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Got a break in between storms, so took advantage of a rare cloudy day for me. Started with topwater (Spook) over potential main lake spawning flats w/o a bite. Moved into a creek arm and was able to get a killer blowup on a shallow laydown. Never could duplicate that bite though. Picked off two deeper fish on Ned-type stuff…and one more crappie brushing the 3 lb. mark. That’s probably it until next week.

First two fish of the year on the board! My wife and I took our six month old to the park that's circled by the Chippewa. I threw on the waders and tied on a Ned rig. A few casts in I had hooked my first fish of the year. She was a beautiful, fat 13 incher. I know I don't look it in the picture, but I'm elated. That's my happy face: A few casts later I had the second fish of the year: a smaller and not nearly as colourful smallie: My wife was kind enough to take the pictures and watch from the bank. After breaking off my last two Ned rigs (my spring resupply is still in the mail), I called it "good enough" and my wife and I finished the evening with a stroll around the park. Finally I can talk about fish and not naps or flowers. Neither of these are giants, not even keeper size. But fish are fun and I'm living up to my username.

Fished up the river this afternoon for a mixed bag. 4 bass, 2 bowfin and many all kinds of bream. Good weather, not too much wind, low 70s water temperature and cold beer. Withlacoochee River, FL

Absolutely. I'm really looking forward to it. Normally I'd be about six weeks out from going nocturnal right now, but this spring, who knows? Last August I added these guys into the night fishing mix. They up the excitement ante by a big margin.

It's nice to see the old and new faces alike and a landed bass is a cause for celebration in my book! Yesterday it got soggy but we still got some in there. ☔☔☔🎣🎣🎣 This morning I skipped it because it was positively soaking but maybe after work.... Here's yesterday evenings haul: Saw some mega giants hunting the crappie Jake ended up catching one of, but couldn't do much besides annoy them and make them leave 😂

Well my first bass of the year, I am starting to think that there is something going on with the ecosystem in a pond that I have been fishing for 4 years now. The numbers and size and general health of the fish has been dramatically declining for the past 2 years now. Caught this poor little guy that could use a decent meal, caught on one of my bfs setups with 4Lb fluorocarbon. 1/16 oz micro shad head and a smelt shad fry z.

Last night was odd for a few reasons. At this particular spot, and at this particular time of year, I usually start on the northeastern shoreline because that's where the pads come up first. The entrance to this lake is on the southwestern side and I'll fly right through it. However, every spot I briefly lit up with my headlamp on the way over was loaded with bluegill, so I had to stop. Strangely, the bluegill were mixed in size, from very large to very small. I've never seen this here. They're always found in like-sized groups. Got a smack and missed on my very first cast throwing a Savage Gear pulse tail bluegill, but then I couldn't buy a sniff, and I threw the kitchen sink at them while slowly working my way north. Spent the next 2 ½ hours blanking, it was getting late, and I was really starting to feel it in my back as I'm not quite in wading shape just yet. Nothing gets me in wading shape other than wading. I finally booked over to where I should have started in the first place, on the eastern side, touched my toes a few times to try to loosen up, chucked the 6" 6th Sense Trace floater, and finally found a willing eater on my third cast. Go figure. By then it was 12:30 am, and I need my beauty sleep more than ever, so I called it a win and boogied.

Then I'd recommend finding a spot without dinosaurs in it. For a number of reasons, night fishing provides a completely different rush. Between the darkness and relative silence, I'm just tuned in on a different frequency. Heart pounding and the shakes are ramped up during the hit, fight, and landing. It's electrifying really, and the closest feeling I've ever had to cracking my bike's throttle wide open at night on a deserted highway when I was young and insane. Alas, I'm much older now, and far less tempted to dare God with my life, but I can get that same buzz on the cheap by fishing in the dark.

