Latest Catch Pics Thread

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

I'm a degenerate gambler (who spends a lot of other folks money) What did you have in mind?...

Go to the hottest bass lake in the US and prove fish aren’t smart? Is your scroll up function busted??

[Swamp Girl]

10 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

I'm a degenerate gambler (who spends a lot of other folks money) What did you have in mind?...

 

I always think of Tony Soprano when I read or hear "degenerate gambler."

 

[ScottW]

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

[Deleted account]

59 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Go to the hottest bass lake in the US and prove fish aren’t smart? Is your scroll up function busted??

Mouse test sat...

 

bet

/bet/

verb

1.

risk something, usually a sum of money, against someone else's on the basis of the outcome of a future event, such as the result of a race or game.

"I would be prepared to bet that what he really wanted was to settle down"

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, ScottW said:

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

I’ve been doing a ton of bank fishing. What in the wide world of sports is Ardmore? 

[Blue Raider Bob]

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

No diss at all.

 

The water I fish is unpressured, but it's still challenging. It's just a different challenge than big, open, pressured water.

 

I often fish in thickets of wild rice, with more weeds on the surface and just below the surface. When a bass hits, she has weeds everywhere to break free. To even reach these places, I have to carry my canoe through the woods, over fallen trees, and down banks in the dark. The photos of fish only come if I pay my dues. Launching in the foggy dark is also a challenge, as I've watched horror movies and I've an active imagination. Plus, in the foggy dark, there's a lot of life on the water, as critters feel secure in such conditions and approach me, so I have to remind myself that Mother Nature sends them and not Stephen King.

 

Sometimes I have to drive down old, muddy logging roads to reach a pond, which requires a different set of skills. 

 

I sometimes paddle up to a wall of wild rice. I'll paddle along it looking for a narrow break. Then I enter a maze. I'm amazed I don't get lost in those mazes, but I'm always able to find my way home. I was only uncertain a couple times and I had a rush of panic, but then I settled myself and got busy solving the maze.

 

I should take more pictures of these places, as I only take pictures of the pretty, open water, but that's not where I'm catching most of the bass. 

 

Kayaks and canoes are made for such places. It would be a shame to waste your kayak's potential. 

Please take more pictures, although you are able to describe with such intense details that I can see the walls of wild rice in front of me......no actually it's a computer screen in front of me....but when I close my eyes.....walls of wild rice! 

29 minutes ago, ScottW said:

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

Yes, anyplace down stream from one of the TVA dams will be the place to bank fish. I go below Nickajack at least twice a month, sometimes more, although I boat fish. The banks get a good crowd of anglers and I see the bank anglers catching fish often. Right now it's White Bass time. Wish I was off Friday and I'd be happy to take ya'll along. You will be crossing the Wheeler Lake portion of the river on the way to Ardmore, so either go to Wheeler dam to your west, or Guntersville dam to your east. Good Luck!

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Please take more pictures, although you are able to describe with such intense details that I can see the walls of wild rice in front of me......no actually it's a computer screen in front of me....but when I close my eyes.....walls of wild rice! 

 

Will do! 

[ScottW]

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve been doing a ton of bank fishing. What in the wide world of sports is Ardmore? 

Haha! It’s on both sides of the state line just off I65N. 
 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

4 hours ago, ScottW said:

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

I thought you already had an awesome RV?

 

Lol at trading paint, I do it every time passing the TN River on I65, same goes for the Saturn 5 Rocket that they are tearing down ?

[ScottW]

47 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I thought you already had an awesome RV?

 

Lol at trading paint, I do it every time passing the TN River on I65, same goes for the Saturn 5 Rocket that they are tearing down ?

We do but we needed something a bit bigger ‘cough, cough(for rod/tackle storage) cough, cough’. ?

I hear you on the rocket being torn down. The whole rest stop is in shambles now. ? The river is almost too enticing to pass by without wetting a line.

 

To keep this reply ‘on-topic’ I present the dink I caught around 4:30 this afternoon. ? The little guy wanted that modified chatterbait bad!

Edited February 2, 2023 by ScottW
Typos-R-Me

[Master Bait'r]

On 1/30/2023 at 11:47 AM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

He was quite the character, I fished down in the Keys a good bit and have been to his home and seen the cats that still roam around with links to his own.   

 

Half the stuff I learn about the man, I absolutely love, the other half I absolutely hate.   Very complicated man.   The Old Man and the Sea is certainly the best long form story I've read, and To Build a Fire by Jack London is the best short story I've read.    Both are so vivid you really do feel like you are there.    Gotta throw Moby Dick and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in there as well ?

Luckeeeeee ?

This post was here for 16 hours without me seeing it, shame on me.

 

Beautiful fat fish!   Love seeing that. 

