FishwithJD

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The Koi from Hell!

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Austin Anderson with his beach ball...er...record smallmouth buffalo

Everything in Texas is big…including the koi! Actually, this is a smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) from Lake Fork, Texas. Austin Anderson of Coppell, TX USA landed the 50-pound, 6-ounce beast while soaking a dough ball. The thing took 40 minutes to land and was released so it can get even more obese!

The catch qualifies the kid for both the IGFA male Junior record for the species as well as the 50-pound line class record.

Walleye: West Coast Style!

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Now, if they only would pull a little string...


Though he spends most of his time chasing chrome winter steelhead and big wild Chinook along the coast of Northern California and has made many forays into exotic destinations for all sorts of big game, guide Tony Sepulveda is quite the “Midwest” species aficionado. Crappie, yellow perch, pickerel…you name it…and he’s into it.

And that’s especially true when it comes to ol’ marble eyes! Tony’s such a walleye junkie that, even on a busman’s holiday to the Columbia River recently, he took time out from chasing spring Chinook to try his hand at the river’s prolific ‘eye fishery.

“I’ve never been so excited in my life to catch something that fought so little,” he says of this gorgeous 12-pound walleye he hooked on a crawler harness with a chartreuse Mack’s Blade from just below John Day Dam. “It fought like a big, wet sock…I’m not sure what my fascination is with those things is, but I dig ’em!”

Wet sock or not, that’s one heck of a West Coast walleye! That should put a little more spin in any Midwestern angler’s Lindy Rig!

Woah! How about a World Record, 84-pound Carp!

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Is it a carp or a legless hog??


British angler Jo Green caught and released this massive, 84-pound carp in France and the fish is now the all tackle women’s world record for the species.

She and husband Mike were on vacation fishing when the beast slurped up the bait. While Mike says it would have been fun to catch the giant carp, he’s okay with the way things went down:

“Although I would like to have caught it,” he says, “it makes my life a lot easier because she is happy!” Smart man!

Read more about the monster here: The Sun

Seven foot catfish drags anglers’ boat a mile before being subdued!

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Nto your average catfish! This massive, 218-pound, 7-foot, 8-inch wels catfish (hooked in the River Po in Italy) gave three German anglers all the fight they could handle as it dragged them downstream a mile, where they landed it and hour later!

Of the epic battle, guide Stefan Seuss said this:

“It was the hardest fight from a catfish I have ever witnessed…” Duh!

Read the whole story here: The Sun

3 Steps to Rejuvenate Old Plastic Baits

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Sweaty, slimy swimbaits…yuck!

I hate it when plastic baits start getting that slimy, sweaty consistency! It usually happens as they get older or have been stored in a hot place (like the garage) for long periods. What’s happening here is the plastic starts to break down and leach out. In addition to the slimy feel, plastic baits often start giving off a chemical smell that I’m sure fish aren’t super fond of.

I used to chuck older plastics into the trash, but our resident bass guru, Big Fred Contaoi showed me a way to bring some life back into these babies. Click here to read more…