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!

Capitalize on that moment while it is still there, as soon as you feel like the fish isn't responsive don't add insult to injury and change something or leave. Wait for a condition to present itself, or the spot to cool off and come back in with a new approach or bait. I've seen fish on one day, and came back a day or two later and caught the same fish, but that's risky business and really depends on what the fish is doing. This works well for me during February to April (Water 40 and warming, to 65) where I've left fish for hours or days and still found success on specific fish. Once Summer rolls around I really try to get the job done that day, preferably within a few hours. During the Fall I feel like my window is longer again, but the fish don't seem to be as easy to pattern as far as definitive locations, there's a 'spot' but not so much 'spot on the spot' as earlier in the year.

None of the lakes I fish do the fish ever just aimlessly pace the bank that I've noticed, atleast the big ones. They might where you were fishing if it was a small consistent reservoir; but its not all that likely in reality. Try to figure out what it is their doing and where they are going, I always try to establish a measurable point A, B etc... Most of the time I'm fishing for suspended fish anytime outside of early Spring, so I put the most emphasis on capitalizing on the best angles. I guess over time I noticed that 'cruising' fish 'cruise' the same areas, very similarly each time. It's legitimately eery how often you can flat out leave a fish, put together a strategy and execute successfully if you put in the effort and consider enough variables. In short, quantify what the fish are doing, determine what activity level they have and what they may be feeding on, and put together the presentation. Use whatever tools you can to pressure big fish to eat, angles, distance, speed.... Wolf packs are cool, nothing gets a fish to commit like competition like that.

April. Gan craft 230. Irod Jr swim. 17lb fluoro. 20' open water. I'll follow up with the story later. Not Bullards. Thanks to everyone who helped in the aftermath, getting her weighed on a certified scale & more importantly released. She was 10.20 on the scale that was re tested just after to weigh .1 light. Make of the weight what you will, 10.2 or 10.3, a tad short either way she's still swimming 😊 The feeling of landing a fish you think might be a world record on a swimbait is unparallelled.

Next time you rig a stinger on that bait don't crimp it to that back ring. That bait might break in half if that gets pulled on hard enough,

all of them, flat backs, full body, r Mac

Its a really good rod for a gan craft 230, line throughs, wake baits etc.. anything under maybe like 5oz with treble hooks especially, i would fish 6'' top hook stuff on it too probably, anything smaller than a claw 178 I would use a lighter rod, maybe like the crank launcher or even lighter than that honestly. My pb spot, and smallie were caught on that rod throwing the 230. Oh yea, its my favorite punker rod too, loads how i like for walking that bait on braid.

Ospreys caught about 80 billion fish.

My buddy had a 7'' bass slammer that he probably stuck 250 fish on, he left it at my house two years ago and i fished it, hes got it again now, but I'd say with confidence it has caught the better part of a thousand fish, and its wood colored with some specks of green left. I really prefer soft baits, and I have two osprey line throughs that have each been bit well over 200 times, about 5 casts into the day they just turn white because the teeth marks absorb water. I can never keep a hudd on my rod long enough to stick more than 7 or 8 on one.

I'm hoping the tail is somewhere between the size of a 6'' standard and a 68, either way it looks proportional to that ratio in relation to size of the bait. It's gonna be stupid at some of the places I fish, weedless rof 5 fished slow through grass beds & pockets, I can see it now. Hopefully its available in a top hook model eventually as well.