Team9nine

I’ve never met/caught a bass I didn’t like 😉 Been the ultimate “numbers” guy for most of my life, but have slightly shifted to a better appreciation for a quality bass bite these days, so I’d say I’m up to a “3” at this point. On the crappie front, I shifted from a “1” to an “8” or a “9” almost overnight last year. If I found a local lake that supported such a shift in bass, I might move higher up the scale.

Have fished a time or two over the years on lakes under similar circumstances. From what I recall, they always corded off the section of the lake where the search was being held and where they believe the body(ies) are located, so while a bit eerie, I wasn't too worried about running across one of them. It was a much more common thing to hear of finding a body in our major river flowing through a large metro area, and I was always more concerned about accidentally hooking or finding someone out there than on the lakes. Have had a friend or two that that happened to. Not sure how well I'd handle that

First guess - Some variety of pitcher plant, perhaps?

Was able to crop them out of 3 of the pics, but if you’ll look closer, you’ll see the fringes from another hole in the left knee, also. I’m a big fan of symmetry 😉

Same basic weather pattern as yesterday - maybe a bit more hazy and a little cooler. Very light NE breeze. Changed lakes to a bit more stained reservoir. Caught about the same - 9 keeper bass - but overall quality went up. Ned and jig for everything today.

Sunny, light north wind, air and water both 80-82 today. Water vis almost 9 ft. Ended the afternoon with 10 bass, including the first smallie I’ve seen since moving here. Wasn’t big, but the surprise factor made up for that 😎

So this is also tied to your comment about their ability to learn or associate with very specific food items, but it’s not absolute, and sometimes works in reverse. I lived at a small reservoir with a marina that sold bait, including minnows. Twice a day, they’d gather all the dead ones in a pail, walk out to the dock, stomp their feet a couple times and then toss the dead minnows into the water. An immediate gorging by the bass that lived under the dock ensued. The catch being, these bass wouldn’t touch a live minnow unless it was tossed in during the immediate feeding frenzy and not given a chance. After about 30 seconds, the only minnows the bass would come back and eat were the dead minnows that drifted off. You toss a live one in and he’d just swim away unscathed. Toss a dead one in, and a bass would rise up to just underneath, inspect it for a few seconds, then slurp it under. Zero movement by the minnow was important. All kinds of anglers would fish there during closed hours trying to catch these bass, but they rarely bit. I figured out how to trick one or two every once in a while by fishing a weightless fluke or similar style bait wacky rigged…but the key was toss it in, and never move it. Give it slack line immediately and just wait while it slowly sank to the bottom. Often you had to wait until it reached bottom and just sat there for a while. These bass learned that anything that moved even the slightest wasn’t a hand fed dead minnow - lol. It was pretty fascinating.

Please report back if he replies. Will be curious to hear what he says. Thx

Likely not from the physical activity of nesting itself, but the stress and hormonal changes combined with typically increasing water temps often make fish more susceptible to a host of diseases and/or infections (parasitic, red sore disease, or others). Hard to say for certain without pathology, but you should see it clear out over the near term as fish finish spawning and recover.

Doesn't matter to the fish most days, IMO, to the point that I now pretty much just bring and use one style/color of trailer more often than not. Some days by luck or coincidence, I match baits & trailers - some days not so much. Most days I always catch at least a few, regardless

Tom Landry - same demeanor; always wearing the same hat; and have that same “smile” in all my pictures 😉

Still finding a few nice crappie here and there. For a post spawn fish, this 1.7 lb. girl was in great looking shape, the best of around 10 or so today.

I’ve had both happen this month and I’m still undecided - lol. First was a 5-6 lb. bass. Been fishing Ned on a stump flat, occasionally hanging up and having to go unsnag. Bait stopped and line tightened right by a stump, so I hesitated instead of swinging. Bass took off and immediately went skyward, throwing the bait in the process. Just lost the one good bite I came for 😮‍💨 Then earlier this week, a big fish follows my bait to the bottom (FFS). Line immediately tightens, I swing. Heavy pressure for a couple seconds, then nothing - the bait just popped out. Was it a bass? Lots of fish had followed the bait like that already and never bit. Also lots of catfish and carp in this lake. Did I just briefly snag one of those curious bystanders? I actually felt better about not knowing on the latter, vs. knowing I blew it on the former

I’m guessing we’ve all lost a big fish or two over the years. Some you lose on the jump, or maybe near the boat, just out of reach. But others, you set into, the fish doesn’t move - maybe just a hard long run or a couple big head shakes, then she’s gone. But you didn’t see her, so she was probably a big bass, but maybe not. So the question…when you lose a big fish, do you prefer to at least see it and know exactly what you just lost, and how big? Or would you rather not see it at all, and maybe live with the thought that perhaps it wasn’t actually a big bass? Maybe you briefly snagged a big catfish or drum, striper, etc., so you don’t feel quite as bad, ‘cause you’ll never know? I’ve had my share of both, and think I lean slightly toward the latter - rather not knowing.

Reverse your process? Given that water color, start on the bank and work shallow first (eliminate the shallows) before moving out deeper and trying to scope. And/or limit your time doing unproductive things (finesse scoping in this case). If no bites in an hour, try something else. No reason to go 3 hours w/o a bite doing the same thing all that time unless you’re simply committed to learning and willing to go biteless in the effort.

Another YGK fan here 😎

Haven’t kept a bass in longer than I can remember. Fortunately, there’s more than enough tournaments on lakes these days that kill enough bass to more than make up for anything I would ever keep if I did 😉

According to the stories I read, Loyd created his ‘Rat’ around 1974 after a few years of tinkering with plastics. Started out as a ‘local’ bait, but eventually got noticed by some pros. Became more popular, got featured on/in Bassmaster, then BPS wanted a huge amount. At that point, Loyd knew he couldn’t meet demand and sold off the rights to Mann’s. All this happened over a 15 year period (74-89), so all the Tallent originals would be pre- 89, and the Mann’s stuff ‘89 or later.

Tallent sold off to Mann's in 1989 from the reports I've read. He said demand got too great and he couldn't meet it. One newspaper quoted him, "I didn't want to have to put up with all the problems of getting bigger. I enjoy fishing. I'm a fisherman, not a bait manufacturer." Some of the early versions sold by Mann's included "The Ghost," "The Frog," "The Rat," and "The Super Rattlin' Rat."

Change of lakes, and found a cranking bite with a bit better quality. Also a pretty chunky channel cat as today’s bonus fish. No idea about the growth on that bigger one’s lip, but she has some battle scars on her.

My understanding, and I could be wrong, but GSM only bought the frog (Ribbit) bait portion of Stanley. Lonnie, and one of the Hale brothers (owners) both passed, and the remaining brother trashed the other Stanley stuff (sp’baits, jigs, etc.). If so, Stanley baits, as we know it, is gone.

Getting warm out there. Surface temps at 80 or above, and starting to look like the beginning of a thermocline, but still seeing bass fry. Caught half a dozen skinny post-spawners. Only one possible group of bass, but they scattered quick. Everything else just singles here and there. Might look elsewhere if I get out tomorrow. Bonus channel cat that was part of a group.

Chickamauga… it’s the only one that comes to mind with a reasonable shot at a 10 pounder I can think of. Lots of lakes that might have one though.

Interesting sunset last night over the Carolinas…

Small parasitic leech, Myxobdella sp. or similar. Pretty common, and studies suggest they do no harm to the bass. Regularly saw them in the pond bass I used to catch in Indiana. Study link