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Hey guys, spring is almost here! Wanted to give an update since moving from NYC to North Jersey. Ive been given 1 day a week to fish and man Im so thankful; even more since its Monday and I rarely deal with boat traffic. So yesterday I explored a HUGE reservoir, bigger than 600 acres, my 12v 54ah battery died on my way back to the launch and thankfully I brought a paddle. Found this one tucked into a cove next to a beaver dam. Threw the K9 (mode b) and watched her come out and crush the tail. Water temps were mid 50s She went 4lb 9oz, took a few pictures, we enjoyed our time together and she swam away, hopefully she can bring someone else as much joy as she did when I caught her. Also including a bigger fish I caught in the rain on the deps 250 before the eclipse. Personally I feel this fish was bigger than the 4lb 9oz but I didn't have scale when she was caught Fun fact: BOTH fish were caught around 1pm Thanks for reading and until next time Andrew -

Hey I'm new around here but I figured I may as well start posting, I'm a NY bank beater who has friends with boats. This spring I've been crushing on what I would consider big swimbaits but I still have a lot to learn. My biggest five of the year go for just over 29.5 lbs, with a 6.6 lunker. I'm looking forward to hearing feedback and seeing what's what around here. I blame @CG_Fishes for putting me in this game, now I'm a fish bum.

Hi All just thought I’d share my latest project of restoring an old first version 2x4 top water. The bait is 10” in length and 5.6 ounces. After stripping the epoxy and sanding the bait I removed the 3 eye screws. Since I primarily target large striper I opted to install rotating spro swivels (250 lb rating). To do this I used a 1/4” fortsner bit to drill into the belly to take the swivel and another hole intersecting the belly to install the brass pin to hold the swivel in place. I also coated the holes with super glue a few times to water proof them. To cap the intersecting holes I used 1/4” dowel super glued in and then sanded smooth. I also plugged the hole for the tail eye screw as it was off kilter and drilled a new, centered pilot hole. Next order of business will be adding a one knock into this bait which I will share the process with you all if anyone is wondering how to do that. That’s it for now. More photos to come !!

Hit the water early morning before the wind got too intense. Went around and hit some areas that looked good in my opinion. As everyone knows I have no clue what I’m doing but I ended up landing a jersey giant some how and now currently my PB. Very grateful since I only started swimbait fishing few months ago. You don’t have to learn much just go out there and throw big swimbaits and you’ll get quality. Going to continue to throw the big baits and see what else this year brings. Drt klash 9 best swimbait ever !!

I say skip all the “starter” nonsense and buy the one that you like. Youtube is a great place to see swim vids on swimbaits. Find one that looks cool to you. If it works out, great! If not, sale it or trade it on the Black Market and try a different one until you find the one for you.

That’s an easy one: Spro Rat 50 Runner up: Spro Rat 40.

All depends, if I’m cranking down a rat, which is pretty much how I always fish it, 30lb Sunline Shooter is what I use. However, I’d be more than happy using 20-30lb fluro in almost any brand to crank the rat down. If I’m waking, which I don’t do much of anymore, 20-30lb mono/copoly works great! Also, for waking, 40lb+ braid is awesome if you have a moderate enough rod Basically all the stuff works, that’s why you hear so many guys believing in their ways. Find what works for you in each situation.

Found them hunting trout in open water. This made them pretty difficult to target and reliant on just being in the right place at the right time. Got one working a citizen 7 with an erratic jigging action and two on the Deps 250. Biggest went 6-0, judging by the size of some of the explosions there were much bigger ones in the mix.

Have you taken the spool out and cleaned the shaft? I've had similar issues as you with a few reels and that was always the issue. Including my Curado DC. Sometimes the shaft/where you insert it gets gunked up from water seeping in over time

Appreciate it man! Fishing ponds is all about novelty. Show them something they haven't seen, they adjust in a week, then never bite the bait again. This was my experience for every smaller body of water I've fished. The fish are smarter because of pressure. I developed the rats for pond fishing, like Mossy said, the 1pc with assist cords KILLS these bodies of water.

Don’t underestimate presence & vibration. These beloved gilled animals are highly sensitive and in-tune with their natural environment at all times. If a mayfly sneezes, they know about. Ask a trout:) What we may consider stealth mode is still an intrusion to their space and domain, awkwardly an unnaturally mucking about on the ceiling of their home… Real mice and rats don’t rattle or click-clack at all in fact they don’t saunter about in a labored left & right fashion at all either really, typically they paddle straight forward from what I’ve seen. Like you touched base on in your “This is Bass fishing…” mention things don’t always follow hard n’ fast rules or immediately intuitively “make sense” so to speak. Sound can be key to draw attention, pique curiosity or irritation and trigger for sure… But I’ve also witnessed firsthand it’s not necessarily always an advantage and certainly a secondary feature. (Arguably like color…) Rats are a Seal replica (Often nothing more than a foam cut out) being dragged over South Africa’s waters near False Bay’s Seal Island. It’s a meal to an opportunistic & highly attuned predator. Also don’t underestimate the power of pause or ROS -Rate Of Stall. A baits ability to stay in prime real-estate. Although may it be said, also be cautious about what you presume the strike zone to be as you may very well nearly lose your rod while scratching your nose or checking your phone. I fish rats passively sometimes but I feel I do best with them when I fish them intently & with intention and purposefully assume every moment of my presentation is being watched. Pauses, hesitations and trying to engender fear through a scurry or tentative crawl or swim. Sometimes the last twitch bait coming to rest or handle rotation 3 feet from you just as your about to lift the bait from the water for weed inspection and another cast… Sometimes it’s time and place sometimes it’s none of that all together and not that serious. But other times it is and the pay off of nuance is priceless and “Stars align”. But I digress and have already said too much: ) Welcome aboard. Stay Positive. Enjoy the journey.

