Official Rules:

Fish must be caught and posted on the site by a registered user by the end of the month plus a three day grace period past the month.
If user cannot post pictures, they can e-mail to Swimbait, and he will
post them.

Bass must be caught under tournament style rules: No livebait, no snagging, etc. And bass must be released.

Each winner will receive a $40.00 credit to Bass World West, which can be redeemed by phone if winner is not in So Cal.

Decisions regarding contested catches will be resolved by committee.

Any questions can be sent to .


What do you guys think?
Any thing missing or needs to be changed, please post your thoughts.

Sounds good chris. One suggestion would be to keep the forum updated on the current leader. Is bucketmouth's 16 winning right now?
-Brian

Yes, Bucketmouths' 16 is the leader for the April contest. But Casitas has been kicking out some toads, so get out there Brian and give him a run for his money. Your new wooden trout bait should do the trick.

No live bait ??? Tournament rules ? Since when did tournament fishing and trophy hunting have anything to do with each other ?
Do Bob Crupi's big catches mean anything to you ? Does it bother you that Mike Long and Bill Murphy and many other world renowned trophy hunters have used live bait extensively ???

Ya' know, once upon a time I was labeled as a "live bait" fisherman in some circles. That always bothered the S&%$ out me, because I considered the bait to be secondary. As long as my bait and method of catch was in accordance with the Ca DFG rules and regulations, that was all that mattered to me.

This year I have caught 11 double digit bass, 3 of which were over 13 lbs...... the last 8 in a row, were caught on artificial lures. In fact I am close to surpassing the number of double digit bass that I have caught on artificials, with the number that I have caught on live bait. Do I feel any more accomplished because of this ? Absolutely not ! A big fish is a big fish ! Let me tell you why I have used artificials so much lately....... because they have made it easier, under the circumstances I have been faced with ! I guess you could say, artificial lures have been "less" of a challenge !!! And yes, I am sure of this, as I have brought crawdads with me on several trips, only to prove to myself again, and again, that the fish in my favorite trophy bass lake as of late, do not respond well to them.

I have written an article that I would very much like you to read: http://www.trophybassonly.com/id103.htm

I'm really sorry to get so fired up here, but there is just too much ingnorance out there concerning livebait, and anything which bans the use of it only further contributes to this lack of knowledge.

Let me go get a drink of icewater.....

Fish Chris

alright now chris.....calm down man.....it'll be alright.....i dont think your registered member anyways! :-) so you just keep stickin live bait hogs, while we try on the artificials, i dont think that 40 bux would get you dads at BBW anyways.....
-patrick

I got that one line "surpassing the number on artificials with live bait" transversed......

but otherwise, the rest still stands.....

and hey Patrick, I will stick to the artificials right now, because that is what's working best :-)

Peace,
Fish

This is exactly the reason I stated that I would like imput from you guys on the contest rules. If things need to be changed as a consensus opinion from those who post, then things will be changed. However there is no need to go into a tirade about my ignorance of live bait, and those who use it.

I've been in the bass tackle business for ten years and am well aware that many trophy hunters, guides, and weekend anglers use bait, and are well within their rights to do so. As this contest goes, however, we are dealing with anglers from all over the state. Some counties and individual lakes prohibit or limit the use of live bait. An angler fishing a trophy producing lake that allows the use of crawdads, mudsuckers, shiners, etc. can conceivably have a considerable advantage over anglers whose home lakes do not allow live bait. In addition there is always the problem of anglers who use illegal bait, or who poach in other ways. This contest will be up to the honesty of the anglers who post fish, and this forum seems to be made up entirely of honest people.

It's up to you guys. This contest is to promote the posting of big fish, and to recognize the anglers who catch them. If allowing live bait angling into the contest will promote participation, then maybe it should be included. I will not make any decision on this issue, it's up to those who posts a response. This is a democratic contest.

Very well said CJ. So in the name of fairness let's do this. I'll put up a poll with the question:

Should live bait be allowed for the big bass days contest or not?

We'll let that run until midnight on Friday May 3rd and whatever the outcome is, stands.

I will add this ... I don't think that the biggest bass caught in May and posted on the site will be caught on bait anyway. It's going to be either sight fishing or on a trout plug.

-Rob

You sound to me like a fair and straight up kind of guy.
Although I will never back down on my defense of live bait, I know that I get a little jumpy sometimes when defending it. I don't have too many "hot buttons"..... but this is one of them.

And Rob, I think that your "vote" is fair enough. Actually, I am surprised to see that live bait has gotten a 1/3 vote so far..... especially when you consider that fewer than 1/3 probably use live bait on a regular basis.

The biggest problem for me, is that "way too many people" base their oppinions of live bait on heresay and propoganda, rather than actual on the water experience. If only everybody would first give live bait a fair shake, the "vote" would certainly have a far different outcome. Since that is unlikely anytime soon, I think live bait will continue to be unfairly judged.

By the way, as of yesterday, I have now caught the same number of double digit bass on artificials as I have on live bait..... and hooked a 13 which would have been the tie breaker, but she came unbuttoned :-( You couldn't make me use a live dad right now on Rancho :-) ..... but only because they are not the best choice for the circumstances.

Great fishing to all of you guys no matter what you throw at them !

Peace,
Fish Chris