Latest Catch Pics Thread

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Thank you Katie for such thoughtful, and wise words!   You're correct as always too. 

 

I've always said fishing is 100% relative in just about every way imaginable, and in this regard it's relative to the last big fish or breakthrough I had.    It's honestly like Capt. Ahab, I know it's madness, I know it's grown into something beyond "Bass fishing".....but she invades seemingly all my thoughts, the bigger fish I catch towards her, the more obsession takes the wheel.        

 

At 30,000ft, I'm so appreciative of just being on the water, but on the actual lake, I'm like a junkie searching for that high no amount of money can buy.   

 

I talked to the angler whom I thought had the recent lake record at 10.6 today, and he's positive another guy got a 12lb+ a year or two ago, seen the pics just didn't know the weight for sure.   These are just the fish I know about, sure a few other DDs have been caught.    

 

Fishing is crazy, and you never what you might catch tomorrow, so that's why I'll be going tomorrow ?

[Swamp Girl]

21 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Fishing is crazy, and you never what you might catch tomorrow, so that's why I'll be going tomorrow ?

 

I wish @thediscochef and I were going with you. We need to catch some fish in 2023! 

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I've always said fishing is 100% relative in just about every way imaginable, and in this regard it's relative to the last big fish or breakthrough I had.    It's honestly like Capt. Ahab, I know it's madness, I know it's grown into something beyond "Bass fishing"..

That's OK. Don't sweat it. Nothing at all to worry about, unless god is a LM Bass. Ya might be in tad of trouble then.?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

10 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I wish @thediscochef and I were going with you. We need to catch some fish in 2023! 

Me too!   I'd take you guys and then I'd finally figure out how to start fishing for Spring Bass ?

10 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I wish @thediscochef and I were going with you. We need to catch some fish in 2023! 

Me too!   I'd take you guys and then I'd finally figure out how to start fishing for Spring Bass ?

[Blue Raider Bob]

11 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Alex, I think those are two, fine, handsome, healthy, fat fish. And they're two of fifteen!

 

Reframe your expectations and enjoy where your local bass are right now. Even then, you might still catch a DD, but if you don't, there's still a lot to enjoy.

 

For example, it's not 100 degrees and your water isn't hard like mine. Plus, your big bass total for 2023 already surpasses what more than 90% of bass fishers will catch in all of 2023.  

 

P. S. - Please reread my first two sentences. 

I'm part of the 90!

     Alex there is about as much chance as you "Taking a few weeks off" as there is of me going to Maine and sitting on the ice with Katy!  Although I would love her company, especially the taters and sausage, (no Katy I have not forgotten). I'm staying away from the hard water and bone chilling wind gusts. Besides I get to see bass daily even If I don't catch many.

     You will figure out the current pattern whenever you fish and continue to supply us with daily envy with videos and pictures! Actually I have gone to a local cattle pond and caught two big enough to bring home to my place in the past couple days. They are long and skinny with big mouths so I feel I am doing them a favor giving them a chance at a meal for a change.

     And since if you factor in Katy's formula, they could be considered DD's, due to the fact that I have to climb two barbed wire fences, (I'm no spring chicken), and avoid a very mean Black Angus bull, carry a water bucket, and cross a ankle deep marsh.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I'm part of the 90!

     Alex there is about as much chance as you "Taking a few weeks off" as there is of me going to Maine and sitting on the ice with Katy!  Although I would love her company, especially the taters and sausage, (no Katy I have not forgotten). I'm staying away from the hard water and bone chilling wind gusts. Besides I get to see bass daily even If I don't catch many.

     You will figure out the current pattern whenever you fish and continue to supply us with daily envy with videos and pictures! Actually I have gone to a local cattle pond and caught two big enough to bring home to my place in the past couple days. They are long and skinny with big mouths so I feel I am doing them a favor giving them a chance at a meal for a change.

     And since if you factor in Katy's formula, they could be considered DD's, due to the fact that I have to climb two barbed wire fences, (I'm no spring chicken), and avoid a very mean Black Angus bull, carry a water bucket, and cross a ankle deep marsh.

That's fantastic Bob, love that awesome pond of yours.   

 

I would have loved to seen video of operation Feed a Bass ?

 

This is the quiet before the storm of Katie being back on the water ?

[Deleted account]

9 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Nothing at all to worry about, unless god is a LM Bass. Ya might be in tad of trouble then.?

 

I sure hope God is a LMB, cause if he is a striped bass, black sea bass, blackfish, bluefish, fluke, tuna or shark, I'm in so much trouble...

[TnRiver46]

14 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Caught about 15....mix of Spots and LGMs....still not a fish over 2.5lbs, and at this point I'm convinced the Spawn is happening.   Another angler I was chatting with spotted a bed and a buck Bass.     Just sucks, I can't sniff a bigger fish.    Trying to figure out if I should just keep fishing, or take a few weeks off.   I think my next best shot at the white whale is at night this summer.   

 

I feel happy that I was able to get a fish close to my goal, but very frustrated that my opportunity at least using the "cheat code" has passed me by.   

