Latest Catch Pics Thread

[T-Billy]

11 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Get a load of that belly, magnificent!   

Yeah!!! The fish ain't bad either. 

[ScottW]

8 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Sorry about the Skunk Scott, but thanks for the report.   Hope you guys are having a blast on the trip!   Stay safe, and have more fun ?

We’re working on it. Found out from another camper that he caught a 10+ pounder in this very lake. He’s a full time rv-er here and says this Lake is home to some huge bass. When we finally got back from St. Augustine late this afternoon the skies were scudding up with rain clouds so tomorrow may be hit or miss on another fishing trip to the lake here.

 

7 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Scott, I'm also 66 and stink like a skunk, so you're not alone. And after I descended a steep hill yesterday to fish on tipsy rocks, I came home and took a nap, feeling the double-six. Thanks for the gator sign photo!

I hear you Katie! I thought for sure that I’d be doing somersaults down the bluff after tripping over an exposed root. ?

[deep]

Fished little, and caught even less since last June. Here's an 8 lb 6 oz fish, and a 6 lb 2 oz fish from Monday though. One rod, one reel, one bait.

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

4 minutes ago, deep said:

Fished little, and caught even less since last June. Here's an 8 lb 6 oz fish, and a 6 lb 2 oz fish from Monday though. One rod, one reel, one bait.

 

 

Awesome fish, congrats!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Another weird day......but then again not that weird when you account for the "first 15mins rule".    Time after time you hear about and see it firsthand, laying the hammer down in those first 15mins usually means you've seen the fireworks already.    

 

First 10mins, 25yds of bank I got 2 for #8.5........I'm thinking I'm Rick Clunn and about to put a 20-30lb bag together, LOL.   

 

7 fish total for about 3.5 hrs fished.    Big fish was close to 5, second one was close to 4, and the rest were 2-3lb fish.   Still a quality bag, but long gone are those sweet 20lbs+ bag days of winter.   Admittedly, I got Spring completely wrong, but have learned a massive amount.   

 

Something about this D-Bomb seems to make quality fish eat it.   6 fish were on it, 1 on the buzzbait.    Gonna buy several more colors tomorrow and reward the bait monkey.   Then I need a new camera.  

 

[Swamp Girl]

Big fish, Alex.

 

BIG fish, Deep.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Thanks Katie! 

[thediscochef]

7 hours ago, GaryH said:

Dang.. you are persistent ?

Thanks! I get lazy sometimes but I'm on a mission right now to catch some heavy bass. Still waiting on that last part to work out but I have faith in the fluke

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Another weird day......but then again not that weird when you account for the "first 15mins rule".    Time after time you hear about and see it firsthand, laying the hammer down in those first 15mins usually means you've seen the fireworks already.    

 

First 10mins, 25yds of bank I got 2 for #8.5........I'm thinking I'm Rick Clunn and about to put a 20-30lb bag together, LOL.   

 

7 fish total for about 3.5 hrs fished.    Big fish was close to 5, second one was close to 4, and the rest were 2-3lb fish.   Still a quality bag, but long gone are those sweet 20lbs+ bag days of winter.   Admittedly, I got Spring completely wrong, but have learned a massive amount.   

 

Something about this D-Bomb seems to make quality fish eat it.   6 fish were on it, 1 on the buzzbait.    Gonna buy several more colors tomorrow and reward the bait monkey.   Then I need a new camera.  

 

Nice sack of fish my friend. That D-Bomb will serve you well. I ALWAYS have a Sweet Craw rigged on a flippin stick, from ice out to ice over. Rigging it on a snelled straight shank with the hook point buried in the bait allows me to fish it in places I wouldn't dare put a jig. Easily the best big fish rig I've found.

 I love the look of those banks in your top couple pics. Overhanging bushes like that are my #1 producer in the summer. #2 would be weed choked laydowns, the gnarlier the better. LM love the shade and overhead protection they provide.

 The above applies to daylight hours. After dark, a chatterbait around weeds is #1. If they're short striking it, I'll switch to a paddletail swimmer.

