Acuna

I know it may not exactly be a "swimbait" but I definitely think it falls in to the big bait category. Personally, I'm not so sure a Lunker Punker is even a swimbait. I know what you mean about the hard plastic though, then again I feel its no much harder than Hudd or 3:16 plastic and they get bit. Plus a craw isn't exactly a soft animal unless they just molted. Time will tell how these work, I haven't gotten to use mine much yet Can't disagree with anything you've said. Craws move in a certain way, and even though they are't soft, their movement patterns are distinct. It is my understanding that a craw was hand carved from a piece of wood, then molded and baits were almost immediately put into production. Did DHB nail it out of the park on the first try? Could the Lonestar have been made better? I don't know. I am sure it catches fish (not trying to say that it doesn't at all), and there does appear to be some neat features (e.g., jig skirt material for antennas neatly fastened to the bait). It just didn't impress me in hand (other than being very large), and I knew I would not be able to get the most out of it due to my lack of confidence.

Not trying to be a rules stickler but why are we reviewing a soft plastic craw on SWIMBAIT underground. Also, while I am sure they probably catch fish, I got some and was not impressed when I had them in hand. The plastic seemed too hard and the shape was too bulky for the craws I see in Texas. I knew I would have zero confidence fishing them so I sold them immediately.

Easy transaction, good communication, fast payment. It was a pleasure doing business with him.

The line just failed somewhere above the knot. 30 pound PF Original. I think Spectrum will agree that I took it pretty damn well... At least I thought I did.

Yeah, it stayed up for a loooong time. At least it felt that way. It was up there long enough for me to get on the trolling motor while it was still in the air and start heading its way as fast as I could.... Oh and I am grateful for Spectrum putting some music over this and slowing it down. I am pretty sure I made some sort of yelp/gasp when it broke off the line that would not be very flattering at all.

Shimano Curado 300 and Calcuttas for me.

Yesterday I casted off my Roman Made Mother. The LCRA (governmental agency managing the lake I was on) started releasing a bunch of water literally within five seconds of it splashing down and as a result it could not be located and recovered. I won't lie, it sucked pretty bad watching her sail off into the drink... Spectrum was with me and happened to catch it on video:

In for the win.

Large and in charge. I had a pair of regular sized ones from back before I caught the swimbait bug. There is no substitute for getting the Texas Tackle pliers in large. The green handle lets you know you got the right size.

Grind always...

That is the big issue I am dealing with right now. There are guys posting up on another board, virtually daily, with "NEW PB on Lake_____!!!!" The amount of boats is going way up (and still increasing). It totally sucks.

Do you no if this company is looking for sponcership? I bet I could do wonders for its sales with my instagram pics and forum posts. And Lords knows I've stepped on a Barbie shoe or two in my day, and the custom hook bonnets will give me the edge to dominate in my area.

Ditto. About a week ago I was told my bait is a week or two out. Super pumped!

Yep, there are now a couple of active guides who post regular reports. Unfortunately, their pictures are waaaay too revealing and show very recognizable landmarks in the background, including one area I called (or maybe I should say "used to call") the "Ridge of Destiny".... oh well. Can't let it get you down, got to stay positive.

Are you surprised? I am not surprised. What is surprising is the number of Internet reports still getting posted on another, more localized forum. Somebody will stumble onto a pattern or area and then post up details and pictures, etc. This gets everyone fired up and talking and then all of a sudden every bass club in Texas wants to have a tournament on the lake. I have had people reach out to me, some of whom I have never met, asking me if the lake is fishing good and whether or not their club (located 3+ hours away) should hold a tournament on the lake. The lake in question is small (under 2000 acres), and with the grass carp taking out ALL the cover and the recent pressure from so many fishermen, the quality of the fishing is sure to suffer greatly within the next 18 months. I have no problem letting people know what is working for me, BUT I am going to tell you in person and not post up details for all the world to see. I work too hard at developing spots and patterns to give it away like that. To kind of get this back on topic, I have a milk run of a out ten spots over 12 miles of lake that I usually fish. There were fishermen on every one a few weeks ago! If I can get on one of my spots, I will stay in that area and wait for them to bite.

Our poor lake is getting hammered like never before. It really is driving me slightly insane. Made me fish almost entirely at night or during the middle of the week.

Yep. Timing is so key on many spots and coming back can pay off big time.

No idea. That said, Ken Huddleston's patent is a utility patent, it not just protects the SHAPE of the bait, but also the way the bait moves. Basically any bait that has a tail that only goes side to side with vertical stability (as opposed to a boot tail that has a more erratic kick to it) and thus has a "swimming motion" is infringing on the patent. I would post a link to the utility patent, but I know that is taboo on this sight so just do a search for Huddleston Utility Patent and you can ready what is protected. In the case of my patent, I obtained a design patent on a finesse worm for a bait company I used to run (no longer in the bait business). Design patents only protect the shape of something. As applied to the swimbait world, I think that enforcement would be difficult mainly because many of the players are relatively small and collecting on any sort of judgment for damages would be tough (i.e., the companies or people behind them are judgment proof). Could you get an injunction to stop future production? Sure, but that will cost at least 10-15K. And it would be hard to police any sort of underground production after the injunction is granted. It is a heck of a thing...