Leaderboard

6lbs2oz On an 8” hud from California

Better to eat 20$ than 200$ on a handle that can buy you a huge variety of baits, or line or reels lol Did you not have it right enough?

Monka train keeps rolling. Looking for that one bite this morning before work. Sounded like a bowling ball was throw into the water when she smacked it. 21.5" x 5lb 6oz.

Nice 1st post and thats a really respectable NJ fish.

Since I broke my low down customs medium heavy a couple of weeks ago I had to replace it so I decided to try out a megabass destroyer Mark 48 rated for one and a half to 5 oz we will see how this thing compares

4lb 2oz on the deps nz crawler here in NY.

Threw the Vatalion today since my G2 Shell Cracker is lost somewhere in the mail system - can’t wait to throw the G2. Casted to the edge of a weed bed and let it settle - gave 2 cranks on the reel and he came out of the weed bed like a rocket and crushed it. I love seeing the take.

We ALL start somewhere, so don't feel discouraged. I remember back in the day I made plenty of baits that I thought were cool at the time that I am semi-ashamed of now... and many of them looked worse than yours believe me. If the baits look ugly, that's okay. If people don't want to buy them, that's okay too. Be honest with yourself and take everything as a learning experience to grow and improve from. Failures and mistakes should drive you to do better and better, not to give up or give excuses. And hey, before you know it you could very well be the next Pizz! In the swimbait game, reputation can be a huge deal. Post a build thread in the Grassroots section first to showcase your creation, share a swim video, and abide by the forum rules to list in the grassroots exchange. Then try posting photos of fish catches in the Got'em section or said thread so that members can know that your baits are proven and catch fish. Good luck and happy building! Dan

Aiden, i think he just means that for a first bait it's a bit ambitious to try and sell it when It has no history of fish, nor do you have a huge bait building background, or a known swimbait background. If the baits have great action, then fish them and continuously catch fish with them. As for a paintjob, don't worry about that. It's a wake bait, fish aren't smashing it because the bait looks good when all they see is a silhouette, they smash wake baits because of the action. Paintjobs on wakebaits are to help catch fishermen.

thats dope man, like thats its likelike/folk art at the same time

I’m no expert but I always use soft plastics for fishing the lowest column of water since that’s where you can’t effectively put treble hook baits. Slow rolling the bottom is how I’ve gotten all my bites. Again, get a second opinion lol. I did get my first 9.0 bite just a week ago doing this but I don’t think he was big enough to swallow it as I could see the teeth marks. Still built some confidence getting hit on it tho

No it’s not legal. They are considered gamefish and therefore not allowed to be used as bait for bass, but big catfish love em lol jk. In Cali, cast nets are rarely seen since they are only allowed north of point conception I believe. The only legal way I know of getting live bait is by using dip nets...and then, you may only use at the lake that they were taken from. Live bait works, just look at the monsters that were caught out of Castaic on live crawdads, Gallions use to sell them just a few years ago

It looks like generally you cannot use live sunfish (including bluegill) as live bait in CA, unless you're in the Colorado River district. See pages 16-17 of the 2020-2021 Fishing Regulations for more information on the live bait regulations, and pages 28-29 for the District definitions.

When I was putting the knob caps on I had a bunch of play. Threadlocked em once and going on 2 months of no failures with that system. Whatever the blue loctite one is what I used. 5$ at hardware store

Chew toys

Waking Whipper Snappers finally and a Pistol Gill

4-4 Massachusetts

7-78 on a k9 in Oklahoma

Recently traded for a Gan Craft Jointed Claw 178 in Ja Ayu with a member here. Always been an S-waver guy until now. Ive noticed this color is really good in almost all waters clarity. Its got a sheen that makes it great for muddy water as well as the black top. Also natural enough for clear water. Anyways, no scales on these suckers, guessing around 5.5ish for both. Caught the thick one last year and it was a 4.7 then (pic with blue shirt), it has clearly put on some weight. These were very fullfilling catches due to the fact I went to these ponds to catch these exact fish and made it happen same day. I missed big boy (21.5in) last year and have been hunting him ever since.

