Best day of fishing?

[LittlePineyAngler]

As i sit her in my 8 hour class i get bored pretty easy. I'd love to be entertained by some of your fishing stories. Your biggest catch? best day of fishing? worst day of fishing? 

crazy things thats happened? 

[Kidflex]

My best day bass fishing happened Jan 2, 2016. Me and a buddy went fishing in a nearbt lake in a John boat. Ended up getting on the water around 1pm. We decided to use 3/4oz black and blue football jigs with matching rage craw. My First cast ended up with a 2lber and he doubled up with a 3lber. My very next cast(second case for me) I hooked into a 7lb 10oz beauty. My personal best! I didn't want to get too excited by drawing attention so we kept it quiet. Within the next 30 minutes i pull out a 6lb 14oz, 3.15, 4.01, 6.01 and a few more 2lbers.  My buddy wasn't so lucky and only got a couple 2-3lbers. 3 hours into our trip I was saying that I never thought I'd be trying to cull a 4lber. 2 casts later I landed a 7.3. We fished for 4 hours. My friend got 5 fish 3lbs and under. I ended up with 11 bass. My top five weighed 31lbs 13oz. The Stars were aligned for me that afternoon. During that time I lost my lucky jig on a bad cast.

I decided to take advantage of the bite so I went out the next morning with my new son in law. He never caught a bass before in his life. I gave him instructions on deep water jig fishing. My first cast I felt  a slight difference as I was dragging. I pulled up my jig and it was wrapped in some braided line with my lucky jig still tied! First cast got my jig back! We fished for 30min or so without a bit and I started to get discouraged from the previous day's magic. We moved a few times before getting on fish. He caught a 3lber for his first fish. His second bass weighed 6.4. And his 3rd fish ever was 4.8. Not to be outdone I got a 7.8 and a 6.4. I also lost the largest bass of my life 10ft from the boat. My son in law is now hooked! I told him not to get used to that kind of action and that I fished for many years before landing a 6lber. I mentioned these fish in a previous post but wanted to share again of my best day bass fishing. I went back twice after that and only got 1 fish.  The next time going back to that spot(10days after) we had 2 boats on the water. Another buddy caught a nice fish and paddled over tonweigh it. It weighed 7lb 4oz. We noticed it had a red round hole under the left side gill. That was my 7.3 I got 10 days earlier. The hook on the scale busted thought the bottom of gill plate on 3 of the bigger fish. No doubt in my mind that it was my fish from before. Same general area just a lil shallower. Bit a jig too!

[LittlePineyAngler]

wow what a day of fishing. sounds like a dream! lol Just this year is the first time i've used jigs. What would be your advice to a beginning jig fisherman? 

[ww2farmer]

I have had too many "best day ever's" to remember. But there's a few that stick out, not because they were/are better than other days I have , but because they have caught me off guard, and happened out of the blue.............or more like, I was in the "right place at the right time" for this to happen, and I have rarely been able to duplicate it since.

#1..........Late April, a few years ago..........pre-spawn largemouth fishing was already good that day, I was hitting my usual spots, and pretty much calling my shots, when without warning one of the strongest south winds I have ever been in kicks up out of nowhere without so much as a light breeze before hand as a warning. I was at the extreme north end of the lake, the boat launch is at the south end, and this wind turned my little 3 mile long lake into the Atlantic ocean. I tuck in behind a tree line, to "wait it out" and while I am there figure...........what the heck, might as well make a few casts. Well for the next hour or so, I catch a bass on dang near ever cast in an area no bigger than my living room on a lipless crankbait. And they were all 2.5-4.5 lbers, then the clouds broke, the wind let up, and it was over just like that.

#2.............Also late April, probably a year or two before incident #1...........I was struggling bad one evening after work. Nothing was working, and I was about to go home possibly skunked. Just as the sun was setting I pulled up on a main lake point, whipped a football jig out to the bank, and slowly started to drag it back. As soon as that jig "fell" off the point into deep water a decent bass just about ripped the rod out of my hand............cool, at least I am not skunked.........next cast, same thing, and then this went on every cast, for the next 1/2 hour to 45mins until the sun had finally set and was dark. Once that sun was gone, so was the bite. 

