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Subject: "RE: The state of the trophy bass union" Previous topic | Next topic
dockboyMon Dec-28-09 12:15 AM
Member since Jun 09th 2005
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#11545, "RE: The state of the trophy bass union"
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Wow. Lots of great posts here. Good memories too. Its been forever since Ive posted here,or even checked up on the board. I remember when I first started out around 2005...damn that was long time ago. Someone mentioned about how so many learned from tips and tricks on this board. I can attest to that. Rob, Nico, Henry Long, both the Dons....I learned SO MUCH about fishing the big baits from you guys when I was starting up.
Im no longer living in SoCal most the year. I moved up to Santa Cruz for school last year, and sadly my fishing rates plummeted. Hopefully with a car in the near future, I can explore some the local bassin.

This is my two cents on it all:

There are still big fish to be caught on the swimbaits, as mentioned. But its not everyone whos doing it anymore. Its Butch, or Matt Allen, or Mike Long, or the guys under the radar my age who are fishing each lake 50 days a year. They are there when the bite goes off, and they learn how to fool those fish. It certainly wasn't that way when it started.
The private club lake I fish at in SoCal, the Fin and Feather, is an example I use a lot. Its a place with a lot going for it. Lots of trout, big fish, lower fishing pressure, and its closed to fishing 4 months of the year. I remember buying my first Castaic trout. It was a 4", one of the type you buy at Walmart. The first bite I ever had on a swimbait was a stupid fish. I was shore fishing on a dock, where I had hooked a few decent fish before. I saw good fish harassing the trout up on top, so I tied on the Castaic and threw out as far as possible. By my fifth wind, I was losing interest and let my bait slow down and flutter. Not having paid attention, I didnt notice the 8lber following my bait. It ATE that bait. There's not a 4" trout in the world that slows down and sinks when chased by a big bass, yet this fish demolished my bait, only 5 feet from me on the dock. Of course I was fishing a 7' MH outfit with 12lb, and couldn't set the hook if I wanted to.
But it was STUPID fishing. A guy I know, Rob, was a big bass guy and a friend of Butch. He fished the Hudd hard when it first hit the market. I remember the opening day of the season at the Fin in 2006, and listening to Rob tell me how he had 2 over 8 and a 10 in about 5 hours of fishing. It was the same at Castaic and DV, and even Puddingstone and the LA area park lakes. Guys were catching fish left and right on the Hudd and the BBZ, and all the big baits.
In 2007 my buddy Corey D. got a 17 bed fishing at the Fin. It was the real heyday there. I saw tons of big fish being caught.
Now, I look back and its different. its been at least a year and half since I heard of a giant from Butch. Any of the big guys down in SoCal really. It hit me the last two years I think. This year I saw lots of guys fishing the big baits at the Fin, same with last year. Lots of dudes out there with crankbait outfits and spin rods throwing the BBZ and Hudd. Same at Castaic, guys on the shore hucking the Hudd all day long with a surf rod. You dont get a lot of the suicidal fish charging the bait and engulfing it nowadays it seems. More followers than I ever remember, even from 5lb fish. Even on the Fin, the fish don't eat the bait like they would 3 years ago, with perhaps the exception of the first month or two when nobody is throwing the big baits and they've had a few months off. Same at the Lagoon and Castaic and DVL.
But I've noticed something too. Its like the drop shot. EVERYBODY dropshots a 4" Robo. I moved back to leeches two years ago, and caught lots of nice fish where dudes fish the Robo had just burned through. I've caught a lot more jig fish too. In 2008, I had a 3lb or better average fishing jigs when everybody was fishing the big baits and getting nothing. A friend and I won a tourney in March, prime swimmie time, with 1/4oz. fineese jigs. It took 14lbs to win, with 4 fish. The two years before had both required about 17 or 18lbs to do so, and the big bait guys had won the two previous March tournies. And when I did catch fish on the swimbait this year, it was on stuff like the Mission Fish. I did well on the 4-7lb fish this year and last fishing a Mission Fish in the tulles. I don't think those fish had seen something like it in years.
Im saddened a bit too see that some of the relatively close lakes to me now, like San Pablo and all, have gone downhill. But I know the fish are still there. Just like the teeners of Butch in the Lagoon. It just takes a lot more time and effort, and dedication to fishing than it used to be, because even the 4 and 5 lb fish today won't hit the big baits like they did 2-3 years ago
Now I've been fishing the boats out of SD more than anything, and up here in SC when Im at school. With a lot of local coastal fishing gone with the MLPAs, I suppose Ill have more time to focus on bass. Hopefully, that will translate into more time hunting the big girls.

Bass + Fisherman= BAASS ADDICTT!!!

  

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The state of the trophy bass union [View all] , swimbait, Tue Nov-10-09 08:25 PM
  RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Bassinboys, Nov 10th 2009, #1
RE: The state of the trophy bass union, swimbait, Nov 11th 2009, #2
      RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Marcus, Nov 11th 2009, #3
           RE: The state of the trophy bass union, supermat, Nov 12th 2009, #4
                RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Nico, Nov 12th 2009, #5
                     RE: The state of the trophy bass union, fr0g, Nov 13th 2009, #6
RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Slough Crew, Nov 14th 2009, #7
RE: The state of the trophy bass union, swimbait, Nov 15th 2009, #8
      RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Urban, Nov 15th 2009, #9
           RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Nico, Nov 16th 2009, #10
                RE: The state of the trophy bass union, magmaster, Nov 17th 2009, #11
                     RE: The state of the trophy bass union, crotalus, Nov 17th 2009, #12
                          RE: The state of the trophy bass union, crotalus, Nov 17th 2009, #13
                          RE: The state of the trophy bass union, magmaster, Nov 17th 2009, #14
                          RE: The state of the trophy bass union, swimbait, Nov 18th 2009, #15
                               RE: The state of the trophy bass union, crotalus, Nov 18th 2009, #16
                                    RE: The state of the trophy bass union, bassindon69, Nov 20th 2009, #17
                                         RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Terra Ferma, Nov 20th 2009, #18
                                              RE: The state of the trophy bass union, dockboy, Dec 28th 2009 #19
                                                   RE: The state of the trophy bass union, swimbait 24-7, Dec 29th 2009, #20
                                                        RE: The state of the trophy bass union, swimbait, Dec 29th 2009, #21
                                                             RE: The state of the trophy bass union, swimbait 24-7, Dec 29th 2009, #22
                                                                  RE: The state of the trophy bass union, dockboy, Dec 29th 2009, #23
                                                                  RE: The state of the trophy bass union, Nico, Dec 30th 2009, #24
                                                                       RE: The state of the trophy bass union, CA Swimb8er, Dec 31st 2009, #25
                                                                            RE: The state of the trophy bass union, basshunter4u, Jan 02nd 2010, #26
                                                                                 RE: The state of the trophy bass union, flipit, Feb 02nd 2010, #27

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