Jace D

Haven’t ever tried to get different handles for it so I can’t answer that question but it is a good rod for the money. My brother Collin (cd7) uses his baileys for almost everything. He is on their “pro staff” but that only happened because he was already using the rods and wanted to purchase more so a deal was made with Matt. We’ve had no issues so far and there have been a lot of fish caught on the bailey’s.

In

Could be. Definitely a good size fish. Scale is the only way to go.

Could be. Definitely a good size fish. Scale is the only way to go.

It’s funny how everyone has different opinions on gear. I felt the complete opposite after using the OG Lexas. They seemed like total garbage to me. Locked up mid cast many times and with different reels, bearings didn’t stay smooth very long (which is something I’ve experienced with every low pro Daiwa I’ve ever had) and they felt heavy and unbalanced. The Curado 300 is still being used. Now, the Luna 300? That’s a workhorse, bombproof, super reel. To each his own though and it’s good thing to have lots of options.

In

There definitely needs to be an effort to grow that size of fish here. But, there are still giants here. I believe the Nor-Cal lakes from Bakersfield to Redding are the best place in the world to try and catch a 15+. Guys still catch them every year. Multiple times a year.

I believe that the advantages that a boat gives a swimbait angler far outweigh the disadvantages, however, there are times when I think being on the bank could pose a certain advantage. The stealth part of bank fishing is actually a bit exaggerated I feel. I think that the majority of the time from the bank you are fishing for bass that are fairly close to the bank and are in shallow water. That means they are close enough to hear you and see you. So in my opinion, stealth is not a determining factor in bank fishing. The one advantage to bank fishing that I can see is being able to hit a spot from a different or better angle than you could from a boat. I don’t think this applies very often but there are places where I’ve seen a casting advantage from the bank. The disadvantages though are pretty major for me and I think they severely limit a swimbait angler. First off, fishing on bottom is nearly impossible without losing baits constantly. Big disadvantage for me. Second, long casts in the strike zone are not really possible and, for me, long casts are a huge key to catching big fish. The fish generally are shallow and close to the bank if they are reachable by bank cast and this means your window of opportunity is very small to get a fish to see the bait and bite. Third, you’re missing some of the best areas for catching big fish which are offshore structure areas. These spots are just not reachable or really discoverable without a boat or some kind of floating vessel and they are often overlooked by most anglers. Also, as far as electronics go, I’m sure there are times when electronics are a disadvantage because of noise, but, between my brother and I, we’ve caught a lot of big fish on swimbaits through the years and nearly all of them were caught with electronics running. My brother even has a video on his IG right now catching an 11# and you can clearly see the side imagining running on the console graph. I think it all depends on how you like to fish. If you fish 5 feet of water and you like to be really close to the fish it would probably be a factor. For us, we rarely get that close to the fish. Every body of water is different and everyone has their way of doing it. For me, a boat is a massive advantage in nearly every way over being on the bank.

In

Is the water you’re fishing really clear? i can’t say for certain why the fish aren’t getting hooked because at some point a fish should hook itself. I think the stuff you’re using is probably fine but if the water is really clear, especially this time of year, the fish are very good at purposely missing the hooks. They can see them in that clear water and will bite away from the hooks. You will miss fish with glides in general sometimes. Just the way it is, but if your water is super clear, I would try fishing it faster and see if the fish grab some points by accident when they strike.

In

Nice fish bud! My brother and I have done this several times. There is one fish that we know he has caught 3 different times over the course of several years and it was also caught once by a friend before my brother caught it. It weighed between 10 and 12 lbs each time it was caught. The fish in these pics was caught first by my brother, then by me 4 months later and then by a client of a friend of ours who guides at that lake 3 years later. Weights were 8-4, 8-12 and 9-4 Crazy thing is this fish was caught and released in different areas of a very large lake that were miles apart. Catch and release works!

So...effectively a ban. I agree with nearly everything you said, although I have my own opinions on how things could be handled better, but who am I? Just pointing out that, just because something isn’t called a ban, doesn’t mean that, in effect, it isn’t one. I’m sure it is temporary, but for now, fishing...banned.

I’ve done it but it’s really not necessary unless you just want to straighten the bait out. That can also be accomplished by hanging the bait by the tail. Straight out of the package with a hudd for me. Maybe bend the hook up just slightly. It definitely works for ospreys and I would still do it if I fished them more. I would boil and stretch the tail and it would definitely make a difference in how slow you could swim the bait while still having the tail kick. You just have to be careful while stretching because you can pull the tail off pretty easily. Believe me, I’ve done it. Fortunately, a little mend it will fix the problem.

