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Personal Best Brown Trout Today ~ A-Jay

After the 3 day rainstorm ended I got out to the lake today. The lake was flooded and cold and I wasn't sure where the bass would be so it was time to throw everything I had. Only caught 2 bass and 1 pickerel. This little guy barely had a spiny dorsal fin and bad scars on both sides. I'm thinking Big Feets got to him. The second bass of the day was a little better and gave a tough fight. Next week looks to be drier and warmer so hopefully that will mean better fishing.

went out on the local rezzie today with my brother in law to test out a new piece of gear he bought. i dont think we caught one fish there the whole of last season and not for lack of trying. the fishing there is tough. well today was a different story. i hooked into five fish of five different species one after the other. beautiful evening not sure what was up with this guy, abnormal coloring smallie up on the bank. if you didnt get your bait close in to the bank you didnt get a fish this next fish i threw a morning dawn yum dinger wacky rigged up against a rock face near the bank. as you can hear my bro was amped. i was frozen in disbelief. did not end up landing the fish. we were completely unprepared for this guy. my wacky fishing rig is a 6'0 fenwick eagle medium-light strung with 10 lb spiderline braid and 8 lb super silver thread copolymer leader. it lasted much longer than i expected. he didnt inhale the bait i actually had him lip hooked with a 1/0 finesse wide gap. but he eventually turned and got his mouth around the line and sheared it off. was hard to fish after that, that was the first time i ever hooked into a musky. didnt know what this was but im told it is a white perch. this thing inhaled a 4" cinnamon yamamoto, and took a dump on my leg pickerel on the bagley minnow b took a swipe at it hooked him backwards through top lip was pretty shocked to get 5 species like that in a row. managed one more largemouth before the wife summoned me home to help with bed time.

Back to bank beating some bass now that I got my fill of bluegill bedders. This was the best of nearly 3 dozen yesterday. Finesse Worm

Of course i didn't have my scale with me, but she was a MONSTER! well over 5 lbs.

Went out to give my lefty reel a try this morning with new handle. Used zoom Magnum Fluke got 3 bites and land only one 16 incher. As always the one that you lost always a giant, this one jump, and spit my lure made me screaming like those YouTube kids.

me and my cousin hit the water around 7 this morning in the little johnny. skies were mostly cloudy and an easy SW breeze made for perfect conditions. we caught 39 spots and 2 largemouth.

Out on the bass hunter today. Boated 19 bass, shallow cranks (bps the egg, h20 wake), 110 whopper plopper, Jackal Kaera frog doing the damage.

Hot on the dink bite... Few days later the Dink Fest continues, and his first Snot Rocket...

Finally figured out why I hadn't seen any spawners yet - they hadn't actually started. Bluegill beat them to the bank which was a surprise. Saw quite a few today though. Picked up 30 or so, and I'd guess half were sight fish (bedders/cruisers). A lot of fun, and much better than I expected given the weather conditions.

Went back to the basics this weekend and caught about 50 dinks with a zoom curly tail grub on a jig head as well as a YUM crawbug. The little guys were fun. There's not much forage in this pond but some large cannibalistic females that will try to eat their babies off your bait, and the small bait for small fish to get the sharks hungry has become my go-to tactic. This is the pond my 10 pounder came out of, and a 13.5 was caught out of it last year. I'm after her. I managed one good bass doing this, getting them close with the small fish and then tossing a jig and craw chunk in their face. She's the one pictured with my Abu. Then I found a savage staring down some bream beds and had the finesse rod in hand, and I'm so surprised the tiny hook held. Penn reels have great drag. I also caught what I'd estimate to be an 8 pounder on the same pumpkin jig with craw chunk, and my phone was on the charger at home. She hit in about 2' of water early in the morning, I guess she was up there feeding. The pond owner has me asked me to remove carp, so I was actually trying to snag what I thought was a carp when I casted to her. She picked it up as soon as it splashed. Here's Craig the Bass, who also happens to like to catch big fish. This is his PB 4.5" swimbait. I'm looking forward to taking the kayak out to the lake soon, beating the banks has made my legs sore on this Monday morning at work!

