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Worked my butt off for this one hiking through rattlesnake terrain, but got the bite I was looking for. 10lb even!

I had a goal a few years back of getting three seven pounders in a season. Finally made it happen. All fish caught on a 10” glide. 7# 13oz 3/19/24 7#’s 15oz 3/20/24 7# 4oz 4/2/24

Been a dry spell for big fish this spring with missed opportunities and heart breaks but finally connected and successfully landed a good one! So stoked for this one!

Caught a couple pictureworthy northern strains today. 4 lbs 10 ozs on a Hiroshima hardtail. This bait is an xxxs, almost suspends. I was fishing a main lake point, fishing it with reel pops and long pauses since the water is still pretty cold. Kinda remarkable catch since I don't usually catch very many decent fish on hardbaits (except rats). Then I caught a 6 lb 10 oz fish on a secondary point inside a cove on a 7" Citizen in about 7-8 FOW, fishing it pretty slow on/ near the bottom. Honestly surprised to find a shallow fish this early in the season, but sure glad I decided to spend half an hour in that cove.

I fish hard but to be completely honest I did not think I would catch another genuine New York 7 pounder for a long time. 7 pounds is the trophy mark for NY I would say, since they are so uncommon for largemouth, 7.12 on my scale!

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

NAMELESS custom rods presents to you the #NLRVG swimbait rod. With the performance, aesthetics and rearward balance that nameless rods are known for, they also have premium Fuji components, with oversize CULT x VANS waffle grips. The world‘s first custom swimbait rod with Vans waffle grips! This is something you have to experience! ** Follow the #NLRVG for posts, news and updates.** Starting next month, we will release limited production drops featuring different spec Weight ranges of our American made blanks, and different color combinations of VANS x CULT grips. This is NAMELESS custom rods®️. #NLRVG

Fished yesterday with my close friend @Jim137a, and together we crossed paths with a jersey giant. She was right where she was supposed to be, all the years, countless hours, and learning these waters paying off in a single cast. She went 7lbs 1oz x 22.25”

Its been brutal. Late nights after work, 15 or so skunks in a row and snapping off some nice baits......first world problems. I got my first soft plastic fish and it was a pretty decent one.

April 19-21 2024 It's been windy for what seems like a month! Throwing big glides has become an obsession - 250SS is the weapon of choice after getting a few bites on it last season - I have decided to really commit to this bait and find a big bite. Have not been disappointed so far in water that still won't break 50°! OG 250 courtesy of @Criglizard (thank YOU SIR!) and ANOTHER! 250 SS $54 from fishing shop.kiwi online store My suggestion to anyone who thinks the Deps 250 is too big for their water... ITS NOT! just throw it. Throw it more. Get used to it. Dial it in weight and balance. This bait flat out gets bit. (Both fish pictured came out of less than 200 acre pond in Maine of all places. When it blows hard, try casting in skinny water that is adjacent to something deeper. Just a suggestion, but the adrenaline factor is extremely high with the 250 SS. GET SOME!

Another incredible trip with @NJSwimbatslinger and Nameless Custom Rods found a few willing to eat big baits along with my young friend’s PB - a NJ giant at 7.1 and 22.25”

Hit the lake a few days ago for a short session to dial in a bait for my friend @Randykast. Found out real quick that the bass were on gills and would not leave it alone. These were the better two out of four on the first day, 4-0 and 4-8. The second day I went and chased the same pattern and they were on it even hotter. Got on two small fish almost immediately and was getting swiped and slapped at on seemingly every 5th cast. I reached a spot with quick access to the deepest water in the lake and had a small fish miss on two consecutive casts. On the third cast I felt the tick and swung. To my shock I had two fish on, the small one that had been hitting repeatedly and a much bigger one! The first ever double of my fishing career!

Threw this thing on and off for 2 years in Nor Cal finally had a blowup. Went 5.99. Anyone have some cool Megadog fish to share?

