Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

Clayton!!!

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Clayton!!!

It was a good week. I took the family for a few hours Sunday and caught a bunch of smallmouth too.

[Swamp Girl]

I'd like Clayton to buy me a lottery ticket. He's on a streak. 

 

I went to my pond for 90 minutes this evening, just grabbed a couple rods for a quick session. I caught fourteen, but forgot my camera, so I took a couple photos with my cell phone. The evening light was gorgeous and the bass, like so many Maine bass, refused to pose for their photos. They just never stop fighting.

 

 

[Team9nine]

One last trip before the 90-100 degree heat returns this coming week. That will keep me off the water for a while. A mixed bag of fish that included a pair of keeper bass, including one good one. This fish was strong - couldn’t turn it or stop it. Figured it might be a big cat. Ran right out into a large fallen tree and wrapped me up. I get over to it, a little see-saw action, then nothing…then something…then nothing again. After about 60 seconds of stalemate, she somehow comes back out and free, and she’s big and green 😎

 

[The Baron]

On 8/23/2024 at 12:17 PM, ol'crickety said:

I don't watch or participate in tourneys, but I sure love reading Clayton's exciting accounts. 

For sure @Bluebasser86 writes a good update.👍🏻

 

but I’ve got the same thought on tournaments.  That said, my son wants to fish a tournament so maybe I will someday just to say I have.  Maybe if I do that with no plans to win and just enjoy the experience, it will be fun.  But it could end up like my sporting clays career - tried one tournament just to see what it was like, zero expectations and I shot very well.  So then thought I’m good at this and as soon as I thought I’d get serious, that’s about when both engines caught fire and my tail fin fell off… ✈️ 🔥 😆

 

@Aaron_H My chatterbait setup uses copoly line and a MH/mod crankbait rod.  I’ve had great success landing with with that setup. 👍🏻  Crazy to say you lost maybe a 6# but it wasn’t one of the really big ones - a 6# up here would be the fish of the season, if not my life.  🤪

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, The Baron said:

Crazy to say you lost maybe a 6# but it wasn’t one of the really big ones - a 6# up here would be the fish of the season, if not my life.

 

I often remember the In-Fisherman Master Angler chart, which is really a latitude equivalency chart, when it comes to LMBs. On that chart, a 6.5-pound Northern Strain LMB is equivalent to a 10-pound Southern LMB. For an Ontarian like you, I'd stretch the difference a little more and suggest that a 6-pounder in Kingston would be equivalent to a 10-pounder in Orlando, a 10.5-pounder in the Everglades, and perhaps an 11-pounder in Lake Baccarac, as you have serious winters.

 

I'm actually a little bit north of you, so I'd apply the same equivalencies to my bass, as I've a moderating ocean. You, of course, have Lake Ontario, which would also moderate your lows, but our bass still go through low metabolism stretches that last for months where they're barely feeding and growing. Of course, genetics also prevent northern bass from peaking much beyond ten pounds.  

 

What's interesting about the chart is that there is no difference between southern and northern smallmouth. A six-pounder caught in the north equals a six-pounder caught in the south. They're equally rare.

 

In the last three years, I've caught multiple 6+-pounders and especially in 2023 when I focused on the bogs. Here are some of them, all weighed or measured. Note that they're bass with bellies, except for the first one, and all have hunchbacks. For comparison, the first bass, which is the skinny one, weighed 6.54-pounds. The third and fourth fish are silly fat. I caught another two that were six and three-quarters in 2023 and a bass in 2024 that was longer and fatter than any of these, but 2024 has been more about quantity than quality simply because the quantity ponds are easier to reach, which matters because I turn 68 this month*:

 

 

The quantity ponds are also great fun and full of four and five-pounders, like this gal caught this week:

 

[Aaron_H]

6 hours ago, The Baron said:

 

@Aaron_H My chatterbait setup uses copoly line and a MH/mod crankbait rod.  I’ve had great success landing with with that setup. 👍🏻  Crazy to say you lost maybe a 6# but it wasn’t one of the really big ones - a 6# up here would be the fish of the season, if not my life.  🤪

 

Our Florida bass have a very long growing season compared to O Canada, like @ol'crickety said a 6lber in your waters will be a much rarer, much older fish than the same weight this far south.

