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A few days ago I joined Swimbait Underground and yesterday I caught my biggest bass ever... coincidence... I think not! About a year ago I began throwing swimbaits and struggled. In Oregon our bass are not notorious for their swimbait eating ability; however, they still eat them good! Due to this, at first I didn't have too much confidence and I wondered if it could be done. After a few months of throwing a glidebait, I finally connected with my first fish: a 3 lb smallmouth that ate off a concrete wall in downtown Portland. Since then, the addiction has steadily increased. I acquired baits such as the Megabass I-Slide 185 and 262, the Deps Slide Swimmer 175 and 250, the Gancraft Jointed Claw 178 and 230, Working Class Zero 6 and 7 Citizen, and I was lucky enough to find a 3:16 Wake Jr from a coworker (I work at a tackle shop) for a fraction of what they resell for. Since I started swimbait fishing (not exclusively) I have found success throughout a variety of Oregon and Washington waters. Before the events that took place over the past few days, my biggest swimbait fish were around a 3.5-4 lb smallmouth and a 3 lb largemouth. However, after recently finding a Roman Made Negotiator in Oikawa Mesu, I put in a full two days at a local lake that has a fairly healthy population of trout. On the second day at 8:30 in the morning, I made a long cast over deep open water where I had seen trout eating off the surface. I began a slow and steady retrieve feeling the bait make wide turns back and forth and about 10 feet in front of the boat, right as I could start to see the bait, I saw the biggest bass I have ever seen make a beeline towards my bait. My eyes became incredibly wide and it took all I could muster to continue the slow and steady retrieve without yelling in excitement and anticipation. Before I knew what had happened, the bass sucked the Negotiator in head first. There was no hesitation, no doubt in its mind, that bass intended to obliterate that bait. After what seemed like an endless battle of violent head shakes and a terrifying run under my boat, the fish was finally in the net. After giving it plenty of oxygen in the livewell, the fish weighed in at 6.96 lbs of pure northern strain goodness! I look forward to learning and contributing more to Swimbait Underground! Gear used: Roman Made Negotiator in Oikawa Mesu Shimano Curado 200k with 20 lb Seagar Abrazx Dobyns Fury 795

First year throwing swimbaits and couldn't be happier that I did! My PB before this year was 5, and this year I managed a 7.5, 6.5, a couple 5's, and a bunch of 4's. The 7.5 came out of southern Oregon, and the 6.5 came out of central Utah which is a real good one for the area. Thanks to everyone in the swimbait community for always being helpful! Bring on the winter!

Caught this fish on an OG deps 250 Slideswimmer in Butch Brown natty trout. The lake had a fresh trout plant and I saw some of the locals catching trout by a wood fence and they said every time they bring a trout up this bass follows it all the way to the shore. First casts at the spot the fish bit on 2 consecutive casts with a Huddleston than after that nothing. Just as I'm about to leave the lake I decide to head back to the spot and stick a 4.7 pound largemouth. Not bad for a few hours Rod: Dobyns 807 Reel: Daiwa Lexa 300 6.4:1 Line:Pline Cxx 25lb Moon: Full moon, age 16 days Wind: Blowing from west Weather: Sun with some clouds Thanks SU!