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I’ve been looking for a set of these 6s for a while...

A couple of baits caught my attention and came home with me.

Second over 10 this year...10 on the nose. Big trout eater!!!

Being a younger angler I am usually on foot or my bike when I’m going out fishing so I am constantly fishing the smaller heavily pressured ponds by my house. Ive been fishing for around 11 years but 2 years ago I picked up swimbaits and it has really changed the way I break down waters. So when fishing the pressured bodies of water you definitely have to think outside the box. Here is my approach fishing these ponds from the bank. My Equipment: I want to be as mobile as possible so I only bring one rod and reel with me as it is easy to walk around. The setup I use that can throw every bait I bring with me to a new body of water is a Dobyns 806 paired with a Shimano Tranx 300 spooled with 25 lb pline fluorocarbon. Polarized sunglasses are a must have in my opinion it allows you to see fish, your bait, and anything in the water a fish could be located on. For a backpack I use the Lateral Vision Repel, it is waterproof which is a huge bonus that keeps all your gear nice and dry. Here are some other things I bring with me that are self explanatory; split ring pliers, mend it, Bass Dynasty, a knife, Working Class Zero travel ready measuring board, and a digital scale. Baits: As for baits I try to keep it simple just bring a couple of baits that cover the entire water column and fish them hard. - Spro Rat 50 - 7 inch Triple Trout - DRT Tiny Klash - 5 inch Rising Son - S-waver 168 - G2 Shellcracker I have found that the most simple changes have done so much, such as: tuning a tiny klash to slow sink, filing down the joint on a swaver, adding size 2 hooks instead of size 1’s. What to throw and when: Summer: During the summer months my go to baits are wakebaits, smaller gill baits, and small bass colored glides. Almost all the fish I catch are early in the morning or sunset that being because it was the prime feeding time. The fish I catch are usually located on structure. Whether it be some sort of pipe, under a tree, or back in a ditch that comes off a pond. Fall: Nothing beats burning a triple trout or aggressively fishing a tiny klash. Fishing during the fall is such a fun thing the fish are out bulking up for the winter so they are very aggressive. I remember my first time fishing a triple trout one afternoon after school and I caught about 10 bass in 45 minutes just burning it along some dying grass lines. Winter: Winter fishing is definitely where I am the weakest, but my two most successful baits are a swaver and a 5 inch rising son. The one thing I have learned is fish deeper and slower. Spring: Bluegill and baby bass glides have been my best producers. The fish in early spring will generally be cruising up and down the banks then later stuck on beds in full attack mode. Where I catch most of my fish: When I go to a new pond I target any changes in composition on the shoreline. What I mean by this is say there is a pond and all the edges are rocky well then I would be looking for points, bushes, trees, pipes, coves, etc. Just anything that is a little different and sticks out to me. Sometimes there will be ponds that are have no change like a giant round swimming pool, in that case I use a bait that can cover water fast and I walk around casting almost parallel to the shore as I know they use the shoreline as an ambush point. The spots I circled are where I have had the most success at. Feel free to contact me @cj_bassinish on here or instagram if you have any questions! Thank you for the submission to the Underground Collective @Cj_bassinish. View full record

Added to the spring arsenal. This thing looks awesome in person

Nothing special/expensive/hard to get but some new savage gear Magnum glides and the new 8” line thru split pulse tail trouts. The glides look awesome in person, the carp color is great, hooks are heavy duty, striper grade, the dual split ring on the back is interesting. The line thrus are nice, colors are great. Top is the ghost trout which is almost identical to the standard trout on the bottom except when you hold it up to the light it’s clear material.

Sweet bait and nice paint, the SleepyEyed Killer!

This just proves age has nothing to do with it.It all lies in experience.Great job repping the younger anglers.Great read too.

@BrhodesBassin that bait design is super unique man, no issues on my end with the clear coat @azfisher sweet video man, nice music choice btw, that shad glide swims real nice, and the gill looks great too. Nice to see everyone perfecting the baits and bringing the A game now I need to go paint the rest of the gills, thanks for the motivation guys!

So we had a snow day in the SW yesterday, got a little test swim footage done until my fingers got so cold I couldn't re-tie anymore. Painted a couple shad glides and cleared with 2X for convenience as I'm still kinda KBS shy. I foiled the shads prior to painting and got great scale reflection in the sun, doesn't show in the vid. I'm stoked with the way the shad glide is swimming now. Seem to have gotten rid of what I call "Shoulder Roll" and have a much more stable and fluid swim. I have the eyescrews turned all the way in, so I can probably open up the hinge a little and get a little wider glide, just didn't have the time in the cold weather. This tail is out of the F'd up Flex 30 I had left and I can see it flex some as the bait swims. I have some fresh Flex 60 on the way, see if that will change anything. So this bluegill crankdown has really been an awesome surprise. I made four last fall right before the Battle and never got much time in with them. This last batch I got dialed in pretty well and really liking the way it cranks down and tracks. Loved the way it burned. I'm getting 3-3 1/2 foot in the pool, can probably get four feet in the lake and if I move a little of the head ballast forward I might get a little more. I'm hoping it will be a good producer. The Gill glide still has a little roll and needs some work but I think it's quite fishable. I expect my baits will have a clear coat issue as well, so it is what it is @BrhodesBassin Sorry for the lengthy vid, I guess I get carried away...