I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson on Sunday. Water temp was 49-50F and the clarity was pretty good, a couple of feet. The day started off pretty great. The wind was calm and the birds were chirping. My first two bass came off the second spot that I fished and weighed 3lbs 2oz (18.5") and 3lbs even (18.25"). I thought I was going to be landing nice ones all day but that was not the case. I did hook one big one on a squarebill later that broke me off on a stump (I think there must be a nail pounded in it or something because the line just cut) but otherwise the rest of the day produced 8 more bass in the 1.25 to 2lb range and a big pikieminnow that weight 3lbs 2oz. All the bass I caught were in 6-10' of water and all the bass came on either a Jack Hammer stealthblade or a KVD 1.5 squarebill. I did not catch a fish on soft plastics, but I did not spend much time throwing them. I did try fishing in 12-15' where I had success a few weeks back but I did not have any luck in that spot nor mark anything that looked like a fish. Overall it was a typical Oregon spring day of calm, then wind, sun and then rain. It was fun watching the storms come up the gorge, then get rained on, then watch them continue East up the gorge. Those isolated showers are kind of fun. Can't complain about a day on the water like that. I caught enough fish to not get bored and the weather was fun and interesting. A couple of pigs would have really rounded out the day but maybe I am just getting greedy Anyway, here are pics of the two decent ones and some video from the day.

As I've shared many times, my brothers and I fished farm ponds by tying our fishing poles to our bikes and sallying forth. One farm pond had an overflow pipe that ran under the road and emptied into a pool we could almost hop across. That little pool was brimming with the biggest bullheads I've ever caught, one after another after another. Another time, on the north shore of Lake Michigan, after reading a Field & Stream article circa 1969, I was wading for hours looking for the Volkswagen-sized rock described in the article that held all the smallmouth on that point. I caught nothing until I found the rock and then, out of the next 100 casts, I had hits on perhaps 97 casts.

You know something’s out of whack when @Team9nine is posting bigger crappies than most of the largemouth in this thread.

My slam dunk, without a doubt, #1 bait of any kind is the Magnum UV Speed Worm, and has been for maybe 10-15 yrs now. 90% of the time I use the Magnum for any horizontal presentation especially in and through vegetation of any kind. The bulk of it coupled with the larger tail section makes it ideal for me especially in tannic waters. It is also more effective on top regardless of conditions. I’ll use the 5.5” standard size for smaller waters i.e. canals and ponds etc. I also use it for targeting brush piles. Mostly when vertically targeting a smaller specific spot, I’ll usually throw the standard size first, but it’s not a hard rule. Mike

Fishing had taken a backseat this past year, year and a half, but no more. Took two weeks off in June, booked a cabin in Santa Clara lake and a trip with the local guide. Oh, and I got a little something extra too: Now that I finally got one, watch as Shimano revamps the Metanium 150 in the next 12 months like it happened to me with the NRX and the Expride. Weight-wise it's very close to the Curado MGL and if feels like a just slightly smaller frame, but the tolerances are much tighter. Can't wait to put this thing through its paces.

I used to fish a little half acre park pond in a small farm town (population of 200~ people). Nobody ever thought it had bass in it. Hardly anyone fished it at all except for little kids bobber fishing for bluegill every once in a great while. I used to catch a plethora of 2 and 3 lbers from it. Many of them several times over. I got to know the individual fish pretty well. At least a couple dozen were unique bass. Any time anyone saw me catch bass they were surprised. Thankfully nobody ever fished it for bass that I saw. One time a sheriff's deputy stopped and asked if I really catch fish from here. He said he'll have to start keeping a rod in his car for when he passes through town. I don't know if he ever did. This was many years ago. I'm a few hundred miles away now. Often wonder if that little pond still produces. Also wonder if any of the old gals are still alive. Some I would still recognize, I'm sure of it.

No! That's like asking which wife is my favorite, IT AIN'T RIGHT. They all have a place in the line up. Some are lighter and handle great, some are powerful and can bigger task, and some are silky smooth.

Which lab do you have?