 

A huge mistake I made was being enamored to much with offshore fish targeting offshore swaths of bait, like a kid I learned a new trick and held on to it too long.    I should have been focusing more for isolated true trophy worthy fish moving up in 5-10ft of water on cover on points leading to and from the main bodies.    This takes a level of discipline I simply didn't have this early on my journey back into Bassin.    

 

For you guys fishing in low 50 degree water right now, fish it hard it's fleeting ?

This is what the end of big Bass season for me looks like, another reason to hate pollen 

I know a spot that has 52-56 degree water year round……

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I know a spot that has 52-56 degree water year round……

I got one not too far away, but it's mainly only got stocked trout ?

[TnRiver46]

8 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I got one not too far away, but it's mainly only got stocked trout ?

Stocker trout= Big bass snacks 

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

This is the quiet before the storm of Katie being back on the water

 

There's going to be a lot more quiet before any storm. Another six inches fell last night and another six inches is forecast for Saturday. On the plus side, beneath the snow and ice, those bass have to be getting hungrier and hungrier. When they finally see my lures, they'll think, "FOOD!!! FINALLY, FOOD!"

 

 

4 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Alex there is about as much chance as you "Taking a few weeks off" as there is of me going to Maine and sitting on the ice with Katy!  Although I would love her company, especially the taters and sausage, (no Katy I have not forgotten).

 

Dang it! I thought the pulling power of sausage and taters was infinite, but it clearly only reaches to Western Mass or thereabouts. 

[Mbirdsley]

March 1st and It’s the final count down!!!! Traditionaly within the last 5 years I start bass fishing on or around March 25th.

 

Extended forecast still looks like nights in the teens untill mid March.  Hopefully it starts climbing to the mud 30’s and 40’s soon at night.  Days are getting to the 40’s already 

[Team9nine]

Almost took the boat out again today when the wind underperformed the forecast by quite a bit…but I found the exact trailer part I needed to fix my wiring issue locally, so hit a pond first before grabbing and installing it. Managed 10 bass on a day with record highs, most on Ned but a few on jerkbait.

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Bob was right, 12-16hrs seems to be just enough for the frustration to reside and the stubbornness to kick back in.   

 

Burned the crap out of my three finger tips stupidly touching a battery terminal that the TM lead wasn't fully tighten down on.   Spent about two hours with my hand in the lake on and off fishing.    

 

Today I just embraced Spring, and broke out a 8" Mag Zoom Lizard, and Rapala OG Tiny 4 in Gizzard Shad, and most importantly a 15-20yr old Terminator 3/8th Spinnerbait in a chartreuse shad kind of pattern, Gold and Silver blades and went very shallow.   Put a Crappie curly tail type grub on the back to just have a little kick behind the standard-length skirt.   Needed to keep it really compact due to bait size.   A-Rig gave me a whole new level of confidence to throw these stupid things ?

 

Caught a solid 3lb fish on a piece of cover on the Lizard, caught a few smaller fish on the Tiny 4, but was able to pick up a quality 5lb class fish on the spinnerbait along with a few other quality fish.  A few fish came on the Flashback Mini as well, it's the only constant day in, day off lure that always catches a fish.     First day in some time that I might have hit that 5/15lb benchmark.  About the same amount of fish (15).    77 outside temps/ 65-67 water temps.   

 

[Swamp Girl]

Beautiful fish, Alex! The first, second, and fourth look like bulldozers, but the third fish is built like a sports car. I also like the jaw on that first fish. Good job catching them on various lures too. I always enjoy going deeper into my tackle box. 

[Woody B]

Nice bunch of fish Alex.  The water sure warmed up quick there.  It just got into the 50's here.  My GPS lattitude is 35 degrees North.  I doubt I'm more than 1 degree North of you.   So far it's warmed up quicker here this year than last year.  I just looked through my pictures.  I've got one that's 49 degrees water temp on March 13.  The air temp was 22 when I launched the boat that day.   Water wasn't into the 60s here until April last year.  We don't have the pollen here that you have yet, but we will soon.  

[Blue Raider Bob]

Here's my latest big catch. He's a DD!

"Alex" entered the world about 7:00PM last night, bawling his brand new little head off! He is a big O'boy! He was followed shortly by "A-Jay"! Mother and sons doing fine!

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

20 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Here's my latest big catch. He's a DD!

"Alex" entered the world about 7:00PM last night, bawling his brand new little head off! He is a big O'boy! He was followed shortly by "A-Jay"! Mother and sons doing fine!

 

Wow how cool is that Bob!!!  Busy year at the Billy Goat factory ?

 

It's a perfect name for such a stubborn animal ?

3 hours ago, Woody B said:

Nice bunch of fish Alex.  The water sure warmed up quick there.  It just got into the 50's here.  My GPS lattitude is 35 degrees North.  I doubt I'm more than 1 degree North of you.   So far it's warmed up quicker here this year than last year.  I just looked through my pictures.  I've got one that's 49 degrees water temp on March 13.  The air temp was 22 when I launched the boat that day.   Water wasn't into the 60s here until April last year.  We don't have the pollen here that you have yet, but we will soon.  

