thediscochef

Truck dash says 80 degrees, so it was obviously the day to fish below ray roberts dam. Going back tomorrow before it cools off again. Edit: just my usual 1/8oz skirtless bladed jig. Got a channel and two LMB at sunset in the lake itself.

Found this in my grandfather's tackle box. Gonna tie it on tomorrow cause it'll be 80f here

Yeah my accepted answer is unchanged, it's a smallmouth. Without positive ID with clear markings or genetic testing hybrid is a cop out/better sounding way of saying 'idk'

Quick (not so quick) update on this fish from Texas Parks and Wildlife: "Good afternoon, Thanks for reaching out regarding the species identification of your catch. I asked a few of the TPWD biologists about the identification of the fish. Based on the pictures provided, it appears as if the fish is likely a hybrid bass but likely contains some smallmouth bass. Next time you happen to catch a similar looking fish, take a picture of the fish’s mouth to show if there is a tooth patch. Thank you, [TPWD]" so i guess we will never know for sure. i will call it a smallmouth and let that ride

Tons of great advice here. I'll be 30 soon, been reflecting on this a lot. I only really found the career I like at 28. I spent a lot of the 10 years between high school and my current career path doing a lot of other types of work, and living life in the real world for a bit. College is overrated unless you're doing STEM or some sort of specialized work where that level of education is really actually required. Don't venture outside that STEM college box unless you can come out debt-free. Trades are great but you should be mindful of the physical requirements that come with them sometimes. Know that you can drop what you're doing for a new career at any time; don't buy into the sunk cost fallacy. just because you spent a lot of time learning a skill doesn't mean that's the path for you, and it also doesn't make that time and skill a waste. just a tool in the toolbox. For some, work is a means to an end - for others the job is the end goal. Both are fine. Figure out what your relationship with work is, and then figure out work that supports that. Life is too short to hate it for 40+ hours a week.

See at this ramp there's no posted signs about fishing, but I keep an eye out and if I can see or hear a boat or a truck I'm gone. Even if I just casted, the lure comes in at top speed and I move. It's a boat ramp, not a fishing ramp. They get priority and always should. I don't fish the actual ramps very much though, as the better spot at said launch area is the rock pile to the south that creates the cove I frequent. Bass to 4lbs and drum to 10lbs pretty regularly and you will never once be in the way of any boater; it's physically not possible unless they do the things that started this thread to begin with.

I'll be 30 in a couple of days so I guess this checks out ? that skeeter has those things on the back that stabilize the boat when you're nose up on the bank, I didn't know what the heck those things were until I saw that boat. I think he thinks I'm staring him down when he pulls in, but really I'm just picturing myself in that boat, eyebrows flapping in the breeze...

I specifically avoid areas of necessary traffic, like inlets needed to access either the rest of the lake or a boat ramp. I also don't fish near the ramp if I can see or hear a boat or truck with a boat. That's an area of boater's right-of-way, no questions asked. If someone fishing the boat ramp is holding up a boater...the bank fisherman is in the wrong pretty much every time. The cove I was in only has one way in, and no launches in the cove itself. The only non-fishing reason I see people boating up in that cove is to park while they grab the truck if they're alone or the ramp is busy. I don't mind this because I'm much much deeper in the cove than those guys come and I still catch fish while they're getting situated. I just admire their boats and daydream usually. One guy does that a lot, has a really nice white sparkle skeeter. v jealous lol

that's easily the same fish three times, there's two markings in the lateral lines that look like the letter "M" with an extra hump in all three photos. That's AWESOME! We had a cold front come through today. I didn't make much of the pre-frontal bite (where I caught the bonus baby wiper) but I was able to eek out a handful of LMB dinks before this one sent me home. Always good to leave on a high note. Edit: yes, my phone is a potato. also it was a solid 30 mins after sunset.

these are pretty much the guidelines I try to stick to at all times. Just talk to people and have some manners, it feels like it shouldn't be that complex. I don't really even consider it 'my' area, just a place I'm actively working. I'm happy to move or take a break if there's some kind of decency involved, but I don't feel like the onus is on me to open those communications if I've already been standing there. There's just so little that's worth a real altercation. I almost always fish alone so it's especially not worth it. I may pipe up next time and see what happens. Thankfully this is a pretty rare occurence...most of the people who fish Ray Roberts know that particular cove is not a prime trolling location. There's significantly better areas within a five minute boat ride of that one. Kayakers come through there a lot, but I've never had one park on top of me or anywhere within casting range - except to get to the other side of me and away.

