Latest Catch Pics Thread

[AlabamaSpothunter]

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Alex, I do think there are few 9.1 pounds bass in Maine, but they're one in 100,000. Maybe 500,000.

 

I'll be thrilled to catch a six-pounder. However, I'm also happy to go out and catch dozens of bass in a morning or evening. I like to stay busy in a boat.

 

At some point, I'll try the new scale, but I can't see myself lugging it everywhere, partly because it's more to carry and partly because it'll keep the fish I treasure out of the water even longer. I already measure my big fish on a bump board, photograph them with a thumb grip, and photograph them on the bump board too. All that time, they're not breathing. Some guys might think me silly, but those fish are in my care for a few secs and I want to return them to the water sooner rather than later.

 

In Canada, I'd spend a week on a lake, fishing 12 or so hours a day, and over decades, I only once saw a fish that I'd caught later floating on the surface. Luckily, an eagle ate it.

 

Still, I'll weigh a few fish to get an idea of what length equals what weight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I get it Katie, I think any great Bass angler is always trying to speed up the process, reduce the stress of the fish, etc.     

 

The day I don't feel I'm striving to handle these fish better, learn better ways to hook them, fine tuning baits with smaller hooks at the expense of less hookups, and ultimately even throwing a highly successful bait out because of ethical concerns.   

Talk about soul crushing if that fish I caught earlier didn't return in essentially the same condition she came to me in......imagine knowing you are responsible for losing not just her, but all those thousands and thousands of precious genetically very important eggs.     

I'm stopped following the OH Ivie awesome action for the most part once I realized they knew and eventually did kill a Sharelunker fish bringing them up from 50+.    Knowing that's a possibility and still fishing for them is seriously questionable in my book.  Especially doing so with a highly refined, and technologically enhanced technique.   

 

Finding the right balance is tough that's for sure, I battle with it honestly as much as I battle with catching the fish themselves.    

[PhishLI]

I got the scoop from a dude that the water temps at our local spots had tipped up to a blazing 38*, so with all my honey-do-or-else stuff behind me, I was able to finally get out there and do some work while there was a little daylight left. These ice-overs and frigid snaps have knocked down all the weeds nicely which was good to see. That never fully happened last year.

 

Had some decent ripple, but none of my tricks were working for the first 3 hours. Had Neds going, spinnerbaits, cranks, and my usual battalion of paddletail swimmers. I decided on ending the time I had left by throwing my newest BBZ-1 Shad floater in Dirty Shad that's tweaked with lead strips for a very controlled slow sink, and I worked it painfully slowwww. I got a few bumps rather quickly, and then a high-powered Pickerel T-boned and choked it. Not sure how my line didn't get the toothy axe job, but it didn't.

 

Hooked into a nice scrapper next. Hard to believe this guy had so much fight with these temps, but he was lit. Someone dumped a pile thorn bushes they'd pruned to widen the cut right at the shoreline, and when I released this dude he made a u-turn and swam right into it and was stuck in 3 inches of water and laying on its side. I always have my shears with me, so I cut a hole in the mess and pulled him out. He swam off in the correct direction this time.

 

The wife wanted dinner, so I circled back to the Pickeral spot for one last go. Worked the BBZ mind numbingly slow again and was rewarded with a solid chunk after a bomb cast. Once again, I was surprised by its horsepower. She choked it too, and like the Pickerel somehow avoided getting bloodied up one bit. First Pickerel and first and second Bass of the year. Feels good to be on the board at last.

 

 

 

[thediscochef]

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I get it Katie, I think any great Bass angler is always trying to speed up the process, reduce the stress of the fish, etc.     

 

The day I don't feel I'm striving to handle these fish better, learn better ways to hook them, fine tuning baits with smaller hooks at the expense of less hookups, and ultimately even throwing a highly successful bait out because of ethical concerns.   

Talk about soul crushing if that fish I caught earlier didn't return in essentially the same condition she came to me in......imagine knowing you are responsible for losing not just her, but all those thousands and thousands of precious genetically very important eggs.     

I'm stopped following the OH Ivie awesome action for the most part once I realized they knew and eventually did kill a Sharelunker fish bringing them up from 50+.    Knowing that's a possibility and still fishing for them is seriously questionable in my book.  Especially doing so with a highly refined, and technologically enhanced technique.   

 

Finding the right balance is tough that's for sure, I battle with it honestly as much as I battle with catching the fish themselves.    