Fished in the BPS Open in folsom over the weekend in my Heritage. I didn't have anyone to fish with me, since I decided to get in 2 days before. There was a 14 year old fishing from the bank, his mom let him go with me. We had a great time and caught our limit... Lots of small bass caught with the largest for us being under 4 lbs. We didn't win, but we kept up with others in boats $$$... NOt that we were trying to keep up, I was playing my game and it paid off... but just not enough pounds. It was fun... The winner a heritage boat. It would have been cool to win a heritage boat while fishing from a heritage boat. This boat is now tournament tested.

I got back in from Texas last night and thought I'd post my judge/marshal experience while watching the final day weigh-in. Travis Lake is different than many famed Texas reservoirs, it actually reminded me of the desert lakes like Lake Havasu or Lake Mead out here in the west. In addition to the narrow shape and deep, clear water this is a recreational lake, full of houseboats, party boats, jet skiers, basically a large human presence. It differs from Havasu & Mead in that the land surrounding it is not national parks land, but privately owned complete with some extraordinary docks & boat house setups. One of the things I am overly careful about when being in a pro's boat is to not be a distraction. I follow each anglers lead when it comes to carrying on a conversation as well as asking questions. While each angler is different, typically they become more relaxed and social as they began to catch fish and figure out what is going on that day. This tournament was unique in that in addition to being an observer, we had judge responsibilities of weighing & recording all legal fish catches. Day One I was paired with David Fritts, an older veteran who had won the 1993 classic on Lake Logan Martin. He is an old school angler to be sure, complete with a flasher on his front deck in addition to the huge screen for his depthfinder (the flasher gives him more immediate info on his depth so that he can position his boat as he moves along a river channel or other feature). David threw a Carolina rig 90% of the day, occasionally mixing it up with a lipless crankbait. He spent all of his time fishing in 15-30 feet of water at spots he had found during practice, areas from the dam area to 30 miles up the lake. While he caught about 30 fish over 12" long on the day, only 8 of them topped the 14" keeper mark. I have never measured so many 13" fish in my life ?. David ended up with 8lbs for the day and after a similiar weight on day 2, ended up missing the cut. Day Two I was paired with the larger-than-life Gerald Swindle. Having marshaled for Ish Monroe in the past, I realized that some anglers also have the self imposed responsibility of being an entertainer as well as a professional fisherman. To expect these pro's to be "on" from the moment you meet them is wrong, they need to focus early on to get into a rhythm, allowing them to relax and have their charismatic personalities shine through. Gerald was no different, a little guarded early on but as the morning wore on, the quips and interaction with other anglers and spectator boats began to flow. Interestingly enough, the more engaging conversations between us were not about fishing but about life, our country and changes in culture. It may be the old case of when you do something for a living, you get tired of talking about it all day long and other topics instead peak your interest. Nonetheless, a few of his more memorable lines were: "Nobody panic, it is just a stick" - after catching a keeper in front of spectators and then apparently hooking up again. "Down goes Frazier" - after breaking off a swimbait on a dock cable and watching it sink away. "Everyone seems so angry" - after honking his horn at a competitor as he flew by him at top speed. "Its one of those Guacamole bass" - after catching a small Guadalupe bass. "I just told the jerkbait king what color bait to throw" - After waving Hank Cherry onto a spot to share. I asked if the next move was to go find Aaron Martens and tell him how to organize his tackle. Unfortunately, Gerald also went through not being able to find the bigger bites. Despite catching nearly 40 fish mainly on a jerkbait & dropshot, his five biggest went just over 7 lbs. Interestingly, he did have 3 doubles on the jerkbait. The first two were back to back, a pair of 13" largemouth on the first and a 13" largemouth and 10" Guadalupe on the second. The final double came on his last cast, a last ditched effort to increase his daily weight. Unfortunately, both fish were again 13" and no help, so his round house to end the fight apparently hit the referee. Gerald did make the cut, but looked like he had a similar struggle on day 3 to finish in the high 40's. All in all, it was a memorable experience, from the interaction with the other judges during the training to dealing with the B.A.S.S. staff behind the scenes. It makes for a couple of long days and gives you a peek behind the scenes of what the anglers go through in order to fish for a living.

Caught my first smallmouth and striper out at Havasu and got into some largemouth as well! Night fishing with a jerkbait worked really well.

