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Been fishing the Tyrant a lot lately with not much to show for it. Well that changed yesterday when an 11.3 pound bass inhaled the bait on the surface. Biggest bass I've caught on the surface. The bass have had a HUGE school of trout pushed back into a cove that is extremely shallow for almost 3 weeks now. I've been catching fish there but the biggest was around 5 pounds. Glad to know there are bigger fish lurking there... Rod: F5 & Fallof74 collab Reel: Diawa Ryoga 1520 Line: Diawa Samurai Fluorocarbon

Hey everyone, I really enjoy reading all about your catches in this sub, especially the posts that go into detail and explain how they caught the fish. These stories really provide me with more ideas on what to test and ways I can improve my own fishing moving forward. Anyway, a few days ago, I decided to hit up a small city park lake I haven't been to in a while to get in a quick bank fishing session. This spot isn't really known for big fish and is highly pressured, so I went in fully expecting to catch some dinks. To my surprise, I ended up catching a couple of good ones! Here’s the breakdown: Setup: Megabass VKC-711XH Shimano Scorpion MD 300XGLH DRT Tiny Klash Joy Thief Lo - Stock Lip, V-Tail, G-Guard, Weighted To Suspend Weather: 50 Degree Air Temps 10 mph North Winds With Up To 15 mph Gusts Mostly Sunny Time and water conditions: Around 6pm ?? Water Temps (based on feel, guessing above 50 but below 60) - probably way off on that Water visibility - About 5 ft The Catches: The wind was blowing from the north, so I decided to start on the south bank, where the wind was blowing against it. This end is typically deeper and has more interesting structure. Another thing I noticed was the loons swimming in that area, which I took for a sign that it might be where a lot of the bait fish are holding. I figured that’s where most of the bass would be concentrated in this scenario. I started out by cranking the TK until it gained some depth, and then I would deadwalk it back with various cadences. Think jerk, jerk, pause for a few seconds, and repeat, testing various lengths of the pause, ranging anywhere from 3 to 5 seconds. I mainly focused on fan casting and paralleling any visible drop-offs or structural irregularities. I got a few small followers but no commits. Then, I saw what appeared to be some baitfish being chased near a small point about 40-50ft away. This indicated to me that the fish were probably more active and preferred something faster. So I switched up the retrieve to a faster deadwalk. Basically, a quick and erratic deadwalk by making quick quarter turns of the reel handle, with less than half a second pauses in between each reel turn, all the way back to shore. I walk over to where I had seen the movement and make a cast towards deep water, paralleling the side of the small point. I start the retrieve, and just as the TK approaches the tip of the point, I get bit Hard. I wasn't expecting it, so I barely set the hooks into it. It was a total textbook situation, from the cast angle to the retrieve, and even where the bite happened. I get her close to shore and go in to lip her, but then I end up slipping on a rock! She thrashes her head, trying to make another run, and as I quickly get up to lip her, I noticed she had T-Boned the TK! At this point, there was no way I was going to lip her bare-handed with those treble hooks swinging everywhere. So, in a last-ditch effort, I grab the line and bank her on the shore. Not the most elegant way to do things, but at least I land her. This lake isn't really known for fish bigger than 1-2 lbs, so I didn’t bother bringing my scale or measuring board. Something I really regret now, but regardless, she was definitely a good one for this lake. Nobody was around, so I snapped some quick pics and sent her back on her way. For the next catch, I reach the other side of the point and make a cast across a section that funnels into another part of the lake. There is a shallow flat on the opposite side that drops off into deep water, with what is usually a shallow hump beside it. However, due to the low water levels, the hump is currently above water. I make a cast parallel to the edge of the flat where it drops off into deep water, start the retrieve, and right as I pass the hump, I get bit again in another textbook scenario! I land her and see she must have really wanted the TK because she nearly choked it! Holding her up, I realize she's even bigger than the last one, though I have no weights or measurements to be certain. Fortunately, this time, I manage to get a random passerby to take some pictures for me. Overall, it was a pretty good session! Also made a quick sketch on the lake breakdown below.

Hey guys wanted to share a rig that I’ve came up with experimenting on my own custom hand poured Swimbaits and wanted to share it with you guys as it will apply to creating a harness on all soft baits. Haven’t seen anyone talk about this before, this could be a game changer for rigging soft baits and with stuff you probably already have ! https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4zOU-pLSa6/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://westcoastbaits.net/f/mastering-the-art-of-rigging-the-roma-trout-swimbait Butch Brown Rig Harness: 1. Take an XL Screw lock spring and thread on a #3 - 90lb Swimbait Underground Split Ring or similar size that you may have on hand. Small size and strong split rings is key. 2. Tie a short leader of 30lb P-line PF/CXX to the split ring and on the other end of the line, tie on your treble hook as close as possible. We recommend using VMC or Gamakatsu as they have a flat side that lays flat on the bait with the two prongs sticking up. 3. Use the XL Screw lock spring and center it in the nose of the Swimbait, make sure the split ring is straight up and down, not sideways, the knot is faced toward the back of the bait, put the treble hook on the back of the bait. 4. After rigging then tie your main line towards the middle of the split ring. so you will have two knots on the split ring one in the middle is your line tie and the other on the back towards the hook. 5. Place 3/32 tungsten nail weights in each of the fins for weight and stability. If using stock springs from owner beast hooks, After rigging For added security you can unscrew the harness halfway and place a few drops of loctite super glue gel and then screw back on all the way. The main benefit of this rig is it is very stealthy, can be fished in any depth, and has a great hookup ratio. The Roma trout is soft and flexible so it can fold inside the mouth after getting bit and ensuring a good hookset on the fish. The most important thing is when you get a fish on, it has a direct connection from your direct mainline to your split ring to treble hook no need to use wire, crimps or have special tools anyone can tie up this rig with what they may already have laying around or on the water.

