The Gambler Really Big GZ 8″ Swimbait Tail vs. the familiar 8″ Huddleston trout tail.

 

The Gambler Really Big GZ 8″ next to some other baits for some relative sizing. From Top to Bottom: The Big Hammer Sledge Hammer, the Gambler Really Big GZ 8″, the ShellBack Customs 6″ Swimbait, and 8″ Huddleston Deluxe trout.  

 

The hookset, the circumstances of this fish….Tip of the hat to Gambler,  my friends, my competitors, and to the mighty unique state of Florida. I had no doubt the 8″ Gambler Really Big GZ 8″ bait was gonna get bit.
One on the Gambler Big GZ 8″ and one on the Shellback Customs 6″ swimmer

 

3 fatties. I’m getting ready for Okeechobee in Jan 202X in my mind.  Gambler Big GZ 8″, Shell Back customs 6″, some Huddies, some bed fishing w Hammer, some, Harney Pond Duck Pond Casey Martin was here dot com.

Gambler in Florida is like RoboWorm or Keitech in California.  Gambler is based in South Florida, near Okeechobee and is known for in particular for its goodness around grass.  The owner, Val is a tournament fisherman and has won major events on Okeechobee.  I have seen him, competed against him back in the day, and know he is a solid fisherman.   They maintain a pro-staff of really good local and national anglers that tend to be good anywhere, but grass in particular.  Think JT Kenny or Brandon McMillan.  The BB Cricket is legend amongst the punchers.  Super small profile simple bait that fishes well behind massive 1.5ounce punch weight and beefy punch hook.

Right around the corner from the Kissimmee River. Bob Wood gave me an early tour of what the deal is with Okeechobee. Notice, the Gambler Flappy Shad swinging off his line. Look at the water we are fishing.  The flappy shad is little quite weedless buzzbait when you cut the tail and high stick reel it on braid.  Blamo!   

 

Jimmy, Day 4 final weigh in. Notice Koby Kreiger in the background. I knew I better get right in hurry.  Okeechobee was intimidating.  Not an easy read for me, but man, the lessons in life and fishing.  Okeechobee haunts me still. 
Day 2, FLW Series on Okeechobee 2009. I fished w Robert Gulley from MS. We had a great day. I somehow remember this day incredibly well.  Tin House Cove, boyeeeeee. 

When I first arrived in Okeechobee in January of 2009, the very first event I fished, within weeks of resigning from software world, was the 2009 FLW Series Event.  That was they event the late great Jimmy McMillan won. I actually fished well the first 2 days and totally choked the 3rd.  The irony, is I was fishing the Gambler Flappy Shad and sight fishing.  Day 3, things got wicked rough and windy, but behind the grass lines, the water was uber fishy. I basically rookied out, and to this day cannot answer why I didn’t just fish the wind the throw a spinnerbait.  I watched Dion Hibdon whack like 19 pounds all around around me.  Anyway, I was out.  Jimmy McMillan would go on to win.  The winning bait?  The Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper.  Over in this place called J&S which of course was the only corner of Okeechboee I hadn’t seen!   It would put me on journey of a braid on weedless swimbait fishing. 

Swimming Worms 

I had a golden opportunity to just put on a boot tailed swimbait like Basstrix paddle tail and would have made a $10K in my first event.  I just didn’t.  I fought the wind, kept looking for bed fish, and kooked out.   I didn’t have that in my game, saddly, out of arrogance. I fished ‘bigbaits’.  I fished other baits, but didn’t spend the time on the simple boot tailed swimmers, the paddle tailed swimmers, the simple swimbaits—–that I should have.  I should have had that in my game and kept with it.  It was a mistake I made all during my full time fishing journey.  Anyway, after that Okeeechobee event, I had nearly a month to prepare for the next one on Okeechobee.  

Tell me that isn’t a Florida largemouth? Black bass. Yamamoto Swim Senko. I would never suggest reeling them over grass!