Video added of my daughter falling in lake havasu. This could have gone way worse if she wasnt wearing one.

Ridiculous numbers this year on largemouth in the lower Detroit River... Will go through streaks where I've caught fish on 5 consecutive casts. Kietech 4.5" Swing Impact with tail dipped in chartreuse on a 1/8oz swimjig has been killing it. I'll be honest, about 70% of the bass I'm catching are in the 10-14" range but also catching some 18-19" bass in the 4lb range. In five separate 2-3hr outings this past week I've netted 105 largemouth. Never had that kind of success before. Been having a blast, developed a sore forearm and elbow though from fighting fish LOL!

Fished a couple's tournament on greers ferry yesterday. Absolutely stunning lake, beautiful clear water. As for the fishing just caught 3 keepers and a bunch of almost 15 inchers so the finish wasn't too hot. Had a blast all-n-all though. Good weekend spent with the significant other. The fish in the pic was by far the smallest of the day lol

Best two from today's adventure ~ A 5-10 & a Fat 6-0 ! A-Jay

I called the security office at Lake Springfield to see about purchasing a registration sticker for my boat. Talked to a woman named Mary Ann. I asked her how much the sticker would cost. She said, "How big is your boat?". I said, "14 feet long", Mary Ann said, "Oh, you have a small one". Okay, how big is your motor? She asked. I said 9.9. She said, "oh is that like a 10 h.p. I said, ''yes it is". Then she said, "That is a little one''. Then I asked how much the charge would be. Mary Ann said. "not very much since yours is so small". It ended up being $17.00 for a year. Not bad for Lake Springfield, lol. Now I have issues with my boat size.

Turns out, you just have to throw a jig at a time and place where the fish want to eat a jig! I had one of my more miraculous moments fishing this past weekend. I tossed a jig near a weed line and felt a bite right away so I reeled down and set the hook. Broke off immediately. Sat down, grumbling "jig fishing is going to get expensive at this rate...", and started tying on the other jig I brought with me that day. Once I was tied back on I cast to the same spot knowing that it was a shot in the dark to catch the same fish again. Sure enough I got bit on the initial fall so I set the hook. Reeled the fish in to find that there was only one jig in its lip: Bummer. Feeling slightly dejected I removed the lure and just before throwing him back I looked into his mouth more closely. Low and behold, I see some skirt material in the back of his throat. I figured it was useless, as he SURELY must be gut hooked with the jig way down inside of his stomach. So I grabbed my forceps and started steadily pulling on the skirt/brush guard that I could see. The fish gods were smiling down upon me, since against all odds the hook was not embedded in the stomach at all and the jig popped right out!!! I'm shocked that I broke off on this little 2lber (20lb leader material on 40lb main line, it broke just above the jig head). But all I can conclude is I broke off in/around his mouth and then he proceeded to try to actually eat it during the time I was tying on the new jig? I've never had much luck with jigs, but I also haven't put much time into fishing them. I told myself this year would be the year where I try to work on it and develop some confidence. This weekend I had an incredible day at my local pond, catching 20+ fish in under about an hour and a half. Water temps on this pond have been pretty cold up until 2-3 weeks ago when the weather warmed up in Michigan and now they have gone from 50F to 75F in a short span of time. I think this has put the bass into full blown spawning mode.

I'm about to ride down that way now, @NittyGrittyBoy. Trophy guy can catch and release these hands! I'm kidding, and understand your frustration. Sorry to hear about your loss.

Ebay 15% Memorial Day is up, up to max $50 off, spend at least $50. https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/0521/7263.html?_trkparms=%26clkid%3D4050614344616809790

With a spinning rod and 12 pound Gliss, I can cast a 1/2 oz RES into any tree from anywhere on the lake.

Caught my first Florida strain at Diamond Valley in Hemet, CA today. Not the size I came out here for but I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching. A 4.34 and a 3.0.

