Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

38 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

Another morning trip, 6:30-10:30.   ~60-acre natural lake, narrow shallows with lily pads & reeds, some docks, fast-dropping slope to deep water all the way around.

 

But the shallow cover in this lake is mostly a trap, and rarely holds anything bigger than 11 or 12 inches outside of spring. The better bass are a few feet out along the drop, and about 10-12 feet deeper.

 

A jigworm ("Perch" colored Mister Twister Phenom) and a GYCB hula grub were effective at coaxing up these three today (3.36#, 2.95#, 2.15# respectively), just above a 14' thermocline:

 

...along with around two-dozen 10-11 inchers (I lost track of exactly how many), which in the end couldn't really be avoided.

 

 

 

 

You caught some nice ones!

[MIbassyaker]

31 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I love it when I loose track of my catches. Doesn't happen often but there's always hope.

I keep obsessive track of numbers and sizes, but the dink patrol was out in force today. I counted 22 of the little guys, and I know I missed a few, but not sure how many.

 

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

You caught some nice ones!

 

They're hard to find in that lake!

[Woody B]

Nice bass @Texas Flood      I've got a co worker who fishes, but won't be able to this weekend.  I've already sent him some pictures of the bass I caught tomorrow morning.   I need to send him the George Perry picture too.   

[Dominat0r]

TWO MORE DAYS TO GO for my goal of a fish every day for the summer. My son goes back to school on monday and has already started football practice. Hopefully I will be able to get out everyday, but with that, plus his school, its going to be tough. The last day of my goal (Sunday) I will put together every lure and plastic I used, plus all my gear, you can see my gear now in the gear section. 

 

This was a quick one, got out there right before the mosquitoes started to come out. Got him off a shaky head with zoom trick, but trying the dip on the tail. Chartreuse color dye and junebug color. 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Florida rain. Florida lightning. Florida bugs. Florida nights.

 

What.

 

a.

 

streak!

[Dominat0r]

9 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Florida rain. Florida lightning. Florida bugs. Florida nights.

 

What.

 

a.

 

streak!

 

I got the battle scars to prove it. So many little scabs from scratching....stepped in more Fire ant piles than I could count. 3 snakes and I hooked a BIRD, that was NOT fun. However, setting goal and sticking with it, gives me a sense of satisfaction I can not get any place else. I am happy I was able to get out there. Lucky I didn't take any over night trips this summer. Well, even if I did, I bought 2 two piece rods to pack away with me for such an occasion. I am going to try and get out there still, just will be a bit harder come school time. 

[gim]

@Dominat0r you’ve earned my respect whether you reach the goal or not. Not a chance I’d be out there in that heat fighting hordes of biting insects to catch bass. I’ll be honest, when you first started this I thought it was kind of stupid. My tune has changed over time.

 

Minus the photo of swapping saliva last week, you did a fine job. Might want to give the body a rest inside with air conditioning for a week and let it heal up.

 

[Team9nine]

High pressure system moved directly overhead today, bring sunny skies, cooler air temps and almost no wind; and a NW breeze when it did ruffle. Had to work a lot harder than it might sound, but ended the afternoon with 25 bass, all on Ned. Used both a TRD and a TicklerZ, one green pumpkin and one in Junebug, but saw no difference in bites overall. I did catch more on the TRD though because it was able to be cast further, and today was one of those rare days on a micro-lake when it mattered, as nearly all fish were well off the bank. Most everything was cookie cutter 12”-14” fish, but still rather entertaining getting bit, feeling the bite, and setting hooks on a finesse outfit at the end of a 100+ ft cast ?

 

 

[Dominat0r]

59 minutes ago, gimruis said:

@Dominat0r you’ve earned my respect whether you reach the goal or not. Not a chance I’d be out there in that heat fighting hordes of biting insects to catch bass. I’ll be honest, when you first started this I thought it was kind of stupid. My tune has changed over time.

 

Minus the photo of swapping saliva last week, you did a fine job. Might want to give the body a rest inside with air conditioning for a week and let it heal up.