 

But yes, there are some true giants in this pond. It's not the same one I caught my DDs in, but my longest bass ever (pushing 28" or so) came from here. Sadly I caught her in the middle of June with no belly so she went 8lb 9oz, I dream of catching her in prespawn. Her head was so big I was able to comfortably fit both fists in her mouth, and her shoulders were so thick I couldn't get my hand around her.

 

I had to hold her back away from me just to get her all the way in the photo. For reference, I am 6'3" and my forearm from where my wrist is bent to the point of my elbow is 11.5". She was a big, healthy girl.

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Our Florida bass have a very long growing season compared to O Canada, like @ol'crickety said a 6lber in your waters will be a much rarer, much older fish than the same weight this far south.

 

But yes, there are some true giants in this pond. It's not the same one I caught my DDs in, but my longest bass ever (pushing 28" or so) came from here. Sadly I caught her in the middle of June with no belly so she went 8lb 9oz, I dream of catching her in prespawn. Her head was so big I was able to comfortably fit both fists in her mouth, and her shoulders were so thick I couldn't get my hand around her.

 

I had to hold her back away from me just to get her all the way in the photo. For reference, I am 6'3" and my forearm from where my wrist is bent to the point of my elbow is 11.5". She was a big, healthy girl.

 

You could stash a dachshund puppy or two in her mouth! It's been my experience that Maine bass don't grow to be 28" long or anything near that. They do grow guts and shoulders though. 

[Peacedivision]

One senko fish from the bank today, only had about 15 minute of moving water before the slack tide.

Also managed to land my PB seagull this morning while striper fishing, didn't get a hook in it thankfully but had to crush a jighead barb to get it out of his feathers.

[Functional]

At the inlaws this weekend and catching everything but bass. Did some night fishing and caught this nice sunset. Then this morning had a really good hook up and suddenly went light. Thought I broke off but I had 40# braid. Turns out I broke the hook on a dirty jigs swim jig. No rust... no idea what happened and although it had a lot of weight I can't see any bass breaking a hook. 

 

[Woody B]

I picked the wrong landing this morning.  I got there around 5:45.  A club tournament with ~25 boats was blasting off at 6 so I just waited until they were gone.  I didn't want to get ran over.  I have a pretty good day after getting started.  I caught 11 Bass,  7 Spots and 4 Largemouth.   The biggest Largemouth was 17 inches (pictured).  1 Spot was 18" and another was 19" .  (biggest, caught on my last cast at 9:58 is pictured)   I also shook off a couple Cats beside the boat.   

[Aaron_H]

You think she wanted it? Biggest of the evening went 3.73lb. Most of the fish I've been catching seem to be starting to bulk up on shad, this one was still a very skinny summer bass. Gave me a spirited fight, though. Chatterbait setup working as intended so far.

[RichF]

Got to sneak into a couple team derbies during our recent visit back home to NNY with my old man and we hit a couple home runs! Won both by over 3lbs and on lakes we don’t have a ton of history on (and no pre practice). 17.66 and 22.7lbs! Gotta emphasize the equipment in this day and age:

- 2014 Nitro Z7 w/ 150hp

- single power pole

- 9in Lowrance Elite at console

- no bow graph

- 80thrust Fortrex

- blown aerator pump (had to hand fill the well and use recirc/stand alone oxygenators (no fish died)

- top speed 51mph, had to lay on front deck to get on plane with a full livewell and half tank of gas

 

It’s super fun to beat guys running $80k boats with all the bells and whistles!

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Made it a point to do some wilderness fishing only accessible swim/wade  this time of year . A brief 45 minute hike 2 miles downstream of the car and we hit the water.  We ended up with 45-47 fish between the 3 of us and a couple fairly nice ones including what I think was a meanmouth. Also got lots of smallies , a largemouth, some rock bass , redbreast sunfish and green sunfish . 

