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Fortunate to have the time and lake, had 3 epic mornings in a row. Almost like @Swamp Girl's legendary Maine bog bass mornings, like 35-40 bass in 3 hrs with bigguns mixed in. My bass have fully embraced a shad diet this week, and they are set up to massacre them every morning as they exit a narrow channel/choke point to a large 25' deep flat. It was interesting to see the bite evolve, days 1 & 2 a small under spin or scrounger counted down and slow rolled 8-10' off the bottom got the bites, day 3 the bait needed to reach the bottom, followed by a few fast reel turns ripped from the bottom to medium speed retrieve. Got hammered with lots of slashing at the baits that required reel rips and kills to actually hook up. So much fun! Scrounger and a little salt spoon did the work. Here's too many pics, without enough visual context, but it was 9-10 hours of fishing that's absolutely perfect and I need to return to the buffet asap. scott

Nothing insane, and I'm off the big ones again sadly. This 3.77 put up a great fight on the chatterbait this evening now that they're bulking up and the water is cooling down. Chatterbait and lipless bites have been good, hopefully connect with something more sizable here soon. The time is getting right, at least.

It’s just nice to get out on the water for a few hours with air temperatures in the mid 80’s and water in the 65° to 67° range there’s nothing like Fall fishing weather. I was able to punch a 3lber out of a recently sprayed and dying mat. And for some reason I threw my Ned rod in the boat (truth- @Team9nineand @Bluebasser86 recent posts of success with it) which some pound and a half bass really seemed to want to eat.

Got out on the big lake for a couple hours this morning. First cast jinx, but probably my pb smallie. Good enough. scott

Went out on the Rappahonock river here in Virginia and instead of our regular pursuit of bass, we got into a mess of monster Crappie. There were 3 of us, 2 boats and we would have had enough for a pretty good feed. We caught around 10 each, all the size of those in the pics. We were commenting at the end of the day, next trip we might just load up the Crappie gear. All of these were caught on Neds. Same with the perch.

I basically never go fishing without my scale, but I went after work the other night. Heart stopping! Without a scale, a little heart breaking. Easily the longest bass I've ever caught, I'm going to measure my foot to above my knee for a length estimate. I think it's going to be my PB that never was, can't verify... What do you think?

Paddled around a ways this morning from the dock, leaves are starting to get pretty . Made it out to main channel and tossed a light carolina rig and caught 5 or 6 small ones, gamakatsu nano alpha 1/0 and black zoom finesse worm

A great fall afternoon on a local reservoir, and the bass were mostly biting crankbaits - 16 total in just over 3 hours - but the largest coming on Ned. Surface temps at 68 degrees with a nice stain to the water. Expecting cooler temps along with some cloud cover this weekend. Might be enough to break my ‘no weekends’ rule and give it another shot.

My Last Trip out onto Lake Menderchuck in the Pro-V Bass for 2024 was productive . But more importantly, it was wicked FUN ! A-Jay

Time to update this story. As far as the crazy ex-wife goes. She did her time, was released on parole, and lives a couple hours away with her mother. She sees our youngest daughter (now 15) about once every 6 weeks for about an hour or so. My oldest daughter, now a sophomore in college, and living on her own, wants nothing to do with her mother. Can't say that I blame her, nor do I force her too. As for my life.....I'm in a new, fantastic relationship with a great woman. That's going on 2 years now. I had a few health hurdles in 2024 that have been cleared. In June, I had a freak accident that wrenched my neck badly, it actually tore my carotid artery and I was rushed to a major hospital to be stabilized and repaired with 2 stents. That's all good.....but.....while I was getting all the scans and MRI's and other stuff done on my head/neck area during that, they found an AVM on my brain. Those interested can look up what that is. Long story short on that...I was born with it, had brain surgery in late August to remove it, and was given a full bill of clean health and returned to work the first week of October. For the first time in several years , I'm excited about life. Have a great girlfriend, my kids are doing amazing in their post mother nonsense life, I bought new boat this past spring, and will return to making bass fishing an important part of my life. Heck...I might even hang around here like I used to.

