SU News

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Personal Best: Fall is one of those times of year that the swimbait angler patiently waits for hoping to find their fish of a lifetime. Early last month @SkagitBasser was out for a quick lunch break trip when this Washington state double digit ascended from some deep timber to crush his Wade Hoggs. Congratulations on your new state Personal Best! Head over to the PB section to view other member's achievements. Personal Best SUTV: Last month @BassJunkie shared a cast to catch of a chunky NJ largie. After struggling to find a bite out on his kayak, he threw on his Yohan glide bait and tricked one into eating. Follow the link below to see more videos from our members in the SUTV section. SUTV Got'em: @Swimbautubgtge229 went out fishing with his son and let him try the Bull rat. He ended up sticking a decent one as his first swimbait fish. Thanks for sharing and hopefully this is his first of many swimbait fish to come. Share your own stories and read about other's at the Got'em section linked below. Got'em Flipside: @Porkmeatballs and his brother had recently been fishing and learning a nearby river system. During their six hour trip they had a few dinks under their belt but were looking for a higher quality bite. While working the shoreline he got the bite he was looking for twitching his homemade Bravo Trout. We are always excited to see what kind of fish our members hook into using swimbaits in the Flipside section. Flipside View full record

Recently our team engineered a new bag with the swimbait angler in mind. With the help of our friends at SuperBait we were able to bring the bag to life & to market. The Swimbait Underground Big Bait Bag was born and has loads of features to assist Swimbaiters in being as efficient as possible while in pursuit of giants. The backpack is offered in three colors: Black, Olive & Camo. The dimensions are a width of 12.5", height of 21" & depth 6.5", with 32 liters of storage space. There are three compartments within the bag. The main compartment contains a single divider with zip mesh pockets. This is the primary storage within the bag where you can store your baits. Whether you use our bait wraps, Plano 3730 boxes, or other storage options our bag is designed to accommodate your needs. You can access the main storage from the top under the lid or the right side of the bag using the zipper. The second compartment is a small pocket on the front which is great for a scale, split ring pliers, mend-it and more. Lastly there is a pocket on the back designed to fit a laptop. In addition to the three main compartments there is a spot on the left side to store your water bottle. Directly above the water bottle are two straps with buckles that care be used as a rod holder or to hold and extra jacket/ sweatshirt. On the right side there is a Molle system. This was added so that you can attached your WCZ travel board or strap on one of our smaller collab bags with SuperBait for quick access to your go-to baits. Lastly are the shoulder straps on the back of the bag. These also come equipped with a Molle system running down each side where you can attach smaller bags for quicker access, a carabiner and more. On the bottom left side we also have provided a quick access plier holder so that you do not need to fumble around for your pliers in the heat of the moment. We are excited to present to you the Swimbait Undergrounds Big Bait Bag. We hope that this bag can help you even a little bit in securing the fish of a lifetime and assist you in accomplishing your fishing goals. - SU Crew View full record

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Underground Supply: Last month we release more gear for our Fall 2020 drop including our new SU Big Bait Bag. Designed by our team at Swimbait Underground & handcrafted by SuperBait, the bag was created with the Swimbait Angler in mind. Keep your eyes peeled for a detailed writeup of the bag this month in the Underground Dispatch section. Swimbait Underground Store September SUB: During the September SUB tournament our members submitted some big fish keeping everyone on their toes. SU member @NoSkunk submitted the winning fish, weighing in at 11 pounds 4 ounces, that he fooled on his Baitsanity Antidote out in California. He was awarded a SU gear pack in addition to a spot in the 2020 Battle for the Underground. There are a few months left to qualify for the 2020 Battle. The October SUB started early and the winner will be determined on the 8th, you can check out the current entries by following the link below. October SUB Got'em: @Skeeter102 wasted no time putting his Pizz Beast to work after getting it in the mail. After just a few days of fishing it he had two fish over 5 pounds on it in New England. Nicely done man! Share your own stories and read other's in the Got'em section. Got'em Section Grass Roots: You may remember seeing @Albooboo's gill crankdowns in the Grassroots section earlier in the year. Last month he was working on something a little different. The new Chunky Trout glide that he shared his progress on during the month of September is a large glide bait weighing in at 11.75 ounces while measuring in just under 11 inches. Our members are always sharing new projects that they are working on, take a look for yourself in the Grass Roots Section. Grass Roots Section Flipside: Here's something you don't see every day. @GrantA went out targeting Redfish at night and while burning his Huddleston back to shore to make another cast felt a thump. Congrats on the nice fish! For everything other than freshwater bass fooled by swimbaits check out the Flipside section. Flipside Section View full record

