Z-Man MinnowZ™ swimbait produces uncommon 7-pound Susquehanna River bass
In a lifetime of exploring Pennsylvania’s spectacular Susquehanna River, Joe Raymond had by no means seen a smallmouth bass like this one. So, when the famend fishing information just lately set the hook right into a 7-pound, 24-inch beast, his fishing buddy Tom Mills watched Raymond’s ordinary cool, calm façade come slightly unhinged.
“When a man who guides a part of the 12 months on the St. Lawrence River—and has seen and caught so many massive smallmouths through the years—tells you to he’s simply hooked the most important smallmouth of his life, you hear up and seize the online,” mentioned Mills.
Sunday, September 22, whereas fishing a Williamsport (PA) Bassmaster charity match, Raymond and Mills launched into an upriver journey they’d always remember. “We hadn’t fished this specific stretch for 4 years, however we knew a couple of sequence of deeper swimming pools that at all times regarded intriguing,” recalled Raymond, who has operated Susquehanna Smallmouth Guides for a decade. “This one pool, specifically, appeared to harbor all the precise substances, together with some previous sunken timber, however we’d by no means caught a bass there. It regarded so good, although, so we stopped and dropped the trolling motor.”
After a sequence of irritating snags on rock and wooden, Raymond retied his 10-pound take a look at Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon chief, and on his subsequent solid, it occurred. “I had this older pack of EZ Cash sample MinnowZ swimbaits—my final pack—and determined to rig one up. It had been a very good coloration for smallmouths prior to now and I felt prefer it matched the clear water situations,” he mentioned. “The MinnowZ has simply at all times caught a ton of smallmouths in my boat. It’s a complete confidence bait.”
The Catch
Recognizing an enormous log laying up forward of the boat in 4 ft of water, Raymond weedless-rigged his MinnowZ on an 1/8-ounce jighead and made a single solid.
“After letting the bait sink a number of seconds, I reeled up slack and my St. Croix Legend X instantly stopped on one thing strong. After I felt the vigorous pulses of a fish, I hit again arduous, and the factor simply went ballistic.”
The load and energy of the river bass prompted Raymond to initially consider he’d snagged a carp or massive catfish. “However when this big smallmouth got here screaming up out of the water and did a loopy backflip, I believed it regarded like an eight pounder,” he famous.
Internet now in hand, Mills might solely witness the battle from above and await the precise second. “The bass stored digging, making these quick, brutal energy runs,” mentioned Mills. “The water was so clear it was like watching the entire thing occur in an aquarium.”
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“I couldn’t consider the ability and aggression of this bass,” Raymond recalled. “My thoughts was simply racing. I’m pondering, is that this actual? I imply, I’d caught and watched so many Susquehanna smallmouths come to my Rock Proof Boats over so a few years. However this one was simply totally different . . . on an entire different degree.”
Extra energy runs ensued. Ten-pound take a look at Seaguar Smackdown braid sang off Raymond’s reel; 7-foot St. Croix Legend X spinning rod provided simply sufficient resistance to cease the bass from reaching quicker water. Raymond stayed up on the trolling motor, pursuing the smallmouth as if working down a screaming bonefish on some saltwater flat.
“Lastly, simply earlier than reaching the rapids, we caught as much as the massive bass and Tom received a web beneath her. We simply sat there staring on the bass a second earlier than leaping up, screaming and excessive fiving like a pair children.
“Truthfully, I simply sort of misplaced it,” admits Raymond. “I knew I used to be an extremely uncommon fish. I’ve helped so many purchasers have fun personal-best bass through the years. However this one was the primary Susquehanna smallmouth I’d ever caught over six kilos.” Initially, the bass weighed 7.19 on Raymond’s scale, however as Mills noticed, it had burped up a load of crayfish components, each through the battle and within the livewell.
The Launch
“Once we arrived again on the weigh-in, I instructed the match director to prepare as a result of we had a extremely massive fish. I wished to maintain the bass good and wholesome and get her again within the river as quickly as attainable,” mentioned Raymond. “I don’t assume he was ready for what we had within the ‘nicely.” In the end, Raymond’s bass weighed 7.08-pounds on licensed tourney scales.
To place the rarity of the fish in perspective, Raymond and his shoppers boat 1000’s of Susquehanna smallmouths every season. Within the ten years he’s guided there—plus all his years rising up and exploring on the river—Raymond had by no means caught a legit six-pound smallmouth there. Through the derby, Raymond’s bass weighed greater than 2-1/2-pounds heavier than the every other anglers’ largest smallmouth. In years of Susquehanna River tournaments, famous Raymond, “massive bass” honors have traditionally landed within the 4-pound vary, solely often eclipsing 5.
“What’s attention-grabbing is that this 24-inch specimen was an extremely sturdy, young-looking bass—simply thick and muscular from head to tail. Didn’t look or act like an previous, beat-up granny in any approach. Which, to me, made it much more vital to get her again within the river.
“Rising up, I knew all about this one unbelievable fish—a 23-inch, 7-1 smallmouth caught nearly proper behind my home by Russell Fuller in 1981. I obsessed over Fuller’s bass for years. Bought to satisfy him as soon as at a restaurant, the place he introduced the mount to point out a few of us locals. The proportions and magnitude of that bass blew my thoughts, have been burned completely into my reminiscence, and since that day, I’ve thought quite a bit concerning the significance of maintaining these massive mutant smallmouths within the system. Simply think about, this might be a Shaquille O’Neal fish—presumably the identical 12 months class as 19 and 20 inchers—however able to producing new generations of big bass with superior genetics. Why would we ever kill such a bass?”
The Bait
Just a few days after his outstanding catch, Raymond paused to additional replicate on the fish and the baits he’s used severely all through his life as a river information. “I’ve made a profession out of fishing Z-Man ElaZtech® baits. They’re merely one of the best baits ever for guiding. Catch so many fish of all sizes.
“On a slower, regular retrieve, the MinnowZ strikes with a cool, refined shimmy, nearly like a spy bait. Or, drag it on backside like a stone cat, which smallmouths like to chew.
“In all probability shouldn’t let this one out of the bag . . . however while you burn it in slightly quicker, the supple ElaZtech materials stretches out and has a distinct, depraved motion to it. Triggers a ton of larger fish.
“Rig one bait up in the beginning of the day and I can’t let you know what number of occasions we’ve lipped near 100 bass—typically, with out ever reaching into the pack for a alternative. Between the 3-inch MinnowZ and bigger DieZel MinnowZ™, I’ve caught untold numbers of bass, muskies, walleyes to 11-pounds and even a 55-pound sturgeon.
“Gotta think about, too, the pure buoyancy, softness and inherent motion of the ElaZtech materials. It’s like nothing else on the market. Simply extremely fishy stuff. And I’m so excited all of it got here collectively like this, on what’s definitely among the many most underrated smallmouth swimbaits of all time.”
About Z-Man Fishing Merchandise: A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina primarily based firm, Z-Man Fishing Merchandise has melded vanguard fishing sort out with expertise for practically three many years. Creator of the Authentic ChatterBait®, Z-Man can also be the famend innovators of 10X Powerful ElaZtech® superplastics, among the many most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is likely one of the fastest-growing lure manufacturers worldwide.