I finally got my M.S. Slammer in the mail today - raced home, crammed some dinner down and ran to one of my favorite ponds. ‘’1st cast and this micro bass eats the slammer - I was pretty disappointed and was rethinking my purchase. LOL. Last cast of the evening yielded some better results - as fall progresses I’m definitely hoping for better

Very cool painting...I just might have to do that too seeing as I can't afford a replica

@aidanbourassa that’s awesome. You’re about 20 years ahead of everyone else. It’s cool that you guys are making baits. If it has good action that’s awesome. Figure out WHY. Apply it to your next build. Like I said, I’m all for you guys. I wish I had the wherewithal at 13 to do what you guys are doing. But you’re a long way from selling these creations. Sorry if I was harsh but it’s honest feedback. If you don’t get honest feedback you’re not going to grow. You can start by doing some more research. There is a plethora available here in grassroots and YouTube. Good luck.

i like quads on some baits, like brocks hiroshima baits, as its been tested and tuned for that hook. also like em for chunky thick baits i also use em on other baits that i want to get down faster (sinking baits) or crankdown deeper, mainly use size 1 and 1/0 i really like em for stinger hooks in soft baits, trim one point and still have 3 sharp hook points i pretty much run the mustad kvd triple grip elites on all my baits now, never had one bend out, they stay sharp and i can get em by the 100 pack for short $$ havent messed with the double hooks as theyre always out of stock and crazy $$ from the places that do have em. its basically just two single hooks with a piece of shrink tubing and a ring. was going to make some of my own, but nothing that couldnt be achieved by just trimming one hook point on a treble and orienting it the correct way on a bait

So this showed up today. I'm super pumped I have been hunting for this rod for a couple of years now

Bumping this up w my painting of the beast. My gf surprised me with painting of her for my 21st. Absolutely stoked, the paintjng is amazing to me and the small details this fish had were completely captured. Was done by a local artist who im sure would do anyone else's if they want one similar. Can't wait to put this sucker on the wall! https://instagram.com/meg_dionne_custom_art?igshid=13jfcxczytfk5

Awesome catch man!

It works! Nice fish

Well as the title reads i went out on the lake yesterday and noticed when trying to torque down on my handle to drag my bait though some slop that my handle knob about came off turned it to the side and sure enough my knob cap is MIA Trying to source just the cap is coming up empty handed, but you know i did find a post about instillation saying to use a lite locking compound. Guess I’ll have to eat $20 for a complete knob assembly and use some blue thread locker. Just a heads up for anyone else who didn’t read the instructions.

You get what you pay for.

Slammer anytime. Swaver 200 when the water cools off more. Rats and g2 slow on top at night

Nice catches man

Bad mentality. Youre trying to catch fish not baits

Dude, you got down on that chunky trout. Looks amazing

I personally would not recommend the fury 795 for big jig hook baits or soft baits using giant ewg swimbait hooks. It's really soft and I've caught fish on it but the backbone never gave me the confidence in keeping fish pinned when setting the hook. I upgraded my fury to an xp and I feel much much better about the setup now This is my experience and honest opinion. The fury 795 should be for treble hook baits only or smaller jig hook baits. If u can return it I'd say go to the 806 if ur gonna stick with the fury or upgrade to the xp if u wanna stay with the 795. Otherwise u might end up upgrading like I did.

Couple new baits this year that are staying in the bag. A lot of baits came and gone that I gave a month or two fishing on. Crawler been doing good the month I’ve had it and best fish catcher this year for me the deps mt wake and my trusted pats rainbow reg. Doing my yearly organizing and garage clean up only taking 3-6 baits out with me fishing this time of year so hanging them up getting ready for some ice fishing.

Crank downs and glides