there is a swimbait for every situation, and there is not a bass out there he can’t catch with a swimbait. Must be nice to have your comfort technique be a known monster bass slayer! Paul plain and simple has more fun throwing big baits, and ultimately catching bass five pounds and up. His favorite time of year to catch big fish is in the weeks leading up to the spawn, noting “the first wave of fish are generally the bigger ones.” The Bailey brothers are no strangers to bait customization either, part owners of Predator Swimbaits, they produce unique soft swimbaits that are becoming known to catch big bass. Being on the water, throwing swimbaits, going sometimes days without a bite, just for the moment he hooks one fish is what drives Paul Bailey.
The third fisherman I talked to has a story to share about a fish that was caught - not a personal best, not a tournament winning fish, just a great story, which is what fishing is all about. Let me introduce you to someone who just plain loves to fish, Jackson Paluczak also known as “Action Jackson” from San Diego.
This young man, at the age of 10 has already caught bass so big they make him look like the trophy. He was
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kind enough to tell me a story of his most memorable bass, and I’d like to share it with you. Just know this is only the first we will be seeing of Jackson.
Last summer, after a not so strong finish at El Capitan for a night tournament, Jackson and his dad, Andy, went to erase a bad night of fishing with a good day of fishing. One of the first boats to launch that morning at Lower Otay, they headed straight to the back of Harvey’s and started flipping a Senko. “It was really tough, we only managed to get two good 3 1/2 pound fish” describes Jackson. Exhausted from the night tournament before, Andy decided to take a little nap, so of course Jackson just took control of the front and kept going down the bank flipping. About 25 minutes later he saw his line twitch, reeled up the slack and set the hook!
Sitting in 20 feet of water, Jackson got a glimpse of the fish saying, “it looked like another three pound fish, but it fought like a beast and took me into the tules and wrapped me up; I thought I was going to lose it.”
The tules gave way, and with the fish still on, Jackson reeled it in closer. “I got it about three or four feet away from the boat when tules started to break off and a mouth about the size of a coffee can appeared from the tules, so I grabbed the net and this
thing started to freak, I mean it
was doing anything in its will to
snap me off,” he said.
A few seconds later
Jackson landed the fish,
and woke up his dad with a
“surprise fish” that turned
out to be a 6 ½ plus pound
largemouth! The thrill of
catching fish, spending time at
the lake is what drives Jackson.
There are many types of fishermen, whether or not you consider yourself a trophy chaser, tournament angler, weekend fisherman, or just like to get out and fish every now and then; we all share a common driving force, catching fish.
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