mcaetano2905

Slammers work here in Portugal too! Here's a nice bass I caught on it:

I only had one year (2005) when I have caught 5 or more fish on swimbaits and I fish swimbaits about 70 or 80% of the time. lol

Glide baits are my favorite baits in summer. I use the S-Waver 168 in a bluegill pattern to catch northern strain bass here. Almost broke my PB last year in July using that bait. Also, look at this article: http://www.westernbass.com/shared/mag_wb/wb_mag_summer_2017/page33/index.html

Winter can't come soon enough! I say that. I prefer winter than summer. I like fishing in the winter, most of my bigger fish were caught in winter (most in February) and my PB was caught in January. Even when I'm not fishing I prefer the winter. Where I live summer is very hot and winter is not very cold (it snows maybe once or twice in 50 years! lol) I prefer cold than heat. Sometimes in the summer I almost can't breathe. I can take my shirt off and I'm still hot. I can't take my skin off! lol In the winter I dress some layers of clothe and a coat, some nice socks and boots and I'm fine.

I need help! Because I don't have much money and also I'm trying to simplify, to really learn a few baits well and not keep changing baits because I'm not getting bit, I would like to ask you what soft plastic swimbaits would you choose if you could choose only one to fish year round, but specially for the colder months, since I've had success during the summer using the S-Waver 168 and the Gantarel Jr! I fish different types of lakes, from small lakes to huge reservoirs, very deep and shallow lakes, rocky lakes without much vegetation and also very weedy lakes. Generally the water clarity goes from about 2 or 3ft to over 20ft, but sometimes it may be muddy. The bass here are northern strain and not very big. I would say a trophy is a bass over 4lbs and my PB is a 5lb bass I caught 15 years ago! A 6 or 7 lb bass is very rare. The main forage fish of big bass is pumpkinseed sunfish around 4" and a fish similar to hitch/shad/shiner from 4 to 6". I fished weedless 6" hudds without any success... Maybe a 68 is better to fish here. Has anyone had success fishing the 68 Hudd in lakes where bluegill/sunfish is the main forage? Fished Mattlures U2 Bluegills in pumpkinseed color many times over the last years but didn't had any bite, and the bait just looks like the pumpkinseed bass eat here. All Mattlures U2's I've had didn't swim right. Maybe it's because of that. I'll try boiling them. The 5.8" Keitech is an option too and it's cheap.

Try a 168 S-Waver and fish it with a medium speed retrieve and from time to time (or near the places where you think a big bass should be) give it a quick 1/2 or 1/4 reel handle turn so the lure glides more. If you see a follower do that quick 1/4 or 1/2 reel handle turn too. If it's not working try to fish faster or slower. Sometimes you have to burn it! If you have confidence try the 200 size. If you can afford it try the Deps 175 or the Deps 250 fishing with the same retrieves. As for color, just choose the color of the most abundant prey fish or the prey fish you think big bass are eating, but don't worry much about color: the action is more important. WHen fishing always keep your rod parallel to the water and pointed at the bait. Only use the reel to move the bait. When a bass bites quickly sweep the rod to the side. Fish the bait over submerged weedbeds, parallel to vertical walls, near trees and rocks and parallel to docks. Try to make them glide under the docks. Always fish the shadow side of structure and cover. The bass in my picture hit a 168 S-Waver last year in July. It's my second biggest bass ever. Good luck!

I have a 7" Slammer. I've used it for countless hours on many many days over the last 5 years. Only caught one bass: a 4.8lb bass in the winter. I have only northern strain bass here and in my country 99% of the people take home all the fish they catch... Lakes have few fish over 2 lbs. Fish over 4lbs are very rare. Portuguese (and european) record is 10.36lb though, but it was caught 25 years ago when there was a lot more fish and big fish in the lakes. I would like to have a 9", but probably would have to fish it for some years to get a bite on it.

She has a big belly and at 24" long I'd guess it's around 8lbs. Maybe over 8lb...

A 5" Savage Gear 3D Shine Glide. Choose one or two colors based on the predominant forage in the lakes you fish. Good luck!

Yeah, do what is right! Contact them. They'll be happy. You'll feel great if you do it. And if somehow on future orders they remember you I bet they'll be even more careful with the items you order and they'll try to ship it faster because you were kind to them. Maybe they'll even offer you something, but you shouldn't do the right thing counting on them giving back. You'll feel great about doing it and they'll be happy too, just as you will be if someone does the same to you.

