4 hours ago, reason said:

No real big ones this year, got one about 8 on a swim jig and one a tad smaller on a chatter. 

 I like how casually people can say "Yeah I just got an 8 pounder, nothing too impressive..." like it happens all the time. Man for me that'd be a monster, and I'd have to slap myself, then jump into the water to make sure it wasn't a dream!

 

Biggest one I caught last year was either on a topwater whopper plopper or that one I hooked a few feet of the bank while retrieving a spinner bait... pretty close between the two. Neither was 2 lbs. but I'll take any fish over no fish!

Largest I got was a 5.8lb'r on a Berkley warpig in March. Looked to be post spawn or a large male?

 

 

My favorite catch of 2018 was the 5.12lb'r I caught on my B-day in March. Very nice looking specimen which has a very distinct dotty like birthmark. Maybe she's got dotty's genes as Lake Perris isn't all that far from Dotty's home. I've heard that LMB were illegally stocked at Lake Perris in the past. Not 100% sure on the lure but it was either a Warpig or a Rat-l-trap.

 

 

I look forward to possibly catching her again someday. I figure with the distinct birthmark it'll be easy to ID her.

 

 

No monsters this past year, but caught alot of numbers. Hoping for another DD in 2019!

 

Hoping my local rivers will stay well below flood stage. Record rainfall has kept the rivers in the treetops.

2 3/4” Tube. Maybe it’s because I throw that most of the time.

GP 5/16oz finesse jig but it was only about 3.5 lbs. Hopefully I can get out more this year in the spring.

 

Allen

Not big but the biggest this year. 5.2 on a weightless, TX rigged, Black Zoom magnum finesse worm.

Largemouth-10.5"worm

Smallmouth-Sammy

5 hours ago, FishDewd said:

 I like how casually people can say "Yeah I just got an 8 pounder, nothing too impressive..." like it happens all the time. Man for me that'd be a monster, and I'd have to slap myself, then jump into the water to make sure it wasn't a dream!

 

Biggest one I caught last year was either on a topwater whopper plopper or that one I hooked a few feet of the bank while retrieving a spinner bait... pretty close between the two. Neither was 2 lbs. but I'll take any fish over no fish!

I agree about trying to find out if it is a dream or not. If I could catch one 5 pounder a year I would be having a good year. It just doesn't happen very often. At least not for me. This is why I don't fish tournaments.

Being “up north” anything 6 lbs and bigger is considered a big’un.

 

 

My biggest of 2018 was the smallest year-best I've recorded since 2013 -- just a 3.8, on a wacky-rigged senko:

 

On the bright side, plenty of room for improvement in 2019!

25 minutes ago, Log Catcher said:

I agree about trying to find out if it is a dream or not. If I could catch one 5 pounder a year I would be having a good year. It just doesn't happen very often. At least not for me. This is why I don't fish tournaments.

Are the bodies of water you fish known to have big bass? Not all lakes will produce big bass. It only takes 1 cast to catch that fish of a lifetime so don't give up hope. 

 

9 minutes ago, OperationEagle said:

Being “up north” anything 6 lbs and bigger is considered a big’un.

 

 

5-6lb Spot or SMB could be considered a big one in any state. Not like they grow to the monster size that LMB's can achieve. 

It was one of these two, they were nearly identical in size...Don't know the weights since I didn't weigh them, both were practice days and I don't keep a scale in the boat.  I weighed a few upper-5's in this year, but both of these were a little bigger than any of those. (Yes, that tattoo'd up one is also my profile pic, just the other side)

 

Both were actually caught on the same bait, but different bodies of water and different times.  3/8 OG Phenix chatter.  

 

7 hours ago, FishDewd said:

 I like how casually people can say "Yeah I just got an 8 pounder, nothing too impressive..."

Some might be influenced by location, where such a fish is not quite as noteworthy...But much of it is just good humble-bragging .

