I just painted this up the other day and figured I would share it with you guys just for fun.
I have been prototyping and working on a couple new baits, I am hoping to have a least a sneak peek soon.
One will be a soft plastic bait available in floating and sinking if everything works out well. A good friend has been sharing in the effort on this one and I will be able to disclose some more info soon.
I started fishing chatter bait style baits a couple years back and have had some pretty good days on them. I love fishing them around heavy cover and large grassy areas where a lot of water needs to be covered.
The first thing that sold me on the Revenge Baits is the attention to detail in the design. It is pretty amazing how much detail is put into the painting of each bait. All of the heads are original designs, intricately hand carved during the design process. Add in the custom Viberator stainless blade and long front wire design and this is one well thought out bait, not just a jig with a blade thrown on the front.
Secondly, I really like the fact that these baits are available up to 1 oz in size. I don't like fishing light tackle or light baits if I can avoid it. The more practical reasons for this have a lot more to do with the fact that I like fishing in current and wind as well.
Where and when to fish these baits I'm still finding out myself. I have had luck shallow in and near cover, deep on rocky bottom and near bluffs, around docks and pretty much all over the frigging place. Pretty much anywhere you would throw a spinnerbait or a crank bait.
The thing I find pretty fasinating about the Viberator baits is the ability to match so many different types of forage just by changing the color and type of trailer you fish with it. Here are some of my favorite combos here.
I was sent links to these videos by Andrei Medvedev of the Fion.ru Russian fishing club [Warning: web site is all in Russian. If you speak Russian, by all means drop me a line and let me know what it says]. They’re not bass fishing obviously, but they are kind of awesome.
The carrot lure catching a pike is pretty damn funny
I found this one on his YouTube stream – called ‘Twitching, Russian Style Fishing” Basically just fishing mini jerk baits. It is always interesting to see how other people fish around the world
I recently got a hold of one of Nate's Baits new 8" Trout swimbaits and gave it a go.
Upon receiving the bait I knew it was going to find its way into my rod compartment and not just in my endless pile of shit.
The bait comes in at just under 8". . . but I won't hold it against him.
Shown here next to his 11" trout bait to show the size difference, as well as the design similarities.
I first got a chance to throw the bait up at Clear Lake last weekend and was very impressed, to say the least. The action and consistency of the bait is actually better than his 11" version. The 8" trout has a great tail action with little to no roll and can be fished fast or slow with no variation.
Here is a custom painted one I just finished
This thing is going to be a spotted bass killer in my book (not that it won't be a good largemouth bait as well). I got the floater which will actually crank down and fish about a foot below the surface. As usual, the bait comes with Owner hooks and construction quality is top notch.
You can check out Nate's site at Nates Baits
I am not sure when it will be readily available, however it will be worth the wait.
The two baits that will fish in a head to head battle have been stripped to their birthday suits.
The craftmanship on the old plug is crazy. It has a full wire-through loom and the hooks had to be cut off. I honestly don't even know if split rings existed when this bait was made. I will have to add split rings as a result but will try to match the original hooks as best I can when re assembling the bait.
A
Now the baits have a thick coat of rock hard epoxy primer
I will get them sanded and painted next week and ready them for the face off. Stay tuned
According to the Press Democrat, Clear Lake State Park will not be on the list, but Anderson Marsh in Lower Lake may be. Current discussions on Plan B options seem to be on raising entrance fees to $10-12.
More here: 220 State Parks Could Face Closure
If you have not already, go over to the official Save the Parks site to read the details, and send letters to your state representatives.
"Today, the Governor took aim at California's treasured state parks,
releasing a budget that contains the most draconian cuts ever
considered for the state park system," declared Elizabeth Goldstein,
president of the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF). "Never
before have so many parks, and such a diversity of state parks, state
historic parks, state recreation areas, and state beaches been placed
on the chopping block. The millions of Californians who visit their
parks will not tolerate this and will lead the fight to keep our state
parks open."
As many of you may have already heard, Governor Schwarzenegger is threatening to close down 48 California State Parks as part of his budget cuts. The list includes Clear Lake State Park, which has over 100,000 annual visitors. The budget cuts may go as far as closing over 200 parks in total over 2 years.
According to the Contra Costa Times:
"If there were a huge reduction in state spending, perhaps extensive park closures would make sense. But that is not the case.
In
fact, the savings from closing the parks would be only one-quarter of 1
percent of the state's budget deficit, according to Goldstein. That is
hardly enough to justify such a drastic action."
It is important for all of us who love having access to these places to show our support and send letters and sign petitions to get this removed. Not only are there great fishing spots included, but these are beautiful (and affordable) places that people take their families to hike and go camping.
The California State Parks Foundation has created a web page with a list of the proposed park closures, their annual attendence, and the amount of revenue they bring in. It seems stupid to close these places, not only because we like to visit them, but also because of the revenue loss and the job losses that the closures would mean. Not to mention the risks of vandalism and garbage, etc, that would come from leaving these places unpatrolled.
Here's the link to the list of proposed closures of California State Parks
Further Reading
Article in the Contra Costa Times
