Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Woody B]

I've never caught a Drum.  I've never caught a Carp while bass fishing.  I've caught plenty of Carp, but I was fishing for them.   Last weekend I felt a little tug on my A-rig, and had a big scale about the size of a quarter on one of the hooks.  I suspect a big Carp brushed against the hook.   What else would have a scale that big?  There's all kinds of different species where I fish but Cat's don't have scales, Striped/Hybrid bass aren't going to have scales that big.  Neither are Perch.   I don't think a Longnose Gar or Bowfin would have a big scale like that.   I should have taken a picture of it.  

[TnRiver46]

@Woody B, I am quite shocked you have never caught a drum, maybe they’re just aren’t many of them in the Catawba. I would bet it was definitely a carp scale you got, I try to snag carp all the time and only get scales. Also no hook on earth will go thru a gar scale, I cut them with tin snips. Have seen others use a sawzall. Native Americans used gar scales for arrow points and armor plates 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

I've never caught a Drum.  I've never caught a Carp while bass fishing.  I've caught plenty of Carp, but I was fishing for them.   Last weekend I felt a little tug on my A-rig, and had a big scale about the size of a quarter on one of the hooks.  I suspect a big Carp brushed against the hook.   What else would have a scale that big?  There's all kinds of different species where I fish but Cat's don't have scales, Striped/Hybrid bass aren't going to have scales that big.  Neither are Perch.   I don't think a Longnose Gar or Bowfin would have a big scale like that.   I should have taken a picture of it.  

 

Woody, you saw that drawing of the mirror carp I posted and you likely noted the size of their scales. Some of those scales are huge.

[softwateronly]

I was out of town for a few weeks for work, putting my every month open water bass project of 23 in jeopardy, but yesterday I had an opportunity to get the canoe out with weather in the 50's.  Turned out to be a great idea, nothing huge but 12 bass in 3 hours is well worth my time.  Also, got to try out a new rod and ended up doing almost all the catching on that one.

 

scott

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

@softwateronly That's the way to break in a new rod.

[The Bassman]

The green ned keeps on catching. Bait refuses to die. Had to work to catch a dozen, eight that I would call counters. El Nino is keeping us in a quiet weather pattern by keeping all the rough stuff south and east. We're actually dry right now which isn't typical for this time of year. We usually catch up from late summer dryness by late fall.

[Woody B]

I "caught" a big ol skunk today.  Use your imagination for the picture.   I lost a 3 to 4 pounder on my first cast, and didn't see a Bass after that.   I went to an area with some fairly deep lay downs.  I saw what I figured was a Bass on sonar and made my first cast.  It hit right after my (brand new) Bandit 300 bounced off a limb.   It came up, danced on it's tail a little then my line went limp.   My brand new lure broke off right behind the lip.    I fished several more hours and never saw another Bass,  or even anything I thought was a Bass on sonar.   The forecast is for high winds and buckets of rain tomorrow.  I won't be able to go next weekend due to family Christmas stuff.   Likely my next outing will be the 30th.  

[TnRiver46]

Tough sledding on this side of the mtn for me as well today @Woody B. I narrowly avoided skunk but I did get one and lost another boatside. My buddy got a nice one in his tracker right after I left the honey hole, haha. Took a friend up to a dam to fish shallow swift current with his fly rod after that and it just wasn’t happening . Got some cool photos tho, saw loons and eagles and even witnessed two loons in flight

 

 

 

 

and before it all began the sunrise was nice from the deck 

[1984isNOW]

41 minutes ago, Woody B said:

st a

You should have Pradco reimburse you the cost of a 3-4 pounder! Around here I'd say 10-15 bucks

[FishTank]

It was a rough one today but caught two keepers and one dink. Temps in the upper 40s most of the day and 10+mph winds constantly. It made keeping the kayak in one place impossible. 

 

 

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, Woody B said:

I "caught" a big ol skunk today

It's a start, but you've got some catching up to do if you wanna compete with me. LOL. I've been skunked 3 of my last 4 trips, and taken more than I care to think about over the course of the last 6 weeks. 

 Muskiepalooza 23 hasn't been even close to what it was last year. I've caught about half the number of fish over the same time period, and taken a bunch of skunkings. Surface temp was 39 this morning and the bite's really getting tough, but I've been around fish, and getting follows. Getting them to commit is another story. My guide buddy caught a few giants this past week, couple 47's and a 49", so I'm not quite ready to hang it up yet, but the end is near.

 I'll be back out there after church tomorrow, in a 42 degree rain, grinding away. 

