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In 2006 my swimbait game was largely based on two lures - the 7" MS Slammer and the 8" ROF 5 Hudd. I did have a few other lures, like Lunker Punkers and one of the OG wood shellcrackers, but 9 times out of ten, one swimbait rod would have a Hudd on it, and the other would have the 7" Slammer. After the '06 season wrapped up (or, to be more honest, was iced out by lakes freezing over), I decided that it was time to up my game, especially when it came to fishing for bass at night, as most of my night fishing until then was for walleye. I ordered and soon received a 9" MS Slammer in light trout. Why that color? Well, my first Slammer, a 7" model, was in that color and it seemed to work well. Once spring rolled around, I started throwing the bigger Slammer - it seemed huge, almost too big, but the bass didn't seem to mind. After the first couple of trips where I waffled back and forth between the 7" and 9" Slammers, I had gained enough confidence to start throwing the Slammer a lot, and soon, given the amount of action it was generating, it was pretty much all I threw at night, sometimes with a bit of Baby Possum thrown in to mix things up, and much of what I threw during the day. That first year was a learning one and the years that followed just got better and better. Five years on and the "Super Slammer" as my kids named it, was going strong, a bit beat up, but other than new hooks every now and then, it kept doing the job. Ten years on and the Slammer still held the #1 spot in the rotation, and more often than not was the first lure on the water and the last lure off. It had a good case of hook rash and much more of the paint was worn off, but the fish didn't care - they continued to pound it night and day. Fifteen years on, last night, the Slammer announced that it was closing time, but only after adding 5 more largemouth to its tally. Then, on a long cast parallel to a steep bank, the lure touched down with an odd-sounding splash (when you've cast the same lure thousands of times, you get pretty attuned to the sounds and vibrations). I gave the lure a quick pop to start yet another potentially productive retrieve and didn't feel enough resistance - heck, I barely felt any resistance at all. Even if the Slammer had fouled its hooks there'd be more weight. Something was not right. Reeling in quickly, I made the sickening discovery that all I had on my line was the line tie, lip, and rounded "nose" of the Super Slammer - the rest was missing. Uh-oh. Throwing away the rule book on night fishing, I immediately flipped my headlamp onto bright, spun the pontoon around so I could kick over to the splash zone and churned over there as fast as I could, scanning the water as I went. I could accept the Super Slammer breaking, but I didn't want to lose the lure. As I approached where I thought it had landed, I spotted the lure, floating in nearly its usual attitude, and swooped in and grabbed it. The nose and bill had cleanly separated from the head of the lure, leaving just a short "brow" extending out above where the bill attached. I carefully placed the lure into my tackle box, along with the nose-bill section, and clipped on...another 9" Slammer (this was a deep cranking one). That one didn't catch any fish, but, to be honest, after the Super Slammer self-retired, I was not fishing very hard - I rowed the two miles back to the truck, and called it a night. Here's the Super Slammer. She's had an amazing run and now she will get the position of honor above the fishing closet, where she can survey all comings and goings. This Slammer was fished hard, and often for fifteen years on 3 continents, in 4 countries, and in the waters of 7 US states. This lure caught smallmouth bass, wipers, channel catfish, rainbow trout, and northern pike but largemouth bass, literally hundreds of largemouth bass from 9-inchers to 6-pounders, were its specialty. The Super Slammer was, and is, a special lure and its swimming days are over. p.s. When I got home I reached into the fishing closet and took out a virgin 9" MS Slammer, also in Light Trout, and tied it on. I then got in touch with Mike Shaw to order another one. The legacy must continue.

Some might recognize me from FB or other fishing forums New this forum in particular but I've been throwing Mattlures gills in Florida for over a decade, mostly golf course ponds In 2018 I moved to Oregon and the swimbaits slowed but are coming back Currently building another collection for smallmouth and largemouth, kinda nice being able to throw more trout baits Most of my fishing is out of a Nucanoe Unlimited, one man bass boat setup, not a fan of the deep water reservoirs here, I stick to anything clear and shallow.

Went out to a highly pressured public pond not expecting much, didn’t have a scale so you can tell me how much you think she weighs, not a pb but a true oregon biggin

Just put this one together… LDC XH white label, Antares Dc Xg Md with black 110 varial and Od greenz.. Can’t wait to test drive it…

Also an intro post, fishing clear water here in Oregon via the Umpqua or local ponds around Eugene Started with the smaller spro rat for smallmouth but quickly switched to the 50 to weed out the runts, they can't resist a run out from under shady limbs, not the best rat for current though.

Just got my bgc back from tk stanley he killed it on this one

Whacked a 6" citizen rigged on 8/0 flashy swimmer. Then immediately wrapped me around 2 submerged standing. Total chaos. 16lbs, didn't have a measuring device long enough, I'd say 32"+ based on similar catfish I've caught.

