2019 Review - Which lures/presentations caught largemouth over 5lbs for you?

[Bluebasser86]

Skipping a popping frog way under docks is a really underutilized way of fishing them and exciting. Kind of like night fishing, because you can't see your bait, just listening for the blowup.

[SK1]

My best for 2019 was a 5.11 caught on a five inch Yum Dinger.

[PourMyOwn]

Ice out largemouth on a 1/2 oz rattle trap. My only other 5 plus largemouth was on a Mann's Auger tail 6 inch worm.

 

One smallmouth over 5 this year, on a football jig with a Guido bug in 22ft of water. 

[txchaser]

Welp, first over 5lbs for 2020 was on a Ned Rig.

Soaking a Lifted Jigs EWG Ned Head (orange), with a GP/Orange TRD. 

 

[humbleangler]

Well, my PB LM is still just under 5, but caught on a Lindy River Rocker looking for Smallies, lol 

[Spankey]

I did not catch a personal best this past season. Did catch both a Smallie and Greenie over 4+. Very respectable fish in the North East. 
 

Power Worm, RoboWorm and GY KutTail. Will be producers this season as well I suspect. I’ve jig fished more this past season and produce a mixed bag size wise. One particular jig I gotten huge hits on but have only managed smaller bass with it. Not sure if I have to modify something with the jig or possibly the huge hits were Muskies. Might not know the answer until I hookup a decent Mr. Green Jeans or a Muskie. I am sticking with that jig this season. 

[Primus]

Lots of good info in this thread, I definitely will be trying some these baits this upcoming spring. 

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

On 12/31/2019 at 7:08 AM, A-Jay said:

 

And second place isn't even close ~

A-Jay

Just when I thought I had lightened my load.

 

Goes to trash can, digs out baits!

 

 

On 12/31/2019 at 7:08 AM, A-Jay said:

 

And second place isn't even close ~

A-Jay

Just when I thought I had lightened my load.

 

Goes to trash can, digs out baits!

 

 

[Fishingintheweeds]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:45 AM, A-Jay said:

It's a 6 inch Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad ~ 

All Big Green Bass 

I have to add that this was all in Mexico.

A-Jay

Ha, ha, that's a key point. But if 2nd place isn't even close, I may give that a shot in Michigan this year, just to see ?

[Russ E]

like usual I am late to the party.

 

Baits that produced bass over 5 in 2019:

super fluke  

shakyhead/ trickworm, 

lucky craft lightning pointer 

academy H20 ultimate jerkshad  

ol monster worm

whopper plopper

texas rigged christie critter

H2O spinnerbait

 

super fluke was biggest producer with 4 over 5.

 

 

For 2020:  Only one so far but it weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. It is the fish in my avatar.

caught it on an H2O ultimate jerkshad

 

 

 

 

[SK1]

Stickbaits, Fat Ika, and worms for me.

[Born 2 fish]

Jerkbait and jig 

[DitchPanda]

I caught 4 bass over 5lbs last year:

1 on a black and blue pad crasher

1 on a Nichols pulsator metal flake double willow spinnerbait in JTs Chartreuse shad

1 on a green pumpkin sniper jig with a D bomb trailer

My biggest was over 6 and it was on a black and blue arkie jig with a pit boss trailer

[Fishingintheweeds]

This reply is way after 2019 but still fun a fun topic.

 

Yep, being farther north makes it tough to get really big fish. But I have caught two here that I never believed I would see in Michigan and surely didn't believe were in any of the lakes I was fishing. Until I saw them. But they are out there!

 

I caught one in April of 2019 and one in May of 2021. Both were fat, one was a little over 22" long and the biggest was a little over 24".

 

The first, I caught on a chatterbait in a spot that I liked fishing but only went to because someone decided to do laps in their boat all the way around the edges of the first lake I went to. Ha, after about 20 minutes, I realized they weren't going to stop or even slow down, so I went the lake where I caught the fish. I honestly thought it was a big carp until I saw it jump. 

 

The second, I had my my two little guys with me at the lake closest to our house, just messing around off a dock. So, they got to see that and be in the pictures. That one came on a wacky rig Senko on a size 4 circle hook (bend the point in line with the shaft). 

 

I caught a good number of other decent fish that were not nearly as big as the other two (and maybe a couple others around 5) but still big for up here, and they came on jigs, chatterbaits and a whole bunch more on wacky rig Senkos.

[Woody B]

I like old threads coming back to life.  In some areas 5 pound bass are....normal, in some areas they're trophies.  I've caught seven 5 pounders this year.  Biggest was 7 pounds 13 ounces.  It an one other over 5 was on a texas rigged worm with an 1/8 ounce weight.  I caught 3 on various squarebills, and 2 on a devils horse.  I caught one last week that was 4 pounds 11 ounces on a devils horse.   

 

I only fish in one lake that has enough smallmouth to mention.  I've only been there 2 times this year.   A 5 pound smallie is huge around here.  I caught one that was 4 pounds 3 ounces back in March on a DT16.   

