Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

I'm guessing, given the dispositions and power of spots and smallies, that a meanmouth smallie/spot hybrid wouldn't be this equation:

 

A smallie + a spot = a meanmouth

 

Rather, it would be this equation:

 

A smallie x a spot = a MEANMOUTH!

[T-Billy]

20 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I learned another new retrieve today from watching a Tactical Bassin video last night.    Slow roll half a dozen cranks, then a couple hard cranks, repeat.    It worked amazingly well for drawing that reaction strike today.  

That's my go to when fishing one over submerged grass, but I only give 1/2 - 1 hard turn of the handle. That hard crank triggers a lot of bites. When fishing in more open water where I can kill it for a second without snagging weeds, I'll alternate between that and the hard crank and let the fish tell me which one they prefer.

Slow crawling one over chunk rock with a craw trailer is deadly too, as is stroking it like a blade bait sometimes. What a great versatile bait.

[thediscochef]

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Nice catch, def looks like a meanmouth to me 

Thanks, I'm getting better at identifying these things. 
I was most excited about the PB smallmouth...that smallmouth today could probably eat the other two or three I've caught. And such a fat one too, for its size. Two of my rarest catches in the same hour. I should have bought a lottery ticket lol

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Lol, I can catch everything but a darn Crappie when I'm fishing for them.     

 

Caught a few small Spots on Tuffy Minnows, and then this happened......I had my revenge over Whiskers 

 

[Choporoz]

They're finally in the back of the creeks.  No more searching whole lake for bait....for a while.  This gal somehow launched all the way out of 8 inch deep water to slam a buzzbait 

[ScottW]

15 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Lol, I can catch everything but a darn Crappie when I'm fishing for them.     

 

Caught a few small Spots on Tuffy Minnows, and then this happened......I had my revenge over Whiskers 

 

Wow! Nice kitty Alex! Gotta admit I saw the net getting hung up when you dipped it at the stern ?. I was saying watch the prop! Watch the prop! My wife was giving me a weird look by then. We’re you bobber fishing? Thought I saw one as you were fighting the fish.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 minutes ago, sdw215 said:

Wow! Nice kitty Alex! Gotta admit I saw the net getting hung up when you dipped it at the stern ?. I was saying watch the prop! Watch the prop! My wife was giving me a weird look by then. We’re you bobber fishing? Thought I saw one as you were fighting the fish.

Thanks friend, and one night or afternoon we should target these fish.   I'm positive there are much bigger ones than this.   I lost one on that same setup last week that wouldn't even stop.   Yeah I just used the video "Crappie fishing with a bobber and live minnows" by Richard Gene the Fishing Machine on YT.     Used those little Thills, and BB sized split shots about a foot up.    Those little minnows catch everything it seems.  

 

LOL on the net, talk about stupid.    I had tried everything to get that fish netted, but every time he saw the net, he bolted.......then I got the hair brained idea to scoop him while reversing.  It worked until his weight was in the net which pushed the net back into the prop, then he swam right out of the net.    You can tell I have no idea how to handle these Cats both fighting them, and landing them.  Just a totally different beast.  

2 hours ago, Choporoz said:

They're finally in the back of the creeks.  No more searching whole lake for bait....for a while.  This gal somehow launched all the way out of 8 inch deep water to slam a buzzbait 

Nice one, and catching em on a buzzbait is always wild.       I wish I had confidence in it, or topwater in general.   

[Swamp Girl]

Whoa, Alex! And, WOW!

 

Alex, I love how you get sooooo excited. The fish deserve our joy. 

[ScottW]

21 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Thanks friend, and one night or afternoon we should target these fish.   I'm positive there are much bigger ones than this.   I lost one on that same setup last week that wouldn't even stop.   Yeah I just used the video "Crappie fishing with a bobber and live minnows" by Richard Gene the Fishing Machine on YT.     Used those little Thills, and BB sized split shots about a foot up.    Those little minnows catch everything it seems.  

