I bass fished more this year than any other year I have been alive.  There was one stretch in the summer that I made it out for 19 straight days.  Definitely a record for me.  I caught hundreds of fish this year.  My goal for 2025 was to branch out with my lure arsenal...and I was very successful in doing so.  Prior to this year I mostly fished jigs and spinnerbaits.  Although I was always successful, I was getting bored fishing the same stuff over and over and made a change this year.  I went heavy on swimbaits and bfs.  My two most successful baits this year were the 4" Mayor and the Karashi.  I also had a ton of success with the Spro Chad Shad, the Bass Mafia 6" and 7" unloaded, 10" mag worm, and Black Label Cliff Pace Snapshot.  I caught a few (including my first ever) with the jerkbait as well.  Mostly the vision 110 junior +1.  Yes, I still fished the jig and spinnerbait and caught fish every time I used them.  But I have to admit I had a lot of fun experimenting this year.  The one bait that still eludes me is the frog.  I fished it quite a bit.  I had a ton of blow ups.  But for the life of me I could never set the hook until just towards the end of the year when I finally set the hook on one correctly and got it to the boat. 

 

I eased up a bit this year on the smallmouth fishing, but the couple times I went were actually my best days for numbers.  Caught all smallmouth on white flukes and karashis, with only one large smallie on a jig in early spring.  I also caught my PB largemouth this year on the Spro Chad Shad.  I netted several 8+lb lmb's as well, a decent amount of 6+lb, and a record amount of 5+lb fish for me. 

 

For 2026 I am looking to expand my swimbait arsenal, as well as my bfs selection.  And I will probably end up selling off a lot of my crankbait gear.  I have a lot of nice crankbaits, most that have never been fished.  And I do not really see myself wanting to use them in the future.  Swimbaits, bfs, topwater, jigs, and spinnerbaits are where its at for me.

I'm curious how much time you dedicated to the larger swimbaits.

 

I've bought several nice ones this year and I managed to only catch one fish on them. Ironically it was the cheapest of them all.

 

I think the "secret" is to keep throwing them even if you aren't getting bit.

 

I'll throw them and most likely abandon them too soon and try something else.

 

I've probably only thrown big swimbaits a total of 1 hour. That just ain't gonna cut it I have a feeling.

 

IDK.

 

Thoughts?

I am fishing them every outing.  I typically bass fish from a kayak and work my way along the shore line.  I pull up to the first spot I want to fish and throw the big baits first, fanning the area within casting distance.  Then I switch rods and throw more traditional or finesse baits until I am convinced I have caught what that area will produce for the time.  Then I move on down the shoreline to the next area beyond the first area's casting distance and repeat the process.  This has worked very well for me this year.  If I had to put a number on it, I would say roughly 15% of the time is dedicated to casting the big baits.

You had a great year. Washington grows biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig bass and you know how to catch them!