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Summer Drop 2: Last month we released our second gear drop of the season which featured lots of new hats, performance gear, shirts & more. We still have plenty of SU gear available to purchase in our store, click the link below and shop now. We appreciate everyone's continued support! Swimbait Underground Store Flipside: @nadinesmom got out for his annual striper trip and broke his PB yet again. Each year his PB has gone up - starting at 17 pounds, to 23, then to 25 and now his new PB is locked in at 33 pounds. His weapon of choice was the OG Saiko Deps 250 while targeting these stripers in the river current. Follow the link below to see what else our members are running into while fishing swimbaits. Flipside SUTV: If you missed it, check out this Cast 2 Catch from our member @Andercommander of his new smallmouth PB featuring a vicious blowup on his PB rat in Connecticut. Thanks for sharing Ryan! Head over to the SUTV section for more C2C videos & edits from our members SUTV August SUB: The winner for the August SUB tournament was @Mossypumpkin with a Maine stud. Jesse took his new Fish Lab Bio Gill for a night mission and found this 6 pound 7 ounce largie who wanted his bait dead. For winning he was awarded a SU gear package as well as a spot to fight in the 2020 Battle for the Underground. Signups for the September SUB are up, follow the link below to enter. The tournament starts on September 18th. September SUB Sign-Ups Got'em: Lots of good fish have been posted in the Got'em section over the past few months. For example, SU member @NikLaw1 shared his Colorado PB that weighed in at 6.2 pounds and just over 20 inches long, landed on a Pizz Beast crankdown. Scroll through the Got'em section for other member's catches. Got'em Section View full record

The Underground: Last month SU member @Streamer posted a thread asking our members what bait got them into swimbait fishing and to share a memory that got them hooked on big baits. Lots of cool stories and pictures were shared in the thread and we highly recommend you scroll through if you're looking to kill some time. The picture above is from one of our OG members who joined in 2010 (@swimbaitrookie) sharing his first swimbait fish. Follow the link below to check out more of our members stories. "Your story behind fishing swimbaits" Got'Em: The Got'em section has been on fire this summer! SU member @Bailey Gordon contributed to the heat last month showing off a big GA largie that he fooled with the Deps 250. He even shared a C2C video for our viewing pleasure. Nice fish man! Share your own swimbait catches and check out other member's in the Got'Em section linked below. Got'em June SUB: Lots of quality bass were submitted to the SUB tournament in July. @Bass_Killer777 of Southern California took home the win with a largie pushing nine pounds. He fooled this giant after dark using his go-to bait, the Huddleston. Congrats on the win! His reward is a SU gear pack in addition to a spot in the 2020 Battle for the Underground. To enter the August SUB tournament follow the link below and comment "In" on the thread. The tournament will run from August 14th to the 20th. August SUB Sign-Ups Grass Roots: SU member @El_Weruso has been working on a big glide bait measuring out to over fifteen inches and over a pound. The video shows off the wide action of his work in progress. We can't wait to see the finished product. Check out the Grass Roots section for more threads of homemade baits from our members. Grass Roots Flipside: @browniez posted sharing another great fish out of GA but this was no largie. Fishing a local river system, he was finally able to land a thirty pound striper on a glide bait. He was also able to see the bite go down which we know makes it even more exciting. The only bad part of the experience was realizing he sat on a hook as he took the photo. Congrats on the great catch! Check out the Flipside section for more of everything caught on swimbaits besides largies and smallies. Flipside View full record

