Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

@gunsinger: The next time you have one of these days, please give me 24 hours to get there first. Thank you.

[Dominat0r]

Got a chance to fish for about an hour, got 4....3 on the Carolina rig (zoom 6" lizard) and 1 on the drop shot (Zoom trick worm). Really liking the carolina rig and right now. Getting that bait down deep is really doing the trick. They have moved deep for sure. Was really raining all day, so wet and nasty out. No lighting though, so that was a go for me haha. 

 

I threw a zoom speed worm, Rat-L-Trap, whopper plopper 75, a few casts with a buzzbait....nothing else was hit. 

 

[Cbump]

Worst picture of all time but we won a little evening tournament today. 5-8pm on the Brazos river. $250 ?

 

 

[TnRiver46]

1 minute ago, Cbump said:

Worst picture of all time but we won a little evening tournament today. 5-8pm on the Brazos river. $250 ?

 

 

 

congrats! Nice ones 

[IcatchDinks]

NEW PB ALERT! 

I'm feeling very proud of myself, so if you'll allow me to narrate a story, I'll tell you all how it went down:

 

There are three small ponds all within the same 1/2 mile radius, right in the smack dab middle of town. Two of them are only separated by about 20 feet of culvert. These three have been my go to fishing spots all summer. Tonight was no different.  

 

I started fishing at about 7:15 tonight at the largest of the three. I caught three from that pond, nothing notable: two small bass and a bluegill:

After a lot of casting and no more success, I decided to move on to the other two smaller ponds. Unfortunately, the pond I usually fish (the one closest to the road and therefore more accessible) was crowded with people enjoying the holiday week. So I decided to try the other back pond. Now, despite the fact that these two ponds are connected by a very large culvert and occasionally flood into each other, the fish behave very differently. The front pond has tons of vegetation, and the bass DESTROY topwater. The back pond has very little vegetation, is much deeper, and the bass just aren't aggressive at all. I've only ever been bit on senkos and crank baits. I almost never fish it anymore because I have very little success. Also, while both ponds have a lot of carp in them, the back one seems to have a far bigger population. 

 

I fished for about an hour with zero success. Much like my previous experiences, there was zero topwater bite. So, I finally switched to my favorite crankbait, the Rebel Wee Craw. Idk what it is about this bait, but it works. My grandpa introduced me to ot when I was seven years old, and I've been catching fish with it ever since. 

 

I don't know if it was the change in bait, or the fact that I moved to a different spot on the pond. But I finally started catching fish. Nothing big. But it's fun, even when they're little:

 

 

 

 

I was about ready to call it a day. The sun was setting. It had been a fun evening. 

 

I wasn't paying attention on the next bite. I was lazily cranking the bait back to me, when suddenly there was a THUMP, and the drag started peeling out. I could have sworn I'd snagged a carp. After adjusting the drag I finally got the fish coming my way. I thought for sure it was a carp, albiet a small one. But as he surfaced, I realized I had a new PB. Landed him without incident, and now the evening was complete: 18.5 inches at a very skinny 2.66 pounds. 

 

 

What a day! 

 

Oh yeah, and I caught one more tiny dink: 

 

[Swamp Girl]

I am so happy for you, @IcatchDinks! An 18.5-incher is a fine fish! I love your evening pond photo too. That's a Midwestern sky and I miss them. Maine skies just don't look like that. I think it's our humidity, which is nearly always low.

 

P. S. - Please change this: "My PB: Between 1-2 lbs"

[Swamp Girl]

I went fishing with a buddy this morning. We only caught 31, but the following three were sweet and we caught some chunky 17-inchers too. For approximately the last 15 fishing trips, I've caught at least one 19-incher or longer. A couple times, I caught the 19-inch or longer bass as the trip was about to end, so there's been some luck in my streak, but I'm proud of my consistency. 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

 

 

                                       

[Woody B]

19 hours ago, The Baron said:

 I lost an est. 3lb. and then a 3.5-4lb. on jumps, but of course landed all the dinks.  haha

