Enjoy:

I do like fishing certain bigbaits on snaps. I really find the Owner Hyper Cross Locks fit this bait, and my application beautifully.   I like to walk and stall my rats.  I do like to slow reel and wake them too, but man, I just can’t help but make that bait look alive and struggling out there.   I only have small pockets of fishable water, I don’t usually have long runs of clean swim lanes to bring a top water bait thru, a bait like the XL Nezumaa, I can throw it right on the ‘point’ of a good isolated clump of reeds and usually there will be a hole in the hydrilla around the reeds enough to fish it out a few feet or more.  You just don’t get 15-30 feet of swim most times, you only get 2-6 feet at times to work with, so you need a stallable bait, and a topwater is the bait, the ultimate stall bait.   So around grass, or isolated layown trees, or around shade pockets, you want a bait that hangs in the little ‘pool’ you have to work with, and where too, you can get maximum action out of your bait when you do decide to walk it and really jerk it.  The XL Nezumaa is violent and raucous, and you get a lot of action and noise and the bait only moved 4-6″ toward you.  And with the right wind or bow in your line, you can float a bait like the XL Nezumaa rat in place.  I am fishing 80# straight braid on my XL Nezumaa and recommend a Low Down Custom Rods 8′ XH  if you haven’t ever tried one of those rods for lobbing a BIG bait like the XL Nezumaa or Slide Swimmer 250.

Gallery:

Call it the Blue Back Herring v2.0 or call it Sexy, whatever, this is a killer color.

Scott sent us a new color of blue back herring Triple Trouts. I’m not sure whether to call these v2.0 blueback herrings, or what, so I’m deciding to call them “sexy herring triple trouts”…. You’ll find blueback herring don’t have blue backs.  They tend to have dark green/grey/purple backs and shoulders, and definitely have the chartreuse thing going down their lateral line, at the right angle.   You could probably call this a threadfin shad color too.  An all around good baitfish pattern, that is for sure.

The 10″ Sexy Herring Triple Trout Bundle: $89.95

Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Hyper Wire Split Rings and Set of 2 Spare Tails Included

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The 8″ Sexy Herring Triple Trout Bundle: $84.95

Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Hyper Wire Split Rings and Set of 2 Spare Tails Included

SOLD OUT!

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The 7″ Sexy Herring Triple Trout Bundle: $79.95

Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Hyper Wire Split Rings and Set of 2 Spare Tails Included

SOLD OUT

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That is the SSB Herring Color on top, and the Sexy Herring color on bottom, as a comparison. Notice how much darker, greener, and more yellow the side of the Sexy Herring is. Filthy.

Even though it’s got a lot of dark green to the back, their is still a wonderful purple hue that comes thru. Purple hues and herring colors make a lot of sense. So does the yellow/chartruese. KVD wasn’t an idiot when he brought sexy back at Strike King.

Baby Bass Triple Trout Bundles back on sale, March 21, 2013.

Baby Bass Triple Trouts back in stock.  Beautiful baits.   As usual, we have limited quantities and not the most sophisticated e-commerce and inventory controls.  So if you place an order for a bait that is sold out already, your money will be refunded.  We try to pull the purchase buttons offline in real time, but that is not always possible.   I assure you I am fishing this weekend, so orders received after 2 pm Eastern Time on March 22nd, will likely not be processed or shipped until March 25th.

The 10″ Baby Bass Triple Trout Bundle: $89.95

Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Hyper Wire Split Rings and Set of 2 Spare Tails Included

SOLD OUT

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The 8″ Baby Bass Triple Trout Bundle: $84.95

Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Hyper Wire Split Rings and Set of 2 Spare Tails Included

SOLD OUT

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The 7″ Baby Bass Triple Trout Bundle: $79.95

Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Hyper Wire Split Rings and Set of 2 Spare Tails Included

SOLD OUT

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The Triple Shad Elite, is the fusion of underspin and umbrella rig fishing.  The bait is made by my long time friend, Cameron Smith.  Cameron has been quietly selling the Triple Shad Elite to bait shops in San Diego County for maybe a year, and now he’s stepping up and got his baits sku’d and online at Tackle Warehouse.  San Diego lakes are small, highly pressured, and guys tend to be really good at tweaking their baits and thinking outside the box, because that is what you have to do to get bit and be competitive.

