be found on the internet for fairly cheap.  Just be prepared to lose one or two to being broken on a  rock.  If you do decide to get into swim-bait fishing, be forewarned, it can become an OBSESSION.

New Personal Best River Largemouth

    This trip started out like any other evening trip to the river.  Smiley and I loaded up the gear and headed down to a deeper section of the river where we usually do good on largemouth and spotted bass.  We arrived at the river in the late afternoon/early evening hour and launched our boats.  The sun was shinning but the wind was blowing pretty hard and this put a chop on the water so I started out trying faster stuff in the moving water to try and catch a feeding fish or two. 
    I began fishing up to a shoal and was working my bullshad back to me with a pretty fast stop and go retrieve.  The wind was blowing hard enough to push me upriver towards the shoal I was fishing.  I could see a rock that was about 3ft underwater that had a ledge that dropped off into deeper water and this was right up in the middle of the mostly shallow shoal.  So I worked my swimbait over that rock and killed the lure to let it sink over the ledge.  Right when I began reeling it in fast to make another cast, a giant bass comes up out of that deep hole and tries to take the rod from my hands.  I only had about 5 feet of line out when the fish hit and it was a big fish so I gave it some line so it had a little room to fight.  I was standing up all the while fighting this fish and getting blown into the shoal.  The fish tried to jump but could only get it's massive head out of the water, giving me the impression that this fish was 10lbs or bigger.  It made one more attempt at jumping and I pulled it beside the yak and shoved my hand in it's mouth.  I hoisted the fish up and was amazed at how skinny this bass was.  His head showed hints at a better day when the fish probably weighed 10lbs+ but in it's present condition the fish measured 24" long and weighed 8.5lbs. 
    Wasn't my first 10lb river bass but it was my personal best river largemouth.  I have been lucky enough to catch a 10lb largemouth bass but not from a river.  My previous personal best river largemouth was 7lb 15oz.  The fish didn't cooperate after that bass and we decided to pack it up and head home.  We were going on a camping and fishing trip the next day and I didn't want to use up all my luck, which may have been the case anyways seeing as I scored my new best river largemouth!  Happy fishing everyone.

     

Gotta Love Them Spotted Bass

    I went down to the river this afternoon around 1:00 to go try my 6" bullshad swimbait out.  I told myself I  would throw it once I caught a few on the smaller 5" bait.  I found out today that I definitely need a new rod for the bigger swimbaits.   I was using my 7' MH cranking rod with 25lb mono and I just couldn't get a hook in the fish when they hit.  There was just too much stretch with the mono and undersized rod.  I ended up missing all three fish that hit the swimbait.  Two came off almost instantly and the bigger one fought for a few seconds then just came off.  It really felt like fishing with a rubber band since I am so used to braid.  I am sticking with the mono when I get my Dobyns 795 SBMT rod that's designed for swimbaits and magnum topwaters.  That will have enough backbone to throw that big lure and also get the hook into those thick lipped lunkers. 
   I took the daytripper again today instead of the Coosa because I was by myself and I have a Nissan Xterra.  Just too hard to get the Coosa up there by myself.  I was fishing my way downriver and came to an area that I usually catch a fish or two from.  It has some deep water with fast current that sweeps up close to the bank and into some blowdowns.  By deep I mean 6-8ft.  I tossed by the bullshad up into the shallow water above the blowdowns and deep water.  Let it sink and was swimming it parallel with the tree and it got hammered.  I set the hook and felt some strong head shakes.  Tried to lead the fish out of the trees and it just came off.  Felt like I never really hooked the fish.  I put down the swimbait and threw my shakyhead with a green pumpkin trick worm up where it could tumble into that deep hole and it was picked up almost instantly.  Put the hook into a feisty shoal bass about 2lbs.  He put up a good fight and had some awesome colors.

