hokiehunter373

Went out last night and made myself leave the light/finesse gear at home this time. I knew it'd be tough but figured I'd shoot for some bigger fish. Spinnerbait got a hit on the fall after unsnagging it from a tree. It was a tiny one and got off. S-Waver got no action. Frog had one blow up but the fish missed it. 10" powerworm had a great bite that I broke off on on the hookset, then had another 3-4# fish that spit me on the jump. That was tough. Got a few more tugs on that but everything was short of the hook. Caved a little and put the trusty KVD square bill on with light fading. Finally had a solid strike and landed this 2 pounder just before 9. Took a few more tosses with that and then called it an evening.

Went out with the family on Father's Day from 10a-12p (Happy Father's Day everyone!). Terrible fishing conditions but a beautiful day. Bad water visibility, bright blue skies, no clouds, 20 degree drop in temps, and windy out of the N. Started out with the dark sleeper.. no luck. Switched to the drop shot and caught a small one. Tried to catch some bluegills with my kids but even they seemed to be moved out and hiding. Worked the pond a little while my kids ate and caught a slightly bigger bass on the drop shot again. Then caught a solid 2 pounder but the kids were more interested in cows by then lol. Bites stopped and I tried a small swimbait with no luck. Tried to get some top water action; no luck. Tried a spinnerbait and got one to slam it on the pause. That was it for the day. Happy to catch any whenever I have my kids with me and get them some exposure to fishing.

Went out Friday night looking for a little bit of redemption. Figured I'd start out with what was working for me on Wednesday and go from there. First cast was a fish. First 5 mins were 3 fish and they were all decent. Worked my way around the pond catching 8 or 9 fish on the dark sleeper before the bite cooled off. After that I switched to the wacky worm. Had one fish steal my senko twice before I stuck him with the 3rd one. That felt good. Caught a couple more after him. With a gigantic improvement from the last outing and no lost fish I was feeling good and figured I'd cut my outing a little short and get home to the wife. Just one more cast. Love it when that happens. Mid 2 pounder to end the evening.

Wth. I need a store like that!

I thought I had fought the urge so far but I think I've actually just been in a trance watching this gif instead of thinking about deals. Thanks @MN Fisher

Good God I wish you guys would stop posting these reel deals. I don't need any but they're insane and the itch is real.

Got served some humble pie last night. Wanted to try some stuff besides what's been working for me this year so I started off with the frog. No dice. Threw a swim jig around. Nothing doing on that either. So got the drop shot out and caught one. Had a couple short strikes but the evening was looking bleak. Switched back to the frog and was working the edge. Of course I had a good blow up right as I paused to itch my face. Clumsily tried to set the hook while the rod came out of my hand and I missed the fish. Continued with the frog with no other luck. Had a hard runner on the drop shot but it must not have ever had the hook. Hour in and only half an hour of light left. I figured I should try the wacky rig which I haven't thrown in a while. Got 2 pretty quick but they were just little ones. Made a frustrated chuck to the middle of the pond and was waiting for it to sink. Reeled up my line and there wasn't a tick, wasn't movement, but it just seemed tense. Made a weird hookset because I wasn't sure what was going on and didn't expect anything because of how the night had gone and felt a pull like I'd never felt before. I had the rod bowed over hard, 6# line so I'm just trying to keep it tight and let the fish work. She's running to my left and peeling drag. 2 or 3 seconds in and the fish makes a hard turn to head straight away from me to the center of the pond and the reel is just screaming. Half a second after that she's gone. My hook and senko came back to me. I didn't snap off, hook wasn't bent out, worm was passed over the hook an additional time, and I'm wanting to snap a rod in disbelief of what happened. My guess is I basically hit the fish when I cast and it picked it up right after impact on the water. My only mistake was my half-a$$ed hookset and I guess when the fish redirected whatever bit of skin I had was able to come free. There are no catfish in this pond that I'm aware of; there are snappers, which I've never caught so I don't know how they feel when you hook one. I didn't get a single look at whatever it was and I guess part of me is hoping it was a snapper to avoid the heartbreak lol but I'll never know. If it was a bass it was an absolute giant that would have destroyed my PB, I'm sure of that. So I fished the senko a bit more with no luck and decided to break out the dark sleeper which I haven't fished in a while either. First cast and 3 or 4 pounder crushed it. I've got it 3/4 of the way back to me, it jumps and spits the lure. I'm boiling. Cast again and a dink hits it, that one comes off too. At this point, all I can do is laugh. That seemed to help as the next 2 casts resulted in fish which means the dark sleeper got hit on 4 consecutive casts. So I ended the night on a positive note but man I hope I don't have a night like that again for a while.

Sounds like a watersnake but about 3x too big https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/herps/Squamata.aspx?SnakeName=Common Watersnake

My most recent order was just regular shipping for free because it's over $50 order. Also included the free sticker. Ordered afternoon of 6/8. Shipped 6/10. Arrived 6/14. 2 business days. I'm in MD, assuming it shipped out of the GA facility, but I'll take those results. Feel like I've gotten lucky more than most and the consistency, or lack thereof, from user to user is what's confusing.

