Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

6 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Weatherman can't even get close to the right forecast lately. I went out Sunday in the kayak with another local guy. Supposed to be a nice day, upper 40's, partly cloudy, light wind, so we opted for a small, cold water lake instead of the power plant lake to avoid the crowd. 

 

It was super foggy, and cold, cold enough it was freezing on my truck the whole way to the lake.

Water was actually a little warmer than I expected, 41-42.5, and the fish were very active. Normally, this lake is a great multispecies lake, but this day I had caught nothing but largemouth, until the last couple hours, then I found the motherlode school, and it seemed like all species of fish in the lake were in it. I was getting all different kinds of pecks and thumps, different from the dead weight bass bites I'd been getting. I only managed to hook a few of them though, a few warmouth, a big green sunfish, and 3 trout. Not sure how many bass I caught, I'd guess around 30. Nothing overly big, but they were all fat and healthy fish that fought pretty well for the cold water. 

The fog never really burned off until the very end of the day and it never even made it to 40* out, the wind was also much stronger than it was supposed to be, made for some numb fingers by the end of the day. The guy that was with me did get a couple cool action shots of me while I was working down my first bank of the morning also.

 

I would have L-O-V-E-D your fishing day. Those bass are comically fat and your sunfish are tropically colorful and beautiful. And trout too? Whoa, what a day!

[T-Billy]

On 12/10/2022 at 7:55 PM, ol'crickety said:

Alex, can a heron eat a bass that big? 

 

Sweet spot!

I've seen herons spear carp up to about 3#, and throw 'em up on the bank. They eat the eyeballs and leave the rest to rot.

[ScottW]

@LrgmouthShad 

Quote

Did y’all think about Whataburger?

We can do that! ?

[DitchPanda]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I read on the internet they are 95 percent accurate………

 

great outing as always, I don’t catch 30 largemouth in a year and here you are doing in with ice on the car 

What website? Meteorologistsunited.com?

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

I've seen herons spear carp up to about 3#, and throw 'em up on the bank. They eat the eyeballs and leave the rest to rot.

The eyes are probably the best part when it comes to carp hahaha 

 

not speaking from personal experience, I would have to be hard up 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Caught a quality LGM on a finesse jig and a new rod I'm trying out, but I still can't stop thinking about that scene from a few days ago so I made the long run to see what was going on.   

 

Sure enough I found hundreds on active fish, saw a dozen 2-3lb fish go aerial at least, tried 8-10 baits.....ZERO FISH, ZERO BITES ?   

 

For the level of epic activity, I saw last Friday, I still only managed to catch 6-7 fish.    They were so thick they could have been snagged seemingly.    I'm pretty sure a soft weightless jerkbait is going to be the trick tom. if conditions can hold on just one more day for me.   I think if I can find the magic bait, I'll have the most epic raw thumb day.  

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The eyes are probably the best part when it comes to carp hahaha 

 

not speaking from personal experience, I would have to be hard up 

Don't lie ?

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Caught a quality LGM on a finesse jig and a new rod I'm trying out, but I still can't stop thinking about that scene from a few days ago so I made the long run to see what was going on.   

 

Sure enough I found hundreds on active fish, saw a dozen 2-3lb fish go aerial at least, tried 8-10 baits.....ZERO FISH, ZERO BITES ?   

 

For the level of epic activity, I saw last Friday, I still only managed to catch 6-7 fish.    They were so thick they could have been snagged seemingly.    I'm pretty sure a soft weightless jerkbait is going to be the trick tom. if conditions can hold on just one more day for me.   I think if I can find the magic bait, I'll have the most epic raw thumb day.  

Schooling bass do that to people somewhat regularly, I’ve had many many people say they saw 3-4 lb LM busting shad on top all day, flying thru the air, and they couldn’t catch them no matter what they tried. I usually hear these tales from watts bar lake for whatever reason. 
 

And believe it or not I haven’t had carp, although my father in law said he used to buy carp sandwiches for less than a dollar 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

Schooling bass do that to people somewhat regularly, I’ve had many many people say they saw 3-4 lb LM busting shad on top all day, flying thru the air, and they couldn’t catch them no matter what they tried. I usually hear these tales from watts bar lake for whatever reason. 
 

