Ok here's the deal. I just got finished reading the new Bass West USA or whatever mag and there was a big spread about a lot of accomplished big bait anglers sharing their most valued secrets. Now some of the tips were interesting, while others were pure B.S. but it made me wonder. How willing are experienced anglers to share thier big bait secrets? We all know that there are things that we do with our baits and approaches that we believe give us an advantage over the competition and the bass. I also know that many of us hold these secrets deep inside, covering our tracks and submerging our baits when others come by. How willing are you to share just one of your secrets? The one thing about sites like Calfishing is that there is often better information and knowledge here than you're likely to find in any print publication. It would be interesting to see how far we can push the envelope, I think the audience here includes some of the better big bait fishermen in the state, so the secret stash is definetly a deep well.

Ok, so many of you know my Pro-Rig Osprey(originally my own big bait secret rig) but I'm willing to get the party started by publicily exposing another big bait secret. I paint my hooks. That's right, I'm so paranoid by the color of my bronze Gamakatsu's that I've gone to nickel Gamas and coat then with white spinnerbait blade dye. I get my Ospreys special poured, creating a very wide, white bottom. I believe that the white color is the hardest for bass from below to get a beat on, encouraging them to rush the bait, not knowing if it's for real or not. White silhouttes against the top of the water better than any color, that's why most baitfish and prey fish have white bellies. By coating my hooks in white I believe that bass have less of a clue that my Osprey is phony, and if that gives me one extra bite, it's worth my time to sit in the garage dipping hooks.

Ok, my skirts up, let's hear from some others. And BTW if GKramer is monitoring this site, please don't steal this thread for your own article like you did the "Perfect Swimbait" discussion of a few weeks ago. Or at least pay Rob royalities if you do.

There were some good ones in that article. Mark's thing with the teaser rig is legit. Mike L's thing with the crankbait lip and the hook masking was interesting. Turning that crankbait lip idea into something useful is gonna require a lot of baits and a lot of tweaking. Probably something most people won't take the time to mess with. That's the real secret in stuff like that. Taking the time to do it.

You want a swimbait secret? I'll give you one. If you want to catch the really big ones, pick out only lures that look like trout. Really huge fish want trout. They'll take trout over anything else. Bluegill type baits and thin profile minnow baits will catch more numbers of fish, but full on trout baits will catch the giants. Out of those baits that really look like trout, pick out only baits that have two hooks on them. Then out of those baits, invest your time into the hardbaits. The baits where when you get whacked, you're putting the fish in the boat 9 out of 10 times. That way when you do get the one in 10,000 casts hit, you actually catch the fish. I'm not giving this tip as a tournament tip, I'm giving it as a trophy bass tip. I get very few bites these days on swimbaits, but when I do get bit, it's probably gonna be something big.

There was a comment in the mag about getting toward 90% on hookup ratio. You can't do that on rubber baits. It's simply impossible. Anyone who says they can get 90% out of a rubber bait, I would love to hear about it. I'm gonna pick on Fish Chris for a second cuz I know he can take it :) and say this also. Some guys don't feel like the swipes and bumps count as bites. I saw, screw that. I wanna get those fish too! I've caught quite a few fish outside the head, especially on the Slammer. That's fair game in my book. If a fish bumps my bait or nips at it, I want a super sharp hook with the leverage of a hard bait to get the hook in the fish. I haven't caught any giants like this YET, but I'm sure it will happen at some point. I almost put the hook in a 15 at Poway last year that rolled on a rubber swimbait I was fishing. If that had been wood, I probably would have got the fish. No telling if I still would have got the strike, but what if?! You wouldn't throw a rubber crankbait would you? What about a crankbait with only one hook on the front? You probably wouldn't throw that either. That's my food for thought for this post.

Hey Rob,
I am verry close to finishing my line of swimbaits.
I am sure you will be verry impressed! I have pool tested my hard trout and it swims just like a trout and it looks more like a trout than ANY lure I have ever seen. But the reason I am posting is to say that I believe I have solved the hookup problem with the soft swimbaits. I dont want to tip my hand yet but I think you will like the results. I will be posting some pictures in the near future.
A little tip that has helped me is to scent your swimbaits. I like to use a paiste type cause it works as a lube making it easyier to hook the fish.
Matt

Well, I don't have any modification secrets that I make because I like to use baits that don't need any.