The Triple Shad Elite comes in various weights:  1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ounce models, and the baits come in a good standard baitfish centric colors.  They are built with 4/0 and 5/0 solid Gamakatsu hooks.   I fished with Cameron this past Fall in the Ozarks, and he brought me some baits and showed me how he fishes them.  Cameron will throw the bait out, and let it hit the bottom and slow grind it back to the boat, or he’ll count it down to the desired depth and slow grind it in.  The bait has a lot more thump and feel to it, than underspins with a single blade.  The traditional underspins can be hard to get a feel for because there is so little drag or resistance when you reel it, you aren’t sure if your bait is fouled or have any real connection with the swim of your bait.  Not the case with the Triple Shad Elite.  You definitely get a good feel for the bait swimming along, blades turning and thumping.

Cameron recommends Zoom Super Flukes (Regular or Jr. size) as the trailers.  Traditional ball knobber or boot tailed swimbaits don’t always go well with underspin type baits.  The kick of the boot tail will mess with the swim and tracking of the bait, so by using a Fluke, with a nothing, no swim, forked tail, you eliminate the trailer messing with the balance and track of the bait.  Cameron I know will throw on a good old fashion curly tail grub from time to time too.  You just don’t want a lot of drag created by whatever trailer you choose.

With the lessons learned of the umbrella rig and the super nova of the Alabama Rig, there is no doubt that creating a school of baitfish flat catches fish.  Cameron is fusing the best of underspin fishing with the goodness of umbrella rigging, and delivering it in a single compact bait.   Underspins have been quietly cashing checks on Tour, at local levels and all over country now.  They are great ways to catch suspended fish, so the Triple Shad fits into a great space of suspended fish tools, that bring the multi-rig dimension where you’re giving them a school of baitfish.   Cameron fishes his Triple Shad Elites on 15-17# Florocarbon a Medium Heavy 7 foot casting rod, and a standard casting reel.

$8.99 Each

Click HERE to Get Yours

I’m certainly not here to have a discussion about ethics and catching fish on beds.  You have to sight fish to be competitive in tournaments, and if you are like me, you enjoy watching fish, fish behavior, and looking at fish while you fish for them.  Bass have a lot of guts, gusto and balls, but most times, they can be very finicky and fickle.    Bed fishing is an art, and I will tell you, drop shotting for bed fish is killer.  The bait literally sits in the fish’s face and they sorta tend to suck it in.   The Jackall Clone Gill is a little morsel  at 2.5″ long–perfect size because its tall too, so its bulky but really slim and finessy too.  When I saw these baits, I was said WOW.  They are really bite sized baits that rig up nicely on a nose hook.  I rigged the Jackall Clone Gill with a #1 Owner Mosquito Hook and a 3/8 lead drop shot weight with about a 10″ Leader.

You get great bait control, with a heavy/bulky bait on a drop shot rig.  Especially at close range, you can give you bait slack and drop it, swim it, make it dart, etc.   The side rig is just nutty.  The bait will do 360 degree wounded/teasing  bluegill death spirals around the drop shot weight.   I enjoy watching how I’m working my bait, and watching how a fish reacts to it.  That is what I really enjoy.  Watching fish and watching fishing lures in action and seeing how fish react is why I love bed fishing so much.   Bluegill are great baits around the spawn.  Heck, they are great baits anytime, but you add bluegill/brim/sunfish family of fish around a bedding bass, and watch what happens.   The fish really get fired up, and it’s  can be the little edge you need to get her to eat.   Give the Jackall Clone Gill a try when fishing for bedding bass.  Bigger the fish, the better!

Nose Rigged

Side Rigged Jackall Clone Gill on a #1 Owner Mosquito Hook

Tackle:

Jackall Clone Gill:  

#1 Owner Mosquito Hook

Congrats to our boy Casey Martin, with a 6th place finish at the 2013 Lake Okeechobee FLW Everstart Series.  Casey is just off the hook good.  Follow him in 2013 on the FLW Tour, he’s gonna crush it:  caseymartinfishing.com

And here is Casey at the FLW Tour, where he again took 6th place!  Can you imagine a Top 10 in your rookie event as a boater?  Sick:

Keys to Casey’s success:

Picasso Tungsten

Casey Martin Signature Series Swim Jig from Omega

Z-Man Chatter bait

Trevor Fitzgerald is lethal around grass.  He is a Florida native and gets it done around grass.  He weighed in 25 pounds this day, and gives you some insights into his gear.  Trevor and his wife operate Fitzgerald Rods and they are known as a solid, well built, quality rod, that are tested and designed (among other things) to handle heavy braided lines, big fish, and grass.