[T-Billy]

8 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I might have motored off in shame, but I would have binoc'd your lure before I did so 

10-4. I don't get it. I was hauling fish behind a guy last week too. He was throwing a spinnerbait on a sunny, slick calm day, and I was hauling fish right behind him pitching the Sweet Craw. He didn't leave, but he didn't adjust either. Just kept chucking that spinnerbait. I never saw him catch a fish.

 I've been on the other end of the stick plenty of times, and they don't have to catch many before I started paying attention, and adjust accordingly.

[PhishLI]

4 hours ago, T-Billy said:

After dark, a chatterbait around weeds is #1.

Righty-O, Daddy-O. When the chatterbait bite is hot, fishing doesn't get much more fun than that, especially on straight braid. It's right up there with a hot larger swimbait bite. Ain't nothing subtle about either, but those straight-braid nighttime CB bites are usually violent.

[LrgmouthShad]

13 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Righty-O, Daddy-O. When the chatterbait bite is hot, fishing doesn't get much more fun than that, especially on straight braid. It's right up there with a hot larger swimbait bite. Ain't nothing subtle about either, but those straight-braid nighttime CB bites are usually violent.

Clearly you gentlemen have never heard of a much funner lure. Please, let me be the first to introduce you. You see, there is this lure called the spinnerbait. It’s quite magnificent 

[PhishLI]

10 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You see, there is this lure called the spinnerbait.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46 for spinnerbait trauma. 

[LrgmouthShad]

1 minute ago, PhishLI said:

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46for spinnerbait trauma. 

What??? You too now???? Good grief. We’ve lost our way.

 

You can’t tell me that chatterbait success at night severely outweighs something like a Zorro Short Arm Aggravator. Ain’t no way

[PhishLI]

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You can’t tell me that chatterbait success at night severely outweighs something like a Zorro Short Arm Aggravator.

It's more about the slimy algae here. It just fouls up the blades lickity-split. So frustrating to the point that I question my sanity each time I get the notion to throw one, yet a chatterbait on braid with a fast MH can be snapped which will clear it most of the time.

[LrgmouthShad]

8 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

It's more about the slimy algae here. It just fouls up the blades lickity-split. So frustrating to the point that I question my sanity each time I get the notion to throw one, yet a chatterbait on braid with a fast MH can be snapped which will clear it most of the time.

Yeah… alright I hear ya. I’ve had problems with algae on spinnerbaits before too. I mean, I haven’t even caught a Texan fish on a spinnerbait yet so for all I know, my spinnerbait days could be few and far between

[gim]

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

He didn't leave, but he didn't adjust either. Just kept chucking that spinnerbait. I never saw him catch a fish.

Oh believe me I know several people who are just like this and refuse to adjust even when another strategy/lure/presentation is working.  Its called pure stubbornness.  They would rather catch nothing their way than cave in and start catching fish someone else's way.

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Another weird day......but then again not that weird when you account for the "first 15mins rule".    Time after time you hear about and see it firsthand, laying the hammer down in those first 15mins usually means you've seen the fireworks already.    

 

First 10mins, 25yds of bank I got 2 for #8.5........I'm thinking I'm Rick Clunn and about to put a 20-30lb bag together, LOL.   

 

7 fish total for about 3.5 hrs fished.    Big fish was close to 5, second one was close to 4, and the rest were 2-3lb fish.   Still a quality bag, but long gone are those sweet 20lbs+ bag days of winter.   Admittedly, I got Spring completely wrong, but have learned a massive amount.   

 

Something about this D-Bomb seems to make quality fish eat it.   6 fish were on it, 1 on the buzzbait.    Gonna buy several more colors tomorrow and reward the bait monkey.   Then I need a new camera.  

 

I hope I get spring totally wrong like you did when I grow up 

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

but he didn't adjust either.Just kept chucking that spinnerbait. I never saw him catch a fish.

 

Oh law how I’ve been there so many times 

[Swamp Girl]

11 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Oh believe me I know several people who are just like this and refuse to adjust even when another strategy/lure/presentation is working.  Its called pure stubbornness.  They would rather catch nothing their way than cave in and start catching fish someone else's way.