Summer and half of October was brutal. Hot, humid, not much action. But it has been heating up! Out for a few hours this morning. Caught 7, lost two. Started with a Zara Spook. Nothing. Used two different jigs (a 1/4 and a 3/8 oz). and the A-Jay Special. Nothing. Tried a Ned (not my favorite bait). Also nothing. Tried a squarebill (also noth…you get the picture). Cut off the squarebill and put on a 1/8 oz. bullet weight, a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG and a Zoom Z-Craw in California 420. And that’s what they wanted. Most were 1-1/2 to 2 lbs., but one was over 4 lbs. I was using a Daiwa Aird-X MHF (which IMO feels more like a MF or maybe a MHMF) and a Garcia Black Max with 12 lb. Yo Zuri Hybrid. It’s not a top-shelf rig but it handled those bass without a hitch. Fun day! They are really smashing baitfish in the shallows. Right on the bank. I caught the last 5 by casting to where they were actively feeding. The big gal absolutely smashed it!

IME, what is important, regardless of the number of baits an angler may have, is to know & understanding how, when & where to use whatever the collection of jerkbaits (for example) in each type of different fishing situation an angler might come across. If I fished the same lake, that same way at the same time every season, then a bare bones collection of baits would probably do the job well. But fishing a variety of lakes, where I can face an almost infinite number of different deals and conditions, has taught me that these situations require a bit of a bigger tool box. Just for starters, there's deeper baits, shallower baits, different size & profile baits, loud baits, silent baits and then there's the mind boggling number of colors & patterns. Only way for me to know what works in the waters I fish, was to try a bit of it all. Takes some time & effort (and $$$), but even though I'll always still be learning & evolving, a few baits in each location and in each certain situation, on each certain lake have proven themselves as superior to many others I have. That can not happen for me with three baits. Finally, as much as we like to think we can 'pattern' bass, and figure out 'what bait they want that day and how they want it', I do not subscribe to that mantra. In my mind, each & every bass is an individual creature. With it's own like & dislikes, preferences and tendencies, and although they are Schooling fish, that may not mean every fish will bite or wants the same bait in the same way. This seems especially true when it comes to the larger, older bass I seek. One subtle little tweak to a presentation or a color, or a depth, a profile or a sound, can mean the scale goes to a new number not seen by me. A basshead needs time on the water to figure some of this out and it's always changing. The lessons learned come with many fishless days, just like watching 'deep dive' videos. btw, I watched that clip and it's pretty good, however Matt omitted the entire silent bait deal. I'm OK with that though. YMMV A-Jay https://youtu.be/zIqCmH_52IQ?feature=shared&t=1215

I fished for the fourth time in six days and am fishing again tomorrow morning at the leaky dam, which I scouted yesterday to see if it's safe to launch beside the dam. It is! Then I'll take a break for a week or so. I wanted to take advantage of our Indian Summer and I have! This morning's fishing fit the fall pattern of schools of bass here and there and long stretches of unproductive water in-between. I caught three in three consecutive casts to begin my morning. Here are two of those three, both 17-inches: I caught more smallmouth that largemouth this morning, but I don't photograph most of the smallies because they're skinny: I fished three lures: a Yum Ned bait, a Yo-Zuri popper, and a Depps 6" fluke. All worked about equally well. Here's a pretty 17-incher: And here's my thickest fish: And my longest bass at 19.25-inches: I'm excited about fishing the river tomorrow above the leaky dam. It'll be our last warm day and it'll be cloudy and foggy, unlike this morning's sunshine. Fingers crossed! I caught a dozen of this morning's bass at the pond's last weed bed. Most of the others have rotted and collapsed. @Glenn taught me that fall bass will cluster at the last greenery and he's right. You can see the weed bed behind the bass in the last two bass pics. I also went an hour without getting a single hit. Fall fishing sure is hot and cold, just like the days of fall. Pretty pic:

Had to find a way to get out on the water as it was just stupid nice for the 3rd week of Oct up here. Paid off too. A-Jay

Walk the dog kinda day😁

Caught about a dozen super dinks on the dawg junior and the red eye shad today. Then these two slightly better fish, a nice chunky spotted bass and about a pound largie. Missed one really good fish but overall not a bad morning.

