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I was where I wanted to be and when I wanted to be there early this morning. Problem was, a big weed die off was fouling just about every other cast. Water temps were still 70 and I was on some bait in a few spots, so I stuck with it a while. Glad I did. A Fat Smallie hammered a spinnerbait and then a complete Tanker of a Musky swallowed my jackhammer like it was a tic tac. Fight was tricky (no wire) but we got her done. Fun morning and a great way to break in the new Go Pros. A-Jay

Quick trip yesterday morning started with a nice fog and overcast. Tried to make topwater work but no success until I started throwing a spinnerbait. Caught these two and a few pickerel.

Been a little while since I updated the folks here - but it's been real fun this month! Been eating frogs and buzzbaits/buzzing plastics and lipless crankbaits and Jerkbaits (soft and hard) and swimming jigs. 😎😎😎 Already lost two big fish on jerk and lipless and seen some huge ones bail on my spinnerbait right at the bank which is a good sign 😂 - big fish are showing you interest in fast moving reaction baits again! 😎🤙🏼

Got my annual Musky Quota checked off this morning. What Brute ! Thanks for the inspiration @T-Billy A-Jay

I just fished my pond for one hour and fifteen minutes, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. As I've been doing lately, I only took two lures, this time a 4", bubblegum pink Senko wacky rigged and a brass-bladed Mepps spinner. Both caught three bass, which surprised me, as I was fishing under a high Sun on a pretty cloudless day. Maybe I've gained a little insight into catching bass under a high Sun. I caught one bass on a weed line, one approaching a shade line, three in the deeper water adjacent to a dropoff, and one in the middle of nowhere. I didn't put the fourth bass on the bump board so you could see the weather conditions. Nothing big, but all chunky except for the fourth, lip-gripped bass. I used two, little lures because of @Glenn, who coaches us to downsize in the fall. I figured my Mepps would imitate a shad and the little Senko would appeal to sluggish bass.

Some of us share fish totals. Others don't, counting only their big fish, however they define that, as valuable enough to count. I'm a counter and I think counting counts. Here's why: When I keep count, I gain insight into ratios. I consider a big bass to be more than four (pounds). So, by counting, I'll know if a pond is producing a four-pounder every ten fish or twenty, which is telling about the pond's genetics. By counting, I can also can infer about the size and health of the forage base. For example, the pond I fished yesterday morning put shorter and longer bass on my line, but they were all thick. I caught 20 yesterday morning, but the pond is good for 40 or even 50 some mornings. All this tells me that there's a LOT of food in this pond because everyone is eating well even though there are a lot of bass at the buffet. A bog I no longer fish produces big bass, but few bass, which reminds me of musky fishing and one of the reasons I quit musky fishing is because its hours of casting with no action. Lastly, I'm alone in my canoe most mornings, so counting gives me something to do and gives me mini-goals, such as reaching 10 or 40, which keeps me focused.

Haven't fished for bass much the last couple weeks. September is historically the hardest month of the warm water months for bass fishing for me. I also have a couple tournaments coming up the next couple weeks, so I'm kind of trying to get my mind ready for that. Getting out and chasing these guys is my favorite way to sit and think, while still being able to fish. It's not lazy, not the way I do it. 1 mile down a creek from the launch, then 1.5 miles against a pretty strong river current in the kayak to get to my area I like to fish. I don't usually sit anywhere too long. A lot of loading and unloading the kayak, checking spots for fish, changing baits, catching bait. I did a lot for this one bite, but it was worth it.

The struggles continue here. I’ve pretty much been camping out at the crappie hole since I can’t catch numbers anywhere I figure I might as well go for the big ones. Unfortunately the big ones did not cooperate today. After two big hits on the Mayor, but nothing to show for it, I switched to the Ned hoping to avoid the skunk. It worked but I all I caught were dinks with the below fish being the largest.

I made a couple of small purchases to keep the monkey happy.

5.24 lbs on the full moon today ~ A-Jay

It definitely ain't August anymore. Fish are scattered everywhere, and everyone I've talked to is struggling to get bit. It took me about 15 hours of grinding over a couple days to come up with this little 32". We need some cooler weather to bring 'em shallow. Some rain would be great also. We've passed severe drought and reached exceptional status, and there ain't much hope in the extended forecast.

Got out early but the fish missed the alarm clock. Didn't really start getting bit until later in the morning, had a gift of surprise low clouds and that always changes the equation. 5 bass around the same size as each other plus a bonus gar. The bass mostly ate a megabass walking bait, the gars wanted the tiny pop-r. Slowly easing out of summer.

Always fun on a popper

Stream yellow perch and some lake toothies in my bud's vessel

I keep track of the fish count and individual species count on every outing (in my head if I'm solo, or out loud with a partner). I don't write them down anymore though. What I do keep track of is the amount of times I go fishing each season and to what body of water. That is in a simple spreadsheet on my computer and I can compare it to recent seasons. I think there is a positive to keeping records but the amount of detail is subjective.

