midnightbite

the rod and net sacrifice is worth it. Congratulations. Beautiful fish.

Dude that thing is a beast. All gnarly looking! Sounds like you've got some good new boat karma going for you. 1st cast on the test run. Very nice.

in

This situation in the tules has obviously gotten out of hand. Amazing.

Don I hope you get a few extra ones on the house b/c I can't possibly be alone here when I say the display of slayage you've put on this season with the weedless Hudd has substantially influenced my demand for these baits. I picked up 4 of them this morning ... wanted more but didn't want to get too greedy. Figured I'd leave some in stock for people with slower internet connections! I'm taking these bad boys to Texas over Easter to fish what has to be one of the most stump-filled bodies of bass heaven water on the planet. Gonna let that weedless Hudd plow through some brush piles and just let nature take its course! Shooting for the lake record! Gonna take 14 pounds to set the mark. It can be done. -Dax

Hell yeah Ceaser! Nice fish dude!

Hell yeah! That's a good one! Congrats on the first true Hudd fish! Did she just clobber it or what? Got my first Hudd fish a couple months ago and that bite left an impression on me. Awesomeness -Dax

Hey Bigworm! Want to say thanks for the advice on the 6" RS top hook. You were totally right on with how well it bounces through the rocks without getting hung up. I only lost one of them the whole trip. I caught that fish right off Rocky Point in the north end. Threw along a break line of rocks/tules ... about 6 feet of water. She was right where I thought she should be. Apparently, no other fish in the lake gave a crap what I thought about where they should be. -Dax

Two days and one night fishing Clear Lake this weekend. Only managed this one swimbait fish. My first ever on the Rising Sun, so that was cool at least. She went 5.3. Was hoping to do the whole SBU Clear Lake event, but this past weekend was my only available window to make the trip up there, so I had to go for it. I think that cold front backed 'em off quite a bit and made things tougher for me. I was really hoping for some of that legendary WFO Clear Lake action. No such luck, as per the norm for me!!

Dude Lake Austin is just crankin em out all winter long. Amazing.

IN

Spectrum, that's a tank man! Congrats. You guys are hard core out there on the Yaks in the cold. Couldn't help but notice the blood dripping from your fingers. Did you get a hook? Is that Lake Austin you're fishing? You guys have a great fishery there. -Dax

Dude that's awesome that you have them eating that FS Floater in the cold weather. The fact your line is freezing but you're still out there = RESPECT.

great fish BadBass! I'm off to go top it right now!! Looks like it will take a DD to win this month. (Big sigh from the peeps ice fishing in the northeast I'm sure. Sorry guys. Move to the west coast!!) -Dax

Boiling my Hudds has coincided with me finally catching fish on them. Likely to just be circumstance, but I'm a nut job about superstition when it comes to fishing ... you know, lucky shirt, etc. So better believe I'll always boil my Hudds from here on out. I've been dunking them for 3, 15-20 second intervals, hanging them by the line tie and stretching the tails out just a bit. They get sticky. Something about that I like ... just feels like they're ready to play ball.

In!

That was sweet!!! You could tell it was a good one as soon as she hit. Congrats on the toad! Not sure why I haven't bought one of those baits yet. Seems like that S action is killing 'em lately.

Limited experience thus far. I'm up to 5 Hudd fish now and counting. So far, I'm with cd7 on this. There has been NO DOUBT. But from what I know about fishing in general, what Colby is saying holds true. Often the biggest fish give the smallest tics b/c they're fat and lazy and they just suck the bait up and don't even move. I don't believe in just swinging at god knows what though unless fishing the middle of the water column without any cover around. If you're bouncing through cover, I say you better figure out what it feels like to bounce off the cover and don't sabotage your presentation by swinging at THAT feeling. That's when you're doing it right and you need to keep doing it right until the real thing happens.

Hey Roman G ... just wanted to bump your thread back to the top and give you any info I possibly can. I'd have to defer to other CA members of the board here in terms of the true "best" time to go swimbait fishing out here. My belief is that the answer to that question will vary according to what lake you decide you really want to fish. Here are my thoughts for you. If you are talking Southern California, and you are willing/able to take a guide out, I see Diamond Valley Lake as your ONLY and most likely best option. There are a couple of guides that work that lake and seem to put their clients on big swimbait fish every season. Just from trolling the fishing reports every year, I feel like the reports of truly big ones seem to show up starting in February?? You can expect a somewhat more difficult time finding fellow SBU members who can take you out on DVL in a boat b/c as is the case with me, older 2 stroke motors are not allowed on the water. I would say that the legends of Casitas and Castaic (main lake) should be treated more like fairly tales these days. Once they (essentially) shut down Casitas due to the quagga threat several years ago, they quit stocking trout, and from what I've read, the big fish population has suffered as a result. Although, a guide trip on Casitas could potentially still get you a big fish I would imagine. Castaic main lake should be considered more of a striper lake really. Certainly there must be a few big bass in the water still, but they are undeniably fewer and far between than they once were when those legends were made. Chalk that one up to striper infestation. There are people that know how to find the bigger bass on Castaic, but that information is worth a good amount of $$$ in tourneys so good luck even finding a guide that would show you. I sure as HELL don't know. If you or your significant other are into wine tasting, you might consider a stay in Solvang, CA, and find a guide or rent a boat to fish Lake Cachuma. You're likely to have better luck with the wine tasting than the bass fishing, but there ARE some big bass in that lake. Smart sons of bitches though!! Where does this leave you for the SoCal lakes? 1. Hopefully some SBU members from the San Diego area will chime in here about the possibilities of El Capitan, DIXON, etc. Maybe even someone that can get you access on Mission Viejo? Pretty sure it's private, and likely kept that way for good reason!! 2. Nighttime shore fishing at Castaic Lagoon is pretty much what I live for. Even more so now that I'm swimbait fishing. If it is your goal to catch the bass of a lifetime, I can't imagine there are many other places in the world where you have a bass population that BIG in such a confined area. Boats ARE allowed on the water, but under electric power only, and during daylight hours only. It's a crapshoot dude. I go out every time expecting to get skunked but also knowing the next cast could set my world on fire. Would I pay for a flight just to get a shot at it? Probably so, but with tempered expectations and I'd want a good back up plan. Now, if you're considering Northern California, Clear Lake is a majestic fishing destination. God I love that place. Haven't caught a swimbait fish there myself yet (that will change very soon), but my god those fish will rip a jig rod out of your hands. Go in early spring before the algae blooms. The Dirty D as Ceasar likes to call it. Welcome to the jungle. You'll need a guide or a local expert. Hope some of this was helpful. -Dax

Kilog .. . here's the 8" Nightstalker you just sold me. She went about 4. Hammered it. 10 minutes later, had another one on but broke her off. My line was frayed. Such a jack ass for not retying. Still, the $$$ is worth it. Sickness. Radray ... handshake thing might get weird, but PM me next time you're heading out! -Dax

Crazy. So at this point, if any of us run into any other people fishing out there right now, chances are extremely high, it's another SBU member. Figure we're the only ones crazy enough to go out there this time of year. We need a secret hand shake or something. -Dax

Congrats Dave! Not only a huge fish, but a truly beautiful specimen. When you think about a Florida toad bass, that's exactly what they're supposed to look like. Just a dark green swamp beast! Perfect.

Perfect transaction. Thank you Kilog! -Dax