Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Mbirdsley]

  On 5/3/2024 at 3:26 AM, IcatchDinks said:

@Mbirdsleycongrats on a great haul. Looks like tons of fun. I've been chasing a master angler patch every since I heard about it, and got close with a massive pumpkin seed a while back. They informed me that they believed it to be a hybrid, and I wanted to know if there were actually any purebreds left. 😆

 

Again, nice job, and an early congrats on the patch. That's super cool. 

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thank you for the kind words.  yeah i guess i don’t know the difference between a sunfish and a hybrid. should have asked them if there were pure breeds left haha.  usually they are good about responding to those questions. 

 

its one of those things i think you can’t try to catch one for master angler  because, when you do is when you will catch nothing but dinks. you 

 

I had come close to a master angler 1 other time.  my brother and I were fishing lake michigan over 4th of july weekend 6 years ago.  i caught a 38.75 inch ( 28.5 lbs) king salmon.  i missed master angler for a king salmon by a 1/4 inch that was tough.  dang thing barley fit in the cooler. that was a little tough to take. 

[IcatchDinks]

@Mbirdsley I totally agree. You just gotta fish like normal and try not to think about it. Somehow the fish know. The MA size limit for Pumpkinseed is 9". The limit for hybrids is 10". Mine was 9 3/4". I imagine if I just keep fishing I'll nab a MA worthy fish someday.

[Swamp Girl]

@AlabamaSpothunter: I don't know if any other BR anglers have fished the wilderness for smallmouth, Alex, but that's been the great thrill of my life. My criteria for wilderness is a little tighter than most: no cabins, no fly-ins, no other people, etc.

 

Just you, the lakes, and the bass, walleye, pike, and muskies.

 

It would be a long drive for you to reach the wilderness of northwestern Ontario from Alabama and likely a steep learning curve.

 

My first few trips doled out considerable miseries, like swarms of black flies and mosquitoes. You can't set up camp at the pretty places, like under a canopy of cathedral pines. You pitch on exposed points aimed at the prevailing winds. Even then, with a canoe over your head, you'll be sucking bugs on portages, but when you enjoy 100-bass-per-angler days, you'll have earned them.

 

Maine is a cozy facsimile of the wilderness. It's all this old woman can manage. I could still sleep on rock, no problem, and fall asleep to wolf song with a smile on my face, but the physical demands of reaching the wilderness surpass me now.

 

But not you, Alex. 

 

Not you.

[TnRiver46]

I’ve fished TN wilderness for SMB and trout …….

[roadwarrior]

To all of you, GREAT JOB!

 

 

 

                                                              

[Swamp Girl]

  On 5/3/2024 at 12:02 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve fished TN wilderness for SMB and trout …….

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Some of those backwoods streams are pretty wild, for sure. 

 

Hey, Kent! The BR gang sure is catching some fine fish. I'd love to have tangled with that fat musky or those wipers. 

[Pat Brown]

Got my first fish on a walking topwater yesterday evening.  Then I went out for a little stroll this morning and caught my first solid frog fish at the pond of the spring!  So topwater is officially the game plan until further notice.  Thank you for your cooperation. Tight lines this weekend people.  😎👍🏼🎣

 

 

Pad perch gone down the throat.  Loving that bone color.

[Swamp Girl]

I keep trying and failing at topwater, Pat. I tossed a Whopper Plopper yesterday evening and worked a big swimabait as a wakebait, but nothing. Still a bit chilly for Yankee bass to be looking up. I love your smile!

[TnRiver46]

  On 5/3/2024 at 1:24 PM, ol'crickety said:

 

Some of those backwoods streams are pretty wild, for sure. 

 

Hey, Kent! The BR gang sure is catching some fine fish. I'd love to have tangled with that fat musky or those wipers. 

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They are quite wild but there are more humans than Canada and the humans you find in a wilderness area are typically quite the characters in one way or another 😂 

 

Me and my buddy Geoff paddled around in my canoe while my wife was in her kayak. Got some SMB, white bass, yellow bass, and skipjack. Geoff caught the nicest fish of the day that fought like it was much larger

 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

  On 5/3/2024 at 1:57 PM, ol'crickety said:

I keep trying and failing at topwater.

