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Finally cracked the DD mark with this big girl and was even lucky enough to win the January SU tourney with her. Still extremely stoked about this one, and will be one of the catches that will stick with me forever. 11lb 0 oz

Had an amazing trip last week and caught my 5th DD at 10lb even! Also caught a 9lb, three 8lbers and a 7lb (the rest were < 6lb). The 10lb cleared the water a foot right at the boat, it was a fight I won't forget! I've been focused on hunting trophy bass for almost 10 years now and this trip is what makes all the work, time and money worth it! Sorry for all the pics, but I'm a little pumped that God blessed me and the stars lined up...lol.

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.

March 2023. The was a cruiser fish that was hanging out under some floating docks. The fish would come out to look at baits, then go back under the docks. The water was silted up, because just around the corner some guys were working on a boat and revving the engines throwing silt all around. I'd see glimpses of the fish in the pockets of clear water, or right as i was lifting up the bait. Made the call to go to a big profile bait, and it worked out. I got a shout out from my friend Joe Rogan on his podcast with Cliff Gray (podcast #1955 about the 1:30:20 park)

Seems like there have been some scammers lately. There have been 2 types 1. Long time members with good reputations from previous transactions. These guys are posting baits only taking PayPal friends and family and selling the same bait multiple times and never sending it to anybody. 2. New members answering WTB ads via PM saying their friend is selling please send them the money. (we have disabled PMs for new members as a result) SOLUTION: PAY WITH GOODS AND SERVICES ONLY. Any ads posted saying friends and family only will be deleted no matter how long the member has been here.

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

Figured I’d share this here for the people that don’t have IG. every year Rhode Island takes fishing submission photos for the annual RI Freshwater Fishing Regulations guide book. I had submitted maybe 20-25 pics of Nick (14) Dylan (8) and myself from last years fishing excursions. They’re my step kids but their real dad is a huge pos and doesn’t do much with them when he has them. Their grandfather and their uncles are all avid freshwater fishermen as well. they don’t tell you if you made it in so we’ve been patiently waiting for the book to come out at the local shops well Dylan made it in! Picture was from one of the fall trips where I he caught 4 species in one day and pretty good sized black crappie. I picked up a couple copies on Friday and when he got from school I showed him and the kid lit up! He was so happy, also he was probably more happy that he got in and not his brother. I’ll frame up a copy for his room this week and we’ll keep a copy for prosperity. Him and his older brother now both are all about going fishing this year, Nick is excited for night trips and throwing some swimbaits so looking forward to fostering this new love of the sport we all enjoy. take your kids fishing! (That was the slogan for the shop I grew up around in my town and I always loved it)

Over the past year or so I had been wanting to try targeting big trout with swimbaits. Unfortunately I’m in the frozen tundra for school most of the time and only get opportunities to fish for trout on winter break. It took 4 trips but was well worth it. This fish came on my third cast of the day. I stopped to check my drag 1/4 of the way into the retrieve, looked up, and saw the fish flash on the bait. I knew it was possible but to be honest I was not expecting to catch a Brown. I figured it would be a Laker bite. I didn’t get any measurements on this fish, as we were too amped up to remember. JENKINS CHANNEL on YouTube was a large inspiration that motivated me to try to do this in the states. He makes great quality trout fishing videos out of Japan. Anywho, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

10.7 on the MobWalker fish sucked it down. Bait is just insane. It’s practically only caught me big fish

First pond this morning was all muddy did a lap and left. Hit another pond down the road using a Realprey Pond Shiner, they always produce in cold water, water was 49/50 degrees. Had a few short strikes from small fish but couldn't hook up. About an hour in I got the slack knock hit and that's usually a good fish and it was. Tipped the scale at 6-13, I thought for sure it was a 7, It was thick fat fish with big shoulders. Been a dismal season and this lit the fire under my ass again lol

God lined up the stars again for me! Had another great 4 day trip and got my 7th DD at 10lb 4oz. Also had a 9lb 12oz, 8lb 8oz, 8lb 4oz and an 8lb even! The warming water along with the full moon had the big ones chewin'! Had a missed opportunity at what looked to be a teener come in hot and not commit to biting and made my heart stop! I'll be back to try for her again... Day 1 - nothing over 5lb Day 2 - 9lb 12oz Day 3 - 10lb 4oz, 8lb 4oz, 8lb Day 4 - 8lb 8oz

Caught my new PB and first DD today right at 11lb even. Had to tackle her on the bank resulting in me being drenched, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. So stoked!