 

 

I appreciate that. It was easy at times and tough at times, more so during August. My brownies were baking most of the time. I did get to meet Roland Martin and fished next to him a couple of times. I got to meet you all and I have to admit, seeing all the pics from you guys really helped me stay on task. I was just looking for other local ponds in my area when I found this site talking about a park close to me.  I really enjoy doing this and I am glad to have found a group of people who love it as well. I hope to fish with one or all of you some day. Any time you in the Broward county area in South Florida, drop me a message. We can fish my ponds here and I know a few other spots here and there. Pretty much all my streak days fish were in my neighborhood ponds, minus the few Headwaters trips I have taken. So thank all of you for putting up those pics and letting everyone enjoy them. Just know they are truly appreciated. 

On 8/17/2023 at 11:56 AM, ol'crickety said:

I went bog bassin' again. I lead with a heron and then another heron, the second one on a lodge. Then two pretty shoreline pics. Then two pics each of a 17.75-incher, a 19.25-incher, and a 20.25 incher. Sorry for the low quality of the 19.25-incher. My headlamp died and I had to process her in the dark.

 

It was hard fishing this morning. It's cool today and that clamped their mouths and the wind kicked up, which had me paddling to position myself as much as I managed to fish. Plus, when it's windy, I can't see the weeds and thus cast into them more, so this morning's trip was mostly paddling and removing weeds from my lures. Still, any morning with two four-pounders (I caught 11 total.) is a good morning. Heck, any morning with a heron on a lodge is a great morning.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no idea, but I missed this some how. WOW Crick, thats some nice fish there. You canoe and Kayak people are crazy, I am so worried Ill set the hook and flip out of it. I am looking now for a small skiff, something that needs a little work, gives me a project to do. 

[Mbirdsley]

so i’m actually up north in Frankfort to do some salmon fishing with my brother in his 27 ft sea ray.  i decided to get out of work a couple hrs early this morning.  get a couple of hours of sleep and hit the road.  last minute i decided to take my boat so i could stop along the way and fish.  Frankfort is 3 hrs north of where i live and on lake michigan. 

 

I stopped at jays to by some TRD’s and some shooting related stuff.  originally i wanted to fish a lake called 5 lakes just north of clare ( kinda the half way point to frankfort  ). wind was blowing 15-20 mph out of the west .  looking at my wind apps it looked like the wind was dying off the farther north i went.  

 

decided to try Barry lake just out side cadillac.  it’s a smaller lake but, it’s protected from the wind.  decided to try it there for a few hrs. i’ve fished it once before in 2019. luckily i did.  did very well for 3 hrs of fishing.  i caught a nice 3.6 lbs bass flipping a berkley watermelon red flake craw fatty on a pegged 1/2 oz wieght.  also caught 4-5 other bass.  all came while flipping into silver dollar sized lilly pads.  i lost another 2-3 lber in the pads too .

 

 

salmon fishing tommrow. i might take my nephew out bass fishing sunday before i head home. 

[TnRiver46]

Nice fish @Mbirdsley! I was in Frankfort from July 24-august 1. Caught nice fish in platte river Crystal river and betsie river and a lot of rock bass in a rain shortened trip to big platte lake 

[Swamp Girl]

@Mbirdsley: I love Frankfort. Whadda town! I love that top bass too. Whadda brute!

 

10 hours ago, Dominat0r said:

You canoe and Kayak people are crazy, I am so worried Ill set the hook and flip out of it.

 

Actually, Dom, fishing kayaks are pretty stable. And Royalex canoes, like Old Town canoes, are pretty stable too. However, Kevlar canoes like my 15' 6" Bell Rockstar, are built for ease of carrying and speed and they do flip. My canoe is like a sports car, i.e. fun to drive, but it can take you down as it takes you down the road. 

 

10 hours ago, Dominat0r said:

My brownies were baking most of the time.

 

It's just the opposite here in Maine. We're suddenly cool. Heck, I only caught 11 and 16 fish the last two mornings and whereas that's a lot of bass in a lot of places, it's not many in my little-fished water. Something changed and suddenly. However, five of them were four pounds or more, so the big bass are still active and one of them was this girl (I don't know if I love her mouth or her belly more.):

 

 

10 hours ago, Dominat0r said:

I am looking now for a small skiff, something that needs a little work, gives me a project to do. 

