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Got a couple on the horny toad right before dark. Lost 3 also,including a bigger one. They absolutely clobber this bait , like they hate it…

Caught 5 Spots this morning before a Kidney shut me down.

I caught 10 today in the rain. The lens on my phone was fogged up by the 2nd one so I put it away. My phone is supposed to be IP68 rated but I figure if the lens is fogged up it's not liking the water. None were BIG or I would have gotten my phone back out. Biggest were 16". One LM and one Spot. The rest were between 12" and 14". About the time I released the first one I saw some fleeing shad on the other side of my boat. I grabbed a rod and cast a Devils Horse toward the commotion. A small (Longnose) Gar hit my Devils Horse, coming a couple feet out of the water with it in it's mouth. It threw in on it's next jump. I've never been able to land a Gar, but I'm not sure I want all those teeth in my boat on a fish that's considered a trash fish. It's cool to watch them jump though. I think I can almost hear them laughing when they throw my lures back at me. It was 59 with light drizzle when I launched my boat at 9. It was 50 with harder rain at noon when I loaded it back up.

I went out yesterday and only caught one dink in 7 hours of fishing. The wind was so bad I clocked the boat drifting at 5mph at some point during the day. The wind seemed to be blowing around 20mph all day in two different directions. The boat at one of my spots just turned in circles without me using the trolling motor. The water was really muddy as well with no visibility. About half way through the day I got snagged next the bank and fell in to about 10 feet water. Luckily I was able get a selfie. When will the water clear up? 😁

Nothing super crazy to report here but I did catch this beautiful post spawner yesterday morning. Jake caught every male bass that he could find willing to bite expeditiously 🤣👍🏼 Seeing big fry clouds out deep shimmering under the surface being guarded by big wolfpacks of male and female bass out on offshore structure at the pond has been very very neat. It dropped nearly 40° over night and I plan on going fishing later this afternoon from the bank at the pond and I'm very very curious to see what I see. Lost a fish that was 24" long skipping a senko under a dock yesterday evening. She hit it right as I hopped it once after the initial fall and I set the hook. My 30 pound braid starts ticking my drag real fast and I see her shoot out around a support beam 10 feet with my hook and Senko. Gorgeous and super long. I start to pull her back towards the piling and she shook hard and popped right off. Heartbreak hotel but dang if it wasn't cool! Still a 5 lber to start the day on the dropshot was cool and my biggest fish on a dropshot to date! Let's GO!!!! Tight lines friends!

I headed out on the susky both days this weekend. On Saturday I went with my dad who is recovering from kidney cancer. It was the first time I got to fish with him this year. Actually ahead of schedule. Sunday I went with a buddy. the pattern for both days was pretty much the same. Burning crank baits smashing them into rocks. My dad did get some on ned rigs too. Both trips were about 3-4 hours. I’d say for the weekend a total of 40ish fish were boated. Nothing crazy. My buddy did however get a rare large mouth.

I caught two small ones today, came right along the rip rap on a line through swim bait head. The small one came on a 4’ easy shiner and the slightly bigger one came on a 2.8 keitech. They both liked the crawl it and chop retrieve and would hit it close to the bank. Was a struggle to catch anything but I didn’t give up on catching something. Just have got to be creative and think outside the box sometimes. the rod was a dobyns kaden 745c and a slx xt xg was the reel with 30lb braid. The treble hook that I used was an extra megabass outbarb hook that I had lying around. I fish the river a lot and I don’t like leaving things behind. These hooks allow you to get your rig back easily if snagged and they definitely stick the fish.

I fished yesterday and I did what I'm told to do. I studied the depth map, marked the dropoffs abutting shallows, and worked laydowns and points. When that worked only marginally, I then applied what worked last week, I.e. working water about 80' from the shoreline. Meh. The very last thing I tried was the summer pattern, i.e. casting tight to shorelines in the shallowest water and that's where they were. The articles and YouTube videos tell me that their holding tight to shoreline structure isn't where they should be, but they were there and by tight, I mean casting to within inches of the shoreline and getting thumped immediately. Weird, huh? Or maybe not weird. How many of you have caught bass where they're not supposed to be, seasonally? I think more bass need to watch YouTube videos to be where they're supposed to be!