#3................Late June/Early July a few years ago, I just launched the boat and a splash under a tree in the shade at the boat launch got my attention. I put the trolling motor down went over by the tree just in time to see another splash. A bird, landed on a grass mat just outside the shade line and a bass blew up on it, I picked my frog rod up, started whipping it around on the mats in the area and in the next 20 mins had 2 20lb five fish limits without ever starting the outboard. And about as soon as it started, it was over.

Now, I have caught plenty of fish, and had good days on all these spots before and since, so this was not new to me, but these were just some of those "lightning in bottle" moments that have happened over the years.

[Bluebasser86]

My best days was several years ago (before my camera carrying days unfortunately). I was all alone on a cold January day on a power plant lake in Kansas not catching much when couple seagulls started diving off a shallow point. I didn't have anything figured out so I motored over and saw a few shad flicking and a couple small swirls under them. Figured they were white bass so I fired a Strike King King Shad across the point. A short ways into the retrieve, a 7lb 2oz largemouth slammed into the bait. A few cast later, one over 6 crushed it, then the wipers joined in. By the end of the day I had a 5 bass limit that went 30lb 2oz with a 5lb "small" fish, plus 40 wipers over 4 pounds, all on that King Shad. This is what the bait looked like after 1 day of fishing it (with new hooks added).

[LittlePineyAngler]

5 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

My best days was several years ago (before my camera carrying days unfortunately). I was all alone on a cold January day on a power plant lake in Kansas not catching much when couple seagulls started diving off a shallow point. I didn't have anything figured out so I motored over and saw a few shad flicking and a couple small swirls under them. Figured they were white bass so I fired a Strike King King Shad across the point. A short ways into the retrieve, a 7lb 2oz largemouth slammed into the bait. A few cast later, one over 6 crushed it, then the wipers joined in. By the end of the day I had a 5 bass limit that went 30lb 2oz with a 5lb "small" fish, plus 40 wipers over 4 pounds, all on that King Shad. This is what the bait looked like after 1 day of fishing it (with new hooks added).

never done much fishing outside of missouri. recently went to oklahoma for christmas and talked my girlfriend into letting me go out and try to catch some crappie. My grandpa used to live in topeka kansas where he had a bait shop for awhile. Told me stories about fishing "strip pits"?

Not entirely sure what they are but he said the fishing in kansas was great! sounds like an awesome day of fishing. too bad it was before your camera carrying days!

[Bluebasser86]

11 minutes ago, LittlePineyAngler said:

never done much fishing outside of missouri. recently went to oklahoma for christmas and talked my girlfriend into letting me go out and try to catch some crappie. My grandpa used to live in topeka kansas where he had a bait shop for awhile. Told me stories about fishing "strip pits"?

Not entirely sure what they are but he said the fishing in kansas was great! sounds like an awesome day of fishing. too bad it was before your camera carrying days!

The strip pits are mostly in SE Kansas in the Mined Wildlife Area. They're a lot of fun to fish and, if you know which ones to fish, you have a shot at some of the biggest bass in the state.

http://ksoutdoors.com/Fishing/Where-to-Fish-in-Kansas/Fishing-Locations-Public-Waters/Southeast-Region/Mined-Land-Wildlife-Area

[geo g]

You want some stories that sound special.  Here in South Florida we usually have seasonal rains and seasonal dry periods.  The everglades are effected greatly by these drops in water levels.  Usually the glades are three or four feet deep in the great marsh.  The bass are way back among the reeds where you can't get to them, and they are feasting on all types of critters among the stems.  When the water really drops fish have to find deeper water or become gator food as they become trapped.  They have dug canals 10 feet deep all though the marsh to help control the flow of water during heavy rains.  During drought times these canals become full of bass that come from miles away to survive the shrinking shallows.  During these periods the catching gets  crazy.  I have been out from 7:00 to noon with a partner and we have caught over 250 bass in five hours.  You would come in with your thumb bleeding from lipping fish.  Ten in a row on ten casts is not unusual.  You would catch fish of all sizes during these periods.  It is something really special, and unique to south Florida.  This remains until the rains come and they head for the flats again.  South Florida is truly a special place with loads of bass, peacocks,  freshwater snook,  land locked tarpon, Oscars, snakeheads, and about every other type of exotic found in the tropics.  Everyone that fishes the glades on a regular basis experiences these concentrated feeding frenzies.   Besides fishing, Over the years I have seen a large snake in the marsh, a Crocodile, heard a panther on the spoil banks and islands calling to another cat, Lemurs in the trees bouncing from branch to branch.  Never a dull moment in the glades.   On a normal year this crazy period will last several months, until the rains come.