Yeah, do what is right! Contact them. They'll be happy. You'll feel great if you do it. And if somehow on future orders they remember you I bet they'll be even more careful with the items you order and they'll try to ship it faster because you were kind to them. Maybe they'll even offer you something, but you shouldn't do the right thing counting on them giving back. You'll feel great about doing it and they'll be happy too, just as you will be if someone does the same to you.

Yes, Manabu Kurita caught a 18.7lbs bas on the Roman Made Mother. They mention it here: http://www.tackletour.com/interviewmkurita.html About being illegal to release bass in Japan: I'm a biologist and I love fishing (I fish almost only for bass, trophy bass) so, I understand both sides. Here in Portugal we have northern strain largemouth. It's an exotic species and of course they eat our native species (although they eat more pumpkinseed and crawdads, also exotic species). We have a closed season for bass here, from March 15th to May 15th and the minimum size we can keep is 8". Law is changing: next year I think there will be no closed season, no minimum size to keep and I think it will be Illegal to release bass. Again, as a biologist I have mixed feelings about this... Bass don't belong here and they eat our native species. I release all the bass here and I think I'll keep releasing them without anyone knowing, at least in the small reservoirs I fish often. In those reservoirs there are no native fish species, maybe one native species, but bass rarely eat it. I do my part in the native species conservation by keeping pumpkinseed sunfish, some carp, zander and other much more aggressive species that do much more harm than bass to our native species and by releasing all native species I catch.

Articles about trophy bass hunting in Japan: https://swimbaitsforbass.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/manabu-kurita-interview/ http://www.finsntales.com/all/japans-big-bait-boom/#.WAn9L2orJdg

I would try a glide bait like the S-Waver and fish it aggressively with quick 1/2 reel handle turns. Also, try the opposite: deadstick the Gantarel for up to 1 minute or more...

Yes, I agree that action is the most important thing, but I think the shape and color may help, at least in some situations...

Yeah, but did they attack the mop?! lol I agree that most of the time color isn't important, but you need not only to attract bass but also to make them attack the bait. They attack it usually trying to eat it and an action similar to the action of the prey they eat makes them attack. Shape is important too, and I admit sometimes color makes a difference (I think a color similar to the prey bass eat may get you a couple extra bites in a season, specially from the biggest bass). Also, color can make a difference in different light levels and water color...

I bought this lure recently and have yet to try it as it is still closed season here in Portugal. Has anyone tried it? Looks great! It's 7" long. It was only around 13$ here in Portugal. Cheap lure... I took off the hooks on the bottom and placed one hook on the top line tie. If it doesn't run true I'll try some nail weights on the belly. Here's a video showing it: https://youtu.be/ASzM2GO7wkA

If you really want to keep it simple and cheap I recommend you buy an S-Waver 168 and the 5.8" Keitechs on the 6/0 Owner Weighted Beast Hook (or weightless if you have shallow water and a lot of weeds/moss). Just buy them in the color of the most abundant forage you have there that is about the size of the baits. You can go to a S-Waver 200 if you have confidence in that size. You may try the Spro BBZ-1 Rat 50 as a wakebait or a 7 or 9" MS Slammer if you can afford it. I use these billed wakebaits over the ones without a bill specially when there's grass as the bill makes them almost weedless. If you have bluegill in the waters you fish (and even if you don't) you may try Mattlures Ultimate Gill and the Jackall Gantarel. The Gantarel is a bait with AMAZING realism and I classify it as a cross between a jointed bait (like a triple trout or BBZ-1 Trout), a wakebait and a glide bait and you have two places to tie to have it dive about 3ft or just have it under the surface if you tie to the other eye. It's a floating bait. I think it's the best hard bait you can buy for that price. Then, if you want to fish slow on the bottom in the winter you may go to a Huddleston 68 or an 8" Huddleston, but you have to be ready to lose some baits. If you can't afford them just stick to the 5.8" Keitechs. They'll work great too. I live in Portugal, where there are only northern strain bass and not very big. My PB is only 5lb, caught 15 years ago on a spinnerbait. My favorite swimbait right now is BY FAR the S-Waver 168. In half a year of fishing it I almost caught my PB (with a 4.96lb bass) last July and caught also a nice 3.8lb bass last February on it. I'm showing you pictures of those bass here. As you see they work year-round! When fishing it keep the rod pointed at the bait and parallel to the water at all times. Work it reeling in (very slowly in the winter and faster in summer, even burning it sometimes) and from time to time (or when a bass is following it) give one or two quick 1/4 or 1/2 reel handle turns to make it glide more. After the quick 1/2 reel handle turn just pause for at least a couple seconds and if you want it to glide more just move your hands forward a bit to give more slack. When you feel a bite set the hook immediately by making a sweep to the side. If you're always pointing the rod at the bait you're always in the best position to set the hook, and if you just make it glide using the reel instead of the rod it's harder to make an exaggerated jerk and having the line foul on the hooks. Just read this article to learn more about how to catch giants on glide baits: http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fish/story/1516953-learn-to-fish-glide-baits-for-giant-bass Wish you catch some giants!

