Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Bluebasser86]

Part 3 of the Adventure of Blue goes to Lake Fork was on Day 4 of practice when I went and launched from the 514 Bridge. I had to drag my yak and all my gear about 50 yards down the bank to get to the water and do a gator check in the weeds before I could launch. I wasn’t positive it was a launch but the map said it was and I thought it might be a good good choice because it was hard to access. I caught a 17.75 almost immediately and was excited about the potential. It took almost 2 hours to get my second bite in a tangle of timber off a point, but it was a great kayak bass with a skinny 22” bass that was very postspawn looking (or maybe a huge male). 

 

Only one other small fish followed that one and then the winds that were not forecasted, started to blow heavily straight up the gut of the arm I was in. I made the decision to load every Back up and move. 
 

I moved to the Fork Boat Storage Ramp and caught a fish quickly on a wacky rig. Right next to the first dock I came to was a private ramp with poles marking what I assume was the end of the ramp. I pulled my wacky rig across the ramp and caught my smallest fish of the trip off the ramp, a 10 incher. I made another cast to the ramp and had another fish swim off with it. This hookset was met with an unmovable weight on the other end that slowly moved upwards and then lurched above the surface. I immediately thought I might have a DD on my line. I begged and pleaded with the fish to cooperate and it did everything to do the opposite, jumping 4 different times and dodging the net on my first attempt. After almost 2 minutes, I slid the net under the monster. She stretched to 23.75” and went 8.49lbs, one of my top 5 largest bass ever.

I fished for 4 more hours and caught a total of 1 more bass, but I didn’t really care.

[thediscochef]

I went fishing and I caught these bass

[BrianMDTX]

Overcast and really breezy today. The bite, which has not been great, was really slow today. Caught one on a Rage Craw TR and another on a lizard. That was it in 4 hours. 
 

[TnRiver46]

Got rewarded today with a nice spotted bass after a 5 hour skunk on Saturday. The fish ate a black finesse worm on vertical rock cliff and fought like the devil! Took me for quite a ride in a tiny kayak. It was 3.56 lbs and 20”

 

I also got a couple dinks like this 

 

 

All I got from Saturday was a picture at the ramp, had to wade up thru those shoals in blue jeans 😂 

 

oh, and a great blue heron rookery in the tree tops 

[Swamp Girl]

@TnRiver46: This thread is really something. So. Many. Big. Bass! I think your Alabama bass might be the prettiest of them all.

[Choporoz]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

oh, and a great blue heron rookery in the tree tops 

Fascinating spots.  I hadn't seen one until a couple years ago.  Never really thought about where they roost.  To come around a point and see and hear every heron in the county in the tops of a small group of trees is an amazing sight and sound.

[TnRiver46]

@Choporoz, they sound like Jurassic park up there 

[Bluebasser86]

Part 4 of the Adventures of Blue goes to Lake Fork was a very windy Tuesday that was supposed to be the day before the first day of the tournament. I had gone out to try and find a way to fish in 30mph winds in case we did fish on Wednesday, but I found out around 10am that day one was cancelled because of the wind so I headed in. We were allowed to fish on Wednesday, but we couldn’t fish Fork. I didn’t want to sit around the camper all day, so I drove to nearby Quitman Lake to see if it was a potential option. The lake was much smaller, muddy, rocky, lots of docks, seemed to be shallow, and most importantly, I caught 2 healthy bass right next to the boat ramp on a bladed jig.

 

So Wednesday morning I headed out to Quitman and loaded just a few casting rods and zero spinning rods into the kayak. I started right at the ramp and after trying a few different baits, I pitched a black and blue jig into the opening between the boards on the launch dock. I picked up and felt pressure and the hookset had a good fish thrashing on the surface quickly. I held it’s head up while I worked the kayak next to the dock and was able to reach through the dock and grab a 19” fish.

After releasing that fish, I pitched back under the dock and my jig got slammed immediately. I could tell by the thrashing it was a bigger fish. I did the same maneuvering and got a grip on a 5+lb 20.50” fish.

The wind started blowing pretty good and I only got one small spot before I came around a corner that was pretty protected. I ran my bladed jig down a seawall and it just kind of got heavy. When I leaned into it, I felt the headshake and knew it was big. She darted past the kayak right on the surface and I was quick with the net and she was mine as fast as the fight started. A beautiful 22” bass that weighed 6.72lbs.

