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

 

[youtube=http://youtu.be/MGT41izlhs0]

I love fishing buzzbaits.  Adding swimbait tails to buzzbaits and spinnerbaits isn’t super new, but I’m unclear what guys actually use. I have always liked the Persuader Clacker Buzzbait.  I have caught big fish on buzzbaits, especially ones with clackers.  I love a black buzzbait with clack and a big ole ugly bait on the back, like a big Skinny Dipper or Zoom Lizard.   I have done really well, on the opposite end of the spectrum, with the Buzz Hammer.  The Buzz Hammer is smaller, more finesse, and quiet buzzbait that makes adding a swimbait tail really easy.

The Persuader Clacker Buzzbait

Skinny Dipper Swimbait Tail (trailer)

 

The Persuader Clackin' Buzzbait with the full size Skinny Dipper as a trailer bait
The Persuader Clackin’ Buzzbait with the full size Skinny Dipper as a trailer bait
A more finesse approach, the Buzz Hammer is a softer gurgle and the Big Hammer Square Tailed swimmer is a catchy little swimbait.
A more finesse approach, the Buzz Hammer is a softer gurgle and the Big Hammer Square Tailed swimmer is a catchy little swimbait.

The Buzz Hammer fishes really well with a 3″ Big Hammer Swimbait Tail.  The head on the Buzz Hammer designed to receive the Big Hammer Swimbait Tail, so naturally there is good fit and swim. I wish there was 3/4 and 1 ounce (or bigger) sized Buzz Hammers with bigger hooks and heads to accept the Sledge Hammer and just bigger paddled tailed swimmers out there.   You need to ‘bigbait’ your buzzbaits is my thought.

The Little Dipper on the Buzz Hammer looks awfully good, and is a great clear water/pressured fish approach to buzzbait fishing
The Little Dipper on the Buzz Hammer looks awfully good, and is a great clear water/pressured fish approach to buzzbait fishing.

 

 

Clack Clack Clack-----Blam!  The small willow leaf blade on the Persuader Buzzbait adds flash, but most importantly a good clack. I have caught a lot of fish on this buzzbait. It runs true and wakes 'em up.
Clack Clack Clack—–Blam! The small willow leaf blade on the Persuader Buzzbait adds flash, but most importantly a good clack. I have caught a lot of fish on this buzzbait. It runs true and wakes ’em up.

I’m probably a month too late for some folks, but it’s surprising how well fish eat topwater baits, like buzzbaits as the winter sets in. Fish eat moving and reaction baits way better in cold water, when the water is in a cooling trend.  For example, 52 degree water that is falling from the summertime highs is NOT the same 52 degree water that is warming from 42 or wherever you lake bottoms out.  It’s relative of course, but think about cold water that was warm and figure those fish are better active chasers and hunters, than cold water that is only slightly warmer than the bottom out temps.

The Buzz Hammer, aka, Buzz Hamster.  Rigged with a 3" Big Hammer Swimbait Tail, of course.
The Buzz Hammer, aka, Buzz Hamster. Rigged with a 3″ Big Hammer Swimbait Tail, of course.

 

Buzzbait fishing is badapple.  You need to be throwing the Whopper Plopper if you haven’t seen it. This is what I’m talking about, bringing some bigbait into your buzzbait.

persuader-clacker-buzzbait-tw
Click to Purchase the Persuader Clacker Buzzbait
buzz-hammer-tackle-warehouse
Click to purchase the Buzz Hammer

 

[youtube=http://youtu.be/i-pr79dfxH8]

Here is some more fusion.  The Lucky Craft Blade Cross Bait you have to check out.  This thing really fuses the jerkbait, underspin, spinnerbait, and swimbait thing together.  I really like how neutrally buoyant this thing feels in general. It sinks out, but any slight tension flattens the bait out and you can get a near suspend with any bow or wind in your line.  Very senko-ish in feel.  You can rip rip rip and then stall this thing and just be totally stoked at this jerkbait, flash, spin, stall stuff this bait produces. You can slow grind out and transition out of your jerkbait cadance, and get more swimbait style.  Just slow grind it along, mindfully.

