Latest Catch Pics Thread

[GaryH]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t know what you’re talking about 

I did notice that he’s looking over his shoulder. Hmmmm

[J._Bricker]

17 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Fished my biggest kayak tournament so far this weekend, the American Kayak Classic on Truman Lake in Missouri. There was 172 anglers from 14 different states in attendance and to qualify you had to be in the top 10 in your club. 

 

I hate Truman, always have, always will. Fished it several times when I use to fish club tournaments as a teenager. Last time I'd fished it until my buddy and I went a couple weeks ago to prefish was over a decade ago in another tournament. It's a massive maze of trees, stumps, rocks, and dirty water. I've only ever had 1 good tournament there when I was 16, most of the rest I'd have a fish or two or even blank. I was not looking forward to it to say the the least but I wanted to try to represent my club.

 

I went for 2 days of prefishing. First day I had a spot that was just a gravel launch with a couple pockets on an outside bend I wanted to try. I almost didn't even launch when I got there, the water was gross, about 6" of visibility. I was there though, so I thought I'd at least give it a shot. Surprisingly, I actually managed to catch a couple fish on a squarebill, spinnerbait, and jig. Not big fish, but I was really more concerned about catching 5 than anything.

The beautiful launch area and water I was fishing. 

Second day of practice, I drove to the far south end of the lake to fish another series of coves. I caught a 15.5" fish near the ramp that felt like a good sign, it was not. 2 or 3 hours later, I got my second bite.

I'd pretty much decided to leave at this point, but that sealed it. I loaded up and drove north to Little Tebo creek and fished there for a few hours. I actually caught several bass, but they were so small that only 1 would have been a scorable fish even with a 12" length limit. It was not the practice I'd hoped for, but I hadn't skunked so I had something to work with. 

 

Day 1 I went back to my mudhole and hoped those fish would bite. Fishing the same chartreuse and black balsa crankbait, I picked up 3 keepers pretty quickly.

Then I got to a shallow mud flat and caught a bonus keeper on a spinnerbait.

There was thick fog and promise of flat calm conditions and bright sun. I wanted to get 5 before that sun got out if possible. It was burning off fast so I cut across the cove to the only other part I'd caught fish the day before. I caught my 5th keeper to make my limit, and then got a little bit of a cull up a few minutes later, both on the squarebill.

For just a minute that first morning, I was feeling pretty good.

I didn't think there were many fish in that area, so I left in search of other fish in that arm. I found none, not one. I'd submitted my last fish at 9:53AM, by 2PM I had not had another bite. I thought I was going to try to get to the creek in the very back of the arm I had caught my fish to see if I could get bit back there, but as I peddled that way I realized it was too far and I'd run out of time before I got there. I made the decision to try a different bait on the bank I'd caught my fish, a decision I'm not sure was a good one but I did it anyways. With 40 minutes left, I ran 1 of my 2 good banks with a homemade black and blue bladed jig, caught 4 fish, 3 scoreable, but only 1 that helped with a small cull.

I ended day 1 in 8th place, just over 3 inches back from the leader.

 

Day 2 was supposed to be cloudy and rainy, perfect conditions I thought. I really felt like I was going to go and take a run at doing well. My first bite of the morning came at the very end of my best stretch of bank on a homemade black and blue bladed jig, my line broke on the hookset for some reason. Across the cove in a steady rain, I finally squeaked out a 13.25" fish on the same bait.

I went around 3 times through my 2 good areas with 2 short fish to show for it. It was after 11 and I was frustrated and about ready to just drive home. My wife called and encouraged me to get back in the game, make a move and finish strong. I pulled the plug on my spot and went to where my buddy and I had prefished 3 weeks prior with blind faith those fish would still be there. It was about a 40 minute drive, I had a little over 2 hours to catch 4 keepers by the time I got back on the water. The water was way clearer there, maybe 2' of visibility. I dropped a Ned rig around the boat ramp docks and caught a 15.25" fish in less than 5 minutes.

Fish started chasing shad onto the banks right by the ramp. I caught 2 shorts in a row, then a tiny keeper, but it made number 3.

