Latest Catch Pics Thread

[BluegillsTightlines]

Its been a minute since I last posted here but I've got into ultralight fishing lately  and yesterday I got this pleasant surprise by that wall. 

 

I thought about keeping it with some of the gills I caught but I didn't have a tape measure on me. Do you think it's 15 inches(minimum legal length for largemouth, spotted, and smallmouth here)? 

 

Fought like a demon on that ultralight.

[Blue Raider Bob]

15 hours ago, BluegillsTightlines said:

Its been a minute since I last posted here but I've got into ultralight fishing lately  and yesterday I got this pleasant surprise by that wall. 

 

I thought about keeping it with some of the gills I caught but I didn't have a tape measure on me. Do you think it's 15 inches(minimum legal length for largemouth, spotted, and smallmouth here)? 

 

Fought like a demon on that ultralight.

Looks like a really cool place to fish. I admire those stacked stone walls. Lots of skill and elbow grease.

[Swamp Girl]

15 hours ago, BluegillsTightlines said:

Do you think it's 15 inches(minimum legal length for largemouth, spotted, and smallmouth here)? 

 

Yeah, I do. 

[BluegillsTightlines]

27 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Looks like a really cool place to fish. I admire those stacked stone walls. Lots of skill and elbow grease.

Me too, unique looking place and you know you don't have to worry about that road washing out. I love finding places like that. 

26 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Yeah, I do. 

next time I go down there and if I catch a couple largemouth that size, I may just keep em and eat them. it's been a minute since I've had bass. my usual fishing spot doesn't let us keep bass at the moment, none over 13 inches anyway.

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Looks like a really cool place to fish. I admire those stacked stone walls. Lots of skill and elbow grease.

 

I agree with Bob that you caught it in a cool spot. Mainers have long built with stone and whenever I admire a stone wall, curb, bridge pillar, I tip my hat to the men and beasts who stacked it.

[BluegillsTightlines]

50 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I agree with Bob that you caught it in a school spot. Mainers have long built with stone and whenever I admire a stone wall, curb, bridge pillar, I tip my hat to the men and beasts who stacked it.

same here. lots of elbow grease, skills  and hours put into that. and i saw probably 25 bass in that spot that day. several very nice ones too.

[Bluebasser86]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:38 PM, Swamp Girl said:

I think @T-Billy should loan Clayton his fur hat for the next two or three months. 

I don’t know if they make those fur hats in my size 😅

 

I fished a small tournament last Saturday, last one of the year. It was a weird bite for me. I struggled to get bit on a jerkbait like I planned on and my Ned rig fish were tiny. Water temps were 40-42, so I switched from a suspending jerkbait to a slow sinker (Stunna), in almost the same color. Almost immediately caught a 15” fish, which was by far my biggest fish. I made a long run to one of my best areas and caught another cull fish that was 14.75”. I was still expecting more fish but there was another rounded point on this cove and I knew there was a tree that usually holds fish. I pulled my bait across the point and my line jumped on the pause. The fish was surprisingly thin for this time of year but a huge help, culling an 11” fish with an 18.25. My next cast. Another big fish loaded on over the tree. She drug in slowly with heavy head shakes. I saw a big fish with my bait crossways in its mouth, then it shook and my rod relaxed 😭 It was an easy 20” fish. Next cast, another heavy one loaded on, and just as fast, it was gone. I culled one more 15” fish and a 13”. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Clayton wins again! Your 18" fish is only skinny by Kansas standards. That's a standard bass for most places. 

[N Florida Mike]

Fished the last 1 1/2 hours of the day. Warm, clear , and calm weather. 
Got 3 on the bama craw dinger, all while reeling slowly on top.

 

Something told me to put on a magnum speed worm ( june bug ) , and I fished it through and around a deep hole with no success. Turned around and threw in between 2 big eel grass beds. After several casts turning from left to right , I got a violent strike , and after a very hard fight, got  a  21 inch fish. It was just shy of 4 pounds.On the very next cast , I got a 19.5 inch fish that was 3.5 . Lost 2 more, 1 at the boat that was 2.5 to 3. 
I will be fishing the magnum SW more often!!

 

[Swamp Girl]

@N Florida Mike: Great trip report, Mike. Ya got me smilin'!

[The Baron]

On 12/19/2024 at 7:26 PM, N Florida Mike said:

 I will be fishing the magnum SW more often!!

 

 

Some nice ones, Mike.  It’s fun how one good day can put a particular bait into the favourite pile.  (Yes, “favourite” is spelled correctly 🇨🇦 😝)

 

Great job on the slow bite win @Bluebasser86 👍🏻

 

Update from Canada:  It’s cold, and diving off the dock really hurts now. 

[Swamp Girl]

44 minutes ago, The Baron said:

Update from Canada:  It’s cold, and diving off the dock really hurts now. 

 

Don't give up! Keep diving. One day it won't hurt so much. At least that's how it works for me. 