    I rigged my worm up and threw back into that hole.  Again, the shakyhead was hit almost instantly and this time there was a little more weight when I set the hook.  The fish jumped and I could see it was a nice bass then it dove into those blowdowns.  Luckily they don't have a lot of limbs on them from being in the water a long time and I was able to hold steady pressure on the fish until in swam out of the trees.  Then it bolted straight under my yak and began peeling line.  It was a big spotted bass and they pull like freight trains.  I backed off my drag and the fish took some line a few times.  After playing it out I eased it up to my hand and lipped the bass.  I noticed it had a huge scar on it's jaw.  You could tell it had been caught when it was younger, ripped it's jaw, and then it healed.  The fish measured just over 19" long and weighed a tad over 3lbs.  I love them big, summer time, spotted bass!

    Two nice fish out of that hole was a pleasant surprise.  I fished on with a few followers on the 6" Bullshad and then I caught my smallest shoal bass this year on a 4" tru tungsten.  The fish was barely bigger than the lure.  I do admire it's tenacity though.  I worked my way all the way back up to the area I put in and decided to continue upriver and try the slacker water.  I had some shade on the bank so I began tossing a pop r.  About 5 minutes into throwing the pop r I had a nice fish blow up on it 5ft from my yak.  It startled me so much that I didn't set the hook quick enough and when I did the pop r just came up from 4 or 5ft deep without the fish.  I saw the fish strike and it was a nice largemouth, at least 3lbs.  That was the only fish I could get to show any interest in the pop r so I decided to paddle back and pack it in.  I didn't sleigh them today but I was happy to feel a good tug on the end of my line. 

Unbelieveable Bassin'

     As we unloaded our kayaks, the morning of June 11th, I had no idea this would be a day I'd never forget.  I was fishing the RiverBassin.com Tournament stop in Columbus, Georgia.  We had a small group of 6 guys and gals, who were determined to do good in this tournament.  Joining us on the river was Scott Starnes, Terry Wolka, Scott's friends Jeremy and Mark, and my wife Rachael.  We had a small stretch of river picked out to fish that had one good section of shoals that were maybe 200yds x 300yds square.  Scott, Mark, and Jeremy stayed out in the deeper, slack water, fishing worms or other lures used for fish down deep.  Terry, Rachael and I all headed upriver straight to the shoal sections.
    I started out the day throwing a topwater devil's horse and quickly had my 3 fish limit but the length wasn't enough to put me near the top.  My biggest fish was an 18" shoal bass I had caught on the devil's horse and I knew I would need something bigger.  At this point it was after 12pm and it was getting hot.  The bite had slowed way down and it was taking a slow approach like a shakyhead to catch fish.  I have always been able to find a few shoal bass, up in the shallow fast water, even in the hottest parts of the summer.  So I tied on a 5" hard swimbait and went searching for the big fish to fill my stringer.
    I started fishing up in the swiftest water I could find and quickly hooked into something big.  It stayed down deep and just didn't feel right.  As I got the fish closer, I realized it was a 5lb striper.  Not the black bass species I was looking for and quite a disappointment when your tournament fishing.  I kept on fishing and that's when I had a fish grab the swimbait.  I was kind of startled and didn't set the hook very hard which was my downfall because that 4-5lb shoal bass just launched itself out of the water and threw the swimbait back in my face.  UGH!!!  This was a bummer but in the end it was a let down I was willing to deal with since the river definitely paid me back.  That fish gave me the confidence I needed to continue on with the swimbait.
    Sweat was dripping from my face and into my eyes it was so HOT.  It was getting close to time to pack up and head back to the weigh in, less than an hour left, when a fish swipes at my lure but doesn't hook up.  I hollered to my partner, Rachael, and told her I had just missed a fish.  I continued to make casts to the same location I had on the previous cast.  On my 6th or 7th cast back in there, the fish came back and just gently sucked in my swimbait.  I slammed back the rod and it barely moved the fish.  It was shallow, maybe 3ft deep, and I could see the big shoal bass turn sideways underwater and instantly knew I had a 5lb plus shoal bass on.  I jumped out of my yak, tangling my feet in another rod I had on the boat.  My yak went downriver while I tried not to break my rod and lose this fish all at the same time.  I finally snapped to and realized that the rod was fine and I needed to pay attention to this fish.  It would take line like it was easy, would just swim off and I would have to let it take line or lose it.  I still didn't know exactly how big this fish was until I pulled it to the surface for Rachael to net it.  That's when I began screaming, "GET IT! GET IT!"  She scooped the fish into the net, almost breaking the cheap handle and I began celebrating like no one's business.  She was scared the fish would get out of the net and was trying to make me take the net from her.  I was in such a state of shock that it took me 30 seconds or more to catch on to what she was asking.
     I took the net and couldn't believe my eyes.  I knew this fish was over 7lbs and the world record is just under 9lbs.  I have been trying to break the 5lb mark since the begining of 2010 and at this point my previous personal best was 4lb 12oz.  After a few minutes of ridiculous celebration, dancing, and screaming, I took the fish over to Scott and borrowed his scales.  The fish measured in at 23.25" long and weighed 7lb 8oz's.  The feeling from holding this beast was unreal and I am so thankful I had a chance to put my hands on her.  It was magical to say the least.  Watching that big shoal bass swim off unharmed was almost as fun as holding her.