Trevor’s Tackle:

Gambler Jig Zilla

Gambler Mega Daddy (Green Pumpkin)

80 Pound Sunline FX

Fitzgerald 7’10″ Big Jig/Mat Punching Rod

Keep an eye on Trevor.  He finished 2nd place in this event, and actually tied the guy weight wise, but lost the tie breaker.  I have the entire weigh in on film (most of it) and plan on sharing some highlights from the guys who were in the Top.  Okeechobee is a wonderful fishery, and it’s interesting to hear how guys catch ‘em and the gear they use.  That Gambler Jig Zillais off the hook.  The jig bite on Okeechobee is there, and this just adds another dimension.   Adding your own creature/craw bait to a unskirted jig head, in the >1 ounce range.

Nothing makes me feel better than a good bite on a 8″ Huddleston!  I finally got a day of fishing where the wind was <20MPH and was able to setup and just fish, and I caught a nice one.  A lot of why I decided to come to West Palm Beach is access to Okeechobee. I have a sweet deal going where I store my boat at the lake and have a place to stay on the weekends, so that is just working out beautifully.  I have a lot of bigbait sessions ahead of me I hope.  The water level is 14.7 or something, so it’s falling out pretty quick.  But, I’m looking forward to another couple months of fishing for sure.  It was 85 degrees out there this day.

Hard grass and soft grass and black water. 3-4 feet deep.

The 8″ Weedless Huddleston is something I’ve been mentally preparing myself for a while. I just haven’t had many sessions with it, where I could commit and throw it the majority of the day.  I really like the way the bait fishes.  The line tie on the nose makes it a ‘superior’ bait?  I don’t know if that makes sense, but I really like the line tie on the nose.  It just swims and fishes and orients right to you.  I am fishing it on straight 80 pound Power Pro Spectra, and Calcutta 400 TE and Loomis 966 BBR.  I just love that setup and with braid, its like, plus one or plus two more better.  I just love braid.   The braid is key for snatching and snapping your bait free in the grass.  If you muck up, a hard pop or jerk will often clear the bait and you fish thru.  At distance, these are things that cannot be done with anything but braid.  Couple that, with my experiences with the Grass Minnow, Weedless Shad and 6″ Weedless Trout, I know that braid is the deal with those baits, so to me, this was a no brainer.

Florida fish have an interesting frame. I didn’t weigh this thing. It didn’t cross my mind. Unless they get enormous, I just sorta eye ball them. I think it was about 7-8 pounds. But that is what I’m hunting. I need to figure out how to get 5-7 bites a day on this thing.

Don’t hate because I have that carp/orange trout color on the 8″ Weedless.  Really, I have one.  I really hope Ken and Dennis come up with colors like this, and make them staples in their lineup.  I love the nightstalker color, and I love this color too. I really like the golden shiner color too. I just prefer darker/dark baits that would go good in the Okeechobee water.  The Night Stalker color looks fantastic in the Okeechobee water.  White has never been a good color of moving bait (save a chatterbait or spinnerbait) for me on Okeechobee with swimbaits/swimming worms.    I know other colors of the 8″ Huddleston will work on Okeechobobee too. I’ve caught them on hitch on baby bass, the non-weedless versions.

Halloween Style.

I’m landing the bites I’m getting on the 8″ Weedless, and they tend to be >6 pound fish.   They are awesome bites and you’ll have to be patient to see the film. I hope our next DVD might be a bigbait fishing thing in Florida.  Grass fishing.  Haven’t put it all together by a long shot, and if I’ve learned anything at 35, I know better to than to make claims and predictions, especially if they involve fish or women!  You cannot predict the fish.  You just don’t know how things will play out with the filming and footage and flow.  I sure hope I find a balance of work, social life, fishing Okeechobee and surfing around Jupiter and North!  I hope it works out and I make good decisions and have good flow.  We shall see. It has been anything but an easy transition back into corporate life, in a new city I’ve never lived.   But……8″ Huddleston bites do a man right!

Large Nezumaa Rat Bundle:  $149.95

We only have a couple of these, and I imagine they will go quick.  This is the “Large” sized Nezumaa Rat, the color is black on top, grey on the sides, into a white bell—-sorta skunk style, but not quite.   You get a spare set of bubble gum tails and bubble gum ST-36 Stinger hooks.  The bait comes rigged with a stock black tail, #5 Owner Hyper Wire Split Rings, and 1/0 ST-36 Owner Treble hooks (unmasked).

SOLD OUT!  In 10 minutes.

***Refunds will be issued for orders that come in after we sell out and before we have a chance to remove the purchase button.  We only have a couple of these, and they will go quick….2/25/13 at 7:30pm Eastern***)