FishDr

Awesome stuff and a great write-up!

That’s a solid one with the head of a Goliath grouper.

I was going to post this in the Shock Leader thread started by @BoatSquirrel but I didn’t want to hijack it. I know a lot of people run a mono or fluoro leader when using braid as their main line (I use 50 or 80# Big Game), but I was wondering if any of you use a mono or fluoro leader with a monofilament main line (guys fishing in pike/musky waters do this for obvious reasons). I may have been deep in my cups one night when I got to wondering if adding a foot or 18” of more abrasion resistant leader would be a good insurance policy for fishing in and around cover where things like rocks and branches start to fray the main line pretty quickly. I’ve tried it a bit and it doesn’t seem to hurt my catch rate, though admittedly I’ve been only fishing at night recently.

Whatever method you use, it would make for a fun video, unless, perhaps, if you go the C4 route in which case the less evidence there is, the more plausible deniability there is.

In

A step ladder to get you closer and then a pole saw. Or, if you can get a stout rope up and over the offending branch, a cable saw that you can then pull up to said branch and then saw it off.

What a fish! Congrats!

Nicely done! I suspect it will swim well once you wash it off.

Very sweet setup! I was wondering if the front deck has some kind of no-slip coating so that you have good grip on wet days.

If you can find the Southern Trout Eaters DVD it would be worth watching. There’s some good footage in there that should give you ideas or starting points on how to tackle those waters. I think TW Carrie’s the DVD.

Wicked! Big cats on swimbaits are a blast and they fight dirty!

This type of scenario was what I thought would happen to it, since I couldn’t bring myself to retire it. I figured one of the lone wolf tiger muskies or a big catfish was going to crush it one night and leave me with nothing but memories and some frayed, slimy, line. This way I get to keep it around as a reminder of the fun we’ve had.

Those early 2000s Slammers definitely had something going for them. Jesse, your Slammer collection is legendary.

Thanks! It’s all good - I don’t see it as a loss. The Super Slammer and I had a great run, and while I considered going for a repair, I figured it had earned retirement. I suspect that soon another Slammer will start to accrue mojo and tooth marks, because that’s just what they do.

In 2006 my swimbait game was largely based on two lures - the 7" MS Slammer and the 8" ROF 5 Hudd. I did have a few other lures, like Lunker Punkers and one of the OG wood shellcrackers, but 9 times out of ten, one swimbait rod would have a Hudd on it, and the other would have the 7" Slammer. After the '06 season wrapped up (or, to be more honest, was iced out by lakes freezing over), I decided that it was time to up my game, especially when it came to fishing for bass at night, as most of my night fishing until then was for walleye. I ordered and soon received a 9" MS Slammer in light trout. Why that color? Well, my first Slammer, a 7" model, was in that color and it seemed to work well. Once spring rolled around, I started throwing the bigger Slammer - it seemed huge, almost too big, but the bass didn't seem to mind. After the first couple of trips where I waffled back and forth between the 7" and 9" Slammers, I had gained enough confidence to start throwing the Slammer a lot, and soon, given the amount of action it was generating, it was pretty much all I threw at night, sometimes with a bit of Baby Possum thrown in to mix things up, and much of what I threw during the day. That first year was a learning one and the years that followed just got better and better. Five years on and the "Super Slammer" as my kids named it, was going strong, a bit beat up, but other than new hooks every now and then, it kept doing the job. Ten years on and the Slammer still held the #1 spot in the rotation, and more often than not was the first lure on the water and the last lure off. It had a good case of hook rash and much more of the paint was worn off, but the fish didn't care - they continued to pound it night and day. Fifteen years on, last night, the Slammer announced that it was closing time, but only after adding 5 more largemouth to its tally. Then, on a long cast parallel to a steep bank, the lure touched down with an odd-sounding splash (when you've cast the same lure thousands of times, you get pretty attuned to the sounds and vibrations). I gave the lure a quick pop to start yet another potentially productive retrieve and didn't feel enough resistance - heck, I barely felt any resistance at all. Even if the Slammer had fouled its hooks there'd be more weight. Something was not right. Reeling in quickly, I made the sickening discovery that all I had on my line was the line tie, lip, and rounded "nose" of the Super Slammer - the rest was missing. Uh-oh. Throwing away the rule book on night fishing, I immediately flipped my headlamp onto bright, spun the pontoon around so I could kick over to the splash zone and churned over there as fast as I could, scanning the water as I went. I could accept the Super Slammer breaking, but I didn't want to lose the lure. As I approached where I thought it had landed, I spotted the lure, floating in nearly its usual attitude, and swooped in and grabbed it. The nose and bill had cleanly separated from the head of the lure, leaving just a short "brow" extending out above where the bill attached. I carefully placed the lure into my tackle box, along with the nose-bill section, and clipped on...another 9" Slammer (this was a deep cranking one). That one didn't catch any fish, but, to be honest, after the Super Slammer self-retired, I was not fishing very hard - I rowed the two miles back to the truck, and called it a night. Here's the Super Slammer. She's had an amazing run and now she will get the position of honor above the fishing closet, where she can survey all comings and goings. This Slammer was fished hard, and often for fifteen years on 3 continents, in 4 countries, and in the waters of 7 US states. This lure caught smallmouth bass, wipers, channel catfish, rainbow trout, and northern pike but largemouth bass, literally hundreds of largemouth bass from 9-inchers to 6-pounders, were its specialty. The Super Slammer was, and is, a special lure and its swimming days are over. p.s. When I got home I reached into the fishing closet and took out a virgin 9" MS Slammer, also in Light Trout, and tied it on. I then got in touch with Mike Shaw to order another one. The legacy must continue.

You did what you had to do and succeeded - nice work! You had a float tube and waders...no fins though?

Nice fish and sweet looking piece of water you're fishing.

Nice video - I bet we can all relate - I know I definitely can.

Nice catfish! Looks like a big channel cat to me. I think there are some blue cats stocked in the Santa Ana lakes but I don’t believe they are elsewhere in CA.

Nice walleye! How long/heavy was it? I'm a bit of a walleye addict myself so it's always nice to see others getting into them.

Another night pike, and on a Gerbil! Nicely done!

That is a really nice northern!

The head on that thing is huge! Congrats on an awesome fish.

Carp pull like freight trains and sometimes attack lures. Nice fish! I’ve been trying to catch a carp on a swimbait for years - I’ve twice come close with a G2 Shellcracker, but maybe I need a WCZ.

I’d have to agree - it’s stable, especially when the wind is coming from the side but the short 8’ pontoons on my pontoon make it ride the waves like a cork when they’re coming head-on or from behind (think short vs. long wheelbase in rough terrain). The lack of a true keel also makes it a bit more challenging because it’s designed to turn easily on rivers, so it takes a bit of practice getting to where you can row in a straight line, especially in wind.