Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Jmurphy87]

I have been absent for a while, currently homeless with the family but still going to work. We are staying with friends so it’s not like we are on the streets at least. The river has been rough on me fishing wise, no internet where we are staying so no fishing videos either. I have skunked quite a few times. But today was not one of them, nothing special but I got my daughter out fishing with dad and onto a pike. Have a good night everyone and catch plenty of fish for me ? sorry no pictures of my daughter with the pike we used her phone and we are at Walmart currently and I don’t have her phone lol.

[LrgmouthShad]

22 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

I have a hope and suspicion that you may do well with that approach...it's what I'd be doing first if I was on a boat right now

We’ll see. I am a structure fisherman, deep is not my comfort zone, but I plan on starting my search in 20-25ft. The lake just keeps dropping and getting hotter and hotter and clearer and clearer 

[Texas Flood]

Got this nearly 4lber and another smaller one on a chatterbait. Those were my only bites for the day. We did have a storm go through last night, so maybe that had to do with it. 

[thediscochef]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

We’ll see. I am a structure fisherman, deep is not my comfort zone, but I plan on starting my search in 20-25ft. The lake just keeps dropping and getting hotter and hotter and clearer and clearer 

Yeah Ray Bob is finally starting to really see the evap loss, we dropped probably six to eight inches in July and it's sped up since mid month. I fish kind of the same way, fishing deep sort of feels like walking with my eyes closed

1 hour ago, Jmurphy87 said:

I have been absent for a while, currently homeless with the family but still going to work. We are staying with friends so it’s not like we are on the streets at least. The river has been rough on me fishing wise, no internet where we are staying so no fishing videos either. I have skunked quite a few times. But today was not one of them, nothing special but I got my daughter out fishing with dad and onto a pike. Have a good night everyone and catch plenty of fish for me ? sorry no pictures of my daughter with the pike we used her phone and we are at Walmart currently and I don’t have her phone lol.

good to see you with fish in hand! I hope things improve man ?

[Team9nine]

Weather forecaster surprised us with rain threats and related cloudiness, along with decent winds and slightly cooler temps - so out I went this afternoon. Ended the day with 11 bass, a few on swimbait and the rest on Ned or weighted wacky. Size was a bit improved, though still no big fish. 
 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Fished a friend's pond for 2.5 hours. Caught 13 and lost three. The biggest was 18 inches. I think my numbers are dropping because it's the thick of summer, but I'm just so happy being on the water. I heard owls, a cow, and had a heron fly low over me. Murph, it's good to see you post again!

[IcatchDinks]

@Jmurphy87 I hope things improve for you, man. Always enjoy seeing your posts. 

 

I've got a full report for today:

 

I spent about three hours wading the Chippewa today. A few small bites, but nothing to write home about. 

 

There was this beautiful tiny smallie. Probably the prettiest smallmouth I've ever caught. A pity he wasn't bigger:

 

Then I went out again this evening. Just throwing from the bank this time:

 

The Yum Dinger was only catching dinks, and I've caught my fair share of dinks this week. So I switched to the Rebel Wee-craw. (From past experience, the wee-craw is also very good at catching dinks. But I also caught my PB LM on it.) 

 

Landed my largest smallmouth of the year a few casts in. And the largest smallie I've pulled out of the Chippewa. It was a really good fight, too. 

 

The cast itself actually landed on the far bank. Oops. I gave it a little pop to get it back into the water. The second it hit, the water around it boiled, and the floating lure disappeared under the water.

 

He was peeling drag. I'm not very good at adjusting the drag while fighting a fish. But I managed it this time. Except while I was busy tightening the drag, he dove into a weed bed, and wedged in tight.

 

I never fish with anything more than 12 lb line, so muscling him out wasn't really an option, plus, I didn't trust that my treble hooks had anything more than skin. After fighting the weeds for what felt like an eternity, I decided to let him have his a head, just a bit. I gave him a little bit of slack, and then picked it right back up again. That did the trick. He swam free and the fight was back on.

 

I almost had him to shore when he jumped, and my heart jumped to my throat with him. It was a glorious leap, tail driving, head shaking. But the hooks held, and after he landed back in the water, the fight just left him. I brought him in, and lipped him. The moment I had the fish in my hands, the crankbait fell out of his mouth. He measured in about 15 1/2" and 1.8 lbs. 

 

Compared to the fish some of you guys n gals are hauling in, he's a little guy. But for me and the waters I fish on the regular, he's a really nice catch. And definitely the best fight I've had all year. 

 

And then I slipped in the mud and fell into the river trying to release him. 

 

 

 

[Dominat0r]

Streak on 61 days. I have a wedding today, so I might not be able to get out. SO I went out at the stroke of midnight. 7mins in.....fish for 8/6. Off a mag speed worm. Funny, was going to cut this off and put on the normal 6", but thought I would toss in around and see. 

