Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Aaron_H]

1 hour ago, thediscochef said:

I'm so sick of losing my better fish I could scream. I took a few days off from the lake. Went back this morning and evening. Caught about 12 of these little super dinks throughout the day. Right about sunset I get hit with another brick wall of a fish. I get it within about 10 feet of me and she jumps and spits me. Looked like a solid 5-6. What a drag. At the very least I'm catching numbers with the dinks, and it's not like I'm not getting bit by big fish. It is without a doubt my worst year of missed big fish, but the last time I had a streak of luck like that I ended it with a PB. The idea that it may happen again is the salvation of my sanity, and what's left of my hair 

 

I've been there, it's unbelievably frustrating. I ended up tinkering with my setups to figure out if it was bad luck or if there was something causing it, but hopefully it ends for you soon bud.

[king fisher]

I had a friend I grew up with come visit.  We hadn't fished for bass together in 40 years.  I found a guide that would take us fishing on my favorite lake.  We fished hard for two full days and caught a total of 8 bass.  The biggest one was 1.5 pounds.  The last report I had for the lake was a couple weeks ago, and the fishing had been epic.  It just goes to show even in Mexico, bass fishing is bass fishing.  Neither of us got skunked either day, so it could have been worse.

 

The good thing was fishing is not all about catching fish.  We told and retold so many old stories that both of us had sore throats and scratchy voices, from non stop talking, and sore sides from laughing.

 

My friends PB is 5 pounds, caught in the spring of 1977.  I still remember him walking up to the bank and casting a #3 Mepps spinner across the creek hooking the bass and me reaching down an grabbing it.  We both thought it was the biggest bass in the world.  I sure wish he could have caught  a new PB while he was here, but maybe he will get a chance to come fish again.   

 

 

     

[TnRiver46]

never thought I’d live to see the day
 

Well it’s a miracle, I caught 3 bass on a spinnerbait and two of them were pretty good ones. Much like last time I caught fish with spinnerbait (couple years ago), I saw the bass chasing shad before I caught them. One was 2.98 lbs and maybe 18-19” (couldn’t find the tape quickly ) and the other was 16-17” . The third was a littler fella. I had the lure tied to my catfish rig from last week when the wind was blowing , 50 lb segaur tactx braid. Not exactly a traditional spinnerbait setup but it worked, pitching the bait up into a creek mouth under some limbs. Water temp 66 with 3-4 ft visibility, no wind 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I caught 3 bass on a spinnerbait

 

The end times are upon us. Run!

 

[Fishlegs]

On my way home from work yesterday I realized that it would most likely be the last time I could fish after work because the days are getting shorter, and daylight savings time is about to end. When I got to my spot I only had about 30 min of fishing time, but it was time well spent.

 

I caught two fish. The first was a 4 lb 1 oz largemouth. Apparently, it’s spinnerbait time on the TN river. It mangled my lure. I managed to straighten it out, and catch a second fish three casts later. A short, but very chunky largemouth around 2 lbs (no pic). I’ve caught quite a few fish on this spinnerbait, but I don’t think it has much life left in it. I will definitely get a replacement.

 

 

[MIbassyaker]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I caught 3 bass on a spinnerbait...

 

 

[TnRiver46]

@Fishlegs, I was on the Holston because the TN river is still destroyed up this way but it’s looking better everyday. Not quite as chocolate as it has been all month but still wads of stuff coming down 

[Fishlegs]

@TnRiver46 I thought we'd see some effect from the water y'all had, but we really haven't seen very much. At least, not that I've noticed. I guess it has a lot of room to spread out in Chickamauga, and Guntersville before it gets here.

[TnRiver46]

@Fishlegs, you guessed it ! Didn’t really do much from guntersville downstream. If it did make it all the way to Pickwick, it would be standard operating procedure as y’all seem to get 15 floods per year haha. “Just dump all that water in Savannah, TN, they are used to it “

[T-Billy]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

never thought I’d live to see the day
 

So I saw this today.......

[Pat Brown]

Got my first glide bait bass of the fall on the BPS swerve!  Super fun catch and a nice fish and my first big bait fish on my iRod Quercus Swimbait Jr.

 

Super epic fun

 

Slayin with the flukes for the others!

 

Missed a couple frog giants but it's about all the really big ones will hit right now so I keep tossing and hoping to hook up!

 

New moon coming - feeling hopeful. 😎🌑 🎣

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

I caught five this morning, two each on a popper and walking dog bait and one on a fluke. I was expecting to catch many more as I went to the stream that was a bog and pond, but when I arrived, I could see the bog and pond had returned. So, instead of the dam leaking, I learned that they drew down the pond/bog to inspect the dam and were refilling it using a larger dam and lake upstream. So, in two weeks, those bass went from a pond/bog to a stream where birds feasted on them and back to a pond/bog. No wonder I couldn't find a way to catch them: They must have been so confused!

 

Here's a pic of what was a mud flat last week:

 

 

The water hadn't fully returned:

 

 

However, the water was back to being pretty:

 

 

And here's the first of five bass I caught:

 

 

I spent much of the morning paddling and exploring to see how much it had changed, in case you're thinking, "Ol Crick forgot how to fish."

[Peacedivision]

All my recent catches that were not BFS rats. Minus the senko fish every one came on a flashy swimmer + xzone swammer.