Might lose a few points for wearing completely intact trousers. 😎 A-Jay

Waiting for approval from @Team9nine here on the crappies...

@Tennessee Boy us old timers remember when Rick Clunn only used one rod reel combo setup for all applications. He had 4 or 5 rods on deck and they were all identical. I bought into that idea and tried one of his combos and hated it. Ultimately when finesse started dominating he acquiesced and started tailoring his rods/reels to specific applications. Suckered me in for 2 combos.😂

Correct I just put the boot on and measured to about where i was holding it above my knee. Not knowing exactly where I put the margin of error around +/-1" which would put the range between 22-24 inches converting to about 6.22-8.21 pounds. Having handled some 5s, a couple 6s, and a 7, and comparing to my log of 5#+ catches I feel confident it's between 6.5#-7.333333333333333333333333333# Of course, it's a 2#r without a scale and 10 inches without a measurement I really think i needed to hear that bro, thanks I tell ya what though, I need to add drag clicker to every reel I own, the sound is so visceral. Plus it helps to know exactly what's happening @softwateronly incredible day bro, you get weather and water stats?

I don't know what my PB is because I released most of my 40"+ pike in the water for my and their safety. It wasn't their teeth that scared me, but their tendency to thrash in a boat. So, I'd use their thrashing to our mutual advantage. I'd bring them canoeside, grab the shaft of the hook with my needle nose pliers, and let them thrash free. Usually that happened with the first or second head shake. We'd catch them fishing for smallies. Our number one lure was an F13 Rapala, so that lure was long enough to keep their teeth from our 6 lb. mono. Mostly. A few cut our line, of course. We'd keep a smaller one, here and there, to eat. They're delicious. One trip, we launched a leaky, abandoned boat and brought a motor and big net to actually land one for a photo. Here's that pike below, caught on the first evening. I also caught six smallies that evening from 19.75" to 21.5". You can't see her full length because her tail wrapped around my side, but you get an idea. When she hit my surface rap, she did so with such force that she came completely out of the water and beached herself on a rock. I pointed to her flopping on the rock and told my partner, "That's my fish." She's held tight to my chest. I did that to control her and because I was soaked from the rain, thus providing more protection to her slime coat. So, she's not long-armed, so you can see her true size. After that, we abandoned the abandoned boat and returned to our canoe.

$13 and the wrong colors, but thanks...was hoping they'd come back the right way.

Learn to roll cast. Tom

Just got back from a 6 day camping trip down in south Jersey. Target fish was Tog, a saltwater bottom fish that live around rocks. Not sure is anyone on here has posted them, they are hard fighting bulldogs. Got 14 one day and 18 another day, we took a break from battling the strong tides that were running and fished a small lake near the campground where we caught some small pickerel. One other day we cut short as there was a strong NW wind 15 to 30 kts, we tried but it was impossible to fish.

Well, then, I'd rise and shine long before the Sun does and fish that same stretch of bank, hoping that the bass move up against it when the light is low.

I caught a dozen bass like this out of 56 total. More photos in a stand-alone trip report titled "I love it when a plan comes together.":

My last trip out onto Lake Menderchuck in the Pro-V Bass for the 2024 season was a productive one. But more importantly, it was wicked fun. With Air & water temps in the low 50's and a fishy South Westerly breeze, had me thinking I might get a few. Afternoon started off slower than expected but I was probably a bit overly optimistic. However as sun started to settle just above the tree line, 'The Time' came. Like they almost always seem to do, chunky brown bass invaded the point right in front of the boat. A couple of 4-5 bass groupings were zooming all over the place and a few of them liked that jerkbait I was throwing. Lost one initially, landed a couple in a row and then lost one I'd rather not talk about. All in all a great way to wrap up what has been one hectic year for me. I'll be having the ProXS winterized next week. Might still make a trip out in the Old Town Canoe a time or two if the weather gets right for it. Either way - another season in the books. Fish Hard A-Jay

I have to ask - based on what you’ve posted, if you haven’t caught, or even hooked, one of these fish yet, how do you know these are bass? Honestly, they sound a lot like the roaming white perch groups I see on my local reservoir (also soft bottomed).