I caught a little 12 incher (that would be the last small fish I would catch), before pulling up to a tree growing out over the water. I pitched my jig and hopped it once before I got a bite that shook my whole rod. The fish was in about a foot of water and came charging across the surface. The back was so thick, I knew it was big, but when I scooped with the net and my jig popped out of her mouth at the same time, the realization hit me how big she was. I was sure I’d just caught a DD. The first time on the scale she came up 9.58, but then I realized it had started in the negative. When I zeroed it, the scale locked at 9.72. The 2nd largest bass I’d ever caught and way prettier than my PB, the fish just didn’t look real in the net.

 

I couldn’t believe what just happened, but the shakes hadn’t even worn off from that fish when I pitched into another laydown and yanked out another 6.5lb 21.25” fish. That 20lb Seaguar Tatsu was earning its keep with these fish I promise you that!  I didn’t catch a single one that wasn’t rubbing on something at some point in the fight.
 

I had to surf the waves around the southeast end of the lake. It was too rough to be safe to try to fish and run the boat, so I just focused on driving the yak and getting to calmer water. When I got to the northeast side, it was a good, solid 2 hours before I got my next bite, a fat 17” fish in some shallow grass. I passed another kayak angler who said he hadn’t had a bite all day. When I got to the area by the north ramp, there was some bushes growing out over the water. I pitched my jig into, picking them apart. I knew when I finally made the right pitch, because my jig hit the water and the whole push shook. Another pig of a bass came boiling out of those bushes and crashing across the surface, putting on a whole show until I got it in the net. This one was just an absolute toad of a bass at 7.11lbs and only 20.75”!

2 more kayers passed me and asked how I was doing, and I told them. I don’t know if they believed me but they also said they hadn’t caught anything all day. I kept flipping those same bushes and about 5 minutes later my line jumped again and another big fish bolted out of the bushes. This time it was a 21” 5.66 pounder.

I was at the end of the road at that point unfortunately. I was going to have to crash through a lot of big, rolling waves to get to the next safe spot to fish, or make a short run through much more manageable ones to get to the ramp I launched from. It was only 2pm and I wanted so badly to continue on. It was already the best day of my fishing life, how much better might it be able to get? I made the decision and pointed it towards the opposite shore and rode the waves the short distance across to the ramp and called it a day. My longest 5 were 108.25”, my heaviest 5 weighed 35.71lbs.

My homemade silicone/living rubber jig and Yum Christie Craw combo that did most of the damage.

 

[Swamp Girl]

@Bluebasser86:

 

[Mike L]

Whew!

Great Job

 

That’s how ya do a trip report 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[A-Jay]

Nicely Done @Bluebasser86

Plain to see that you make all these posts LOADED with Great Bass in this thread like you're just a regular guy.

But that is simply not the case.

Because all things considered, IMO

You are THE GUY.

CONGRATS

A-Jay 

[Swamp Girl]

34 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

2 more kayers passed me and asked how I was doing, and I told them. I don’t know if they believed me but they also said they hadn’t caught anything all day.

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

 

Congrats to @softwateronly on the new PB. Always carry a scale with you just in case.

 

Congrats to @Bluebasser86 on a great tournament & reports. 

[MIbassyaker]

On 3/22/2025 at 11:21 PM, thediscochef said:

I went fishing and I caught these bass

 

21 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Overcast and really breezy today. The bite, which has not been great, was really slow today. Caught one on a Rage Craw TR and another on a lizard. That was it in 4 hours. 
 

 

13 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Got rewarded today with a nice spotted bass after a 5 hour skunk on Saturday. The fish ate a black finesse worm on vertical rock cliff and fought like the devil! Took me for quite a ride in a tiny kayak. It was 3.56 lbs and 20”

 

I also got a couple dinks like this 

 

 

All I got from Saturday was a picture at the ramp, had to wade up thru those shoals in blue jeans 😂 

 

oh, and a great blue heron rookery in the tree tops 

 

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Part 4 of the Adventures of Blue goes to Lake Fork was a very windy Tuesday that was supposed to be the day before the first day of the tournament. I had gone out to try and find a way to fish in 30mph winds in case we did fish on Wednesday, but I found out around 10am that day one was cancelled because of the wind so I headed in. We were allowed to fish on Wednesday, but we couldn’t fish Fork. I didn’t want to sit around the camper all day, so I drove to nearby Quitman Lake to see if it was a potential option. The lake was much smaller, muddy, rocky, lots of docks, seemed to be shallow, and most importantly, I caught 2 healthy bass right next to the boat ramp on a bladed jig.