...but nothing... 

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Katie, I think I sent you a Heddon Super Spook Jr. and a PopMax.  The Junior is

a GUARANTEED producer, but the fish tend to be smaller. The PopMax is my #1

topwater producer of larger fish. Focus on those two lures and you will catch

some bass. 

[Swamp Girl]

I've caught a lot of bass with that PopMax, Kent. Just not in 2024...yet. In 2023, I spent some evenings and mornings fishing nothing but the PopMax. Great lure.

 

And the Spook Jr. is in my lineup for 2024.

 

I enjoyed your video, Mr. 46. The number of your fishing pals says a lot about you. 

[TnRiver46]

I’ll pass along the video credit to my wife, she’s good with a camera 

[roadwarrior]

Where's the drum?

[TnRiver46]

I think I had “holt” of one but it came loose. That part of the Holston is lousy with them 

[A-Jay]

  On 5/3/2024 at 2:29 PM, roadwarrior said:

Katie, I think I sent you a Heddon Super Spook Jr. and a PopMax.  The Junior is

a GUARANTEED producer, but the fish tend to be smaller. The PopMax is my #1

topwater producer of larger fish. Focus on those two lures and you will catch

some bass. 

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What a nice man.

Btw, I have never caught a bass on a brand new corvette. 

Just saying.

A-Jay 

[Fishlegs]

  On 5/3/2024 at 4:16 PM, A-Jay said:

What a nice man.

Btw, I have never caught a bass on a brand new corvette. 

Just saying.

A-Jay 

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[Bird]

Fished a deep clear lake in central VA today.

Fish were on beds.

Caught several and snapped a really nice rod with a lifetime warranty.

[bp_fowler]

Went down to the new reservoir to squeeze in a hour or so of fishing today.  Cloudy conditions, high of 79 and winds from the west at 6 mph.

 

Caught a half dozen dinks on the floating worm.  Most were the same size as the fish in the photo below.

 

Made my way over to the dam and switched to a zoom fluke on an underspin.  Got two bites but only hooked up with one but it was the best fish of the day.

[IcatchDinks]

  On 5/3/2024 at 11:40 AM, ol'crickety said:

@AlabamaSpothunter: I don't know if any other BR anglers have fished the wilderness for smallmouth...

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I haven't fished the wilderness for smallmouth, but fly-fishing the wilds of Alaska for grayling is an experience I will never forget. 

[Swamp Girl]

  On 5/3/2024 at 9:19 PM, IcatchDinks said:

 

I haven't fished the wilderness for smallmouth, but fly-fishing the wilds of Alaska for grayling is an experience I will never forget. 

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Hardcore. 

[TnRiver46]

  On 5/3/2024 at 8:39 PM, Bird said:

Fished a deep clear lake in central VA today.

Fish were on beds.

Caught several and snapped a really nice rod with a lifetime warranty.

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Purty spotted bass 

[MIbassyaker]

  On 5/3/2024 at 2:52 AM, Mbirdsley said:

 Caught what i believe will be a MI Department of natural resources MASTER ANGLER 16.25 white bass.  i actually caught 5 over 16 inches.

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  On 5/3/2024 at 3:26 AM, IcatchDinks said:

I've been chasing a master angler patch every since I heard about it, and got close with a massive pumpkin seed a while back. They informed me that they believed it to be a hybrid, and I wanted to know if there were actually any purebreds left. 😆

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Nice!  I caught a White Crappie last year that would have qualified for a Master Angler patch, but didn't think to check until I got home....and discovered I hadn't gotten a photo of the measurement.

[Bird]

  On 5/3/2024 at 11:11 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Purty spotted bass 

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Heck, I didn't even know it was a spotted bass. 😂

Them things fight.

[gim]

  On 5/3/2024 at 2:52 AM, Mbirdsley said:

MASTER ANGLER

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That’s what my office uses to gauge fish entries for our work contest. In fisherman master angler.

[MIbassyaker]

  On 5/4/2024 at 12:10 AM, gimruis said:

That’s what my office uses to gauge fish entries for our work contest. In fisherman master angler.

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State of Michigan has its own program with its own patch:

https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/fishing/master-angler