Latest Catch Pics Thread

[TnRiver46]

[Woody B]

Nice to see everyone catching nice Bass, and TnRiver46 catching every species.

 

Alex, it's good to see you catching your Winter hawgs again this year.   

 

Pat, Covid it rough isn't it?  I mostly got over mine quickly but I'm only slowly getting my "wind" back.  For a couple weeks I was getting out of breath when changing channels on the TV with the remote.   

 

I won't be able to go today.  I might be able to slip out a couple hours tomorrow.  

 

I had a thought, since my skunking last week.  When the water get's down into the 50's my bladed jig bite dies.   The bladed jigs I use "hunt" quite a bit.  I'm thinking as the water cools the Bass don't want to chase them.   I'm going to ditch my bladed jig for a plain swim jig and see if they'll respond to it.  

[Swamp Girl]

38 minutes ago, Woody B said:

For a couple weeks I was getting out of breath when changing channels on the TV with the remote.   

 

That is rough, Woody.

 

39 minutes ago, Woody B said:

I had a thought, since my skunking last week. 

 

I also have a thought. Your skunking stands out, Woody, because you're one of the most consistent anglers at Bass Resource. @Team9nine and @Bluebasser86 are up there too.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

@Woody B, I would think there’s somewhere you could find the spots grouped up deep in cold water and send them the heavy metal, blade baits and jigging spoons . Might be more like late January/February tho 

[FishTax]

All the crud is going around, I got a positive flu test this week and have been down for the count. Ruined fishing plans for sure, still haven't gotten the new fish finder wet yet. 

Fever seems to be about gone now, I'm hoping I have the strength back to go out on kayak after Christmas but so far this recovery is slower than I'd like. Keep posting pics, I'm getting my fill through you all!

[Team9nine]

Less than 2.5 hours on the water this afternoon, and the first two were spent chasing crappie. Got near a bank I hadn’t fished before on this reservoir and it looked pretty good with some deep water cutting in really close to shore…so, picked up a jerkbait and caught 4 bass in the last 25 minutes. Now I can’t wait to get back out there again to see if I can expand on this bite a little. Did have 40 crappie to go with them up to about 1.3 lbs., so it was a fun afternoon. Water temps down to 45-46 deg.

 

 

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

When your catching fish in 20ft+ with mud on their bellies on a Blade Bait with gloved hands, for a brief moment in time one feels like they're mainlining the secret truth of the Bass universe 🤣

 

Fished from dawn to 10, and then 1-3pm........the most beautiful December day you could imagine, super cold at dawn but by dusk it was 69.    

 

21+1 Crappie on the Blade Bait.   Really fun day and first week of frenetic winter fishing, but atlas no true big fish yet.  "If I fish it hard enough, they come" -Lake of Dreams

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Those are thick fish, Alex. Real beauties. Fingers crossed for your DD.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Thanks Katie!   Now if I caught 50 like that, I'd be having a typical Katie day.   There are levels to this game, little did I know that Maine is at the top until this place 😎

[TnRiver46]

My late friend had a small cabin on a small pond in Maine. He said it used to be all trout but a few largemouth got in there. Another friend went up to stay with him and said he caught like 60 bass with a fly rod while trying to catch trout 😂 . From then on he was always mad at the largemouth for taking over the pond, I always told him that sounded way more fun than a trout pond 

[Swamp Girl]

Yep, the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages for trout and salmon, not bass. The Dept. views the bass as a scourge, even though they grow much bigger and are more numerous than trout and salmon. However, you can't grow trout and salmon in a bog, so the Dept. should be happy that there are fish that flourish in five feet of warm water.

 

On 12/23/2023 at 8:48 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Now if I caught 50 like that, I'd be having a typical Katie day.

 

Ha! 50 is a rare morning for me.

 

I'd like to fish with @king fisher, wouldn't you? His comment about finding huge largemouth from a kayak to be even more exciting than billfish stunned me. I'd be thrilled to catch ONE of his eight-pounders and you'd be in the pool for a DD.

 

Of course, we'd have to fish from kayaks! I sometimes fish from a kayak, as you've likely seen in photos.

 

Do you ever watch NDYakAngler's videos on YouTube? If you do, pay attention to how the fish turn and pull his boat. He'll often paddle in mid-fight as the bass, pike, and musky pull his kayak into trouble. 

[Pat Brown]

Fighting 40 lb red fish or 250 lb sting ray from kayaks in the sound surrounded by hungry bull sharks and God knows what else is always a rush!

 

You should come down to the NC coast if you like to be pulled around in a kayak by big fish!

 

Red fish hit all the same lures bass do also for what it's worth so that's kinda fun.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Frankly, Pat, that sounds beyond a rush to me. That sounds scary! Perhaps if I weren't so old. As the Gulf of Maine warms faster than 99% of the world's seawater, more and more striped bass swim in our coastal waters. I've caught striped bass in a motorboat. I've felt their power. I can't imagine catching them in my 32-pound canoe. 

