Santa Margarita pics

Dean · March 08, 2008, 12:53:59 PM

5.4#

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Dean · March 08, 2008, 12:54:56 PM

8.1#

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Dean · March 08, 2008, 12:55:53 PM

8.1# second look

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Dean · March 08, 2008, 12:57:40 PM

4.4# big fish, but pretty skinny. I had to weigh it twice... couldn't believe that is all it went.

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Dean · March 08, 2008, 12:58:20 PM

7.4#

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Dean · March 08, 2008, 01:02:29 PM

7.0#

I lost count the number of 3 - 4 pound fish I caught and didn't take pictures of all of them. The big ones were all Wednesday. I went Thursday and only caught a 3.5 and a 3 and then it turned off with some really changing weather... dead calm and sunny, then cloudy and WINDY.

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TomG · March 09, 2008, 01:02:25 PM

Who did you go with? So what's the story, are they eating reaction baits like I posted or were they eating plastic?

Stan · March 09, 2008, 02:32:55 PM

Nice Fish Dean!

The E-mail I got from Bob said all swimbait fish. How many days were you up there?

TomG · March 09, 2008, 02:37:00 PM

Yea, I just noticed that swimbait in the last photo............ I hate pre-fishing for a tournament when the bite is dead and they are on fire at another lake.......................

After Lopez I will be headed there.............I need to break in my swimbait rod.

Dean · March 09, 2008, 04:01:59 PM

All I caught were on swimbaits. Lots of fun Wednesday, only 2 fish Thursday. My best 5 on Wednesday were 32.3 and I caught 15 or 16 fish. I think I am finally getting the hang of the swimbait thing, but it is still a commitment to do in a tournament since most days 2 or 3 fish would be good.

So what swimbait rod did you get Tom? I have looked at a bunch and am down to 2 depending on money. I am using a 765 powell flipping stick since I'm using all 6-7" baits. Before I can throw Hudds, monster jacks, and spros I will need a bigger set-up. The 7'9" Dobyns Mike Long rod is awesome, but $200. and my next favorite easily is the Kistler believe it or not. That is a SWEET rod for like $160.

TomG · March 09, 2008, 06:37:00 PM

I bought the Okuma swimbait rod, the 7' 11" heavy action. I read a bunch of reviews to include the one on Tackletour.com they have done alot of swimbait rod reviews. For the money its a good rod. I only have experience throwing baits since I haven't caught anything on a swimbait yet this year. But I was throwing a 9" bait with no problem. I think I paid 109.00 from tackle warehouse and I bought a Diawa millionaire reel for 40 - 50.00 I think. So not a very expensive set-up and the reel holds lots of string cast well and has a nice slow gear ratio with power.

Did you catch any of those on a Paddletrix type of swimbait or did you use the more traditional swim baits?

Dean · March 09, 2008, 07:12:40 PM

Osprey top-hook, winged talon, and the baitsmith. I haven't done much with the paddle tails yet. Only a couple of my fish were that shallow. I'm sure that will be a good bait soon though.