East Coast Giant!

Last week I was out on Clearlake enjoying a great day on the water with a client. He had just gone on a tear, landing a 4, 5, 6, and a 7 lber in just a handful of casts. I'm idling to the next spot feeling pretty good about the day and my phone beeps. I pull it out and what do I see? A text from Josh Fan. (See East Coast Swimbait Advice ) It was hard to see the picture at first in the bright sun but as my eyes started to focus they about popped out of my head. Here I am in California enjoying a great day, then Josh drops the photos you now see. Talk about an East Coast reality check! In Josh's recent video he encouraged East Coast fisherman to throw bigger baits and to focus on catching bigger bass. He went on to say that he was heading home to start throwing big baits himself in pursuit of a personal-best largemouth. Let these photos be further encouragement to you East coast anglers. Big baits work nationwide. I get a steady stream of emails asking questions about the size of baits that guys are using and if they're too big for a particular part of the country. In almost every circumstance the answer is no, they aren't too big. You just need to listen to what is being said here, take the advice to heart and put in some time on the water. Once I got off the water I had a chance to talk to Josh about this fish.

He caught her on an ROF 5 Huddleston 8" swimbait. He went on to explain that prior to this fish he was beginning to doubt if his big bite was coming. He said it had been nearly 2 years without a truly "big" bite to show for his efforts. He also gave some credit to the Southern Trout Eaters DVD.

This isn't the first time I've heard an angler who is relatively new to big baits praise this video. I watched it right when it came out and I too have to admit that if you're fishing in the Eastern United States you need to watch it. You may not watch it more than a few times but in that time you're going to learn a great deal about how to approach your local waters with a big bait. Whether it was the DVD, the trips to California, or just pure tenacity that kept Josh on track, the commitment paid off. Though he didn't have a scale the bass was 26.5" long and was clearly a new personal best. Did I mention it was caught in the North East? Way to go Josh! I'm confident this is the first of many big bass that will come your way in the near future.