I believe that learning to properly vent a fish's swim bladder should be a more important skill to people who are trying to catch and release in water deeper than about 28-30ft. At least gives the fish a chance. I'm not surprised the Ivie guys are out that deep though, I've had no real luck fishing shallow or anywhere off a bank yet this year. Hopefully that changes soon, all the night temps are forecast 4-8 degrees higher than the water temps this week...

[Woody B]

I caught 9 yesterday including a 4.45 pound Largemouth.  It swallowed a Strike King Pro 3.  It was hooked in one gill, and bleeding a little.  It seemed OK.  I hope it survived.  If it's obvious one isn't going to make it I'll take it and give it to the people fishing at the landing.   I landed the 14 inch spot pictured without a rod or reel.  (it's a long story)  Saturday I made a really bad cast in the wind.  I thumbed the reel and pulled the lure back before it found the dock.  I ended up with a bunch of slack line.  The line got wrapped around the reel handle, and inside the reel.  I managed to get it out.  I knew I needed to change line,  but decided I would wait until one evening this week.  So,  Sunday I make a fairly long cast along a ledge.  The stressed line breaks and goes through my guides at the end of the cast.   I move the boat 10 feet or so, pick up the line and start hand lining my lure it.  The bass hits it.  I had my "hands full".  (pun intended).  I'm glad it wasn't bigger.  I had the line loosely wrapped around my hand.  It might have been painful with a bigger fish.  

 

There's a bunch of really nice fish pictured.  Congrats.  It makes me not want to post my minnows, but I had fun catching them anyway.  

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, PhishLI said:

I got the scoop from a dude that the water temps at our local spots had tipped up to a blazing 38*, so with all my honey-do-or-else stuff behind me, I was able to finally get out there and do some work while there was a little daylight left. These ice-overs and frigid snaps have knocked down all the weeds nicely which was good to see. That never fully happened last year.

 

Had some decent ripple, but none of my tricks were working for the first 3 hours. Had Neds going, spinnerbaits, cranks, and my usual battalion of paddletail swimmers. I decided on ending the time I had left by throwing my newest BBZ-1 Shad floater in Dirty Shad that's tweaked with lead strips for a very controlled slow sink, and I worked it painfully slowwww. I got a few bumps rather quickly, and then a high-powered Pickerel T-boned and choked it. Not sure how my line didn't get the toothy axe job, but it didn't.

 

Hooked into a nice scrapper next. Hard to believe this guy had so much fight with these temps, but he was lit. Someone dumped a pile thorn bushes they'd pruned to widen the cut right at the shoreline, and when I released this dude he made a u-turn and swam right into it and was stuck in 3 inches of water and laying on its side. I always have my shears with me, so I cut a hole in the mess and pulled him out. He swam off in the correct direction this time.

 

The wife wanted dinner, so I circled back to the Pickeral spot for one last go. Worked the BBZ mind numbingly slow again and was rewarded with a solid chunk after a bomb cast. Once again, I was surprised by its horsepower. She choked it too, and like the Pickerel somehow avoided getting bloodied up one bit. First Pickerel and first and second Bass of the year. Feels good to be on the board at last.

 

 

 

 Night fishing ice water in the most crowded place in America, you’ve got it bad 

[Pat Brown]

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

I caught 9 yesterday including a 4.45 pound Largemouth.  It swallowed a Strike King Pro 3.  It was hooked in one gill, and bleeding a little.  It seemed OK.  I hope it survived.  If it's obvious one isn't going to make it I'll take it and give it to the people fishing at the landing.   I landed the 14 inch spot pictured without a rod or reel.  (it's a long story)  Saturday I made a really bad cast in the wind.  I thumbed the reel and pulled the lure back before it found the dock.  I ended up with a bunch of slack line.  The line got wrapped around the reel handle, and inside the reel.  I managed to get it out.  I knew I needed to change line,  but decided I would wait until one evening this week.  So,  Sunday I make a fairly long cast along a ledge.  The stressed line breaks and goes through my guides at the end of the cast.   I move the boat 10 feet or so, pick up the line and start hand lining my lure it.  The bass hits it.  I had my "hands full".  (pun intended).  I'm glad it wasn't bigger.  I had the line loosely wrapped around my hand.  It might have been painful with a bigger fish.  

 

There's a bunch of really nice fish pictured.  Congrats.  It makes me not want to post my minnows, but I had fun catching them anyway.  

