Lucas

If giant largemouths are the fish of dreams, those behemoths are the fish of nightmares! That was an awesome report and those pics are great. Congrats on catching a true monster fish.

Bass love wood. It's a basic concept. The laydown provides security and ambush opportunities. That being said, some laydowns are better than others and that's when other factors come into play, number one being deep water access. There are probably larger fish on the weedline but you just haven't crossed paths with 'em. The rising son is a great lure for fishing laydowns. You can also throw a topwater over the submerged branches in hopes of calling them up. If they won't chase, flipping a Mission Fish deep into the nastiest part can sometimes yield quality results.

Love that spot. Haven't been there in years.

I love stripers and I love Mass. Please adopt me. I thought I knew what day hotspot you were referring to, but I don't think anybody would go for a swim there based on the current.

Dare I say, bass don't spawn in the fall. To add to Mossy's "fatten up for winter" reasoning, I would also add that many places that stock trout do so in the fall in addition to the spring. Combine the bass' natural urge to feed as the water cools with the availability of dumb stockies being easy food sources and that may be the reason the Hudd shines in the Spring in fall. That is just a guess since, much like you, I can't buy a bite on the 8".

Congrats on the PB slob. Rising Sons; quite possibly the best swimbait on the market when cost is factored into the equation.

Lightning is a huge no-no; but rain, wind and low pressure systems are your friend. As far as "east coast", I think Speed will agree and maybe others in the NE, if we get a few stable days in-a-row and then have a cold front approach; as soon as that wind starts blowing SW pre-front, it's game time. Add in a good moon phase and it can be the stuff of dreams. Of course, that being said, there have been plenty of PB's and giants caught in blue-bird, high pressure conditions. The bottom line is fish whenever you can cause any cast could be the one.

In conclusion this thread turned out positive. We've uncovered a disgruntled member and based on a spam email I received this morning with my buddy's email address as the sender, I think I've discovered whose email got tainted. So I guess maybe Huddbaits.com isn't to blame:lol: ...still haven't received my Hudds though.

Fish of 1,000 casts my ass! I like that color Deps.

So last week I decided to order a couple of 8" Hudds directly from the Huddleston site. In doing so, I had to register. Since then, my Spam folder has blown up with junk emails. Has this happened to anyone else? Coincidence? On the good side, if anybody is looking for cheap rolexs, Canadian drugs or Viagra I'm your guy.

In

Just an FYI, Herb told me he's getting some Mother Traps in soon. Don't shoot the messenger.

How's the custom rod business coming?

While adding oil to the clutch and thumb bar sounds like something I could handle, I may just send it to our favorite pet-friendly reel repairman for some "hot-rodding". It's a shame there seems to be an issue with (some of) the reels. I think it feels solid and the oversized handle is legit. Dare I say, I'm tempted to pull the trigger on another regardless of the issue.

So yesterday, after my "sure thing" bait, the Rising Son, produced zilch and my Slammer only landed a couple of rats I figured it would be a perfect time to force myself to throw the 250 with my recently purchased Diawa Lexa 300. (For the record, the Lexa 300, LDC Custom XH and the Deps 250 feel like they're made for one another balance-wise.) I noticed several times (until I figured out what it was) that my reel wouldn't truly disengage when I depressed the thumbar. It would click, feel like the spool was free, but as soon as I casted, the reel would engage. This happened several times with me both getting angry and crapping my pants that I was going to cast-off my 250. (I was using CXX 30# and it held each time thankfully) The rest of the day was spent double checking each time I pressed the thumbar to test if the reel was truly in free spool and half-assing my casts outta fear. Has this happened to anybody else? I saw a post in the Lexa review about bad bearings, but this reel is brand new. I guess I'll be PMing Geoff to come out of retirement.

Just figured I'd share this discount code with anybody that is in the market for some new shades. I've ordered from this company and have received good service and they carry many of the brands that are popular with fishermen. For the record, I'm not affiliated with this company at all; I'm simply passing on a discount code for anyone that may be interested. I won't post a link because I know that is frowned upon, but the web address is: .ej-sunglasses. The code for 20% off is: 4TH14

Along with Hudds, Rising Sons skip very well.

I run Everstarts from Walmart. They've performed well and I fish electric-only lakes. Plus, the price is great.

This thread reminds me that we're due for a nightrun soon, Trivilini.

In

The big ones don't get big by being easy to catch. Seems like you got em figured out, just a matter of time.

...and my wife wonders why I have pictures of Don surrounded by candles in our bedroom.

I posted this report on my local site, but figured I should contribute here instead of constantly being a lurker. Obviously not a giant but a fish/day I will never forget... With family obligations and honey-do's keeping me off the water I was happy to get out Sunday for only the second time this season. This time with my daughter, Ava. I told her Saturday that perhaps we'd head out Sunday morning if she wanted and when she woke up Sunday she said, "Daddy...?" and then made a casting motion. I knew she was all-in. We were on the water by 11 and she was in-charge of the transom motor and tried correcting me by telling me that the top speed wasn't "one hundred" but instead "a hundred". She wasn't feeling the run to a spot I thought would produce and asked, "Can't we just fish here?" when we were half-way there. I obliged. She asked me to cast out her five-foot Shakespeare spin cast rigged with a square bill Strike King crank in Sexy Shad. Don't ask me what size; I have no clue, but it's small enough to be casted on her light-action rod. I reeled a few cranks for good measure and immediately hooked up with a small fish that shook off before I could hand her the rod. I prayed that it wasn't the first-cast curse and we each made a few casts with nothing to show before heading to my originally planned destination. After an hour-or-so of casting and drifting with no fish my daughter was ready for lunch so we made a run back towards where we first hooked up while she ate. She was losing steam/interest in fishing and started asking to go back to the boat ramp to skip stones in the water. I told her that we would eventually, but to fish a little longer. As we talked I missed a 2# fish that swiped my bait boatside. Her interest was briefly renewed and we soon arrived back to our first spot. She had put her rod down and was just chilling in the back of the boat when I saw a decent follower come up and eat my swimbait two feet from the boat. I leaned back hard, setting the hook like it was jig fish and told Ava, "Got one and it's decent." The fish made a run around the bow of the boat and I said, "Watch this!" while I used the fish's momentum to swing her on board. I'll never forget the look on my daughter's face when I lipped the fish off the carpet and looked up at her. Her eyes were like saucers and she had a look of excitement crossed with fear. I hooted and hollered a la Iaconelli and we fist bumped. I'm sure the nearby boats thought I was an idiot. ...oh well. She had never seen a bass that big and I was happy to have put a solid chunk in the boat. I threw her on the scale which topped off at 4-7#. My adrenaline was pumping but my daughter's interest apparently faded as soon as the fish was released. I made maybe a dozen more casts, had one bump, and then we made our way back to the ramp where I pulled the boat and Ava skipped stones in the water. Pictures or it didn't happen...

Congrats! Those are both great fish, but that 8#+ is ridiculous. I'll admit it, I'm jealous.

Without knowing water temps, wind direction, or where you're located, I can only offer this advice: just keep casting and stay confident.