Latest Catch Pics Thread

[FishTax]

I had to let @Pat Brown tell the story because he's an awesome story teller. My accountant self is missing that poetic sparkle. 

 

I'm about to head out for night fishing. Time for @IcatchDinks to score a huge NC nighttime jig bass! 

[Swamp Girl]

55 minutes ago, FishTax said:

I had to let @Pat Brown tell the story because he's an awesome story teller. My accountant self is missing that poetic sparkle. 

 

I'm about to head out for night fishing. Time for @IcatchDinks to score a huge NC nighttime jig bass! 

 

Go, ICD, go! 

 

Yeah, Pat spins a yarn like a spinning jenny. See here:

 

[scaleface]

I counted 28 caught today with the majority 10 to 15 foot deep on worms and 3/4 oz Red Eye Shad. This 4lb 6oz was the largest. Caught on a June Bug Yum Dinger. 

[IcatchDinks]

Well, @Pat Brown is a great fishing guide and an excellent fishing buddy. There weren't a lot of fish biting during our night fishing trip, but Pat put me on the biggest one that was, and gave the perfect advice of how to cast and retrieve to catch him. It wasn't a monster, but fought like the Dickens. We had loads of fun. 

 

I owe a debt of gratitude to Pat and @FishTax for showing this Michigan boy how it's done the North Carolina way. 

 

 

Edit: fish weighted 2.6 lbs

[CastingClinic]

Another quick but slow morning trip.  Chased the skunk off with this guy caught pitching a Texas rig into some slop.

[Swamp Girl]

Anyone else wishin' that they'd be fishin' with @IcatchDinks, @FishTax, and @Pat Brown?

[T-Billy]

3 pounder...

3 footer...

The surface temp has dropped 5 degrees in the past week on the back side of that heat wave, and the night bite has cooled right off with it. I only caught this 3.19# and a couple dinks in the 2.5hrs I was out before dawn. 

 I caught the 36" muskie and lost another on an assault eel in the early morning light. It ended up being the only one I caught. I lost five others and had 12 follows, so I moved a total of 18 fish today with only one to show for it. They were back to just nipping at my baits again so I struggled to get solid hookups. Grrr... MUSKIES SUCK!!! 😂 Until they don't that is. 😉

 I had the right game plan. I was on good numbers with some quality fish in the mix, I just couldn't close the deal. Five of the follows were in the 40" - 46" range, and one that I lost was a low 40's. Hopefully they're more cooperative next week. I work the next five, then I'll be on fishcation for 11 days.

 

[The Baron]

Today I got up at 3:30am (aka way too early), to capitalize on the dawn topwater bite.  I got zero love on topwater 😕 and in fact had zero bass bites at all in what’s “usually” a great morning spot.  So I switched gears and tried dragging a Carolina Rig.  Didn’t take long until I had the bass of my dreams pulling drag, which quickly degraded into being about 6-7# pike that snipped me off just as I botched the net job and only had him 1/2 in.  A bunch more drags, then I threw a chatterbait and flashy swimmer for a 1/2 hour with no more bites.

 

I was now annoyed at getting up so early for nothing, so decided to stop fishing for a bit and map more of this uncharted lake on my Garmin.  I explored a shallow weedy bay with pads at the back and some bits of floating mats, that just screamed frog so I reached for my frog rod only to find I’d left it in the garage in my 4am stupor.  I cut my flipping bait off, tied on a frog and after changing frogs 3 times to find one I could walk with a telephone pole of a rod, proceeded to get zero bites despite working the entire bay for an hour.  So I switched bays, right to the other end of the lake and frogged a bit more with zero bites.  Decided oh well they’re not biting shallow today, so I’ll go dropshot on my secret honey hole… which was part of my original plan for the day… too bad my drop shot rod was also in the garage, right next to my frog rod.🙄

 

By now it was 8:30am - 3.5 hours of fishing and not a single bass, plus two of the rods I intended to bring were somehow left behind.  After questioning just why I was even here and wondering how much I money I could get for all my fishing stuff I started dragging a 10” worm along a weed line… and finally caught a couple.  But that was for another 1.5 hour of effort.  I think that brought me to plan F or G which was continue learning how to use a Carolina Rig.  I managed to catch a few more off the edge of a weedy, gravel hump where the weeds start to fade out from 10-15ft. of water.  By then it was 11am and I decided I’d had enough mediocre fishing for one day.  Ended up with 6 bass between 1-2.5# for about 6 hours of trying.😒

 

I didn't get skunked, and it was a beautiful morning, but holy cow I feel like I got my butt kicked.  I’ve just started 2 weeks vacation, and I sure do hope the fishing gets better.😬🤞🏻

 

[Swamp Girl]

"Fishcastion" is so cute. Don't be mad at me, Tim, for writing that. I'm going fishing with the kid and his dad tomorrow morning. It'll be 1 m.p.h. and partly cloudy, near perfect for windblown canoes. This time, I want the dad to land a big one or three. 

 

55 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I lost five others and had 12 follows, so I moved a total of 18 fish today with only one to show for it.

 

I thought I was the top fish loser at BR, but now I'm thinking we're neck and neck, my friend.

 

J/K. I know how hard it is to land a musky. I've got last place locked down.

 

Anyway, good looking fish, Tim.

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Anyone else wishin' that they'd be fishin' with @IcatchDinks, @FishTax, and @Pat Brown?

Hold my beer

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, The Baron said:

but holy cow I feel like I got my butt kicked

 

We've all been there and done that. 

 

4 minutes ago, The Baron said:

After questioning just why I was even here and wondering how much I money I could get for all my fishing stuff

 

Hey, you're still funny!