 

 

 

 

[Rockhopper]

Only 4 dinks today in 4 hours. Tried a bunch of new techniques though. And my new curado mgl 151 6.2 is amazeballs.

[A-Jay]

28 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Only 4 dinks today in 4 hours. Tried a bunch of new techniques though. And my new curado mgl 151 6.2 is amazeballs.

Glad they're not in the picture.

😎

A-Jay

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

You think she wanted it? Biggest of the evening went 3.73lb. Most of the fish I've been catching seem to be starting to bulk up on shad, this one was still a very skinny summer bass. Gave me a spirited fight, though. Chatterbait setup working as intended so far.

After I switched to a mod fast rod and braid for chatterbaits, hooking them like that became the norm rather than the exception. I lose far fewer fish on them than I used to.

[Swamp Girl]

@TnRiver46: That's beyond fishing. That's adventure!

[LrgmouthShad]

Mom visited TX for work. For weeks before coming, she talked about fishing Stillhouse with me while she was here. So we went out in the yaks and she got a nice bass that weighed 3lbs even. That is her first TX fish. And of course she boat flipped it on a spinning rod like she always does 😂. 

Me: 🦨

 

We were around some schooling fish in the morning but we could not get them to eat our topwater. They were too focused on the shad balls I guess. Later in the day I found some patches of hydrilla using my electronics and that was a big deal. There were some big fish hanging around the stuff in 10-16ft. They did not like anything in the small collection of stuff I brought. Mom’s fish was off the marina which can be a reliable place to fish. Ate her weighted senko about halfway to the bottom. 

[gim]

12 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

some rock bass

Thank you for not posting photos of these fake bass.

[Susky River Rat]

[OmegaDPW]

Good afternoon friends and neighbors!

 

 It's been at least two months since I've been able to log on here and just as long not fishing. Father in law died, had to move my mother in law to my town, just a real mess. 

 

 I hadn't even driven by my favorite farm pond but had the chance to go yesterday. The water is extremely low. Never saw it this low before. Weeds and some sort of vegetation have appeared where they never were before. In all actuality, it looks horrible. This pond is where I've always caught large bass but the crappie and bluegill populations were hit and miss. Usually miss. I think I found out why, though. Caught this pic of four otters swimming and playing near me. They're probably tearing up the bluegill population. 

 

 

 Overall, was a pretty good morning though. Caught 15 fish- a mix of bass and bluegill. Caught all of them on tiny swimbaits (less than an inch), a tiny jighead with a #12 hook and fished about a foot under a weighted bobber with a steady retrieve. That was the only way I could keep the lures above the weeds. Couldn't find the crappie- if they're even there anymore. Biggest bass was about 4lbs. 

 

 Hopefully it won't be another couple of months before I get to go again. Good to be back (here and there!).

[Woody B]

I caught 12 today.  11 Spots and 1 lone 16 inch Largemouth.  I caught the LM on my 3rd cast.   Biggest and last on last cast was a 19 1/2" Spot.  First and last pictured.  The first few came on a spinnerbait.  Later ones came on a (gasp) Ned rig.  (no I didn't go over to the darkside.  I'm still using baitcast equipment)

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Went joyriding with the wife today along some crazy mountain road neither of us had ever been on, luckily it ended up just above a dam where I had been before and I got to stop and fish. Tossed a fluke and saw some small bass and one large one. They chased but wouldn’t hit it. Went back to the car and grabbed a senko , got it fairly quick blind casting with 50 lb seaguar tactix and a 4/0 gamakatsu nano alpha round bend hook

 

also got a rock bass in a different spot in a small creek, picture just for @gimruis. Missed/spooked many smallmouth in the creek 

 

also saw a cool waterfall that was fairly dried up 

 

[gim]

Lol that largie could literally eat that puny rocky.