Latest Catch Pics Thread

[NYWayfarer]

The local pond here is finally ice free. I went fishing on a 36 degree Friday morning with the hopes of catching a Perch or Pickerel. 
 

Using my Revo X 20 spinning reel spooled with 6# Vanish on a Medium Light Fenwick HMX rod, I tied on a Eurotackle Z-Spender 1/8 oz Jerkbait in Perch color. 
 

To my shock while casting around some structure I caught my first fish of 2022 and it was a Largemouth Bass. 
 

 

I had a lot of luck the rest of the day with a Blue Fox Vibrax in-line spinner tied on my Revo SX spooled with 10# mono on a St Croix Bass X Medium casting rod. 4 Pickerel on that lure 

 

 

I returned this morning with the same setup and caught another Largemouth.

I am just so happy to be able to catch fish again. It’s been a long winter and these fish brightened my weekend.

[thediscochef]

6 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Things may be picking up. Only had a few hours to fish this morning. Based on yesterday, I started with a 6th Sense squarebill. Once again, nothing of size, but the bass did like it. I caught three in about 20 minutes. 
 

 

Tried a chartreuse spinnerbait after that with no luck, as well as a Megabass popper. Tried a Whopper Plopper and had a strike about 3’ from the boat but that was it. 
 

Started tossing a #196 Senko WR and caught a dink. Tossed it out again and caught another dink. Tossed it out again and on the retrieve it got hit hard. 
 

 

A little bigger than yesterday’s bass. About 2-1/4 lbs. Caught a few more smaller bass for a total of 10. Good morning! 

Looks like a solid day! Great Job, some pretty pretty bass!!

 

Ready for things up here to turn around...first day over 80 this year up here, the lake was "standing room only". The spool bearings on my new tatula SV TW started making the most God awful noise in casts so I went and exchanged it for a lews inshore custom SLP which I like much better already. It's quieter and feels tougher.

 

I still spent 6 hours at the lake, you never know what can (or can't, in this case) happen. A leader knot failure claims another jerkbait. I'd just cut my vision 110 off that line for a $6 academy lure, maybe three casts before. So I'm going to count today's luck as not losing a brand new vision 110, and not having equipment issues at a worse time. I lament my landlock. The end.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

Congrats man...things are turning around for ya! I got out last weekend for about 6 hours and managed 2 dinks. But after 3 months of ice lock down I was just happy to hit open water..the fish were a bonus.

In all honesty, I just simply have fun. Catching bass is a bonus. It was such a beautiful morning to be out on the water. But I’ll admit feeling that one bass whack that bait hard was a big plus! 

12 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

Looks like a solid day! Great Job, some pretty pretty bass!!

 

Ready for things up here to turn around...first day over 80 this year up here, the lake was "standing room only". The spool bearings on my new tatula SV TW started making the most God awful noise in casts so I went and exchanged it for a lews inshore custom SLP which I like much better already. It's quieter and feels tougher.

 

I still spent 6 hours at the lake, you never know what can (or can't, in this case) happen. A leader knot failure claims another jerkbait. I'd just cut my vision 110 off that line for a $6 academy lure, maybe three casts before. So I'm going to count today's luck as not losing a brand new vision 110, and not having equipment issues at a worse time. I lament my landlock. The end.

Sounds like Dickens in A Tale Of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Thankfully you didn’t lose that Megabass! 

[thediscochef]

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

In all honesty, I just simply have fun. Catching bass is a bonus. It was such a beautiful morning to be out on the water. But I’ll admit feeling that one bass whack that bait hard was a big plus! 

Sounds like Dickens in A Tale Of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Thankfully you didn’t lose that Megabass! 

I'm feeling OK about the day honestly, it was beautiful out and I'm starting to see more signs of life in the river below the dam. I could have dealt with less people but thats a fact of life around here. Just a matter of time before we're off to the fish races like we were last year. I think I'm going to go fish some different spots tomorrow, change things up a bit. My days will come, I just have to be patient.

 

I love it when something just freight trains your bait like that, what a thrill! Especially when it does that and immediately starts taking drag...nothing quite like it. Congrats on a fun day!! Looks like we'll hit 90ish tomorrow, should be a good day.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

The local pond here is finally ice free. I went fishing on a 36 degree Friday morning with the hopes of catching a Perch or Pickerel. 
 

Using my Revo X 20 spinning reel spooled with 6# Vanish on a Medium Light Fenwick HMX rod, I tied on a Eurotackle Z-Spender 1/8 oz Jerkbait in Perch color. 
 

To my shock while casting around some structure I caught my first fish of 2022 and it was a Largemouth Bass. 
 

 

I had a lot of luck the rest of the day with a Blue Fox Vibrax in-line spinner tied on my Revo SX spooled with 10# mono on a St Croix Bass X Medium casting rod. 4 Pickerel on that lure 

 

 

I returned this morning with the same setup and caught another Largemouth.