I peddled to where we'd caught the majority of our fish prefishing and picked up my topwater. I'd never had a bite on topwater to this point, but I was hoping. I quickly hooked up with a keeper, and lost it halfway to the kayak. 5 minutes later, another strike, this one hooked and stuck. Only 13.5" but it was number 4, just needed 1 more. 10 minutes later I had another vicious strike, but it completely missed the hooks, my stomach was just in knots that kept tightening every time a fish missed my bait. Another fish swung and missed so I tossed back a 6th Sense Flush, saw the boil, swung the fish in. It was just barely, but number 5 touched 12" and I still had time to catch more. Now that I had 5, I could stick with the big Berkley Cane Walker and look for bigger fish. In the last 30 minutes, I upgraded twice with that, neither were large in size, but they were huge in the standings.

It was not the day I'd hoped for at all, but it could have been so much worse.

 

They had enough people to pay down to 15 spots, it was just a little more than my entry fee, but it was better than nothing. Wouldn't have made the pay line without those last 2 little culls. 

 

I owe a huge thank you to the guys from my club. The first day of practice right before I turned my truck off, the battery icon turned on my dash. It's an '08 and that's not the only light on so I hoped it was just an older truck doing older truck things. As I pulled into the campgrounds we were staying at, all my lights came on, my speedometer quit, and my truck died. I coasted into a parking area and was able to get ahold of them. One ran to NAPA and got an alternator, while another met me there and we tore my truck apart to get the alternator out. It was a 3 hour job with limited tools but it wouldn't have happened without them. Fishing against them all year, they could have left me stranded and with no way to get my kayak on the water, but they helped me out and got me back in the game. 

Nice write-up @Bluebasser86. Those are true friends and excellent fellow club members that epitomize taking care of your own and NEVER leave anyone behind. Good fishing

[A-Jay]

A couple of Mexican models 

A-Jay

[HaydenS]

17 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Fished my biggest kayak tournament so far this weekend, the American Kayak Classic on Truman Lake in Missouri. There was 172 anglers from 14 different states in attendance and to qualify you had to be in the top 10 in your club. 

 

I hate Truman, always have, always will. Fished it several times when I use to fish club tournaments as a teenager. Last time I'd fished it until my buddy and I went a couple weeks ago to prefish was over a decade ago in another tournament. It's a massive maze of trees, stumps, rocks, and dirty water. I've only ever had 1 good tournament there when I was 16, most of the rest I'd have a fish or two or even blank. I was not looking forward to it to say the the least but I wanted to try to represent my club.

 

I went for 2 days of prefishing. First day I had a spot that was just a gravel launch with a couple pockets on an outside bend I wanted to try. I almost didn't even launch when I got there, the water was gross, about 6" of visibility. I was there though, so I thought I'd at least give it a shot. Surprisingly, I actually managed to catch a couple fish on a squarebill, spinnerbait, and jig. Not big fish, but I was really more concerned about catching 5 than anything.

The beautiful launch area and water I was fishing. 

Second day of practice, I drove to the far south end of the lake to fish another series of coves. I caught a 15.5" fish near the ramp that felt like a good sign, it was not. 2 or 3 hours later, I got my second bite.

I'd pretty much decided to leave at this point, but that sealed it. I loaded up and drove north to Little Tebo creek and fished there for a few hours. I actually caught several bass, but they were so small that only 1 would have been a scorable fish even with a 12" length limit. It was not the practice I'd hoped for, but I hadn't skunked so I had something to work with. 

 

Day 1 I went back to my mudhole and hoped those fish would bite. Fishing the same chartreuse and black balsa crankbait, I picked up 3 keepers pretty quickly.

Then I got to a shallow mud flat and caught a bonus keeper on a spinnerbait.

There was thick fog and promise of flat calm conditions and bright sun. I wanted to get 5 before that sun got out if possible. It was burning off fast so I cut across the cove to the only other part I'd caught fish the day before. I caught my 5th keeper to make my limit, and then got a little bit of a cull up a few minutes later, both on the squarebill.

For just a minute that first morning, I was feeling pretty good.