 

That next 30 days, in my mind, will remain as some my finest and biggest progression in fishing, probably ever.  I will forever remember staying at the Roland Martin Marine.  I got over the Clewiston part of the lake in a hurry, and was far more enamored with Harney Pond, Monkey Box, the North Shore all the up to Okeechobee.  That being said, I learned that I could drive from Clewiston to Okeechobee and put in in the Kissimmee River and save the boat run, and wake up to some coffee and music of choice. I was driving my truck 1 hour each way from Clewiston, to go learn the ‘north side’.   I found the north side of Okeechobee fished more more liking and had these great pools and runs that got me dialed-in.  Braid was a huge part of the approach, boat handling, strong grass ready trolling motor and batteries…but most importantly was the mindset of shallow water weedless grass swimbait fishing.

As thick as the 8″ Hudd too. But has a much slender and rounder profile and is not as life like/fish shaped.  The articulated section helps the bait kick, and articulate and gives it a unique footprint. 

 

Weedless Grass Swimbait Fishing 

There is a steady progression of weedless swimbaits.  You could start with paddle tails, Speed Worms, and even curly tailed worms, that come to find out, fish really well when you just reel them along.  I quickly connected the dots between the Skinny Dipper and baits like the Yamamoto Swim Senko.  Gambler is to Florida like Yamamoto is to the West too.  I knew Gary Yamamoto had a great tournament on the Swim Senko, so I had to explore that bait too.  I LOVE putting in the Kissimee River, shooting the gap at Kings Bar and making my way West.  I really got to learn Okeechobee my first winter of 2009, by committing my time to the Midtown (aka Monkey Box/Harney Pond) and UpTown – Eagle Bay>JS<Kings Bar>Indian Prairie>.  The bait was the Skinny Dipper.  And the Swim Senko.  Ken Huddleston’s Grass Minnow become a goto for me a little later.  His 6″ weedless too, but the more simple, weedless 5-6″ swimbaits you use a screw lock hook to attach to, is what I’m saying.  The Skinny Dipper was king for a bit.   Other baits sorta came along, but nothing earth shattering.  Then, one day the Gambler Big EZ broke.  

Relativity. Theories. Science. Known vs. Unknown.  Sledge Hammer > ShellBack war >8″ Huddie.

All my South Florida buddies being all fired up about the Gambler Big EZ.  It pushed more water, had a different swim signature than the others.  It was catching better fish.  It was the trailer on the back of a chatterbait.  Of course, most lethal is the weighted screw lock (or unweighted too) just reeling it over, up and over, thru, and around as many good swim lanes and hot pockets as you can.  Braided line.  I remember guys at Santee Cooper getting good bites.  Seminole.  Okeechobee of course.  The core grass lakes we hit. 

 

 

Okay, I like pink tails, pink baits, but I didn’t choose the pink single wide to live in. It did work out just fine, thanks.

 

I lived in West Palm Beach for like 5 months, hoping to be a S. Florida surfer and Okeechobee local.  Not to be.  As I was about to move from the thug life side of West Palm Beach to Jupiter, a bombshell went off in my life.  I was at a software team event and somebody mentioned the new office in Aliso Viejo, CA.  Boom, I literally undid my world,  and jumped on the train back home.  So, it’s been a minute since I been around guys named Wood, Luke, Carter, McMillan, Tharp, Fitzgerald…but yeah, the Seminole winds blow thru San Clemente often. 

 

Tin House. Notice the dollar pads (not the dead gator. I was hungry and felt like some gator!) and the dark black coffee water. I really like dollar pads at times. They are fun to fish.
Box o Calico swimmer. The 6.5″ Gambler GZ Swimmers and the Shellback Customs swimmers.

Gambler makes a whole series of the EZ Swimmer.  It wasn’t really hard for me to buy a couple of packs of the Gambler Really Big GZ 8″ baits to ‘test’ them out on the calico bass.  I had already gotten the 6.5″ versions, but I was intrigued to see the bigger version. 

The Gamber Really Big GZ 8″ Swimbait 

You have to see this bait next to other known baits to appreciate it’s size.  Long, round, fat and a big paddle.  Big round style paddle.  Looks like a SUP paddle.  When the bait swims, it has a lot of ROLL.  The articulated section help the bait pulse and kick.  You can feel this 8″ swimmer on the end of your big beefy calico bass rod, far better than most of the weedless swimbaits I’ve fished.   It pushes a ton of water, and just happens to match up really well with the 12/0 Owner Beast Swimbait Hook and 3/4 oz weight. 

