IcatchDinks

@Jmurphy87 glad to see you back at it!

Well, I think we suffered through the worst of the heat. All next week is supposed to be 70s and 80s. We spent most of the week in the high 90s. I saw 100 a couple times on my car thermometer, but that always registers high. It was crazy humid all week too. Unfortunately the weekend is supposed to be all thunderstorms, making fishing less than ideal. I might be able to beat the rain if I get up early enough tomorrow (Saturday) morning. We'll see...

Very nice, Katie! Impressive! I'm not much of a gardener myself. My other main hobby is music. I write, record, and mix my own songs, as well as play several instruments.

Caught a bunch of dinks this morning before work. Caught around ten. These were the three biggest ones.

Every Thursday evening I play volleyball in a recreational league at the park. The park surrounded by a river. We had an hour in between games, so I waded around in the river looking for a bite. The stretch I was fishing has never been a big producer for me, but I caught a couple rock bass and one tiny smallmouth to confirm to myself that I do indeed still catch dinks.

Spots are so pretty. Beautiful fish! Thanks for sharing!

@softwateronly said it better than I did. I'm super glad he clarified what I was trying to say.

@Blue Raider Bob, I definitely lived up to my moniker that day. 😄 And I'll happily hold my wife's fish. I'm just thrilled when she wants to go fishing. @ol'crickety that's super awesome! Thanks for passing on a love of fishing to the next generation! Those are some very nice fish.

Couple years ago I took two of my sisters fishing. They were 17 and 15 at the time. They'd never been fishing before, and I was trying to show them all about how it's done. Turns out they showed me. 😆 Even my wife caught a nice one, though she was too squeamish at the time to hold it. 😄 My largest catch of the day:

So is mine. Lol. It holds almost all the tackle and baits I own. It's pretty heavy. I take it off when I get to a spot, fish, and then pick it up and move on. Although, when I wade the river, I wear it the whole time.

I'm gonna be in NC the week of July 4th. Hoping to get some fishing in while I'm there. I will follow your progress with interest.

As a bank angler, that backpack makes me jealous. 😆 I've got a decent one myself, but that's got so much space.

Super cool idea! Thanks for sharing!

It really hurts me to see people handling fish this way. 😑

Caught a couple nice ones this morning. The first one I caught woulda been a new PB before yesterday. It was just a bit over 18", which ties a fish I caught last year, but this morning's was far healthier, and heavier. I didn't bother weighing it. 21.75" is the new mark to beat. It was a sick eat, too. I had reeled an EFH gold Banshee (a simple paddletail bait) all the way back to the bank, when this fella came zooming in from the weed edge and hammered it in about 4 inches of water. His back was sticking out of the water when he ate it. I was able to set the hook and land him all in one pull. 😄 The second bass was a bit over 15 inches. When I made my username, I didn't consider that one day it might not be accurate. 😆

From a dyed in the wool country boy now living in the city, that sounds about par for the course. And I promise, the country is way more chill at night than the city is. Being out after dark in the city makes me super jumpy. 😬

Somehow I missed this when you posted it, but wanted to drop in and say congratulations! That's super cool. What a special fish.

I hit up my favorite pond before work this morning. I don't usually fish finesse here. Most of my fish have come on crankbaits and spinners. But the weed beds keep getting thicker, and I've been trying to fish deeper into them under the suspicion that there are bigger bass hiding out in there. So I tied on a 1/16 oz weighted green pumpkin Yum Dinger Texas style, and started casting to open pockets. About my third or fourth cast I realized I had one on. She must have taken it on the fall, because I didn't feel a thing till I went to hop the bait up off the bottom. I'm glad I noticed her when I did, because she's was perilously close to getting gut hooked. I had my drag settings pretty light, and I realized pretty quick into the fight that I had a solid fish on- she was pulling drag while swimming towards me. 😅 I've always been bad at adjusting my reel as I'm playing a fish, but I handled it like a pro and was able to set the drag a bit tighter. I'm glad I did, too, because shortly after that she made a run for it, and even after my adjustments, she still pulled a good amount. She jumped just enough to put my heart in my throat, as by this time I realized I had a new PB. I was frantic to get her out of the water. As I got her to the bank, she made one desperate run for it, but she was pretty tired out by now. The fight felt like an eternity, but it probably took half as much time is it took to read my description. This is the biggest bass I've ever seen in person, weighing in at 4.29 lbs, and a bit under 22" long, which qualifies for Michigan's Master Angler program. Words can't describe how pumped I am. I had no idea the bass got that big in this pond, and I have the theory that however big the fish I catch is, there's always one bigger out there. I also owe @ol'crickety a debt of gratitude for her tips and advice on how to fish heavy weeds. Muchas gracias! After some fruitless casting with the Dinger, I switched to a homemade crank bait and landed a couple more smaller bass. Now I'm at work trying to survive the heatwave. Man, it was a great morning!

When you're first kid isn't even 9 months old and you've got another one due on Christmas:

Not only that, but he did it all in his signature tie-dye Crocs! What a legend! @Bluebasser86, I applaud you.

Pat, why you gotta sick the Bait Monkey on me like that?

Honestly, that's a pretty good rock bass. What a chunk! Also, looks like you had a great father's day! Ya love to see it. 🙂

I think of you every time I catch one.

Haha. Thanks! My wife says she can't take me seriously when I'm wearing it. 😄 But I take the sun seriously and yesterday was a day that I did not want to mess around with the sun.