I didn't think there were many fish in that area, so I left in search of other fish in that arm. I found none, not one. I'd submitted my last fish at 9:53AM, by 2PM I had not had another bite. I thought I was going to try to get to the creek in the very back of the arm I had caught my fish to see if I could get bit back there, but as I peddled that way I realized it was too far and I'd run out of time before I got there. I made the decision to try a different bait on the bank I'd caught my fish, a decision I'm not sure was a good one but I did it anyways. With 40 minutes left, I ran 1 of my 2 good banks with a homemade black and blue bladed jig, caught 4 fish, 3 scoreable, but only 1 that helped with a small cull.

I ended day 1 in 8th place, just over 3 inches back from the leader.

 

Day 2 was supposed to be cloudy and rainy, perfect conditions I thought. I really felt like I was going to go and take a run at doing well. My first bite of the morning came at the very end of my best stretch of bank on a homemade black and blue bladed jig, my line broke on the hookset for some reason. Across the cove in a steady rain, I finally squeaked out a 13.25" fish on the same bait.

I went around 3 times through my 2 good areas with 2 short fish to show for it. It was after 11 and I was frustrated and about ready to just drive home. My wife called and encouraged me to get back in the game, make a move and finish strong. I pulled the plug on my spot and went to where my buddy and I had prefished 3 weeks prior with blind faith those fish would still be there. It was about a 40 minute drive, I had a little over 2 hours to catch 4 keepers by the time I got back on the water. The water was way clearer there, maybe 2' of visibility. I dropped a Ned rig around the boat ramp docks and caught a 15.25" fish in less than 5 minutes.

Fish started chasing shad onto the banks right by the ramp. I caught 2 shorts in a row, then a tiny keeper, but it made number 3.

I peddled to where we'd caught the majority of our fish prefishing and picked up my topwater. I'd never had a bite on topwater to this point, but I was hoping. I quickly hooked up with a keeper, and lost it halfway to the kayak. 5 minutes later, another strike, this one hooked and stuck. Only 13.5" but it was number 4, just needed 1 more. 10 minutes later I had another vicious strike, but it completely missed the hooks, my stomach was just in knots that kept tightening every time a fish missed my bait. Another fish swung and missed so I tossed back a 6th Sense Flush, saw the boil, swung the fish in. It was just barely, but number 5 touched 12" and I still had time to catch more. Now that I had 5, I could stick with the big Berkley Cane Walker and look for bigger fish. In the last 30 minutes, I upgraded twice with that, neither were large in size, but they were huge in the standings.

It was not the day I'd hoped for at all, but it could have been so much worse.

 

They had enough people to pay down to 15 spots, it was just a little more than my entry fee, but it was better than nothing. Wouldn't have made the pay line without those last 2 little culls. 

 

I owe a huge thank you to the guys from my club. The first day of practice right before I turned my truck off, the battery icon turned on my dash. It's an '08 and that's not the only light on so I hoped it was just an older truck doing older truck things. As I pulled into the campgrounds we were staying at, all my lights came on, my speedometer quit, and my truck died. I coasted into a parking area and was able to get ahold of them. One ran to NAPA and got an alternator, while another met me there and we tore my truck apart to get the alternator out. It was a 3 hour job with limited tools but it wouldn't have happened without them. Fishing against them all year, they could have left me stranded and with no way to get my kayak on the water, but they helped me out and got me back in the game. 

Great Job!  

Seems like fishing community watches out for each other pretty well.  We had our boat break down(bad battery), the morning of a tourney, and were able to get it fixed with the help of a bunch of other people we were fishing against.  

[LrgmouthShad]

6 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

A couple of Mexican models 

A-Jay

Good grief those are whales

[Joe_w1234]

20 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Good grief those are whales

Seems to be all he catches! I, on the other hand, can hardly catch a fish some days lol

[Smells like fish]

Amazing fish @A-Jay any chance that you used a rat this trip? 

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, Smells like fish said:

Amazing fish @A-Jay any chance that you used a rat this trip? 

Thanks I didn't but Jeff Did.

Got a couple about 6 lbs on it.

A-Jay

11 minutes ago, Joe_w1234 said:

That's basically a given whenever A-Jay posts. This guy can't seem to catch a small fish. I, on the other hand, can hardly catch a fish some days lol

Thanks but let's not get ahead of ourselves . . . 