[Pat Brown]

The Bull Sharks are the ones that need to watch out, I've seen your success!  😂😂😂

[gim]

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Yep, the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages for trout and salmon, not bass. The Dept. views the bass as a scourge, even though they grow much bigger and are more numerous than trout and salmon. However, you can't grow trout and salmon in a bog, so the Dept. should be happy that there are fish that flourish in five feet of warm water.

 

Not that uncommon.  States out west view most fish other than salmons and trouts as lesser fish too.  Here in MN, the walleye is king.  They are stocked everywhere and regulations are such to protect them, even though they do not have natural reproduction in most lakes.  95% of walleye anglers are meat hunters too.  They are usually only released when they have to be.  I will say that bass fishing has gained popularity here over the last 10 years.  I'd still rank it as the 4th or 5th most popular targeted species here though.  And honestly I am fine with it being like that.

 

I doubt bass grow bigger than trout or salmon.  Especially salmon species.  King salmon can reach 40 or 50 pounds.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

And honestly I am fine with it being like that.

 

Heck, yeah! Me too.

 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I doubt bass grow bigger than trout or salmon.

 

Brook trout are small and even the inland Atlantic salmon don't grow that big.

[Jar11591]

NYS is all about the trout and salmon as well. I get it, we do have a wild, native strain of brook trout that are direct descendants of the fish that inhabited the Adirondack lakes that were created 10,000 years ago by glacier melt. The streams and lakes that hold these fish are often C&R and artificial fly only. We also have some isolated populations of Atlantic salmon and wild Kokanee that enjoy strict regulations. But the bass regulations are a little wacky, even though some do exist. Not the right ones, if you ask me. 

[LrgmouthShad]

On 12/22/2023 at 6:06 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

standby for a 5-6lber

Coming right up. 5.64lbs on a 1/4oz red eyed shad. The first crankbait fish out of Ol Muddy. The pond was not easy on me, though. That’s several hours of work. My Dad had one on yesterday but he did not land.

[RipzLipz]

@LrgmouthShad Shot caller 🤣🤣🤣

 

That’s awesome.

[LrgmouthShad]

Educated guess 👍🏻. Most bass we pull out of this pond are 5-6lbs. Hard to find a small one and they do not seem to get much bigger.

[TnRiver46]

Ain’t any 6 lb bass within two hours of my house 😂, sounds like a great pond 

[RipzLipz]

47 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Educated guess 👍🏻. Most bass we pull out of this pond are 5-6lbs. Hard to find a small one and they do not seem to get much bigger.

I’ll take anything over 2.5lbs all day long if I have to. 🤣🤣🤣

 

Seriously, that sounds like a blast. Nice Christmas Eve present.

 

I’m sure bigger will come at some point, if the pond’s big enough. I used to fish what amounted to a watering hole for cattle that was about 200’ X 75’ & had the biggest bluegill I’ve seen around this immediate area. It also had a few 4-5lb bass in it.

[LrgmouthShad]

Just now, RipzLipz said:

pond’s big enough

2 acres. Max depth is 7ft. Max 6ft in most places deeper along the dam. There’s just this one hole that reaches 7ft. I graphed this pond years ago. Got lots of timber too.

 

Funny thing is, when I first fished this pond, I was convinced there was no bass in it. It was that tough. And it can still be really tough at times. What we know is that they really love plastics, and especially senkos, and especially black ones. Those weren’t working great, so I had to think outside the box this break. 

[Woody B]

I was able to slip in a split trip today.  I ended up with 2 "real" bass and 5 micro bass.   I had Christmas yesterday with my Dad and Sister.  My Sister won't come if my Dad's girlfriend is invited.  (I think that's disrespectful)   Anyway,  I took my Dad and his girlfriend to breakfast this morning.   I got to the lake around 9:45 with an hour tops to fish before going to my Daughters for Christmas with her and her family.  I was meeting Mrs B there.   My goal was 1 bass before leaving.   I went to a rocky deep channel swing bank.   I had gotten my jig caught in some rocks and needed to re tie afte40 fee tr getting it loose.  I re tied, and just tossed the jig into the water next to the boat.  My reel wasn't locked, so the jig was sinking.  I was removing my coat when I noticed this, then I saw my line going sideways.   I grabbed my rod, locked the reel set the hook and boated a decent Largemouth.   The I was off for Christmas lunch with the Grandkids.   I got back to the lake around 2:30.   I was at the other end of the lake, different landing.  I went down near the dam to a 40 foot deep brush pile I know of.  I caught 2 micro spots there,  8 to 10 inches long.   That wasn't what I was after so I went to a ~30 foot deep rockpile.   3 more micro spots there.   I went back up river a bit to a channel swing that's 40 feet or so from the bank.  I caught a decent spot there and decided to call it a day.   The lake finally turned over.  I had been thinking that I had somehow missed the fall turnover.  The water stinks, with all kinds of stuff floating.  Surface temp was 49 this morning and 50 this afternoon.   I'm not sure about tomorrow.  Christmas with Mrs B's siblings ect is tomorrow at 2.  I may go in the morning.  I've still got a cough left over from Covid.  If it's raining I'll probably stay home.   

[NorcalBassin]

Took a quick solo Christmas Eve trip this morning. Sure wish we had some snow, but since that's not happening I'll keep making the most of sunny days in the low 50's. 😆