Went out last night for another 90 minute trip. It rained all weekend and the water was high and muddy. 90 degrees, bugs were on, and the bite was off. My first fish of the evening would have been my best but I lost what looked to be a 2 or 3 pounder a few feet off the bank on a squarebill. That should have been my clue to just go home then. Tried a few different presentations and couldn't get anything to work besides slowing down to use the drop shot again and ned rig. They were only producing dinks and bluegills. Best of the evening on the ned rig. Luckily, the night was saved seeing a turkey strut his stuff for a few hens across the field, and watching deer walk in front of a rising strawberry full moon. Last night was a good reminder to just try and enjoy being out, even when the bite isn't great. Total for the evening was 6 bass and 2 big bluegills.

Interesting, I haven't had any trouble with their hooks. Granted, I don't catch fish the same size as you lol

She's actually right lol. When beta fish are comfortable in their environment they make bubble nests. In the wild they use those nests for their eggs. So, yeah, your moms fish is likely some h word variation of the word happy ?

But why??? Same here. Never owned a BC until 2 years ago. I've got 3 now and love them but I love my spinning rods too. Always have at least 1 of each with me.

Yeah, but who cares about catching them? They'll fall apart come October anyway. Win each series and get into the playoffs and then roll. Hopefully they're in the same sort of position they are right now come deadline day and they make some moves to get the bullpen in order. They could easily be 37-19 instead of 29-27 if they weren't having to ruin their closer by using him as a starter.

We had some showers go through yesterday afternoon and evening but that had cleared out by the time I was able to fish. Water was high and murky and it seemed like a good chance to slow down and try out the molting craw color TRDs I had gotten a few weeks back but hadn't used yet. Suspicion was confirmed with a few 1 pound fish and then it started to sprinkle. Checked the radar and there was some spotty stuff around but whatever I don't mind getting a little wet to catch some fish. Wanted to see if I could get a better bite so I switched to the trusty KVD 1.5 squarebill in neon bluegill. Right away I had the best fish of the night, a ~2.5 pounder, on and thrashing around. The strike was weird and I set the hook late and barely had him by the back treble. He came off trying to lift him up onto the bank. Caught a few more 1 pound fish and had a few more brief showers on me. Then this bluegill crushed the crank. I get a chuckle every time they blast a lure that won't fit in their mouth. During that catch the rain had picked up. Sky didn't look great but I was already a decent bit wet and light was fading anyway so I'd only be there a few more minutes. Plus the radar I had previously looked at seemed fine so why not keep fishing. Switched back to the ned since I hadn't fished it on this side of the pond. I was hopping it back to me when on the 3rd hop I felt a little more resistance than usual. Leaned into it and the line started running. I saw someone on here mention yesterday about watching how the fish react if you keep tension on the line but barely fight them so that's what I did. The fish basically swam to me without a fight. Once I got her to the bank was a different story but I had a high 2s - low 3s fish in hand. Soon as I unhooked it it was like the skies decided, "ok, you've had your fun now, time to go home" and a monsoon unloaded. Luckily I keep a towel in the truck and had a spare shirt to boot because I was soaked from head to toe and through to my boxers lol. Worth it for a few fish ?. Ended up with 8 bass and the 1 get away in about 80 mins.

I've gotten lucky and haven't really had issues with them either but they do take longer than most other places. Heck, I placed an order with Scheels at 3:30 yesterday and had an email at 6:22 it had shipped already lol. You can't get faster than that. Their orders always seem to be the quickest for me.

Hey, I appreciate you! Lol

Well, I changed it. What a night of fishing. Took my buddy out around 6 tonight. I started off with a big 6.8” keitech to try and get a big bite. No dice. Switched to the trusty roboworm on the drop shot and oh man did the party begin. Fish after fish as I worked my way around the pond. Had a handful of 2+ pounders and my thumb was getting torn up. Was having a blast and was 12 bass in before my buddy had his first lol. Caught 2 more as I made my way to the half way mark around the pond. There’s an old broken down dock there with just 4 posts remaining of it. 2 weeks ago I saw a really nice fish near it and it’s always been a hot spot. I made a cast next to it and got short struck. Threw back in, felt the bite, reeled and leaned to set the hook on my 6# line and just listened to drag peel. What a glorious sound. Knew immediately it was my PB and I was doing my best to just let the fish work itself but keeping her away from dock. Finally got her in and I was pumped. I thought she was gonna go a little bigger than what she did but I guess I was just amped up. New PB at 20.5 inches and 4.95 pounds because of course she couldn’t have just ate a couple more bluegill fry first lol. Once I recovered from that excitement I made my way around the rest of the pond and caught a few more. Continued on the rest of the night and did my first little bit of night fishing, catching a few each on a shallow running crank and on the cavitron buzz bait. Caught 24 bass and let a half dozen get away. Don’t know if I’ll ever top those 4 hours of fishing but I’ll try.

Stay tuned for my latest catch post, buddy. Get those roboworms wet!

Gotta love that buzzbait

Using spoons is something I need to do. I know they work. I've seen it plenty. I've got a few. But every time I go to tie a new lure on I look at them and just think nahhhh that's not going to get bit.

TW sale got me a tiny bit. I fought the urge and deleted a few things from the cart so I actually saved money, right? RIGHT?!?!

Look like bluegill beds

Got out for 1.5 hours last night. Thought the bite would be on fire but was proven wrong. Caught a 1/2 dozen. Most were dinks but then I managed to catch a chunky 3 pounder on the whopper plopper on one of my last casts. I seem to catch them only long or chunky but not both. Hopefully I can change that on Friday.