Latest Catch Pics Thread

[IcatchDinks]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Proved to be a decent move as there ended up being a school of small but willing participants positioned off the end of it.

 

 

Small. ? A-Jays "small" is my PB. Keep up it, man. I love seeing the fish you pull in. 

 

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@ol'crickety, check out this little feller’s stripes. I’m still trying to steal the @IcatchDinks moniker 

 

? now's your chance. My opportunities for catching dinks are dropping since I'm too busy being a new dad. 

[Blue Raider Bob]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@IcatchDinks

You'll be standing in line for this one. Right after me!

Just now, Blue Raider Bob said:

You'll be standing in line for this one. Right after me!

 

[Swamp Girl]

Confession: I catch dinks too. It's the fearless nature of bass, as they hit lures as big as them. 

 

@IcatchDinks: Atta, Dad!

[IcatchDinks]

1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

You'll be standing in line for this one. Right after me!

 

Not a bass. ?

[Woody B]

Can I be in the "dink" club?  This was a couple weeks ago.  

 

[Team9nine]

Day 3 on the new reservoir. Went uplake to check out what I was hoping would be another roadbed, but if it was ever there, it’s buried in silt now. Found one hard bottom area I want to check out later, but from just driving around, this section looks like a strictly shallow water dock bite. Since I haven’t found my jig boxes yet from the move, I ended up going back downlake and fishing the roadbed area from yesterday.

 

Blue skies and a light ENE breeze at times isn’t helping the bite in this clear lake. For whatever reason, I couldn’t generate a bite on bottom with Ned. Messed around with a few other options, and found out that I could trigger bites with a deep crankbait (DT10 that runs 12+ ft). Triggered a couple groups of bass on the roadbed with this tactic and was able to land 16 bass. No big fish today, but had more than a limit of fish that ran up to 17 inches. 

 

 

 

 

[gim]

9 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

No big fish today, but had more than a limit of fish that ran up to 17 inches.

A 17 incher is still pretty solid in my book. Much better than the average fish in the far north here.

 

8 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Confession: I catch dinks too.

I am pretty sure every bass angler catches their fair share of dinks, but only a few of the brave on here are actually willing to post photos of them. Not this guy lol. When I catch a dink it goes back faster than stink on a monkey.

[thediscochef]

42 minutes ago, Woody B said:

Can I be in the "dink" club?  This was a couple weeks ago.  

 

can i pay you $1000 to take me out to O.H. Ivie

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

Can I be in the "dink" club?  This was a couple weeks ago.  

 

Me frantically trying to identify the tree/location in the background......well played on protecting the lair of monsters ?

[TnRiver46]

Got a couple with my 4’10” ultra light and a helgrammite , fun with 4 lb test 

[Bluebasser86]

I'm in a week long murder trial so not sure when I'll have time to do updates on all this, but more good news from the weekend. The boys that I boat captain for, that I took out prefishing for their tournament the weekend before last instead of prefishing for my own, they smashed them and are now qualified to fish the state tournament. Gavin caught their big one off the same stump I caught my big one off while we were prefishing, the one I made sure to emphasis "Always has a big one on it, just a matter of whether you get her to bite or not". Looks like they got her to bite ?

 

[LrgmouthShad]

46 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Always has a big one on it, just a matter of whether you get her to bite or not". Looks like they got her to bite ?

What have you observed with how cover “reloads” with fish on different lakes? Will cover “reload” on most lakes? How long will this take? Are some lakes faster than others? Do some types of cover reload faster than others? What else influences this, such as season?

 

An elite series angler mentioned this phenomenon of cover reloading in a tournament I was watching recently

 

Super awesome report by the way ????

[Swamp Girl]

23 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

What have you observed with how cover “reloads” with fish on different lakes? Will cover “reload” on most lakes? How long will this take? Are some lakes faster than others? Do some types of cover reload faster than others? What else influences this, such as season?

 

An elite series angler mentioned this phenomenon of cover reloading in a tournament I was watching recently

 

Super awesome report by the way ????