I was fishing a small lagoon behind my father's house today and landed a nice 4 pounder on a chatterbait with a Rage Tail craw trailer. Later, even though their was a small nuisance gator patrolling the water I tossed a Whopper Plopper 130 for a little bit. I'm familiar with this little 3 foot juvenile gator and I usually have to flip flop back and forth between the different ends of the lagoon when he takes notice of any topwaters I throw. Today, he wasn't much of a bother. But on one cast I noticed a little rolling swell come up from behind my lure. It definitely was not a fish or an alligator that caused my line to get heavy. A second later I saw it - a turtle. Oh no. It was a painted turtle about 10-12 inches long. I got him in and one of the trebles went right through his lower jaw. Of course, after I landed him he retreated into his shell. When I tried to pull on the lure to get to the treble I was surprised how strong the turtle was, both his legs and his neck muscles. I flipped him on his back and grabbed my multi-tool. I really did not want to just kill him, so we had a little tug of war as I tried to get his head far enough out from the shell to grab the hook. I felt awful. But I figured if I pulled on the lure a bit and released he'd eventually get exhausted. After about 20 minutes of him hissing and us going back and forth it worked and I was able to pop out the treble. I didn't see any blood, but he ducked his head back in and I couldn't get a close look at any potential damage. I brought him down to the edge of the water, and he immediately popped his head back out and swam away. There were a few other similar sized turtles out there, so it was hard to tell if he was one of them. Anyway, I feel awful. Normally I see the turtles going after the lure and burn it out of there. But this guy came up from underneath and I never saw him. I sure hope the little guy is OK.

Haven't had much time to fish recently but I stopped by one of my private ponds to check on things. There were thousands of these guys cruising the banks.

Yesterday was pretty perfect for my wife and I. We hit our favorite lake for the day. This place is a real gem. It's about 1000 acres of good clean water with everything to make it a great SM,LM, fishery. Even better the launch is not the best, and you have to go thru a narrow culvert to get to the main lake, so not many larger boats try it. Yesterday the weather was perfect, slightly overcast, no wind, around 70 degree temps. Spring was in the air and the spawn was in full swing. We had decided to just concentrate on non bedding bass, but from the second cast out we caught fish. I set the trolling motor to slowly follow the shore line while we cast in towards shore. While running down the shore line we picked up several fish, but as we were going we kept looking down at all the fish on the beds. At some point we just put our fishing rods down and kept looking in the water. We ran into every nook and cranny and saw fish every where. We stopped for lunch over a SM bed and spent a half hour watching him keep chasing a rival away. I don't think we covered 1/10 of the shore line but still saw well over a hundred fish. On the way home we didn't talk about the fish we caught, only about all the cool things we saw. It's a day we will remember for a long time. Fishing is our joy, our passion, our fun. It's what get's us out to great places like this. We could have had very high numbers on this trip. But yesterday really reminded me how important it is to sometimes just stop, look around, and enjoy all the great places this "fishing" thing of ours brings us to. Jim

On a c rig I use red beads plus a brass clicker and weight. In the head of the plastic I put a tiny worm rattle sometimes.

Sorry, what I meant with pegging was being right up against the weight.

Most experienced anglers have far more legitimate reasons to release such a fish then keep it. However, bashing the angler who kept it with those reasons will do nothing but create resentment by that angler and not stop him from doing the same in the future. Without judgement, have a conversation with that angler to get his side of things. Maybe he grew up in a household where he was taught to eat everything he caught. Maybe he believes other experienced anglers will give him respect being that he caught a large fish. Whatever it is, there are reasons why he did what he did (assuming he is not mentally imbalanced). Take the time to talk with him, learn and maybe even go fishing with him. Rather than tell him that it was a mistake to keep that fish, model your behavior for him so that he sees there is an alternate way to do things. I believe the saying "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still" is oh-so true. Let him observe enough to change his mind on his own.

I have a pair of Costas and a pair of $3.49 from Wally World. There isn't much difference in what I can see on the water.

If you're already in a kayak, I'd spend a small amount of money to make a few modifications to it, ie; rod holder, and maybe a paddle holder, etc. Use it for the season, or at least for a few trips. Get used to what you have. By the end of the season, you will know exactly what you're looking for in a kayak which will help you make a selection for a new fishing kayak. Darren made some great suggestions. I keep my paddle in my lap while fishing, landing fish, etc. I even lay my rod in between my legs while paddling around. Like I said, fish out of what you have for while, and you will figure out what you'd LIKE to have in a future kayak. Check out the Kayak Bass Fishing group on Facebook. There are tons of threads on kayaks, mods, and plenty of people to get good advice from.