[TnRiver46]

Tried one spot in the morning to no avail, was pretty windy at 34 degrees with some snow so I punted and got some lunch, re launched elsewhere. It was pretty tho, could see snow on the high peaks

 

 

Second spot was much more productive (out of the wind) but all dinks, got SMB, meanmouth, bluegill and shellcracker, all in the exact same spot. And more snowy views

[Swamp Girl]

Brrrrrr! It was six degrees this morning on the coast of Maine, but fishing in 34 degrees is still quite cold...and quite impressive.

 

#hardcore

[TnRiver46]

If it’s 6 I ain’t going….. haha. If it’s below 32 I’ll only fish off the bank, sometimes next to a fire 

[Jigfishn10]

Even worse for @Swamp Girl, she's on the coast, I can only imagine the wind along the coast. 

 

Thanks for the weather report Swamp Girl, I was going to take a ride to my house in southern Maine. I think I'll stay home today and leave that ride til end of the week  

[Swamp Girl]

20 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Even worse for @Swamp Girl, she's on the coast, I can only imagine the wind along the coast. 

 

Thanks for the weather report Swamp Girl, I was going to take a ride to my house in southern Maine. I think I'll stay home today and leave that ride til end of the week  

 

You are soooo right about the coastal wind. It blows and blows and blows. I'd fish more if I could, but so many mornings and evenings, it's too windy for my canoes. 

[TnRiver46]

Actually I just remembered I caught two catfish with air temp of 6 degrees on Christmas Day 2 yrs ago. My secret? Set up rods on the dock and watched them with binoculars from inside by the fireplace 

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Actually I just remembered I caught two catfish with air temp of 6 degrees on Christmas Day 2 yrs ago. My secret? Set up rods on the dock and watched them with binoculars from inside by the fireplace 

 

If I ever build on my pondfront property, I'm going to fish you like!

[TnRiver46]

In Maine you could drill a hole in the ice and watch the tip up flags from inside 😂. Maybe a pickerel ?

 

now this brings up the question: do shallow bogs freeze over from top to bottom and kill everything ? Does that happen anywhere ? 

[Blue Raider Bob]

Laugh all ya like! I got the skunk out the boat! Only caught two dinks but I got to go fishing! First picture is an otter. The nightmare follows me forever. This is Normandy Lake in middle Tennessee.

[Swamp Girl]

@Blue Raider Bob: I've had otters swim alongside my canoes, diving under it to pop up on starboard and then port.

[LrgmouthShad]

@Pat Brownpost that big fish up!

[Pat Brown]

Went out today with Jake and @LrgmouthShad for a little pre X Mas / Post frontal NC LMB chasing!

 

We had some good structure picked out when we got to the lake around 11 to check out.  We split our way and LMS went his way in the yak to see if we could sort them out faster.

 

We went up the sunny side and made it all the way to the lily pads on the flat sunny side and I say to Jake - let's go fish the deep shady side - they're supposed to be on steeper Banks this time of year - or something to that effect.

 

Jake agrees we need to change it up and steeper contours seems smart to him so we put the motor on high and jet to the opposite side of the lake and start fishing our way back into a spawning pocket adjacent to a main lake point.  I figure offshore and flat banks have been a bust and LMS struggled on humps and points - why not try spawning areas.

 

I look at my Garmin and start seeing bass shaped arches suspending over 11 feet of water in very scattered ones and twos very near the surface - not doing very much.  No bait.

 

The sun is getting low - only an hour until we are required to get off the water at this particular lake.

 

I throw my 1 oz 'Pats Gizzard' @Siebert Outdoors grass jig with a Watermelon Seed Zoom Mag Speed Craw on the back at some targets at the back of this pocket and we start bouncing around the channel swing back out to the point.

 

I see some really good looking overhanging trees with some sun hitting some clear sandy bottom with some laydowns just beneath the surface right where the pocket transitioned to the channel swing and I throw that jig right up to the bank.

 

Our boat is stationary but I have the sensation that my trolling motor is on high and my jig is stuck in something on the bottom.....but the boat is stationary.....SET THE HOOK DUMMY *screeeeech* and away we go....

 

She's out from the cover now and making a mad dash for deeper water.  She starts to really load up and I can tell we got a real big one on the line.

 

I ask Jake for a net and he quickly locates it and asks where she is and up she pops almost exactly on cue - his jaw drops and he says 'YOU'RE GOING TO WIN THIS MONTH!' (referring to the local big bass bash - I have submitted 3 bass and had each one taken out by ounces near the end of each respective month)

 

Jake gets her and I lip her and we both realize she's a bit heftier than even dad thought.  She may INDEED be worthy of submission I decide.

 

We fill the livewell and crank the O2 and she seems happy chilling in there - I call the Marina.  I am informed in all three lakes - 4.99 lbs is the largest submission for all of December.

 

Jake and I smile and tell the park attendant to ready the scales and we high tail it back.

 

She beat the current big bass by 2.36 lbs coming in at 7.35 lbs.  She was all of 20" making her quite possibly the fattest fish I've ever caught and I am currently leading the month of December!

 

Here she is!

 

 

Here she is on marina scales getting certified for the competition!

 

 

Here's the lovely jig that got her to bite 😏😏😏

 

[LrgmouthShad]

I didn’t catch anything 🫡

I provided moral support