 

Heck, yeah, get off the bank! @thediscochef and others catch BIG bass off the bank, but where I fish, you couldn't even bank fish. It would be impossible. You'd either have to cast over 30 yards of reeds or scramble on boulders. Imagine bank fishing this:

 

 

If I lived in Florida, I'd kayak fish the Everglades. I'd need a Garmin so I wouldn't be lost forever, but I'd plunge into the Everglades and fish the salad just like I fish here. I've seen other kayak fishers do this and I saw one, another paddling woman, land two DDs in a row there. Buy a kayak, Dom!

 

 

[thediscochef]

Had more fun with ned this morning, only two fish but my buddy kept the channel cat for lunch. A small spotted bass. To some degree I consider catching a 3-4lb channel cat in riprap on 8lb fluorocarbon a skilled move. Good for the ego, I needed that. Our other buddy caught a nice meanmouth out there too, they are limited in size in this lake since it's smallmouth × native spotted bass so a 12" one is impressive. Good times. 

[VolsnFishin]

I’m new to fishing. Only a few months under my belt. Nothing huge but still a start to the sport. 

[BigAngus752]

Just got back yesterday from a very nice vacation with my wonderful wife visiting distilleries on the bourbon trail in Kentucky.  A nice, relaxing time.  Got up at 5am today and pulled the boat to my closest lake.  This was my first fish.  5lb 2oz.  That's a nice welcome home.

 

[Way north bass guy]

Tried to hit a lake nearby that I haven’t fished in probably 15 years or so. It’s fairly shallow and has some nice largemouth in it. Should’ve known in the middle of the largest cold front we’ve had so far this summer that they’d be shut right down. Got this one fat little guy off a laydown, and that was it. Still a nice day to be out though. 

[Woody B]

I went a couple hours this morning.  I caught 8 bass, 3 were decent, 5 were micro bass.   The first one is pictured.   I also broke 2 rods.   One shouldn't have broke, the other one......I broke it.   The first one I broke was Mrs. B's rod.  (don't tell her)  I had a wacky on it.   It broke on the hookset.  It shouldn't have broke.  I tightened up the line before the hook set so it wasn't a slack line hookset break.  It broke right in the center of the rod.  I had, but lost a 3 to 4 pound bass.  (but they all look big in the water)  I had it on for a bit, but it jumped and threw the hook.  Probably didn't get a good hookset with the rod breaking.....and probably didn't keep it pegged with 1/2 a rod.   The other.....I flat broke it.  I had a crank get snagged but didn't want to go get it loose yet.  I put the rod in a rod holder and picked up another rod.   It was windy, boat drifted and I ended up high sticking the heck out of it while it was in the rod holder.   It was my favorite rod.  I've already replaced it.   

It was a Dobyns fury spinning rod that broke on the hookset.  I won't name the other one, since it wasn't a rod defect.  

 

[Dominat0r]

1 more day to go.....its blazing hot again, 97F where I am right now. Sun is out in full effect. Fish are still on the shore line or just near it, nothing bit when I dropped down low. Got him off a zoom speed worm. It poured this morning, my shoes got soaked standing in 1.5" of water. Have to admit, did cool me off a bit. 

 

Forgot my scale, of course, buy a new scale (Rapala high contrast 50lb) and I forgot it....If I had to guess, would say about 1.5lbs.

 

[gim]

I had probably my best outing in a month this morning.  I have been catching fish lately, just not in the quantity or quality that I was before the heatwave in late July showed up.  The water temps have dropped from 81 two weeks ago to 77 last week to 72 this morning, and the fishing greatly improved because of it.  I didn't catch anything really big, but a few were in the 16.5-17.5 inch range.  They are starting to pack on the weight again too.  Unfortunately, there are another few days of hot temps coming so the fishing is going to decline again.  I also had a blue heron keep me company for about 10 minutes early this morning.

[Team9nine]

Our last nice day before the heat hits us, too. Temp near 80 today, but heavy haze meant little sun. On the back side of a high pressure system, so just a light variable breeze; sometimes east, sometimes west, sometimes none - lol.
 

