AlabamaSpothunter

My fishing mentor caught his PB doing exactly that. I'd have no problems catching my PB on live bait.

Very detailed and informative reply, appreciate it! Yours along with a few others have tampered my expectations, but equally reinforced my belief I must give this technique a go. I remember dreaming and reading about guys like WRB in Bass rags in the late 90s using Trout 12" Swimbaits and it blew my mind. The Tatula 300 seems like the reel for me.

Those are exactly the type and size baits I'm looking to fish. I hear lots of people talk about seeing huge fish they had no clue were in a lake follow these baits. The JDM Tatula 300 is the reel at the top of my list now. I can't find a Tranx JDM, and I want to buy every reel JDM until the exchange rates change. Thanks for the great info. Most excellent advice, thanks for weighing in. I've never had the ability to get advice from someone who has caught the size fish you have until I joined this forum. This place is great, and thanks for offering your expertise. Haha, I saw your pics in the two biggest fish of the year thead, and IIrc they had big swimbaits in their mouths.

2020 counts as two years.....it was like 1968 in terms of historical happenings lol

Lol, I used to use my Koi Pond as a barometer for going fishing, throw some pellets, see their reactions.....not once did I ever not go fishing when the Koi didn't eat the pellets ? Awesome job, beautiful lake. Those are about as fun of a project as you can have, lots of work, but very rewarding creating diverse ecology out of nothing.

Trying to accomplish a life long goal of catching a DD fish on my home lake. They are there for sure, and I catch plenty of 5lb+ fish, but I'm looking to catch 10lb+ fish. I'm sure the big smart trophy fish on my home lake have never been presented with high end ultra realistic swim baits. I've already bought a rod last night.....an Alpha Angler WideGlide 7'9. Now that I look into reels more and more, it seems my plan of going with a JDM Zillion TW HD is a little underpowered, and something like the Tranx 300 would be ideal. So what I'll end up with is a $600 setup that is extremely niched to throwing 2-6oz swimbaits, and Arigs. That's fine if this is such an effective technique it deserves it., but I won't have uses for the rod or reel if I decide this isn't my cup of tea. With the Zillion TW HD, I'd be golden using it in a number of other setups. Now I'm researching baits, and my mind is spinning. I like the idea of throwing the hard baits verses the soft baits, and those are crazy expensive. Watched a great 1.5 hr video on them, and the guy from TacticalBassin said be prepared to lose Huddlesons and the like. How do you prepare for losing a $50-100 lure LOL. Lastly, the effort required to throw these huge baits, and the size of the tackle is quite burdensome to a guy that's not in a 20" late model Bass boat. So friends, did big swimbaits up your trophy LGM game, and did you find the investment into them worth it? Thanks in advance!

This is very much me. Half the time I'm throwing a bait that is going to usually only get bit by big fish, so the other half of the time I want to fish something that is fun to me. I could catch fish all day long on a Ned Rig, but I strongly dislike using them. On the other hand it's vastly harder for me to catch fish on a crank, but I love crank bait fishing.

All the stuff made in Japan I've tried is great, but on the reels I'm trying to catch a DD on I use P line's Ultimate Fluorocarbon in 15lb. Exceptional abrasion resistant and strong. Still got enough stretch, but I think this bait excels best with a rod made for it that should have the forgiveness in that aspect verses the line part of the equation. I spooled Seguer red label 12lb on a Steez BFS reel earlier, and fished it this afternoon. High quality stuff as well. I've just come to trust the P Line with regards to pulling big fish from laydowns.

I'm a late millennial...but a clutch/5 speed/manual transmission Window cranks 5 CD rear mounted CD players 8 Track

"Warning shot" fired at us while night fishing a private lake we had permission to be on....we fired a "warning shot" back lol. Fishing below Wheeler dam in a brand-new Skeeter Bass boat when they decided to go from 3 to 4 turbines, and when we went to fire up the big engine it wouldn't crank before we perfectly squared up and hit the concreate outcropping of the dam construction. We'd be lucky to be alive had we been in a less well-made boat that's for sure. Spider cracked where we hit, but nothing structural. Night fished a golf course lake several times before realizing it had numerous Alligators. Was fishing a small private lake from the bank, not paying attention......look down and literally less than a foot from me was coiled up, ready to strike Water Moccasin. I was dead to rights in New Balances and shorts, but thankfully they aren't known to be aggressive. Fishing is inherently dangerous oddly enough. The saltwater stories I have are way more dangerous/scary, and the secondhand accounts I know of are the stuff nightmares are made of. I forget the really cool member's name we have that night fishes the Glades...he might win the thread lol

Marked as solution because it confirms the info posted by several members was correct based on a firsthand account. Thanks for weighing in.

All it takes is a day like today for me to give every Yankee a Courageous Award....wow do I hate cold weather lol. 15mph winds today were brutal. When I'm catching fish on a Ned Rig, it's time for me to go home, that's where I'm at the last two days. Grateful to not be skunked and catching a few, but something major is shifting in my lake currently. Heck I even broke out a drop shot today. I would have got skunked 100% today and yesterday without sonar. The few fish I could catch were offshore, chasing small bait balls over a featureless bottom. Third time in last several weeks I've had a huge catfish break me off. BFS Steez with BFS Steez 6'3 and 12lb CXX didn't phase the fish.....peeled off 20yds and drove right into a thick patch of dying weeds. Spent thirty minutes trying to get the dang fish out so I could get back my Jackall. $38.99 + tax is what these big trash mudfish owe me, and I'm drawing up a gameplan currently to collect. Very frustrating.

