Sharing a Passion for Fun and Big Bass : BIG BASS DREAMS

Introduction: Big Bass Dreams is a documentary mostly about one man's journey chasing big bass. The hours of dedication, the meticulous care of his gear, the shear joy of hooking and landing big fish, taking a photo, and letting them go to fight another day. We sit down with the man behind the video, Oliver Ngy, to learn a little bit more about his journey, his story, his dream.

TT: Oliver, thanks for sitting down with us today and telling us about your Dream. It's easy to assume when someone puts out a video about "big bass" that it's going to be an instructional piece explaining "how to", but Big Bass Dreams isn't about that is it? Tell us a little bit more about your goals and motivation behind the video.

O.Ngy: This film "project" really started out as a learning tool for myself to be honest. I was able to go home and watch playback on events just like athletes watch film after games. It made me a better fisherman by being able to virtually re-live each bite, each scenario and pick up on things I was doing right and things I could have done better. You can learn so much by just watching yourself. I was on a pretty good streak in 2012, I was amassing quite a bit of footage in a 7 week span. I was showing my closest friends some of the crazy things I was able to capture on video and slowly the idea of producing a film from it started to emerge.

The majority of fishing productions I've watched are geared towards that "instructional" theme, but frankly that tends to get boring quickly. What I envisioned during production of Big Bass Dreams - Volume 1 was that the viewer would watch the film and come away from it motivated and inspired to go out and chase their own DREAM, of which for many of us is BIG bass.

TT: Big fish eat little fish, it's a line we use a lot in our review of big baits. Yet there are a lot of anglers out there who are still afraid to throw them. What motivated you to chuck your first big bait and how long did it take before you had any degree of success?

O.Ngy: My first dreams of grande sized bass occurred around the age of 12 or 13. My local tackle store was a place called Turners Outdoorsman in West Covina. At the time, it was my favorite place to hangout. I'd read each weekly publication from Western Outdoor News and see pictures of giant largemouth and stripers being caught by the likes of Doc Holiday, Bob Crupi, Jerry Rago, Mike Long, Pat Buckley and other trailblazers. I was inspired to chase giants from the get go. Turners sold a descent variety of swimbaits at the time, the original Optimum, and Castaic Wood Trout included.

My first swimbait was the 9" Castaic Hard Head, of which I had all the early versions and soon after that, the "Opti-bomb" as we liked to call the Optimum. Honestly success was marginal those early years. I spent a lot of time chucking from the bank and battled more ospreys than I did big largemouth. However there were a lot of 3-7 pounders and those fish instilled some pretty heavy confidence in our group that these big lures worked.

TT: Big Bass Dreams is all about largemouth bass yet there are a lot of species of fish, big fish, that will eat a big bait. Do you chase any other species or is it all about largemouth bass?

O.Ngy: Actually I grew up fishing bluegill and redear first, then moved my way to trout and catfish as they were all relatively easy to figure out as a young kid. The focus on largemouth didn't come until I was a year or so into fishing.

I still fish for everything from bluegill to bluefin tuna. I believe that being a good multi-species angler makes me a better bass fisherman. Even bluegill fishing taught me a lot. Just the sheer numbers of bites you can get exposed me to just about every type of bite imaginable. Pressure bites, light ticks, bites on slack line, line moving against wind/current, a variation of subtle bites that I was able to recognize in my bass fishing. The saltwater experience helps me know the limits of my tackle and how hard I can pull on these big bass. We used to bounce 8-10 pound barracuda fishing local saltwater, that's where I got the confidence to bounce some of these bass.

Trophy largemouth bass will always be my main passion though, as I feel like they are the toughest to figure out. It's a mental game, 100%. That's why I'm able to stay engaged like I am, these giants are hard to catch and not easy to land.

TT: On your website, bigbassdreams.com, you explain there was a period of about three years where you stopped fishing because you were burned out. Can you explain what happened and what burned you out? Was it the politics surrounding big baits or something else?

O.Ngy: Unfortunately yes, the politics and drama surrounding big baits, but also a bad business venture that also had to do with the fishing industry. It all came to a head at about the same time and really took it's toll on me. Suddenly fishing had become something other than just fun which is never good. I had to walk away from the business venture as my partner at the time wasn't on the same page and wasn't doing it for the right reasons. I was in it for the love of the sport and we just didn't see eye to eye.

I fished other species on and off during that stretch but stayed away from bass fishing. There were too many egos and guys taking the whole experience too seriously and I found all of it too unappealing.

TT: What brought you back to fishing?

O.Ngy: Love for the sport, love for the hobby, the adrenaline rush of catching big bass. :)

TT: What's your first memory fishing and who introduced you to this favorite past time of ours?

O.Ngy: It's kind of a unique story. I was 10 years old and at a family picnic at Puddingstone lake. Bored out of my mind, I found a stick, some tangled line with a couple hooks, and flipped some rocks for bait. I walked out to the pier and dropped my high end setup into the water. A few minutes went by and what do you know? I got bit. The monster broke me off almost immediately! In turn, I was really intrigued and literally hooked for life, so I may have missed that fish, but that fish landed me! After thatn, my mom took me to the lake every weekend, she's the one responsible for my early development in fishing.

Next Section: The conditions to "DREAM" for...