 

That Channel is really cool, can't remember seeing red on the ones I catch.  

Wow, somebody has been fishing next to the buffet line, those girls are PLUS SIZED haha

[AlabamaSpothunter]

30 minutes ago, Master Bait'r said:

Wow, somebody has been fishing next to the buffet line, those girls are PLUS SIZED haha

I think you are referring to Bluebasser86's fish I quoted.....I wish I could take credit for those fish, but I've never come close to fishing in conditions like that, much less in a Kayak.    

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, ScottW said:

Haha! It’s on both sides of the state line just off I65N. 
 

Ya learn something everyday! Never heard of it. Blue raider bob already answered your question perfectly, fish below the dams when shore bound 

[Fishlegs]

17 hours ago, ScottW said:

Haha! It’s on both sides of the state line just off I65N. 
 

 

14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Ya learn something everyday! Never heard of it. Blue raider bob already answered your question perfectly, fish below the dams when shore bound 

I-65 (near Ardmore) is about halfway between Wheeler & Guntersville dams. It's an hour or so drive from I-65 to either dam.

 

That beautiful part of the Tennessee River you drive across on 65 goes through the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge, which is the home of north Alabama's gator population. Not a ton of them, but they're there.

[ScottW]

3 hours ago, Fishlegs said:

That beautiful part of the Tennessee River you drive across on 65 goes through the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge, which is the home of north Alabama's gator population. Not a ton of them, but they're there.

?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Caught about 20 yesterday, got another double up on the A-Rig, but now after several weeks of heavy action on these A-Rigs I'm finding myself really torn over if I can personally keep fishing them.   I keep snagging 2-3 small fish for every 20 fish I catch on them.   Never hooked a quality fish badly, but it's eating me up and ruining the whole point of being out there when I snag a few.  

 

I went barbless, and I'm downsizing hook gauge/size, and also gonna try to ease up on the hookset, but if that doesn't fix the problem, my A-Rig days are numbered for sure.     

 

15+ came on the A-Rig, 1 on the Blade Bait, 1 on the 110jr+1, and 1 on the S-Waver 168

 

Big girl of the day was close to 5lbs, and big Spot of the day was likely a bit over 3lbs.   

 

 

   

[T-Billy]

35 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm finding myself really torn over if I can personally keep fishing them.   I keep snagging 2-3 small fish for every 20 fish I catch on them.   Never hooked a quality fish badly, but it's eating me up and ruining the whole point of being out there when I snag a few.

Don't sweat it. They're tough little critters. I've caught several healthy fish that had recovered from an obviously broken back. Others that had survived the jaws of muskie. Your hooks ain't hurting them much. You don't mind hooking them in the mouth, why let hooking them anywhere else bother ya?

 I feel bad about the rare occasion I blind one. I eat the ones I gullet hook. Other than that..... meh... they're fine.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

3 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Don't sweat it. They're tough little critters. I've caught several healthy fish that had recovered from an obviously broken back. Others that had survived the jaws of muskie. Your hooks ain't hurting them much.

Thank you Tim!   Makes me feel a bit better.   I always start off at the default setting that these are tough critters, then I hook one poorly and it's Bambi all of sudden 

[T-Billy]

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Thank you Tim!   Makes me feel a bit better.   I always start off at the default setting that these are tough critters, then I hook one poorly and it's Bambi all of sudden 

LOL. That's cause you're a good person with a kind heart. NUTHIN wrong with that. God bless ya brother.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Just now, T-Billy said:

LOL. That's cause you're a good person with a kind heart. NUTHIN wrong with that. God bless ya brother.

Right back at you Tim, truly a brother from another mother!  ??

[Swamp Girl]

Ah, T-Billy, you're 24K.

 

And more great bass, Alex. You're a heckuva fisherman. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Just now, ol'crickety said:

Ah, T-Billy, you're 24K.

 

And more great bass, Alex. You're a heckuva fisherman. 

Both of you are Platinum, 24k is for the peasants ?

[T-Billy]

3 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Ah, T-Billy, you're 24K.

 

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Both of you are Platinum, 24k is for the peasants ?

Rule #2: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. ?

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

Don't sweat it. They're tough little critters. I've caught several healthy fish that had recovered from an obviously broken back. Others that had survived the jaws of muskie. Your hooks ain't hurting them much. You don't mind hooking them in the mouth, why let hooking them anywhere else bother ya?

 I feel bad about the rare occasion I blind one. I eat the ones I gullet hook. Other than that..... meh... they're fine.

I’ve been hooked in the mouth and the arm, much prefer the arm 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

16 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve been hooked in the mouth and the arm, much prefer the arm 

My cat thanks you for scaring the day lights out of it when I erupted in laughter ?