The Lucky Craft Blade Cross is pretty impressive.  They make a 110 size which tells me there has to be bigger / saltwater size of these things!  I want a 200 or 300 series!!!
The Lucky Craft Blade Cross is pretty impressive. They make a 110 size which tells me there has to be bigger / saltwater size of these things! I want a 200 or 300 series!!!

 

I think jerkbaits catch fish all year long, but as winter sinks in, and then again right before Spring springs….the jerkbait is king.  I can see smashing fish on the Ozark lakes on this bait.  Where ever you have a good reaction bait bite.  Lake Mead/Havasu come to mind.  I can see the herring eaters going nutty about this bait, especially those spotted bass herring eaters that love spinnerbaits and jerkbaits so much.  Lanier, Clarks Hill, Murray, Keowee, Hartwell —those lakes come to mind as well suited for this bait.  All clear water lakes, that is for sure.  And anywhere you know fish react to jerkbaits, well shoot, I would just tie one of these on and give a try, because this thing fishes sick.  There is no doubt you’ll enjoy and appreciate this bait.  It almost has a glide bait feel to it, and has so many other influences, I was impressed.

Purchase
CLICK TO PURCHASE

This is a modern twist on jerkbait, spinnerbait and swimming baits and if you think about it, is a bit of a sister to the spy bait thing.  The spy baits have the props and the whirring of their blades creates a new unique vortex.  So does the Blade Cross Bait.  Very unique swim signature and profile. Lucky Craft makes quality baits and this is no exception. I notice these things tend to be low in quantity and stock in Tackle Warehouse often.  That is usually a good indicator.

Fusion of jerkbait, spinnerbait, underspin and swimbait.  Pretty rad bait.
Fusion of jerkbait, spinnerbait, underspin and swimbait. Pretty rad bait.

 

Purchase the Lucky Craft Blade Cross Bait HERE

Wading, on a Tuesday afternoon.  Braid, Okuma Komodo 364 and a top hook Huddleston 68 with the barb pinched down.  Shallow water trophy hunting, White River, Arkansas.
Wading, on a Tuesday afternoon. Braid, Okuma Komodo 364 and a top hook Huddleston 68 with the barb pinched down. Shallow water trophy hunting, White River, Arkansas.

I’m realizing where I’ve made miscalculations and misjudgements in my fishing at times.   I’m a huge fan of big fat round reels. I am born and raised on Don Iovino “doodling” where short Phenix Rods, w Excalibur Handles and round Abu-Garcia reels where how you caught fish in Southern California.   Now, at a macro level, understand that Iovino was both right and wrong.  At that same time, a guy like Dean Rojas was smashing fish with reaction baits, challenging the finesse only / shaking 4″ worms on 8 pound line in >20 feet of water to get a bit.    My point being, I’ve made mistakes in REEL SELECTION at times.  Low profile reels tend to be way more easy to fish.  They weigh ounces less than the big gold Shimano Calcutta TE or D Series.  Low profile reels have way better gears than they used to, they have quicker gear ratios and line pickup speeds, and can handle all your bigbaits. I like the slowness of the round TE 400 for specialized Huddleston fishing. I can’t see myself not having a few 400 TEs in the boat with me, but the 300 Series of low profile swimbait reels continues to grow on me.   Anywho, besides ergonomic and aesthetic advantages, they tend to have faster gear ratios.  I suppose I need to say, the Shimano Curado 300 is and will remain a sick ass low profile swimbait reel that can handle bigbaits and big fish.   However,  Shimano is no longer in the position they enjoyed historically.  Insert Okuma.