 

I once camped on an island in northwestern Ontario and right across from the island was a waterfall tumbling into the lake. That current held ten fish. No lie. We'd paddle over and catch ten fish and then nothing. We'd wait an hour and catch another ten fish. Hour after hour. 

 

So, on that lake, at that waterfall, it took an hour. 

[Bluebasser86]

Prime spots always reload. This stump is the the biggest, nastiest stump, on a channel edge, and in a choke/funnel area that is directly between 2 feeding flats.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are always a few big fish by that stump. 

 

Another lake I fish has a beaver dam that extends into 10' of water on a prime spot. I've caught over 2 dozen bass out of that dam in less than and hour, including several big ones, because it's such a desirable location for the fish. Then came back a few hours later and caught several more.

 

Less than prime spots may take much longer to reload.

[LrgmouthShad]

22 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Prime spots always reload. This stump is the the biggest, nastiest stump, on a channel edge, and in a choke/funnel area that is directly between 2 feeding flats.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are always a few big fish by that stump.

That’s awesome

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

That’s awesome

I hope the boys appreciate me giving up such a sweet spot to be able to move on to state. 

 

So this past weekend was my championship tournament for Kansas Kayak Anglers. Going into the tournament, the AOY race was as tight as it could get. 1st had 795 points, second had 794 points, 3rd has 793 points, I was in 3rd. The tournament was on a lake I have fished a lot, but not nearly as much as normal this summer and the times I've fished it have been tough. 

 

I went down early Friday morning to prefish with no real gameplan, just go fishing. One of my first cast, I got a 17" largemouth out from under the docks by the ramp. I didn't catch another bass for probably an hour, a small spot on a spinnerbait. 30 minutes later, a 15" largemouth out of a laydown. Probably an hour later, a 16" largemouth out of another brushpile. Doesn't sound bad right? Problem is, this is a smallmouth lake, those largemouth are few, and far between and not something I was comfortable depending on, and I hadn't had a bite from a smallmouth. In fact, I moved 3 more ramps, and after launching at 0630, I finally caught my first smallmouth, an 8 incher, at 1630 (4:30pm). That was the first bass I had caught since the 16" largemouth I'd caught in the morning, I was feeling pretty down. I finally pedaled over to where I normally start when I take the family out to this lake because it's usually loaded with little ones. I got several bites, caught a few, including a 15 and 16 inch smallmouth. It wasn't much, it wasn't at all the plan I wanted, but it was better than nothing. 

 

That night I was still torn on what to do. There was a pretty big boat tournament the next day, and 20+mph winds forecast that were going to shrink the lake even more. I rigged my rods and did like I often do, sat out and fished for catfish to relax a little bit. They seemed to be biting like crazy. I had a triple on at one time, landing 2 of them and getting spooled by the 3rd.

It felt good to relax and calm my nerves a little. It got my head right and I decided the next day, I was just going fishing again where I caught them to end the day.

 

Next morning, the wind was howling when we launched. I pedaled across pretty stout waves. Anther kayak with a motor blew past me, straight to where I was headed. I thought he was going to sit where I wanted to go, but instead he drove right over the top of it and seemed to just be graphing or something, because he kept driving all over where I'd planned to fish. I pedaled to my spot and just set up on it. It took a little bit to get one to bite, but I finally got a 15.25" on a Ned rig.

 

 

I kept getting sunfish bites on the Ned, so I switched to a tube. It was pretty instant with me catching 3 more small keepers, to go along with one other small keeper I'd caught on the Ned, to make a very small limit. It wasn't much, but it let me settle down and fish. 

A little down the bank, I pitched the tube to a concrete pillar and caught a 14.75" fish.

 

I fished down the bank a long ways, catching lots of fish, but they were all very small. The wind was howling at this point, straight into where I was fishing. I had to make the safety call and pedal back against the wind. I pulled up to a calmer spot and tried to get bit but they weren't having it. I noticed some offshore rocks I'd never fished and dropped my tube on them and got a little tap. It wouldn't have weighed much in a boat tournament, but it was still 16.25" on my board.