I am just so happy to be able to catch fish again. It’s been a long winter and these fish brightened my weekend.

 

[Bankbeater]

I started out fishing from the bank on a 35 acre lake.  I moved to a pond that is about 4-1/2 acres after the 15+ mph sustained winds made the larger lake too hard to fish.  I got my only bass running a shallow running crankbait down along the dam of the pond.

[LrgmouthShad]

Mother nature threw out some crazy weather this weekend. Saturday there was sun, rain, and thunder all together for a little while, and it just started snowing here a second ago. I bank fished Friday night and went out in the kayak Saturday and this morning. Four this weekend is all. That's okay. I'm having a blast. 

 

Nothing Friday night. Saturday I had a mind that there would still be some fish shallow that I could catch. The two I ended up catching were both on a red eyed shad out deep. And although I played around with a lipless quite a bit for the rest of the time I fished, I just couldn't get a pattern going on it. Both of those bites were early too. 

 

So with that in mind, I went out very early again this morning, even though it was bitter cold and quite windy out. Probably the coldest weather I've fished in. Morning was a good idea. It got crazy windy later in the day today (right now weather says 18mph) but I caught a bass and a pickerel early when the wind was a little tamer and I just figured I'd call it good around 10:30. And both of those fish today were off the same point as Saturday with a lipless again. So that point and yo-yoing lipless were my skunk busters this weekend :). 

 

[TnRiver46]

I had to work for one fish but it was better than none. Tried cut bait off the dock all weekend and I think turtles kept grabbing it, never could hook up 

 

I had two bites under the same dock Saturday but the wind kept ripping me away from it. Today (sunday) was nice and calm 

[thediscochef]

A humbling day, this little dink decided to try a 4" jerkbait. A 4" jerkbait that quickly afterwards decorated a tree. And then was quickly joined by another one. So I called it a day. First time I've ever caught a fish in that little lake,. Only took four total lure losses in two trips to get it. I know there's bigger fish in there. Gonna be a while before I go back though...hard to look at my Christmas ornaments until I catch something good again.

 

It's been a very challenging two weeks...I did really well the week of the 14th and I think I've had one quality fish since, and 4 or 5 lost jerkbaits, for 4 or 5 different reasons. I guess that's a sign I'm getting more confident and trying them in more places. I have a trip coming up on Friday that I'm very excited about, so it's going to be a good week regardless. 

[N Florida Mike]

Got a couple fish 20 inch + on little bream.

Sometimes I get lazy and just like sitting on the dock with a live bait out while I catch bream.

That 2nd fish is probably the skinniest fish for its length I’ve ever caught! 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Got a couple fish 20 inch + on little bream.

Sometimes I get lazy and just like sitting on the dock with a live bait out while I catch bream.

Ohhh boy I need to do that sometime. Live bait fishing can be really fun

 

Awesome fish by the way!

[N Florida Mike]

5 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Ohhh boy I need to do that sometime. Live bait fishing can be really fun

 

Awesome fish by the way!

I caught that first fish twice in 10 minutes!

[Aaron_H]

I wouldn't usually hit the same spot twice in one weekend, but I was still a little chapped about losing that big girl on Fri so decided to try my luck there today. Bite was much slower, but first fish of the day on jerkbait was 3lb 5oz so I took that as a good sign.

 

...Which quickly led to more consternation. 45 minutes in and I lost yet another big one on a jump. She was every bit as big as the one I lost Friday. Hurray She threw the lipless, which surprised me as I generally don't lose many fish on a lipless, may have just had her skin hooked or something.

 

Rest of the evening continued to be mostly an exercise in futility but stuck with it. Lost a pretty nice crappie right at the bank, got a couple more bass under 2lb. On the way back I managed to hook into one more nice fish on the lipless. Got off 4 jumps and never came unpinned, dunno what happened with the other one but thems the breaks sometimes. This one came in at 5lb 9oz, a nice consolation for an otherwise frustrating weekend. Ended up with 7 bass total.

 

And of course my at-this-point-obligatory tilapia catch. Ended up with three of them today, I don't think I'll ever begin to make a dent in their population.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, thediscochef said:

A humbling day, this little dink decided to try a 4" jerkbait. A 4" jerkbait that quickly afterwards decorated a tree. And then was quickly joined by another one. So I called it a day. First time I've ever caught a fish in that little lake,. Only took four total lure losses in two trips to get it. I know there's bigger fish in there. Gonna be a while before I go back though...hard to look at my Christmas ornaments until I catch something good again.

 

It's been a very challenging two weeks...I did really well the week of the 14th and I think I've had one quality fish since, and 4 or 5 lost jerkbaits, for 4 or 5 different reasons. I guess that's a sign I'm getting more confident and trying them in more places. I have a trip coming up on Friday that I'm very excited about, so it's going to be a good week regardless. 

My God! That’s such a big…hand! ?

 

Sucks about the lost jerkbaits. That adds up to $$$ quick! 