 

[Swamp Girl]

@IcatchDinks:

 

Two things. I love when you celebrate your dinks, like "the prettiest smallmouth I've ever caught."

 

And I also love when you don't catch dinks. BTW, I think your smallie is 16". I can see in the measurement photo that it's cupped between your two hands. 

 

7 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

I never fish with anything more than 12 lb line, so muscling him out wasn't really an option

 

I fish with 10 lb. mono and 20 lb. braid. I lose a lot of bass, but not by snapping the line. The occasional pickerel will cut it, but if your reel has a good drag, not even four and five-pound bass will snap your line. Heck, they can add three pounds of weeds and the line will still hold. 

 

7 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

And definitely the best fight I've had all year. 

 

And you did a great job of describing that fight. You put us on the side of that bank, cheering you on!

 

#weallcatchdinkseventhegreatdwighthottle 

[IcatchDinks]

@ol'crickety I know the photo looks like 16, but could swear it said 15.5 in real life. I think the camera angle makes it look like it's measuring longer. But since I have photographic evidence, we'll call him 16. ?

 

Fishing is fun, even when I'm pulling in the little guys. As much as I'd love to pull in monsters all the time like you and some others here seem to do, that's just not the reality of the fisheries readily available to me.

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

@ol'crickety I know the photo looks like 16, but could swear it said 15.5 in real life. I think the camera angle makes it look like it's measuring longer. But since I have photographic evidence, we'll call him 16. ?

 

Your smallmouth looks dipped in the middle. I don't think I'm wrong. I know you're trying to be 100% honest, but honestly, I think you're cheating yourself out of half an inch and maybe more. 

[thediscochef]

30 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

@ol'crickety I know the photo looks like 16, but could swear it said 15.5 in real life. I think the camera angle makes it look like it's measuring longer. But since I have photographic evidence, we'll call him 16. ?

 

Fishing is fun, even when I'm pulling in the little guys. As much as I'd love to pull in monsters all the time like you and some others here seem to do, that's just not the reality of the fisheries readily available to me.

Catching the bigger fish from your ecosystem is as much an accomplishment as anything else from my point of view. Good stuff man, call that 16" for sure cause that fish is definitely not fully flat. I wish I caught more 16" smallmouth. Nice work!

[Woody B]

I went last night.  I was on the lake from 1:30 until 4:30.   I caught 6 dinks, 4 on a bladed jig, 2 on a t-rig.   Picture is the biggest one.  I didn't measure it so I could "call" it 14 inches.   I think there was a Catfish tournament last night.   The (huge) landing was 1/2 full of trailers when I got there.   I wasn't fishing very far from the landing.  Weigh in must have been 3am.  Around 2:50 all kinds of boats came back to the landing.   There was only one trailer left at the landing when I came home.   

[Swamp Girl]

@thediscochef and @IcatchDinks, now that's been established that @IcatchDinks folds bass to make them appear smaller, I wonder what other visual tricks he's using to shrink his fish so that his screen name fits. Just as some of us thrust our bass at the camera to make them appear larger, @IcatchDinks is working the other way. 

[FishTank]

I had pretty good day on the water despite the rain and wind. We caught about 20 good size large mouth and even a striper.

 

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the monster catfish I brought in that did this because my phone was drenched but I'll let you take a guess as to how big it was. 

 

 

 

This a Deps Evoke 3.0. It's a 1oz, 3in+ squarebill. The catfish I caught bent out a 40lb test Owner Hyper Wire split ring and pretty much ate this big lure whole. It was awesome. 

[BigAngus752]

1 hour ago, FishTank said:

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the monster catfish I brought in that did this because my phone was drenched but I'll let you take a guess as to how big it was. 

I've seen a lot of "how much does this fish weigh" posts but never one that didn't include a photo of the fish!  LOL!

That sounds like a good day.  I don't mind the weather either.  That catfish had to be a beast. 

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, FishTank said:

I had pretty good day on the water despite the rain and wind. We caught about 20 good size large mouth and even a striper.

 

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the monster catfish I brought in that did this because my phone was drenched but I'll let you take a guess as to how big it was. 

 

 

 

This a Deps Evoke 3.0. It's a 1oz, 3in+ squarebill. The catfish I caught bent out a 40lb test Owner Hyper Wire split ring and pretty much ate this big lure whole. It was awesome. 

 

I have an F13 Rapala that a musky hit. I didn't catch the musky. There's a steel wire in an F13 Rapala. I know this because the musky ripped it out of the lure's body, splintering the balsa. It also deformed the hooks and this all happened in about two seconds of thrashing, splashing fury. Then it loaded my rod with so much energy that when the beast spat the lure, it whizzed past my head.

 

I love that lure.

