colbypearson

Gancraft is good stuff.

He's right, just go out and throw the baits; you'll be suprised. I was fishing a local lake yesterday, high pressure system after a week of rain; no wind, fishing for fish that I could see early Spring sunning on some fairly shallow cover that stuck out over deeper water. The fish sank into the depths, and after a few casts with an 8'' hudd I connected on a 7 10, it was a 25' cast, and I watched the fish eat it. Moral of the story, noones got this down to an exact science. My biggest spotted bass was caught after a horrendous cold front during a brutal high pressure system, the poor conditions didnt really cross my mind until I talked about the occasion with a friend a few days after the catch, and he highlighted the fact that the conditions were essentially 'worst case scenario' from the moon phase, to the temp etc... etc...

Theres always an ultra stupid bass somewhere, that will eat anything. I catch more bass with catfish in their throats than trout..... But I still throw trout lures like an idiot.

That is my 2nd favorite 230 rod, I actually prefer the crank launcher for glides even though its probably way to light in most peoples opinions. Swimbait Jr, is perfect for wakes 7''-9'' slammers, wake jr size/weight baits, and fantastic for jig hook style medium softbaits like 68's and 7'' ospreys. I like something a hair lighter for my line-throughs but could be really good for that as well. I would like something a little longer for 8'' hudds, I fish most everything besides topwaters on fluorocarbon so it seems like I step down a rod power fairly often as well.

I don't ever mess with my cadence or action much until I have a fish keyed on the bait, it's important to learn the in's and out's and be able to make the bait do what you need it to when you need a fish to commit; which is easier said than done. Punkers are my favorite bait to fish now, and I used to despise them. I usually fish them painfully methodical, to the point of being boring, I try to fish them as wide and slow as possible. Until a fish keys on it, then I like to work the bait according to the fish its fun cat and mouse, just try to keep the bait away from the fish- you wont be able to. I like the wood punkers in clear water, if I don't have minimum 6' clarity I don't even break one out, other topwaters I have more confidence in for dirty water. But something about a silent wood punker walking wide back and forth the same cadence over and over drives big fish absolutely bonkers. It's THE most eye opening and effective outside the box swimbait there is in my opinion. And like previously stated fish it almost all year. If I have the clarity I'll have one tied on from March to November thats 40 ish degree water.

I think the will/want for a bait to work far outweighs the inherent fish catching value of the bait in most cases. Which is a novel consideration for guys new to the game. Crude baits catch big ass fish too, take that from a guy that scrapes the paint off baits so they dont flash, and carefully balances every aspect of a glide bait, and replaces stock hardware, and shaves joints, and thinks that throwing a 4oz bait on 12lb fluoro is reasonable if you can get the bait to do something special, the guy who curses himself in the back of his head because he forget two different kinds of scent regardless of the thousands of fish that have been caught without it.... He's his own worst enemy, but he does believe will/want trump most everything eventually.

It would look like an 8'' trash fish, a little narrower, just as soft, line through, and durable enough to rip like a TT or magnum fluke. Someone make that. haha

That thing is cool! Bet it has a real squirrely action, smallies might like that lots!

Shoot it'll probably work good and they will become the new 'hot' thing lol..

Would be REALLY cool to see something like HBC come about again with success.

colby_pearson

If theres fish spawning in an area, like lots of males for example, fish the line of sight and immediate deep water access. I don't usually ever fish them on beds when I'm just out enjoying myself atleast purposefully, and I've actually never even seen a big fish locked on a bed personally anyways, but I've fished 'around' spawning males and seen, hooked and caught some absolute great fish. Unless you put up your gear or fish drastically different areas (that probably suck) you can't say you are wholly anti- the idea of it. Fishing that outer edge of spawning areas, dark areas, and deep water accesses is probably one of your top time frames to catch the biggest fish of the year (especially in the middle of the day). Just keep in mind all those big fish are gonna be spawning immediately prior, post, or during your potential interference and treat them accordingly. I don't care what anyone says we've probably all caught fish that WEREN'T on beds that WERE technically spawning, or would have been locked on in the low light hours. As far as bait goes be strategic with the period in mind, I don't have any white swimbaits for bed fishing, or bluegill baits for bed fishing- even though I caught a 10lbr on one doing that 1 time, anyways if you don't single yourself to a cleared off circle with a 1lb male on it you'll open your horizons for the fish you can't see and the fish most won't see. PS- If you're gonna rip one that's locked on a bed I would navigate away from a swimbait and just catch it on a dropshot its usually way faster, better hook to land ratio, less goofy.. idk.

