IcatchDinks

That's a lotta nice fish. Glad to hear of your success and how you continue to improve! Also, a great homage to one of the premier children's authors. Maybe I'll read this to my little boy alongside the original. 😄

Well, we head for North Carolina tomorrow evening, and I'll be away from my home waters for 11+ days. So I went down to the Chippewa for a few goodbye casts before I pack up all my fishing gear for the trip. Landed one very fat smallmouth who fought like the Dickens and decided to call it a day. Now I'm off to fuel up the car and pack before work tomorrow. It feels a shame to leave my home waters behind just now. The water levels are back to the perfect depth, the fish seem super active and healthy. But I will have the opportunity to fish some private ponds down south, and that should offer some new opportunities. Plus, I really love the in-laws we're going to visit. Should be fun.

Same some for the rest of us, Jeremy Wade. Very nice catch!

@CDMTJager this is what I do. I hate resizing photos. It's too much hassle for me.

I guess I just like flowers...

I also am all out of reactions, but I'm definitely gonna give Tim's Snell hooks a try. Off to YouTube and Walmart.

I've lost them AFTER they get hooked. But I've never had one take the bait and not get hooked.

Oooh, that's cool and exciting! I love using Google maps' satellite view to find new places to fish. Also, I dig your new signature, Katie. (Although I always chuckled at "stealthy as an F22").

Yesterday I took an impromptu detour and stopped by a pond I haven't fished since early spring. I only spent about 30 minutes before continuing on my way home, but landed one little guy. Then this morning I spent an hour and a half at my favorite pond, but only managed to land two similar sized fish. I did have a very nice fish on the line that would have made my morning, but somehow he spat my Texas rig, and I never saw him again. I don't think he even ever felt the hook, which doesn't make sense me. But I watched him spit it. I've never had a fish take an EWG into his mouth and not get hooked before, so I'm a little baffled by that one.

That's a great trip. I wonder if there's a size to fight ratio: if they're too small, they have so much fight in them but it means literally nothing cuz they're tiny. If they're huge it seems the don't have the same kind of vim and vigor the little ones have. The best fights I've had all came from good sized, yet not enormous bass. The 15" smallie I caught a couple weeks ago gave me the best fight of the summer so far. My PB green bass definitely gave me some fight, but not like a river smallie. Then again, I've only caught one bass I would consider enormous, so I really don't know what I'm talking about. 😄

So are large and small mouth.

I wouldn't have the patience to grind them down. I'd just crimp them closed with pliers. But grinding would probably be the best way, imo.

@The Baron I use a third party images hosting site. Postimages.org is what I use. Then I use the link from that site and paste it into the "insert image from URL" option in the "Other Media" tab.

I was just reading through that fishing report. At least I didn't have mile and a half paddle to get back home. We covered this last year: rock BASS are BASS. And therefore I posted it in the BASS thread. 😆

Got skunked for the first time in a long time this morning. The first hour was dark and overcast with lots of lightening and crazy thunder. And then the rain hit and I had to run for cover. It was a really weird and ominous atmosphere pre rain. Odd, dim light that made me feel like I was going blind. I also went to the river for an hour yesterday evening and tried to catch some Smallies. But the river is blown out from all the rain, and the only action I could get was a kind of fish I am currently being bullied about. 😄

@ol'crickety just stole @pdxfisher's thread from him. 😆 I was not drinking my coffee when I read that hula girl line, but I definitely would've had it coming out my nose if I hadn't just put the cup down. That bass stealing your treble is wild. I also have never had that happen. If it were me, I'd upgrade split rings or get a different lure.

You're in my prayers.

June is my best month this year:

I've used em. Caught nice river Smallies on them. But like @roadwarrior says, the paint wears off and they turn the color of the metal underneath. The ones I had were cheap, poor quality hooks. Wouldn't recommend, but they'll work good enough if you're on a budget.

I used to make knives as well. This looks like a cut above my skill level though. Very nice work. I haven't made a knife in at least ten years at this point, but would love to get back into it once I get space enough for a shop. One day.

What can I say? I'm a bit of a Renaissance man.

Pike. I love catching pike. And it's always been accidental.

@OHBuckets, I do that too. Sometimes I sit and I stare at my camera roll trying to figure out which picture is which fish. 😆

Milkweed blossoms are so cool.