Thanks friend, and also thanks for the data point.    Man this weather is wild.   As a kid we had our biggest snow storm/blizzard in March of 93.....2.5ft of snow.   

 

Ever since then it seems March has gotten warmer and warmer, and then these last two years are just crazy.

11 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Beautiful fish, Alex! The first, second, and fourth look like bulldozers, but the third fish is built like a sports car. I also like the jaw on that first fish. Good job catching them on various lures too. I always enjoy going deeper into my tackle box. 

Thanks Katie!   You know desperation is creeping in when I'm chunking a spinner widget ?

 

I need you start back fishing so I can realize the lures I don't have, but clearly need ?

 

I still can't wait to catch a fish on the Whopper Plopper, love how it fishes, much easier to chunk and wind than a buzzer.

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Wow how cool is that Bob!!!  Busy year at the Billy Goat factory ?

 

It's a perfect name for such a stubborn animal ?

Thanks friend, and also thanks for the data point.    Man this weather is wild.   As a kid we had our biggest snow storm/blizzard in March of 93.....2.5ft of snow.   

 

Ever since then it seems March has gotten warmer and warmer, and then these last two years are just crazy.

Thanks Katie!   You know desperation is creeping in when I'm chunking a spinner widget ?

 

I need you start back fishing so I can realize the lures I don't have, but clearly need ?

 

I still can't wait to catch a fish on the Whopper Plopper, love how it fishes, much easier to chunk and wind than a buzzer.

We had a pretty decent snow in march last year too! 

[Swamp Girl]

@Bluebasser86 @AlabamaSpothunter and the rest of you guys catching big bass, imagine Ted Baxter in Caddyshack saying this:

 

"You think you're soooooo good at fishing. Well, why don't you come up to my house and go fishing here. You know there are bass in Maine, right? However, don't come today, as it's supposed to snow into the night. And don't come on Saturday, since it's supposed to snow all day that day too. Come tomorrow. Here's a photo of my house to help you find it. Well? I'm waiting!"

 

Back to Katie: Whoa, Bob! What a kid!!! DD for sure. Poor mama.

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@Bluebasser86 @AlabamaSpothunter and the rest of you guys catching big bass, imagine Ted Baxter in Caddyshack saying this:

 

"You think you're soooooo good at fishing. Well, why don't you come up to my house and go fishing here. You know there are bass in Maine, right? However, don't come today, as it's supposed to snow into the night. And don't come on Saturday, since it's supposed to snow all day that day too. Come tomorrow. Here's a photo of my house to help you find it. Well? I'm waiting!"

 

Back to Katie: Whoa, Bob! What a kid!!! DD for sure. Poor mama.

 

 

 

 

That is pretty!!!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@Bluebasser86 @AlabamaSpothunter and the rest of you guys catching big bass, imagine Ted Baxter in Caddyshack saying this:

 

"You think you're soooooo good at fishing. Well, why don't you come up to my house and go fishing here. You know there are bass in Maine, right? However, don't come today, as it's supposed to snow into the night. And don't come on Saturday, since it's supposed to snow all day that day too. Come tomorrow. Here's a photo of my house to help you find it. Well? I'm waiting!"

 

Back to Katie: Whoa, Bob! What a kid!!! DD for sure. Poor mama.

 

 

 

 

Right out of some novel or something, that's beautiful!   

 

You got to at least give me credit enough to know not to come and get embarrassed by those Maine Bass ?

 

You put Maine on the map in my brain, before seeing your tremendous success I never once thought....Bass + Maine = epic days.    

[Swamp Girl]

@TnRiver46, it is pretty. I enjoy a snowfall. 

 

@AlabamaSpothunter, Maine bass wouldn't embarrass you, not with your earned acumen. Do you ever watch Old Lady Angler's videos? She's a kayaking Floridian who fished Maine last August and now is buying land up here, which confirms, to me at least, the quality of our fishing, since she fishes the Everglades and has 40/50/60/70 bass days.  

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

20 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@TnRiver46, it is pretty. I enjoy a snowfall. 

 

@AlabamaSpothunter, Maine bass wouldn't embarrass you, not with your earned acumen. Do you ever watch Old Lady Angler's videos? She's a kayaking Floridian who fished Maine last August and now is buying land up here, which confirms, to me at least, the quality of our fishing, since she fishes the Everglades and has 40/50/60/70 bass days.  

 

 

No, but I'll go watch some of her stuff.    Talk about extremes, be nice to fish the winters in the south, and summers in the north.  

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

@Bluebasser86 @AlabamaSpothunter and the rest of you guys catching big bass, imagine Ted Baxter in Caddyshack saying this:

 

"You think you're soooooo good at fishing. Well, why don't you come up to my house and go fishing here. You know there are bass in Maine, right? However, don't come today, as it's supposed to snow into the night. And don't come on Saturday, since it's supposed to snow all day that day too. Come tomorrow. Here's a photo of my house to help you find it. Well? I'm waiting!"

 

Back to Katie: Whoa, Bob! What a kid!!! DD for sure. Poor mama.

 

 

 

 

I love fishing when it's snowing. Snow equals low pressure system, usually means biting fish and as a nice side effect, it also keeps other people off the water.