Okuma provides a great value product.  They have made outstanding rods in the bigbait fishing department for years.  The Guide Select Series has been what I and many other recommend to beginning swimbait fisherman.  I know Mark Rogers and Mike Bennett a little bit, and know these guys charge hard and do a lot of hardcore charging.   They keep hardcore swimbait fishing happy and treat them with respect and aloha.  Check out what Oliver Ngy (Big Bass Dreams)  and Kevin Mattson (Bass King)  fish with.   Okuma wisely has decided to engage subject matter experts and figure out ways to partner and team up with them.  The result is what can be seen and felt in the Okuma Komodo 364.   Let’s be honest., the Okuma reels couldn’t compete in the quality department years ago, but now they can.  They’ve proven it now for the last few years, and the work of buys in both salt and freshwater are all the validation you should need.

Slinging a Huddie 68 at a 45 degree upriver angle. Fishing it back down and across.  Sometimes stalling to a 45 degree downriver or more angle retrieve back.
Slinging a Huddie 68 at a 45 degree upriver angle. Fishing it back down and across. Sometimes stalling to a 45 degree downriver or more angle retrieve back.

You need a few 300 Series, low profile reels in your swimbait game.  Skipping 6″ Weedless Huddlestons under docks was a favorite past time of mine for years.  Low profile reels and dock skipping make a lot of sense.  A new trend in my Triple Trout fishing is fishing the 7-8″ Triple Trout on the Curado 300. The quicker gear ratio (vs the Calcutta 300 or 400) made fishing the Triple Trout way easier.   So, I find the mid range hardbaits to be an outstanding application of the 300 Series of reels.  What Kevin Mattson and Oliver Ngy have really opened my eyes to is the application of the 300 series, with the Komodo 364 to the megabaits, the bigger bigbaits like the Slide Swimmer 250.  The Slide Swimmer 250 and the magnum glide baits like the Roman Mades, Gan Craft and big Rago Glideaor, need to be a staple in your swimbait fishing, as are the Huddleston Deluxe, Triple Trout, MS Slammer and the rat baits of your choice.

The base of the Bull Shoals Dam, and the genesis of the White River trout fishery.  Big browns live here.  Don't fish here.  You might get your arm broke.
The base of the Bull Shoals Dam, and the genesis of the White River trout fishery. Big browns live here. Don’t fish here. You might get your arm broke.

Here’s the deal, you can spend $250 on a Curado 300 and be happy. Shimano is not a company that can be engaged if you are interested in fishing for a living and want to partner with them in any shape or form.  Just leave it at that.  Fish their stuff, and be stoked, it’s awesome. Or you could spend $ 220, buy an Okuma Komodo 364, and align yourself with a company and group of guys the welcomes and engages the swimbait fishing community and subject matter experts. When there are alternatives out there, like Okuma and Abu Garcia that are making great value products that are high quality,  capitalism and free markets take their course.   I would definitely recommend the Okuma Komodo 364 now after fishing it hard. I haven’t caught the uber giants with it yet, but I did fish the gamut of my favorite mid size and magnum sized baits, and have wipped some nice fish.  I keep a pulse on what reels guys are really catching their fish with, and the Komodo 364 across both salt and freshwater continues to impress and amaze.   Check out Okuma’s facebook page to get a pulse on their community and O’hana HERE.

Blazing July Heat, 50 degree White River, and the Slide Swimmer 250.  The Okuma Komodo 364 has the guts to lob megabaits.  And the gearing and quality to do it 50B times in your lifetime.  Low profile, quicker, and easier on your wrists.   Talk about putting english into a Slide Swimmer and cutting current.
Blazing July Heat, 50 degree White River, and the Slide Swimmer 250. The Okuma Komodo 364 has the guts to lob megabaits. And the gearing and quality to do it 50B times in your lifetime. Low profile, quicker, and easier on your wrists. Talk about putting English into a Slide Swimmer and cutting current.  Notice the fish’s mouth got a little tore up, but Karma came around quick, notice my thumb bleeding on my right hand. She gouged me good as I tried to pick her up at one point.