Slammer

Look here for some instructional videos from Brett Richardson: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvI3qggVr5cXzVkT9NuHX4d5rcPiCjvqu . They're excerpts from the dvds. Great information. Even if you only use swimbaits you can use that information adapting it. In this video he talks a bit about baits: https://youtu.be/N-M3Uk_SefE?list=PLvI3qggVr5cXzVkT9NuHX4d5rcPiCjvqu .Enjoy!

I agree. I spent about 15 years (!!!) throwing 6 to 7" swimbaits more than anything else and only caught about 10 bass (!!!) on them! Read a lot of articles, watched the best swimbait videos. I know I was fishing right. The fish I caught were nice fish, but did not get my PB. FIsh here are northern strain and they eat mainly 4 to 5" pumpkinseed sunfish. Now, I'm trying to match the hatch more and I fish spinnerbaits, jigs and senkos (these 3 baits work great here for trophy fish), I'll try chatterbaits now too. Last summer almost broke my PB on a S-Waver 168 and I caught another nice fish on it this year! It looks like it works better than most swimbaits here. I learned a lot from watching Brett Richardson's dvds and sending him some e-mails with questions. He also has a youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/brettrtrophyhunter/videos . You'll be amazed at the numbers of HUGE northern strain bass he catches! He uses swimbaits too but fishes jigs and chatterbaits most of the time. He even fishes a float & fly in the winter and catches monster bass! He mostly fishes at night, but in the winter he fishes more during the day and he told me his tactics work great during the day too (here in Portugal we can fish only from dawn to dusk). My PB is 5lbs. Brett Catches a fish over 5lbs on almost every trip, and many times several fish over 5lbs... What I learned from him is: if you like to fish swimbaits then fish them! They're great for big bass, specially when they're active and looking for a big prey fish. If you don't like to fish swimbaits and still want to catch trophy bass then there are many baits, even small baits, that can do it. Trophy bass fishing is more about location, presentation and timing than a bait. Brett told me to still use some big baits (he uses Mattlures Bluegills, Huddlestons, etc) but to use jigs, big jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. He told me to mimic the pumpkinseed sunfish here (using a Mattlures Ultimate Gill or U2, for example). I think I was not getting many big fish on bigger baits simply because I was fishing baits bigger than the fish big bass normally eat here... You'll learn A LOT if you watch Brett's dvds. You can find him on facebook or send him an e-mail. I learned more about trophy bass fishing from him than anyone else! I adapted what he says to fishing from the bank and fishing only during the day. It works.

My biggest swimbait bass and 2nd biggest bass ever was caught in the middle of last summer, on a S-Waver 168. Also, I saw Butch Brown saying the Deps 250 is basically what he uses in summer to catch A LOT of double digits... Just fish it from about 6ft to the top. Fish it above weeds and other types of cover. Fish it around docks... Fish the bait fast and erratic in summer.

What he said.

I see a lot of people catching a lot of fish and big fish on the morning dawn, but that's probably because that's the color more people are using. I bought the brown rat recently. Still haven't fished it. Just buy a color you have confidence in. Watch Bill Siemantel and Roland Martin catching some nice bass on the rat in Florida: https://youtu.be/4p7ww_AQLO0

I don't have much experience with wake baits. I've tried 7" MS Slammer, Mini Slammer, Shell Cracker G2 and the floating 6" BBZ-1 Trout. I've only caught a bass on one of those baits: the 7" MS Slammer. Also hooked up and lost another nice fish on the same bait. The Gantarel and Gantarel Jr may be a wake bait if you tie on the lower line tie. I caught a 1lb bass on the Gantarel Jr, but I bought it recently. I'm sure I'll catch a lot of big fish on it because it's near the size of pumpkinseed sunfish big bass eat here. So, right now, my favorite wake baits are the 7" MS Slammer and the Gantarel Jr. Bought a BBZ-1 Rat 40 recently and I'm sure I'll love it!