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* SU x WCZ: Early last month we dropped our Working Class Zero collaboration project, the Elusive Beast collection. The release consisted of tees, hoodies, travel boards, bags for the travel boards and stickers featuring the new graphic. Additionally we were able to ask Mike Gilbert of WCZ some questions and publish an interview to pair with the merch release. You can find the blog post in the Underground Dispatch section or linked below. Quick Hit with Mike Gilbert Got'em: Our team has been stoked to see all the swimbait fish shared in the Got'em section lately. After his 7 year old daughter recommended he throw a rat, @Genothefisherman3 shared a nice one throwing the Nez Rat at a small pond. Nice work man! Share your own swimbait catches and view other member's in the Got'em section Got'em Section SUTV: SU member @kev_swmbt_20 has been uploading lots of videos the the SUTV section. Towards the end of the month he shared some C2C clips of him landing some largies on a couple different baits. Thanks for sharing & creating content! Check out more videos from our members in the SUTV section. SUTV June SUB: @xpman05 secured the win for the June SUB with a 9lb 8oz elusive beast. The Black Dog Baits Billed Bubba Cracker got the job done for him earning himself a spot in the 2020 Battle for the Underground as well as a SU gear pack. Congratulations on the win Scott! Follow the link below to sign up for the July SUB tournament. We look forward to seeing your entries! July SUB Sign-Ups Flipside: After a few follows targeting submerged trees using the DRT Tiny Klash, @Ira Waldman was able to convince a beautiful tiger musky to eat. This was his second ever musky & first on the swimbait! Follow the link below to the Flipside section for everything other than bass caught on swimbaits. Flipside View full record

Swimbait Underground and Working Class Zero have teamed up to bring you the Elusive Beast Collection. Prior to the gear dropping we were able to spend a few minutes with Mike Gilbert, of Working Class Zero to find out a little bit more about Mike, WCZ, and the Elusive Beast Collection. The Elusive Beast Collection will be available 6/12/20 at 6PM on both the Swimbait Underground and Working Class Zero online stores in addition to our retailers worldwide. Where are you based out of? In general. San Diego, CA How long have you been Swimbait fishing? What got you into it? Started in 2009. I grew up fishing, but what got me back into fishing was needing a break from my job. My job was my life at that point so i was in desperate need of a hobby. Some friends invited me to go fishing for bass, crappie, just whatever we could catch. Quickly became addicted and months later I started throwing bigger baits to up the size of the catch. Prior to WCZ what did you do full time? I made skate videos for the better part of 18 years. It allowed me to travel the world and meet a lot of different people and see many cultures. All things most high school drop outs only dream of experiencing. Those experiences produced the foundation that I would later rely on when I transitioned into being the Director of Digital Media for Thrasher Magazine in 2014. Do you have any advice for people starting their Swimbait journey? Less is more. You don’t need every bait under the sun. Limit the gear and baits you buy and just focus on what are proven baits and tackle. Stick to one body of water that you will have consistent access to that is close to home but has a substantial population of quality largies. Spend time learning the basics with a few things then slowly start to mix in a little more as you go. Is there anyone or anything in the SB community that inspires you? A lot of people inspire me in the community but I'm drawn to those that seem to have a genuine passion and standards that he or she wants to reach. Those looking to play the percentages and catch the biggest bass in their body of water. Where is your dream location to fish? Japan and South Africa would be the places. There are elusive beasts lurking in both those places. I have been to South Africa for skateboarding but never fished. I have not been to Japan but am looking forward to going in the near future. What made you start Working Class Zero? I just felt that something was missing and that I have a different approach to it than most. I could bring the years of experience in skateboarding and just offer a new perspective. Do you see any correlation between the skate & fishing communities? Very few people are willing to take the risk to do something new, yet both industries are filled with individuals of self reliance. There weren’t and still aren't many renegade style brands in fishing in comparison to skateboarding. I want to see things change the same way the skaters grabbed the wheel and made the industry skater owned and operated. There is A LOT of room for that mindset in the fishing industry and we are seeing that take place specifically in the swimbait sector of the industry. When did you start making baits and what led you to do it? Making baits to sell would be roughly 5 years ago, making my own baits to fish started a few years before that. The reason being is I had to make stuff that wasn’t available on the market to fill a unique slot that was necessary for my style of fishing. Even with baits I didn’t make myself I would often tweak those baits to make them standout against the other baits those fish were being shown. Why do you like to collect the data of length, girth, and weight? If you do a good job of keeping track of the measurements, you can understand the health of a fishery or the specific genetics of the fish certain bodies of water. It also dispels the myths associated with many of those online weight calculators for bass. Something else to consider, the board pics give reference samples to others to add to their understanding. It's almost as transparent about the size of the fish as one can be. Seeing others pics, encourages growth and knowledge of your waters and your ability to form a gameplan to use your time most efficiently. We noticed you do a lot of cast2catch video. For those in the Swimbait world that aren’t capturing their catches on video what’s the easiest way for someone to get started recording? Buy an action camera and mount it to your boat or a tripod. Make sure it is plugged into a power source via USB port on the boat or external battery pack attached to a tripod and that you have a large capacity memory card. You want it to be ease of use and not something you are going to be playing with every fifteen minutes. It should be as easy as turning on and pushing record while your fishing and stop record when your moving from spot to spot. What’s the significance of the Sasquatch and the Elusive Beast collection? I am a long time fan of the great ape theory, the Elusive Beasts lurking in the woods of the world that will one day be documented as a species. The same way one day, someone will break the world record Largemouth bass... The board has CM and IN, what was your reason for doing that? We are reaching a community that is worldwide and inches is not the standard unit of measurement for most outside the US. In the past anglers were adding their own stickers to the board so we thought we would make it easier on them. On one piece of real estate you get both worlds. View full record