I've never seen maples turning this early before, but we are in the midst of a drought with much of the state ranked in severe to exceptional drought status. Many of our farmers are having a rough time of it this year, particularly in the SE part of the state.

I was fishing this morning, I thought about Andy and hoped he was landing a BIG one. I didn't catch a BIG one, but I did catch 20 in three hours. I fished the pond where I caught my PB, the bass in my avatar. The fish I did catch reminded me of why I caught my all-time bass there. You can see it in the big belly of this little one: And you can see it in the build of this 18.25-incher, which has the shoulders and head of a bigger bass: You can see it in the tail of this 17-incher: Yeah, this pond has the genetics and forage base to grow big bass. It also has this if the bass aren't biting: I caught three bass on a wacky worm, two on a spinnerbait, and 15 on a Shimano pink Flash Boost Popper, worked both in a pop and pause retreat and as a walking lure. I tried so hard this summer to catch another 7.5-poundish bass like my PB, but just couldn't and then I remind myself that at my latitude, a 7.5-poundish bass is equivalent to an 11.55-pounder in the South according in In-Fisherman. In short, a rare fish.

InvizX is an all-around, multi-purpose line with great abrasion resistance without the "wirey" characteristics of other FCs. It casts well and handles great with low memory and stretch. It's great for virtually every bass lure/technique, with the exception of heavy weeds which is more suitable for braid. It's my go-to for baitcasting situations. Tatsu is more supple and, therefore, more castable. It has very low memory and stretch, but at the same time, it's quite strong. Its characteristics allow for better presentations on slow-moving lures like Senkos, as well as all finesse tactics. I like it for Senkos, crankbaits, and spinning gear.

Had to follow up, purchased 2 shimano SLX xt 151 left hand reels from ALF when they had the sale, reels were $65ea with discount. I thought that was to good to be true but they showed up today, look brand new in the box. They are left hand retrieve and that will be new but going to put on my deep cranking rod which bothers my elbow so I may eventually just switch over to all left hand retrieve. Awesome place!

This, too. I subscibe to Neil Young math, "Numbers add up to nothin." Honestly, I can have plenty of fun on a 40-50 fish day. But I only measure my sucess by the biggest, or by tournament standings. I had a one bite per hour day a few months ago. May have been best day of the year.

I am good until I reach 10. Then I have to take my shoes off to keep counting.

I have a numbers mind so I can’t help but count though I do not record it. I take a picture of the first and any larger fish thereafter in spots I fish just so I document on my photos/map area where I found action. I have learned through the years that while my every day memory is downright lousy, my fishing memory is off the charts so I do actually remember some fish I’ve caught before, trees that have moved in or out, stream banks that have changed when fishing streams or rivers, etc. It kind of freaks me out at times, how could my memory be so good there but I can’t remember anything else. Fish on the brain I suppose.

I've logged every fishing trip I've taken for the past three years now, keeping track of times, location, weather conditions, and yes counting every single fish I land no matter. I log everything into an excel sheet and, with 79 outings and 353.25 hours logged as of this post, I can sort that data pretty much anyway I deem fit, and the results are sometimes shocking. I got into an argument recently with my fishing buddy about which lakes we frequent are the best fisheries. The argument ended as soon as I pulled up the "Bass Lbs per Hour" metric and showed him how far down his favorite spot sits. Of course, I don't think three hundred hours is enough to unlock the secrets of the universe but I do think that keeping a log helps keep things in perspective and shine some light on things that may otherwise go overlooked.

Pure Michigan ~ A-Jay

Agree with you 100% @ol'crickety. Many years ago, a friend introduced me to her Father's fishing log. I copied, adjusted, and refined many times over the years. My hopes were to somehow "crack-the-code" by capturing data related to my fishing excursions...haven't got there yet. My logs date back to 1991.... The log does help me remember those good days, and the bad days as well. I print on water resistant paper...here is the top half of the front page...

I always get fooled by the fake seasons. It's still summer here. Water is still 80+ degrees. That said, there are fish scattered everywhere shallow and deep. Just not a lot willing to bite for me yet. The high school tournament brought in a 10lb bass this weekend but I understand it was a deep water catch. I got this little guy on a spook today after getting back from a movie set in central Texas. I didn't get out to the spot till close to 10 so it's a miracle I even stuck the one super dink. Had some gar miss me which is fine. I can finally get out super early again tomorrow so that's what I'm gonna do