[Burtonxj]

One late summer evening trip out on the Upper Potomac last year. Pulled in smallies all afternoon long. Nothing big but it was a blast. Weather was perfect, only ones out on the water. Remember pulling in my last smallie of the day (biggest of the day too, 17") with this awesome sun set going on. Ended up just floating for a few taking it in. Awesome day. 

[Bluebasser86]

Not a single day but a buddy and I had a terrific 4 day fishing trip to the White River below Bull Shoals, Bull Shoals, and Beaver Lake a few years ago. We caught brown and rainbow trout, walleye, largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, stripers, white bass, and wipers. I caught new PB's for Brown Trout, walleye, and striper. Probably had a new PB spotted bass too but I didn't weigh it. My buddy caught his new PBs for Striper, smallmouth, and wiper. It was just an incredible trip and we seemed to catch fish everywhere we went.

[Burtonxj]

Nice rocks! 

 

[N Florida Mike]

One of my most memorable days was catching redfish with my son while wade fishing at Guana river a couple years ago.We got bit nearly every cast for 45 minutes or so on live finger mullet.All the fish we caught were 20-27 inch(no scale).We lost count of how many.After I caught my last fish ,I cast one last time and the handle just came off in my hand- completely stripped from all the big fish.

[blckshirt98]

I haven't had any "best" over the top days bass fishing but do remember my worst.  It was a couple of years back just after spawn and I decided to go to the most productive local lake where I almost always catch something.  I arrived, parked, hiked down to my spot, pumped up for some late afternoon fishing.  First thing I noticed was the wind picked up and it started to blow pretty hard, and I hate fishing in wind.  At the time I was almost exclusively drop shotting so I get there, cast out and before I get a bite I almost immediately get snagged and lose my setup.  I re-rig and trying to re-tie, with wind blowing on me slowing down the process, cast out, bam, another snag.  This is a stretch of shoreline I fish reguarly and know where the "snaggy" spots are and normally don't get snagged that often, but that day the snag monkey was working overtime.  I proceed to lose like 7 dropshot rigs in about an hour without a single bite, and by the end of that hour I'm ready to snap my rod in half, throw it into the water, and find another hobby.  Cooler heads prevailed and I just packed my stuff up and went home, talking myself down by saying that day it just wasn't meant to be, fish have to win sometimes.  I still think about that day and get ticked lol.

[Airman4754]

My best day ever was last year. The area I live in now is probably the best trout fishing area in the world and that's not an exaggeration. 

There is one reservoir close to here and I was told that it sucks for fishing in general and doesn't have much of anything in it. So last year I took my birthday off (late March) grabbed my spinnerbait rod and decided to just give it a shot from the bank. 

1st cast, 6 pounder.

I caught an army of fish over 4lbs that day. My best five were just under 30lbs. That's the best day I've ever had and will probably ever have in this state.

1 rod, 1 lure, no boat. It kind of makes me laugh that I spend so much time in my boat and have a specific setup for everything and my best day was with none of it. 

[Ratherbfishing]

5 hours ago, ww2farmer said:

#2.............Also late April, probably a year or two before incident #1...........I was struggling bad one evening after work. Nothing was working, and I was about to go home possibly skunked. Just as the sun was setting I pulled up on a main lake point, whipped a football jig out to the bank, and slowly started to drag it back. As soon as that jig "fell" off the point into deep water a decent bass just about ripped the rod out of my hand............cool, at least I am not skunked.........next cast, same thing, and then this went on every cast, for the next 1/2 hour to 45mins until the sun had finally set and was dark. Once that sun was gone, so was the bite. 

