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 lately set the hook right into a 7-pound, 24-inch beast, his fishing buddy Tom Mills watched Raymond’s regular cool, calm façade come just a little unhinged.
“When a man who guides a part of the 12 months on the St. Lawrence River—and has seen and caught so many large smallmouths through the years—tells you to he’s simply hooked the largest smallmouth of his life, you pay attention up and seize the web,” 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 explicit stretch for 4 years, however we knew a few collection of deeper swimming pools that all the time appeared intriguing,” recalled Raymond, who has operated Susquehanna Smallmouth Guides for a decade. “This one pool, particularly, appeared to harbor all the precise elements, together with some outdated sunken bushes, however we’d by no means caught a bass there. It appeared so good, although, so we stopped and dropped the trolling motor.”
After a collection of irritating snags on rock and wooden, Raymond retied his 10-pound check 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 superb colour for smallmouths previously and I felt prefer it matched the clear water circumstances,” he mentioned. “The MinnowZ has simply all the time caught a ton of smallmouths in my boat. It’s a complete confidence bait.”
The Catch
Recognizing a giant log laying up forward of the boat in 4 toes of water, Raymond weedless-rigged his MinnowZ on an 1/8-ounce jighead and made a single solid.
“After letting the bait sink just a few seconds, I reeled up slack and my St. Croix Legend X instantly stopped on one thing stable. Once I felt the vigorous pulses of a fish, I hit again laborious, and the factor simply went ballistic.”
The load and energy of the river bass prompted Raymond to initially imagine he’d snagged a carp or large catfish. “However when this big smallmouth got here screaming up out of the water and did a loopy backflip, I assumed it appeared 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.”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CqQ8sEWkO2o
“I couldn’t imagine 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 stage.”
Extra energy runs ensued. Ten-pound check Seaguar Smackdown braid sang off Raymond’s reel; 7-foot St. Croix Legend X spinning rod supplied simply sufficient resistance to cease the bass from reaching sooner 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 large bass and Tom acquired a web below her. We simply sat there staring on the bass a second earlier than leaping up, screaming and excessive fiving like a pair youngsters.
“Actually, I simply type of misplaced it,” admits Raymond. “I knew I used to be taking a look at an extremely uncommon fish. I’ve helped so many purchasers have a good time 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 throughout the battle and within the livewell.
The Launch
“Once we arrived again on the weigh-in, I advised the match director to prepare as a result of we had a very large fish. I needed to maintain the bass good and wholesome and get her again within the river as quickly as potential,” mentioned Raymond. “I don’t suppose he was ready for what we had within the ‘properly.” Finally, 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. Throughout 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, “large bass” honors have traditionally landed within the 4-pound vary, solely sometimes eclipsing 5.
“What’s fascinating is that this 24-inch specimen was an extremely strong, young-looking bass—simply thick and muscular from head to tail. Didn’t look or act like an outdated, 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 virtually proper behind my home by Russell Fuller in 1981. I obsessed over Fuller’s bass for years. Obtained to satisfy him as soon as at a restaurant, the place he introduced the mount to indicate 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 lots concerning the significance of retaining these large mutant smallmouths within the system. Simply think about, this may very well 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 exceptional 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 the most effective baits ever for guiding. Catch so many fish of all sizes.
“On a slower, regular retrieve, the MinnowZ strikes with a cool, refined shimmy, virtually 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 once you burn it in just a little sooner, the supple ElaZtech materials stretches out and has a special, depraved motion to it. Triggers a ton of larger fish.
“Rig one bait up at first of the day and I can’t let you know what number of instances 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 contemplate, 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 based mostly firm, Z-Man Fishing Merchandise has melded forefront fishing deal with with know-how for practically three a long time. Creator of the Unique 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 without doubt one of the fastest-growing lure manufacturers worldwide.