Oh there's definitely a distinction to be made there. This cove is maybe 50 feet across at the spot I was fishing, which is about 150 yards into the cove. The way they parked, they sat about 20-30 feet from where I was standing. I would cast, and seconds later there would be a lure hitting that same spot. All they had to do was stick to the deeper, wider segments of the cove and this wouldn't have happened. They also probably would have actually caught something other than my salt. I firmly believe the lake is for everyone and if they'd had any manners or acknowledgement at all about wanting to fish right on top of me, I probably wouldn't have made this thread tbh

the subtle presence of a lateral line in one of the photos made me think it was perhaps some kind of hybrid or maybe a spottie. I'm considering it a smallmouth for now but I know it's definitely not the standard LMB I usually catch at that spot

Well I guess I caught my first ever smallmouth this morning. Awesome! It hit HARD about 5 feet off the shore on a rock pile. Now I want to know what a big smallmouth fights like...

I had a foggy morning of fishing and catching dinks. This was the last catch of the day. Smallmouth, I think? I have no idea what type of bass this is. What is this?

I think the thing that really got me is that this is maybe a 2 acre (max) cove on a 29,000 acre reservoir. They also couldn't get into the cove without seeing us and looking at us directly the whole time; we made eye contact while they were still probably 50+ yards away. They knew we were fishing there, and specifically decided they were entitled to our space. On a pond or a smaller lake I understand competing for space to some degree. If it's that crowded I usually just leave. I fish to get *away* from the entitlement and carelessness of humanity. 29,000 acres and they *still* actively chose to rip through the hydrilla beds and cast over the top of us. I'm not surprised they weren't catching anything, they were fishing like bulls in a China shop. I hope they continued to catch nothing. I always try to go where there are no others, but that is challenging in DFW...we have more population in four counties than each of roughly 40 other states. I usually avoid fishing weekends to avoid pressure, but this coming week is going to be busy and I wanted to get some catching done.

I appreciate yalls insight. Seems like a firm consensus. I always give people space and time, and if that's not possible I choose different water. It's not worth getting heated just to pressure fish into not biting. I was actually pretty irritated about it and attempted to make it known without having words, had I been with a friend I would have said something and dealt with whatever ensued. Sadly this is not the first time this has happened to me at Ray Roberts and I don't think it will be the last. At the very least it seemed like I was having better luck catching than they were AND I caught what I think is either a meanmouth or a smallie, which would be the first of either species for me.

These guys passed maybe 20 feet from where I was standing, passed between myself and where my lures had been hitting the water, and then sat there for 15 minutes or so. I didn't come fishing looking for an altercation of any kind so I didn't say anything. But I was not helpful when they had the audacity to ask me if I was having any luck (I *was*)

Not really sure where this topic goes but... Am I wrong to be a little upset when I'm bank fishing and two guys in a bass boat troll and fish right through where I and three others are casting, have been casting, and are continuing to cast? Is there some unwritten rule that boaters automatically get the right of way for casting and bank fishermen should just suck it up? For reference, this is in a small cove in a big lake. They have their pick of any other spot in the lake, there are many more coves less pressured than this one, and everyone fishing from the bank is clearly visible from outside the cove. Just go somewhere else? It's easier to do that in a boat than it is on the bank. Thoughts?

This is pretty much it for me this year, in terms of form factors. I have multiple colors of each of these baits for different times and places, but these are reliably on my chatterbait 99% of the time for big fish. Right now I'm sticking to white and chrome heads, with white or smoke plastic. Summertime it was chartreuse head and watermelon or red plastic. This lure combo caught Blue Catfish as large as 19.1lb, Buffalo as large as 10.8lb, and Bass as large as 3.8lb. I did catch bigger fish such as Gar and other LMB with them but I do not have photos, specific weights, or other documentation so I do not count them. Not pictured but honorable mention: 1/32oz and 1/16oz ned rig, size 90 whopper plopper.

Usually a spottie mixed with a gator, sometimes a long nose and short nose. Most species of gar can mix it up with each other. In this segment of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River I mostly see spotties, gators, and hybrids. Landed one hybrid and one longnose in that spot but doing so without a wire leader is about 5% successful

This happened to me with a smallmouth buffalo today, on shore. I'd have a weight for you but I lost it in a landing kerfuffle. Great catch!! Fabulous work on 8lb test, impressive "Don't ever hook me or my son again" Lol I know they're not the same species. a Wiper and a little Sandie This was right before losing a big Buffalo and a biiig hybrid gar, an easy 4ft fish. Kinda glad I lost that one. I don't know how in the world I would have landed it. 10 other LMB today all dinky. The wiper was the highlight for sure, looks like he's been evading the like, eight gar that were swimming around the same part of the river. I can't wait for cat season next year, always a delight on this part of the trinity.

It's a pretty morning, a nice 2.25lb was the large of the morning. I love the coloration in this fish. Going to hit a pond this afternoon to see if I can get something there too. I hope all yall had a great Thanksgiving and weekend

Some spots in the panhandle get cold but there's no seasonal ice here anywhere, obviously What part of RRL?

All that said, sounds like a good way to pass the season and maybe learn some things along the way. I crawl down a YouTube hole just about every night doing this. I hope yall have a good winter

I couldn't do that I'll take catfishing with a heat index of 115 in the summer?? Funny enough my cousin lives in Maine and has invited me to go ice fishing. I am going to do that.