 

 

Okeechobee good swimbait spot. To give you an idea, you have to be ready for your bait to be out of the water at least 25% of the time.

 

Grass and Kelp fish very similar. You go over, use high stick retrieves, go thru, go around, bump and run, stall and straight wind your way around.

 

Kelp, and in this case, with boiler rocks to add to the mix, you need to be able to be weedless, rockless, and have eyes on the back of your head. Very dangerous fishing boiler rocks. 2 man fishing only, with one guy on the gas engine keeping an eye on the waves.

 

 

Choked. Pinned. Owner 12/0 Beast w 3/4 weight

 

I am a huge fan of Owner Hooks. I have had a journey with treble hooks, as most of us have had. You go thru the balance of:   Uber sharp points, short shank/non fouling, hook strength and ability to handle 80# braid or a giant fish, or both.  I came around to the ST-66 Owner Treble Hooks as I refined my 8″ Huddleston rigging.  I like to call it the Southern Trout Eaters rig.  Reality, its a derivative and fusion of others rigs from friends my own flavors.  Super small, sharp, XXX strong and well balanced hook was what drew me to the ST-66 for a small profile that would complement the Hudd vs. stick out and go against the flow. 

The fish have literally beaten the eyes out of my hard and soft baits lately. You are sticking your bites with braid and ST-66. Remember, you gotta match your braid with strong hooks, because you can bend hooks and hook points EASY.

Now, as I’m getting salty, and fishing for saltwater bass, tuna, yellowtail, halibut and bay bass, to name a few target species…I’m going thru my tackle and saltwater-ize-ing it all.    I am putting the 1/0 , 2/0 and 3/0 sized ST-66 on my Triple Trouts.  I am replacing the Owner Hyper Split Rings, with larger Hyper Wire Split Rings.  #8s and #10s in cases.  Big ole split rings that require fatty split ring pliers these to work right:  

I noticed Kevin has ST-66 on his baits too. Gold bar Triple Trout. That other bait is MC Swimbaits’ Slug. Cough Cough. If I fished for big bass in freshwater, I wouldn’t look at that slug for big ones, cough cough. Corey makes some killer baits and has pioneered things that make a lot of sense.

I really believe in the Hyper Wire Split Rings and ST-66 combinations for any baits with hanging trebles.  They are heavy, and tend to make your bait sink a little quicker than lighter wire ST-36 hooks, but they are geared for whatever fishes you encounter (hopefully).   The Slide Swimmer 250 comes stock with big ST-66s, to give you an idea of how well they match w bigbaits.  

 

Good calico bass fishing is as satisfying as any largemouth bites I’ve ever been on. Great swimbait eaters. You have to search and work. I catch little ones around home, but there are good ones to be had at these local islands, LA County, Santa Barbara, Mexico, etc. That search is what drives me these days.

 

slide-swimmer-175-blue-back-herring

slide-swimmer-175-herring-tail

 

This may be completely “duh” to some people, but I am still acquiring my arsenal of glide baits and learning how to properly fish them in all sorts of places.  The Deps Slide Swimmer 175 is a killer medium sized swimbait that is going to catch you quality and quantity.  If I lived in Georgia and fished the Blue Back Herring bite, I would be all about the Deps Slide Swimmer 175 (SS175) in the Blue Back Herring color.  This bait is 7.5″ long and weighs 3 ounces.   It fishes like a a ‘fluke’.

herring-eaters-blue-back-slide-swimmer-deps

Herring Eaters

May – June tends to be awesome time for the herring eaters.  I think the bite goes thru the summer, you just have to adjust and fish thru crowds and the heat.   Fish this thing on a medium 8′ swimbait rod, 65# Braided line (direct tie) and a 200 or 300 series 7.1 or 6.3:1 low profile reels.

top-herring-slide-swimmer-butch-brown

Applications / Approaches for Herring Eaters with the Slide Swimmer 175 Blue Back Herring:

Docks-Fish the seawalls in between docks and long runs of seawalls anywhere you can find them. Especially early morning bite.  Cover water with the Slide Swimmer.  You can have a lot of fun high sticking with braided line and really pumping your bait upward so the glide breaks the surface.   Then stall it out and let it just die.  Or just parallel good sections and fish it slow and steady, sorta spinner bait style.