Maybe those guy finally figured out that fishin for the gram is LAME and just show their actual friends and just fish for the LOVE of fishing. At least thats what I hope is happening and it spreads like wildfire.

That’s pretty dope and I already have a few applications where this would be super useful I would change the split ring to a solid welded ring. Less abrasion points and smaller/stronger thanks for sharing!

BRO, this picture is INSANE!!! Your swimbait and the WCZ mat have matching colors!!! Not only that, the halibut and the rock/ground your standing on both have matching colors too for the perfect camouflage!!! Damn it, catching a legal halibut is still on my bucket list too!!! Great job and nice fish.

Not only lame, but blows up the spot

From what those Big B.A.S.S. hunters on that lake say in interviews I seen. They’re still in there. They see them on the scope. It’s just very heavily pressured lake and them fish are conditioned at this point. Idk.

Dude, that was a phenomenal write up and enjoyable to read. Congratulations on the catches. This is good information for others to learn from. One thing to emphasize, as we have all been there: always take a scale, travel measuring board and a collapsible net. You don’t want to chance loosing a giant in a situation like you experienced. Trust me, been there, done that bank fishing. Plus you want to be able to document it.

Not a bad idea either, might be a little more practical for me thanks man

Quick easy clear coat option... Clear finger nail polish. It can be heavy depending on type used

Raw resin just looks so clean till it doesn’t. I made this one a low float, so it can be fished over grass with ease.

2k is amazing stuff. Make sure you are in a INSANELY WELL VENTALATED AREA and wear a respirator with organic filters.

Yeah. It needs to be activated before you use it. Once you do, I think it has a 48 hour usage window. Someone on here said to put it in the freezer to extend the lifespan which I’ve done and didn’t seem to have any issues spraying a couple more baits over a couple weeks. The ideal scenario would be to have multiple baits ready for clear before using though. I’ve been using the Createx Wicked line of paints for my baits with good results.

Phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. Congratulations.

There’s a video on YouTube with Gary talking about all his rods. It’s a long 3 hour video and I’m pretty sure he goes over every rod including the Kaden series. Look up “hella bass” on YouTube and you’ll find it

Congratulations brother!

Pig! Congrats

That's a big girl congratulations on the DD.

Yeah I can see that for sure of them just not posting it as much, I tried like looking at it on fishbrain even a few days ago but you can tell its not quite as popular over there as it is here.

Biwa definitely still kicks out giants but I’ve noticed it less and less as well. I know that it gets a ton of pressure but pressure is an interesting thing because OH Ivie gets beat up just as much I’m sure and that lake seems to kick out a DD everyday. I also think that your average bass fisherman in Japan isn’t as heavy on social media as a lot of guys here in the US, Biwa could be putting out a DD everyday to some dudes soaking live bait and we would never know but that’s just speculation, plenty of dudes over there posting fish too

Looks legit to me. Not my favorite paint job though

I always feel a little guilty promoting my product, but I 100% have the best microballoons in the USA. Contact me on instagram and lets do a video chat and get to the bottom of this!

Tis the season

Nice fish and awesome write up. I appreciate the details. Keep em coming.

Yessir, super hard to find any of the classic ambassadeurs for lefty’s. Good luck man, they are so worth it!

Nice! Catching a legal Hali is still on my bucket list

Rough weather in northern IL today but I've been on this 3-day weather pattern the last couple weeks (fishing the 3rd day of warm day/warmish night trend) and today is the target day. I decided to send this Gantarel KO (it's a super-slow sink, not a floater) and got lucky with my new PB! Went 20.75" and 5.77lbs. Water's less than 2ft visibility, off-and-on drizzle with 10-20mph NNE winds. I was using a moderate retrieve with pauses every three handle turns or so (reel, reel, reel, pause...let it glide off to the side and stall a couple seconds, then reel, reel...) She hit it right when I started reeling after a pause. She didn't TANK it, but it was a good double-tap. Thanks for reading! God is great!!!

The weed guards are pretty hard to get so I’m playing around with making my own. I copied the idea from the Banderuola B-1 concept using one of their wire guards. First pic is of the Banderuola set up. 2nd and 3rd pic is of the wire guard itself from Banderuola. 4th pic of is the hole I made in the TK lip with a hot needle. I Think I need to put the hole higher up in the lip - most likely towards the center of the lip. I probably need to shorten the wire as well - I’ll play with it a bit and see how it works out. Im going to stop by a Hobby shop that sells RC plane stuff to source different wires to play with. Last pic is of my first attempt.