Biggest Bass of 2023 ~ What Bait ?

[Bazoo]

So far, it's been this one. Got him on a buzzbait that @Jig Man sold me for cheap, then I added a chartreuse skirt. I think he was 5 pounds compared to my box, but my scale was being contrary for some reason. Every time I went to weigh him, it showed a pound, or ounces or nothing, but when I weigh something like my box it works. 

[MIbassyaker]

Had I responded to AJay's post earlier this year, I probably would have said a chatterbait, a buzzbait, or a texas-rigged creature.

 

I would have been wrong.

 

It was a Duo Realis Pencil 100 in "Ghost Minnow":

 

4.59lb:

[TnRiver46]

Aw heck I can’t remember which one was biggest. Definitely got my biggest LM (21”) with a Freedom series RAD crankbait , smallmouth I can’t remember which was biggest. It’s rare that I catch LM so easier to remember the good ones 

[thediscochef]

If I had replied to this thread originally I would have said 1/2oz red eye shad or a c rig lizard. I would have been right about the 1/2oz red eye for smallmouth. 4lb 1oz.

3/4oz red eye shad did the work for the biggest LM. 7lb 5oz of pure summer fun.

[king fisher]

  So far my biggest was 10.75 pounds, a little bit shy of 27 inches long, but the year isn't over yet.  Caught on Junebug Zoom Magnum Trick worm.

[Pat Brown]

On 2/17/2023 at 11:37 AM, A-Jay said:

 

  Awesome Bass @Pat Brown

And THAT'S exactly how this thread is supposed to work.

Congrats 

A-Jay

 

 

Well in the end, it was the old 12" powerworm that won the day in July, but we will take it eh?  😂

 

[TnRiver46]

Bigs eat the worm 

[LrgmouthShad]

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Bigs eat the worm 

And jigs and crankbaits and spinnerbaits and buzzbaits and chatterbaits and jerkbaits and senkos and shaky heads and walking baits and poppers and devils horses and…. Oh wait

[Cdn Angler]

I caught a comical number of bass that were exactly four pounds this year. And nothing bigger. Mainly on flipping baits: ManBearPig, Keitech Crazy Flapper, 5 Inch Senko. Those were all LMB. My biggest smallies were caught on a whopper plopper, locally made bladed jig, and a GY Hula Grub. 

 

I focused more on lakes where the biggest bass top out at 4-ish pounds, but are plentiful. Mainly to experiment trying different techniques/baits. 

[TnRiver46]

13 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

And jigs and crankbaits and spinnerbaits and buzzbaits and chatterbaits and jerkbaits and senkos and shaky heads and walking baits and poppers and devils horses and…. Oh wait

See there you listed two worms, senko and shakey head. Just like the bass you can’t resist 

[TOXIC]

Oh…we’re adding species to the list?  I posted by best big head.  Here’s the best smalljaw.  No real bigs this year on St Clair but I could post 50 pics of smallmouth that size.  Always a trade off between size and numbers seems like. 

[A-Jay]

Just so you Bassheads know,

we are not offering any Extra Credit to 'late entries'.

And someone's keeping track too 🤓

But it's my thread & I like big fish pics too, 

so here ya go . . . . .

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[TOXIC]

@A-Jay…..showoff!!  😂🤣

 

I forgot to post what I caught my small jaws on.  85% were caught on a Ned with a 5 inch Pro-Senko as the bait.  They did not want any of the Ned specific baits this year.  

[LrgmouthShad]

@A-Jay who said anything about extra credit 😁

 

I don't remember what I was doing on February 6th but I probably did not want to jinx myself by saying what bait would catch largest fish

[Phelptwan]

5lb 6oz on a Jerkbait (Stunna)

or this unknown hoss on a Jackall Kiera (my scale broke, and was no longer reading right, I think it was well over 5lbs.

[gim]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:58 PM, gimruis said:

For 2023 I am going with a tube. I’ll have to revisit this one in November when the season is over.

 

I had to look back at what I predicted.  Although the season technically isn't over yet for me, I would be shocked if my biggest bass of the season did in fact come on a tube.  Honestly, I'm not sure why I even predicted a tube way back in February either.  I did catch some fish on a tube, but didn't really need to fish it that much either.

 

Biggest smallmouth this season is on a jerk bait, biggest largemouth is on a wacky rigged stick bait.

[txchaser]

Couple over 8 on a 7+ meter JDM deep crank on sides of points this summer. It was so hot I was delerious. They would not bite a big worm, but it was an epic crank day.

 

[DaubsNU1]

4lbs-8oz. caught on a drop shot, wacky rigged, green pumpkin Senko. 

 

This fish was hanging under under a dock in 2-1/2' of water. Almost noon...I was thinking about heading home. 

 

Did not even feel the bite...weight hit the bottom...and the line started to move...set the hook!

 

[A-Jay]

9 minutes ago, txchaser said:

Couple over 8 on a 7+ meter JDM deep crank on sides of points this summer. It was so hot I was delerious. They would not bite a big worm, but it was an epic crank day.

 

Sure it was the heat and not the BASS ?

Either way,

Nice Job & Congrats.

A-Jay

[Bluebasser86]

My biggest was a around 6.25lbs on a Big Bite Baits Craw Tube. Still a couple months left so maybe I'll beat it still. Haven't caught any smallmouth big enough to be worth mentioning. 

 

[Swamp Girl]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

My biggest was a around 6.25lbs on a Big Bite Baits Craw Tube. Still a couple months left so maybe I'll beat it still. Haven't caught any smallmouth big enough to be worth mentioning. 

 

 

I love the shape of your Kansas bass! I think they're the most footbally bass posted at BR.

 

I don't know what my biggest bass was. It might have been one of these two girls, caught on Whopper Ploppers in the dark. I caught several bass that were longer, but these two were the thickest:

 

[Robinhood21]

T-Rigged Junebug 7.5" Yum Ribbontail... first time fishing the lake.  21" & 5.3# I believe

 

 

 

[Bankbeater]

On 2/7/2023 at 4:05 PM, Bankbeater said:

I'm going to play the odds and say a 3/8 black and blue jig with a craw trailer.

My largest this year, so far, has been a 5-12 caught on a T-rigged Zoom Speedcraw in Sapphire.  Close but not quite.

[padlin]

I’d like to say my biggest at 6 lbs was caught on a Rage Craw but it wasn’t, it came on something I had heard of here but didn’t know what actually was. Bought and tried a few underspins, caught this one on a white with a grub trailer. This was on a pond with just 1 and 2 lb’ers that I fish when I’m too lazy to drive an hour.

 

Fished that bottom spin for hours after the 6, absolutely nada.

[Swamp Girl]

On 10/18/2023 at 12:05 PM, Robinhood21 said:

T-Rigged Junebug 7.5" Yum Ribbontail... first time fishing the lake.  21" & 5.3# I believe

 

 

 

 

What a fine, stocky bass.