shimmy

Yeh, it worked out well for me. I just fished that side and did pretty well. It's a beautiful reservoir and not too many fishing boats.

Way to go man!

There are some big bass in there. Hit it once and caught one right around 6. Every cove looks amazing. The cove on the other side of the main bridge (not the main lake side) has some great cover for bass during the spawn. Couple really good looking points to hit there, did not see too many bait fish though. It is a great fishery apparently, but hard to get em so i hear.

Yes but the truth will set you free of pain. Hit the lake today and decided to upgrade my status. Won't make a smidgen of a difference but i enjoy this thread being immersed with pictures. Decided to hit my lake again today for the first time since my last posting. Usually don't get to make it out that much but had an opening and had to take it. The day was really frustrating for a long time. Got there by 7 and by 4 in the afternoon had nearly 30 bites and only landed 3. The three that were landed were all under 3 ish. Worst of all, i missed a giant while casting into weeds and yanking the jig out of the cover repetitively. I saw her come out and inhale it, had a great hook set, and my darn pork trailer impeded the hookset and wedged itself into the hook. The only draw back with pork. Verdict is still out if it is worth using pork, i don't care, gonna use it anyways. So, i finally switch to my sunfish green jig with none other than the rage craw trailer and persisted to get more bites with absolutely nothing at the other end of the line. After being anchored to a point prior to a cove, i continued to cast down the channel and slowly bring the jiggard up along the path while coming as close as i could to the weed line. After feeling the same stupid tap i had been feeling all day long with absolutely nothing alive at the other end, i set the hook for kicks and giggles for the umpteenth time and there was weight! Hallelujah. I was more surprised by that than anything else today. Needless to say, she was just shy of 7 pounds. Only biggun caught today, would have had a great double with the other missed fish, but woulda shoulda coulda is the name of the game. And look, i know my fish from this lake is small comparatively speaking but every lake has it's context. This is a true giant for this body of water. No need to do the math on this one, I decided to miss her a couple times with the net to add some suspense Finally get her in, roughly 23 inches Posing with her new jig in the mouth Pulling her out of the livewell, the eyes of an angel A bad pic here since i was by myself and failed to setup a good tripod shot. Decided not to get my whole self in the picture. Long distance pics are a no no, i thought i was closer than in reality. This fish's belly was nearly empty, Shimmy

You know this type of reaction from personal experience? The post is obviously being dramatic and apparently not all picked up on it. I could care less if Glenn posts it, my point is those who work extremely hard for a certain weight range understand the sacrifice it takes to get there and people throwing numbers around is kinda silly. Looking at SPEEDBEAD's persistence towards an 8 using swimbaits is a perfect example of how rewarding a true 8 pounder is. He has posted numerous fish that look over 8 but has always posted honest weights. By all means, those who care less about weights can throw the numbers around all day long with other people who throw random high numbers around; it is amusing to listen to, but for those who enjoy the real size of a bass, just avoid the shenanigans with us. I think my point has been made so no need to further blab on. MNBassman23, don't get light minded with the ShimmyApproval stamp! That thing is hard to come by, mount that puppy on your wall!

Wow!!! Looks like private water, congrats, amazing fish.

Simply incredible and worth maaaaaaaaaaany hours of casting those big swimmys. Wow. What a giant.

You know, can we just point out the most important part of this catch??? The 5.97 was not rounded to a 6 or 7 pounder. The fish up north are about an inch shorter and an inch wider and can pass for bigger bass, even to the experienced eye. This is a true Christmas miracle. I always thought the ounces went 5.0 lbs, then 5.5, and then either 6 pounds, skipping 7, and straight to 8 pounds after that, no ounces in between. Perhaps Glenn should pin this post on the fishing reports section as a guide for dummies and mandate all happy clickers to read prior to slipping into a manic phase and posting crazy numbers with no respect towards the human race.

Ha, yeh, it is interesting, this reservoir the fish are usually an inch to an inch and a half longer than your typical 4 pound or 5 pound bass elsewhere. The problem has always been an inadequate forage and the fish are very thin. It's a huge bummer. The fish are hard enough to come by and when you finally get them, they are not well-feed. Asking me if i have a scale, you know me too well apparently!!! In all honesty, i don't even think i would launch my boat if i didn't have one! Murphys law would lead me to catch a pb that day and i would spend more time upset wondering the weight than enjoying the fish.