 

LOL on the net, talk about stupid.    I had tried everything to get that fish netted, but every time he saw the net, he bolted.......then I got the hair brained idea to scoop him while reversing.  It worked until his weight was in the net which pushed the net back into the prop, then he swam right out of the net.    You can tell I have no idea how to handle these Cats both fighting them, and landing them.  Just a totally different beast.  

Sounds like a plan. ? Let me know when. Cats are a whole new ballgame. They fight differently and hard. We’ve still got some in the pond here that surprise me when bass fishing. I’ve almost got to the point where I can tell if it’s a bass or cat now. I plan on targeting the carp with corn and/or bread. I hear they put up a heck of a fight.

[gim]

Well I went muskie fishing for one last outing of the season this morning and accidentally caught a sizable largie on a giant suick. The water temp dropped from 51 a week ago to 48 and I’m sure that gave em lock jaw. I saw 5 boats out there sitting there with big bobbers and suckers waiting for bigfoot. They’re gonna run out of beer before they catch anything.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

Whoa, Alex! And, WOW!

 

Alex, I love how you get sooooo excited. The fish deserve our joy. 

Thanks Katie!    The bolded part is why we'd make perfect fishing partners.    I love your philosophy on fishing, and one that I strive for each time out on the water.    Stay positive, don't be afraid to work hard at fishing, and most importantly take joy in all the things you're blessed with while fishing.   

1 hour ago, sdw215 said:

Sounds like a plan. ? Let me know when. Cats are a whole new ballgame. They fight differently and hard. We’ve still got some in the pond here that surprise me when bass fishing. I’ve almost got to the point where I can tell if it’s a bass or cat now. I plan on targeting the carp with corn and/or bread. I hear they put up a heck of a fight.

You got it brother, and I'd love to have a fishing buddy.   The only thing that is limiting it right now is the boat.    I mean it's spartan as it gets lol.    I'm hoping to get a better dedicated boat by Xmas, but if you can deal with this jon boat, we'll have to get something in the works soon.    Catfishing from it is significantly easier I'd imagine. 

28 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Well I went muskie fishing for one last outing of the season this morning and accidentally caught a sizable largie on a giant suick. The water temp dropped from 51 a week ago to 48 and I’m sure that gave em lock jaw. I saw 5 boats out there sitting there with big bobbers and suckers waiting for bigfoot. They’re gonna run out of beer before they catch anything.

Who was right........this guy was hahaha.     I told you the real fisherman are never done even when they say they are.    You and Katie are great examples.    Both produced exceptional days and fish even when you said it was over for the season.        Bass heads can't help themselves, it's a compulsion I truly believe.    I get when it ices over, but I'm always thinking about the fish I'm not gonna catch because I was lazy, didn't want to be cold, etc.   

 

Beautiful chunky fish too! 

[gim]

22 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I told you the real fisherman are never done even when they say they are.    You and Katie are great examples.    Both produced exceptional days and fish even when you said it was over for the season. 

Well, to be technical I did state I might muskie fish once more and I was specifically done bass fishing.

 

And now I am officially hanging up for the season. My boat is getting winterized on Tuesday. I’ve got some hunting to do. The past month of fishing was unreal though. Since about mid September they were eating big time.

[Swamp Girl]

Quote

 I mean it's spartan as it gets lol.

Coincidentally, I just wrote a fishing article for bassresource.com called, "This is Spartan." There was a boat show down on our town's harborwalk and there was a nifty, red Alumacraft with a 30 horse Honda four-stroke engine. So pretty. I ran my hand along its gunnel. A salesman approached me and I got the price ($16,500) and I considered it for about six seconds, but what decided it was this: I won't catch more fish with it. I'll likely catch fewer fish. I won't be able to fish some great ponds with it. Sure, it would be more comfortable and I wouldn't have to work as hard. I might be Ol' Crickety, but I'm not so ol' that I can't work hard. A wise man once wrote: 

 

Quote

...don't be afraid to work hard at fishing....

