bassTaco

My first swimbait tournament. I'm in.

Whoa! That's a shorty but fatty! Awesome toad, Congrats!

congrats Sean! The vids are great. Glad you had your net right under her when she came loose.

Awesome fish! Thanks for sharing!

Well, from what I know, you and Sean are one of the first to fish swimbaits from a kayak here in the Austin area and your results of catching big fish slowly spread through the kayak fishing community. Other kayak fisherman are picking up on it now and for me talking and fishing with you guys regularly it was hard to not give it a try. Hopefully, as I learn more about swimbait fishing, I can catch "toads on the reg" like you guys! Nice toad by the way and heck of a catch for your first fish of the year.

I purchased some Sealskinz Waterproof Gloves but returned them after a single outing. They are definetly waterproof and was stoked about that and not too thick so seem good for dexterity, however, they hold water and in cold conditions your fingertips will get extremely cold. I had to take them off. I think these are great for recreational paddling but not for fishing. I am still looking for gloves for the winter.

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

You are right about that. There are a ton of lakes/ponds/rivers to fish in the Austin area. I really enjoy it here. I primarily fish Lady Bird Lake, Lake Pflugerville because its right behind my subdivision, and once in a while Lake Austin. LBL and Lake Austin are good big bass fisheries. We also have some power plant lakes nearby like Decker Lake, and Lake Bastrop but those lakes are good for numbers, however, I have seen some toads pulled out of Decker Lake. I would say those are the main lakes I fish at. By the way, I fish from a kayak and I am also part of the Austin Kayak Fishing forum (AKF). Maybe sometime in the future I can afford a small bass boat but for now kayak fishing is so much fun I don't see myself breaking away from it.

Sounds like fun! I am new to swimbait fishing and amazes me how a small bass will chase a big bait. It's pretty cool actually!

Great catches! Thanks for sharing!

Great catches Sean!

Now if only I could go out fishing as much as he does. By the way, your toad count for 2012 speaks for itself so don't count yourself out. What's up Chris! Glad to see you here too!

Hi everyone. Just a quick introduction. My name is Rick and live in the Austin area. Started taking an interest to swimbaits after seeing the portofolio of toads caught by Top Ramen and SeanM. Top Ramen then showed me the Southern Trout Eaters DVD and what a great footage on swimbait fishing. At that point I decided to try it out and Top Ramen and SeanM have been showing me the ropes to get started on swimbait gear and fishing. I have two combos right now, a 7'11" Okuma MH and H setup and a small collection of softbaits primarily Hudds to throw for the winter. Been fishing swimbaits for two months now and just caught my first swimbait fish about 2 weeks ago. Caught them on a 6" Hudd and 8" RS. Talk about a major confidence booster and looking forward to catching a fish on the 8" Hudd. Anyhow, thanks for the wealth of information provided in this site and hope to contribute soon! Thanks! Rick