hawgenvy Posted January 28, 2019 Posted January 28, 2019 A cold front is stalled over the Florida peninsula. The air is cool and damp, it's raining off and on, the water is muddy. I went out to my highest percentage local pond tonight at 5 pm armed with a jig w/ craw trailer. I concentrated on metal culverts, 3 ft diameter pipes between manmade ponds. Of the four culverts that I targeted, 3 of them held big, fat-bellied bass, all caught within 20 minutes of each other: a 4 lb, a 3-1/2, and a 5.22 pounder. 16 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted January 28, 2019 Super User Posted January 28, 2019 Nicely done ~ "The Culvert Pattern" . . Something I'll probably never be looking for here . . . Congrats A-Jay 1 Quote
hawgenvy Posted January 28, 2019 Posted January 28, 2019 Thanks, man. Many of the golf course and residential ponds around here have so little structure or cover that anything you find is likely to hold a bass. There is one place I go where there's a piece of wood sticking out of the water no bigger than a #2 pencil. About 80% of the time I can catch a solitary bass on it. 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted January 28, 2019 Super User Posted January 28, 2019 Cover's cover & a bass is a bass. What it is may not be as important as when it is & when & how we fish it. I just don't see any pipes where I fish, that's all. A-Jay 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted January 28, 2019 Global Moderator Posted January 28, 2019 Got in an hour or two off the dock. Can’t brag about the size but I suppose I can brag about not needing sleeves 10 Quote
The Bassman Posted January 28, 2019 Posted January 28, 2019 9 hours ago, hawgenvy said: A cold front is stalled over the Florida peninsula. The air is cool and damp, it's raining off and on, the water is muddy. I went out to my highest percentage local pond tonight at 5 pm armed with a jig w/ craw trailer. I concentrated on metal culverts, 3 ft diameter pipes between manmade ponds. Of the four culverts that I targeted, 3 of them held big, fat-bellied bass, all caught within 20 minutes of each other: a 4 lb, a 3-1/2, and a 5.22 pounder. Culvert pattern is key to my success in the HOA lakes I fish. 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted January 28, 2019 Global Moderator Posted January 28, 2019 Culverts are always good. Just like trapping animals, it’s a funnel/choke point . We have a bunch of them on the large reservoirs too, mostly when the water goes under a highway 1 Quote
Super User Oregon Native Posted January 28, 2019 Super User Posted January 28, 2019 On 1/26/2019 at 7:33 PM, NorcalBassin said: Had another above average winter day with 30+ up to 3lbs. Definitely the most consistent winter action we've ever had. Not sure if I'm getting better or just lucky but I'll gladly take it either way. Water temp up to 54* and the lake has risen three feet in the past week with all the rain/snow. Pops with the fish of the day (3.1 lbs) Beautiful country...glad water is on the rise. 2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: Got in an hour or two off the dock. Can’t brag about the size but I suppose I can brag about not needing sleeves Nice....I got some that size yesterday. Was crazy...haven't had that many dinks in awhile. 1 Quote
Way north bass guy Posted January 28, 2019 Posted January 28, 2019 3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: Got in an hour or two off the dock. Can’t brag about the size but I suppose I can brag about not needing sleeves Nice! Right now I need about three sets of sleeves, my snowmobile coat and a toque and neck warmer along with heavy mitts! Oh yeah, and there’s about 16” of ice on the lake too, I’d take those dink fish all day long right now. 2 Quote
Super User JustJames Posted January 29, 2019 Super User Posted January 29, 2019 20 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said: Better get you some Mattlures catfish swimbaits. You think how long is that baby catfish? The tail is a little bigger than 1”. Maybe time to get my hudd out. Quote
hawgenvy Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 18 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: Culverts are always good. Just like trapping animals, it’s a funnel/choke point . We have a bunch of them on the large reservoirs too, mostly when the water goes under a highway And an ideal place, from within its dark recess, for a bass to plan an ambush. 1 Quote
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted January 30, 2019 Global Moderator Posted January 30, 2019 Ok ok I'll say it, at -40 temps I say it's only fair we shut this thread down until mid-March. It's only fair. ? 1 2 1 Quote