Since getting that 5 pounder 2 weeks ago its been slow for me. Mostly due to work and weather. Got out yesterday morning. Almost caught another giant, followed my jig back to the kayak then took a swipe. Unfortunately i was distracted by a gigantic snaping turtle on the other side of the yak. The bass d**n near jumped in with me but i blew that whole deal. Then it started raining and i called it quits empty handed. There was a kayak tournament at the lake iv been fishing most latley, so decided to go else where. Less than 5 minutes from my house. A lake iv been to a handful of times but never caught anything. Started off pretty frustrating. Pitching the jig into shoreline cover. Caught nothing but branches. Was pretty chilly out. Decided to throw the lipless crank in deeper water and ended up getting this nice fish. Didn't weigh it but probably closer to 3. Really nice fish. I was surprised honestly. Might have to put more work in at this lake. It's definitely convenient being so close to home, that's for sure

Prefishing for my first club kayak tournament of the year Friday. I won this tournament last year on the same lake, also in April, so I felt like I knew what I wanted to do coming into it. After about 3 hours of fishing, I was sure I knew what I wanted to do. I had received some information about a little lake not too far away that was supposed to have real big ones, which always gets my attention, so I loaded up and headed down the road a little ways. Now it was not a numbers fishery at all, big fish lakes usually aren't around here, but it did not disappoint on the big fish. and of course, 2 cast after this one, I caught big momma. I thought she might be an 8 when I saw her jump, just because of how thick she was and how big the mouth was. Once I got her in the net, I knew the length wasn't there, but still one of the thickest fish I've ever seen.

After going over our finances - the wife gave me a pre-season gifting....already spent most of it on this, which Scheels has on sale...so still no LiveScope...but YES to upgrading to side-scan. I'll still keep the Striker 7CV - use that split screen on 2d and Down-Scan, the 93SV will alternate between split-screen of Map and Side-Scan or just Side-Scan. The fun will be routing the transducer cables from the bow to the stern - get the 7CV's off the TM...work on that while waiting for the 93 to show up. Ya, I could have driven the half-hour and done pickup...but Nora and I are both suffering bronchitis and I didn't feel like getting dressed.

I don't even see how some these Bass Tubers come up with some of this content. I mean, some of them have been on the Tube for a while and make multi videos a week. After a few years of doing that, when do ya run out of things to say? Some of them are young and haven't even fished that long, if at all. They seem like they are grasping at straws for content, literally, picking up crumbs for the sake of putting something together. I watched a vid just the other day. Half the vid was about the dude getting up, makin coffee, gettin in his car, starting it up, and then driving to where he was going to fish. HALF the video! The other half was next to nothing in actual knowledge about bass fishing, just rambling or the classical "come watch me fish" format. Shame to see it get that way. Many, many new comers rely solely on YouTube for their knowledge base. Guess it comes down to weeding the videos out to find the good stuff, which can be a daunting task in itself!

And a couple more

Going forward, Pat, I think I'm just going to launch, poke around, and follow my hunches. Like you, I'm not fishing big water, so in a three to five-hour trip, I can fish pert near everywhere. Because I change lures so frequently, I'll eventually discover where they are and what they'll hit. And I'm not going to stay locked onto big fish. I told @thediscocheflast night that I've caught six new PBs in the last year. I went from 5.5 to 6.5 to 6.71 to 6.75 to a likely, unweighed seven-pounder to the unweighed beshemoth I caught last week. That's good enough for me and I frankly think I could fish another ten years and not catch another as big as she was. I don't need to catch an ever bigger bass.* I want to launch my canoe and have a busy, happy boat. In the process of catching many bass, big bass will naturally come aboard, but I don't want to bear the pressure of needing a new PB and another new PB and yet another new PB. Old girls like me still just want to have fun! Here's a photo of her after I lightened it so you can see her massive back:

Hey, Just wanted to show my latest caught fish 😎

So I picked up a Kast King speed demon rod after eyeballing them for a few years in a 6’-10” to replace my Lews speed stick Hank Parker rod. I know the KK rods aren’t exactly perfect but I really like the Wynn grips, the Fuji component’s although I’m not to sure about the rubberized handle area that has been pointed out, and lastly the color match with my Daiwa CA80 looks like it was made for each other. I will say for a $130.00 rod I would like to see a minimum 5 year warranty but it is what it is. I also received my Miravel from JLS and I have to say I’m excited to get this one spooled up and put to good use.