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* The Underground: Last month one of our members reached out to the community seeking help with his glide bait hookup ratio. Our members offered some suggestions and a few days later @Eric Peterson shared a photo of his success putting their advice to work. Here at Swimbait Underground we are thankful for the community that utilizes our forum and continues to help each other grow as swimbait fisherman. Scroll through, search or post in The Underground section to find some information that you may find valuable. The Underground Flipside: The stripers arrived across New England in May and @chefchris wasted no time targeting them. During the herring run in a near by river, he focused on burning wake bates to imitate the panicking bait fish. Head over to the Flipside section to see what other members are catching with swimbaits, other than largemouths & smallmouths. Flipside SU Union 9" Bait Wrap: Last month we released our new bait wrap which features a combination of characteristics from our past models. This wrap contains two of the clear pockets for hard baits & two hybrid pockets designed for soft baits. For more information about the wrap you can visit the Underground Dispatch section and the blog post linked below. Check out the Got'em section & view member's swimbait fish. Underground Dispatch - Union Bait Wrap May SUB: Member @SumoNinja won the May SUB tournament with a nice California post spawn gill eater that went a little over nine pounds. His efforts won him an SU Gear Pack as well as a spot to compete in the 2020 Battle for the Underground. Congrats on the win! To sign up for the June SUB tournament click the link below and comment "in". The code will be release in the next week or two. Jun SUB Sign-Ups Got'em @swimbait_MA_kid has been putting the hurt on the smallies this year. At the end of the month he managed to double up on the Pizz Runt Glide while on a paddle-board. As he was reeling in the first fish he saw another follower, let some slack out, and watched as the second tried to steal the glide out of the other's mouth. PB Section View full record

Our new bait wrap, The Union 9" Bait Wrap, is a combination of a couple of our previous wraps and scaled down for smaller hard & soft baits up to 9". We recommend that you utilize the clear pockets for hard baits and use the hybrid pockets for soft baits. The hybrid wrap will prevent the plastic on plastic melt that customers have experienced with soft baits in the transparent pockets. Inspired by our trip to Japan in March 2019, we have had this product in prototype for a while and are ready to share the finished product with our members & community. Head over to the SU Store to get yours today. Features: Swimbait Underground Woven Patch at Front Center Dual Velcro Strap 2 Hybrid Pockets - (Each pocket opens on 3 sides allowing for easy bait access) 2 Clear Pockets Top Load With Velcro Tab Closure Made In USA View full record