8 hours ago, Jig Man said:

6.25 on the Ned rig 1/16 oz head 6# fluoro

 

 

Two weeks ago I took my wife to a nearby pond where I have been slaying them on a Ned Rig.  I just showed her this pic and told her that you caught this on the same size lure and line that she was catching 2 pounders a couple weeks ago.  She gasped and said, "I don't WANT to catch that on that same size line!".  LOL!  That's a nice Ned fish right there.  

8 hours ago, Jig Man said:

6.25 on the Ned rig 1/16 oz head 6# fluoro

 

 

Two weeks ago I took my wife to a nearby pond where I have been slaying them on a Ned Rig.  I just showed her this pic and told her that you caught this on the same size lure and line that she was catching 2 pounders a couple weeks ago.  She gasped and said, "I don't WANT to catch that on that same size line!".  LOL!  That's a nice Ned fish right there.  

7 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Only 2 was over 10lbs and one was caught on a jig....

 

 

Not many states offer a realistic shot at a fish over 10 either. 

 

3 over 10 were confirmed from Ks this year. 1 on a crankbait, 1 on a jig, and one on a live green sunfish on a limb line. The crankbait fish was the largest, less than a pound off the state record. First time in my life I can remember more than one confirmed fish over 10 being caught in my home state in the same year.

32 minutes ago, Logan S said:

It was one of these two, they were nearly identical in size...Don't know the weights since I didn't weigh them, both were practice days and I don't keep a scale in the boat.  I weighed a few upper-5's in this year, but both of these were a little bigger than any of those. (Yes, that tattoo'd up one is also my profile pic, just the other side)

 

Both were actually caught on the same bait, but different bodies of water and different times.  3/8 OG Phenix chatter.  

 

Some might be influenced by location, where such a fish is not quite as noteworthy...But much of it is just good humble-bragging .

Lol, hey don't take me wrong! It's great to hear about! Love hearing others are being successful catching the big ones, as well as having fun.

2 hours ago, OperationEagle said:

Being “up north” anything 6 lbs and bigger is considered a big’un.

 

 

 

The last few years, Michigan DNR has tracked tournament results state-wide, and published summary results. The reports from 2016 and 2017 indicate the total number of bass entered in all registered tournaments, average weights, the largest bass caught, and so on, including the number of bass over 6lb.

2016

2017

 

While the system obviously doesn't get every bass caught in the state, it does give an approximate estimate of how often an experienced angler might expect to catch bass over 6lb in some of our more-pressured public waters.

 

The summary reports for 2016 and 2017 give the following:

23 out of 80,000+ Michigan tournament bass in 2016 were 6lb or more

43 out of 90,000+ Michigan tournament bass in 2017 were 6lb or more

 

SO, we're talking only 66 over 6lb, out of more than 170,000, or a rate of about 1 in more than 2576. And I believe that only includes weighed bass, so the rate would be much lower if you included every culled or undersized bass that was caught.

 

So, yeah, people catch 'em sometimes, in some places, but they don't exactly grow on trees.

 

 

 

Talk about a bunch of awesome photos.  Bass from three countries and across the entire USA. I'm honored to be among you guys and those yet to post. Cool stuff.

I’m not sure which was bigger. The spinnerbait was Rodman and the crank was Eufaula.

 

Biggest I weighed. 22” 6 lbs 4 oz caught on a Magnum Christie Critter

Didn't have a great year last year, but my largest was caught on a 3/8 black jig, with a black and blue trailer.

Biggest northern strain was about 6lb on a black buzzbait w/black blade.

My best for the year was on a 1/2 oz double willow war eagle spinnerbait in mouse, it came in just shy of 4 lbs. 

Keitech SI Fat 4.3 white on 1/8 oz. weighted hook

2.84 (personal PB) on a 3/8oz BHite Delight Jackhammer chatterbait with a 4.8" Ghost Shad BPS Speed Shad trailer

Two biggest for 2018:

•5.5 lb largemouth on a jig/trailer

•20 inch smallmouth on Caffeine Shad

 

Being an “up-North guy” I’ve caught a few hundred bass over 5 lbs but have yet to crack 6 pounds.  My humble New Years goal for 2019