IcatchDinks

@NorthernBasser very nice fish! And your camera takes crystalline photos!

I always love a good sunset over the water photo. It's so beautiful when the surface is perfectly still and mirrors the sky to such a degree that without a frame of reference (in this instance your canoe), you wouldn't know which way is up or down. The treetops catching fire with the last rays of the sun's light. Sunset is always a magical moment. It reminds me of a line from a Rich Mullins song: "There's more that rises in the morning than the sun. And more that shines in the night than just the moon."

Love me some rebel lures.

I've got the attitude of Lou Gehrig and the career of Rusty Staub. I consider myself the luckiest man alive, and so far I have serviceable but average production.

A little pre-work pond fishing produced one tiny dink. But I caught the stupid thing three times. I refused to take his picture the first couple times, but after three attempts he finally got his photo taken and he finally left me alone. Saw very little action aside from him. Had a decent fish on the end of my line for a second, but he had sideswiped the bait and was barely hooked. A headshake freed him.

My wife (at that time my girlfriend) and I were at one of the many riverside parks in our town: a common date location for us. I spontaneously suggested I run to the local store and grab a fishing pole and some lures and we try our hand at fishing in the river. I don't know why, it just seemed like a cute date idea. I hadn't been fishing in 18 years. The last time was when my grandpa took me and my siblings fishing for suckers. But something about the idea enamored me. I grabbed a small 30$ pole and some spoons and we went back to the park. To my deep chagrin, my pretty little girlfriend had to remind me how to use a spinning rod, and, not knowing any better, we started fishing the worst place to fish in that whole stretch of river. I caught one fish there that day: a nice little smallie. I've never caught a fish there since. That next week my work fired me. I was stunned and flabbergasted. But now that I was in between jobs, I had a ton of time on my hands. And I had this brand new pole and nothing better to do. So I started fishing. Every day. Non stop. And maybe a month later, I had an incredible day of fishing in one spot. I caught fish after fish after fish, all from the same hole. I could hardly keep up with them. I lost count. And then a biggun hit. I don't know that any single fish changed my life. I think that even if this big one hadn't bit I'd still be just as avid an angler today. But if any fish did change me, it was this one. When it hit, I realized that these things got big. In the grand scheme of things, the fish was just a good solid smallmouth. Probably 16-17 inches. I didn't measure my fish back then, so he may still even be my smallmouth PB (17 inches is the biggest I've ever caught.) But everything before that had been 13 or under. Something about the weight of that fish on the other end of my line hooked me far deeper than I hooked it. I marveled at it. I would hold it in the water to make sure it stayed alive, then pull it out and hold it and marvel at it again. I probably handled him too much. But I was in awe. I finally let him swim away. Hopefully, he's swimming still. That was almost three years ago. I've been learning and honing my craft ever since.

I was driving home from my earlier adventures when I received a call from my wife: her brother and his wife were coming into town to do some shopping and were planning on doing some fishing afterwards and would we like to join them? Well, sure! So I landed three more bass to cap off the day and now I owe my wife something fierce for all the time she's granted me to chase my favorite hobby this weekend.

My brother in law, my brother, and I went fishing in the rowboat this morning. My brother in law slaughtered the crappie, I caught mostly small bass, although I did get my first top water catch of the year on the bone colored whopper plopper. (About dang time!) Then we took the kids fishing at the river behind my brother in law's house (the Flat River). The kids all got hooks into something. I caught several little smallies, my niece and nephew (bro-in-laws kids) both caught rock bass. And then my brother's five year old landed a super healthy 15" smallmouth using ultralight gear. We cooked and ate it. (Pls don't kill me, C&R only Crowd. It wasn't my decision.)

Whatever lure @A-Jay says I should have. My personal favorite is the Rebel Wee Craw in the Ditch Brown color. It works great for the shallow rivers I fish most often. (Chippewa, Flat, and Pine)

Thanks! I definitely will give it a shot.

@MIbassyaker, thanks! I counted the dorsal spines but wasn't sure I was doing it right.

Thanks! I think the 2" is a little lighter than I would like. It's hard to get it to any sort of depth, but I think if I put larger hooks on it, it will give it just enough weight to give it the action I want, and help remedy the hook-up issues I mentioned. I was actually quite surprised at how effective it's been at getting strikes. I almost never use it.

I'm calling myself a 2. I carry two poles, but rather than a couple lures in my pocket, I have a backpack full of as much gear/tackle/bait/etc as I can stuff into it.

Went fishing before church this morning at the pond I've been frequenting the past couple days and finally hit paydirt. I knew this pond held some decent fish, and I think I finally got to them while they were active. A 2" Rapala floating minnow worked as a jerk bait did the trick. I landed four bass, losing two right at the bank. (I think the hooks on the little bait are a bit too small.) I also caught a little crappie, a nice surprise since I didn't know they were in that pond. The largest bass was 17" long, had another at 16". I didn't measure the other two.

Caught my first ever crappie. I think this is black crappie? I did not know this pond held crappie, so even though it's little, it was a fun surprise. I'm coming for your crown, @Team9nine

@ol'crickety I had to clip that single hook off the treble and force the sharp point all the way through my hand and pull it out that way. Got to avoid ripping out a chunk of myself on the barb that way. Definitely considering going all barbless after that experience. Not so fun. First time I've ever been hooked past the barb. I've been stabbed by hooks several times, but never that deep before.

Half way through my fishing trip. Heading to another spot. I went back to the spot where I lost a big one yesterday and caught a very mediocre fish. He also caught me... Gonna try one more pond for another hour or so and then head home. The picture of the bass is subpar because I had a treble hook in my hand. I snapped the photo and then flipped him into the water. I had more important things to deal with.

Caught a couple rock bass the other day while picnicing alongside the river with the wife and kid. Putting them here because @gimruis thinks they aren't worthy of the regular latest catch pics thread. (I guess I kinda agree.) Also caught a bluegill today.

Today was tough. Lost a very good fish three feet from shore on a jump. And spent two hours trying to entice two very nice bass to bite. One of them might have been a new PB, but I will never know. The two bass were busy hunting bluegill, chasing them into shallow water and then heading back to deeper water just beyond sight to wait for another opportunity. Regardless of what I threw at them (and I threw everything) they wouldn't bite. Had one of them following my bait, but as I pulled the bait past a bluegill, the bass hammered the real fish instead. I did manage to nab two little bass, and one bluegill. But other than the year's first substantial sunburn and some mild dehydration that's all I managed to catch.

This is what my wife says, and I don't like salt water fish. I've fed her pike, bluegill, and bass. And while she doesn't hate them, she's not a fan. That's ok cuz I hate cleaning fish.

Love your fishing reports! Looks like a lotta fun.

Came here to say this, but I'm glad you did, cuz I didn't have a cool video to share.

Do you actually own the pond? I don't recall if you said you own it, or if you own property on it. Even if you can't catch anything bigger than 18, that seems like an awesome fishery.

@gimruis I always thought that were kinda cute. They also change colors depending on what color their environment is, so that's cool. If I don't want to catch rock bass, I just size my baits up so that can't eat them.