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Swimbait Buyer's Guide: Last month our team assemble a buyer's guide to help new swimbaiters find entry level equipment and baits that are proven and recommended time & time again. This guide will also link the user to the appropriate page on Tackle Warehouse where they can then purchase the gear to start their career's in the swimbait game. Follow the link below and feel free to share with your friends who are starting out. A Buyers Guide To Swimbait Gear April SUB: SU member @Dabbs took his kayak out for a first time in a few years for the April SUB tournament. Using the trusty Deps 250 he convinced a DD to eat and managed to land it without a net. This trout eater won him the April tournament, earning him a spot in the annual Battle for the Underground as well as a SU gear pack. To participate in next month's tournament sign up in the thread linked below. May SUB Sign Up Underground Dispatch: With our release of the SU x OD Rat, we were also able to talk to the man behind the baits for a history lesson on the OD Rat. The interview consists of the origin of the bait, the transfer of ownership, & changes made to the baits. You can read the full interview in the Underground Dispatch section. History of the OD Rat Grass Roots: Last month @Albooboo shared his progress on his three piece bream profile in the Grass Roots section. Throughout the thread he shows the mock-up, the original, the tails he is making, some resin clones, and even the paint job he'll be using for the first batch. Check out his build thread as well as other member's in the Grass Roots section. Grass Roots PB Section: At the beginning of April, SU member @Christiantaj set out to beat the bank at one of his favorite ponds. Shortly after arriving he broke his personal best with this beautiful 10lb 8oz largie that could not resist the Deps 175. Congratulations on the new PB! Head over to the PB section to check out other member's PBs broken on swimbaits. PB Section View full record