 

 

4 1/2 lb LMB is a tank anywhere in the USA, that's some good fishing right there hoss!

[Jar11591]

8 hours ago, Mbirdsley said:

I’m so ready to bass fish I could cry.

 Me too man. Having serious withdrawal. Im hoping that in one month from now I’ll have open water and be on my boat. Haven’t had any solid ice this year, but enough to keep my boat off the lakes. 

[Swamp Girl]

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm stopped following the OH Ivie awesome action for the most part once I realized they knew and eventually did kill a Sharelunker fish bringing them up from 50+.    Knowing that's a possibility and still fishing for them is seriously questionable in my book. 

 

Heck, yeah, it's hard on a fish to catch them deep. I was in Canada about 15 years ago with my father and we were using big sinkers on three-way swivels to reach deep lake trout. We caught one, could see that it was struggling, so we kept it to eat it, and put the deep sinkers away.  

 

Hey, @Mbirdsley and @Jar11591, may I cry with you guys? Or maybe I should go stand in a circle with the ice fishing guys in Maine.

 

Nice fish, @PhishLI and @Woody B! Phish, all three of your fish look B-I-G. Not many pickerel impress me, but yours does. Your bass too. They are thick. 

 

WoodyB, what does the water look like where you fish? I ask because your fish are so pale. BlueBasser in Kansas catches pale bass too. Maine water is clear, but tannin-stained. It looks like tea. 

[PhishLI]

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

 Night fishing ice water in the most crowded place in America, you’ve got it bad 

Oy yeah! I was getting facial tics and twitches watching these posts from my couch. A fish catch is the most amazing antifreeze. One minute I can't feel my toes, then after a tug they feel toasty instantly. The mind...

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

The day I don't feel I'm striving to handle these fish better, learn better ways to hook them, fine tuning baits with smaller hooks at the expense of less hookups, and ultimately even throwing a highly successful bait out because of ethical concerns.   

Talk about soul crushing if that fish I caught earlier didn't return in essentially the same condition she came to me in......imagine knowing you are responsible for losing not just her, but all those thousands and thousands of precious genetically very important eggs. 

?

[PhishLI]

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm stopped following the OH Ivie awesome action for the most part once I realized they knew and eventually did kill a Sharelunker fish bringing them up from 50+.    Knowing that's a possibility and still fishing for them is seriously questionable in my book.

I get to fish a few deep water lakes and reservoirs in upstate NY. I won't fish deep because I'm not fizzing a bass. What a turn off. Unfortunately, it's going happen, but I'm not down with killing bass for my amusement. When it occurs, it's a real buzzkill. I'm good with what I catch the way I can catch them.

[Blue Raider Bob]

25 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

I get to fish a few deep water lakes and reservoirs in upstate NY. I won't fish deep because I'm not fizzing a bass. What a turn off. Unfortunately, it's going happen, but I'm not down with killing bass for my amusement. When it occurs, it's a real buzzkill. I'm good with what I catch the way I can catch them.

I think its bad enough we stick them in the mouth with a hook, pull them from their homes, scare the heck out of them, then throw them back for our enjoyment. I'm not going to stick a needle in their air bladders after all that. I'll just fish shallow. I'm not that mad at em'!

Besides, what is the puncture in the bladder supposed to do, heal up? Do we know it does heal, and how long does it take? With an open puncture, what happens to the bass when it returns to the depths? If it can release pressure one way, it can dang sure release in in the other direction. This can't be good for the fish. I can't in good consience, increase an obvious mortality rate. Just my humble thoughts.

[PhishLI]

My brother finally broke his long running February curse with a few ambitious squirts. Matt Lures Baby Hardgill and Legal Dope Tiny Tum Tum got the bites. He lost something heavy, but was happy to get what he got. The Phish brothers are officially off the schneid for '23.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Go Phish!

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

My brother finally broke his long running February curse with a few ambitious squirts. Matt Lures Baby Hardgill and Legal Dope Tiny Tum Tum got the bites. He lost something heavy, but was happy to get what he got. The Phish brothers are officially off the schneid for '23.

 

 

I'm sure your brother loves the fact you got him hooked on high dollar awesome big swimbaits ?

 

Just a matter of time until your posting pics of awesome fish with outrageous big swimbaits, I remember the first time you posted some fish you caught on that big ole' rat ?