 

[Swamp Girl]

8 hours ago, T-Billy said:

I'll be back out there after church tomorrow, in a 42 degree rain, grinding away. 

 

^This^ is why Tim is the man. 

 

8 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Surface temp was 39 this morning and the bite's really getting tough, but I've been around fish, and getting follows.

 

Anyone who has fished for muskies understands that seeing a fish counts as partial success. And anyone who's had a musky glare at them inches from their boat understands why musky fishers are driven to keep fishing.

[T-Billy]

Arctic muck boots, striker ice suit, insulated rubber gloves, fur hat, I'll be comfy.

You're right about the muskie addiction. Crazy acrobatics in warm water, violent strikes in the 8, then the mayhem that ensues at boatside... The struggle it sometimes is just to get bit, the letdown of having big ones get away, the exhilaration of landing a giant...They're in a league of their own in fresh water.

[Swamp Girl]

I agree with everything you wrote, Tim, and I enjoyed my years of addiction. There is nothing like the jolt of a musky hitting your figure-8, which leaves about 24" of line between you and the greenest of muskies.

 

What I loved most about muskies was their utter fearlessness. I once hooked and lost a musky in my canoe and I just sat there trembling and panting, with my surface lure dangling about a foot above the water. Well, the hooked and then unhooked musky wanted round two and it was near vertical in the water, preparing to launch itself at a my lure. So, I dropped my lure onto the water and it was on like Kong again. 

 

26 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

then the mayhem that ensues at boatside...

 

I know ^this^ well.

 

27 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Arctic muck boots, striker ice suit, insulated rubber gloves, fur hat, I'll be comfy.

 

Tim, it is NEVER just "fur hat." It's "THE fur hat."

[Creek Pirate]

Last trip out I left the house with a smile on my face.Full of confidence as I had been catching them pretty good.When I arrived at the creek there was a heavy frost.Blue sky,clear low water from recent drought conditions.I began to paddle upstream to my "secret spot".Second cast I had one pick up my worm and run at me.I missed him.I thought to myself its gonna be great.4 hours later I hadn't had another bite lol.Pride cometh before the fall.My arms were wearing down from paddling upstream against the wind.I was becoming desperate as I had never been skunked at this location.I downsized baits to zman bug.Another hour of fishing and finally pulled a 3 pounder from some rocks narrowly avoiding the skunk.I was happy to have him but I left more humble than I came.

 

[gim]

5 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Anyone who has fished for muskies understands that seeing a fish counts as partial success.

 

I can confirm this, which is why I almost exclusively cast for them with artificial lures rather than trolling or sitting there with a sucker.  It's referred to "a visual" here when you see one and that is a successful outing in the muskie realm.

[Swamp Girl]

@Creek Pirate: Gosh, that's a pretty fish.

 

Yep, @gimruis, there are six stages of musky fishing:

 

Saw one.

One hit.

Hooked one.

Caught one.

40-incher.

50-incher!

[TnRiver46]

Only got a couple small ones after the rain and late lunch (catfish and crappie) with friends. Attempts at more fresh crappie were unsuccessful.  Saw eagles and loons everywhere tho, i think we’ve learned from the neighbors there’s an eagle nest up in the trees behind our house on a farm. Last two days one flew over our roof and the neighbors and you hear them chirp everyday at sunrise 

 

[1984isNOW]

For me right now, this thread is a little like diving by a crash on the highway. I don't wanna look, but since I'm here I might as well just see what happened

 

I'm losing my mind already, and it's been less than a month since I last wet a line. But knowing I gotta wait almost 4 is driving me up a wall

[928JLH]

Local shop finally started carrying owner flashy swimmers. Wanted to try one out. 

[FishTax]

21 minutes ago, 928JLH said:

Local shop finally started carrying owner flashy swimmers. Wanted to try one out. 

I'd say it worked! Nice fish

[Swamp Girl]

 

Those Owner Flashy Swimmers are my #1 mid-column lure. It was Tim who taught me that I could chuck them into pretty much all slop and he's right. I leave the hook tip exposed and still rarely catch weeds, but I catch a lot of bass on them. Heck, I've even twitched them over lily pads like a frog and caught bass. And they're great in open water too. 

[gim]

Latest report from Upper Red Lake, MN!  lol

 

 

[N Florida Mike]

Went to my favorite numbers pond . Cold front came through and we have windy conditions and cloudless sky  .Got 7 in an hour or so. 5 on super flukes, and 2 on the speed worm.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

You know it's winter time when you're catching twofers on jerking sticks 😁