So I can say I agree with having a rat that makes some sort of “clack” or “knock” has been most desirable, but there are situations where silence is golden. Something I learned from Michael aka @SacPig916 , when I got my first 1pc Mischief Rat, which at the time, he made them with cord assist hook hangers, which he ties himself: We know, every bait has some sort of noise created from the hardware hanging on a bait. With the cord assisted hooks installed on his 1pc Mischief Rat, you basically have a bait that has no hardware sounds, and being a 1pc, there is no joint “knock”. So on those smaller waters or ponds, that are slick calm, very still and quiet, the only sound the 1pc Mischief Rat would make was the initial splash down at the end of a cast, and a natural swimming sound of prey on top of the water, with no unnatural sound of hardware “clicking” or joint “knocking” away. Just the natural sound of water movement a swimming prey would make. Again, this could be very beneficial, but effective, especially on a smaller pressured waters that has had its share of the usual sounds a rat wakebait makes. Speaking of which, along with the other great rat baits mentioned in this thread, you should check out @SacPig916 one and two piece Travel Mischief Rats. Michael is a great person to deal with and very friendly. The travel rats he makes are user friendly, and elevate your game from starter production baits to custom baits.

April 9th 2024. North NJ. We launched the boat around 6:45am, and the Lowrance said the water temp near the marina was 47.4, We decided as the sun was coming up we were going to run to the south end of the lake, an area I hadnt fished much over the last two years. The south end is much shallower, and loaded with grass. I figured I could find warmer water, and sure enough found a section of the lake that was getting nailed by the rising son, and by 10am the water was close to 51. After throwing the 10oz Mattlures trout for a few hours, i decided my neck needed a break. Tied on the Raid Gravity Impact shad, in the Clown colorway. Everyone loves red in the spring, but i've never had much success with it. Figured the redhead on the Clown wouldn't hurt. One of the houses on the lake had a giant cement retaining wall, which looked like a good place for fish to warm up against. My buddy suggested we should give it a few casts. A few minutes later my rod bent over - the bite was subtle but I knew right away I had hooked something big. I initially thought it was a pickerel or pike or musky - but once I saw her come up my heart started thumping. I don't carry a net on my boat because, A - i always skunk, and B - it just adds to the clutter. She was way too big to swing her in so I bent over and scooped her into the boat. The thickness of her jaw blew me away. It was like a solid rock. After screaming and high fiving for a few minutes, I put her in the livewell to relax a bit. Also the first time i put a fish in my livewell,. and my boat is a 2021. Thats what i'm talking about - when i say the last few years have been absolutely terrible for me, thats not an exaggeration. I was starting to question if it was even worth it - pulling the boat out of the garage the night before so i don't wake the boys, taking a day off work to go for a few hours on the days they go to daycare, putting the boat back into the garage and having to push it by freaking hand bc my driveway and garage are so tight - and having nothing to show for it. Yesterday was a reminder to me as to why i do this and why bass fishing has made me happy for decades. The older i get, the more expensive the rods and reel and boats become, but at the end of the day we do this because there is ALWAYS A CHANCE that you will find the big mama jamma. Thanks to Michael aka jewjitsu mike for sharing the moment with me. I dont know his name on here but hes a solid bro. Rod - Designo Leben Slang "illest" Reel - Daiwa Zillion HD 8:1 Line - Seagar Tatsu 15lb Bait - Raid Gravity Impact "Clown" PB Largemouth - 6lbds, 12oz

Sv spool came later than that reel. The reel is an absolute battleship when it's correct tho

ZERO ADJUSTER KNOB says Daiwa. Hah it requires 'zero adjustment' my foot!!!

Congrats on the PB! What kind of retrieve were you using?

Spro rat 50. They wake well and get bit. They also aren’t expensive so you can throw them in those hard to reach places and if they get stuck you aren’t out a lot of money. If you want a rat that cranks down nez rat and pb rats are good. The cl8 cranking possum is also good

Baby possum x3

Baby Possum X2

First couple bass banging the banks at a local pond bank during lunches. Will be back out the kayak soon. One on a Hudd 68, one a Magdraft FS, and the last one on a K9. Nothing huge, but it's a start.

You can make the bait more level by adding weight to the front. You can do this with lead tape, lead weight, doubled split rings, heavier hooks etc. If you want to maintain the sink rate you can slide the skin off and shave away some of the weight from the belly. I had one that I unfortunately lost which I tuned for cold water to almost suspend on long pauses. 1g of lead tape in the bill slot, about 4g of lead removed from the belly. Ease of customization is one of the best things about 250s.

Thanks man! I just got into playing guitar a few years ago, I always played drums and was afraid to even try guitar but I’m really glad I finally did.

Nothing too crazy but here’s my little music corner

Thanks OP, I’m not a huge anime person (aside from One Punch Man) but I actually really enjoyed this show. You can tell the writers are fisherman and pay a lot of attention to specific techniques and are huge shimano fans. An anime specific to swimbait fishing would be dope! Haru was a little whiny but I liked the story line and how detailed it was around fishing. Imagine an animated version of Yuko Ito going to battle with Mickey Ellis, I’d watch those for sure lol!