Big Baits Catch Big Bass

    I am sure by now, you have heard the old adage, "Big baits catch big bass."  Well I never really knew how true that was until I started my recent love affair with swimbaits.  I don't mean those soft, paddle tailed, minnow lures.  I am talking, big, bad, mean, swimbaits such as the 5, 6, 7 and 8 inch hard swimbaits made by Bullshad Swimbaits.  These lures have a segmented body that is made up of four sections held together with heavy duty pins.  These baits are made with heavy duty owner hooks that can swivel 360 degrees to help keep the fish from gaining leverage and throwing the lure.  The tail is made up of a hard section with coarse hair used for the tail and it gives the bait a very realistic look.

    I started out using the Tru Tungsten swimbaits, which are made similarly to the Bullshad but they are made much more cheaply.  I switched over to the Bullshad because the paint on the Tru Tungsten swimbaits will chip off very easily and the lure itself breaks if you hit anything hard.  Since switching to the Bullshad swimbaits I have been very happy with their performance.  In the first twenty minutes fishing this lure I caught a 4.5lb largemouth.

  There are floating and slow sink versions of the bait.  The floater is a perfect topwater lure while the slow sink can be allowed to sink down deep and catch those big girls that don't want to rise to the surface.  I am usually throwing the slow sink version because it's slow rate of fall is just irresistible to big bass.  I don't fish the lure on a straight retrieve.  You want to stop the lure and let it fall or if you give the rod a jerk and then give it slack, you can turn the lure around 180 degrees and make it face the bass chasing it.  This is an invaluable tool fishing this lure because if you think about it, a fish's only defense is to bite something so if you make that lure turn around and face the bass, it's like a challenge and the fish has to defend itself so it strikes the lure.  Probably 40-50% of the fish I catch on this lure miss the bait on the first strike and return to strike again when you kill the lure and let it sink.
    Many anglers are scared to throw big 5" and 6" baits, having the mindset that they're scaring most of the fish off with the large lure.  In most cases this is not true.  I have had bass, under a pound, hammer the large swimbaits.  I look at it like this, a big bass doesn't want to expend  more energy catching diner than it will get from the meal.  So a big meal will be more attractive to big bass because they will get more out of it.  Would you rather chase nasty, greasy fries or a t-bone steak?  Well, these big swimbaits are a t-bone steak to bass.  You may not get as many bites along the way but the ones you get will make it all worth it if you just stick to it. Don't put the big lure down until you've caught something that makes it worth your while and trust me, this will happen if you just keep throwing it.

Joined Team Dobyns

I am happy to announce that I just recently joined the pro staff at Dobyns Rods.  They seem like a great company with good people behind the name.  They welcomed me with open arms after a friend, Mike Bucca, who also is a member of the pro staff, introduced me.  I have placed an order now for the Dobyns 795 SMBT Swimbait rod and am very excited to try it out.  I will let you guys know, very soon, how it performs.  I am very excited to be working with Dobyns Rods and can't wait to start using their rods.