No but the DC does reduce casting distance. IMO learn with baitcasting reel properly adjusted to reduce backlash and promotes correct casting motion. Start with a Medium power fast action rod using 1/2 oz casting practice plug, 12 lbs Big Game mono line and med range reel like Shimano SLX 70 MGL or Daiwa Tatula SV TW. Tom

Lots of times, what you read and watch won't apply to the lakes you fish anyway. Every lake fishes differently. The majority of LM in one of my local lakes spend the summer offshore chasing shad like brown bass are apt to do. No brownies in that lake. It's a good lake during pre-spawn, and fall, but brutal tuff all summer long. No other lake around me fishes anything like it. Ultimately, there's just no substitute for time on the water. Get out there and try stuff, and over time you'll figger out what works for YOU on YOUR waters. 😉 I'll add: There's nearly always some green fish up in shallow cover anytime the water's above 38 degrees IME.

My dad was on a destroyer, my uncle piloted B-17's . The greatest generation.

Heck, yeah. Pat, you fish ponds that are ringed with concrete sidewalks. I imagine you casting between a popcorn stand and a hot dog cart. @PhishLI has to keep an eye open for gangbangers and he wades in water so chilly that his teeth chatter. @AlabamaSpothunter fishes a lake where mansions loom over every inch of the shoreline. And on and on. To reach Wednesday's pond, I'll have to drag my canoe up and over a meadow, through the rocky woods, and then launch by stepping into the chilly water. For Friday's bog, I'll launch by a cascade and paddle up a river to reach the water I'll fish. Then I'll paddle another three miles to reach the other end of the bog. In a double digit wind. Then back. So, yeah, we only have so much in common, mainly our love of bass. P. S. - 20K acres would swallow me. Whole. It would be one of your DDs, Pat, and I would be a tasty shad.

Agreed. My initial thought after checking the standings each day was that with a little time, effort and thought put into scheduling, tournament directors could probably squash most of this giant FFS debate by simply selecting a better mix of location and timing for their events without even having to touch the third rail of restricting or banning of equipment.

Back in IN, our largest reservoir was the site of our first eagle reintroduction program. And while you see a lot of interesting but obviously “photoshopped” pics of birds carrying off bass and other unusual things, the local photographers have posted numerous photos of our eagles “in action,” and bass seem to make up a surprising number of their catches, so I think you might be on to something there @ol'crickety with your bass location theory. I collected several as I would come across them and post on my FB page to tease all my bass friends about “one less keeper” in some of our tough to begin with fisheries. If you believe big bass go for big easy meals as part of this Optimal Foraging Theory, then it only makes sense that eagles, as part of nature’s web, would, too 😉

Makes ya wonder how anyone ever learned how to catch a fish before commercially sponsored “experts” on the internet came along. The best way to learn how to catch a fish in your local waters is to learn your local waters!! Thats it, there are no short cuts. Listening to someone on the internet to tell you when, where and how to catch a fish in a body of water they’ve never been to makes no sense to me and can put someone’s leaning curve back years. @ol'crickety After reading your posts since you’ve joined, you seem to be someone who’s got it pretty well figured out already. Your posted successes are proof of your expertise. Everyone who spends time on the water knows there are no exact rules about where a fish will be at any given time. Mike

I don't know what YouTube's are telling people to do right now and I don't care because most of that stuff is designed to sell tackle not catch me more fish.... What the fish are doing on my ponds and lakes is the same thing they've been doing since February which is very very aggressively trying to be as shallow as they can so they can make babies and very very persistently being knocked back by cold fronts but usually only a few feet back...like maybe pull back 10 feet til it's warmer again kinda thing. I wouldn't trust a single YouTube that says that fish are going to be anywhere but trying to spawn in dirt shallow water in the springtime - crazy apocalyptic weather deviations notwithstanding. Remember, we like to tell beginners that the best time to start fishing is in the springtime and to cast tight to the bank and work your bait very very slow. Because well......yeaaaaaah......that's gonna work 9/10 times. Edit: @ol'crickety bass like warmth but most shallow water is warm enough by now. They like protection and places to hide even more when they're that vulnerable to attack!

