5.97# on a Gambler Burner Craw, 1/2oz t-rig.  Green Pumpkin/Chartreuse claws 

 

A month earlier, 5.73# on a 3/8oz t-rigged Zoom Lizard,  Junebug/Chartreuse tail

 

The chances I top either of these in 2026 are pretty slim, but you never know...

Megabass jerk bait in perch caught this bloated prespawn brownie in late May.

 

 

Megabass 110 jerkbait got this 8.20 lb. pre-spawner in Feb.

 

 

Honorable mention: 298 days later, a Damiki Vault scored this 7.73 lb. bass in Dec.

 

Rapala Shad Rap size 6 in silver black back, soft split rings, 4lb11oz largemouth. No picture.

My biggest bass of ‘25 was a 5 1/2 lb LMB on a pink zoom trick worm.

 

Homemade 1/2oz black and blue flipping jig. Half silicone, half living rubber.

 

9.72lbs, the anchor to a 35lb bag. 

 

 

shakey head with a Z SMH worm on it.

KGB Chad Shad in threadfin color

Funny to see so many worms in the replies with all the new and expensive stuff that's on the market these days. For me it was a plain old zoom ultravibe on a texas rig with a small bullet weight.

I had my best smallmouth year ever, mostly from shore on Lake Michigan, but did nab one 5lber on my small inland lake.  I also finally grabbed a scale in late fall, so some of my "weights" are guesstimates and I promise to only have 2 answers next year.  I caught 20"+ sm bass on the following;

 

glf juvy craw in motor oil 

Siebert's WRB 7/16oz hair jig w/ a deps deathadder 

3/4oz finesse scrounger head w/ a geecrack revival shad

3/4oz duh spoon 

3/16oz jighead with a mooch minnow (5lbs)

 

 

 

 

 

For Largemouth I had a decent year for "big for me bass,"  couple dozen in the 19-21" range, but none with a frame that felt like it was 6lbs.  These are some of what I remember...

 

1/2oz Zorro booza bug jig w/ a d-bomb

4.8" bullflat swam on a 3/8oz football head jig

1 3/4oz duh spoon

3/16oz jighead w/ a rapala freeloader

Duel Hardcore shad 75mm

 

scott

 

 

 

5" fat baby finesse worm/ blue fleck on a jig head for this one.  22.25 for the 7th hour in the Native No-limits tourney,

 

 

 

6 inch Megabass Magdraft;  took too long to get the hooks out, released her without taking time to weigh and measure.  The big Largemouth's survival was more important to me than a photo.

On 1/1/2026 at 6:54 AM, Pat Brown said:

Mag speed worm in green pumpkin with a pegged tungsten sinker got my 11 lb 5 oz bass in May of last year and then the grass jig in pats gizzard with a largo shad got me a 9-14, 9-3, 8-8 and a bunch of 6-7 lbers between March and May. Spro Bronzeye 65 also got a 9-3 for me which I was thrilled about.  Got an 8-8 on the black Spro popping frog and and 8-8 on the aaron martens hog snatcher buzzbait both from a public pond I love to fish!  Got some tanks in the 5-7 lb range on the red eye shad and the hybrid Hunter in the fall and the bladed jig finally made a come back for me this year picking up a couple nice ones this fall for me!

 

Floating trick worm got many 5-7 lbers in the post spawn.

 

Free rig ribbon tail came to play in July and caught everything I caught until about September including some tanks.

 

Caught a good number of 5-7 lbers in the post spawn on the 7” Zaldangerous swimbait on lakes and ponds.

 

Every season played a little differently from the previous season in a fun way this year - much less overlap in terms of bites fading and activating.  It was hard and defined changes for me on my lakes this year where they’d be on something and everywhere eating it for two weeks and then things would move and change and they’d be on to the next thing in the next area.  Most years they settle in to something for a while and usually you can still catch them on that bleeding into the next phase around here pretty good .  This year the fall feed in shallow flat areas was super hard and fast and lasted a very clearly defined two week period and then they were gone to deeper areas.  Not at all like 2024 for me where they were eating a frog while it snowed in December.  I feel like the winter was so hard in 2024 - it kinda made them more aware of the temps this year it seems like - hard to explain but they seemed to react very quickly to minor temperature shifts way more than previous years and I’m suspicious because we had ice for 3 months last year - wonder if it scared em!  😂

 

 

Crazy!  I need to move where Florida strain bass live 🤷‍♀️.  That would be a lifetime of monsters here in Oklahoma 

dang.  I remember the fish..well fishes.  I cant remember the bait.  

On 1/1/2026 at 7:34 AM, king fisher said:

9.9 pounds, T Rigged Junebug Zoom Ole Monster.  Same lure as last years biggest bass.

If I caught my best bass on the same lure two years in a row I’m not sure I’d ever throw any other lure. The fact that we do is proof that the bait monkey’s grip is strong.

It wasn’t the best year. A 4 lb largemouth on a Rage Bug rage rigged.  But there all good when the bite Plus this monster

2 hours ago, Fishlegs said:

If I caught my best bass on the same lure two years in a row I’m not sure I’d ever throw any other lure. The fact that we do is proof that the bait monkey’s grip is strong.

The surprising thing is a T rigged worm is one of my least favorite baits to fish, but there are days when that is all I fish because of how well they can work in the right situation.   When the bass at my lake are in the trees, I fish a worm mostly out of convenience, and when they are on rocky points, I fish crankbaits, when they are in the grass I fish topwater, and bladed jigs.  The last two years I have found them mostly in the trees, so the Ole Monster gets the big ones. 

I didn't catch a big bass in 25, but I spent very little time bass fishing. That said, year after year, a beaver style bait and one of my homemade blades jigs consistently get the most big bites.

The biggest bass I caught last year was also my PB. The 7.47 post spawn  female was taken on a Zoom 8” black lizard on June 19th. There are bigger bass around but seldom do I hear about a dd that’s been caught. This was in central Kentucky.

 

John

7lb 7oz bladed jig bladed jig.

Caught this one this last Fall on a Senko. Didn't get the weight.

No bigs for me in '25, my best came in at around 4.5lbs on a baby bass 5" caffeine shad.

My biggest bass this year was a 6lb. Largemouth on a texas rigged zoom lizard.

No real big fish for me for 2025. Caught a couple 4lb ones all on spinnerbaits or Splash-It popper.

Allen

Caught this 4lb smallie(PB) with a mooch minnow at the boundary waters in August.