The Slide Swimmer is an amazing bait.  I don’t care how you fish it.  You can really jerkbait/fluke style fish it.  So around certain docks, you could even pitch it into open slots and fish it out and draw out a biggun.   I would stall it around shade spots, and just use it pull fish out from under floating docks.  Fish the windy / outer side of anything if you get the chance.

slide-swimmer-175-side-profile

Points-I would fish the Slide Swimmer 175 Blue Back Herring like a mad man on places like Lake Murray or Clarks Hill.  I would run and gun as many red clay points and just good rocky points I could hit.   I would spin around and fish way offshore those points. I found fishing over grass that was 15-12 feet deep with a Triple Trout a really good way to catch quality fish on Clarks Hill.  I think the Slide Swimmer 175 would do some real damage on the herring lakes if a guy knew where the fish were.  Herring eaters are hard to find and stay on.   You gotta be able to fish up shallow then pull off the point, fish ontop, fish double fluke rigs, etc to pull ’em up.  The SS175 is going to be another tool in your tool kit.

Red Clay
Red Clay

clarks-hill-red-clay

slide-swimmer-top-profile

Notice, the 175 next to the 250 Slide Swimmer.  The 250 has fins on the belly, the 175 does not have those same fins.
Notice, the 175 next to the 250 Slide Swimmer. The 250 has fins on the belly, the 175 does not have those same fins.

 

The Tail of the 175 vs. the 250 Slide Swimmer.  More of a Cleaver than the 250s tail.
The Tail of the 175 vs. the 250 Slide Swimmer. More of a Cleaver than the 250s tail.

BrushPiles- I always think of Ryan Coleman from Flowery Branch, GA when I think of brush piles.  I hired Ryan to take me fishing on Lake Lanier.  He took me to some brushpiles and showed me the how they do it with the FishHead Spin over the brush piles.   It was really cool to see how Ryan had the brush pile game down.  I told him we’d be shot for cutting down a tree in California.  I would suck at creating brushpiles.    But if you know where there are brush piles, I would fish this bait over those brush piles, like you would your Zara Spook or GunFish.

Brush pile revealed by low water.  Clarks Hill 2008.
Brush pile revealed by low water. Clarks Hill 2008.

Laydown Trees of course, too.

Man Made Structures – Whatever you do, DO NOT fish this bait around dams, big concrete pump houses, around bridge pilings.   You will probably get your arm broke!

Smallmouth/Spotted Bass – Because this is a ‘medium’ sized swimbait, it makes it extremely attractive to guys who hunt big smallmouth. And spotted beasts. Spotted bass that eat herring are different than largemouth that eat herring.    All I know is, the SS175 is a great selection when you have spotted or smallmouth basses on your agenda.

Saltwater –  The BlueBack Herring is descendant the saltwater run herring.  Herring are a great bait offshore in Southern California. I plan on feeding some calico bass, white sea bass, and yellowtail some Slide Swimmer 175 this summer.

 

 

Purchase from Tackle Warehouse Now:

slide-swimmer-tackle-warehouse-screenshot

 

Gone!  Another year wiser, and feeling better than ever.
Gone! Another year wiser, and feeling better than ever.

Okay, it’s time for that year end summary.  2014 I didn’t fish a whole lot. Not gonna lie.  Another ‘transition’ year for me, settling back into Southern California life.  I’ve learned many new things in 2014, and few of them relate at all to fishing.  The one biggest lesson in fishing from 2014 I will carry forward is the lethal nature of glide baits.  The Slide Swimmer 250 namely blew my mind.   I saw my buddy Cameron Smith call fish out from deep tule clumps with the Slide Swimmer.  He was literally flipping and pitching it into little whole and stalling/twitching it out on braid and did some amazing things to pull fish out.  I spent a few weeks on the White River in Arkansas.  Let me tell you, the Slide Swimmer 250 did more damage in one day than I did in 6 months living in Arkansas!   There is a sweet spot for a bait that can be swam, stalled, and power fished in heavy current situations.