Nice fish.  I have some insight, at least how things work for me.  On moving baits or bottom contact baits I usually have really good success landing the bigger ones.  The little ones get off due to dull hooks or lack of quality hook set.  It's my belief that the weight of the big ones against the hook set insures the hook get's buried good.    However, things are different for me on topwater bites.   I believe at least I have a tendency to jerk the bait out of their mouth on hooksets.   Little ones usually strike harder, and hook themselves.   I concentrate on not setting the hook until I feel the fish, but it's hard.  I think one of the reasons I have more luck with a Devils Horse is I usually have a little bit of slack line.   This delays my too quick hookset and allows them to get the bait into their mouth.   Just my 2 cents worth.  May not work for everyone or anyone else.  

 

@ol'crickety  as far as I'm concerned you're the bass fishing champion.   You catch more in a couple hours than I normally do in a month.  Keep it up.   

[The Baron]

• 2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I went fishing with a buddy this morning. We only caught 31…

Edited July 4, 2023 by The Baron
won't let me add my own text

[T-Billy]

17 minutes ago, Woody B said:

It's my belief that the weight of the big ones against the hook set insures the hook get's buried good.   

I agree 100%. The bigger/heavier gauge the hook, the bigger a factor this becomes. When using straight shanks, with the point buried in the plastic, the thickness and hardness of the plastic is also a factor.

[Swamp Girl]

@Woody B, you're consistent too. So is @Team9nine. And @Bluebasser86. And others.

 

I do often catch more, but that's a function of latitude. You must have noticed that the Ontario and Maine bass fishers catch about what I catch...or more. Northern bass aren't as pressured.

 

As I noted above, I am proud of the consistent quality of my catches, but that's due to Bass Resource. You guys have taught me lures and techniques that I did not know. For example, the 19.75" bass above was caught on a 7" Wacky worm with a 1/0 hook. It was Alex who modeled throwing big baits for me. I hooked her using tips imparted by other BR guys. I played her on braid, which T-Billy encouraged me to use. I set the hook using a stiffer rod than I've used in the past. Again, that's because of the BR gang.

 

I think my total bass catches have dropped, but my quality has increased and that's a joyful trade for me. A four-pounder coming out of the water and making like a marlin is as thrilling as a roller coaster. And netting a kid's first four-pounder is the best. 

[Dominat0r]

Streak goes on!!! Lets go!!!!

 

Having some friends for a BBQ and took a buddy down to the pond to get my fish of the day. Took about 15mins for him to hit my popper (Mirrolure walker). However, it came out of the water like a great white hitting a seal. 

 

[IcatchDinks]

@Dominat0r how days are you at currently? 

[LrgmouthShad]

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I do often catch more, but that's a function of latitude. You must have noticed that the Ontario and Maine bass fishers catch about what I catch...or more. Northern bass aren't as pressured.

Y’all pay for it in the winter though, so it all evens out. 
 

One thing that’s surprising me is that I thought that fishing would slow down here in TX once it got hot. It is not. 

[Dominat0r]

16 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

@Dominat0r how days are you at currently? 

 

Today is day 30  (starting from June 5th) in a row, I missed 1 day when I was at Epcot.  If I get a mulligan for that, the first day was May 25th, which would be 39 days, minus 1 day for Epcot.

[bloom]

23 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

@TnRiver46 I’ve seen cormorants on the bigger bodies of water. My first thought was possible cormorant but they flew just like loons, and when I used the binoculars they looked to be loons. I’m like 90% sure. I’ve seen loons on this lake before. But as I type, the less sure I get….

loons can't land in trees, they cant land or walk on land,  must be cormorants

[Swamp Girl]

20 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Y’all pay for it in the winter though, so it all evens out. 

 

So true. For months, I watched Alex and others land 6, 7, and 8-lb. fish. Even the NY bassers were catching weeks before me.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

So true. For months, I watched Alex and others land 6, 7, and 8-lb. fish. Even the NY bassers were catching weeks before me.