Hit this beauty late afternoon yesterday. She was sitting in a clump of grass in about 3’ of water. Took the perch right down on the second handle turn!

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!

10-6 19.5x24.5 42B3BC7E-3E72-4723-9B7E-14D34E100236.mov

Gentlemen, I think the goal is for new members to become an active member within the S.U. Community, an establish themselves as a member and then be granted your P/M privileges. This is not a e-commerce site. This is a community of swimbait enthusiasts. Fortunately, it does offer a “Black Market” where you can buy, sell and trade at your own risk. Personally I think a new member should earn a defined amount of “Reputation Points”, showing they are an active member before being granted access to Buy, Sell & Trade here. It helps protect both new members and establish members. My recommendation : sit back, get involved, get established and partake in what is offered to you. Trust me, all good thing come to those who wait. Cheers & Tight Lines Everyone.

PB on the wade hoggs in NH

BASS_SWINGER: You Sir are the lucky winner! Please send me a PM with your shipping address and I will send tomorrow morning via USPS Priority Mail. Enjoy yourself brother! God Bless our Swimbait Underground community today and all thru 2024!

I don’t know what I did but here’s a picture.

Hey SU Happy Holidays, In October I caught my PB and now that our season is coming to a close (at least for me) I thought id share the story for anyone who cares to read. In August I started exploring a new body of water about 40 minutes from my house. I had a good feeling about this particular body of water after I caught a 5.2 on a gizzard wizard mid summer (a class of fish I have never been able to catch in the summer time relative to the waters I had been fishing). This catch gave me the confidence to make the drive more often and take the roughly 1.5 mile long hike to get to this spot. Besides the fish the water seemed promising structure wise with quick drop offs into "deep" water pretty much directly off of the bank, large chunk rock/boulders and what seemed to be a plethora of small baitfish roaming in the shallows. Fast forward to October I was there one morning before work fishing the shoreline exposed to the sun first. I was using a Doomrider I had painted by DS Customs painted in a bluegill pattern, fishing the bait with a very slow consistent retrieve with the occasional reel twitch every couple handle turns. Previously I was fishing this bait with # 2 ST-36 hooks but for whatever reason that morning before heading out I switched them out for the Mustad KVD Short Shank Triple Grip #1. This weighted the bait down just enough to get slightly deeper on the retrieve. I fished my usual 4 spots with no luck and on my way back I figured id stop and fish one last spot but only do a cast to my left and to my right paralleling the shoreline because I was running out of time. My cast to the left produced nothing so I made my "last cast" to the right up tight to the shoreline. Mid way through the retrieve BOOM the bait gets thumped so I swing and start grinding the fish in. Once I got the fish directly in front of me that's when I started to panic seeing that the fish's head and mouth was larger then any I have caught before. I got the fish on the scale and on the measuring board and she went 6.3 pounds by 22.25". She was safely released back into the water quickly after I had taken my photos. I know this isn't the largest fish compared to a lot of other members on here but regardless it was a fun and rewarding catch for me. Definitely one of those situations that make you feel like the time, effort and money spent was well worth it. Im not in a rush but I'm looking forward to meeting with my next PB whenever that time may come.

So I took the plunge and got a kayak. Maiden voyage was a success today. All 3 on the tk with the dive lip Excited for next season

6lb 6oz 23” on TK

24.75x18.75x9lb9oz BGC

Was in the area and decided to fish the body of water the Delaware state record largemouth was caught out of (wagamons pond in Milton). I started at the dam above the spillway casting into the wind and lost an 8” magdraft to a pickerel and decided I’d had enough of the swimbait for the day. The spillway at wagamons pond dumps water into the upper broadkill river which is a brackish tidal fishery (roughly 9 miles from the Delaware bay). I caught abt 15 little largemouth blitzing micro bait on a lucky craft pointer sp and as I was abt to leave I watched someone across the river catch a 6lb largemouth on a worm and bobber and said “what the hell why not throw the sly guy around”. I moved over to the other side of the river and saw 20+ bluegill beds scattered around a drainage pipe and knew I had a shot at a big largemouth. These beds happened to be abt 50 yards from a popular Mexican restaurant so there were plenty of people walking around and even more people fishing the spillway. First cast out by the drop off I get 2 chops in with the 6.2” sly guy gill before the water erupted around my bait. At first I thought I’d hooked the state record but after a drag stripping 20 yard run I got her to the bank and realized what I’d caught. And the people fishing next to me offered to take a picture of my catch. I had no idea striper of this size traveled this far upriver and after getting a weight and length on her I realized that this was my biggest striper period. I’ve been chasing a striper of this size all my life in the canal by my house in Lewes and I think it’s pretty funny that I finally land her 9 miles upriver in trophy largemouth territory. Sorry for the long write up but this fish means more to me than a 6lb largie ever could. 11.2lbs 29”

Colorado river tank inhaled 8" Hudd

42 degrees. Got a few between 4 and 6 lbs.