You haven't mentioned anything about 'timing'. These bass might not be ready to feed when you're ready to fish. Perhaps consider changing that. Putting your property presented baits down there at a time when they are feeding, might get you a few. Also, maybe don't sit right on top on them. 20 ft deep might sound like a good distance but in most situations it's barely the length of your rig. #tooclose. Good Luck A-Jay

Decided to head out real early this morning. I was on the water when still dark. About 3/4 of the pond is covered with windblown algae and pine needles, making topwater difficult. The spot where I launched was in one of those areas. I tried a squarebill but after three casts, it was useless. Switched to a jig and craw (no bites) followed by a black Zoom Magnum Trick TR. Caught my first bass on that. Headed to the opposite (clear) end and tied on a Zara Spook. I haven’t walked the dog in a while and it looked like a good day for it. 4-5 casts later, it disappeared. I got the bass about 5’ from the boat and it threw the hook. Definitely a nice ol’ gal between 4-5 lbs. Tried it for several more casts but no takers. Switched over to the A -Jay Special. Caught two more bass. Nothing huge but fun catches. My wife texted me and asked if I wanted Chinese for lunch from the place around the corner and as it was slow, I said sure. That must have been the text the bass we’re waiting for, as all of a sudden they started slamming baitfish in the shallows against the bank. But…a promise is a promise, so I headed for shore (with a few casts on the way in). I had a hard time getting on shore. It hasn’t rained in weeks and the water level has dropped. After maneuvering the boat several times, I finally got on the bank. I almost lost my balance and went over the side once, so I tossed my pouch (with phones, etc. inside) on the bank, as well as my net and one baitcasting rig (that becomes important). After stepping on shore, I grabbed the anchor rope (I always toss the anchor on the bank to keep the boat from drifting off) to pull it tight to the bank so I could grasp the handles. I pulled the rope and the next thing I knew, I was on my butt in the grass, holding a loose rope and watching my boat drift away. The rope still had the carabiner on it. I must have hit it with my foot getting off the boat and it pulled free. So I’m watching my boat drift off and think how the heck I’m going to get it without a swim. It started heading for the east end of the pond, so I ran around through the woods, found a long branch, and when it got close, I pushed it hard back towards my launch point. It got about halfway there and the wind stopped it. Then it started to drift towards the center of the pond. So I picked up the baitcasting rig (the Kistler with the A-Jay Special) and buried the hook deep in the Rage Craw (my boat is an inflatable, so I was thinking how to snag the boat and not sink it lol). I had a jacket on the back of the seat and was trying to snag that. I made several casts without success, then made a cast and the line wrapped around an oar lock. Huzzah! I caught my boat! No holes, except in my ego lol. By the time I loaded up and went to the carry-out, the cashier wondered if I forgot to come. So, three bass and a boat. My fortune cookie said “Success is good, but learn from your mistakes”. Check the carabiner!!!

@Swamp Girl Jake just caught his first fish on a glide bait absolutely burning that thing in on the surface yesterday evening - big baits FAST seems to be working for him! 😂😂😂 Meanwhile I caught 4 on a fluke Jr burned back on the surface like a topwater. So yesterday - FAST and close to the surface was the deal and size was basically inconsequential, seemingly.

^This advice^ is how @softwateronly just caught so many thick fish. He was either changing his bait or the way he worked his baits. I'm fishing a 7" fluke this coming Thursday, Pat. It's a Depps and is thick as Nathan's hot dog. I know we're supposed to downsize our baits in the fall, but I've got a hunch the big girls will still be open to a big bait.

They do! Guarantee it. @bishoptf - in the fall - probably more than any time of year - I will fish many baits in an area I believe has fish in it. At the very least top/middle/bottom and fast/slow. Fall is a time of year that it seems like they do want one bait but that bait changes a lot day to day and you basically have to rotate baits pretty deliberately all day. It's amazing how sometimes I will be skunking hard with some proven fish catchers in areas I KNOW are loaded with bass and suddenly I'll remember to try *burning* that fluke back and BOOM - 4 fish in the boat in 10 minutes. Little adjustments to speed or depth in the fall are a very big deal.

