thx guys. Eric mentioned the fact that you can catch big fish on inexpensive baits and it's certainly true. Big Hammers run $1.32 per tail and $1.30 for the leadhead. For $2.62 you can have one of the best sight fishing baits ever made. I've only caught one 10lber casting the Big Hammer and would not sit here and tell you that casting a 5" bait is a percentage way to catch big ones, but on beds it is very much my go to lure for big fish. Ask anyone who has fished with me and they'll tell you about my infatuation with the bait. That's my shameless sponsor plug anyway :)

On the 15.8lber, I was fishing my Rob's Bluegill color and the fish tore off two of the baits and shredded a third one. She was biting just behind the hook and ripping the lure off. She definitely knew what a hook was, it's amazing how smart these big fish are. I have a large stock of my own color, but in my sight box that day I only had 3 with me, so I went to the Invader color when I ran out, and that's what wound up putting the fish in the boat.

Here's a few pics of one of the baits that the fish tore off. I fished it out of the water afterwards. You can get a sense for the intelligence of the fish and the strength of her jaws to hold the bait so tightly that it ripped clean off on the hookset. My rod loaded up so much on the set that I thought for sure I had the fish hooked.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/5882-shred.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/5883-shred2.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/5884-shred3.jpg