[Aaron_H]

Last day of my PTO before back to work and then driving to Fort Myers for a week for work, got out for a few hours to make the best of it. 3/4 oz gold lipless was the ticket, got 9 and culled 2 tilapia. Biggest was a pretty decent one, went 4.61 lb and had someone else's EWG hook cutting her mouth up pretty bad so it felt good to pull that out before releasing her. Little bit of line attached looked like 6lb mono, no wonder they broke off. I did slip on some wet clay and fall hard on my shoulder landing her, but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices in this sport.

 

[Swamp Girl]

I'm so glad you yanked that hook, Aaron. Congrats on your seven-pounder! You catch big fish for a shore angler. Heck, you catch big fish for any angler.

[Team9nine]

Nothing big, but trolled up a limit of greenies and a few shorts on cranks this afternoon. Water temps still fluctuating, back up to 67-68 with our warming temps. 
 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

I fished my final trip this morning. I know I can fish deep into November and catch bass, but I also know I can die doing so. The water is cold. Deep fall here. You can see it in the larches with their wispy, dirty golden leaves, which are the last to change.

 

 

Even the oaks have lost most of their leaves. You can see some of their leaves in my canoe below.

 

I saw three big deer drinking from the pond then bounding through the marsh and a V of geese circled and skidded to a stop, also enjoying my pond before fleeing winter, much like me.

 

The season might be wheezing, but my pond is always in her come-hither youth:

 

 

I pulled my canoe out of the water and brought my paddles and net home.  I also caught a dozen bass in a little more than two hours. One of the BR gang said that color matters with soft plastics. So, I remembered that and applied it with good effect. All my bass came on an underspin with a paddletail. My first paddletail had a green top and white belly and caught my first two fish. Then I went to a green pumpkin paddletail and caught nothing. In the water, it disappeared.

 

"Color matters with soft plastics," I was told and I listened.

 

So, I switched to a white and chartreuse paddletail and caught another ten. This was the best, nearly 18 inches and bulky:

 

 

The second best, 18 inches, but thinner:

 

 

A couple other solid fish:

 

 

One thing I loved about this morning was that I ended the year as I'd begun it, casting underspins with paddletails into the boggy edge of my pond. I cast well too, hitting the tight spots.

 

I so envy you Southern anglers, who have endured your merciless heat and now have the sweet late fall and mild winter ahead of you. Enjoy it! You've earned it.

 

 

[Kirtley Howe]

Being a shore angler has some advantages. I can fish until the shoreline gets ice covered and dangerous to walk on.  And even if I should fall in, I can walk out of the water pretty easily, and my nice warm truck is now never far away (see my old post about falling into cold water when salmon fishing as to why the truck MUST be nearby). When the water drops into the 40F range, I am very cautious about being in a boat or canoe. Falling out of one of those into cold water, and not being right next to shore is a pretty scary (for me) idea. 

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Being a shore angler has some advantages. I can fish until the shoreline gets ice covered and dangerous to walk on.  And even if I should fall in, I can walk out of the water pretty easily, and my nice warm truck is now never far away (see my old post about falling into cold water when salmon fishing as to why the truck MUST be nearby). When the water drops into the 40F range, I am very cautious about being in a boat or canoe. Falling out of one of those into cold water, and not being right next to shore is a pretty scary (for me) idea. 

 

All true, Kirtley. Plus, on shore, you can walk here and there and stretch. In a canoe, I get so stiff. 

[Kirtley Howe]

I had not thought about getting stiff from sitting in a canoe in cold weather, but yeah....I can understand that. Must be tough to get out of the canoe at the end of the day sometimes. With my physical limitations, I would need a crane or at least a Hoyer lift to get out of it. Heck, after a day of fishing now I need liberal applications of Voltaren and Lidacane patches to be able to move without significant pain and stiffness. But it is still worth it, and I have no intention of stopping fishing until I just cannot move. Sometimes it may hurt my body, but it soothes my mind and soul.

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Sometimes it may hurt my body, but it soothes my mind and soul.

 

Amen, brother.

[gim]

16 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

When the water drops into the 40F range

 

Anything below about 60 is arguably downright dangerous to be in.

 

Regardless of whether you fall in from boat, canoe, whatever, its not gonna matter if the water is 40 or 50.  You better be wearing a PFD because you aren't going to react positively and clearly in that situation.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

36 minutes ago, gimruis said:

You better be wearing a PFD because you aren't going to react positively and clearly in that situation.

 

I always wear a PFD and I appreciate the times when you've urged other BR members to wear theirs. I once got some great overhead shots of a kayaker surfing waves, but my editor said he couldn't use them because the guy wasn't wearing a PFD. I admired his position. 

[TnRiver46]

I fell in 47 degree water and luckily I reacted extremely quickly and positively, I was back in a 14’ V - bottom boat before I even knew it. Looking back I should have just went to the bank 12 feet away but instinct took over and I shot out of the water like a dolphin in boots jeans and a heavy hoodie

[T-Billy]

45 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I fell in 47 degree water and luckily I reacted extremely quickly and positively, I was back in a 14’ V - bottom boat before I even knew it. Looking back I should have just went to the bank 12 feet away but instinct took over and I shot out of the water like a dolphin in boots jeans and a heavy hoodie

Thankfully you were fit enough to pull it off.

 I didn't used to sweat it. I'm a good swimmer, but it's concerned me more in recent years. I'm not getting any younger and I'm not nearly as athletic as I once was, so I broke down last year and bought a Striker ice fishing bibs and coat set. They're very warm, yet light weight, and not bulky. Most importantly, they'll keep me afloat should I fall in cold water and cramp up. Considering the amount of cold season muskie fishing I do these days, I think they're a wise investment.