My dad was with me when I hooked a GIANT brown trout on the Slide Swimmer 250 and followed up with one more in the boat, and one more pulled off.  Crazy good day of bigbait/big fish hunting on the White River.  Blazing July heat, but it burns so good with that 50 degree river water.
My dad was with me when I hooked a GIANT brown trout on the Slide Swimmer 250 and followed up with one more in the boat, and one more pulled off. Crazy good day of bigbait/big fish hunting on the White River. Blazing July heat, but it burns so good with that 50 degree river water. Promar Nets become livewells in small river boats.

 

My PB brown trout.  Stoked to say the least.
My PB brown trout. Stoked to say the least.

 

Otay Session with my boy Cameron Smith.  Slide Swimmer 250, 80# braid and the LDC 8 XH rod.
Otay Session with my boy Cameron Smith. Slide Swimmer 250, 80# braid and the LDC 8 XH rod.
The Hobie Alter Memorial Service.  Fare you well Hobie.  We love you in these parts.
The Hobie Alter Memorial Service. Fare you well Hobie. We love you in these parts.

 

There is this event called Stagecoach that happens out in the desert.  I don't plan on missing Stagecoach going forward. I felt really cool and awesome. There is a serious shortage of men at this event, and many cowgirls, which was a good problem to have.
There is this event called Stagecoach that happens out in the desert. I don’t plan on missing Stagecoach going forward. I felt really cool and awesome. There is a serious shortage of men at this event, and many cowgirls, which was a good problem to have.
Spent a day with Kevin Mattson.  The Bass King.  Kevin is fricking awesome and really had a fun day shooting film and just fishing.
Spent a day with Kevin Mattson. The Bass King. Kevin is fricking awesome and really had a fun day shooting film and just fishing.

 

Got Hard Drives?  Yes, I'm working on DVD #2.  Video editing is really hard and time consuming.  2015, I hope to release #2
Got Hard Drives? Yes, I’m working on DVD #2. Video editing is really hard and time consuming. 2015, I hope to release #2
Xmas-2014-Peters
Xmas 2014. Good to be home. Surround yourself with family and good friends.

 

I don't dream of weighing in 30 pound sacks on Okeechobee anymore. I enjoy fishing from shore, wading, and small boats.  The bang bang of bass fishing can be exhausting, but you have to chase your dreams, if that's you're dream.  So go for it.
I don’t dream of weighing in 30 pound sacks on Okeechobee anymore. I enjoy fishing from shore, wading, and small boats. The bang bang of bass fishing can be exhausting, but you have to chase your dreams.  So go for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t been to Bass a Thon in years.  Probably 9 years or so, since I been gone for at least 8 years down South.   Anglers Marine hosts a killer event each Fall, and it’s usually the who’s who of the Southern California fishing scene, and definitely ground zero for the bigbait fishing scene.  You get a lot of bait makers and industry folks in the same room for a weekend.  Anglers Marine has guest speakers, usually a few big names from the East and South.   Aaron Martens, Gerald Swindle, Jason Christie, Brent Ehrler….guys like that.

Highlights:

  • John Murray, my long time hero and guy I was awe about as a high school/college guy.  Had a nice chat and just got even more enlightened on all things professional fishing.  John was there to represent Gene Larew baits.  He is all about Biffle Bug.  I actually got into pitching this bait around grass in Okeechobee.   It is a hollow creature bait with ribs and it gets bit.
  • Kevin Mattson.  Kevin charges harder than anyone I know.  He is really out pushing his fishing, bass fishing, GoPro cinematography, and the cross over style of bigbait fishing—-where you catch multi-species with bigbaits–calicos in the ocean and largemouths all over San Diego County.   He is literally the Bass King.  Great to meet Kevin.
  • John Morrow.  Sadly, my quick catch up session with John was bitter sweet. His wife Tammy, who was a solid angler, and a regular on the Western fishing scene–passed recently, and it was tough to hear.  Glad to shake John’s hand, just a good dude, and always enjoyed him and his wife.
  • Jason Christie:  Really flattered to have a chat with Jason.  I know Jason thru Casey Martin/Okeechobee.  He is the MAN and appreciate consulting with a guy like Jason on getting some bigbaits in his game. He wisely just said “I just want to mess around with them around the house”  meaning, his home waters of Tenkiller and Grand Lake.
  • Every other hand I shook. I enjoyed walking around, taking some pictures and just shaking hands and talking to folks. I am sorry I missed so many people too.  I keep seeing various Facebook posts and realized how many I did not connect with.