 

So Wednesday morning I headed out to Quitman and loaded just a few casting rods and zero spinning rods into the kayak. I started right at the ramp and after trying a few different baits, I pitched a black and blue jig into the opening between the boards on the launch dock. I picked up and felt pressure and the hookset had a good fish thrashing on the surface quickly. I held it’s head up while I worked the kayak next to the dock and was able to reach through the dock and grab a 19” fish.

After releasing that fish, I pitched back under the dock and my jig got slammed immediately. I could tell by the thrashing it was a bigger fish. I did the same maneuvering and got a grip on a 5+lb 20.50” fish.

The wind started blowing pretty good and I only got one small spot before I came around a corner that was pretty protected. I ran my bladed jig down a seawall and it just kind of got heavy. When I leaned into it, I felt the headshake and knew it was big. She darted past the kayak right on the surface and I was quick with the net and she was mine as fast as the fight started. A beautiful 22” bass that weighed 6.72lbs.

I caught a little 12 incher (that would be the last small fish I would catch), before pulling up to a tree growing out over the water. I pitched my jig and hopped it once before I got a bite that shook my whole rod. The fish was in about a foot of water and came charging across the surface. The back was so thick, I knew it was big, but when I scooped with the net and my jig popped out of her mouth at the same time, the realization hit me how big she was. I was sure I’d just caught a DD. The first time on the scale she came up 9.58, but then I realized it had started in the negative. When I zeroed it, the scale locked at 9.72. The 2nd largest bass I’d ever caught and way prettier than my PB, the fish just didn’t look real in the net.

 

I couldn’t believe what just happened, but the shakes hadn’t even worn off from that fish when I pitched into another laydown and yanked out another 6.5lb 21.25” fish. That 20lb Seaguar Tatsu was earning its keep with these fish I promise you that!  I didn’t catch a single one that wasn’t rubbing on something at some point in the fight.
 

I had to surf the waves around the southeast end of the lake. It was too rough to be safe to try to fish and run the boat, so I just focused on driving the yak and getting to calmer water. When I got to the northeast side, it was a good, solid 2 hours before I got my next bite, a fat 17” fish in some shallow grass. I passed another kayak angler who said he hadn’t had a bite all day. When I got to the area by the north ramp, there was some bushes growing out over the water. I pitched my jig into, picking them apart. I knew when I finally made the right pitch, because my jig hit the water and the whole push shook. Another pig of a bass came boiling out of those bushes and crashing across the surface, putting on a whole show until I got it in the net. This one was just an absolute toad of a bass at 7.11lbs and only 20.75”!

2 more kayers passed me and asked how I was doing, and I told them. I don’t know if they believed me but they also said they hadn’t caught anything all day. I kept flipping those same bushes and about 5 minutes later my line jumped again and another big fish bolted out of the bushes. This time it was a 21” 5.66 pounder.

I was at the end of the road at that point unfortunately. I was going to have to crash through a lot of big, rolling waves to get to the next safe spot to fish, or make a short run through much more manageable ones to get to the ramp I launched from. It was only 2pm and I wanted so badly to continue on. It was already the best day of my fishing life, how much better might it be able to get? I made the decision and pointed it towards the opposite shore and rode the waves the short distance across to the ramp and called it a day. My longest 5 were 108.25”, my heaviest 5 weighed 35.71lbs.

My homemade silicone/living rubber jig and Yum Christie Craw combo that did most of the damage.

 

 

On 3/22/2025 at 9:09 PM, Bazoo said:

Got this one today. He spit the hook just as I was flipping him on shore, and flopped on the bank and I grabbed him for a pic. Still counts!

 

Got a couple of his brethren with a beetle spin loaded with an FF sonar minnow.

 

 

These pretty flowers were growing all over the hillside.

 

On 3/22/2025 at 5:23 PM, softwateronly said:

@Bluebasser86  Congrats!!  That's a showing!

 

 

Air temps in the mid 30's, got out there for a couple hours in the clean water of a wind protected marina in NW indiana and was sticking them one after the other till the sun popped out.  Terrible pics incoming and still no scale, but landed what certainly is over 5lb and my pb.  All in all, about 18-20 in 3hrs.

 

scott

 

couple chunks to start...

 

 

A real nice one...

 

bonus brown?...

 

 

my pb....

 

 

On 3/22/2025 at 2:34 PM, 928JLH said:

Few from my kiddos first time Kayaking yesterday. Water temp 58 degrees with smallies bedding in AZ. Haven't been out in a long time.

 

On 3/20/2025 at 8:02 PM, keagbassr said:

Got out on the water fo the first two times this week. Tues. I caught 10 all on a spinnerbait. Mostly dinks but hafd 1 about 5.5 shake off but got a chunky short 3-2 about 5 minutes later fo the best of that day. Today(thurs.) I only managed to scrounge up 3 bites,1 on a bladed jig and 2 on a spinnerbait. With one of those the biggest  weighing 5-2.

