Lucky some times better then skill

[Spinner]

I do not claim to be a b****fisherman, I stumble upon a b****every once in a while..I really stumbled on this one...Large mouth are not as large in the northern states as southern. A large one is 20 inches or more and over 5 pounds. I bought a 99 cent lure last spring and used this late summer when I heard the large mouth were bitting...The lure was surface lure...You could have fooled me..It ran about two feet under the surface and picked up weeds every cast...I tired of picking weeds off it and was slapping it on the water trying to remove the weeds..Out of the corner of my eye I was a wake in the shallow water coming right at me..I was curious and watched the fish turn and go back out into the deep water...I casted again..Same weeds on the lure..Same slapping the water,,,The fish came up in the shallows and attacked my buzz bait..It was the shortest fight on record..24 7/8 largie and 6 3/4 pounds.....LUCKY

[J Olliff]

Spinner,

Great story and congratulations on a fine fish from the northland.

Living in South Georgia, I do a LOT of b****fishing. I wondered what kind of surface lure runs like you described, until I got to the buzz bait part, I have taken several b****8-10+ pounds on that particular lure. You have to use a fast reel to keep the bait on the surface. I use an ABU with a 6.3:1 gear ratio for fast retrieves. I also use an ABU with a 5.3:1 ratio for fishing slower baits. You can't expect a Zebco 33 or similar reel to have the speed necessary for a buzz bait. I onced watch a Yankee friend fishing a buzzer with a Zebco 33 almost get tennis elbow from trying to keep that bait on the surface, and advised him to change lures before he hurt himself. I have had fish tear the guts out of 33's, and I quit fishing them. I had one fish tear up a baitcaster, I got him in the boat and noticed the reel didn't work right any more. I found br****shavings when I went to clean the reel. I now buy good quality reels.
That part about slapping the lure on the water to remove weeds had me howling, I've done that some, but never had a b****approach.
Alot of times I pick an area that I think holds b****and cast the buzzer over there, repeatedly. I have had fish not hit it until the 20th cast, sometimes they will hit it 3 or 4 times before they are finally hooked. I think sometimes it is a reation strike when that happens.

[spinner]

Hi J. Olliff...Thanks for the advise on the buzzbait...It is not in my tackle box anymore...It is on the wall with the bass...I did reel fast a couple times and it seems that the lure was just flying over the water...B****can catch-up to a lure when you reel that fast...I don't claim to know anything about largemouth...I have caught a few large smallies when I was in Canada last...My first reel was a Zebco 33...Gift from my dad...I wish Zebco still made the 33 the way they use to...The gears are made cheap and there is too much play between them...Zebco even tried to hide themselves by calling themselves Quantum...Zebcos and Quantums don't even make good boat anchors..I have 6 reels and they are all the same...Shimano Aero Stradics...4 of them are the 4000 model and the others....MY TROUT rigs are 1000 model...If you have never tried one...You should.....One of my 4000s is my Northern Pike rig...40 pound spiderwire..the other 4000s I vary the line on what I am fishing for.....My 4000s have caught a 22 pound steelhead/21 pound northern/12 pound walleye/22 inch smallie/and that fluke largemouth...I retired my Zebco 33 25 years ago...I still have it on the wall near my fish mounts....Thanks for the largemouth advice..SPINNER

[Jeff Jones]

Just keep fishing that buzzbait and write us when you get 2 b*** on it at the same time! FUN! http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[spinner]

Jeff....Have you caught two b****at the same time????Tell the story...I always like hearing a good fishing story..spinner..

[Hooker]

Spinner,
When the b****bite is on, two b****on one lure is not unususal. I regularly have other b****following the hooked fish, biting at the lure and trying to take it away. In fact, one my techniques is to throw my bait at the hooked fish while my partner plays it. This will frequently result in a double.
One of my favorite baits is a six inch floating Rapala, which is a great bait for multiple hookups. The only problem is that the fish have to be less than two pounds to get them to the boat because larger fish get too much leverage and straighten the hooks or tear off.

Hooker

[spinner]

Hooker...What are some of the big Largemouth that you have caught???I personally have never caught two at once...It must be quite a rush....Spinner...

[Hooker]

Actually catching two at once, isn't very exciting unless your fishing a money tournament. With two fish on the line, they counteract each other, and it's like pulling in an anchor.
My biggest largemouth is 10lbs 9oz, which I caught in a small pond. River b****don't grow as large as pond and lake fish, and since moving water is all I fish now, I have a hard time breaking 8lbs. I do catch many 6 to 8 pounders during a year, and numerous 4-5 pounders. In fact last weekend, I had 4 that were between 4 and 5 lbs.

Hooker

[J Olliff]

Wow, Hooker, sounds like you have a supreme honey hole! I haven't caught a b a s s in moving water approaching 8 Lbs. The water down here doesn't move very fast, and besides, I still fish ponds more than rivers, except when we're trash fishing.

[Hooker]

Oliff,
I do have the "Supreme Honey Hole", the Chattahoochee River, but I know some of those tannic stained oxbows and sloughs on the Little and New Rivers also got some hogs in em.
Spinner, I love the Shimano Stiadics to. I used the Shimano Spirex for years, but I kept breaking them on hook sets when the bail slapped back to the stop. Also, the Shimano drag system is the best I've ever used.

Hooker

[spinner]

Hooker...Shimano fixed that problem..Just last year they came out with a thing called a super stopper..You don't have that slip clunk crap...Give them another try you won't be disappointed...Spinner...

[Hooker]

Spinner,
As long as we're talking about spinning tackle....
I've got a line system that has really increased my catch ratio. I load my Striadics with 10lb Fireline, and put a 6 foot 10 lb test mono leader on it. The Fireline insures good hooksets on long casts, and the mono dampens the sensitivity of the Fireline to make it tolerable.

Hooker

P.S. Caught 40 b****today, biggest was
6lb 4oz. All on spinner baits.

[spinner]

Hooker...Do you have a scanner..Send me some photos of those monsters bass/trout...Spinner..

[Hooker]

Spinner,
Last time I tried to send some to you, I couldn't make the connection with your computer, and the info kept getting sent back.
E-mail me your snail mail address, and I'll send you some stuff.

Hooker

[Jeff Jones]

Wow, I've been missing out on a great info session. I, too usually catch 2 b*** on a med. to large Rapala fished jerkbait style ( underwater, jerk-jerk-pause . . .) . The farm ponds in Ga grow some GIANT b*** ! The largest I've caught was around 13-6, when I was 17. ( i'm a ripe old 29 now ! He hit on a day in Jan. when you could see ice in your guides. He thumped a VERY large spinnerbait. I wish I had a pic. but I didn't keep a camera handy back then. ( it was released, though. Nice to see folks helping out folks. See ya.