I don’t adjust for backhand casts, but I do make sure the rod loads up on the back cast. I sounds like you may e attempting to just lob your bait resulting in reduced distance.

I do that with my rig as well, but at clutch speed; 5 mph at most. 30 mph is 44 ft per second so with the transducer near the stern, once our unit records that 'little hump', and we see it on you graph, in 3 seconds, it's is already several boat lengths behind us. Time to circle back to make sure we saw what we think we saw. I get that covering/graphing new water, especially big new water is time consuming. But IMO, to do it right, a slower approach may be more effective. Good Luck. A-Jay

https://www.little-jack-lure.com/?page_id=3002 https://www.little-jack-lure.com/?page_id=2920 https://www.little-jack-lure.com/?page_id=3182 These are the 3 that have been best for me. Type zero is the one doing the damage now, great action on the straight retrieve and holds depth at the "right" speeds. Really happy I gave them a shot this year. scott

It's hard fishing. Medussas, Bulldogs, and other big plastics are effective this time of year though. Maybe even more so in November when the cisco/tulibee spawn. I'd keep trying but I will be hunting pretty soon and have to get ready for that.

The only pic that's close to providing a clue to how big it might be is the mouth pic as Katie alluded to. That pic, and then just judging the fish's health and build qualities I'm going to say it's likely in the 6s somewhere. I highly doubt it's less than 5lbs. Congrats! What I can say for sure based on all the pics is that the fish is at absolute peak health, and I suspect she'll get bigger. I don't know your locale, but any fish that is built like that in October has figured out the game and is thriving. Don't let not having a weight sour such a special memory and interaction with a prize/peak specimen.

I'm Varivas8 PE 1 to 10lb sniper for my 2 bfs adjacent rigs. Been very happy with it; landed a large king (10lb ish) on the rocks last week and bent out a finesse clip on a large Northern early this week. Line and knots did their job. My problem is I grabbed my main line when I last purchased a reel from digitaka, dangerous bait monkey games are brewing.... scott

@1984isNOW: Gosh, I wish I could help you. Your perspectives are different than what I'm accustomed to seeing. The one's that familiar to me is the mouth shot. I've learned that when a bass reaches five pounds, I can fit my fist into its mouth. It looks like your fist would fit, so if there's any truth to what I'm saying, she's at least five pounds. She does look long beside your leg. How long? I can't say.

Learn to use your thumb.once you master that, no need to ever change anything. And as green pig said, learn to cast with both hands. It’s not hard to do, just take a little time and practice.

You could just cast with your other hand and eliminate the backhand cast.

I never watch that stuff, but based on your example it’s definitely overkill. There aren’t 20 different times, places and actions of anything!! But Hey, why just show the ones that produced the most in the most varied of conditions for the majority of our subscribers, when we can hawk 20 so the video lasts longer to expose our sponsors longer. Or maybe I’m just too cynical. Mike

Your struggle sounds familiar to me. Lakes with little or no structure are more difficult for me to find fish. Like you, I would be checking the boatlifts, mellow underwater creek banks, the dam riprap, and any mild drops into the deeper water to find the fish. Keep in mind that in the Fall they are probably following the bait which in your case is gizzard shad. I seem to always be able to locate and catch fish on lakes with plenty of defined structure, but lakes like yours are a tougher puzzle. There is a lake I fish near KC that is loaded with gizzard shad as well. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the bass have plenty to eat so one must be more precise with presentation to get them to bite. For me, a big day on this lake is 7 to 10 bass. A typical day is 2 to 5. It can be frustrating. Fortunately, the lake has lots of big bass which can make up for the lack of numbers and is the main reason I fish there. Bass in lakes with lots of shad tend to scatter when the thermocline breaks up. Once the shad move back into creeks or arms the bass should follow and may be a little more grouped up and easier to locate. Other than these ideas, I have nothing else.