 

The Promar Net is my livewell and definitely served it's purpose in spades this day.
The Promar Net is my livewell and definitely served it’s purpose in spades this day.

 

2nd Slide Swimmer fish. Notice how gold and orange this fish is vs. the above fish.  This one was way smaller, like a 23" fish.  The above fish was >30" and my biggest brown ever.  I love the GoPro.  Shots like this are random and just fun.
2nd Slide Swimmer fish. Notice how gold and orange this fish is vs. the above fish. This one was way smaller, like a 23″ fish. The above fish was >30″ and my biggest brown ever. I love the GoPro. Shots like this are random and just fun.

For what it’s worth, I highly recommend you invest in a Komodo 364, a spool of 65 or 80# braid, and pair it with the swimbait rod of your choice and application.  Braid and the low profile bigbait reel with the faster gear ratio have changed my fishing.  It works and is my system for many baits now with the exception of slow rolling Huddlestons , fishing for the ‘one’ in some super clear / super pressured situation.   I use florocarbon leaders where applicable.  Braid gives you WAY MORE control and play with your hardbaits.  You can make turns and stalls and cut water WAY BETTER than with mono or floro.  There is only usually a foot or two of line actually in the water ahead of the bait, because you tend to ‘high stick’ your rod tip on your retrieve with braid.   You don’t have the line sag and drag challenges you do with mono or floro.

Click HERE to purchase the Okuma 364 Komodo.

 

The Bettencourt Baits Dying Trout.  Fusing a deadstick, stall, and slow grind approach.
The Bettencourt Baits Dying Trout. Fusing a deadstick, stall, and slow grind approach.

I have a thing with stalling and deadsticking. It’s a universal truth of catching fish on bigbaits.  It’s a part of my approach to picking baits, and choosing my style of retrieve.  Context.   The Bettencourt Baits Dying Trout is approximately 7″ long and no more than 2 ounces.  It’s not exactly a mega-bait, but what it lacks in bigbait appeal, it makes up for in a killer swim, stall, and death dance.  It’s also likely something the fish haven’t seen yet.  I can see setting up on a prime rocky point, or offshore spot with a sweet spot, and really setting up for one or two prime casts.   I would swim this thing right into mother hen’s den, and then kill it…..and let it sit on the surface for as long as you can stand it.  Then twitch it once or twice hard and violent and let it sit again.  You could really draw a killer strike on this bait, if you knew where some big ones lived and need a fresh approach.

Here’s a little video, from one my favorite places to film on earth, in Cotter, Arkansas:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/GIR6XGsyWiU]

 

Not to say, you couldn’t just ‘go fishing’ and catch fish with the Dying Trout.  It’s a great bait, and my hat is off to Nathan Bettencourt for making baits uniquely his own.   His Dying Bluegill was a fun bait to test.  They aren’t swimbaits you go power fishing and cover tons of water with.  You need to take your time to fish the Dying Trout or the Dying Bluegill right.   So, if you found yourself in 3 feet of clear water on lake Okeechobee, and magnums up and around beds, you should fish the Dying Bluegill.  If you find yourself off a prime main lake point with a sweet spot that gets a little shade in the afternoon, I’d fish it there.   Another tool to try out. It’s going to force you to slow down, which is a good thing, most times.

Want to Buy a Nathan Bettencourt Dying Trout?  Click HERE

You can get a good grind and dig out of the bait, you just have to be very mindful of your retrieve, and in total control/contact.
You can get a good grind and dig out of the bait, you just have to be very mindful of your retrieve, and in total control/contact.  It fishes like a square billed crankbait on the straight wind.

 

Horizontal Half Moon Rising
Horizontal Half Moon Rising

 

They Dying Trout Crankbait!
They Dying Trout Crankbait!

 

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