A-Jay

[NYWayfarer]

Rapala F-7 Floating Minnow has been my most valuable lure this fall. The colder it was the slower I fished it and the bigger the catches got
 

[scaleface]

Froze my buns off today . Cold and windy but caught 2 dozen . This 4.5 lber was my largest , caught 20 foot deep on a black grape 6 inch jelly worm rigged on a 1/4 oz jig head . Might be my last trip of the year .

[TnRiver46]

24 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Froze my buns off today . Cold and windy but caught 2 dozen . This 4.5 lber was my largest , caught 20 foot deep on a black grape 6 inch jelly worm rigged on a 1/4 oz jig head . Might be my last trip of the year .

That’s a solid fish . Put some bibs over what you’ve got on  and keep on fishing 

[Team9nine]

After more than 2 inches of rain over the past 48 hours, I was greeted to blue skies, a stiff north breeze, and water temps that are now down to 60 degrees, give or take a degree or two. Needless to say, the water in this reservoir was "well stained" where I launched on the lower end, and approaching "muddy" by the time I hit midlake. That was as far up as I went, and fished my way back down into the somewhat clearer sections. Picked off 60 crappie and half a dozen bass in just a few hours, and the light boat traffic and fall colors made for an enjoyable afternoon. Shallow cranks were the ticket for the bass. Nothing on a spinnerbait today.

 

 

 

 

 

[PhishLI]

It's hard to believe it's late October around here. Pads are still high and a slick of muck algae is still covering prime shallows choking them of 02. Weeds are still mostly crispy and fresh. The past week's lower temps have started to loosen up the algae slicks a bit, but now they're covered with fallen leaves. Still, some areas have opened up a tad, so it's less of a task to fish certain spots. On top of that we've had little rain here, and the water has been extremely low.

 

Last night heavy T-storms were supposed to hit around 9pm. My plan was to get a few hours in and book just as they hit, but they never did. A smattering of mild wind driven drops hit around 11 pm, but that's when the action finally started. The only thing they wanted were small paddletails like a Little Dipper slow rolled on the bottom. First up was a hard fighting 3-9, then a scrappy 2lber. Somehow a decent Pickerel didn't chomp through my leader, then a catfish shredded my NorieS spoon tail shad.

 

Worked a different spot for about an hour with the Dipper, but they weren't interested. Tied on a Beast Coast Miyagi, which is much larger, and this group of fish were all over it, but I kept missing. Finally,  I hooked into a nice heavy fish and thought I'd socked home the 6/0 Beast hook for real, but when I tried to turn him away from a branch 6 feet away from me the slack I gave him let him jump and shake the bait. He landed in a pile of slop and branches against the shore, so I tried to grab him but it wasn't meant to be. A solid 5 1/2 pounder at least. Oh well, but I can't complain. In a split second the skies opened up with dime sized raindrops and lightning, so I boogied.

 

[TnRiver46]

33 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

It's hard to believe it's late October around here. Pads are still high and a slick of muck algae is still covering prime shallows choking them of 02. Weeds are still mostly crispy and fresh. The past week's lower temps have started to loosen up the algae slicks a bit, but now they're covered with fallen leaves. Still, some areas have opened up a tad, so it's less of a task to fish certain spots. On top of that we've had little rain here, and the water has been extremely low.

 

Last night heavy T-storms were supposed to hit around 9pm. My plan was to get a few hours in and book just as they hit, but they never did. A smattering of mild wind driven drops hit around 11 pm, but that's when the action finally started. The only thing they wanted were small paddletails like a Little Dipper slow rolled on the bottom. First up was a hard fighting 3-9, then a scrappy 2lber. Somehow a decent Pickerel didn't chomp through my leader, then a catfish shredded my NorieS spoon tail shad.

 

Worked a different spot for about an hour with a the Dipper, but they weren't interested. Tied on a Beast Coast Miyagi, which is much larger, and this group of fish were all over it, but I kept missing. Finally,  I hooked into a nice heavy fish and thought I'd socked home the 6/0 Beast hook for real, but when I tried to turn him away from a branch 6 feet away from me the slack I gave him let him jump and shake the bait. He landed in a pile of slop and branches against the shore, so I tried to grab him but it wasn't meant to be. A solid 5 1/2 pounder at least. Oh well, but I can't complain. In a split second the skies opened up with dime sized raindrops and lightning, so I boogied.

