June 26th 08 - 50+ Peacocks - Fishin with big swimbaits !!

[JohnMarino]

Went on a guide trip and fished with Chris, and all i can say is we had a BLAST out there on the water, he put us on the fish! We fished with bait and every bait was a fish, It was great 50 peacocks with an average of 2 lbs all on ultra-light 4lb spinning gear.

We get out on a spot and we are hammering them on all points, catching peacocks left and right and getting double hookups and almost a triple hookup! But we had a ball catchin all those bass, and Im from los angeles, california so I love throwing big large swimbaits for giant trophy largemouth bass, and I wanted to take this technique to hawaii for some big peacock, A great friend of mine Rudy Senteno custom makes these unique handmade wood baits and he carved me a special bluegill bait made just for peacock bass and trophy largemouth and all I gotta say is we KILLED EM on that bait. I told chris lets go catch some big ones, took us to an area and whacked em with a 5lb+ peacock and a 4 lb peacock

A Lure is never too big if you know how to fish these big baits, Its all I throw here in california for big largemouth bass and Im glad to see that it works in hawaii for giant peacocks and largemouth as it does work all over the world. you just gotta fish!

I had multiple strikes on this lure from largemouth, peacock, and also those red devil fish. I landed 4 fish on this big swimbait, 2 largemouth and 2 peacocks, and also missed 2 other big peacocks and 2 devil fish.

An epic day out on the water, 50+ peacocks and 4 swimbait fish.
Thanks Chris & Stan for taking us out on the water and thank you rudy senteno for making one of the best swimbaits out there to catch a giant peacock on!!!

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

Wow, I am impressed!!!!!!!!!

[Lrry93]

Nice!! First time I have seen that large of a swimbait boat a peacock.

[skunked]

Congratulations on a great day of fishing. I wish I could have a day that's half as good as that someday. I also had no idea a tuc would hit something that big!
Nice Loomis rod! What model of reel is that? Nice pictures!

[kahuna bass]

Greetings John,

Glad to see someone else from SoCal throwing the big wooden swim baits.

I had some success throwing Matt lures swim baits last year, fishing with Stan. Didn't bring any big wooden baits, but will next time.

However, I've had much success throwing the big, big live baits. The bigger, the better.

Chris and Stan does a great job putting people on the Tuc's

By the way boys, currently in Japan, checking out all the sweet fishing gear Money come, money go......It's all good, its fishing!!!

Mel "Kahuna Bass"
Dark side big "live baiter", and tackle "ho"

[bsp]

I am glad that somebody had a good day with bluegill swimbaits. I bet the Tru Tungsten swimbaits and shell crackers would also do very well.

[Ca_Bass]

SOOOOON I will be fishing a full day with one lure, 5inch matt lure tilapia, I purchased a few almost a year ago, but I haven't really given them the time they deserve. It's hard for me to continue to throw a big bait that I'm unsure of, when I know I can hook up with my reg Lake Wilson lures.

When I lived in CA, pretty much all I did was shake finesse worm. I had always wanted to become a good jig fisherman, so I would fish for 30-60 min with a jig, not get bit then switch to old trusty. I realized that is not helping me become a good jig fisherman, so what I did was only take jigs with me...that way I had no other choice but to fish with them. I'm still not the jig fisherman I would like to be. I really only feel confident flipping a jig.

[FishinFrenzy]

Hey Ca_Bass, did you buy the talapia from the first Matt Lure bluegill series or is it from the newer Ultimate series with the moveable pectoral fins? I was thinking of buying the ultimate male bluegill but was wondering if the fins seem sturdy enough to take a pounding from a hawg? The ultimate pumpinseed, as well as the green sunfish pattern have incredible "life like" detail but I'm not sure if there are any of these species alive in Wilson. This series of Matt lures are the most realistic I've ever seen. Let me know about the fins if you would.

[kahuna bass]

FishinFrenzy,

The latest style of Matt lures bluegill baits are fantastic. However, like most soft plastic baits, after a couple nice size fish, they take a beating. Overall, the details are excellent. The fin/flared movements add anther element to fishing.

Another bait to consider, is the "Baitsmith" Madgill series. Outstanding details, and are great baits for the spawn. Just sit them on the nest, and piss off the big girls. Ed's baits have made an impact, in the short time he's been in the bussiness.

You can't go wrong with either baits.

Bass regards, Mel "kahuna bass"
Da kind swim bait dude

[Ca_Bass]

I have some of the ultimate and the regular, and to be honest I couldn't tell much of a difference in the pectoral fins. One thing you can do to make them last longer after they get torn, is to get a pocket knife and heat it up with a lighter and melt the torn parts back together.

[FishinFrenzy]

Thanks for the info Kahuna. I'll check out Baitsmith.

Hey Ca...when you say you don't see a difference are you talking about appearance or how the fish react to the moveable pec fins instead of molded fins???

[Ca_Bass]

The fins don't seem to move any more than the originals. Maybe if it was on a nest and a fish was blowing on it they might move more (I haven't tried that one yet). When I had em both in the bath tub I didn't really notice the anything different with the fins. Too be honest, I haven't fished the baits enough to tell if the fish actually react different to them or not. But my guess based on the tub test is no.

[kahuna bass]

Greetings all,

The new series Ultimate bluegills do standout a bit more than the original bluegills. Go on: www.mattlures.com

Matt explains what has to be done to get the fins to flare out more. You can see difference in what it does for the action. Just a little shake at the tip of your rod can really make it realistic.

What I did to my originals, was use a razor blade to cut out the fins from the body. It worked, but after one aggressive bass, both fins were gone I'll stick to the Ultimate style.

Baitsmith madgills are very similar to Mattlures. Details are impressive, and results are the same. They both catch fish.

Good luck with baits.

Bass regards, Mel "Kahuna Bass"
Dark side bluegill fisherman , nah, just kidding, I only like live Talipia!!!!! Right Stan