[LrgmouthShad]

2 Badin today fishing on a boat with Shaky Head Wizard. 1/2oz zoom ol monster Texas rigged. Could not take photo of one because phone was overheating. Shaky head wizard caught 2 as well. Pretty slow day but we made do

[FishTax]

8 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Anyone else wishin' that they'd be fishin' with @IcatchDinks, @FishTax, and @Pat Brown?

Come on down and join us! We'd love to have you Katie! 

[Swamp Girl]

48 minutes ago, FishTax said:

Come on down and join us! We'd love to have you Katie! 

 

I'd love to fish with you guys, but it's sooooooooooo far. 

[Team9nine]

Highs in the 80’s today, so snuck out for a couple hours because every day going forward through the weekend will be over 90. Slow bite as I expected, but still picked up 3 keepers on Ned along with a couple bonus bullheads. Could have been worse - lol

 

 

[Pat Brown]

Last night was super fun times!  Jake nailed two more bass at the spillway before we met up with @FishTax and @IcatchDinks for some night fishin'

 

 

Sun started to get low and I told @IcatchDinksI wanted to let him do one of my 'big fish casts' that has produced many solid fish and a few big ones over the years from the bank - he did not disappoint!

 

 

He got this 2.6 lber in as though he might even occasionally catch not dinks!  Like a true NC bass angler!  

 

We made our way down to the marina to dodge the bat attacks and get some lights over head and see if we could find another fish.

 

I nailed this one off a long laydown on a weightless speed worm.

 

 

Unfortunately we mostly got bites and lost baits after that and called it a night after a fun group photo/proof of life photo:

 

 

Had to do real work today and didn't fish til the evening but had a really fun boat trip out with Meagan and Jake.  Wind was blowing into a pocket really nicely - saw lots of bream beds and some mayfly action happening along the shady wind blown bank and decided to get to work there and caught some dinks on a fluke.

 

I figured we had the right area and bait - just needed to keep at it and was rewarded with a 5.5 just before we left:

 

 

Going out super early to sneaky spot with the boys to see if we can get Josh a new PB before he heads back to Michigan this weekend - fingers crossed!

 

[Swamp Girl]

Fingers crossed for Josh/@IcatchDinks! It's 2:46 a.m. here and I'm too excited to sleep anymore. Going fishing this morning with the kid and his dad. Speaking of kids, Jake is growing and growing and growing like a Castaic Lake bass! I've got a couple worms and a fluke rigged, along with a Whopper Plopper and a couple underspins. 

[Pat Brown]

We are ready 😎🌄🎣

 

Good luck to you @ol'crickety

[TnRiver46]

Drove up into some swift water and caught some, still got bugs in my eyes from the drive back to the truck in the dark 

[Swamp Girl]

The kid, his father, and I went to a quality pond today. We caught a few solid ones up to 18 inches and 36 total, but mostly we just enjoyed being out there together. Is there anything  prettier than a red canoe on a northern lake?

 

 

I mean it. A red canoe on a northern lake is the stuff of 1930s Field and Stream covers.

 

 

The lake itself is quite a looker too.

 

 

Oh, yeah, bass.

 

[Pat Brown]

Early morning session was super fun - conditions were not good - zero wind and it warmed back up a lot.  Saw osprey and big snappers everywhere.  Not quite what we saw two days ago during a summer cold front 🙂

 

Didn't stop us from getting some good bites and even catching a couple nice fish!

 

@IcatchDinks almost nailed two on a live target mouse - but the hooks on that bait are turned very far inward stock and neither fish was able to get a hook in spite of Josh doing everything right - bummer.  

 

Seeing this action made me ditch my fluke plan and go get my frog.

 

Caught my first one of the day on the second or third cast with it.

 

 

@FishTax arrived and started tossing his swim jig - Jake went and got his frog.

 

Jake got this nice one frogging:

 

 

I start working my way down the East Bank and stick a really good one - 3 lb 11 oz

 

 

@FishTax nailed a good one on the swim jig 

 

 

Things slowed down considerably at this point.

 

I got my drop shot out and broke off on the hookset near the rip rap using a big ribbon tail worm.  Probably a big snapping turtle.  Maybe not though.

 

Made my way back to the car and got my frog back out and nailed a 2 lber that ate the Frog more subtly than I've ever had it eaten and it hopped 3 feet into the air and came off 🥲

 

Jake managed one more on the fluke:

 

 

Sadly no new PBs or giants - but a nice bit of action to start the day and a good time had by all!  🙂🙂🙂🎣🎣🎣

 

 

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

A red canoe on a northern lake is the stuff of 1930s Field and Stream covers.

Makes me think of watching Jerry McKinnis when I was a young'n.

[Swamp Girl]

18 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Makes me think of watching Jerry McKinnis when I was a young'n.

 

I love those Field and Stream covers. I have quite a few framed and hanging on my walls. I spoke with a Field and Stream editor years ago and we both missed the articles Field and Stream used to publish, which were as much about how it felt to be on the water with friends and family. That editor hated that they now only publish "how to" articles.

 

Here's Jerry in a canoe. It's not a red canoe, but it's a northern lake. I love that his guide is a woman:

 

 

[N Florida Mike]

Got 13 this morning on yum dingers, uv speed worms , and super flukes. Done by 10:30 as it was boiling hot already. 

Had a 3-4 pounder up to the boat on a frog, but he got his head out of the water and shook it out.

Got the biggest one on the watermelon red super fluke…she was 18 1/2 inch.

[Swamp Girl]

Good ones, Mike!