Not as impressive as you’d think. As far as I know, almost all reels are either 7mm or 8mm. So you’ve got a 50/50 shot haha.

@GrantA It depends which nut/bolt you get. If the TranX 200 has a 7mm shaft then you want the Shimano nut. The 300 and 400 TranX have an 8mm shaft which takes the Daiwa/Abu nut. The DRT handles can be made to fit almost any reel as long as you get the correct nut.

@chefchris I’m liking those line thru trouts.

That's a good idea. Make it disappear after 100 posts or so.

Yes, shipping to a different address will cause you to lose any dispute.

As promised.I know it’s too short and definitely doesn’t show case everything the bait can do.But hey at least it’s something. 69114CCA-EA2F-46E7-BF0A-B581280DD1FD.MOV

Got all 6 gills sanded and prepped for paint. Sprayed one last night to make sure I had the pattern down and that my spray cans still all worked, haven’t sprayed anything in a little while. Did the original pattern on that one. Got some ideas for the other ones, after looking at pics and testing some blanks. Orange craw or whatever you want to call it, got a purple belly and some holographic clear and yellow over the top (which didn’t really do anything). This one is a test/proto wake version for myself. will get the other 4 sprayed today and epoxied next week.

So I have finally dialed in a bait that I am really digging and believe it should catch some decent bass. Took it out for a swim this past Sunday and loved the action on all of them, as they all have slightly different weight placements and joints. But all seem to swim good imo. Even stuck a little guy on a pretty dead day so think I’m on the right track. Just need a name now for this bait...

A few months ago I was fishing a lake in my area for the day while my mom was at work. The lake is said to have “smallmouth only” so I targeted a creek inlet full of stocker trout. I was using a gancraft 178 in a trout pattern sight fishing for some big smallies when I saw 3 absolute giant largies cruise in. I sprinted towards them watching one eat a trout as I was part way there. I fired my gancraft past them and twitched it erratically as the smallest one comes up and eats it. After it was hooked a random but very helpful old man netted it for me. Put her on the scale and took some pics. She went 8 and the myth of smallmouth only was now gone. (Sorry for the long writeup)

Well done....I am not young but certainly relate to many things you said. I only have 1 rod/reel most days i go out. Dobyns 806sb else if i'm bring 2 rods the 736cb glass as well. Between these two, i carry a handful of baits and fish them hard like you do. Congrats!

The best advice I can give is to search this forum and watch every YouTube video you can find. There are a million different ways to make these baits, and no one does it the same. You just gotta find out what works for you. Keep in mind, there is a lot of trial and error in this process, so don’t get discouraged if your first bait doesn’t turn out like you expected.

It has a nice glide to it!!

Awesome work, Will! Love the vid!

Killing it! Keep at it!

Beast! Nice catch Jared!

I have a 200 7.3 and love it for the smaller baits. Rafa shad, UFO gill 175s. Wanna get the 6.3 for the sly gills. I think the slower reel will be killer for them Have it paired with the spiralite maverick heavy 8'3"

Love the first pic...your doing it!

Yeah the pics don’t do em justice at all, the crappie is sick. A few years back we stumbled upon this very early (after ice out) bite where the bass where eating em like crazy, every fish we caught had a tail sticking out it’s throat. So had to add that color to the line up. Can’t go wrong with carp/shiner color here either and the other one is the gizzard color but I plan on throwing it once the herring show up.

Dude you’re killing em! Are you fishing it line through style or weedless?

Straight hammer

Man you've been killin it!

This is not a "built" bait but still something i do since i run Tomahawk_Custom_Baits on Instagram, Curious if something like this would be acceptable for this event or not? Would be glad to ship off a few to someone who i know will give the criticism i oh so want on this bait and maybe a couple cool pics other than stripes. Specs are 6" 1.75 oz and designed to use a 12/0 beast or if unweighted hook is chosen they wake so good since they are 100% floating ,If this is something that's accepted i will gladly customize your bait(s) to your preference color wise...

So cool to see that this is still traveling around the country and still catching fish!

Here you go. 5:14 on the 8” biwaa submission shad

Only applies to new members right now. Can change it down the road if needed. Thanks for the input guys

No, but a compromise might be to only have it for "New Members" since their posts are still being approved and they are generally the ones starting new topics when they are not needed

I see a couple of my old baits there. Nice ones!

Some lures ive been finding this winter. Goal for the year. Catch a bass on every one!

finally got a chance to add one of these to the collection.

A little something.....

Some new toys to toss around once the ice thaws put up here in MA

Been working on a bunch of baits, ballasted to low float, slow sink and a couple bottom rockets! Getting ready for body work and to start slinging some paint...

The original 3pc is still catching em at a buddies pond, but been all smller bass. Hoping to get it in a lake to try and entice a bigger bite. May I’ll happy they’re continuing to catch.

Gave a couple of baits to some SU members yesterday and took the short work to start sticking em. Now just need to stick a big one