And believe it or not I haven’t had carp, although my father in law said he used to buy carp sandwiches for less than a dollar 

Yeah this has been a theme since starting back fishing my homelake.    I cracked the code during the summer after a week or two with a Scrounger head and Live Magic Shad, I threw 15-20 baits before that point.

 

I literally drove away with an hour left of light, and fish blowing up in the background......the level of frustration is up there.     I think the big problem I keep having is that I'm way off usually on the size bait they are throwing up in the air.       Really little bait in this current scenario, not those bigger sized 2"+ threadfins and gizzards I posted.   They are so thick I catch them on those sticky Shimano jerkbait hooks.   Sub 1" sized fish.    The Bass must be like whales, just sucking in numerous Shad in at a time.

 

It's all just so fascinating, always has been.   There is a wonderment to this process that never seems to age.    If I could do over again in terms of school/career......I'd have studied fish biology.    Gotten a job working for Southeastern Pond Management or something.      It's still fun being an idiot and guessing ?

[Woody B]

On 12/10/2022 at 8:36 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Saw an Osprey hunting for the first time today after TNRiver46 informed me I had them on the lake.

 

There's Osprey nests on all of the lake I fish.  They have signs that read "Osprey Nest"   Can the Osprey read, so they'll know it's "their" next?  Can the other birds read so they'll stay away?   I see the Osprey flying around but I've never seen them catch a fish.  Last spring Mrs B and myself saw a Heron catch a BIG white perch.  I slipped out of it's grip and almost landed a couple feet from out boat.   I hooked a small bluegill in the eye with a Devils Horse.  When I released it it couldn't hardly swim.  A Heron swooped down and got it about 10 feet from the boat.  The Heron flew around in a circle squawking.  I believe it was thanking me for the fish.  LOL

 

@LrgmouthShad  I'll have to try and start smiling when I take bass pictures.  Maybe I won't look like a grouchy old man then.  I'll still look old, but not grouchy.  

[Team9nine]

Finally got some wind today, which seems to be key to getting many bites right now despite the cold. Briefly touched 42 degrees, with an east wind from 14-18 mph. Made for a chilly couple hours, but managed to load up on nearly a dozen bass before calling it. Most came on Ned, but also scored a couple early on jerkbait. Not much size to them, but we probably only have another couple days of open water left before we lock up for the year. Another good cold snap is supposed to hit Friday and last for most of next week, so it's all but over. Rain all day tomorrow, but hoping for one more shot at a fish on Thursday.

 

 

[roadwarrior]

                                                          

[The Bassman]

Same situation @Team9ninejust described. Worked hard just to catch a few, mine coming on a tiny blade bait. At least I got a few scores for Dec.  As said, one more shot Thurs. I'll look forward to the Jan. thaw that we sometimes get. Ponds are very low so the rain tomorrow might help protect against any winter kill in case winter gets rough.

[Team9nine]

3 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Same situation @Team9ninejust described. Worked hard just to catch a few, mine coming on a tiny blade bait. At least I got a few scores for Dec.  As said, one more shot Thurs. I'll look forward to the Jan. thaw that we sometimes get. Ponds are very low so the rain tomorrow might help protect against any winter kill in case winter gets rough.

 

 

Not sure what's going on, but two of the ones I fish are lower than I've ever seen in 5 years of fishing them. All the others, and most I've seen driving around appear to be near normal. Seems like a strange time of year to have lost that much water. Was beginning to wonder, but sounds like it might not be specific to just mine from your report.

[The Bassman]

18 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Not sure what's going on, but two of the ones I fish are lower than I've ever seen in 5 years of fishing them. All the others, and most I've seen driving around appear to be near normal. Seems like a strange time of year to have lost that much water. Was beginning to wonder, but sounds like it might not be specific to just mine from your report.

A couple of my favorites were actually drawn down for drain maintenance with the anticipation that they would refill this fall. We're several inches behind and actually in moderate drought. La Nina keeps promising lots of moisture over the next few months so we're apt to go from drought to flood.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

On 12/12/2022 at 7:03 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Sure enough I found hundreds on active fish, saw a dozen 2-3lb fish go aerial at least, tried 8-10 baits.....ZERO FISH, ZERO BITES ?   

