22RangerZ520R

Appreciate it sir Thanks! Definitely not going to forget it! Appreciate it sir! It didn't feel real as it was unfolding!

Thank you sir! I don't know if it's a record for my "Lake X". I know Butch Brown had like a 65lb+ bag a while back and I'm sure others in Cali have had 5 DD bags, but I haven't heard of many 50lb+ bags out my way. Thank you sir! Appreciate it sir! 👊🏻☝🏻 Appreciate it sir! 👊🏻👍🏻 Yes sir, was nice to meet you as well. I'm looking forward to coming up to Menderchuck this spring for trophy smallies! It'll be here before you know it........! Appreciate it sir! And yep, it's like cloud 9 × 1,000,000!

Appreciate it sir! Yeah, it was a crazy experience, one that I'll probably never have again! It's going to be very hard to top that bag and to top the 13lb PB, but I'm going to try! Yeah, have to keep the backgrounds blurred, I've been burnt in the past from so called fishing "friends" who have abused my info sharing. I can say all were caught on swimbaits, no guide, no live bait and on public water in the US. Appreciate it sir! Epic is a good word to describe it! I know "mega bag" is being used a ton right now, but colossal sounded better to me...lol. If it didn't happen to me personally, it would be hard to believe! I know the guys in Cali are more used to the 13lb+ sized bass, but they're way more rare out east. Ha! Thanks! Yeah, 60lb could be the next goal, but I'm probably going to stick with smaller increments...lol. 57lb bag and 13½lb PB are the new goals. Yes sir, God lined up the stars for me for sure! Yes sir, ffs is a true "game changer". I'll never fish without it.

THANK YOU LORD! ☝🏻🙏🏻 God + preparation + opportunity = Success! Caught my new teener PB at 13lb even and she anchored a colossal 56lb solo bag! I had FIVE double digit bass in one day! I'll never forget it! Every big one I threw to committed and bit. I caught one of the 10lb 8oz right at dark and she bit on the fall. I was able to watch four out of the five eat on Mega Live 2. All were caught on a variety of large hard and soft swimbaits. At this time I'm not disclosing the exact baits (one is a prototype) or location, I hope everyone can understand. My custom F5 swimbait rods paired with Calcutta Conquest 400MD's performed flawlessly. The 13lb was enormous, she went 25¾" × 22"! I've had the goal of a teener for a few years now and it feels great to see the time, money and mental fortitude pay off. The other four giants that made up the 56lb bag were: 11¼, 10¾ and two 10½. It still doesn't feel real and I don't know if I'll ever top that day! It was the perfect storm of conditions and I was able to capitalize on every opportunity with zero mistakes/misses that day. On top of the five giants in the mega bag listed above, I also had a 9¼, 9 and 8 that day too! I'll be doing separate posts with length/girth shots on each of the DD's. Pics are in order of size, 56lb...! 🤯 - 13lb - 11lb 4oz - 10lb 12oz - 10lb 8oz - 10lb 8oz Had to resize the pics to fit on this post, better pics on IG - 22RangerZ520R

Persistence, preparation and timing are probably the biggest take aways I have over the years. Continuing to grind when your mind is telling you to quit (I've been to the point mentally many times where I'm about to pull the plug and put it on the trailer and that's the exact moment I'll get bit!). Making sure your gear is 100%, net at the ready and re-tying baits often throughout the day (I've learned this one the hard way by casting off expensive baits). Hitting prime structure and/or cover multiple times. Catching the big ones "slipping" during a feeding frenzy. Having the mindset of quality over quantity..... I'd much rather catch one giant than the 100 dinks "MLF style" by beating the banks with a bladed jig or shaking a minnow. In a nutshell those are some things I've done/noticed over the years. Nothing new... No secret bait, no private waters, no live bait, no guides, just putting the time in on the water. Also, putting forth the effort needed along with some old fashioned grit and determination. Last, but definitely not least is once the giants hit the net, giving thanks to God for the bite and opportunity to enjoy His creation!!!

Thanks. No, not a KY fish. Ha! A few times...

Tied my PB with this 12lb 8oz giant! A fight I won't soon forget... I've been focused on trophy hunting and the big bait game for over 10 years now. This fish represents countless hours on the road and water! She was a perfect specimen. Healthy, fat and not a blemish on her. A custom F5 swimbait rod paired with a Conquest 400MD spooled with 25lb InvizX brought her to the net. I'm not disclosing exact bait or location at this time. Unfortunately I've been burnt in the past and I'm not repeating that mistake. God is GOOD! ☝🏻🙏🏻 12lb 8oz | 26¼" × 21"

That's correct sir 😁

4" swimbait

NEW smallie PB!!! My last smallie trip up north didn't disappoint! (Minus dropping my phone in the water, ruining it and cutting the trip short because of it and the weather) Fished some new water and ran into this beautiful specimen. Watching her eat on Mega Live 2 was definitely a bonus! The adrenaline dump when the bigs hit the net makes all the time, money and effort worth it! She's my new smallie PB at 7lb 8oz ~ 22¼" × 18"! Thank you Lord! ☝🏻🙏🏻 Can't wait to get back up there next spring!