Nice to see MN already in the running. So i said i would post no matter what to warm up. I have no giants from the other day i went fishing but it was fun to fish a whole day and try my luck out in weird stormy weather. Decided to fish my main lake Beaverdam Reservoir, a.k.a. lake desolation. Luckily caught some and never missed any giants. Started the day off with catching them on 2.5 square bill and stuck my first larger fish of the day at 4.10. Then switched to the jig in an area with grass and caught my next fish going at 4.4. Was happy as a clam since i was not expecting much from today's outing with the weather being weird and plus, i thought i was going to get rained out so it felt nice to catch a fish after sitting in the truck for 2 hours waiting it out. Then after a few more fish caught a nice 5 pounder on the wiggly jiggly. It was a fun outing and i had already predetermined that whatever i caught, i was going to post for this thread to get a warm up. This may be the lowest score thus far...can we have a prize for that? Maybe send an angler a hat that says special on it or something? Anywho, this is a brutal reservoir and anyone that fishes it knows it is hard to catch a fish, let alone have a decent day. I count it as a win, 4.4 Jiggly 4.10 crank 5.2 Jiggly On the board, Shimmy

Well Dwight is starting early, i am liking that we already have a score around 70 at the moment. It will take a 75ish to be in the top three of this thing. I'll be able to start my season off tomorrow by finally fishing more than an hour and am excited. I am ready to put something on the thread and it might be a one pounder but i don't care. Game face is on...which probably doesn't mean anything to the fish and i will probably not catch anything big. Nevertheless, i'm going to pretend that i am ready to catch something big for this season

Wow! What a day! Just awesome, and even more impressed busting out the lc pointer during the spawn. Very smart and often overlooked, I know Quanjig has them tied on 24/7 and sleeps with them, but good to see your success with them.

Fantastic! Don't worry about putting it on the ground. We need to be realistic when people catch a big bass and want to celebrate and take pictures because at the end of the day, this fish made it back in the water. Great fish

But the reality TC235, is you have no idea if it is over 7 pounds which is a shame. It's a great fish, definitely big, but you don't know how big. The problem with posts like this is now the fish has automatically become an "8 pounder"; thus perpetuating the problem of people stretching about weights. I, as well as plenty of others i am sure have numerous pictures of 6 pounders that look that exact size in the photo; i think because it was also on a swimbait, we want to say it is bigger than it is, but the reality is nobody here knows. What i do know, is that you are great at fishing those swimbaits out there and are consistently catching beautiful fish and you owe it to yourself to know the real weights of these fish. But...in the mean time and for the love of fishing, don't tell people it is an 8. Just don't. Don't do it...stop it.

Given that the lower portion of the egg sack is full, the transparency of a malnourished bottom fin, and the redness of the gills, i'd say it's most likely over 2 pounds, but would definitely not say above 3.5.

That's exciting man. I wish you luck, you can kiss your hopes of an 8 pounder goodbye but there are a million bass to be had. However, 100 fish days will be a reality and 3-4 pounders will be caught most outings. Just an incredible fishery and a heaven on earth. All that is missing are big bass. From everything i read, central MN seems to have the biggest bass. A lot of smaller ponds that would be worth your efforts launching your jon boat in there. If i got to choose a place in MN it would be central due to the higher numbers of 7's i hear caught there. But people are very hush about it so you will have to do some discovering. Keep us posted. I fish in fergus falls 2 weeks out of the year and will this year for nearly a month which i have never done. I am so excited. I'll drive in May 22nd, so i wish you luck, post your results.

That bad still??? That is a serious problem. Wow. I know it's been a terrible winter but i was hoping it would warm quicker than that.

Does the season open earlier in central MN? Or were you going for "pike"? Good to hear the water is cleared. I will be down there in 4 weeks

1 lb 13 ounces. Get a scale to prove me i'm wrong.

I guess i'm confused, are you saying i am making a contradictory statement??? Not sure what you are referring to. Nevertheless, I do find the rest of your post very interesting though.

Not true, remembering old Harlow's experiment with monkeys where they would rather seek comfort and starve to death then live in an environment with food and no comfort. So yes, animals do starve themselves intentionally, especially when stressed. But, the question is, do fish? Until a study shows so, i don't know the answer. But I presume they will often not eat when stressed.

Virginia citation is a 22 inch bass or 8 pounder. Great fish by the way!!!!

Monster!!!!! That thing is huge

Monster. Where down south? Why am i seeing a waterfall.

Hmm, impossible to determine given my limited experience in Virginia, but based off of what i have experienced and heard, I would say Briery Creek in southern VA and Lake Frederick in northern VA. Boats per acre, i think Frederick might take the cake. 117 acre lake with nearly 15-20 boats each time i use to go there. That's why i fish a lake with smaller fish but at least get the piece of mind.