 

And I like the whole of this so much that I copied it and now I'm pasting it:

 

Quote

Stay positive, don't be afraid to work hard at fishing, and most importantly take joy in all the things you're blessed with while fishing.  

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, ol'crickety said:

Coincidentally, I just wrote a fishing article for bassresource.com called, "This is Spartan." There was a boat show down on our town's harborwalk and there was a nifty, red Alumacraft with a 30 horse Honda four-stroke engine. So pretty. I ran my hand along its gunnel. A salesman approached me and I got the price ($16,500) and I considered it for about six seconds, but what decided it was this: I won't catch more fish with it. I'll likely catch fewer fish. I won't be able to fish some great ponds with it. Sure, it would be more comfortable and I wouldn't have to work as hard. I might be Ol' Crickety, but I'm not so ol' that I can't work hard. A wise man once wrote: 

 

 

And I like the whole of this so much that I copied it and now I'm pasting it:

 

 

Wow that's very cool you are writing an article for Bassresource......as I've said before your passion translates so well because of the incredible amount of hard work you put in to fish the way you do.   The energy of a "possessed teenager" is what always jumps to mind.  You really have to love catching Bass to put in that level of effort.   

 

Your fishing style is the embodiment of spartan fishing......a term I've used mainly to describe saltwater fishing boats.     What an appropriate article for you to be writing!   Please post a link when it's done, your fan club here will be waiting ?

[Swamp Girl]

I will post a link! Speaking of fishing, I'm going tomorrow morning. As always, so excited! I'm going to start with a jerkbait. I've been watching the videos and I think I'm good to go. I'm also going to put a trailer on a spinbait and use that. I'm returning to the pond where they loved my wakebait last time, so I'll try that too. 

 

As far as the energy I put into fishing, when I lived in Boston, I walked to work. It was four miles each way, summer and winter, dawn and dark. If I was walking at rush hour, I'd walk as fast as the cars. I'd see the same drivers, again and again, at the intersections. They looked stressed. They were stressed. After all, at the end of the day, they had to reach the health club to stay fit. I needed no health club because I was a walking health club. It's the same with carrying and paddling a canoe. It's a full upper body workout:

 

Quote

Canoeing relies heavily on the muscles around the shoulder joint as well as the core muscles and the forearms

 

And it burns 300 to 500 calories per hour.

 

For my lower body, there's the portaging. And like walking, it makes me happy. A well-executed paddle stroke is as beautiful as a well-placed Rapala. I take a lot of pride in tracking my canoe as straight as an arrow in flight and zig-zagging it through the reeds. 

[ScottW]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You got it brother, and I'd love to have a fishing buddy.   The only thing that is limiting it right now is the boat.    I mean it's spartan as it gets lol.    I'm hoping to get a better dedicated boat by Xmas, but if you can deal with this jon boat, we'll have to get something in the works soon.    Catfishing from it is significantly easier I'd imagine. 

I’m good as long as it’s watertight ?. Been (trying) to use this inflatable pontoon I got and it’s been an act of congress to navigate around the pond with the kayak paddle I got for it. Other than that it does pretty good. I’ll post a couple of updated photos.

 

 

But yeah, don’t worry about the Jon boat. It floats so that’s all that counts. ?

Edited October 22, 2022 by sdw215
Added photos

[Eric 26]

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I will post a link! Speaking of fishing, I'm going tomorrow morning. As always, so excited! I'm going to start with a jerkbait. I've been watching the videos and I think I'm good to go. I'm also going to put a trailer on a spinbait and use that. I'm returning to the pond where they loved my wakebait last time, so I'll try that too. 

 

As far as the energy I put into fishing, when I lived in Boston, I walked to work. It was four miles each way, summer and winter, dawn and dark. If I was walking at rush hour, I'd walk as fast as the cars. I'd see the same drivers, again and again, at the intersections. They looked stressed. They were stressed. After all, at the end of the day, they had to reach the health club to stay fit. I needed no health club because I was a walking health club. It's the same with carrying and paddling a canoe. It's a full upper body workout:

 

 

And it burns 300 to 500 calories per hour.