For the level of epic activity, I saw last Friday, I still only managed to catch 6-7 fish.    They were so thick they could have been snagged seemingly.    I'm pretty sure a soft weightless jerkbait is going to be the trick tom. if conditions can hold on just one more day for me.   I think if I can find the magic bait, I'll have the most epic raw thumb day.  

Don't lie ?

Well it took since Friday, and the luck of weather holding together.....but atlas a raw thumb day, and a puzzle as perfectly put together as I can do.     Figured out lots of stuff today.  

 

Turns out some homeowners dredged a channel 10ft by 100yds at the very back of this creek I've been talking about for days.    Now I know why the fish are there, what they are doing, and finally found the right baits after going to the local tackle monkey store.

 

The magic bait wasn't a soft Jerkbait per say while it produced a few fish, but a MegaBass 110jr in Sexy Shad just blew the top off finally.     I caught somewhere around 30 Bass in about 3.5hrs, sizes ranged from 6" in length, to a solid 3lb fish.    Numerous 2lb fish, and I'd say 60% of them were in that 1-1.5lb range.   These are schoolie Bass, I highly doubt a fish bigger than 4 maybe 5lbs was involved in any of this activity.    

 

Long video at 14mins so many might not have the time, but I try to talk a little bit about what is going on and show the unique conditions and contour that is creating these feeding events.  

 

[Swamp Girl]

Love that thumb! 

 

Cool that you realized they'd dredged a channel. Even better that you found what they wanted. 

 

Now to watch the video!

[Choporoz]

Probably all in my head, but something seems to switch here in mid-December: best bite switches from blade bait to Ned stuff....almost overnight.   This one on a Baby Goat.  Caught a few on regular size rage bugs, but the better fish were eating smaller bites.

[Blue Raider Bob]

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Well it took since Friday, and the luck of weather holding together.....but atlas a raw thumb day, and a puzzle as perfectly put together as I can do.     Figured out lots of stuff today.  

 

Turns out some homeowners dredged a channel 10ft by 100yds at the very back of this creek I've been talking about for days.    Now I know why the fish are there, what they are doing, and finally found the right baits after going to the local tackle monkey store.

 

The magic bait wasn't a soft Jerkbait per say while it produced a few fish, but a MegaBass 110jr in Sexy Shad just blew the top off finally.     I caught somewhere around 30 Bass in about 3.5hrs, sizes ranged from 6" in length, to a solid 3lb fish.    Numerous 2lb fish, and I'd say 60% of them were in that 1-1.5lb range.   These are schoolie Bass, I highly doubt a fish bigger than 4 maybe 5lbs was involved in any of this activity.    

 

Long video at 14mins so many might not have the time, but I try to talk a little bit about what is going on and show the unique conditions and contour that is creating these feeding events.  

 

EPIC! Love it when my thumb looks like that!

[TnRiver46]

12-12:30 lunch break yielded a largemouth. Then I got a drum, didn’t want a photo but I remembered that @roadwarriorloves drum pics so I got one 

[roadwarrior]

That's a cute one!

 

 

 

                                                       

[AlabamaSpothunter]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

12-12:30 lunch break yielded a largemouth. Then I got a drum, didn’t want a photo but I remembered that @roadwarriorloves drum pics so I got one 

You always can spot the real ones who fish in the rain, or in the dark ?

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You always can spot the real ones who fish in the rain, or in the dark ?

Although I was only about 50 steps away from my work truck ? 

[Swamp Girl]

You always can spot the real ones who fish on their lunch half hour break.

 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

You always can spot the real ones who fish on their lunch half hour break.

 

Haha! Way more fun than eating a sandwich although I did almost bust my rear on the wet rocks 

[The Bassman]

Waited out the drizzle until early afternoon and pretty much did a wash, rinse, repeat of yesterday. Caught three with two good ones over two lbs. All three bites came in a twenty minute window in the same general area that produced yesterday. Tomorrow's probably our last shot until sometime after the new year. (One of these days I'll learn how to take decent pics.)