MOsmallies

That's a hell of a day! Well done and great pics!!

This dude is on the fish!!!

6.39 lbs and only 20.5"... It's my personal best caught early last April on LOZ....

Can you post a pic? I may need to copy this idea

That is a stud smallmouth Scott!! Well done boys... You guys put the hammer on em!!

Read an article recently that they are about to file for bankruptcy... May have some severely marked down baits soon. You would get along very well with Smalliebigs and myself. We may need to do lunch one day. Bait Hoarders Anonymous

Me too

Yep it's a Baitwerks color... I had Dwain paint me several warts in that pattern... And I'll just say this... It works...

For the most part we've never had an issue with this either but we have an A-Hole of a resort owner who lives directly across the cove from us. Bay Ridge Resort. Keep in mind this resort is closed and had been abandoned for at least 4 years. New guy bought it and is slowly trying to get it back open. We introduced ourselves to the owner early last April. One week later during my father-in-laws crappie tournament, several of our boats pulled into his empty slips to get out of heavy rain. He came down and told us we had to leave. Didn't care that we were neighbors and had met him a week prior. We obliged... Now he harasses us and threatens to call the police anytime we fish near his dock. I'm talking within 30 feet. He starts taking pictures and M F'ing us. You're probably thinking there's more to the story and that we have instigated stuff with this guy before, but I promise you we have not. We introduced ourselves, welcomed him to the cove, offered him business when his resort opens, and invited him over for a beer. As soon as we used his boat stalls to get out of the rain he has treated us like garbage. So if you are ever thinking about staying at Bay Ridge Resort (25 MM) in the future... DON'T... The owner, Ken something-or-other, is a terrible human being who doesn't deserve the business.

I hear ya... Just a confidence thing I guess. I throw warts as craw imitations... If I want to imitate a shad I have other crankbaits I throw. But maybe I'm missing out!

Haha... eBay... I just keep an eye on the ones under $10 (a piece) once the price goes over $10 I delete it from my watch list. I always have them repainted so the color and condition doesn't really matter to me. The key to me is to figure out how much you are willing to spend on a bait. And don't stray from that... Just keep an eye out year round and you can stock up for your price. I'm always looking for the next deal! Now don't go buying all my warts <$10!

Just got 2 pre-rap warts in the mail today. They are unfished and have the dimple in the line tie. $8 a piece to my door! Now they just need to be boxed up and sent to Baitwerks...

The things we go through to catch these green and brown fish! Hopefully you hammered them today!

Yep just seems weird... Same with the eyes on almost all crawdad crankbaits (except the Koppers HFC). But the fish really aren't getting that good of a look at it I guess... They are just seeing something crawdad colored bouncing around in the rocks and they react to it. The claws and the eyes are meant to catch fisherman. And don't get me wrong... I'm one of the likeliest people to fall for a beautifully painted bait!

For some reason I hate the claws painted on the bill... Immediate turn off. Can't explain it. The psychology of fishing gear is a strange thing!

That's always been one of my biggest issues with the smallmouth gigging issue. Why the MDC has taken action to protect stocked trout by outlawing gigging on certain trout stream sections but they won't do the same for NATIVE smallmouth... I'll never understand it. I guess it's strictly monetary... I truly believe our native smallmouth deserve better!

Hahaha I bought a bag of these too Brett when TW had em for $.99... You won't believe how big these are until you see them in person... You would literally need a 12/0 hook to throw em. The tail is as thick as a hot dog!

The Teckel Drunker is a great looking bait. I've bought a few but haven't been able to fish em yet. Great colors... Body is slightly smaller than a wart. But it's supposed to hit 10 ft. The bill is also kinda squared off instead of a round bill like the wart. Looking forward to giving it a try this spring. I'm mainly a wart guy myself. Haven't thrown the RK Crawler yet. The A10's from Skirmish are a great bait too. Basically a dead knockoff of the wart but it gets a couple feet deeper.

Yep... Based on the pictures and evidence we sent the MDC, I heard they prosecuted the guy, he plead not guilty, and I'm not sure where it went from there. Hopefully he was scared enough by it to quit doing it but who knows

The guys facebook post bragged about how he shot them all with a spear on the Huzzah. Spears don't always penetrate both sides of the fish.

I don't believe you are any less conservation-minded than anyone else on here. I'd venture to say that 99% of the people on this forum are conservation-minded, care about our resources and do the right thing while enjoying the wonderful resources our state has to offer. I don't believe anyone on this thread has said they want to see gigging outlawed. I personally wouldn't be heart broken if it was... But that's not fair to the ethical giggers out there who abide by the laws. The group of us that always seem to get wrapped up in these discussions just want to see more enforcement, more proactive measures to discourage illegal gigging/poaching, and stricter penalties when citations are issued. The gear guys who poach are just as awful in my book. Like you said, "Poaching is a crime period"... But unlike rod and reel poachers, gigging poachers can target big fish... and that big fish population is what they can really put a hurt on!

Very well said Brian!! I couldn't agree with you more!

Yep just in our imaginations!

Both colors are insane... I love that craw! And Dave makes a darn fine jighead!

That's what I'm talking about! One of these days we'll need to get a group of us LOZ guys together for some fishing or at least beers. I had a blast getting to meet Wrench and Old Plug back in November!