I have a secret about retrieves though. One thing I did with the Slammer this year is fish it faster than normal. Everybody knows that the Slammer is probably the best big bait out there for walking on the surface. Instead of the usual slow grind, I was cranking it super fast to get it down to 3 or 4ft and even bang it into stuff when possible. I've caught about 60% of my Slammer fish this way. Remember, a Slammer is basically just a big big crankbait. Fish it like one every now and then and it'll definitely produce.

I should say that most of the fish I caught this way were caught between July and October (yeah they eat trout in July :) ) Right now, they want it a little slower.

Cool dude, I hope your bait works out for you. The more hardbaits the merrier :) Definitely lube the bait. I finally got around to using hot sauce more this year and it seems to be helpin out.

No real secrets here.Just learned from reading articles and posts(mostly from this site) to pay attention to details.I replace the hooks and most hardware on all my baits and just try to decrease my chances of losing a huge fish due to things I can prevent and leave the rest to the fish gods :)

The only thing I do different,or at least not what the majority is doing,is troll alot. Troll deep,shallow,over humps,points and whatever else gets in the way.I like to hold my rod as much as possible,so you can feel the strike and get right on em'.Also make slight changes in the speed and action of the bait by pulling the rod forward or anything different right over the prime part of the structure or whatever and hopefully trigger a bite.Plus I troll from a Kayak and hope the stealth factor helps a little.Things that I've read and heard so I know it's not a big deal.

Really nothing seems to be working for me lately,alot of hours on the water with no roughed up thumb to show for it.Kinda frustrating,but I just look forward to the next time I feel the tug on my line because I know it's gonna be well worth the wait.

well i love to throw the big baits, but i am no guru by any means. alot of people over here in south carolina view me as an absolute idiot when they see me(when i let them) trowing trout plugs. no big secrets here. i just sharpen my hooks before every trip and i am always looking for modifications and toying around with different baits to better them. like on the stocker trout i love the action on that bait, my favorite bait when the bass want a sub surface retrieve. i have found a way to put 2 trebles on it other than what rod and todd does with just one. i get him to rig one up how he does it and when it gets to my house i take some spectra and run a line and tie a size 1/0 treble behind the existing one and put it right there behind the wing. i leave some slack in the spectra to allow best swimming action. this increased my stocker hookup % from about 30 to about 60-70. i also take a red sharpie and draw gills on there. also a secret of mine is not to let alot of people over here know. there are only about 3 people over here who throw big baits just as much as they would throw a texas rig, and we have a secrecy bond or whatever because we only have really one small lake that is good for throwing the baits and we wouldnt want everyone over here catching 8+ hawgs every trip out because they heard thru the grapevine that we was wearin em out. greedy me o well lol. who doesnt like the fish to themselves!
-patrick

________________________
Assalt Lures
http://www.assalt.com
Big Hammer
http://www.swimbait.com

Catch and Release!

Just keep in mind the way you found out about big baits was through other people sharing their info. I understand about the fishing pressure thing, but you need to weigh the cost of the impact on the fishery against the benefit of expanding the sport and helping other anglers (as well as helping out the swimbait manuf's by spreading the word on the east coast).
-Brian

well i see your point and everything, and its not like i lie about this stuff, i mean if i take someone fishing or even if i go in someone elses boat i will throw them just as much as if im by myself, and they just ridicule me, and when they see it for themselves they see it as a fluke, so if they dont want to do what i am doing that is their decision. and if someone asks me what i caught the big fish on ill tell em you know stocker trout or whatever. they either think i am lying or just like the others, they think its a fluke. i tried to promote it here but these ppl dont want any part of it, so for the last year i have stopped worrying about it and concentrating on just fishing and its payed off. but yea its not like i guard it with 2 rottweilers or something, i just dont let the info 'fly'. its kinda like rob. he stopped posting reports to help himself, and i cant blame the guy. but yes it is for self benifit and who doesnt like that?
-patrick

________________________
Assalt Lures
http://www.assalt.com
Big Hammer
http://www.swimbait.com

Catch and Release!

Ok I know I had a post on here, after BAMF so why were both of ours deleted?? :-(
Erik P.

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Pretending to be a swimbait fisherman since 2001.

I also read BAMF's post earlier today and was wondering the same thing. It had some good info.

Good info that wasn't his to share. Carrot Top, try again.

SWMB8R