History of the OD Rat, where did it start? The first OD Rat was designed and made by Whitney Curry in the winter of 2008. At the time, the rat baits on the market were too expensive and too hard to get. So he carved and made his own bait out of necessity. The bait was primarily fished by Whit and a few close friends at Irvine Lake, and Orange County Park Lakes in Southern California. Prior to the current version there was one other, very few were produced and its referred to as the OG. When did you start fishing the OD Rat? In 2012 we were introduced by a mutual friend, allowing me to purchase them even though they were very tough to find. I had been fishing other rats for a few years prior and had good success. The OD became my go to wake bait in short order and from there forward, I almost always fished that bait over other rats. The only exceptions would be if I wanted a larger profile or certain wood baits, which have an entirely different style of swim and can be just as effective in the right conditions. For me, personally, the OD had become a staple and fit my style very well and remains that way to this day. Why did you decide to purchase the company? Technically, there was no company prior to the forming of OD Baits, LLC., Whit did things more on a hobby scale. I would occasionally purchase a handful of bait blanks from him and paint them for my friends, to get them in other people’s hands. Sometime in 2016 Whit had discussed going in a different direction with his bait making. Since I was actively fishing the baits for several years, at that point for my own selfish reasons, I was concerned about the bait possibly not being available any more. My professional background is in the collision repair industry and I was a painter, fishing was my hobby, but I wasn’t a bait maker. My bait making abilities at this time were limited to hand poured soft baits, which were only made for personal use or close friends. Making baits for profit or as any type of business was never a consideration. Fishing was my passion and the bait making was just to provide me with tools to try and accomplish my goals. Those soft baits laid the groundwork to get beyond the basic principles of mold making and masters, with much trial and error and some help from friends. When Whit had decided for sure he wanted to go in another direction, I purchased the OD brand, original masters, and molds in 2017, and I formed OD Baits, LLC. My idea was to continue to build from the original brand and expand into new things from there. I purchased the OD so it would continue to be available and hopefully other people would have as much success as I did with it. Changes you’ve made to the baits? The bait is manufactured the same exact way today, as it was when originally made by Whit. I saw no reason to change a bait that worked so well. The only change is in the finishing work and prepwork/top coats. I try to provide the best finished product to customers that I can. The line has expanded from the original bait since I started making them. For example, the original version of the Little Stinky was known as the Little Guy. There were some baits out there, but not many. I reworked the cosmetics and refined the bait to make them more consistent swimmers and to be known as the Little Stinky as it’s made today. The XL, One Piece and the OD Snake are baits that are all cosmetically based off the Standard size bait. I created the masters and molds and did the testing with the help of some friends. Those baits are part of the expansion and new growth of the company, while trying to stay with the OD brand. The XL was made to fill the spot in my personal baits, where I wanted to fish a larger profile OD and have the signature swim of the original. The One Piece and the OD Snake have their own styles and applications. There are always new projects in the works. Since I’m the only person making baits, I typically have more ideas then time to complete them. Currently there are 5 baits being offered at different times. Your perspective on the SU x OD Rat GS Collaboration? The SU x OD GS Collaboration was a fun project and nice to offer to people. This was the second set of SU x OD Baits. A smaller set was done for the SU Japan Tour 2019, but not offered for sale to the public. I typically will do short runs and sets of limited colors or patterns on baits. This keeps things fresh, original, and more personalized for bait owners. There are some staple paint jobs I do consistently, but I am always trying to mix it up. I know most people tend to fish the baits they like, and the response has been good up to this point. People like them, and the baits seem to speak for themselves. This set of baits was done to keep in line with the Golden Shiner Theme of SU baits, without being the typical scaled shiner pattern. These baits, although not a baitfish presentation, have natural gold/brown hues and a silver to gold color-shift and a light color belly that will appeal to bass that eat wake baits everywhere. It’s been interesting over the years to watch the changes within the swimbait community. SU has evolved and changed with the times and become a premium brand with a global footprint on all social media platforms. As social media and the newer generations expand this culture, SU is the most recognized swimbait brand globally and it’s very cool to have the opportunity to do projects like this. It’s also a little surreal to be offering baits to people that they are willing to spend their hard-earned money on; it’s humbling for me and I am very appreciative of all the support. I like to see people get stoked on baits I made and go out and catch fish with them. The internet has made the world much smaller and has enabled connections for things like this to happen. There is a strong swimbait presence coast to coast. Being someone located in New England and affiliated with the roots of west coast trophy bass fishing where it all started, I can’t imagine this would have been possible 20 years ago prior to the internet exposure. I hope everyone enjoys the SU x OD GS Collaboration baits and puts them to good use, thank you SU for the opportunity. View full record

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Swimbait 24/7 x SU: In March we teamed up with Butch Brown to release our Golden Shiner Deps 250 & 175. Along with the bait release, we were able to sit down with Butch for an interview where he talks about a variety of topics including his relationship with Deps, fishing the 250 and more. Check out the Underground Dispatch section for the three part series of interviews linked below. Underground Dispatch PB Section: @S33z3r started his season the right way. While fishing a derby with some of his friends, he not only managed to win the tournament but he did it by breaking his personal best. Congratulations on the win & new PB. Follow the link below to the PB section to browse other members Personal Bests and share your own PB story. PB Section SUTV: @Crazybassfisher uploaded a new video to the SUTV section showing off the Roman Made Mother Chaser. Through the video he summarizes the bait, answers some questions he's gotten about it, and demonstrates the swim in the water. Follow the link below for more videos from our members. SUTV March SUB: During our last SUB battle there were lots of big fish entered. SU member @Rubberdaddy secured the lead with a Lake Fork DD going 10-12 on a Gizzard Glide. Member @neill10 even uploaded a cast to catch video of the winning fish. Congrats on the win! The win earned him a spot to compete in the annual Battle for the Underground as well as a gear package. To sign up for the April SUB Battle, follow the link below and comment "In" before the code is released. April SUB Sign Up Got 'Em: @urbanhick got started early this year with a pair of nice Mid-March New England largies. With water temps still in the lower and mid 40s, the glide bait was the key to his success with a double reel handle pop to pause retrieve. Congrats on a good weekend of fishing! Head over to the Got'em section for more catches from our members. Got'Em Section View full record