 

My brother is one of those people. I found a stationary school of smallmouth in northwestern Ontario. You'd lower your leech and you'd have a fish, one after another after another after.... I fetched my brother. He'd been fishing tube jigs and so while my boat caught fish two and three at a time, he glared at us, catching nothing.

 

"We have plenty of leeches," I said.

 

More glaring.

 

Five minutes later, "Would you like some leeches?"

 

More glaring.

 

I know, he's a bundle of sunshine.

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

7 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Nice sack of fish my friend. That D-Bomb will serve you well. I ALWAYS have a Sweet Craw rigged on a flippin stick, from ice out to ice over. Rigging it on a snelled straight shank with the hook point buried in the bait allows me to fish it in places I wouldn't dare put a jig. Easily the best big fish rig I've found.

 I love the look of those banks in your top couple pics. Overhanging bushes like that are my #1 producer in the summer. #2 would be weed choked laydowns, the gnarlier the better. LM love the shade and overhead protection they provide.

 The above applies to daylight hours. After dark, a chatterbait around weeds is #1. If they're short striking it, I'll switch to a paddletail swimmer.

Great stuff Tim, and thanks for the tips.

 

The Da Bomb has been a revelation, might have to get a braid setup and get down in the nasty stuff like you ?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I hope I get spring totally wrong like you did when I grow up 

Oh law how I’ve been there so many times 

LOL, I've had some quality fish here and there that I'm super thankful for, but I just didn't have a clue how fast and how shallow these fish would go. 

 

Didn't realize short strikes were a common thing in the Spring because fish will just bump baits off beds, so downsizing from a Lizard to a creature gives you that much better odds at them actually biting the hook.   

 

Thought I could just power my way through it with moving baits, until I started literally catching one fish a day lol.    To end last week I think I had a 1 fish, 3 fish, and 1 fish day.   I got tired of telling the neighbor who only throws a shakey head and likes hearing my reports that I only caught a dink ?

 

I suspect all you folks in this thread know more about the Spawn, and Spring fishing than myself.  Winter and Spring were the only seasons I didn't hardcore fish in my previous Bass fishing life.    I feel I stayed with the fish over the winter like Matt Allen talks about so much, but then lost them very quickly once they started spawning.  

 

This place and you guys have been invaluable on my journey, and I have no doubts I'll have a significantly better Spring next year because of the stuff I learned here, and on the water the last two months.   It's just frustrating when you realize you could have been throwing a bait that produces big time but instead you were hard headed until forced back to bottom.  

[AlabamaSpothunter]

3 hours ago, PhishLI said:

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46 for spinnerbait trauma. 

Show us on the wire frame where the Spinnerbait touched you ?

[TnRiver46]

43 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

LOL, I've had some quality fish here and there that I'm super thankful for, but I just didn't have a clue how fast and how shallow these fish would go. 

 

Didn't realize short strikes were a common thing in the Spring because fish will just bump baits off beds, so downsizing from a Lizard to a creature gives you that much better odds at them actually biting the hook.   

 

Thought I could just power my way through it with moving baits, until I started literally catching one fish a day lol.    To end last week I think I had a 1 fish, 3 fish, and 1 fish day.   I got tired of telling the neighbor who only throws a shakey head and likes hearing my reports that I only caught a dink ?

 

I suspect all you folks in this thread know more about the Spawn, and Spring fishing than myself.  Winter and Spring were the only seasons I didn't hardcore fish in my previous Bass fishing life.    I feel I stayed with the fish over the winter like Matt Allen talks about so much, but then lost them very quickly once they started spawning.  

 

This place and you guys have been invaluable on my journey, and I have no doubts I'll have a significantly better Spring next year because of the stuff I learned here, and on the water the last two months.   It's just frustrating when you realize you could have been throwing a bait that produces big time but instead you were hard headed until forced back to bottom.  

Some quality fish mixed in is better than zero quality fish 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Some quality fish mixed in is better than zero quality fish 

You sir are the silver lining reminder I needed ?

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You sir are the silver lining reminder I needed ?

I have that effect on a lot of people