[Team9nine]

Wind didn’t blow, and my fish weren’t happy about it. That’s supposed to change these next few days. Rain in the forecast for Wed. might be a good thing, too - water is getting a little too clear for these sunny, bluebird days. Just a handful of little chunks this afternoon.

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

12 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Wind didn’t blow, and my fish weren’t happy about it. That’s supposed to change these next few days. Rain in the forecast for Wed. might be a good thing, too - water is getting a little too clear for these sunny, bluebird days. Just a handful of little chunks this afternoon.

 

 

Nice ones, burned through my emotions lol.

 

I find it cool though that we are both fishing for the same species, yet you are wanting my conditions and I'm wanting your conditions.   Clearer water, less wind.....yes please ?

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm sure your brother loves the fact you got him hooked on high dollar awesome big swimbaits ?

He's lost his marbles on them. I get new pics weekly. He's having fun.

[Team9nine]

44 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

I find it cool though that we are both fishing for the same species, yet you are wanting my conditions and I'm wanting your conditions.   Clearer water, less wind.....yes please ?

On our reservoirs, I like clear and calm, or perhaps light winds for this early in the season. However, in our small waters, often we only have 7-8 ft max depth. When the water starts getting really clear, combined with sun, blue skies and little wind, I think our bass just go to the center of the pond in the deepest water they can get and just sulk. The bite might even go nocturnal - I haven’t tested that out yet. I can say more days than not, strong winds and warm temps are the key triggers for a good bite through the winter - or heavy downpours that stain the water.

[Woody B]

8 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

WoodyB, what does the water look like where you fish? I ask because your fish are so pale.

 

The water is still a little muddy but not as bad as a few weeks ago.  We got 1 1/2 inches of rain Friday.  Largemouth around here are usually really pale during winter.  They'll have more color when it warms up.   Some of it may be settings on my camera (I phone) I was messing with some setting trying to get some pictures at work a week or 2 ago.   I noticed in the pictures that my hair has some gray.  That's can't be right. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Nice ones, burned through my emotions lol.

 

I find it cool though that we are both fishing for the same species, yet you are wanting my conditions and I'm wanting your conditions.   Clearer water, less wind.....yes please ?

Yep, Willy wonka chocolate water sucks . Plenty of skunks for many ‘round here. My buddy that always catches monsters zeroed in his tourney Saturday 

 

more chocolate to come

[Pat Brown]

Got a little largemouth on a big junebug lizard at the pond today during a brief trip with my son (teacher work day).  He got 10 channel catfish fishing with chicken liver on a Carolina rig!  He was needing a confidence boost and the panfish aren't quite hitting yet so I suggested catfish and boy did it work! Hahahaha

[BigAngus752]

Was so balmy after I got off work I had to put the boat on the water.  First bass of '23.  4lb 8oz.  Water was 44.5 degrees.  The bite was so mushy that it was one of those "something feels different" hooksets.  Can't complain about a jig bite in February in Illinois!

 

[FryDog62]

20 incher on a swim jig in 73 degree water.  So far I don't miss ice fishing  ?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

28 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

Was so balmy after I got off work I had to put the boat on the water.  First bass of '23.  4lb 8oz.  Water was 44.5 degrees.  The bite was so mushy that it was one of those "something feels different" hooksets.  Can't complain about a jig bite in February in Illinois!

 

What a toad, almost messed around and got a new PB ?

Just now, FryDog62 said:

20 incher on a swim jig in 73 degree water.  So far I don't miss ice fishing  ?

Fantastic fish, and 73 degree water sounds like summer to me ?

40 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Got a little largemouth on a big junebug lizard at the pond today during a brief trip with my son (teacher work day).  He got 10 channel catfish fishing with chicken liver on a Carolina rig!  He was needing a confidence boost and the panfish aren't quite hitting yet so I suggested catfish and boy did it work! Hahahaha

Most impressive Dad!

 

A dad who gives his son the gift and love of fishing is an incredible blessing, if your son doesn't now, some day he'll realize how lucky he is to have an old man who loves to fish.  

59 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yep, Willy wonka chocolate water sucks . Plenty of skunks for many ‘round here. My buddy that always catches monsters zeroed in his tourney Saturday 

 

more chocolate to come

We might set a historical day time high temp this week.....on Thursday it's forecasted to be 85......EIGHTY-FIVE DEGREES in Feb ?

[A-Jay]

Nice catches to all the basssheads.

The past several pages of this one have been stoking a fire in me

that at this point, really doesn't need it . . . . .

A-Jay