 

For my lower body, there's the portaging. And like walking, it makes me happy. A well-executed paddle stroke is as beautiful as a well-placed Rapala. I take a lot of pride in tracking my canoe as straight as an arrow in flight and zig-zagging it through the reeds. 

This reminds me of when I would take the Metra train from Joliet Il to the LaSalle Street station in downtown Chicago for work and walk to the lake front for work. I was 30 lbs lighter and fit as a fiddle.

[T-Billy]

Twas an absolutely gorgeous day at the lake. Bit of a chilly start at 43 degrees but it warmed up nicely as the day progressed. Second day behind a front that pretty well cleaned off all the fiery colored maples, but the oak and hickory trees will hold on to their beautiful pastel colors for awhile.

The post front bite was tough. I only managed four bass and three dink saugeye in 8hrs, but the smallest bass was about 2# and the largest was 5 pounder #3 for the year. Like the last, this one just squeaked in at 5.03. 

Unfortunately my wife only managed to get one bite all day. Fortunately, this was the bite!!!

Her new PB at 44". Her previous PB was 38". Nice upgrade!!! It was the highlight of both of our 22 season. It smoked her chatterbait, and tail walked a couple times for us. She handled it like a champ, and brought it to the net in just a couple minutes. She was good to go until it was in the net. Then came that awesome adrenaline dump. She was shaking like a leaf and fighting back tears of happiness. What a great moment. I'm so happy for her. Only eight bites for us in eight hours, but it was an awesome day of fishing. Thank you Lord. Neither of us will forget this day anytime soon.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Tim! Tim, Tim, TIM! What a day! What a bass! What a musky! What a wife! I love the head on that fish. 

 

And this is the gratitude that Alex and were discussing:

 

Quote

Thank you Lord. Neither of us will forget this day anytime soon.

 

[Woody B]

I caught 10 today including an 18 inch largemouth and the FAT 16 inch spot in the picture.  I ventured down the bladed jig/chatterbait  rabbit hole with no bites.  I tried 3 weights, along with various colors and trailers.  I'd estimate 1/2 of my casts were chatterbaits.   Bass simply wouldn't respond to them.   I ran one right in front of the spot pictured 3 times.  It didn't follow, run away or anything.  It just sit there.  (active target)  It went after a Bandit 200 before it even got to it.    The water was fairly murky.  The bass were holding very close to cover.  I would think a chatterbait would be ideal from what I've read here and elsewhere.   I caught bass today on a Bandit 200, a Red Eyed Shad, and a soft plastic swim bait but nothing on a chatterbait.   I don't think I'm missing strike detection.  I can feel the vibration of the blade.  It never stopped, and I never felt any kind of pull all day long.   

 

[Way north bass guy]

Popped the boat in my backyard lake this morning, and spent the first 20 min replacing the bunks on my trailer at the ramp. Once that was done, I got on about 25 or so fat smallmouth that were smashing a deep diving jerkbait. Caught a few on a swimbait and a few on a tube as well, and one chunky little pike around 34” long or so. Was a beautiful, warm, calm day on the lake with my boat the only one out there. 

This guy was only about 3-1/2lbs, but you can tell by the belly that they’re feeding well right now. Smallest bass I got all day was 2-1/2lbs. 

[Swamp Girl]

I wish I'd been in the boat with you, North Bass Guy. Your day had everything: fat fish, lots of the fish, and no other boats on the lake!

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Tim! Tim, Tim, TIM! What a day! What a bass! What a musky! What a wife! I love the head on that fish. 

 

And this is the gratitude that Alex and were discussing:

 

 

Thanks Katie!!! I am indeed a blessed man. Awesome wife, awesome life. I've been blessed far beyond anything I deserve, that's for sure. 

[TnRiver46]

I got only dinks today but I lost something huge. Not sure what. Lovely day anyhow 

[T-Billy]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I got only dinks today but I lost something huge. Not sure what. Lovely day anyhow 

That bottom pic is sweet. Makes me wish I was there.