 

With the exception of the bait used and the time of year, this story is almost identical to one of my last times out (mid October).  I was using a spinner bait and had more or less zeroed out until about dusk.  It was as if a light switch had flipped and suddenly nearly every fish in the lake wanted on my line.  I caught about 35 bass in 45 minutes.  A man who was watching out his kitchen window (this was a neighborhood pond) came out to watch and ask what I was using.  Like in your story, when it got dark the bite quit.  But what a glorious 45 minutes!

[N Florida Mike]

I think the most bass I caught the fastest was 19 in an hour and a half.Could not get that 20th fish.All on flukes.

[fisherrw]

my best day ever was the day I caught a 32 pound bag with a 6 pound smallie in the mix!

[drew4779]

I almost hestitate to post this, since this sounds so unbelievable, but a buddy and I once caught over 200 smallmouth in a day at Lake St. Claire.  I was literally exhausted by the time we went in.  90% were at least 2 lbs with the largest being 6. I can't imagine ever having another day like that again.

[scaleface]

You didnt say bass fishing .

 

My best day of fishing was on Mark Twain lake .It was July and  I found a large school of catfish on the depth finder out on an offshore flat . I caught a bunch of shad with a casting net and dropped them in a cooler full of ice , I've done this before . I dont try to keep the shad alive just keep them as fresh as i can . I anchored there ,  from about 6 o'clock until 2 in the morning,.catching channels and blues . If I went more than a couple of minutes without a bite then the  bait was already gone . No giant fish were caught but lots of 5 to 10 lbers .The fish never did stop biting .

On a side note I was using my running lights for illumination .I had an extra white light in the bow in place of the red green one . A Great Blue Heron appeared out of the darkness and lit in the bow of my boat , I was fishing from the stern. Scared the crap out if me .

[Steveo-1969]

Mine was 3 years ago.  I had already rediscovered fishing after a 13-year hiatus and finally talked my son into fishing with me.  We waded out to a spot that I had caught some fish at in the past and he hooks up with a 14" smallie on his first cast.  For the next hour we caught over 30 smallmouth between us.  Nothing big, but he was literally hooked after that and is now my favorite fishing partner.

 

Best fishing day ever...

[everythingthatswims]

This year in September I hit a local river for some green ones and brown ones. The first 2 miles of river is almost exclusively largemouth, and they were CHEWING. It was drizzling and overcast, so I was able to throw a cavitron the whole time. My first 5 casts produced 3 bass. From then on it was an all out slaughter on the cavitron, I don't know how many I landed, but I was finding schools and catching 2 or 3 in a row with regularity. 

After that I got into the more "smallmouthy" stretch of river, my first one there was 17" on the cavitron. Water was cooler because of another river feeding it so I had to change to a spinnerbait. I ended up catching around 2 dozen smallies and a few nice largemouth before my float trip ended and I called it a day. Best smallmouth was 19" probably 4lbs and the best largemouth was a little bigger than that.

I've had plenty of days where my 5 fish limit would have been bigger than that day, but there's something about having a day when it's like you can't do anything wrong!

Photos tend to post sideways coming from my phone,  not sure why.This fish was only about 3# but it was a very good looking fish. The bigger largemouth was kind of ugly

[Dwight Hottle]

My best day for size was 5 largemouth between 43-44lbs down at lake Baccarac in Mexico with my buddy Jeff. All fish were caught deep in 20-25 fow working different baits up a rock slope. 

 

[scaleface]

Thats a bad stringer Dwight .

 

[Fentawn]

A bad day fishing is better than any great day at work or school.  Keep the stories coming, good stuff.

[hawgenvy]

Yesterday I had the afternoon off, or so I thought. My wife kept giving me chores: mail a package at the post office, stop at the bank, put gas in her car. Feed the dog. Buy such and such at the grocery store. Dinner at 6:30. Well, I figured that would leave me almost an hour to fish, from 5:20 to 6:15.  I chose a nearby lake behind a friends house. Results: Four 2-3 pounders, a 3-3, a 3-12, a 4-12, a 5.1, and a very fat 5-11, caught on a black/blue jig. I was home for dinner at 6:23. My wife wanted to know, while I was setting the table, why I was doing it with such a big grin!