these are good times

Caudawg · Post by **Caudawg** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:47 am

Do you guys realize how exciting things are right now in the bass fishing world? In all my years of bass fishing...there has never been so much innovation in regards to tackle and technique.
And as usual, the western bass anglers are responsible for much of this revolution. So we are lucky.

We are lucky to have very progressive thinking tackle shops and boat dealers, awesome sport shows like the ISE, great bass classes like Galaxie's School of Bass and True Bass tv show, Alan Fong's Fun Fishin' show, seminars like the Bassathon at Angler's Marine, Sep's/Kent Brown's Ultimate bass radio show, etc.

This Western Bass site is an awesome place to learn about these evolving techniques. There are numerous other sites that also offer news on emerging tackle and techniques.

I hope all members to this site can stop and think before they post negative things about eachother. Constructive criticism is good, but anything beyond that should be handled off-line so we can keep sites like this one as a pleasant, and informative repository for valuable info.

That's my $.02 fwiw

Calistar · Post by **Calistar** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:02 am

John,
Thanks for the positive message. Its a nice change of pace from what has been posted around here recently. I think once the water warms a bit and the fish start to move, everyone's spirits will rise. Personally I think we are on the verge of an awesome Spring.

Good times indeed.

Greg H.

bassinholic · Post by **bassinholic** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:05 am

Well said Caudawg. It is a good tool for people to utilize. I was actually shocked to see kb, who we all know is well known angler amongst the sport, post in here. Not to leave out Cooch, Dobyn's, Almassey (SP), I mean you have so many pro's coming in here ad voicing what is going on at this place and that.

A novice to the sport could really come onto this website and soak up a lot of information in a short amount of time. This site rocks and I do believe not enough credit is given to the moderators for the way they run the site.

Greg_Cornish · Post by **Greg_Cornish** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:32 am

I'm looking forward to trying it all this year, re-creating my techniques. I suppose I might not catch as many this year but they'll be bigger trying new techniques and baits rather than going to my go-tos which was drop shot and 4" rootbeer Senkos

NaCl · Post by **NaCl** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:14 pm

Actually, there have been a lot of exciting times like this from the west over the past 20+ years...Dee Thomas set the fishing world on fire when he invented "flippin" and Dave Gliebe popularized it back east. This reulted in specialized rods for flippin and the development of "flippin decks" in bass boats. Gary Dobyns set the fishing world on fire with his "rippin" techniques. Then the west gave us the "Senko" revolution...started right here on Clearlake in a BassMasters Open. Dropshotting was popular in Japan but it got it's surge in the USA from guys in the west...Aaron Martens in particular. Now, the west is leading the world in the development of swimbaits and special equipment to use these baits effectively. And, when you look at the leaderboards on both FLW and BASS national tours, the west is heavily represented.

The west has a long history of being a great place for bass fishing.

.....NaCl

ps I apologize for getting involved in a negative thread recently. I was personally attacked and I felt a reply was warranted.

Caudawg · Post by **Caudawg** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:39 pm

Dean, I have been around for all of that... but what I find particularly special about the current revolution (or probaby more appropriately called an "evolution) ...is how these swimbaits/wakebaits hard and soft....are catching a lot more bigger fish than we have ever seen. And not just in CL and the Delta, but in our reservoirs as well.

This, to me, is why I think the current innovations are so exciting. Yes, the technique contributions by Thomas, Gliebe, Dobyns and others have been huge. But this seems like just the beginning of a whole new era. A whole new mindset. And obviously a huge financial challenge requiring more intense research than ever before! Again, that is why sites like this can be so valuable.

BassAddiction · Post by **BassAddiction** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:25 pm

I grew up fishing for trout and had never caught a bass until last year. I bought a few packs of brush hogs and some hooks and tried trowing them but no luck.

Last March my wife surprised me with a trip to Clear Lake. The first day out on the water she set me up with guide Richard Pounds and man was it on. Richard tought me a lot in a very short while. That week also happened to be the Elite series tournament on the lake and I had the pleasure of fishing around and talking to a lot of the pros. What a great goup of guys. After that week my ideals about fishing would never be the same. The persuit to catch the monster bass started when I landed a 9.8 pounder and I'll get that DD fish soon!!

I sold my little 12' aluminum boat and traded up for a used 20' Ranger. In the search for my new boat I was turned onto this site by a friend of mine. Since that time I spend as much time as I can reading all of the posts and responses from all of you. The knowledge that is shared on here would take me years to figure out or learn on my own. The library section of the site is outstanding as well.

NaCl · Post by **NaCl** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:25 pm

You're right...stastics don't lie...there are a lot more big weights coming in than ever before and swimbaits seem to be part of that surge. The question I have is cause and effect. Are the big limits coming BECAUSE of the swimbaits or are the fish just getting bigger due to favorable environmental conditions and swimbaits just happened along at the same time?

The reason I wonder about this is that Cooch is catching monster fish right now and he's doing it on jigs...and he's no stranger to swimbaits. It makes me wonder if guys were throwing big ripbaits, would they still be catching those big fish? If the current fad was throwing Super Flukes, would they also be catching those same big fish? I've got to know...hmmm...sounds like another good reason to go fishing! HaHa!

.....NaCl

David Rogers · Post by **David Rogers** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:26 pm

You are all right plus I think the fact that must of us guys practice catch and release are making our PB more possible.
I broke 5 PB in 3 catagories last year and this is at a lake that BASS and FLW hit and a ton of other circuits but what did all these guys do? They put the fish back alive!!!

Shall we break some more PB this year??!!!

Git-R-Dun!!!!

RougeBass · Post by **RougeBass** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:23 pm

I love this post! We are turly blessed with our lakes here on the west coast. We have the best bass fishing in the world right here in our own back yards.

I have to put this out there I was at the ISE show at the round table listening to all the pros and it really hit me how lucky we are. Looking at those monster bass in the tank, hearing the top pros in the world. Knowing that i have a chance to catch bass that big everytime I go fishing, and knowing that guys like KB, Gary Dobyns, Skeet, Double G, Damon Witt, and Pat Wilson (the list could go on) are out there helping us to become better anglers I have to say is off the hook.

I have to say it again " We are turly blessed with our lakes here on the west coast. We have the best bass fishing in the world right here in our own back yards".