I almost pay no attention to so-called “seasonal patterns” anymore. Water conditions, the overall weather, presence of fry, and any bait spawning may inform the angler where bass are located. The spring of the year has good, reliable patterns associated with it. It’s spawning grounds and the paths to get there and then the paths to leave. Everything else…. Fall, summer, winter…. Bass are going to be where they want to be. They do not know that they need to be 25-30ft deep midsummer and that they need to bite a worm. I really think that they just get done spawning, and then they leave looking for greener pastures… or not. Some might stay if the area is fertile. If they leave, they go somewhere they feel safe and comfortable with some food and they will stay there until uncomfortable or until they see somewhere else being more comfortable based on the changing conditions. They might want deep water close by… or maybe not. How much the water level fluctuates plays a role in this, I believe.

River smallies like a bright hot summer day, spring time is a total crap shoot for me. When they are spawning it can be terrible fishing

That's not my experience. The cloudier it is, the happier I am. My dream fishing weather would be a rainy, foggy night.

Ironically, I often say in my videos, "The bass don't read the same books we do!" and I often cite the time I caught bass on buzzbaits on New Year's day in 42 degree water. It happens. More often than we realize. The cool thing is that you were able to figure it out!

Seeing your in Maine I am guessing the Water Temperature has not warmed up enough yet for those spots yet. Knowing that the shallow water will get the warmest first that is where I would start. Go to the side that the sun has been shinning on the longest cast your bait up on the bank & bring into the water quietly & let it sit a bit don't want to scare your pray (dead sticking). Remember the water temperature is the magic. The bait moves to the magic & the predator will follow. Tight lines!

Fished for 9 hours today for bass at one of my favorite lakes which is quickly loosing favor. 55-57 degrees, both sunny and heavy overcast, still and windy. I fished the bank, fished off shore, fished the flats, fished the drops. At one point I was fishing 55’ of water for fish I marked. Tons of bait but couldn’t buy a bass. I livescoped transition areas between deep water and spawning areas from 50’ to 5’. Anything I thought was a bass got thrown to. Most were crappie. Some I thought that before casting but the last one was on its own on a big flat and I was sure it was a bass. It was not. Didn’t keep any but if I’d have had my net bag I would have caught more.

I fished a bog for the first time in 2024. My prior trips were ponds. I targeted big bass with a big Shimano swimbait and focused on drop offs adjacent to flats, points, and wood. I caught a few, but nothing big. So, then I started poking around and discovered some bass in a summer location, i.e. relating to structure against the shore. I caught 14 in all and lead with a photo of the bog, then four of the bass. I hooked and lost three nice ones at the end of the evening. My hands were just too cold at that point to work well. I saw three eagles at once, two immature adults and likely one of their parents. I also saw loons, geese, and ducks.

While Bass fishing today in heavy fog I caught a 12 inch White Perch. I don't know what "big" is for that species, but the ones I usually catch are only 6 to 8 inches long.

Personally I like Gman, however I don't think he's nearly the angler he was back in the day. As far as Mercer goes, he's easily one of my favorite things about BASS. His podcast has also taught me a ton about the anglers, and the sport as a whole. Things could be worse, this could be a MLF thread 🤣

My standard disclaimer, I only target Bass so when I catch another species it's a matter of luck, not skill. A guy I know stayed out of work today and went fishing with Dolly (Yorkie). I........."he" caught an 11.40 pound Blue cat on my third cast. After getting it to the boat I held it next to the boat for a while so it was good and tired. Dolly was all excited, barking and growling at it. She had to check it out real good once I got it in the boat. I also caught a decent Crappie. I'd guess 11 inches. It's a minnow compared to the Crappie I see around here though.

