Crankbaits and/or traps pretty much take the cake for me even though these are generally numbers baits.My 3 largest lifetime fish have been on cranks. Rapalas dt's and flats to be specific

Spinnerbaits modified with oversized blades run a close second! Lots of fish 5-8 lbs on these especially in late winter.

I have yet to catch a 7, but a majority of my 6+ lb bass have come off a deep crank or a jig. My biggest though, came off a trick worm.

Largemouth

1-lc pointer 128

2-zoom ole monster 10 worm

1-rage tail toad

Florida/Georgia

smallmouth

1-rapala taildancer TDD9

Pennsylvania

State - Louisiana

#1 - Jig - Black/Blue/Orange and Black/Blue with a Zoom Flippin' Blue trailer

#2 - Larew Hawg Craw - T-rigged or, like Catt, I sometimes use it as a jig trailer

#3 - Buzzbait - specifically a 1/2 oz Boogerman Magnum Racket Buzz

As a side note - with a couple of exceptions, every fish I've caught over 7 lbs at Lake Cataouatche has been on a 1/2 oz. Johnson Silver Minnow.

I don't think there is a magic bait for big fish. I have caught them on spinnerbaits, crankbaits, worms and jigs.

However, when I go for big fish I use the largest Gene Larue salt craw as a trailer on a jig. I prefer a brown rubber jig with a plumb colored craw.

I only broke that magic number twice here in MA and both were on my hand made lures: Spinnerbait and Jig.

That 13lb'er was a state record wasn't it?

Holy crap, cross thread sniping? Really?

BTW, the VA state record is 16lb 4 ozs. If you're going to try and rip someone, at least do it right.

8.2 lb. on a original f-11 rapala using it top water in harriman state park n.y.

1. 10 lbs 1oz Zoom Trick Worm (Clear/Pepper flake)

2. 8 lbs 14oz Rage Tail Craw (Wtml/Red)

3. 8 lbs 4oz Grande Bass Rattlesnake (Trophy Hunter)

4. 7 7lb+ fish on Chug Bug, Buzzbait, Red Eye Shad, Rage Craw, Swim Jig

I was curious as to what lure you guys catch most of your 7+ pound bass on.

Lure: 1/2 oz black living rubber skirt ( round strand ) jig + Zoom Brush Hog as trailer ( color may vary, but, in my neck of the woods they seem to show a marked preference for Castaic Choice )

Country: Mexico

State: Jalisco

7.2 Strike king bitsy bug

7.6 5" hand poured JD lures finesse worm on a 1/8 oz homemade shaky head

8.2 5" ringworm in black neon

all in Illinois

11.7 live shiner Okeechobee Fla fought like a 2# bass (sad)

1. 1/2 oz Jig & Craw

2. Michigan

A-Jay

Vision 110

Pointer 100

Spinnerbaits

Jig+trailer

Little John DD

Total number of fish over 7lbs is 219.

Holy crap, cross thread sniping? Really?

BTW, the VA state record is 16lb 4 ozs. If you're going to try and rip someone, at least do it right.

Most of the Potomac is considered MD waters. So, yes, the alleged 13 would have been a MD state record, by almost 2 lbs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013103260.html

Here is another article emphasizing how unusual a 13# bass from the tidal Potomac would be. http://www.nationalbass.com/reports/kincheloe.htm

Original post: two bass over 7, one on a baby brush hog (VA waters, an ancient post on this site) the other on a green pumpkin-ish jig (OH waters).

Zoom Swimming Super Fluke in Houdini Shad/ Nip-E-Didee from Luhr-Jensen

-Florida

Vision 110

Pointer 100

Spinnerbaits

Jig+trailer

Little John DD

Total number of fish over 7lbs is 219.

219???

That is just unbelievable. Goodness man.

219???

That is just unbelievable. Goodness man.

Meh, I'm pretty low on the totem pole. I have friends that have edged into the 1000 mark. I have one friend that's pushing the 150 mark on ten pound plus. Heck, I'm sure Big O is edging the thousand mark himself, if he's not already surpassed it.