 

Treasure yours too. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Okay lost two fish, had a few definitive bites. Skunked. I’m not entirely sure that I chalk this trip up as a loss though. One of the fish I lost on the jig, and I’m pretty sure that fish is bigger than any I’ve tango’d with on this lake. It actually started to run during the fight and kinda do its own thing. Felt really heavy. If it was a bass, I consider the trip a win. I know where that bass’s crib is at, lol. It was sitting on something that I had marked in deep water months ago. There were a ton of very large fish arches in the area just roaming, and plentiful bait

[Swamp Girl]

33 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Okay lost two fish, had a few definitive bites. Skunked. I’m not entirely sure that I chalk this trip up as a loss though. One of the fish I lost on the jig, and I’m pretty sure that fish is bigger than any I’ve tango’d with on this lake. It actually started to run during the fight and kinda do its own thing. Felt really heavy. If it was a bass, I consider the trip a win. I know where that bass’s crib is at, lol. It was sitting on something that I had marked in deep water months ago. There were a ton of very large fish arches in the area just roaming, and plentiful bait

 

I see your PB is 9-10 lbs., so you know what a big bass feels like and you have the address of your next PB. Ex-ci-ting!

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I see your PB is 9-10 lbs., so you know what a big bass feels like and you have the address of your next PB. Ex-ci-ting!

It gave me a thrill. I am pretty sure that the fish thought my bait was a really large crawdad. There were a few bites I got where it would be a tick, and then nothing. Then I’d reel and set hook and there’d be nothing there. I’m pretty sure that was smaller fish trying to disarm the “crawdad.” This larger fish did none of that. It violently attacked and then started running. But when it spit the bait and I got it back, my bait was tore at the hook. So I think the big fish attacked and then was holding the jig by the “pinchers.” But the way that fish ran, it did it with authority. Maybe not PB, but big fish 

[PhishLI]

We got our wish for heavy cloud cover hiding a big moon on our every-other-Saturday john boat trip, but it was completely windless. They were on total lockdown, so the bite was super tough, and our skunk-free streak was seriously teetering on the edge. I finally knocked the stink off with a Livington Bullnose wake/crank eating squirt, and my brother got the right bite on a Megabass Hazedong Shad and closed the show. He thought he'd snagged a branch at first, then it jumped.?I was thrilled to see him finally hook into some decent horsepower after several trips of slogging a 12' john boat inhumane distances back and forth to these off the beaten path puddles where we travel to.

[IcatchDinks]

Went wading again. This time in the rain. It was a nice gentle drizzle when I started, and then turned into a heavy downpour. I kept fishing, seeing as I was already soaked. But I coulda called it a day an hour early and saved myself from turning into a human raisin. The downpour turned off the bite like a light switch.

 

I caught three in total, only took pictures of two. And I had two more bites but they got away. I think they grabbed the end of my plastic but not the hook.

 

As I was reeling in both of these fish, I saw bigger smallies chasing them in. I'm gonna head back to that specific hole soon, and see if I can get even bigger fish. 

 

[T-Billy]

On 8/5/2023 at 5:14 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

I really ain't messing around tonight. Have a 1oz jig with giant trailer, 3/4oz thumper spinnerbait, and frog rigged and that's all I plan on throwing.

 

On 8/5/2023 at 5:24 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

My lake is a grass lake,

I know I sound like a broken record but... 

Weed edges first, if they ain't there, rock structure if you have any.

[LrgmouthShad]

2 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

 

I know I sound like a broken record but... 

Weed edges first, if they ain't there, rock structure if you have any.

Rig chatterbait, good to go until I encounter wood, which there is a lot of in this lake. Rig spinnerbait, and I don't give a darn what I encounter. If I rigged both, I've gotta worry about one more rod when it's dark out. Just my thoughts. I appreciate it though. 

@T-Billy actually who am I kidding. There’s more to it than that. I just have so much darned confidence in a spinnerbait, that, by golly, that’s what I’m going to use. Somebody else might catch em on a chatterbait but I’m okay with that. 

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, PhishLI said:

We got our wish for heavy cloud cover hiding a big moon on our every-other-Saturday john boat trip, but it was completely windless. They were on total lockdown, so the bite was super tough, and our skunk-free streak was seriously teetering on the edge. I finally knocked the stink off with a Livington Bullnose wake/crank eating squirt, and my brother got the right bite on a Megabass Hazedong Shad and closed the show. He thought he'd snagged a branch at first, then it jumped.?I was thrilled to see him finally hook into some decent horsepower after several trips of slogging a 12' john boat inhumane distances back and forth to these off the beaten path puddles where we travel to.

 

Go, go, PhishLI bro!!!

 

2 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

I'm gonna head back to that specific hole soon, and see if I can get even bigger fish. 

 

 

You can. You will! And when you do, don't use any of your visual tricks to make it appear to be a dink, like putting 100 yards between you and the camera.