 

Good to see you’re still after ‘‘em up there 

[LrgmouthShad]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Good to see you’re still after ‘‘em up there

We ain't done up here in the North! Fishing hard this coming weekend, not bad conditions. Last weekend was pretty insignificant. Only one decent fish. 

 

I swear in some capacity, as long as the water aint froze over, I'll still be trying some way to fish. 

[TnRiver46]

Got a 5 lb smallie after work on the poor man’s ned rig. Heck of a fight, lots of backreel. I told my buddies it was a catfish and drum the whole time. 

[HaydenS]

32 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Got a 5 lb smallie after work on the poor man’s ned rig. Heck of a fight, lots of backreel. I told my buddies it was a catfish and drum the whole time. 

Nice one!

 

Cleaned up the measuring tape I see...?

Nice 21.5 incher it looks like!

[LrgmouthShad]

48 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Got a 5 lb smallie after work on the poor man’s ned rig. Heck of a fight, lots of backreel. I told my buddies it was a catfish and drum the whole time. 

Way to go man. Very nice one

[TnRiver46]

26 minutes ago, HaydenS said:

Nice one!

 

Cleaned up the measuring tape I see...?

Nice 21.5 incher it looks like!

Hahaha I pulled the backup out of storage for clarity, thanks man 

[Fishlegs]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Got a 5 lb smallie after work on the poor man’s ned rig. Heck of a fight, lots of backreel. I told my buddies it was a catfish and drum the whole time. 

Nice fish! You’ve been catching some mighty nice smallies lately…when you aren’t stealing boats. ? 

[ironbjorn]

Damage to the foot wasn't as serious as originally thought to be. Slowly but surely healing up without intervention. Still mostly immobilized in a chair along the banks, but at least now I can tolerate standing for short periods of time and gingerly hobbling to a new spot. 

 

Vision 110 is doing all the work for me. Caught 5 yesterday, including a decent one. It's getting pretty out there...and cold.

 

 

[ironbjorn]

Dynamite 2 hours on the water before the rain pushed me off. A bunch of small bass, but the bite was hot, and it was fun. To be catching them like this on October 28th in Indiana is a blessing. I'll take any and all that I can get.

 

The day started off with, surprisingly, 3 crappies in a row on a Megabass Vision 110 in Pearl, including my PB crappie.

 

*Not my cigarette butt that will show up in a few of these pictures. Sorry, but I wasn't touching that disgusting thing.

 

Crappie 1:

 

 

Crappie 2:

 

 

PB Crappie (3 looks):

 

 

 

 

After this, I found the bass. For the next 20 minutes I was smoking them on the same bait. I caught 5 in this time frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things died down for awhile after this, and then came the rain and moderate winds. That's when I switched to a 3/8 oz War Eagle Spinnerbait and smoked 3 more in about 5 minutes time closer to the dam where I saw them busting bait fish.

 

 

 

 

The rain started to get too heavy to tolerate at 50*F with wind so I had to call it after about 2 hours of fishing. I couldn't find their parents or older siblings today, but I had a ton of fun and added a new PB, albeit not exactly the PB I was looking for.

[The Bassman]

2 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

Dynamite 2 hours on the water before the rain pushed me off. A bunch of small bass, but the bite was hot, and it was fun. To be catching them like this on October 28th in Indiana is a blessing. I'll take any and all that I can get.

 

Not sure where you're located but here in Indy we were dry until a little after noon. I had a very similar outing, lots of fun sized bass on jerkbait and several hybrid bluegill. Wind was the key. When it goes slack the bite does too (for me). We've still got lots of time to fish aside from a cold spell forecast next week. I've caught some of my biggest between now and Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ironbjorn]

2 hours ago, The Bassman said:

 

West Side Indy suburbs. It started around 11 here and has been off and on (mostly on) ever since.

[The Bassman]

17 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

West Side Indy suburbs. It started around 11 here and has been off and on (mostly on) ever since.

I grew up within sight of turn 4 (30th & Georgetown). Lots of memories from the 60's and 70's.