Congrats to @Tommythegun1 for winning the August 2022 SUB tournament. Please contact @swimbaitunderground for your prize pack 614892239_videoscale8-22sub5.1.mp4.334e6da024f34a3f4410c56c1b1e8de9.mp4

A few solid NJ bass to round out my Labor Day Weekend: With 10 acres of vegetation eradicated on my home water, and reservoir levels being the lowest I can remember, I had the opportunity to explore new areas. I found a location in between two points, filled with healthy vegetation. Putting the reliable Rat 50 to work, I managed two solid fish. First fish went 4lb-10oz. This one made me work. Not only hiking to find the area, but as soon as it exploded on the bait, it headed towards my direction and due to my slow gear ratio reel it dug into the vegetation. I tried to give it slack, hoping it would free itself, but to no avail, it dug in deeper. I walked down the bank, hoping to get a better angle of getting it out, still no luck. Finally I made the decision to “horse” the fish out. Laying into the XH rod with 30lb mono, it slowly started to move. Finally getting it out, I muscled the bass and all its vegetation with it. As big as the bass was, I couldn’t even see it under all the vegetation. None the less, I was thankful I went with overkill on the line. ***This one was caught in between the two points, which span about 50 yards roughly. Second fish though not as exciting, went 3lb-8oz. Learning from how thick the vegetation was from the previous bass, I did not give it anytime to submerged and bury itself. This one was caught on the left side of the point. A couple of key points: both cast were made about 45 degrees or less favoring the bank. Both fish were head shots on the baits. If you got this far reading this, thank you for your time, I appreciate it tremendously. Enough reading, now for the fish…..

I probably feel for you more than anyone lol. This has also happened to me. Same EXACT color and I think the same year. I wonder if it was a certain batch. I’ll check the dates tomorrow. I epoxy or superglued mine and it has been fine since but doesn’t get used a lot with 136 other slammers in the mix lol

They will charge u for a new rod at a huge discount even if u bought it used from a private seller. U have to cut the part of the rod that lists the specs (about 10" or so) and send it to them. I tripped and broke my 867 that I bought used from underground, retail is $300. They charged me $90 for a brand new one. Just had to send in the piece of the rod they require

And now its watch has ended.... Happy retirement

Popped a nice one in the rain today on the Wade. She went 5-10.

Picked up a Hirocaine and so far I'm def impressed. I was looking for a bigger waking gill that was relatively light for its size - 8” long, 3.25” high at the tallest part of the bait and and a little over 5 oz. It comes with stock with Decoy XS-21 1/0 and 1 quads but I’m going to try lighter hooks to get it to float up a bit more It sits deep in the water with only the very top of the bait sticking out off the water. Paint and finish are incredible Casts well for such a broad bait. Cast it out and let it settle and rise up and start the retrieve - the shoulder roll is incredible and u can feel the thump one the retrieve - definitely a bait for windy days. With the stock hooks on shorter casts the bait moves a lot of water and wakes beautifully. On longer casts with the stock hooks the bait will crank down about a foot and again produces a nice thump. I’m going to try some some lighter hooks and split rings to get it to wake on longer casts. I fished it on Izorline 20# copoly https://hiroshimacustoms.com/products/8-hirocaine?variant=41914421969075 Swim video from @hiroshimacustoms IG page https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChaFYrvrJF8/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Hey sorry gang for the late update, college started back up and well as many can imagine I’m a little occupied with depression… I mean biochem. Anyway I have a tracking number and should get the baits in Friday! Guy apologized and threw in more baits as well. Situation overall sucked but I’m happy to be getting my baits finally.

Wow that's pretty amazing to have that kind of history with that particular lure I feel like I can only dream of that at this point that's crazy awesome

Definitely prefer the slower gear ratio for wakes and cranks. In my experience the higher gear ratios require a bite more effort and can be fatiguing. Just my opinion

I got the countdown version havent had a chance to try yet but sure looks good got a dock raider as well

Lower gear ratio is my preference for most lipped baits. If you get the HG, you're going to need to keep the power handle on it or you're going to wear yourself out cranking against that resistance all day. I like the HG for bigger glides or other baits without much water resistance; the extra speed makes it easier to work the bait how you want. The Tranx 300 is a great do-everything reel, but if you have multiple setups or want something lighter you could totally get away with a 200 size reel for this (especially if you're running braid to leader so the line capacity is less of a concern). Tons of good options out there, and you save ~4 ounces going from a Tranx 300 at 12oz to something like a Tatula 200, Zillion HD, Conquest, etc. at 8oz. Food for thought.

Those early 2000s Slammers definitely had something going for them. Jesse, your Slammer collection is legendary.

Thank you!

pretty awesome story and awesome history thanks for sharing was hoping it was good news and not the passing of someone or another shop closing down my baits dont ever seem to make it that long, lost my go to slammer last year on an epic bite, snapped off and the wind waves took it then lost my go to wade hoggs this season to a big fish in a rocky area

Sorry for your loss. I too hold a special place in my heart for slammers. Especially ones with a lot of hour put in on it. one of mine broke the same way. I sent it to mike and he put a bigger eye screw in it and epoxied it back together. I never trusted it though and ended up getting rid of it.

Woke up the morning with a gut feeling that I NEEDED to hurry up and get down to a specific strip of bank. This beauty crushed my line thru gizzard 4 casts in!

Can't stop staring at this thing.

Couple of new things flowing in

Added the perfect bite sized gill to the arsenal. The bait comes from @Jinxd12 and I’ll be fishing it in a few days it has all the right colors, size is excellent at 6” and 2.4 oz. Love the softer / matte finish on the paint, profile is spot on and the eyes will definitely get some headshots. I’ll post a actual fishing and report later in the week - if u want more details on the bait check out @Jinxd12 thread on the build / fishing of this bait.

Really? I thought the OP’s “Spicy McChicken” comment was right up there lol. A bait is a bait is a bait. Never owned a UFO, never will, don’t even care to. Learn how to utilize baits and you’ll catch the same fish on a $40 bull wake as you will a UFO you paid $350 for…