In the spirit of Woody's 'fishless water' I thought it would be fun to try the inverse. Any good stories about water that 'shouldn't have any fish in it' that is loaded with fish? It seems like you pull over to use a rest stop in Florida and make a cast into a stagnant puddle next to the highway and stand to catch the fish of a lifetime. In NC I see guys catching insane fish out of Walmart retention ponds! (Makes note to fish more Walmart retention ponds in 2024). Whatcha got!?!?

Pretty much what @Mike L said, except I fish the 6" Ultravibe Speed Worm more than the Magnum. Watermelon Neon with the tail dipped in Spike-It Dip-N-Glo Chartreuse Garlic.

“Sewage” and “brook trout” don’t go together in the same sentence. I’d bet you were misidentifying creek chubs, lol

My development has a retention basin that holds water since it was built 6-7 years ago. Sunnies, bass and catfish have made their way into it. It’s become a popular place for the kids in the development to go and fish all the time. Nice to see kids enjoying outdoor activities rather than staying inside playing video games.

55 yrs wondering around Toledo Bend staring at some kind of screen I know a spot. There's a boat house in 6-Mile Creek that's two story, it's more of a party house. It's sitting off by itself, from the bank out 30 yds it's 6-8', flat kinda sandy bottom, no wood or brush, vegation is shoreline dollar lilies, some kind of grass on the bottom that's a foot or two tall. Pasted that boat house dozens of times never once thinking of stopping. One mid August night, no moon, clear skies, light southerly wind, I decided stoo. Dropped trolling motor, picked up my worm rod, made a cast, bent over to turn the depth finder on & I felt that tap-tap...stuck a 2# bass. During the next hour & a half I boat 18 up to 4#. Before I left I idled the entire area & saw nuthin. That was 30 yrs ago & I still sneak up there & boat a few.

Across the street from the library at my college is a little pond that is choked with poison ivy and just looks dead. . I went over there after an exam one day, and caught a beautiful prespawn hawg(19", probably about 4.5 lbs). I had never fished it before because it's small and the water is hard to get to, but there's definitely fish in there. I got snagged on an underwater stick and as I pulled it up, about a dozen pinky-length bluegill spooked. Apparently that's how they're gettin' fat.... God, I gotta go back there! Maybe tomorrow....

I fished a few tournaments years ago. I got matched with an older much more experienced angler one time. With 30 minutes left, he stopped at a bank that everyone else passed by and caught three keeper fish to come in third place. I think it was his intuition, that told him to stop there. I would have passed this spot by like everyone else.

We have a 100 ish acre lake that is spring fed. Extremely shallow and weedy like max depth 8ft if it doesn’t have Lilly’s and tall vegetation in it 90 % of the year on 70 % or more of the body your not at the right lake. It is absolutely packed full of pan fish, gar, big large mouth, all kinds of baitfish, small mouth buffs, common carp, huge bowfin, catfish and some others. Almost no one fishes it because you have to back a truck in almost to the floorboard before you can unload the boat and it’s all mud. If you brave it though you can have an unbelievable time.

My main four set ups are old greenies, Curado Bantam 200’s so I decided to move in to a bit of modern technology. Having already a Kistler series 100 reel on a KLX rod I went with a 200 series this time for my IMX GLoomis jig setup. Any line recommendations, besides braid? Foolish or fantastic. We’ll see.

Not sure I would consider getting up before the sun rises to be a "night" fishing outing. Ya you might be out there for an hour in the dark but the majority of your time is still during daylight hours. What @T-Billy, @Catt, and @PhishLI do is night time fishing. They specifically set out in the middle of the night or just prior to sunset and fish the wee hours of the night. That's raw. I used to do it a lot when I was younger and walleye fishing. We'd use lighted slip bobbers. It was extremely effective. I don't have the energy to be a night owl anymore. It would really screw up my sleeping habits for a couple days too. Sometimes I do start before it gets dark and then fish an hour or two after the sun goes down. Still wouldn't specifically call that fishing at night time though. Also, I generally do not have to resort to fishing in the dark because it doesn't get hellaciously hot here for weeks on end like it does down south.