[gim]

6 hours ago, Woody B said:

A 5 pound smallie is huge around here.

That's huge around here too, for both largemouth and smallmouth.  I've got NONE in either category yet this season but to be fair, I usually average about 3 total for an entire season.  My best season, which occurred 2020, I caught 8 that big (5 largemouth, 3 smallmouth), plus a PB Tiger Muskie that was 41 inches.  Last year I caught 3 of that size (all largemouth).  My biggest this season is an 18 inch largemouth and a 17 inch smallmouth, both somewhere in the 3 pound range.  I think the best fishing (at least for me) is still to come.

[LrgmouthShad]

Well the season is still young as far as I can see. I’ve only got 3 I think over the 5lb mark but they all hover around 6. 
 

6.21 - Tricked out Zorro Short Arm Aggravator - NY

6.19 - Zoom mag 2 - NC

Estimate ~5.5+ - Siebert Grass N Swim Jig - NY

 

23 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I think the best fishing (at least for me) is still to come.

Up North I had some great days as fall creeped along. My best one was fairly close to ice over, in November 

[gim]

7 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Up North I had some great days as fall creeped along.

Fall is hit or miss, at least for me.  Last season almost all my good fishing occurred during a month-long span from early August until early September...and then never really took off because fall was so warm.

[FryDog62]

2 lures for me:

 

• Best, most versatile lure by far, and most 5 lb+ fish in the last 7 years - 5 inch Caffeine Shad on 4/0 3/32nd oz Owner Twistlock Light.  Any other hook and its just - Meh... works for LMB and SMB.  So easy, even my daughter catches pigs with them...

 

• Coming on strong the last couple years is skipping a Grandebass Airtail Rattler rigged Neko style with 1/16 oz weight under docks. Thicker profile worm with floating tail caught me 3 of my 4 biggest fish last year.

 

[Catt]

Biggest catch of 2019 

 

 

[txchaser]

Big fish (texas scale) for 2022:

 

Crush 75x (3x more than any of the others, good last year too)

Silent lipless (was big last year too)

Jackall Digle 4m+

A-rig

6" and 8" Boom boom swimbaits, thanks to BR for helping me figure out how to get them in the boat

Punching with a Jackall Archelon (in 3-4 fow, which was unexpected, but had deep water 10' away

Z-man crosseyes chatterbait (have mostly replaced jackhammers with this, does better in the grass and way better in the wood

Z-man Giant TRD in "the deal"

6th sense trace swimbait - the profile on these is really nice, and they are light enough to be easy to fish on standard H gear, I've bought replacement packs

 

And the surprise new bait winner for me was this inline swimjig. My read was these fish were over-educated on a chatterbait, but I needed a little more than a swimjig, and it was too weedy to have good spinnerbait results. Bluegill-keyed fish, and I knew they'd run up on a spot during low light to eat; was mid-day so I caught her staged out in the first (relatively) deep water that was about a cast length away. Just barely above the bottom - interestingly the bite was more like a jig bite (thunk) than a swimjig bite (smash).

 

[Fishingintheweeds]

On 7/15/2022 at 1:09 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Well the season is still young as far as I can see. I’ve only got 3 I think over the 5lb mark but they all hover around 6. 
 

6.21 - Tricked out Zorro Short Arm Aggravator - NY

6.19 - Zoom mag 2 - NC

Estimate ~5.5+ - Siebert Grass N Swim Jig - NY

 

Up North I had some great days as fall creeped along. My best one was fairly close to ice over, in November 

And from the bank even. Nice. Me too. I know that means most video content and a lot of posts are somewhat less relevant (not in terms of information on fish or behavior) to what I'm doing and sometimes it seems like what I'm doing isn't exactly easy to just translate to fishing from a boat.  Haven't pulled any really big ones in the hottest parts of the summer from the bank yet though on any good sized lakes. 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 hours ago, Fishingintheweeds said:

And from the bank even

Only the first one was, but thank you

5 hours ago, Fishingintheweeds said:

I know that means most video content and a lot of posts are somewhat less relevant (not in terms of information on fish or behavior) to what I'm doing and sometimes it seems like what I'm doing isn't exactly easy to just translate to fishing from a boat.

No amount of videos or posts on here could tell me how to catch that first fish, and it is the one I am most proud of. It was the product of knowledge from countless hours fishing that reservoir combined with seasonal timing (early prespawn). I knew where big bass would be likely to come up in the prespawn on that reservoir, that was the most important piece. Then I knew spinnerbaiting around sunset was a good presentation on this reservoir, and I wanted it slow rolled and deep. I’d been tossing a jig but really it was just occupying time until sunset. Huge warming trend in NY at that time )you see me in a short sleeve) just made for perfect conditions. 
 

 

[VirginiaKayakBasser]

Almost anything in the right situation, but I have caught my biggest ones on spinnerbaits.

[ATA]

Most of them dropshot, few on tube(Pre Spawn) and one time bucca shad 8".