Most of the Potomac is considered MD waters. So, yes, the alleged 13 would have been a MD state record, by almost 2 lbs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013103260.html

Here is another article emphasizing how unusual a 13# bass from the tidal Potomac would be. http://www.nationalbass.com/reports/kincheloe.htm

Fine, if you want to argue it here too the original post clearly shows that he was in VA.

I can't say that I care about how unusual the catch is. I'm not prepared to call him a liar with no evidence.

Fine, if you want to argue it here too the original post clearly shows that he was in VA.

I can't say that I care about how unusual the catch is. I'm not prepared to call him a liar with no evidence.

IDK anything about another post.

If it was a VA trib of the P'mac, then yes, those are considered VA waters.

It scares me to ask this but those aren't numbers for just this year are they Catt...That is your grand life total???

Furthermore, i am interested thus far to see that i have not seen a crankbait response yet. Very very interesting

I caught one 8 on a rapala clackin crank earlier this year. Bleeding shad.

I haven't bass fished since March, last few big ones I stuck were on a Rebel popper.

Without doubt, when you catch the 7 lb+ LM bass in a midwest or northern lake, it is going to be something of a fluke. Even in southern climes it is going to at least be out of the ordinary. I simply do not weigh any fish except in a tournament situation. The very biggest bass I ever caught I realeased immediately. I won "big bass" money over a dozen times with fish under 5 lbs so I know I get my share of the larger fish. Of the 3 over 7 lb tournament fish I caught, 1 was flipping a 1/2 oz brown and orange jig with a black trailer, 1 was on a 10.5" Culprit worm fished weightless over millfoil in August, and the other was on a 3/4 oz Rattle Trap. If you will look at the posts with an open mind, and take them as gospel, you will see that there is no single lure that really stands out. In my non professional personal opinion, big bass are caught on what ever was being fished when the fish hit.

Out of the literally millions of hours spent tossing various artificial lures in the hope of catching the big one, the odds of catching a real trophy bass is fairly low. Just as an earlier post observes, the odds of that 7 Lb+ bass are much greater in CA and the gulf coast states than they are in NE, MO, IL, IN, PA, etc.

Out of the literally millions of hours spent tossing various artificial lures in the hope of catching the big one, the odds of catching a real trophy bass is fairly low. Just as an earlier post observes, the odds of that 7 Lb+ bass are much greater in CA and the gulf coast states than they are in NE, MO, IL, IN, PA, etc.

There's no doubt of that, the growing season is longer, the introduction of Florida strain fish into a lot of those waters, and the reduced winter mortality all play a part. In the Midwest and MN, WI, I've caught a total of 11 fish 7# or over. The remaining have all come from CA, TX, and LA. I fished a tournament in TX last May that the winning weight for a ONE DAY total was 37 and change, the big fish was 8-4. The right time, the right place, the right situation you can lay into the big fish. If you look at some of the guys that are REALLY good on Lake Fork, for instance, they catch between 75 and 100 ten pound fish a year.

There's no doubt of that, the growing season is longer, the introduction of Florida strain fish into a lot of those waters, and the reduced winter mortality all play a part. In the Midwest and MN, WI, I've caught a total of 11 fish 7# or over. The remaining have all come from CA, TX, and LA. I fished a tournament in TX last May that the winning weight for a ONE DAY total was 37 and change, the big fish was 8-4. The right time, the right place, the right situation you can lay into the big fish. If you look at some of the guys that are REALLY good on Lake Fork, for instance, they catch between 75 and 100 ten pound fish a year.

i along with probably most reading this thread are aware of the difference in location, timing, and size. However, it is interesting to hear what people's "go to" is for 7+ lbs and i was curious in seeing patterns on this thread.

It's always interesting to see those things, for sure. I maintain that the #1 big-fish bait is a jig and trailer. I don't recall the exact stats but the overwhelming majority of the 10+ fish in Texas last year were jig fish.