midnightbite

Too far out for me to know for sure, but all things equal, you can count me in! -Dax

Hey Luke ... I went out yesterday afternoon but only had 2 hours to fish and frankly, just trying to learn how to cast a swimbait better. I idled over some ledges in 30 feet of water and didn't see any life on the finders, so figured they're either in the 60'+ range or possibly even up shallow (likely both). I knew I couldn't get the Hudd down super deep, so I looked shallow and did find a nice school of bass on the finder in 15' of water, directly across the lake from the launch. Couldn't get them to eat the Hudd but they were down there. Another boat that was out there as well picked one of those fish off on his last cast of the day, but he wasn't throwing a swimbait. Good luck next weekend. -Dax

14.10

From what I understand, Irvine is infested with quagga but still trying to keep the Zebra out - hence the inspections??

Hey Don, as people are saying, it all depends on the person doing the inspection, so what I always do on our SoCal lakes is assume I'm heading for a strict inspection. The key is not to give them any reason to dig deep by covering the primary things they look at: livewell and livewell intakes, hull, drain plug, lower unit, and on-board ice chests. A couple days before you leave, go to work with a shop vac or air compressor on your livewell hoses to blow out everything you can, then stick a microfiber towel in the inlet to soak up the water that will shake loose on your drive (inevitable). Shop Vac the hull to get it as dry as possible, and what I like to do is shove a couple micro fiber towels way underneath to create a dam for any water that uhhhhh, I'm not admitting might still be standing somewhere up front. This too will inevitably work its way to the plug hole during your drive. Make sure you drain your lower unit well in advance so it gets totally dry (watch for condensation in the early morning). Sometimes, you get a quick glance in the livewell and a "have a good time," but I know someone that was turned away at Irvine for that little bit of water that splashes up during the drive, and he was a regular there. DVL is notorious for having the most ridiculous inspection stories, but I'd be surprised if Irvine is on that same level. If you guys were going to DVL and it was raining, I'd say don't even think about it. For most other lakes down here though, I'd say just find a way to keep the primary inspection points dry and you should be cool. -Dax

Fear/avoidance of heavy tackle ... I've made a mistake here during my official and permanent re-entry into swimbait fishing that maybe someone else reading this can learn from. The lesson was Go BIG or go home. Karate Kid analogy = Daniel Son, You Big Swimbait YES, Safe. You big swimbait No, Safe. You big swimbait maybe so, squash like grape! First thing I bought was a new rod and the mistake I made was not going BIG right off the bat. I looked at the different weights of the baits I knew I wanted to start out with (Hudd, Wake Jr, TT) and in my mind, I wanted to find the SMALLEST/Lightest rod I could find that was rated for those weights. (I was worried about elbow/shoulder exhaustion and thought a nice light weight combo would keep that from happening.) Big time screw up on my part and after one trip out, I know for a fact I need to sell or trade my Dobyns ML 795 and up-size to the 8 footer in Heavy ... or hell maybe even XH for that matter. My casting distance pretty much sucked and I know that's going to keep me from getting bit. Just felt like that little 795 wasn't able to recoil well enough after I loaded it up. Anyway, go big from day one. All in. Save yourself the money of trying to take baby steps like I did. -Dax

3:00 am. July, 2004. 13.4

Another example of what makes this the best fishing forum on the web. I just scored my first freestyle on Thursday's release. It's a slow sink in black/blue ... can't wait to see what happens!!

I felt compelled to take the ferrari parallel a step further. In the event that 3:16 baits achieve the same level of appreciation over time ... a BAA, NIB would ultimately sell for $57,350.00 Put that in your pipe and smoke it! How sick would that be! -Dax

+1 Bet you didn't think you'd get a plus 1 to this. But here you go. That's my s***!

the camo grips and the gold wrapping are sick!

Bottom line on this deal is that demand FAR exceed supply, so if you want one of these baits, you pay what you're willing to pay. End of story. We use cloth diapers on our baby and my wife is obsessed with a brand called Raga-Babe ... exact same situation as the 3:16s ... everyone waits for the release. If you miss the release, head to ebay and expect to pay the margin. The ONLY down side here is that Mickey himself gets none of that extra action and he's the creator, but I get the impression he sells them for what he's comfortable selling them for and in the manner he chooses. At the end of the day, the red-hot after market is just a huge compliment to the artist. -Dax

Thanks for the replies guys! Really appreciate the advise. I'm going to Castaic so thinking I might make a striper blow up on the baby wake first thing and hopefully get my day off to a good start! We'll see what happens! Duly noted on the Hudd advise! I've got two ROF 12s, so I'll bounce them on the bottom and hope I don't loose 'em both to a snag before I can actually get bit!

This is by far the best bass fishing message board I've ever read. Just want to put that out there and say thank you to everyone that runs the site and everyone that posts here. To the topic, this Sunday will be my first dedicated swimbait trip. Everything else stays at home. Here's my plan for the starting lineup: 3:16 Baby Wake (if it arrives by Saturday) 3:16 Rising Sun Hinkle 8" Trout 8" Hudd 8" Triple Trout Let me know what you think! -Dax

Post #1 for me on this forum. Haven't had much to add since I'm just getting started out with swim baits ... or re-started I should say after giving up on my first attempt 8 years ago. I'm serious about it this time! Anyway, my personal experience with boats over the last 6 years. I've fished off a 19' Champion, a 21' Nitro (did not own either of those, but kept them at my place and took them out as though they were mine), and I'm now in my starter boat, which is a 17' Astro. The Champion, true to form, was fantastic in rough water and was just an all-around great boat to fish out of. Loved it and would not hesitate to buy a used Champion if I was in the market. The Nitro. On the plus side, I loved the big, wide fishing platform. It was a big boat with lots of storage ... felt like you could fish 5 people off that thing. The down side in my experience with the Nitro ... pain in the ass to trailer (not sure why), and frankly, god-awful in rough water, and I mean not even in the same league as the Champion when it came to rough water. If you have a bad back, don't get a Nitro. It will beat the crap out of you. Damn near died in that thing on Clear Lake one day ... jumped a wave going way too fast, the bow came down HARD, and blew the trolling motor off the bow into the air. Was about to EAT that trolling motor when the power cord stopped it and slammed it back down on the deck. That was a brutal drive across Clear Lake. I've never heard anyone have something bad to say about a Ranger, except that they are pricey. In bass fishing, you get what you pay for in most cases, hence our collective obsession with 3:16 swimbaits. Personally, I've been looking at BassCat and talking to as many BassCat guys as I can and they all seem really happy with their boats. I like their look and the size of the fishing deck. Good luck in your search. Hope you find a deal that makes you happy. -Dax