As in many years past I will again be giving away a free 3:16 Lure Company bait to a random lucky Swimbait Underground member! This year I will be giving away a BNIB 3:16 Lure Company Gizzard Glide-Slow Sink in Bone color. The 3:16 Gizzard Glide is 8 inches long and weighs 3.5 ounces. As customary, my lovely wife will scroll thru this Swimbait Underground thread and select a random winner to be announced right here on Christmas Day, Monday December 25, 2023. I will then personally notify the winner thru a PM and ship his Christmas present via USPS Priority Mail on Tuesday, December 26, 2023. Christmas time is a real special moment in my life when I get to reflect on the past year and always thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for everything HE has given me. Nothing in my life would be possible without HIM. Our Swimbait Underground family has an amazing platform here to share knowledge, buy & sell and make life-long friendships for many of us. If you’re interested in participating in this free 3:16 Christmas Giveaway please post that you are IN and may God Bless your family during this very joyous Holiday Season!

Was fortunate enough to hook into these 2 fish on the k9 after weeding through lots of other 34 inch and smaller pike I finally ran into these slobs. Glad I could catch both the musky and pike on my favorite glide. Also was able to stick a decent musky on the ufo.

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!!!

With my new Bootleg Series of ABS baits ready to release I've decided to do a giveaway for the members here and other virtual platforms. I will be giving away two baits to winners chosen at random from this thread. The winners will be able to choose between the "Toxic Shad" Wade Hoggs or Wade Jr. To enter all you have to do is be a member of the Swimbait Underground community and post a picture with a fish you caught on ANY swimbait large or small. That's it. Im really really excited to be able to bring these baits into the community after a long while in development. These baits are basically knock offs of their resin counterparts the Wade Hoggs and Snapper. These baits were built to perform at the same level as our resin line at half the price. I hope everyone has a great day. We will pick a winner Friday March 1st.

Man….I heard from so many of you that the 3:16 Lure Company Baby Wakes went like hot cakes….some got some and some didn’t. I feel bad for anyone who really wanted one and luck was not on their side tonight. So I want to share because I really enjoy giving. I will give away a free brand new in box 3:16 Baby Wake in Trout color from tonight’s drop to a lucky Swimbait Underground member and ship it to them as soon as I receive it in the mail. As usual, my wife will scroll thru this thread and pick a random lucky winner. Post here that you are IN if you’re interested in participating in this free giveaway and God Bless us all. Have a nice evening and great rest of the week!

I’ve been on the pursuit for a lunker for some time now just like every one of you crazy’s. That’s what really made me gravitate to large swimbaits here the past few months. Going in to this season, my personal best was 7lb 6oz while losing some bigger bass along the way. Since I started throwing swimbaits, I’ve now topped that weight twice, and shattered my previous PB this past weekend. This old heifer absolutely cranked my Biggs Denali and weighed in at 9lb 3oz! When we boated her, I thought no doubt she was a 10+. Just goes to show how big and special these fish really are. The feeling of being so close, but yet so far will really fuel my quest now. I had 3 others that were of the same caliber swipe at it, just didn’t get a hook in’em!

UWas a weird year for bass. They wanted baits they wanted smaller baits, so I threw the swaver and small hudds around ended up catching about ten hold over trout.

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!

Net save

Relatively new to swimbaiting; new to the board. Enjoying seeing everyone else’s PB’s so I wanted to post mine. Caught in March this year on an 8” Magdraft. 8lbs 9oz. Absolutely thrilled, and have really enjoyed learning to throw big baits.

thanks for lettin me try out the bait @griffin.geeslin

Biggest bass I’ve caught this year 8.3 on the Chad Shad

Found her next to wood cover, she took me under a log I was lucky to land this one guys lol Blue Monday Tk with the transfer tail no lip

Trying to learn how to throw swimbaits from a kayak. Been shorebound as long as I’ve been a bass fisherman so it’s awesome to finally get an upgrade but it’s definitely harder than it looks to throw big baits all day from a kayak. Six pounds, 22 inches and a massive confidence booster. Can’t wait for more.