OK look ... Like anybody I was very interested in Paul's catch a while back. I searched all over online to read everyhing I could find about it. I also looked at some printed articles I had about the catch. The funny part is that in every article I read, they said the fish was caught on a different lure. Off the top of my head I remember reading that it was caught on a 12" hardbait castaic trout, a 9" hardbait castaic trout, a 9" softbait trout, and a castaic baby bass. I got the feeling that the people writing the articles really didn't know what he caught it on. If I was going to believe any of the articles, I would believe the article on worldrecordbass.com. I don't know Chuck Bauer personally, but if you read the site, it's clear that he knows Paul well and has talked with and fished with him quite a bit. In his article, it says that he caught the fish on a 6.7oz Castiac bait. Doesn't say which one sepecifically, but you can read for yourelf here.

http://www.worldrecordbass.com/article.asp?ID=32

I do know that Paul fishes the Castaic baits a lot, and is close with the guys who make the baits. He probably has a lot of prototype baits, different colors etc. Maybe the reason it's not well known exactly what he got the fish on is because he was using a proto bait or a color that was not sold to the public. This is purely speculation on my part obviously.

What would be really cool would be if someone who knows Paul or Paul himself would post and say what he got the fish on. But if he doesn't, I don't blame him. He caught a lifetime worth of crap over that fish and probably doesn't want to talk about it.

PS. Did you see those hogs he had in the article in Bass West? Guy knows how to stick them.

-Rob