Shimano Curado 200 E7 Mike

Thank you! I am not committed to the big swimbait. I love jerkbaits and rats and frogs too. The last several years, mostly because I don't get to fish very often, when I do get a chance, I fish what I like to fish and what I want to catch a fish on that particular day. If I catch a fish or two, that's great; but if not, that's fine too. I literally fished 7 times last year, and caught 6 bass in all. There was a time when I was committed to the 8" or larger swimbaits. About 10-12 years back. I fished swimbaits a lot, like almost everyday. I got skunked a lot too. I also caught a lot of big fish. Mostly walking the shorelines of small public highland reservoirs. I had good teachers though, mostly folks from SoCal, and a few from other places. I still retain most of the knowledge. Just don't have the time/ opportunity to apply them on the water. And that's fine with me too. I'm just glad that I fished a lot when I had the chance to do so.

Thank you Shreveport Bass Pro, very cool! Can't believe they had juggle minnows. Gonna throw that around the shallows when I get home and see what happens. I think I'm weirdly just as excited to try the VMC crankbait snaps (not pictured) on a walking bait. I already use a duo lock to make the bait turn with less effort, I'm hoping the thinner wire, shorter length, and wider loop of the crankbait snap will provide even more articulation (action) at the line tie. Will report back.

I don't really have a size preference, but lean to the smaller of these two in clear water. It's a killer plastic worm.

You're probably right. Though, to be fair, this was on the other side of the plant, where the water was stored before being released back into the creek. And it was pretty clear, didn't stink, and had lots of vegetation growing in it. We didn't know it was a sewage lagoon until we brought some home to cook up and mortified our parents. We did a lot of that back then. My mother will never let me forget bringing the "leaches" home that we found in the creek that ran near it. I wanted to keep them in an aquarium. I tried to explain that they were lampreys, and not leaches, but my arguments were counterproductive.

Early 1990's, worked at a small directional University in Missouri. Some faculty told us of the "University Pond" south of town, right off the highway. You could not see the pond from the road...had to hop a barbed wire fence...then walk about 50 yards through some trees. The pond was just a bit larger than a football field...lots of trees had grown on the dam, there were very few places to fish from shore. Rumors swirled about some big bass in that lake, and the people we knew would frequently catch LMB's in other lakes, and transplant them in to this pond. Seemed legit. One afternoon we schlepped our canoe to the pond and fished...always caught a few nice bass here and there. Discovered the pond was max of 12 feet deep. Few weeks later I had some free time and went fishing. I was tossing my favorite lure at the time, a rainbow trout colored Slug-Go on a medium spinning rod, spooled with 8lb Trilene XL. Fishing one of the few open spots on the dam, I was tossing that Slug-Go as far as I could...twitching it back my way. BAM!!, huge strike and I set the hook. Could not believe my eyes when the bass surfaced close to shore. Thankfully I had an fish scale in my bag...this bass weight in just over 8 pounds! Still my personal best large-mouth bass.

I'm not proud to admit this, but when I was a kid, we used to fish a sewage lagoon and catch blueback herring and brook trout. I think. I was really young, and this was pre-internet days, so I probably wasn't good at identifying fish. They could have been mutated minnows for all I know.

You will find out by your cranking battery not being able to start your motor. I have 3 Solix units and they would do that to me so I pulled them off the cranker and put them on a stand alone 100 ah lithium.

@PhishLI and @T-Billy are spot on. Plus, big girls are creatures of the night. I spent a lot of time this winter looking back at my 2023 catches and I noted that most of my biggest bass were framed in black.

Zillion SV TW 1000 L

The one thing I'm jealous of you northerners about. I could never bank fish that late at night with the gators here. S L A B

My fishing dogma is Labrador Retriever: Don’t worry about looking stupid. Have fun whatever you’re doing. Bring snacks.

