AlabamaSpothunter

Much like Pat I caught the definition of a big pre spawn female earlier. One of those fish you know is at the height of her power, a pinnacle of health, and a true apex predating Largemouth. Clearly full of eggs and heft for the soon to be Spawn. Mine was bouncing around from 8.15-9.5 and locked twice briefly on 9.1, so that's what I'm calling her. I was shaking like a leaf at that point as usual lol. There was brief moment that I thought I accomplished a lifelong dream. At the end of the brief video, I'm glad I forgot to end it as it captured perfectly the indescribable flood of emotions and adrenaline that overtake you and make you clutch for your knees once you see her swim away. Most here I'm sure will know this feeling, Pat felt it for sure. Terrible day with chocolate milk colored water, caught 6 small fish from about 10-1pm........drove back to the dock, pondered quitting, took a 30min break and then went back out. 30mins from coming back out, I caught her. She moved up shallow from nearby deep water into about 8-10fow on a pinch point, and was holding on a fantastic piece of cover. I ran a naked Chatterbait with a 3.5" Live Magic Shad right into the cover, it deflected, and wham she smoked it. You deserve it friend, love to see somebody catch such a magnificent fish that truly appreciates her.

Wow Pat, that's a fish of a lifetime, but what makes that fish so special in my book is that it came from your pond! Huge congratulations! I've got some catching up to do, but this was the first thread I clicked after taking a break, and then I see this monster ?

Much respect seriously! All you can do is put in the work, the universe has to pay it off sometime......that's what I repeat over and over after days like today where I caught 1 little fish. I also like to repeat...."eventually a big fish is just gonna run into your bait" ? Drilling ice seems like digging holes down where I live in thick clay soil.....sucky ?

You got big fish of thread since I joined in August brother, until that changes you aren't allowed to complain at all! ?? You'll blow past 3lbs by 2.5x before you know it, there be monsters swimming in those waters I tell ya. That's a fat pretty toad for sure!

Some people just want to watch the world burn ? Whistlin Dixie is another mad man that half the viewers hate.

Yeah Bob those deer feed on hard work, the harder you work on a landscape or garden, the more they get fed ? I watched a 8pt from my window last night chase a doe....he must have been 20ft away at one point. Amazing how women make men lose all rational and logic ?

Thanks Bob! Agree on the Damaki Axe Blade and Vault. OP's scenario sounds perfect for those baits. Find that bait, make sure you got fish actively feeding on it, and then just count that sucker down to them and bring it in on a slow steady retrieve with the occasional rod pop for followers. I vertically jigged it 4 days ago and caught a cpl as well, but I think casting it out was far more effective.

Sat caught 7, Sun caught 5, today caught 15 Incredibly beautiful, and increasingly warming days, today was 70+. I'm as tan as I've been in my life on my hands and face only lol. 54spf and face covering from here on out. Third day without a fish over 3lbs. It turned on at the end of today but I was getting torched by the sun and stupidly didn't prepare accordingly and called it. Caught a few on th 110jr +1, and Berkerly Stunna 112+1.....but the Axe Blade and Flashback Mini continue to be the preferred baits. Caught another big Crappie, I swear when I'm trolling now I'm hoping it's a Crappie because I never catch a small one, only big ones hit this thing apparently. I'm sure I've seen one before and didn't realize it or care enough to snap a pic, but I can mark seeing a Bald Eagle off my bingo list. Also saw the Redfox I posted a pic of awhile back again as well. Super cool animal. Cpl of pics over the last few days....on the electronics you can see where somebody within the last week or two thought they had a secret, and draw your own conclusions on the last shot ? 110jr +1 in GG Threadfin with well over a 100 fish on it, the finish is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen ? Damaki Axe Blade getting close to 100 fish, but has done so much quicker.

I fish Zoom mag lizards heavily in the summers......even when one of those little legs gets bitten off, new lizard time. Those little legs and such on creature baits matter big time imho.

I got one of Matt's first baits a soft big bluegill swimbait, wish I had one of his hard baits. You and your buddy love to fish these big hard swimbaits, I can't wait to get back to them. They are perhaps the most exciting way to catch them. They also remove my overzealous concern of small fish's welfare being caught on the heavy gear and lures I'm trying to catch a white whale on. Dang small fish still hit the A-Rig, but nothing small will hit the big hard swimbaits, and if they do they certainly aren't getting hooked badly.

An aquarium 13+ is epic in my book. Any wild Bass is the same to me in all honesty(my PB was caught in a small pond in Auburn), If they lived in the sewer, I'd be down there ?

The real question is will it be bigger than the 13-14lb fish you caught......man I'd quit after that fish ?

That's like walking into a garage with a Ferrari, Lambo, 911, and a Prius.....and you drive away in the Prius ?

I can see your fish also coming off a topwater. That place in some of your videos that produced big ones on topwaters IIrc. Looks like a nowhere place. I hope everyone's big fish of the year comes off topwater including my own, what a thrill that would be. Since starting back I haven't caught a fish 5 or better on topwater. I'm dying for the topwater bite to turn on again so I can learn how to do it.

I mean a MiniMax is lowing hanging fruit to those in the know ? God speed brother....12.1 on #6 is not jumping out of an airplane, you're now wingsuiting ?

Meh.....when you catch 50 fish seemingly every trip, and when Tim is catching fish the size of ones that belong in the ocean, I think I'm the one who's got catching up to do ?

I learn so much from your posts! Most excellent information.

Thanks for such kind words Pat! Don't give up on those offshore fish brother, you'll have that breakthrough soon enough offshore if you keep studying them on sonar. With your water temps and being a bit north of me, you might just be a few weeks behind me. The fun always returns, that's why we're junkies ??

This is my biggest struggle on the water, along with wind....when they combine things go south quickly ?

Starting tom. I guess I'm going to start making some rounds in shallow areas as it keeps warming, this is all new for me. I've just seen the avg. size of catches exponentially grow over the last 6 weeks, one thing's for sure, it's very exciting to fish these couple of months. Our weather is very similar it seems.

Yeah I've been trying to plot my big fish and the moon phase since IIrc reading a WRB thread or post. I definitely noticed it as yesterday you could start to see the almost full moon starting around noon. It followed two extremely hot days for me, however the full moon day itself, today I only caught 7 and no fish over 5lbs. Maybe the following two days after the full moon are as good as the previous two to it....one can hope lol.

Can I place a wager on whether these fish were caught deep relative to Toledo Bend, with FFS, and likely in a relative short period of time?

For you Spinnerbait hammers it makes perfect sense. I think one day I'd like to try to make my own bladed jigs. I'm never gonna recreate a Vision 110 lol.

Man what a beautiful fish Dwight! You're on some big girls right now! Thanks Jar! I can't wait until you guys AND GAL make that first report in this thread ? God love you Katie, he surely must laugh as much as me while reading your incredibly well written and always funny replies ? I can't even imagine how giddy you guys are gearing up.....getting much closer now HAHAHA....look at that 4th pic, all of them are uber fat. Fantastic fish!