 

I moved around a lot, got stepped on by a lot of tournament boats, and with an hour to go, pedaled back to my started spot. I went back to the same concrete pillar, and caught a 15.25" and 15.50" smallmouth, both on the tube, to give me 77" on the day, good enough to be in second going into day 2.

 

To be continued...?

 

[The Baron]

20 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm in a week long murder trial so not sure when I'll have time to do updates...

 

Jury duty or you're a lawyer, I hope?  lol

 

@LrgmouthShad  There's a weedbed on one of the lakes I fish, that's about 200ft. x 100ft. in area and rises up to 8ft. deep from about 25ft. of water on the deep side.  A couple of times we've fished it and caught 6-10 fish (mostly pike, but always a couple largemouth) then had the bite stop.  I've gone back to it 1-2 hours later and had times where we catch 2-4 more fish right off the bat. Not sure if that means the bite turned back on again, or if the weedbed had new fish.  If new fish, I'm not sure why if all the ones we caught were released immediately.  Unless maybe the caught fish don't go back into the weedbed (to feed?) but settle somewhere else/maybe a bit deeper, to recover.?

[Bluebasser86]

16 minutes ago, The Baron said:

Jury duty or you're a lawyer, I hope?  lol

Neither ?

[The Baron]

??

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, The Baron said:

Jury duty or you're a lawyer, I hope?  lol

 

If Clayton is making too much noise catfishing at your campsite at 1 am, it’s best to just leave him be…….

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, The Baron said:

??

Sheriff deputy for over 16 years now. Part of my current assignment is transporting inmates to and from court and also sitting in plains clothes with them during their trials. Unfortunately "plain clothes", translates to a suit and tie ?. As someone who selects clothes almost completely based off comfort,  it is not my favorite thing at all.

[A-Jay]

16 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Unfortunately "plain clothes", translates to a suit and tie ?. As someone who selects clothes almost completely based off comfort,  it is not my favorite thing at all.

I'd be tempted to go full send Pee Wee Herman . . . . 

A-Jay

[Team9nine]

Saw the last section of the new lake today. Overall I’m thinking this is going to be a very seasonal or weather specific lake. It just doesn’t set up as a good all-around lake from what I’ve seen. I need to spend a full afternoon doing nothing but fishing docks though to make sure I’m not overlooking the primary pattern out there.

 

That said, I went back to the one good structure spot I found after spending an hour down near the dam and caught another dozen bass in about 2 hours of fishing. Nothing big again, but having a blast with this one area - it’s produced nearly 45 bass in the past 3 days. Today, half were cranking and the other half on worms. Also have to credit the FFS unit for making fishing these type areas so efficient.

This fish is pretty typical of the bass I’ve been catching in this area.

 

 

And this is the price you pay for banging a balsa crankbait over a roadbed for hours, and catching a lot of bass in the process. At least it broke near the boat where the bass was able to be netted first.

 

[keagbassr]

Not much going on lately,mostly catching dinks to keepers on spinnerbaits but managed a couple good bites this week, a4-3 on Tues. And a big head no cheese 6-3 today both in a double wide beaver. Thought for sure she was 7+ when she came up thru the weeds. Also a bonus pic of a 3-2 smallie from a week and a half ago up in maine.

[Bluebasser86]

Championship tournament day 2.

 

At the conclusion of day 1, I was happy to be in second, but I wasn't real happy with my spot. I hadn't even seen any bigger fish, and several people had caught at least a couple 16-17 inch fish, while I was struggling to find 15's. I took the same route as the night before and pondered the idea while watching catfish rods. Caught another pretty nice one and came to the conclusion, I'd rather hope some bigger fish moved in than try to find bigger fish in new water I hadn't fished.

 

The morning of day 2 was much calmer than day 1, almost no wind at all, not really ideal for smallmouth fishing. And after 30 minutes of fishing with no bites, I was getting concerned. I got to the same pillar I'd caught 3 of my 5 off of the day before and fired my tube. While I was watching my line, I never saw any movement, but it seemed to not sink long enough. When I tightened the line, sure enough, it was moving for deeper water. The hookset was nice and solid with lots of weight, and to my surprise, a good largemouth wallowed on the surface. After a much calmer battle than my fish the day before, I scooped a 17" largemouth in the net.