[lunkerboss923]

Golden Shiner Jackhammer in dirty water caught some good fish today. I love that Sierra 734c for my moving baits! It just feels so natural! 

[Bluebasser86]

Had just a tough weekend of fishing. Never got on a real good bite and the size wasn't there with the bites I got. Saturday was the best day by far. Got about 15, mostly on jerkbaits, these 2 being about as big as they got.

The real heartbreaker was having a fish hammer an 8" Magdraft and somehow not touch the hook, ate it up to the eyeballs.

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Had just a tough weekend of fishing. Never got on a real good bite and the size wasn't there with the bites I got. Saturday was the best day by far. Got about 15, mostly on jerkbaits, these 2 being about as big as they got.

The real heartbreaker was having a fish hammer an 8" Magdraft and somehow not touch the hook, ate it up to the eyeballs.

I hope to have a tough day like you when I grow up 

[LrgmouthShad]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I hope to have a tough day like you when I grow up 

That's what I was thinking ??

[Bluebasser86]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I hope to have a tough day like you when I grow up 

Sunday was really rough, started with 2 drum and had to move lakes because it got so windy. Ended up with maybe 10-12 and none would have gone 2 pounds. Had one hit a bladed jig really hard but didn't even touch it either.

[thediscochef]

2 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

That's what I was thinking ??

Same...I'm just struggling to keep my jerkbaits attached to my line right now. In five days I've lost two to trees, three on rocks, and one to a failed leader line. Not much to show for it, just a bruised ego and a whole lot of self-doubt at waters I thought I knew a little bit about. I miss December, when I couldn't hardly skunk if I tried...

Update: I lost another to a leader failure. We're going back to the double uni, I'm not good enough at knot tying to do an Albright successfully and I'm losing jerkbaits at an unsustainable and frankly angering pace. Back at it tomorrow, hopefully I do more than just littering with extra steps...

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, thediscochef said:

Same...I'm just struggling to keep my jerkbaits attached to my line right now. In five days I've lost two to trees, three on rocks, and one to a failed leader line. Not much to show for it, just a bruised ego and a whole lot of self-doubt at waters I thought I knew a little bit about. I miss December, when I couldn't hardly skunk if I tried...

Update: I lost another to a leader failure. We're going back to the double uni, I'm not good enough at knot tying to do an Albright successfully and I'm losing jerkbaits at an unsustainable and frankly angering pace. Back at it tomorrow, hopefully I do more than just littering with extra steps...

Braid to leader? Just one more knot to fail.

 

I run mono or copolymer. Only lost 2 jerkbaits all winter, both due to my negligence with retying and checking my line.

[Mbirdsley]

40 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Braid to leader? Just one more knot to fail.

 

I run mono or copolymer. Only lost 2 jerkbaits all winter, both due to my negligence with retying and checking my line.

I’d agree with this.  I’ve never been a fan of braid on moving baits except a frog.  I was using flouro last fall on my dobyns colt. That I was using for jerk baits just because, that’s what line was on it. I use Mono, co-polymer flouro or straight flouro for all moving baits including cranks, jerkbaits, chatter baits, paddle tails, and spinners

[Aaron_H]

9 hours ago, thediscochef said:

Same...I'm just struggling to keep my jerkbaits attached to my line right now. In five days I've lost two to trees, three on rocks, and one to a failed leader line. Not much to show for it, just a bruised ego and a whole lot of self-doubt at waters I thought I knew a little bit about. I miss December, when I couldn't hardly skunk if I tried...

Update: I lost another to a leader failure. We're going back to the double uni, I'm not good enough at knot tying to do an Albright successfully and I'm losing jerkbaits at an unsustainable and frankly angering pace. Back at it tomorrow, hopefully I do more than just littering with extra steps...

 

Double uni is my leader connection knot of choice, properly tied it's more than strong enough for most applications.

[thediscochef]

7 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Double uni is my leader connection knot of choice, properly tied it's more than strong enough for most applications.

It was my knot of choice until I got a tatula reel with a t wing system, the bulk of the knot would hit the guide every time. The modified Albright knot fixed that, and when I tie it properly it is just as strong. But I can't keep polluting the water like that. I'm now using a Lews that doesn't have the t wing issue. 

 

I typically run a braid to a copolymer leader, usually CXX. Before I started deviating from the double uni...I'd never lost a bait on a fouled cast that I can remember. May just have to suck it up on that tatula and use some big game mono so I don't have to deviate at all from the knots I'm good at

 

Anyway sorry for getting off topic, my next post will have a fish in it

[thediscochef]

4 hours ago, thediscochef said:

Anyway sorry for getting off topic, my next post will have a fish in it

 

As promised

2.25

2.5

4.6

 

The three best of six fish in 2.5 hours of fishing. Some really cool strikes today, absolutely wonderful. One right next to a boat pier, I was just messing with the jerkbait and a little spotted bass comes up and slams it. Thats better.

 

Now to go move furniture for a friend. Thank you cold front, very cool!