I’m not so sure it’s different colored water conditions as it is different colored sky conditions. Certain lenses are better for bright sun and certain lenses are better under cloudy conditions. And yet some are more all purpose. For years, I was convinced it wasn’t worth buying a nicer pair of fishing shades because I would scratch them and lose them. So I simply bought $20 ones every April and used them until October, and got rid of them. In 2018, fake Santa (my wife) brought me Costa Fantails. I’ll never go back to cheapies again. The clarity and quality is astonishing and the underwater realm opened up when I began using those 6 years ago. I am a customer for life.

Caught 5 fish on the new finesse setup with an inline spinner only. Very fun! Great rod and the reel casts lures I’d cast on spinning gear effortlessly. Probably my new favorite setup.

Pat and Alex carry. The rest of us just do doughnuts around the lake and sip on sweet tea whenever someone asks if we are catching. Disco likes to catch a 7lber every so often to keep us on our feet.

And I third it. Super awesome, @deep I, on the other hand, am still fishless for 2024. Got a few bumps and tugs while on the river yesterday: assuming they were were little fish like chubs or bluegill or something that couldn't get the bait in their mouth. But I did see some beautiful flowers!

My excellent crew does most of the work. I didn't gaff a fish, or tie a knot the whole trip. I did get up at 3:00 Am to catch squid while every one else got some sleep.

I normally only get to fish on weekends but I was on vacation for a week right before this thread was started. That had me fishing and posting fish pretty much every day. This Spring, and 2024 in general has been different for me. I haven't caught the numbers of Bass I've caught in the past, however the Bass I have caught have mostly been big, at least for the waters I fish. I'll have to go back at add up the number of Bass I've caught over 5 pounds. So far in April I've fished 2 times, catching 3 Bass over 5 pounds. (I think I'm around ten over 5 for 2024, I'll try to get an accurate count soon). So far my biggest Bass of '24 is just over 6 1/2 pounds back in March.

@LrgmouthShad: Doing doughnuts around the lake and sipping on sweet tea sounds pretty, well, er. sweet! When I fished the solar eclipse, the best part of my day wasn't catching, but poking around a stream I'd never fished. I'd paddle a bit, take the water's temperature, jab my paddle down to see if I could find the bottom, and imagine fishing it in the dark someday soon when it's warm enough for the bass to actually chase my lures. I just wish I'd had a sweet tea with me or that my canoe was quick enough to do a doughnut.

Eclipse bass: Mostly a bunch a little guys like this. It was pretty cloudy during the good part. Saw lots of animals out and about which was cool! Saw some new bigger females moving up to spawn on the evening of the new moon which was cool. Got some good warm weather coming this week that should really help lock fish in and maybe even draw some bluegill into the shallows.

We went fishing for 3.5 days out of Puerto Vallarta. First day was slow with one 50 pound tuna. I decided to drift 25 miles off shore for the night rather than go to an anchorage. The plan was to catch squid at night an try them for bait the next day. The plan worked to perfection. The seas were calm and the squid came to the lights. We were able to put 30 squid in the live well, and were back on the fishing grounds at daylight. First drift we landed the 3 tuna in the picture. By the end of the day we had landed 9 tuna between 80 and 130 pounds. The next night I couldn't find any squid, and we had to fish frozen ones the next day. We only landed one 100 pound tuna, one dorado, and a big snapper. The third night I found squid again, and the tuna liked the fresh squid. We were able to land 4 120 pound tuna before leaving for home. Great trip with lots of fish, but very little sleep. All the tuna were caught on squid suspended on the surface below helium balloons.

Quite a few here remember my canoe - great for being inexpensive, maneuverable and able to get into the skinniest water. However, it just wasn't working for me...so, I sold it for about what I had in it and used that money to help fund the Bass Trek Project. Started with this. And after a winter's worth of work, ended up with this. Total cost about $3k including the new TM, but the Sonar was taken from the Canoe before selling. It's only a 14', but doing the same to a 16'-18' wouldn't be much more expensive.