Update: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2025/06/20/childers-case-moves-to-grand-jury-in-may-31-somerset-columbia-murders/84248210007/

Yep, sad situation for sure. I thought his jailhouse interview was weird and he was chillingly calm.

Dang it! She'll bite again...

Appreciate it sir! Appreciate it sir! Yeah, the trout stocking definitely helped those lakes back in the day

Appreciate it sir

Appreciate it sir! Thanks! Definitely my best largemouth trip to date!

Lol, I just have a 250 Appreciate it sir Thanks!

Appreciate it sir. Yeah, I have put in a bunch of effort and had many slices of humble pie along the way. It makes it that much more sweeter! I go solo all the time, so the pics are with an old school tripod that I did videos on my phone then took video captures for the pics. Guess I need to get with the times and get a GoPro...lol. Appreciate the kind words sir. Thanks! It was incredible Appreciate it. I missed two that were probably DD's as well. Thanks! Yeah, crazy to think some guys have caught 50lb bags in one day. I was tickled pink to get 54lb over 7 days! Thanks! I'm no disclosing location and exact baits at this time. I've been burnt in the past with giving out too much info and I'm going to use a little internet wisdom on this, hope you can understand. Lol, yeah it was Maine Nah, I'll never catch his DD count! I'm at 13 DD's as of right now. The goals are a teener largemouth and a 8lb+ smallie.

Appreciate it sir. I'm not going to disclose exact baits at this time, hope you can understand. Very foggy... lol

Thanks. It's definitely going to be hard for me to beat. Appreciate it, it's still sinking in for me. Appreciate it sir! Appreciate it sir! Lol on waypoints Thanks

God lined up the stars again for my first trip of 2025! He gave me the opportunity to cross the path with five DD bass in 7 days!!! My best 5 for the trip went 54lbs! Also had a 8lb 4oz, 7lb 4oz and 6lb 4oz. The breakdown of the top 5: 11lb 4oz / 25¾" L × 21" G 11lb 4oz / 25½" L × 21½" G 11lb / 25½" L × 21" G 10lb 8oz / 25½" L × 19½" G 10lb / 24" L × 20½" G I've been trophy hunting for ten years now and this trip is what it's all about! I still can't believe what went down. The first 11lb 4oz hit the net within the first few hours of day 1 of the trip! I was on cloud 9 and told myself any fish from that point on was just a bonus, not knowing four more DD's would hit the net before it was over! I was able to watch all five DDs eat on the new Mega Live 2. I also was able to hone my mental fortitude this trip by sometimes going 6-7 hours with zero activity/hits and staying mentally in the game. I weighed all the DD's multiple times on my IGFA certified 15lb Boga Grip. As usual, my custom F5 rods paired with the Calcutta Conquest 400MD's put in work! All were caught on various swimbaits. The series of pics below are in order of the top 5 listed above (better quality pics on IG - 22RangerZ520R, had to resize/shrink them to post here). Man, it's going to be very hard to top this trip and I'm smiling ear to ear just typing this. Can't wait to go again....!

2024 is going to be one to remember! I had two DD largemouth, one that was ounces shy of a DD and broke my smallie PB 5 times (of the five smallies, three 7lb smallies I caught in one day and had a solo 34lb 8oz bag of all bronze!) I'm grateful for all the time I got to spend on the water and for the big fish God blessed me with! Looking forward to 2025, the goals - teener largemouth and 8lb+ smallie! Here's the run down of my best 5 largemouth and smallmouth: Top 5 largemouth (46lb 12oz) - 10lb 4oz - 10lb - 9lb 12oz - 8lb 8oz - 8lb 4oz Top 5 smallies (35lb 8oz) - 7lb 4oz - 7lb 4oz - 7lb - 7lb - 7lb Photos are too large to attach, more pics on IG - 22RangerZ520R

ML1 has caught many big ones for me and I'm going to get the ML2. The videos of ML2 on the release today look noticeably clearer than ML1. Garmin still sits on the throne of ffs, but Humminbird has closed the gap significantly imo.

Saw that on IG, a beast!

Dworshak. Josh and Joey Walton (Dworshak local) were butting heads on IG recently, fighting over spot poaching each other. I'd love to give it a try, but it's a 31hr haul for me so probably a no go.