 

*Envy Intensifies*

 

 

[TnRiver46]

@Bluebasser86 on a jig bite? Fish beware 

[Pat Brown]

Fished my first little local derby this weekend out of a Jon boat and caught a 4 and 1/4 lb bass that earned me 7th place out of 12 boats - felt cool to catch one in a tournament and weigh it in!  

 

Caught it during a shad spawn right at sunrise on the Berkeley stunna in a color I custom did (scratched the paint off and made it chartreuse with black back but see through).

 

Fished hard all day in 30+ mph winds and got one more in the boat that didn't help me out 

 

 

And headed back in at 3 pm - missed a few bites on the fluke that could have helped me but the winner caught an 8 lb 10 oz bass on a main lake point before the sun came up in 19 feet of water on scope - so I don't feel so bad.

 

Meagan and Jake took me fishing to make me feel better on Sunday after my defeat - 3 casts into the day - I hook an 8 + lber on a black and blue jig - she comes up jumps one good time Two feet before netting range and comes off in slow motion and then sort of slowly swims back down.

 

It was really something.  Kinda hurt my feelings.  She was real fat and healthy - but I had such a good week - I accepted it.

 

Managed to boat 4 nice fish on a nice fun trip with the family mostly flipping shallow cover with t rigs - my kinda bass fishing!

 

 

Didn't get another shot at a giant yesterday - but if last week is any indication - it's giant time here in NC!

 

@Bluebasser86 WOW!  That clump of brush is something you'll be dreaming about for decades huh!?!?  😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️

[Swamp Girl]

Proud of you, Pat. You had a jonboat competing against hovercraft glitterboats with their own fleets of FFS drones and bass-herding mini-subs. Even then, if there was going to be another tournament next week, I'd bet on you. 

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Bluebasser86 on a jig bite? Fish beware 

I had a jig rod and bladed jig rod out most of the day and almost every time I set the hook, it was 5 pounds or bigger. It truly was a magical day. All on baits I made too.

[bp_fowler]

Went out today to Flagdale lake.  Last time I was here I was in my brother in law’s kayak and had a rough go of it.  Winds were crazy I struggled to keep the kayak in position and I lost two at the boat.  
 

Today was more of the same wind wise, 40 mph gusts. Found a pocket that the wind was blowing into, also had birds swooping and diving into it.  Caught two out of there on the black/blue mini max.  Like to think that they were the same two I lost last year.  Either way I feel like we’re even now.

 

[N Florida Mike]

I had “one of those days” on Saturday.  When more goes wrong than right . I had app 15 bites , and lost fish every way imaginable.  I was able to get 5 in the boat, nothing to write home about in size. I lost 2 big fish, but that’s become par for the course for me lately. 
The 2nd pic is of the east side of our island. Caught 3 of the 5 there. Lost another 5 or so on the west side…

 

[Swamp Girl]

@N Florida Mike: Losing bass? Been there. Done that. Again and again. Even Pat Brown, Alex, and Clayton lose bass. That bass in your photo is a football.

[N Florida Mike]

2 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

@N Florida Mike: Losing bass? Been there. Done that. Again and again. Even Pat Brown, Alex, and Clayton lose bass. That bass in your photo is a football.

Yeah I’m in a slump. Had another fish just now that bit a horny toad. I nailed the hookset , the fish did not turn, and came off…😕

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Yeah I’m in a slump. Had another fish just now that bit a horny toad. I nailed the hookset , the fish did not turn, and came off…😕

 

I'd love to be in a slump. The snow that fell today was so heavy that I was using my snowblower as a plow because it kept clogging. 

[Pat Brown]

39 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Yeah I’m in a slump. Had another fish just now that bit a horny toad. I nailed the hookset , the fish did not turn, and came off…😕

 

 

I find that there's times we are finding where they are and times we are catching em.

 

Ain't always the same days.  It's a chess match.  You got this Mike!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

@Pat Brown  Way to go brother, and simply getting an invite is a huge accomplishment......kind of like a mini NC Classic 😎

 

You mentioned a Shad spawn which really surprised me reading it, what are your water temps?   Heck you went from dead of winter to post spawn in a blink of an eye unless your Shad spawn at much lower water temps than mine do down here.    They start spawning once it hits about 70d here.  

 

I'm jealous of that particular lake you fished the derby on, you alone have proven how many monsters live in it.