TingTingEightSix

Thanks for the great advice fellas, glad I found this place. Yall know your bass very well!! I like the friendly environment here.

When I find a place where the water is deep enough I do.

I've never had the chance to catch a smallmouth before, but I know they do inhabit the waters nearby my place, ive just never caught one. It's always been largemouth, or rare instances, spotted bass They are gorgeous fish and put up good fights much like their largemouth and spotted cousins. I have heard they prefer rocky structures? Is this true? Can they be found in places like submerged trees and brush?. What water clarity is more conducive to success with smallmouth? I know lure/bait wise, they for the most part like what their cousin species like. What are good lures for smallmouth fishing from the bank?

sweet, thanks for that info. Since im just more of a guy who throws live bait out there content qith whatever may bite (unless its a gar, yikes them teeth) ill happily take a 15 inch bass any time I can get it.Should I ever become a competent baas fisherman, Id of course have to have a larger catch to celebrate. The beauty of just baiting up and throwing out there is that you never really know what you are gonna get, ans the possibilities make it that much more thrilling, for me it does anyway. Just goes to show when even fishing for small fish such as bluegill, be ready for surprises, such as that. In fact I caught that as the first fish, it was a few minutes later when I caught the first bluegill. I was more than content just to catch a few bluegill, but in my mind I said to myself "man wouldnt it be nice to catch a keeper size bass", and sure enough perhaps I did. The more I look at it, the more I think it managed to squeeze in just enough to measure "15. Sucker put up a heck of a fight on that bluegill set up.

here is an unedited picture. No cropping or anything just for some reason the hosting site turned it sideways.

And by my state's regulations, they want us to measure them with their mouths closed and tails slightly pinched (for reasons I dont know, but ill follow their guidelines).

And I can tell you guys one time I waa fishing nearby a pump house, has caught a few decent bluegill, a couple of decent crappie, and some yellow bass. On my next cast I was straddling over a tile where the water run a back towards the pump house, and out of nowhere, a fish about 2 foot long shot out of there like a torpedo, jumped at my feet and scared the living daylights out of me. I wound up in the water, came out just totally soaked. A bunch od people saw it and a couple guys were laughing and said they would have stained their britches if tjat happened to them. I believe that was a carp. But that is one of many of my fond fishing memories.

Bass are by far my favorite but im terrible at strictly bass fishing. Usually I go catfish or crappie/bluegill fishing on the river bank with either night crawlers or minnows for the crappie and bluegill, chicken liver for catfish on the bottom. There have been several times qhen ive been fishing for crappie and bluegill that I have run into a bass or two. For the most part the bass were small fry, not reaching 12 inches, but the last bass I caught I think did exceed 12 inches. I used to eat a lot of crappie ans bluegill, but now im catch and release 9/10 times.

Gorgeous and healthy bass!!

That is indeed a good one for anywhere. A livewell of bass like that would win tournaments.

as long aa he makes 15, that makes me very happy, even if it is by a mere eyelash.

hese fish are fun to catch, and this one put up quite a fight on an ultralight rod 4 lb test line.

Lol true, but I do wanna be honest ans be careful not to overestimate. I had someone tell me I was lucky to push 12" on that one.

He definitely gave me a good first test upon my return to the fishing hole. 6lb line and a steel brim hook, that was fun.

I hope it is. I tend to be bad at overestimating though.

Nice catch!! You say those may not be big, but I guarantee you a fisherman in a tournament wouldn't mind a live well full of bass just like those two.

I love to see bass blow up on topwater lures, specially buzzbaits.sometimes if the water is clear enough you can see it chase it before it ambushes it. Awesome stuff.

There we go. Like I said, no giant and probably not even a keeper. But being as it was my first fish on my first fishing trip in two years, I was happy to take it. Especially on a bluegill rig.

Ok thanks for the suggestions guys!!

Ive seen some pictures of some very nice fish on here, but looking at the size of the pics, I dont get how they upload them since this site has a 150kb max file size. Can anyone help me on this?

I have only been fishing once this year, and none last yesr due to health issues with my father (hes recovered foe the most part, thankfully). The one time I did go I was put to the test immediately to see if I still "have it", was bluegill fishing with a bluegill rig, and low and behold, the first fish I caught was a bass. It put up quite a fight and upon landing it, I celebrated like a little kid. Obviously it is no 7 lb linker, but I am sure it was at least 12 inches. I put him back in the water after I took a couple photos, and in my glee, I forgot to measure it to see if it was indeed a keeper. Ill post a pic or two, and let you guys see id you think it would have mwt the 15 inch requirement or, if I fell short. Or well I would have, but unfortunately the file aize was too big. I will say I definitely couldn't wrap my hand (and I have fairly large hands) around the girth of the fish in front of the dorsal fin. And judging by the size of its mouth, swallowing prey such as 5 or 6 inch bluegill should be no issue for that fish.I know its hard to say without a picture, but sadly, file size was too big to upload, even after cropping the pic.

Hello everyone, my name is Brandon, I live in Alabama, and fishing is my passion, my dad introduced me to it when was 6, and was love at first sight. I am now 27 amd that same passion for fishing continues to shine as bright as ever. Largemouth and Smallmouth bass are my absolute favorite to catch. I am however an amateur and don't so too well with artificial baits, so I usually set up a plain ole bobber and hook with nightcrawlers or minnows and am happy just to catch a few good bluegill. A bass of 15 inches or more is icing on the cake. At least 15 inches where im at is the minimum length for keeping. I mostly catch and release now, used to eat some of what I caught, but now 9/10 times it is strictly catch and release. Unfortunately, I dod not get to fish any last year due to major illness with my father, and this year I have only been once as ive dealt with health issues of my own. When I catch a bass, especially if it is a "keeper size (15 inch or better for my area), I celebrate like a kid, and the adrenaline rush o get from the fight is just awesome. Look forward to reading some of yall's fishing adventures.