mcaetano2905

I've listened/watched a few Butch Brown interviews and this one is my favorite so far: a few tips about things most people don't notice or don't care about...

Butch Brown talked about swimbaits last sunday on Rod and Reel Radio. Starts at 1:01:30. http://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.rodandreelradio.com/Archives/2021/01/01-24-20-2hr.mp3

My favorite bait maker is Caetano Swimbaits (myself) because I like making baits and catching bass on them and I caught my second largest bass ever on a wake bait made by me. ahah Not counting myself, and based on the bait makers that made the baits I used to catch the biggest bass or numbers of larger than average fish I would select: 1- River2Sea 2- Savage Gear 3- Optimum If I had to select a top 3 based on numbers of giant fish caught and popularity of baits I would select: 1- Huddleston 2- Deps 3- MS Slammer If I had to select 3 individual persons for their talent, creativity and new ideas for great baits I would select: 1- Ken Huddleston 2- Matt Servant 3- Mike Shaw Allan Cole and Kazumasa Okumura would be in a top 5. Also, Bill Murphy deserves a mention because I think he created the first big jointed wood trout imitating swimbaits, by cutting Rapalas in half, painting them like a trout and putting a soft plastic tail on them. I'm not sure if he made some of those trout plugs from scratch like Allan Cole, but he was fishing wood jointed trout swimbaits maybe a decade before Allan Cole invented the AC Plug. Murphy caught his 72lb 5 bass limit trolling those swimbaits at San Vicente Lake.

Big Game 20lb

Owner hooks have been my favorites for a long time now. Back when I fished texas rigs a lot I started using Gamakatsu hooks. When I tried Owner EWG worm hooks I never bought Gamakatsu again. Owners are more sharp and stronger. Same with treble hooks. I like both the ST-36 and ST-41. The ST-41 is 2x, so, it's stronger than the 36, but it has the hook points turned in, so, if bass are just slapping the bait and not fully commiting I feel the hook up rate will not be as high as with the 36. If they are really commiting and engulfing the bait then the 41 might be better because your hook up to land ratio will be higher, since it will be harder for a bass to throw those hooks because of the turned in hook points. I think the ST-41 is an hybrid between a round bend and an EWG hook. With that said, I still have a good hook up ration with the ST-41, but I'm starting to use the ST-36 more and more because I prefer a stealthier approach and prefer light wire hooks and I still feel I'll catch more bass on a round bend treble. I wish they made a bronze colored ST-36, but I think I'll start painting my hooks (except the hook points) white or yellow/orange, depending on the color on the swimbait belly. As long as you use a good quality sharp hook and have confidence in it I think you'll do great. Don't know if the hook size and color makes a big difference but I guess it can, specially on pressured lakes. I know people who fish in saltwater for sea bream with a bobber and the anglers who catch the largest breams are the ones who use the smallest possible hooks and cover all of the hook with the bait...

Congratulations! That's a giant!

Bass can't see UV light. They don't have UV wave lenghts receptors in their eyes. They don't even have blue light receptors. So, probably they don't see blue and purple (or don't see it very well). Blue and purple are probably the same as grey to them. The colors they see the best are red/orange and green/yellow. Carp can see blue and UV.

You can watch the cast to catch video of this fish in the SUTV section.

Really nice! Congratulations!

Thanks for everything! So many times I talked to you just whining and saying I couldn't catch a big fish... Lol And you had the patience to keep giving me tips and supporting me. About the bigger version of your bait: yes, I really want to make an 8.5 or 9" bait even for myself, because I now have more confidence on 8 and 9" swimbaits than I have on a jig.lol Yesterday I got a massive strike om the 8" Glide Swimmer on the same spot where I caught my PB! Just wasn't able to hook it up. As soon as I have a stable source of the right diameter wood dowels I'll start making the larger baits.

These are some of the first baits I made. These were test baits, but I'm very happy with them and caught a few bass on them including my 2nd largest bass ever. This month I'll make a new batch and they will be a little better, with a thicker bill and maybe a shorter silicone tail because I think the bait will kick even better at slower speeds that way.

You can see while I retrieved the bait I twitched while at the same time I did a quick half turn of the reel handle two times during the retrieve. You can see the fish hit right after the second time I did that. Most of my wake bait and glide bait fish are caught right after I twitch the bait. With glide baits it's usually on the pause right after the twitches.

As promised here's the cast to catch video of my second largest bass ever, caught yesterday on one of my own wake baits. You can see some of my baits and pictures of fish caught on them on Instagram @caetanoswimbaits . The baits look a lot like a slammer, because I make them out of a wood dowel, but I make the tail by cutting it out of a silicone sheet. Because of that it's a little stiffer, but more durable. In my next batch I'll try to make the nose a little bit more pointed. I'm trying not to make a slammer copy, but it's not easy. I'm thinking about making some rats too...

Last month I caught my new PB, here in Portugal, at 6.24lb and 22.2" long. Today I caught my second largest bass ever! 5.64lb and 20" long! And I caught it on one of the wakebaits I make: a Caetano Swimbaits Wake. It's 6.9" long. I'll post some pictures now and maybe tomorrow I'll post the cast to catch video. Just have to edit the video first.

Thanks! And thanks everyone who helped me with tips! Today I caught another big fish. Actually I caught my second largest bass ever at 5.64lbs, on one of the swimbaits I make. I'll post pictures of it now and maybe tomorrow I'll post the cast to catch video!