Run all your line out and hand the rod to a friend. Go to the other end and hold hook so the point is in your finger. Have your friend try and set the hook. Take video of the whole thing.

^^ This ^^ There's a lot to unpack there, but this is gold. Yes, I use specific rod/reel/line combos for specific lure types and cover I'm fishing. But going back to what @TOXIC said, I spoke about this earlier in the year and took it to new levels. I went into the individual rod components, and then about matching rods for specific lures and techniques, taking into consideration differences in brands as well as personal preferences:

I fish lakes loaded with gizzards that are about that size. It's tough to fish a lake that small - everyone knows where the fish are - they get trickier to catch. If I have no idea what's going on, I'm going to go to the side of the lake that the sun is touching for most of the day and try to find areas that the wind is blowing into or across have a diversity of cover. Areas like this make it easier to eliminate types of cover and depth and usually you can just kind of bounce around and try to find active fish by targeting these high percentage areas. In the fall, fish typically congregate around inflow points and they will be anywhere from outside of the creek arm on the points leading back into the creek all the way to the back and everywhere in between, and sometimes they'll be out on the main Lake relating to depth changes outside of these Creek arms away from the points - usually on channel swing banks with hard bottom somewhere. I really like fishing a jig on areas like this. If you've got any sort of vegetation I would fish a frog or a buzzbait or a fluke through those areas. Hard to beat a jerk bait or a swimbait on flats or humps or rip rap etc. I typically go with the kind of sneakier baits with single hooks on most days and then I kind of tend towards the treble hook baits that make noise on days with some wind or current, or maybe even a little stain to the water from some rain or something like that. There will be bass everywhere on the lake eating everything that can be eaten at various points in time so it's really all about depth and speed and location and timing. Once you get those things dialed in it's pretty much just details like profile and color that will get you a few more bites here and there. But basically depth and speed and location and timing are the keys to unlocking the fish. I really like midday in the fall and winter because you're typically dealing with falling water temperatures and fish typically get more active of shallow when that sun is up high and the wind is generating current in the middle of the day. Good luck and let us know how you do!

Well, I've managed the three outings I'd hoped for this month before hanging things up for the year. First trip I got skunked. Second trip was to a lake I have never fished before; I caught one small pike and one tiny largemouth. Third trip was better, with 12 in 3 hours --a pretty good rate for me-- but this pair of 17"s were the only ones of any size: BFFs Lizard and Spinnerbait, enjoying the fall colors: And that's probably going to be a wrap for me on the year. I might find a spare hour here or there to walk the riverbank and make a few casts, but the chances of actually catching any more bass before Spring are pretty low.

