Got some big ones last year!

Show off your latest and greatest catch, purchase, or acquisition with fellow TT Forum members.
Post Reply
Fat-G
Elite Angler
Elite Angler
Posts: 279
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:54 am

Got some big ones last year!

Post by Fat-G » Thu Nov 21, 2013 12:31 am

Hey guys, good to be back. :D

Haven't posted in a while. College is crazy, doing schoolwork all day and I don't have a car with me at school, so I can't fish all day every day like I used to in high school. :lol:

I started throwing swimbaits my senior year of high school, and never looked back. Caught some HUGE fish. I think I broke my PB four times in two months.

So, without further adieu, here are some of those fish. Since it's TT I'll give setup info as well. :D

This first fish was the second bite I ever got on an 8" Hudd, and I caught it the first day I had my Dobyns 807mag. IIRC, I had thrown the hudd for a combined ~50 hours without a bite, just kept telling myself it would be worth it eventually. It was. :lol: Broke my old PB by a pound, weighing in at 9 lbs 3 oz. I was STOKED.

Dobyns 807
Luna 300
20# CXX

Image

One week later, different lake, fishing with the guy who originally taught me how to fish. He has been a fishing guide for 30 years, and that day was the first day a student of his took HIM fishing, as opposed to the other way around. He says it was the high point of his career (which is a pretty big honor) and I truly don't think i could ever match that experience. It was incredible. This fish was 9 lbs 7 oz.

Dobyns 807
Luna 300
20# CXX

Image

The next day I went back to the same lake and stuck this 7.9

same setup

Image

A week and a half later I finally became a member of the DD club. Fish hit a hudd on the fall and when I set the hook I thought I was snagged. Then... then she shook her head and almost took my rod and reel with her. I literally could not turn the reel handle at one point she was pulling so hard. Unreal, I was shaking for 2 hours afterwards. She tipped the scale at 10 pounds 3 oz.

same setup

Image
Image
Image

Eight days later, this 7.3 picked the hudd up off the bottom next to a dock and tried to swim away with it. I won. :D

same setup

Image

Three days later, i got my LDC XH and Calcutta 400TE. If yall throw hudds, look into low down custom rods. The custom xh blank ben uses is the best hudd blank ever. I had to see how it worked, right? So i went and stuck an 8.2

LDC 8'6 XH
400TE
30# CXX

Image

Then my spring hudd bite died. Fast forward a month or two, postspawn. This fish hit a 3:16 rising son. This is the biggest bass I've caught, but it was postspawn and had an empty belly. Weighed like 8.8 I think, but prespawn probably would have been 12+, especially if it was as fat as the DD!

Image

So 2012 was my best bass fishing year ever, easily. I have pics of a bunch of other nice swimbait fish, but these are the big ones. I am FINALLY going fishing this weekend, hopefully I can stick a fish or two. :lol:

User avatar
lpquick
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 1959
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:58 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by lpquick » Thu Nov 21, 2013 12:43 am

Awesome write up with great shots, thanks for sharing. Impressive fish!

dragon1
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 10513
Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:23 am
Location: Murfreesboro TN

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by dragon1 » Thu Nov 21, 2013 1:09 am

Awesome man...congrats on your accomplishments and best with furthering your education.

On the LDCs, yes, those modified Black Diamond blanks rock for many applications. Saltwater blanks do great for swimbaits for sure.

User avatar
spookybaits
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 2137
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:17 pm
Location: In the belly of a shark

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by spookybaits » Fri Nov 22, 2013 7:58 am

Dude that's awesome!!! What a year!

Those fish are truly something to be proud of... But for me- taking your fishing mentor fishing, and what it meant to him is what made me smile the most.

Keep it up bud, the swimbait bite is still on- they're packing it on right now for the winter.

User avatar
Bootytrain
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 2449
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:28 am

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by Bootytrain » Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:02 am

Wow nice fish! Are these all caught from the bank?

User avatar
Cracker
Platinum Angler
Platinum Angler
Posts: 1070
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:00 pm
Location: North GA

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by Cracker » Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:56 am

Awesome fish!!!!! =D>
Maybe I should switch to swimbaits :-k

hoohoorjoo
TT Moderator
TT Moderator
Posts: 6789
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Oxford GA

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by hoohoorjoo » Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:51 pm

That's awesome Hayden!(I'm assuming you caught them in your native Virginia-if so, even cooler!). Glad you posted this cool story and huge fish-congrats! =D> =D> =D>

Bootytrain wrote:Wow nice fish! Are these all caught from the bank?
He doesn't have a car, much less a boat! :lol:

Fat-G
Elite Angler
Elite Angler
Posts: 279
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:54 am

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by Fat-G » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:05 am

hoohoorjoo wrote:That's awesome Hayden!(I'm assuming you caught them in your native Virginia-if so, even cooler!). Glad you posted this cool story and huge fish-congrats! =D> =D> =D>

Bootytrain wrote:Wow nice fish! Are these all caught from the bank?
He doesn't have a car, much less a boat! :lol:
Very true, thanks guys! I share a car with my brother but since he needs it for school and there is really nowhere to park on campus, there is no point in me having one at the moment. I'm trying to decide whether or not I'm going to buy a Corvette C5 Z06 or a truck + boat in a couple years... Decisions decisions. :D

got2be5
Senior Angler
Senior Angler
Posts: 190
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:47 pm

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by got2be5 » Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:44 am

Cracker wrote:Awesome fish!!!!! =D>
Maybe I should switch to swim baits :-k
Na they don't work.

User avatar
Teal101
TT Moderator
TT Moderator
Posts: 4884
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:59 am
Location: Central Washington
Contact:

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by Teal101 » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:33 am

Freakin epic. Way to go, I need to fish my Hudds more!

User avatar
bronzefly
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 5028
Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 5:21 pm
Location: www.tackletrap.com
Contact:

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by bronzefly » Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:40 am

Awesome swimbait fish, congrats!! =D>

User avatar
IlliniDawg01
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 2349
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:20 am
Location: Glen Carbon, Illinois

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by IlliniDawg01 » Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:22 pm

Fat-G wrote:
hoohoorjoo wrote:That's awesome Hayden!(I'm assuming you caught them in your native Virginia-if so, even cooler!). Glad you posted this cool story and huge fish-congrats! =D> =D> =D>

Bootytrain wrote:Wow nice fish! Are these all caught from the bank?
He doesn't have a car, much less a boat! :lol:
Very true, thanks guys! I share a car with my brother but since he needs it for school and there is really nowhere to park on campus, there is no point in me having one at the moment. I'm trying to decide whether or not I'm going to buy a Corvette C5 Z06 or a truck + boat in a couple years... Decisions decisions. :D
Awesome fish man. Your smallest pictured is way bigger than my pb bass of like 5lbs.

Buy a decent used truck and boat and spend the extra on tackle if that is your passion. A new boat/truck/car will be a used one soon anyways but more tackle is more tackle for years to come. :)

DaveJ

User avatar
triple_illusion
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 1774
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 4:26 am

Re: Got some big ones last year!

Post by triple_illusion » Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:27 pm

all solid fish, nice work man!

Post Reply