One Crazy Day of Big Bass

Smiley and I finally had a chance today to do a whole float on our local flow.  I was excited to get a chance to sling our new 5" bullshad swimbaits all day long.  All I can say is, "What a day!"  We started off in style with a nice solid spot over 2lbs on a pop r.  It was in the first pool we came to.  Not long after I caught a small largemouth on the swimbait.  Then we came to some shallow rocks with swift water moving over them and I stepped out of my yak to wade.  Tossed upriver, across current and WHAM!  Fish on.  A 3.5lb spotted bass and it was in very fast water.  After a sweet battle I finally belly landed the beast who went 19.75" long and was a shy over 3.5lbs.  A good start to the morning.  We moved on and I caught a couple spots on the swimbait that were only about a pound and a half or so.  We came to a real shaded bank so I tossed my pop r and the second it landed a nice largemouth erupted on the bait.  I honestly thought it was 4 or 5 pounds from the strike but he was only about 2lbs. 

We came up to a shoal and Smiley hollers that she has one then I just as quickly see her lose it.  She's telling me she just lost one and then I see her slam the hook back, the fish came back and got her swimbait.  It was a chunky shoal bass just under 3lbs.  Her first ever swimbait fish and she was very excited.  I tossed my swimbait over to a ledge that the water was rushing over and a fish grabbed it but didn't hook up.  I floated over the area and made a couple more casts and on the last I let the swimbait sink and float over that ledge.  It got about 5 or 6ft deep and I see a huge shoal bass just come up from down deep and suck it in.  I set the hook and the fight was on.  I was standing and the water was crystal clear so it was crazy watching it all go down.  It was almost slow motion.  I was standing up fighting this monster and it was stripping drag.  I had to grab the paddle and use one arm to keep me out of some blow downs and all the while this fish is going crazy.  Then I looked down and there was another shoalie bigger than the one I had on trying to get the lure.  I finally get where I can sit back in my yak and comfortably fight this fish.  I can see it's hooked great, one advantage to these swimbaits is the awesome owner hooks that swivel 360 degrees.  They hook the fish and don't let go, it's awesome.  I get my hands on the fish and sling it aboard.  This giant went 21.25" and was just a tad over 5lbs and 5-4.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  My third shoal bass over 5lbs in the last two months.  Insane.

I battled with a small gar for a second, which scared me because it could have cut my line and taken that swimbait.  Not good.  Luckily he didn't cut the line and we continued on.  Rachael scored next on her swimbait in some real fast current.  It was another solid shoal bass about 2.5lbs.  We fished on and we came to a spot where some fast water funnels into an oxbow of sorts and I had a fish swipe at the swimbait but it missed  so I paused it, let the current carry it for a second and then twitched it and the fish picked it back up.  I set the hook into this fish and when it turned I could see it was over 4lbs.  I was just grinning from ear to ear while fighting the fish standing up and came to a rock where I could get out.  Exited the yak and landed the fish.  It was just over 20" and weighed 4-11.  This is starting to feel like a dream but I assure you guys, it was real.  We fished on and after fishing the gar covered oxbow we came to some pushwater of the shoal exiting this oxbow.  I slung my bullshad into it, let it sink a few feet and began slowly reeling back to me.  Not fifteen feet back my rod doubled over and it felt like I was hung.  Then a massive head comes out of the water and all I can think is this might be a 6 or 7lb bass!!!!  It was such a fat shoal bass that she didn't give me as big of a fight as I thought she would.  She jumped a couple times but couldn't get all the way out of the water.  Then I jumped out of my yak on a big rock and pulled her up and threw my thumb in her mouth.  Then I let out a scream.  We snapped photo's, measured her at 21.75" and she weighed 6lb 1oz!!!!  I just couldn't believe this was going on, these big shoal bass were just killing this big swimbait.  I stuck one more over 3lbs and a few more small fish and Rachael missed one really good fish that just didn't get her swimbait.  She estimated it to be around 4lbs.  That was a bummer but overall it was the best day of shoal bass fishing we have experienced.