Had a goal of catching 5 bass today and exceeded it by catching 15. A surprising number were decent sized for this location, running 14”-15”. No big fish though. But that gives me 2,011 bass for the year on just over 135 trips (crappie trips not included). And while my consecutive days fishing isn’t quite on par with dominator ? I have fished 59 of the past 68 days, so not too shabby. Ned for everything today (TRD, Finesse WormZ).
 

Tomorrow starts our run of days in the 92-98 deg. range with expected heat indexes over 100 for many of those. Supposed to last at least through next Friday. Since I’m primarily an afternoon angler, I likely won’t be venturing out much unless I just hit it right before dark after the sun has dropped, 

 

Here’s a few from today. Also a shot of what Chara looks like, as that is about the only thing left in the pond that’s still green, and there isn’t much of it yet. Several threads on weed identities, so maybe this will help someone. No mistaking the smell when you crunch it up or rip it apart from off your bait. There’s a reason it has the nicknames of “skunk grass” or “muskgrass.” ? It has a very distinct garlic/pepper smell to it.

 

 

 

 

 

[thediscochef]

37 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Our last nice day before the heat hits us, too. Temp near 80 today, but heavy haze meant little sun. On the back side of a high pressure system, so just a light variable breeze; sometimes east, sometimes west, sometimes none - lol.
 

Had a goal of catching 5 bass today and exceeded it by catching 15. A surprising number were decent sized for this location, running 14”-15”. No big fish though. But that gives me 2,011 bass for the year on just over 135 trips (crappie trips not included). And while my consecutive days fishing isn’t quite on par with dominator ? I have fished 59 of the past 68 days, so not too shabby. Ned for everything today (TRD, Finesse WormZ).
 

Tomorrow starts our run of days in the 92-98 deg. range with expected heat indexes over 100 for many of those. Supposed to last at least through next Friday. Since I’m primarily an afternoon angler, I likely won’t be venturing out much unless I just hit it right before dark after the sun has dropped, 

 

Here’s a few from today. Also a shot of what Chara looks like, as that is about the only thing left in the pond that’s still green, and there isn’t much of it yet. Several threads on weed identities, so maybe this will help someone. No mistaking the smell when you crunch it up or rip it apart from off your bait. There’s a reason it has the nicknames of “skunk grass” or “muskgrass.” ? It has a very distinct garlic/pepper smell to it.

 

 

 

 

 

Been pulling up a bunch of chara here, I actually kind of like the smell but I don't know how good of cover it makes. We have a problem with invasive milfoil at Ray roberts right now, there's places that it's so thick you can't throw anything but a frog. I try to collect it and leave it to dry out on the bank 

[IcatchDinks]

Went to The Puddles this morning. A few days ago, I found somebody's snagged spinner bait and added it to my tackle bag. I've never caught a fish on a "safety-pin" type spinner, though not for lack of trying. I'd basically given up trying. But whenever I find a lost bait, I try to catch fish on it. I tied this one on and after several casts, I finally caught one. 14" largie, and my first ever fish off a spinnerbait:

 

After about fifty more casts I gave up on the spinner. I caught two more fish this morning, but they were both fairly small. One on a spoon, the other on a T-rig:

 

 

Might get out again later this evening, but the light doesn't last long in the evenings anymore, and it's 7:30 now. 

[MIbassyaker]

1 hour ago, IcatchDinks said:

 I've never caught a fish on a "safety-pin" type spinner, though not for lack of trying. I'd basically given up trying. But whenever I find a lost bait, I try to catch fish on it. I tied this one on and after several casts, I finally caught one. 14" largie, and my first ever fish off a spinnerbait:

[...]

After about fifty more casts I gave up on the spinner.

 

Keep trying it, especially as we start getting into fall. Pond bass love a spinnerbait. 

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, thediscochef said:

Been pulling up a bunch of chara here, I actually kind of like the smell but I don't know how good of cover it makes.

It’s especially good late fall into winter because it’s one of the last weeds to die back; usually around long after everything else has croaked…it and coontail.

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

2,011 bass for the year