berkowitzzzz

Beagler, its probably cheating but I use a rope lure. No hooks. Their mouths are very bony and it is very difficult to get a hook in there. Their teeth get tangled in the rope and they roll to get more tangled. to make lure, take 4-6' piece of rope and tie off one end and about 1" down. I use zip ties. then unravel the rest of the rope. to attach it to your line, straighten a jig head and thread that through the middle of the tied off end and then bend hook back into the tied off part over the bottom zip tie. sometimes they have to hit lure a few times before it is frayed enough for them to stick. if/when you get one, id recommend wearing a glove on account of the gigantic sharp teeth and sticking something in their mouth so you can keep it open to untangle (they can breath air so keeping them out of the water for a couple minutes to do this shouldn't kill them). way easier. Credit for this method goes to my brother (he posts here as ericmic1 I think) who found this somewhere online. super fun to catch. they hit hard and fight hard.

Great fish tman. I had a 46" replica done of one I caught at Chautauqua a couple years ago. it was really difficult finding a taxidermy guy to do it and it was pretty pricey (worth it to me though). apparently the hard part is finding mold that size and that species. if you want my guys info let me know. he is in Springville and did a great job. From my crappy memory, I think the going rate is $15-18/inch. Berk