7’> MLXF. Depending on weight of jig. The middle of the posted range is usually the sweet spot. Don’t bust your budget but invest in a good rod.

You're one up on me - I got mine used....so no warranty beyond the 30day 'Lemon Law'.

I ain’t got no oil tracker…… 😂 I change it when I can remember to, meant to change it today after reading this thread this morning, got distracted making raised garden beds for my wife . Hopefully I will remember tomorrow

Well my 3 days of fishing turned up a whole lotta NO BASS. Fished Friday afternoon, Saturday morning 5-11 and a today 6-11 no bass. Did catch some picks and crappies.

Idk, if you pick the right bait it's bicep curls all day 😂. Nah, actually great advice, exercise is critical for so many reasons, avoid the doctors.

I needed to share this. The monster snap swivel is connected to a wire weedgaurd. Lol. 😂

Very important not to get out of bed and start your day without stretching for about 20 minutes, legs, lower back, crunches and shoulders. Tom

I go 6000 on my '01 Silverado 5.3L between changes....oil comes out looking not too bad...I could probably go 10k...but I gotta take extra care of this baby cause it's probably the last vehicle I'll buy.

I am a POP MAX Fan Boy ~ Big time. I won't even get into what happens with that bait in Mexico. But up here in the north woods, the brown bass crush it. Need to be fishing it in the right place and at the right time but still, it's a big fish magnet for me. I do best on Flat Calm Flats, late summer, - hot, sunny and clean water 5-12 feet deep. The 'retrieve' is no retrieve. Just an accurate cast, maybe a single pop or two and then wait. Wait some more, wait some more and did I mention, wait some more. It's a stupid slow way to fish, but it get's big bites when almost nothing else will. https://youtu.be/sITpRNLz_04?feature=shared&t=347 https://youtu.be/6Ds4Z22ywnY?feature=shared&t=119 A-Jay

I have a genuine, classic, S&W Mod 36, J frame, .38 special snubnose, that I carry in a Desantis IWB holster almost every time I leave my house. "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it".

All finished! Here's a rundown of parts. TD Sol gears, Alphas SV105SH worm gear, Alphas Air handle and nut, Alphas pinion shaft, Alphas SV105SH worm gear, Alphas CT SV spool cap, SLP micro bearings, and a drag clicker to finish it off. This is made from all Daiwa parts except for the drag clicker.

Time to turn some screws.

I had an evening free finally tonight but not enough time to really put the boat in so I grabbed the trout rod and went to the local stream that’s 2 minutes from the house. I haven’t trout fished since 2020 when I got the kayak. This year I decided to buy a trout stamp just to have something to do. Instead of hopping to the local pond to catch a dozen 8” largemouth I could pop to the stream and catch some 9” trout. The water has been up from the rain but it was pretty clear and coming down. Still not an insignificant amount of water running though but this is how I like it. I was shooting for 20 trout in 2-3 hours and I got close. Ended up with 15 or 16. Most all were the NJ standard 9” stocked rainbow but a couple were 10-11” and two were in the 15” range. Considering I haven’t been out for almost a month, it was good to be out and about on the water.

So, I've been mostly hesitant to add an update here. Reason being, all things considered, Lynn's better than she has is a while and I didn't want to jinx it. Results from the latest and continued Hematologist & Cardiac DR appointments have been OK. Monthly infusions are helping more than hurting. Blood work remains a little Touch & Go - but mostly OK. Side effects of some new meds are manageable (easy for me to say here in the cheap seats) but I can tell when they are wearing Lynn thin and we haven't been seeing too much of that recently. Our dogs totally give her away when she's trying to 'suck it up', they always know. Experience has shown, that can not continue without often grave results. We're both feeling very fortunate and doing EVERYTHING we can think of to keep this roll going. There's even 'talk' about getting out in the Old Town together again this summer. Something that hasn't been possible for a couple of years now. We celebrated Lynn's birthday last week. At this point these things are milestones. Thank you all again for your positive thoughts & well wishes. A-Jay