I continued working the pillar and nabbed 2 more small keepers off of it, but nothing I wanted to have by the end of the day. The previous 2 days, I'd had somewhat of a trailing boat, a deep V that seemed to follow me everywhere and fish right on top of me, today proved to start out no different. The arrived shortly after I caught my 3rd keeper and jumped right in front of me shortly after. I had 1 real nice one practically lick a jerkbait right next to the kayak but not hookup, but I had very little action for a while after that. I got tired of following the boat and dealing with their antics, so I made the tough decisions to make a long move. 

 

I fished a few quick spots along my move and caught a couple tiny keepers, but again, nothing I wanted at the end of the day. My tube bite from the day before seemed to have evaporated, so I was switching between rods trying to get bit. I finally caught a 15.5" in the back of a nearly dry pocket to make a decent cull.

Then, despite the sun and calm conditions, I started fishing a spook on a shallow rock bank. I had a good fish blast it and miss it, then the next cast, it connected. I fought the fish to the boat, reached with the net, and my line broke. I'm guessing the 20lb braid must have contacted a rock with zebra mussels when the fish dove, but my favorite spook and the fish was gone. I made a switch to one of the only other topwater walkers I had, and first cast had an even bigger fish swipe and miss, then hook up, only to come off just as fast. It was like getting punched in the gut, but I had something going at least. 

 

Around the point, I had another big smallmouth chase my bait all the way to the boat last minute but not eat, then caught a largemouth that was a small cull. A little further down that same bank there was 1 little tree in about 3' of water. I pitched a Yamatanuki at it and caught a smallmouth that was a little over 14" that gave me a decent cull. Next pitch to the same tree, I caught a 15.75" smallmouth.

There was at least one more in that tree that wanted to eat, but all it did was chase the Yamatanuki to the boat, and swirl on a topwater. 

 

At this point, I figured I had the exact same length as what I had the day before (77"). Not bad, but I knew I had to make up 6.5" to catch first and then some extra to pass him. It seemed like every tree I passed had fish on them and the next cove over, I knew had a few trees, so I started pedaling hard since I only had about a hour left. I rounded the point and there is a transition in the rock on the bank a quick drop. I was going to cruise by, but for some reason, I grabbed a rod and made a cast. My bait barely hit the water when a big smallmouth ate it. Didn't even have my Gopro running, that's how committed I was to skipping this bank. I did the unsmart thing and turned the camera on during the fight though. I was shaking so bad by the time I got that fish in the net, I couldn't hardly unhook it. It wasn't a monster by normal standards, but an 18.25" fish in the conditions we had, was a giant.

Now I was over 80", I was given myself a chance, especially if I could get another good one. Maybe 50' down the bank, I saw a big one tracking my topwater, I worked it carefully, watching her close, then nab the bait. She shook her head a couple times, and was gone. Put my head back down and kept casting. 

I got to my area with the trees, a few trees and a beaver dam, I was going to cull here. 15 minutes later, I hadn't had a bite and time was running out fast. I turned around and headed back to the bank I'd caught the big one and lost the other. Halfway down that bank, a fish nipped at my bait but got stuck. I could tell by the swirl and pull, it was a good fish. With less than 30 minutes left, I slid the net under a 17.50" smallmouth.

I caught 2 more fish that didn't help before the finally buzzer sounded. I had given it everything I had. I know I could have culled out those 2 15's with a little more time, or a little better luck, but it just didn't happen this day. I ended with 161" for 2 days, 84" on the day. It turned out to be good enough to put me in 2nd for the tournament, sending me to the Bassmaster Kayak Classic in March next year. It also was the final solid finish I needed to secure the AOY race, and my big smallmouth was the big fish of the day Sunday, which won me a Hobie inflatable lifevest. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed when I found out all I needed was another 2.50" for first place. I know I had that hooked or nearly hooked many times during the day. I told the guy that won to make sure he watches the video whenever I get it done so he can see how many close calls he had ?