In my part of the country you can generally find big fish everywhere. But, if you’re talking about the biggest of the big, teener class fish, I see two things at our lakes that will nearly eliminate (nearly but not completely) your chances of finding this class of fish. The first thing is lack of a large, easy to find and eat bait fish. Rainbow trout, Kokanee, hitch. You need one or more of these. The second thing is the presence of a larger, more aggressive predator fish in the lake. In CA that is striper. Catfish get bigger but don’t seem to compete directly with the bass. Striper will wreck a bass fishery for teener size fish. The delta does have teeners but not like the lakes and you rarely see them caught in the cold months when the big striper move deep into the sloughs. Also, the delta is an exception to a certain extent because it is an open system and the bass can still find good food sources away from the striper schools. Lakes don’t generally afford the same opportunity for the bass if the striper are present. There aren’t very many bass lakes in CA that don’t have a record bass over 15 lbs. If they don’t, you can almost guarantee they have one or both of these issues.

In

Here’s another C2C video that’s pretty funny. It includes a rare sight of Collin (cd7) with a spinning rod! LOL! The beginning starts out with Collin getting bit, setting and breaking off on a fish with the light worm spinning setup. I end up catching the same fish on a swimbait and Collin has a mini freak out when he sees his worm still it’s mouth. If I remember right, this fish was 4.5 lbs or so. Not big, but still fun. “HE’S GOT MY BAIT!!” LOL!

Well, since a lot of guys are sitting at home wishing they could be at the lake and are probably feeling the quarantine blues like me, I decided to do something that I almost never do. Post a C2C video. LOL! It’s not much but hopefully it’ll be entertaining and help to ease some of the frustrations. I caught this fish a little while back. Nothing huge but it was a decent fish. Hope you guys enjoy and I’ll see if there are any other vids I can post without giving away too much. LOL!

Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a baitcaster made that is actually made for repeated casting a 1 lb or bigger bait. If there is, I’m not aware of it. There are some big spinning reels that would hold up but casting accuracy may not be as good. This is just my opinion and I think you should do whatever you want when it comes to fishing but, I would say there is not a 16+ oz bait out there that I think is worth fishing for bass with. I do think there is an upper limit to what a bass, even a giant one, will try to eat at any kind of predictable level. But the biggest reason I wouldn’t personally fish a bait that big or heavy is that it is too easy for a big bass to throw. More weight, more leverage, more lost fish. Now, if someone could make a good looking 12-14” bait that weighed less than 8 oz. I would throw it. But those are hard to find. As you’re finding, gear takes a toll with those heavy baits. The baits are harder to cast, the gear is cumbersome, the line is bigger and more visible, the hooks are gigantic and highly visible, etc., etc. Too many negatives for me. My suggestion would be to simply downsize (I know, the d word, it anathema here. LOL!). The 8-10” baits will get the biggest fish in any lake and will be easier to fish. But, again, you do whatever makes it fun for you. I’m not telling you what to do because if it works for you then it works. The toughest reels I’ve owned have been the Daiwa Luna 300’s. They do make lefty models. They’ve never failed and I rarely clean or lube them. They’re still super smooth and I’ve never made any repairs to any of them. I have about 4 of them and they’ve been going strong now for about 6 years. That’s the route I would go if you want a tough baitcaster. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Was it on fluoro? I used to use mono way back in the day and lost tons of baits. It’s actually really rare now for me to lose anything unless it’s wrapped in a tree. I haven’t tried all the fluoro out there but the one that I absolutely trust over everything else is Seaguar Invisx. Abrasx is good too but I rarely buy it. I have been going cheap lately and buying the YoZuri Topknot which has actually been great as far as strength goes. But, it is noticeably softer with more stretch. Seaguar is the way to go for fluoro.

Palomar on everything. Guess how many fish I’ve lost due to knot failure. I’ll give you a hint...it’s less than one. LOL! I use fluoro for everything except for top water and contrary to popular myth, fluorocarbon does not cut into itself with a palomar knot (or any other knot for that matter). In order for something to cut into something else, it must be more dense than the object it’s cutting into. How does fluoro cut into itself? Not possible. Palomar knot FTW.

Congrats man! That’s a giant! One oz difference between first and second and they’re both dd’s?! That’s pretty awesome.