December open water fishing.

[Sandhillcrab]

Anyone else ejoying this wonderful open water season still? I have had the opportunity to head out on the rivers by a power plant with 40 dagree water. I was getting a lot of small mouth and I'm not sure how yet but I chought a large mouth on the Mississippi. Dose anyone know how this happened? But still lots of fun. I wanna hear how everyone else is doing fishing. 

[HoosierHawgs]

How did you catch that bad boy?

[Sandhillcrab]

23 minutes ago, HoosierHawgs said:

How did you catch that bad boy?

Crawfish colord strick King crank bait! ?

[Sandhillcrab]

The 1.5

[HoosierHawgs]

Nice. That is a solid fish! I have caught a few up here on lipless baits, but not much.

[Sandhillcrab]

Just now, HoosierHawgs said:

Nice. That is a solid fish! I have caught a few up here on lipless baits, but not much.

River or lake? 

[HoosierHawgs]

1 minute ago, Sandhillcrab said:

River or lake? 

Reservoir. Fishing off a drop off near a flat. Yo-yo retrieve.

[Sandhillcrab]

1 minute ago, HoosierHawgs said:

Reservoir. Fishing off a drop off near a flat. Yo-yo retrieve.

Awsome! I did pull up something very unexpected on the Mississippi.. I never thought I could do this.. Put I did..

[HoosierHawgs]

Just now, Sandhillcrab said:

Awsome! I did pull up something very unexpected on the Mississippi.. I never thought I could do this.. Put I did..

Wow, that's a huge carp! What did you land him on? Mostly dead weight?

[Sandhillcrab]

Used a very nice net.. Snagged him with the strick King 1.5. He was about a 17 lb. I shot a 20lb a few months ago. 

Just now, HoosierHawgs said:

Wow, that's a huge carp! What did you land him on? Mostly dead weight?

 

[Turtle135]

Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, 41 - 42 degree water, dead sticking a tube on the bottom. It looks like our weather for the next week is trendy warmer!

[Sandhillcrab]

2 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, 41 - 42 degree water, dead sticking a tube on the bottom.

That first small mouth has some battle scares.. And the 2ed is a great looking bass. Beautiful looking fish! Congrats!

[Turtle135]

9 minutes ago, Sandhillcrab said:

That first small mouth has some battle scares.. And the 2ed is a great looking bass. Beautiful looking fish! Congrats!

Thanks! Those are not scars on that smallmouth bass. That type of discoloration is becoming more common on our smallmouth and largemouth bass in the mid-atlantic region. Early reports indicate that those dark spots come and go on individual fish and I personally see more of it in the cool water period. Biologists are reporting that this is not a health problem for the bass but I do not think anyone has a complete handle on what is causing it.

 

[HoosierHawgs]

Sure does look interesting. Maybe its sun spots?

[Bluebasser86]

14 hours ago, HoosierHawgs said:

Sure does look interesting. Maybe its sun spots?

It's just a pigmentation thing. I see those a lot during the winter months on the fish around here and rarely see it during the warmer months. 

[Bankbeater]

Way to go! It's great having soft water in Dec. and being able to get out.  Usually sometime around Thanksgiving is when I call it quits for the season, but not this year!

[HoosierHawgs]

Posted this elsewhere but caught two on a suspending Jerkbait today.