I always recommend shopping long before your really ready to buy. You will end up looking at a lot of junk and things you might not be real interested in, but you will gain an education on how much will buy what ! Remember book value may not be actual value to certain people. Market and area can be vastly different in prices. When I bought my used boat three years back, I shopped for almost four months, drove lots of miles, wasted many long trips, looked at lots of junk, realized how honest people are not. But in those months I began to establish value in what I wanted. When the right boat came along, I drove 200 miles with cash in hand. Owner was very kind to answer all my questions and send lots of pics for things I ask about. After a Hal hour of inspection I knew it was what I wanted at a fair price so gave him what he was asking, no haggle this time as he was fair in his price and was honest with his description. Best education on value is to shop around, yep it takes time and you will burn some fuel, but when the right one comes along, you will know it !

he's fishing special waters for special fish and putting in a lot of hours to do it. He isn't lying about putting in 15-16 hour days on the regular when he's away from guiding. If it were that easy everyone would be doing it I think I'm just as impressed by @A-Jay on the regular if we're being real about it, if he had the sort of time JJ does he'd be showing out about the same or better

Found it, it's the zoom fish doctor. Thanks for the help!

My first Raid🤩🤩🤩

Same here. Not an exaggeration

That makes sense. Rumor has it that they electro shocked one that was over 12 pounds at Dworkshak. I thought maybe Jones caught this one at Lake Menderchuck.

I count every bass. Then I multiply it by the air temperature. Divide that number by the dew point. Then add that number to the average depth depth of the lake divided by the wind speed. And finally add 7 for good luck. Judging by the stories I hear at the docks, I pretty sure everyone does it this way around here.

On the water, I never count, just take a pic of every fish. On days when you catch 30, 40, 50 or more, then add in a good mixture of Hybrids and Stripers, noway I'd ever be accurate on my count. I only get a count, once the boat is loaded on the trailer. Folks look at me like I'm crazy when they ask "how many did you catch?" and I reply "no idea".

One of the reasons I snap a photo of every fish I catch regardless of if I'm going to share it or not is because I get a real picture of where I caught it and a timestamp and I can go back and look at the moon phase and the time of year and the conditions and the place on the lake and I can get a composite for when they're biting for that time of year. Added bonus - I can share them on the internet lol

Same here. I try my best to release them unharmed, especially the big ones. When I kill one I celebrate with the turtles that get an easy meal. I celebrate that the lake’s limited resources will be a little less limited, which will benefit other fish. One day I’ll get gut hooked. I’ll be food for the worms and someone else will take my tackle and go fishing. It’s the circle of life.

I physically cannot keep track once it gets beyond 3

Last night's dinner: A piece of baked chicken a long with green beans cooked with some onion and small white potatoes. Really good.

My friends just returned from Wisconsin bearing gifts

No talk of the Saints demolishing teams averaging 45 per game ???? Oh wait !!! They played the Panthers and Cowboys.....my bad 😁

It’s seasonal for me more the bright sun or cloudy conditions. Early summer transition a Zip ‘n Ziggy smaller size dog walking top water lures gets the call. Summer wooden Sammy anytime. Shad spawn a fast Spash-It. Buzzer any time feel like using it. Tom

My wife is focused on me eating veggies with dinner. I grill veggies when grilling fish or any other meat. You name the veggie we more than likely have eaten it. I grill beats directly on the grill about the same time as a potato, peel off the charred skin. Tom

OP, I started out the same way as you...using swimbaits. It may be user error but either way I'd trash those hooks. The Owner Flashing Swimmer has fantastic hooks and is built to last. I use the 1//8 oz in a 1/0 hook. These are fairly easy to find locally around here. Good luck.

New videos! Tips you can use right now!

I'm a bean fan myself. Most any kind.

I like this one.

Pork rhinds mmmmm also speaking of favorite vegetables, I never had butter beans until I went to Alabama, oh my goodness they will set you free with cornbread. So good, worth singing about !!!!

Best way to prevent gut hooking using a weightless wacky rig is circle hook, both Gamakatsu Octopus finesse circle hook and Owner Mutu Light or Mosquito size1 or 1/0 works good with 5” Senko. Tom

A few things I look for when buying an aluminum bass boat is welded or riveted hull, hull thickness, any repairs, wood or all aluminum transom and deck, has the boat been used in salt water. Welded, .100 thick min, no repairs, no wood transom, fresh water use only. Outboard engine is 1/2 the value and should be near or at maximum rated for boat. No Dolphin type planning device, trim tabs are OK on the boat. Run hours if known, Stainless steel prop. Check engine, take off the cowling and inspect the appearance for leaks, fresh paint and ask if it’s OK to have the compression tested and when was the water pump changed. Trailer, check condition and look for any damage or rust, fresh paint, axle bearing hubs and tire age. Plan on changing tires if over 8 years old. Electronics and trolling motor, batteries, plan of updating in your budget. Price, go online and check used bass boat selling pricing within your budget. Tom

I just use unweighted EWG hooks for all toads. Usually a larger one, like maybe 4/0 or 5/0 in size. That seems to provide enough weight to ballast the toad to keep it upright, most of the time. It might not be "correct", but I've been catching fish like that for years now.