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 -

Caught on a twitch and pause retrieve.

I thought if they catch bass in SoCal, they'll catch bass anywhere, so I wanted a few to try out. @JohnMarino was kind enough to do a couple custom color 7.5" baits for me and even threw in an extra free bait. Hope you sell a bunch of these. I caught a 7 lb 6 oz fish on it today. Fishing a main lake point in about 15 FOW, fishing it sort of slow on the bottom. Water has warmed up to high 50s/ low 60s in the last 3 weeks since I caught a swimbait fish (two skunk trips in that time). Saw a bunch of little bass and bluegills up shallow too. I like the Roma trout. Sits perfectly upright on the bottom. Can be fished fast or slow. Has a nice tail thump. Bigger tail than the hudd, and thumps harder. I was planning to fish faster and then slow down with the hudd, but that 7# was the only bite I had in ~six hours. It also casts insanely far. Outcasts most other baits for sure in my hands. I fish whenever I can (that means not very often). I still keep track of moon phases and moonrise/ moonset times. Interestingly, I caught the fish right at moonset. Of course, I have fished hundreds of times without catching anything around moonset time, so it probably doesn't mean anything. Dobyns 867/ Calcutta 401D/ 25# PLine PF

The season has been a blast so far. The Goonie fish were back to back which was awesome, waking it super SLOWWW. I have broken my Maine Largemouth PB 3 times this season. Starting with a 4.63 on the TK, then a 4.81 and 4.98 on the Goonie Gill. The MDC eat was insane, I had like 3 feet of line out and the fish nosed up on it and just barely sipped the back hook. I didn't realize the fish even bit it until it started thrashing and hooked itself lol. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well and is having a good season. Thanks for reading!

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 found out yesterday that I was on The Fishermen Magazine front cover. My first time, so pumped! A MA largemouth on a @Ds.attack.rat 3 piece swimmer!

God lined up the stars! I still can't believe what went down.... Three 7lb class smallies and two 6lb class smallies made up my 34lb 8oz bag! (Yes, swimbaits were used) I almost had a 2nd 30 pound bag the same day! Along with the 34lb 8oz bag listed below, I had another 6lb 8oz, 6lb, 6lb and twin 5lb 4oz, making another 29lb 4oz bag and missing the 30lb mark by 12oz! Shaking hands and big smiles stuck with me all day as the madness unfolded. I'm definitely spoiled now and it's going to be hard to top that day (although the very next day I had 31lb 8oz with a 7lb kicker! That'll be another post.) I've had the goal of a 7lb+ smallie for a few years now and it's good to see all the time, money and mental fortitude pay off! I'm finally a member of the 7lb+ smallie club × 4 within a 48 hour period! All fish (especially the 7lb+) were weighed multiple times with a IGFA certified 15lb Boga Grip. Pics is order below: 7lb 4oz, 7lb 4oz, 7lb, 6lb 8oz, 6lb 8oz

NOPE. No one holds a steak in front of my face when I'm railing my wife.

As usual, I took on a project I thought was going to be easy, but after looking at a whale shark, there was more to them than I thought. I put so much lead in the head and it’s still floats and I want this to be a sinking bait. I still need to add weight to the last two sections. If it doesn’t swim without a lip, I may have to put this in the fail pile. 20240330_102100.mov

I still haven’t figured out the dead walk, but caught a smaller fish cranking the TK. Hopefully I can only go up from here! Haha

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.

First blood on the mothership Crankdown

Stuck this trout on a 115 just gliding it fairly slow on a transition from shallow to deeper water. Missed a couple more but had a fun day.

Fished a little lake I usually do with glide on. Not sure if it was fishing pressure or bite just off but they wanted the hudd. Using the ROF 5 top hook. Ended up with 5 for 25lbs.

