Two days Late

[Bigone]

I had my chance sunday morning when I dumped an absolute pig at my feet in the first 10mins, and felt like garbage the rest of the day knowing I had a CHUNK on worth weighing and Probably worth some $$ as well. O well. We've been getting at least 2 Benjamin fish between 5-8 lbs every morning so there was no way I could pass up the event, and ultimately I'm glad I didn't.

I was getting looks from guys in the glitter rockets like... why the heck are you fishing this thing from shore? And lessons from tourney directors on how to fill the weigh bag, as well as '' I won't weigh your fish if you bring it up without water'' haha lol

Anyway, cool event with shitty weather but today's fish somewhat made up for it. The rad thing about today is that my buddy got one a little over a 1lb bigger at 11lbs 4ozs right before I stuck this one which was pretty insane. They were both some of the widest bass I've ever seen, probably bulking up to spawn if they already haven't.

When can I come by your house to pick up some stuff Ray? hahaha

Later Guys
-Sid

[Sinjin Kim]

Nice fish Sid! I did fish the Kfrog event and farmed 4 solid fish on that exact bait. The front hook is a 2/0 and back is a 1/0 Owner ST-5636. I was fishing it on 25# mono. Closer inspection of my bait resulted in tiny teeth scrapings on the top portion of the third joint.

Any suggestions on proper hook setting? I usually set the hook in the same manner I used to set the hook when I fished irons religiously in the salt: grind, grind, grind and raise the rod. Perhaps I should take notes from Bill's BBZ-1 DVD and set the hook hard like he does.

[Schneider Fishing]

Nice fish. Congrats!

[Kevin]

That is a pig!

[Bigone]

Sorry bout the farmed fish, but that seems to be the story with the tt for more people than just yourself.

I was actually turned on to it by a friend and as I've come to learn, it's all about keeping your rod tip DOWN and grinding like there's no tomorrow. When I first started fishing the bait I had the habit of setting upward since I was so used to fishing the hudd with top hooks and as a result I missed loads of fish. Although I do seem to be improving (with 9 fish landed on it) I still have a hard time.

It's pretty crazy how hard they manage to mash without hooking themselves sometimes, I'd say the 10inch has been a lower percentage hit to hook-up bait for me which may in part be due to the nature of the bait. Primarily its mechanics that don't always allow for solid sticks. Interestingly my hudd hit to hook-up percentage has been just slightly better. So really ultimately, it may just depend on how determined the fish is to chomp it.

Once hooked though, the landing percentage has been way, way, higher for me.

-Sid

[Nunyo Bizness]

Nice..............

John

[JKitz]

Is that the slow sink or the fast?

[Ray L.]

mostly just plastics left.
Let me know via p.m.

[some guy]

most the time the bigger fish are territorial this time of year.. Majority of sb bites you will get right now are purely defensive, hence the short strikes.. when they want it the whole thing is down there throat..

[Bigone]

most the time the bigger fish are territorial this time of year.. Majority of sb bites you will get right now are purely defensive, hence the short strikes.. when they want it the whole thing is down there throat..

Interseting, but even the stripes are doing the same sometimes, major swipes and thumps without the stick.

And yes the fish was caught tuesday the first. Ask sillks, he was guiding us on shore yesterday. haha

Was that you Art behind us yesterday?

[Bigone]

Hey guys,
Just out of curiosity, what would you guess the weight of the fish? When I lipped her, we were thinking it to be max at 8+ish even though she had a mean gut.
I wonder if they do growth rate studies at DV because it seems that these fish are just thick and dense when compared to fish at other lakes. Are they all pure Florida strain largemouth?

[some guy]

they are just solid fish... absolutely gorgeous mean freshwater tuna.. My experience with the linesiders ( from what i witnessed ) the is that they come up and unload on the bait mouth closed to stun it.. alot of people swing on this strike.. next time you get short struck by a linesider.. dead stick and shell come back and smash it. I have caught many 15-20lbs stripers too ripping baits as fast i could, IMO when they want it they get it.

[tunaman]

Hey guys,
Just out of curiosity, what would you guess the weight of the fish? When I lipped her, we were thinking it to be max at 8+ish even though she had a mean gut.
I wonder if they do growth rate studies at DV because it seems that these fish are just thick and dense when compared to fish at other lakes. Are they all pure Florida strain largemouth?

Yes and yes. The bass that were "seeded" into DVL came from Lake Hodges, as it was found to have the most pure Florida strain, and as I recall were 98% pure.

DFG does electroshock surveys regularly... in fact I'll be helping out a couple of nights next week. Haven't heard if these are specific LMB surveys or just general fish counts.

I'm sure Mike Guisti will pop on and provide you with more specific answers.

Roger

[some guy]

i forgot the exact percentage.. im sure guisti knows and can help.. but the original LMB put into DVL came from Lake Hodges.. They ran test on fish from multiple bodies of water and Hodges had the purest Florida Strain LMB and the original bass came from there.. im sure a few others are in there put the general population was from hodges.

[Bigone]

Interesting feedback guys. Good point on the stripes knocking the bait first too... but when you get 5blow-ups on the same cast by what seems to be the same fish (stripe)... it can get really frustrating.

There was one afternoon when a friend of mine had fish blow-up 20 times on various swimmers... only connecting with 2. Interestingly the very next morning it was mayhem for us with fish laid out all over. They were just downright reckless.

[some guy]

Fishing can be one of the most frustrating thing some times. Most the time with stripers its not the same fish. They school up pretty thick when they feed. Also fish get a little more "juevos" behind them during low light conditions. They are more willing to take the bait.

[Addicted 2Fishin]

Nice fish!!