I caught a turtle! He smiled for the camera.

Best advice, keep the line tight between the rod and lure and you should be able to feel any bites. That is the key to setting the hook at the right time.

Learn to go through the gills to roll the hook out. There are many YouTube videos on the subject, and once learned, it is easy

I ave the yozuri hybrid on all my bait casters that don't have braid. I will also echo the need for the KVD one conditioner as it helps a lot with manageability.

YEah that’s exactly what I meant and should have clarified, I don’t ever let slack back in I just sometimes give it that extra “pump” when the rod already has a load on it. I don’t ever release that tension

I dont open a beer until I catch a fish .

I officially joined the club yesterday with a black 1875 renegade. I'll supposedly get the first run of the 2019 models as I special ordered, interested to see if it stays the exact same or if they'll perhaps address the weather/water sealing concerns on the lids. 6-8 week wait time to get it from the factory. I built a pretty unique rig as I went with an Evinrude E-Tec 115HO, hydraulic jackplate, hotfoot and blinker style trim, minn kota Ultrex and 3 Humminbird helix G2N units. Also got the upgraded trailer, travel cover, bike seat and 3 bank onboard charger. I'm stoked, can't get my hands on it soon enough!

You sound like you’re trying to justify buying a new kayak. ? I’ve owned eight or nine kayaks, all of which I’ve used for fishing. The one I’ve kept and used the most is a Hurricane Santee 116 Sport, which is a sit-inside kayak. When paddling, I put my rod in my lap with the tip forward. When fishing, I rest my paddle across my lap on the coaming. It has never been a problem for me.

An egg fly works during a berry hatch.

It depends on how the original hook set felt. Sometimes a bass is already moving towards you and you don’t think you caught up the bass to initially get a solid set so when the rod is loaded up another insurance tug seems appropriate. My hook sets are usually good and keeping the bass under control without addition sets works for me. Added sets can tear hooks out. Tom

Nice fish Mike! I bought a boat today guys, a big boy boat ?- Stay tuned!?

It worked today . . A-Jay

One of the best ways to understand what's going on in your waters (with the bass) is to fish the bluegill spawn. Spent a couple hours doing that last night and managed about 4 dozen nice gills. Planning on pulling out the fly rod and hitting it again this weekend.

Multispecies canal catches - don't know if there's such a thing as an invasive grand slam, but this might come close: Mayan ciclid: jaguar guapote: tilapia (quite a big one, took a worm...) Got a few snook also: Failed to land a decent sized peacock on the same day...

I would like to answer your question with a question. Why do you care what other people do with their money?

yes, yes you are

HMMM I disagree with some of that Tom - Ive been doing this a long time and its certainly not spring when it reaches 60-We have bass spawning here in 50 degree water as well.It is also governed by the amount of day light as well as water temp. Each body of water and demographic is unique to itself. Bass spawn at different depts according to the topography and the water clarity-Ive seen -witnessed bass spawning in 18 ft of water and in lakes as shallow as 2 feet. The bigger bass always seemed to be deeper. They spawn at different depts as well and in different stages to ensure the survival of the species. Just mother nature at its finest. Drought -storms -cold- all kill the spawn. If they all spawned at the same time and something like that happends -it is catastrophic The spawn is lost. . Sorry about getting a little off topic

I grew up fishing in New England. You have described what I was faced with several seasons in a row. I started going very Early season at night - often times the air temps were below freezing but the water remained open. Clearly not a time when Anyone else is on the water. Several conventional methods proved completely unsuccessful. Desperate to get bit, I started fishing topwater very shallow in front of any inlet, small creek or run off I could find. That was it. I could not believe just how shallow the fish were at night and this early in the season. I'm talking March here. I didn't have a thermometer back then so I can't tell you what the water temps were. A wake bait crawled very slowly right along the surface was the best producer. Stop and go was not as good. A Mann's 1 minus was the top producer - color didn't seem to matter; just get it shallow, make long casts and hang on. I chose to share this with one close fishing buddy only who had turned me on to a few "secrets", but I've never posted this up before and you Never ever hear about early season topwater at night - sounds crazy - but if the season opened early enough here in MI, I would definitely be out there. Good Luck A-Jay