Russ E Posted January 30, 2019 Posted January 30, 2019 21 minutes ago, 12poundbass said: Ok ok I'll say it, at -40 temps I say it's only fair we shut this thread down until mid-March. It's only fair. ? I can't imagine what-40 would feel like. growing up in eastern Iowa I remember a couple -20 days. It might get below zero tonight here in KC, but that is relatively rare here. by Friday it is supposed to be around 49 degrees. The biggest problem here is the huge swings in temperature. You never get conditioned to the cold. Don't want to shut the thread down yet. I plan on trying to catch a fat power plant lake Bass Friday. Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted January 30, 2019 Global Moderator Posted January 30, 2019 Supposed to be 12 for a high tomorrow, 65 for a high Monday, crazy weather swing. Looks like there's a good chance I'll get out Friday though ? 3 Quote
Super User J Francho Posted January 30, 2019 Super User Posted January 30, 2019 That's nuts. We're getting a deep freeze. Currently 9° and dropping. Quote
Super User J._Bricker Posted January 30, 2019 Super User Posted January 30, 2019 13 hours ago, 12poundbass said: Ok ok I'll say it, at -40 temps I say it's only fair we shut this thread down until mid-March. It's only fair. ? In seeing this morning’s weather report, my thoughts are with you guys in that everyone makes it through the freezing weather okay. Makes me really appreciate the weather out in my neck of the woods.... 1 Quote
hawgenvy Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 Had a great evening fishing with my friend Mike tonight, who had never before fished for bass with a jig. Mike took to the jig and trailer like a fish to water and was setting the hook like a pro right from the start. We had steady action for an hour with 2 to 4 pounders one after the other, in spite of cold air (64 deg) and a north wind. Quote of the day from Mike: "Bass really seem to love this jig thing." 20 Quote
Super User N Florida Mike Posted January 31, 2019 Super User Posted January 31, 2019 Nice ! I need to rethink this jig thing. All I catch with them is weeds. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted February 3, 2019 Global Moderator Posted February 3, 2019 Super bowl Sunday crappies. Caught all kinds of small bluegill and largemouth too. Basically I caught a lot of the same fish as @Bluebasser86, only much smaller 14 Quote
hawgenvy Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Snuck out before the Super Bowl to the pond for 3/4 hour with a Chatterbait, and nailed the nice (3-7) female pictured here, followed by a half dozen bucks. The surprise for me was the iridescent crappie, the first I'd caught in years. If mine and the preceding two posts are indicative, crappie come out in numbers on Super Bowl Sunday. 16 Quote
Fairtax4me Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Brand new Shimano SLX reel. First bass caught on it... 3.48 lb Brown! After fishing mud all last year it felt so alien to fish crystal clear blue water! We could see bottom at 15 feet! Took some time to find fish but when we did they were piled up and they were all fat and chewing up a 3” swimbait. Caught a nice 3.2lb large on it not long after the smallmouth. But I had to cut that bait off after I had three largemouth in the 2-3lb range shake it within feet of the boat. The VMC jig hook and Strike king rage swimmer didn’t let me down though! I watched this 4.1lb largemouth follow the lure up to the boat. I kept a steady reel speed until the lure was about 3 feet below the surface then killed it and let it coast in just below my rod tip and the fish veered off under the boat. I waited what felt like a small eternity (probably 2 seconds) and gave the rod the slightest twitch, and that got her to thump it! She pulled drag when I set the hook, but she didn’t get far! 21 Quote
Fairtax4me Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Last weekend Ned was the bait of choice! Local mud hole, starting to clear up some but still on the murky side. Maybe 4-5 foot visibility. 38° water. Couple fat 3.5 lbers liked the 4” TuRD Hula Stick worm. Had at least another 7-8 (kinda lost count) smaller bass eat it too. And the crappie liked to pick it up and swim away with it as well but none of them would just eat it so I could get a hook in them. My biggest of the day was this 4.5lb chunker, liked it so much she almost swallowed it before I got the hook set! Super fun fight on a medium spinning rod and 10lb braid! 21 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted February 4, 2019 Global Moderator Posted February 4, 2019 @Fairtax4me, those are some studs! 1 Quote
lonnie g Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 you guys are catching nice ones! all we are getting up here is freezing ca ca ca coldddddddd!!!!!!! beautiful peacock!and smallie pics 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted February 5, 2019 Global Moderator Posted February 5, 2019 Had to go to the dentist after work from 3-4. Figured I might as well go fish off the dock, got started about 4:45 and quit around 6. Caught a largemouth on a smoke grub on second cast, yellow perch on third. Two set lines with nightcrawlers got no action. While down there I saw Canada geese, wild turkeys, belted kingfishers, pileated woodpeckers (that have made some holes in my siding.... angry face emoji) and I almost hit a herd of 13 does on my way out. The turkeys were in the treetops of the picture with no fish, making all kinds of racket 13 Quote
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