Usually, I hate pickerel. They ruin my softbaits, recently they took the tail off my yunique gill. Yesterday however I landed these freaking beast of a slime missile. Came off a tk dead walking. Massive hit, barely any fight. As for measurements easily above 5 pounds. I didn't wanna get my scale out, its freakin pickerel at the end of the day

March 27 at 11:26am the stars aligned and I got her… Wasn’t planning on fishing that morning, but the day prior my boss wanted to trade me vacation weeks so I asked for the rest of the week off as part of the deal and he agreed to it. So I hurry to the lake the next morning, anxious as the conditions are about as ripe as they get this time of year. I arrive at an empty parking/launch facility and rush to get my boat in the water and head over towards my first spot. Three casts in I am running a soft bait parallel to the bank and watch an easy 4-5 pounce on it and pin it to the bank. I set the hook and broke it off. Tie up another soft bait and throw out downhill. I get thumped again only to have that fish run me in to grass and come off and it blew the nose out of the bait so it was virtually destroyed. Rather than spend the time to retie another, I grabbed my glide bait set up and fire it out there. Somewhere near the edge of the same grass bed I got thumped again and lean into it. BIG one. Got her in the net and decided to well her up and run her to the other side of the lake in hopes a bigger fish would move up in her place later in the morning. Heading in to the area I wanted to release the fish at, I started fishing my way in and the glide bait gets thumped again… I see a pale beast of a fish trying to turn and dig but I kept her coming toward me and bounce her off the net as I try and get it under her. She turned and made a strong run, but I got her turned back around and scooped her up. I screamed and shouted a few times in celebration as I knew what I was looking at. It was obvious she had several inches on the fish I had in the livewell. I rush to the shoreline to try and take shelter from the wind and waves and weigh the fish. I let the smaller one go after a few quick pics and a weight so I could focus on giving the bigger one lots of time to rest between photos and measurements. She went 24.2” x 18.7” weighed 10lbs 12oz and shatters my old PB by over a pound. Public waters predator. A true unicorn of a Northern Strain bass. She bit right as the baro bottomed out and after taking my time with her the bite window closed up and I didn’t get bit again the rest of the day. Before releasing her I called my friend Brandon and he just happened to be leaving work early so he shot to the lake to see her and be there for the release. We had always talked about him being there for this fish, and they way it worked out he basically was. On the way home it all hit me. All of the hours dedicated to grind. All of the money spent in the pursuit. All of the failures and mistakes made along the way. All of the time with friends and my family that I selfishly sacrificed for this fish... It all came together and my quest to hit double digits is over. Of course I gotta shout out Brock from Hiroshima Customs for producing the tools that made it all possible and for the customer service over the years keeping baits in rotation that were critical to my success. The bait I caught her on(8.5 hiro) has earned retirement for the years of abuse I’ve put it through. It’s bounced off more hard surfaces than a resin bait should withstand. It hung my wife’s PB as well so it’ll go on the wall, possibly with a replica mount of the fish. A cast to catch, weighing and release video will go up on YT after the spring bite is over. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Beating the bank and after a few pitch casts close to where I was standing I bombed a long cast out and cranked down a Stray Rats Rumble Rat I recently traded for along a shade line and got T-boned by this little guy.

Split the bait yesterday and got the hardware installed. Gotta sand the joints then pour the lead and seal the wood.

Floated around some shallow weeds for a while on the first nice day of spring. Threw around the Optimum Baits Boom Boom Weedless and hooked this one right before heading in. Not bad for us northern guys!

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 !!

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.

Little guy on the beast crank right at sunset !

Hopefully no one’s sandbagging.

I normally only post my swimbait fishing content on my Instagram and YouTube channel. But I thought this one would be worthy of being posted here. I've been doing so good on the 9" MS Slammer in the last couple of weeks and now l've caught this beast!! Biggest fish I've caught so far on the slammer and my biggest fish from the bank!! 8 pounds (8.02lbs officially)!! Really excited about this fish! Here’s a picture and cast to catch video of it.