This past weekend I went on an adventure to catch a Missouri muskie from my kayak. Went to a little lake with a very healthy population of toothy fish as well as some really nice bass. Hadn't been there in many years, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Getting to break out my muskie baits and rods really got me going. It was a little cooler and way windier than I expected after making the 3.5 hour drive to the lake. Glad that I had tossed a set of thermals in last minute but was regretting the decision to tough it out in the Crocs. The lake was way down and had a lot more vegetation in it than last time I fished it. I started right at the ramp, alternating between tossing muskie and bass baits and actually had a couple muskie surface near the boat but none were interested in anything I had to offer. I was catching a decent number of bass but nothing of any size. Worked a few coves and points before I pulled into a cove I had caught one of my biggest bass ever from the lake out of some brush. I was working a Rage Bug through the brush and picked off a few more small bass. I got hit in one but missed it. After a few more pitches back, I got bit again and didn't miss. The weight on the other end told me it was a good one, and I quickly caught sight of it and realized it wasn't a bass, it was my muskie. Trying to control it and hoping my 17lb Tatsu would avoid the teeth, I reached with my net that felt so huge until I was trying to put that fish in it, but got it scooped up. My soft tape showed it right around 40". No good way to take out of the water pictures by myself, but I'll have some screen grabs from the video once I'm done with it. 10:30 in the morning on the first day and I'd already made my trip, that made the rest of the weekend easy. I worked through some more coves and picked up a nice bass out of a laydown. I'd figured out the bass were really liking a little finesse jig. I was working a Berkley Slobberknocker around some pads on a mainlake point and just finishing up a cast when a shadow flashed up behind it. The muskie was close enough to almost touch the bait and followed through the turn at the boat but then disappeared. I ran several more baits through the area but it never came back. Worked across the dam, which I never do but with the trolling motor, I was really able to cover water. I tried a lipless crankbait and started picking up fish steadily all across the dam, including one fairly healthy fish. I ran to the back of the next big cove that had some standing timber because I remembered catching some nice bass off the trees. Well there wasn't much water around most of the trees with the water being so low. Disappointed, I kept picking through them and found one big tree that was actually still in 10' of water sitting off by itself. I hopped my jig a couple times and felt the thump through the wind and bow in my line. I thought I'd hooked another muskie until the big head clear the water. She wasn't my heaviest of the year, but at 21.75", it was my longest bass of the year. I ran through a lot more water. Nothing I really liked and didn't catch much. I was running out of daylight and needed to setup my tent still, which I had to do at another lake 15 minutes away because camping isn't allowed on this lake. I wanted to check out as much of the lake as I could the first day so I knew where to spend my time the rest of the trip. I was getting close to the far end of the lake where I'd caught some good bass off some laydowns in past trips. Well those laydowns were mostly dry to my disappointment. I was cruising by one laydown that was actually in the water when a big swirl suddenly caught my eye. I grabbed a muskie rod with a Mepp's Giant Killer and tossed it along the laydown. I didn't get many cranks in when a muskie shot out of nowhere and engulfed it. After a brief fight, I netted my second muskie of the day! A much thicker but shorter fish at 37" inches. This one was mean and didn't want me to get the hook out, got me a little bit in the process. That would be my final fish of the first day. The second day was a day of frustration. It started off right away when my new GoPro wouldn't even turn on. The first day I had issues with it shutting off and "repairing file", constantly towards the end of the day, which caused me to miss most of my second muskie on video. The bigger issue to me, with no GoPro, I had no way to take any pictures of a muskie except the in the net picture. Bummed, I even took it back to the truck and messed with it, no luck (of course it turned right on when I got home). The bright side in all of this, while I was messing with my camera, I noticed fish constantly messing around in the weeds by the ramp. I had a rod with a YUM Tip Toad rigged up, so I started working through those weeds. It didn't take maybe 3 cast before a muskie blasted it but missed it. I ran several more baits through but no luck. Switching back to the toad, first cast it waked back up behind it but didn't it. Next cast back, another alligator wake behind it, this time complete with fin and tail out of the water, then a head, mouth and teeth popped up and my bait was gone. This fish was another fighter, taking me around the front of the kayak twice before I got it in the net, which was received with a golf clap from the guys on the ramp that watched the whole thing go down. Muskie #3 was a 39" toad eater, my first ever topwater muskie. My hook and toad were understandably trashed, so I switched to a Booyah Toadrunner and kept working that grass. It wasn't 10 minutes later when I had another muskie go airborne with my bait in it's mouth. When she went back down, I hammered the hooks home. The fish surged under the kayak, and the hooks pulled out. After the morning, it got hot, sunny, and calm. I never saw another muskie and the bass I was catching were really small. I did have a few bites on a jig that felt bigger, but I either missed them or they broke me off in the wood. With my camera no longer working, and only going to have a few hours to fish in the morning, I decided to just head home a day early. It was an amazing trip and I'm not going to let it be 10 years before I go back next time.

Caught 6 total and one good one yesterday. It was a strange day. It started out around 42 degrees in the morning but by noon it was 78 with 15mph winds and it brought out the pleasure boaters and nut jobs. It was hard to stay put and fish but this 22in of smallmouth fun made it worth it. Once again on BFS gear and 5lb test fluorocarbon. It took about 10 min to bring it from the 20+ feet of water I was in. I would have taken a better pic but it took a long time to get it out of the net and I wanted to get it back in the water. In the pic below is my Yakattack net. It's 21in wide and this guy was an inch or two wider. This also my PB smallmouth. It was a blast.