Products/Baits and Links to Buy them (if possible):

Persuader Buzz Baits – Clacker style, with a unique randomness in the clack, caused by the blade as a clacker.  Head design is keeps the thing running dead true.

CL8 Bait Mighty Mouse – I think brown trout will kill the 1.5″ but the 2.25″ is just as sweet.  Crazy little morsel.  See above pictures. Pond and small bait bigbait approach.

TyLure Water Whipper and Buzz Bomber:  Check out the Water Whipper and Buzz Bomber and there many other baits at the TyLures Webstore.   There is a bait called the Whopper Plopper, you need to be throwing if you are anywhere a buzzbait gets bit, which is everywhere.  These baits are a derivative of what Larry Dahlberg is doing with River2Seas on the Whopper Plopper.

Bank Buster — From There Here Is.  Check out this big flapper craw bait.  I am waiting to see what happens when craw and creature baits get bigger and badder.   Check it:  thereheis.us

Uptons Worms:  Big bad straight tail worms.

Johnny Rats:   I have seen a rat of this size and shape do some real damage.  I haven’t fished it, but this thing looked good t me.

CL8 Possum Wake Bait:  Big and bad.  The full sized one is like 13″ long with the tail and weighs a wopping 7.5 ounces?!?!

uptons-custom-worms

 

 

MP-Fishing-Resume-1

Let’s put this in context.  I put this resume together in Q4 1999.  I graduated college in December of 1999, and I can remember staying up late at night, completely focused on getting this resume together.  I remember having the dilemma of not quite having the computer skills to digitally do it all.  My Windows computer was a clone knockoff of some kind, and I didn’t have my own scanner, and I sorta came up with a compromise of computer for the content/text and then manually glued pictures and newspaper clippings to paper!  Funny to think about how far my skills with computers and technology have progressed.

A Fishing Resume?

I am not sure if you call this a resume or a portfolio.  My intent was going to use this to get that dream job in the fishing industry where they’d just pay me to fish and I’d consult with them on ‘whatever’ and somehow I’d make money, keep fishing, and just go with it.  I’m glad to have come across it, and now have it scanned in digitally.  Now, it’s more of an archive and a history of my life and my fishing life. If you read the newspaper clippings (mostly from Western Outdoor News), you will recognize names like Brent Ehrler, Aaron Martens, John Murray, and Dean Rojas.   Which of the 5 of us has had the least stellar career?  Cough cough cough….!   You have to laugh at your own humility sometimes.  I have no regrets and love sharing information, ideas and content that helps put things into context.   My support of College Fishing stems a ton from my own journey at Cal Poly, fishing my way thru school.  This resume serves as a record of that journey.  There was a time when Lake Havasu and I just were best friends.  This was before Havasu was the smallmouth fishery it is today.  This was Colorado River, desert style, largemouth fishing, and those were some of my funnest memories from my college fishing experience. Heck, I was young and there tends to be some crazy partying that happens around Lake Havasu. I couldn’t keep fish off my line, and then would go out and have some crazy fun nights with my fishing pals.

MP-Fishing-Resume-2

I did not get a job in the fishing industry, and ultimately a few months after graduating college, surrendered to the fact that there was no ‘entry’ level jobs in fishing for a guy with a marketing degree and no real world experience.   I didn’t have the network, the skills and the Internet was no where near as mature as it is today as a means to be an ‘entrepreneur’ of sorts in fishing.  Today, I don’t think a resume like this is at all necessary.  You best have a YouTube channel, blog, and digital media if you want to attract sponsorship, business partners, or get yourself a job.  So take this context, it was a different time, but it’s fun to see how I structured this and just read thru it.

MP-Fishing-Resume-3

MP-Fishing-Resume-4MP-Fishing-Resume-5