I'm paying for it now most certainly, most days it's close to 110 felt heat, mixed in with thunderstorms and humidity so thick it's like a wall.

 

Oddly the fish still bite, but I just can't deal with that level of suck on the water.   

 

One thing that makes your fish extra awesome is that their pure Northern strain, just a much more aggressive fish than the FLGM strain.  Once you get down here, it's a genetic soup, some places get stocked with pure northerns but then after a spawn or two it gets diluted again.

 

[Swamp Girl]

39 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm paying for it now most certainly, most days it's close to 110 felt heat, mixed in with thunderstorms and humidity so thick it's like a wall.

 

Oddly the fish still bite, but I just can't deal with that level of suck on the water.   

 

One thing that makes your fish extra awesome is that their pure Northern strain, just a much more aggressive fish than the FLGM strain.  Once you get down here, it's a genetic soup, some places get stocked with pure northerns but then after a spawn or two it gets diluted again.

 

 

In that linked article about the men who hunt for giant bass, they mentioned the northern strain + the Florida strain producing huge bass quick to strike, which produced a string of monster fish. I would melt down there. If it hits 80 degrees, I'm baking.  

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Yeah "Tiger"/"Gorilla"/"F1" Bass are a real blast.     They are popular down here for stocking small ponds with.     Much quicker growth rates, and very aggressive.  The ones I've caught are cleaner looking fish, lighter in color with more vivid marking.  They pull harder than the avg. LGM as well.    

 

Like all hybrids though, you lose that vigor the more generations you breed away from it.   It's really only the first generation of stocked fish that have the best of both genetic expressions.   

[LrgmouthShad]

@AlabamaSpothunter As I recall, most bass in Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn as examples are F1 bass.

 

Northern strain largemouth are most definitely more aggressive, having spent a lot of time in NY. I won’t claim whether that makes them easier to catch, but it did mean for me that in the summertime, I was spending less time dragging a worm and more time reeling a spinnerbait. They just seem more apt to chase. If you listen to the Bassmaster elite circuit, you will hear commentators talk about this sometimes 

[gunsinger]

@ol'crickety Those are 3 nice bass. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

42 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

@AlabamaSpothunter As I recall, most bass in Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn as examples are F1 bass.

 

Northern strain largemouth are most definitely more aggressive, having spent a lot of time in NY. I won’t claim whether that makes them easier to catch, but it did mean for me that in the summertime, I was spending less time dragging a worm and more time reeling a spinnerbait. They just seem more apt to chase. If you listen to the Bassmaster elite circuit, you will hear commentators talk about this sometimes 

I'm unfamilar with the genetics of those two bodies of water, but it would not surprise me to see that both pure FLGMs and NLGMs were stocked at different times in those lakes making up a mix of DNA.    

 

However the F1/Tiger/Gorilla Bass refer to the F1 generation or the first filial generation.   Basically the parents first set of offspring.   Once those offspring reproduce now you're on the F2 generation, and so and so on.    Unless the climate/geography limits the sub species, it's extremely hard to know the exact DNA makeup of Bass in the SE with costly testing.    F1 genetics can get dumped into bigger lakes, Northern and pure FLGMs are stocked by state agencies, then you have the Spots and SMs in many areas.    

 

The wonderful thing about TX's fish program especially the sharelunker is that they introduce pure FLGM and F1 fry from sharelunker/FLGM fish into the public fisheries.  TX deserves to be a the heart of big Bass fishing currently, they've worked hard and care about Bass fishing.  

[gim]

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

For months, I watched Alex and others land 6, 7, and 8-lb. fish. Even the NY bassers were catching weeks before me.

And the anglers in Maine were catching bass weeks before me too. I am pretty sure I was the last one to post a legal first bass of 2023, other than some people in Canada.

 

3 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm paying for it now most certainly, most days it's close to 110 felt heat, mixed in with thunderstorms and humidity so thick it's like a wall.

 

Oddly the fish still bite, but I just can't deal with that level of suck on the water.   

Sounds lovely there this time of year lol