Anyone who says big game is for some reason an inferior line in terms of strength must not consider the thousands of giant bass caught on it.... In my mind its like the 'standard' in terms of diameter related to breaking strength. Anyways; I really trust the Palomar Knot. If you want to stick with mono and try some other options, Maxima ultragreen was probably my favorite (Never use mono anymore, for anything) it's a fairly hard line, that transmits vibrations decent for a mono. P-line PF used to be really popular, and its cool to get a 25 or 30lb line thats significantly thinner than competing lines, I used the 25# to throw a 250 pretty comfortably, seemed like a fair line, but I prefer Ultragreens properties more. I hate using braid for bottom bouncing baits, I feel like it tightens up way to quick and I snag the bottom too often- and I don't mean too often in terms of not getting my bait back, but more so botching an important cast due to a snag on a rock I feel confident I could feel through and un-snag with fluorocarbon . I like Sunline Sniper. Might just be thats what I'm used to. Thats all that matters anyways though.

I used to live within an hour of about half a dozen lakes I'm certain have DD's, the difference between a 10, and an 11, and a 12; is totally astronomical in my honest opinion for my area. Elevation (Important, $.02 - way to much emphasis put on state which honestly a poorly thought out stance that people wrongfully ascertain for some reason, - Plus as if California doesn't have a long running latitude...Another conversation..), was about 1500', but I had lakes that were closer to 5,000' that contained DD's too. When I was fishing a ton, I felt like I had maybe 2 realistic opportunities a year at a fish over 10lbs in my area of Oregon. Obviously we all go out with the confidence hopefully, to catch a fish that big; I just mean that at the end of it all, looking back, I would stumble onto 2 opportunities to connect with fish that big annually.... Whatever happens with the opportunity is what it is, usually it wouldn't end that well, but other years I would land one maybe. But I wasn't just screwing around, I was looking for them; it was my juvenile life purpose...lol. Noone here stumbles on fish that big, I just flat don't hear about it anymore, atleast what I would consider to be 'truth'. If you were just fishing and not hunting them, you'd be exceptionally lucky to catch one in a lifetime, when they got that big around here they just don't even act the same or in a fashion for them to be caught even by accident for the most part. .02. That being said, 8's were not terribly uncommon. A true 12, or a teen fish here on the other hand (Exists) but is a complete unicorn.

If I was starting a company, I wouldn't post anything about it online to start until you're established. There's already probably an over-saturation of extremely similar design/ideals in the fishing industry right now, specifically clothing; my opinion. If you can bring something new to the table, then by all means its a worthwhile venture, not to sound like a nay-sayer. Clothing companies are great, if you're creative that's half the battle and you should have a giant margin to deal with; and in 2016 people pay 30$ all day for the right design on a cotton t-shirt. Lateral Minds, Lateral Vision, way too similar in my opinion. You have an idea to showcase a product specifically to a group of like-minded individuals, but whats the point? To make money? You may be thinking too narrow, look at the big successful fishing clothing companies, Saltlife for example; big demographic, big successful companies like that don't ever designate one demographic to appeal toward. A logo tee, like the design you attached more than likely will not sell right off the bat because it doesn't 'mean' anything, until you've established yourself. I was selling outdoor recreation clothing for about 16 months or so (not anymore) and really tried to understand what sells, and why. I'd like to start a venture someday, but it wouldn't probably be specific to fishing. The biggest step is establishing why you want to do it, if you want to put in 110% your motivation can't be " I was scrolling through many various fishing clothing stores online looking for some holiday deals (ex. BigBassDreams + Bass Brigade). When doing this, it hit me that I should jump on the gun and do my own thing in clothing designs, specifically made for fisherman." Good luck in your venture!