Ataboy for trying brother.....I'm about to leave right now to go get my 3-4 hours of punishment. Yesterday was brutal at 11mph winds. My belief is that those who are willing to fish in the worst, most dynamic, or general uncomfortable weather, the greater chances they are the ones who catch the real big fish. I follow a few of the guys in Texas's ShareLunker program who target trophy LRG for a living. These guys are catching 10-14lb Bass on empty lakes in frigid cold, miserable weather.....fishing every day for them. Wish our state had a ShareLunker program LOL, look at that piece of junk tied on the end of that pole in the background ? Nice pretty fish. I thought DST is going away.....you just soul crushed me with that comment

I was 95% sure last night I was going to go with the Steez because how much I love my previous one, along with a small weight savings, and things like sealed bearings and more refined fitment. The price is a wash when I view how long and how much I intend to use this future reel. The excellent advice I've received thus far has scared me away from this particular Steez model. I'll stay with the Steez line for my lightweight needs, and go with these new Zillions for my moving baits. I'm in love with my new Zillion SV TW, and it sounds like the Zillion HD is just a beefier, heavier duty version. 7.1 is okay for my needs. I love the idea of having those knobs, and it's got the clicking drag. I'll try to grab the Steez SV TW 8.1 for Xmas or something. As always thanks to each and everyone who weighed in, thankfully I waited to purchase.

Beautiful fish, and handsome sons.....way to go Dad!

Intelligent humans have a strong desire to figure out why things work. Some more BS biology for you

Hey friends, can anyone help me pick b/t these two models. Usage: I plan to put this on an Alpha Angler Wide Glide 7'9 Glidebait/Swimbait/A Rig rod.......or an Alpha Angler Magnum Rebound 7"6 rod. Either way it's gonna be used to throw 1oz plus baits long ways. Gonna use 15-20lb Fluorocarbon most likely as well on it. Just a month ago or so I got a JDM Zillion SV TW that blew me away, I have no problem sticking with the Zillion line up. However, I also have the OG Steez and love it, and would love to have another Steez model in the lineup. They are very close in price.....Zillion is like 280, the Steez is 308. Are these models good for what I'm looking for, and do you have preference with one vs. the other. Thanks in advance!

I wish I was a fish biologist, but obviously am not so I'm always just throwing out my theories based on anecdotal evidence and data points. The actual fish biologist I know isn't all that impressive on Bass, and in general very very few are. One could make the argument that professional or savant level Bass anglers are the true experts of Bass biology. I might be mildly autistic though, so my point connecting skills might be extra sharp ?

Beautifully rich LGM brother, like Katie said, they look like those heathy dark beauties she pulls from the bogs and swamps Seems that regardless of latitude, LGM get this rich dark green color in more swamp, boggy type waters. I'm a bit of a zoom man myself, my biggest fish including my PB until this year almost exclusively came off Zoom Magnum 8" Lizards. Caught a few nice fish on that Junebug Ol Monster too. It's just so big for a worm, feels un-natural but it works.

Why thank you Katie, and right back at you. Nobody more encouraging, and friendly than yourself on here, and that's saying something as this is a community full of amazing folks.

Well it's gotta be tomorrow then lol......huge drop in temps on Tuesday, been putting in extra hours fishing in front of this thing mainly fishing for my DD home lake goal. Eventually you have to pick up some smaller baits and catch a few fish to keep yourself going. Caught 7-8 fish, mixed bag, and did catch one pig that I did break the scale out for, but it was only 4.2lb. This is perhaps the shortest, fattest LGM I've ever caught, and such a fantastic fighter for a LGM. She came off a 3/8th JackHammer in BamaBug with a 4" Live Magic Shad trailer with spiked tailed. She was hiding in a laydown near deep water and the main lake channel. These are the places I've been catching all my fish over 5lbs since the end of July. They get under a dock, or besides a laydown somewhere near the main channel with close access to deeper water, and then let the current and surface wind bring the bait right by their faces is my theory. Lastly, the type of conditions I'm struggling to deal with Always so envious of your wonderful fishing partners, your fish are fantastic as always too 100%.....didn't hurt this year like in 2020, 2019, and 2018 though. Knowing WS history, the likihood to repeat is very low, and a number of teams have never won a WS. I'm grateful us fans got to have such an epic run to the WS ring last year. If we can do that once a decade, I'll be happy.

What beautiful trees and country, great stuff man! Beautiful fish, I'll get banned if I said what I wish happened to people like that. That's why we can't have nice things in society.

I feel the same way about P Line's Ultimate Flurocarbon in 15lb......absolutely amazing in terms of abrasion resistance. Extraordinarily tough line. I'll have to try the Tactical....I like the name lol

Downsize, and then when you think you've downsized, downsize a little more. I spend half my time fishing for a DD, and the other half fishing for any Bass that will bite. The lure size is dramatically different for both types of fishing. Don't be afraid to throw a Beetle Spin or something. Finesse stuff is usually a good skunk killer. Lastly, this is what actually makes Bass fishing so addictive, and exhilarating.....it's not easy catching Bass reliably

Early bird gets the worm I see, great job again Katie. Way to take advantage of the weather. If Bass only bit in the morning, I'd be a golfer ?