First Bass of 2024

[DogBone_384]

January .... check....

 

 

[detroit1]

ya'll suk with your fish pictures this early in the year...🤥

[softwateronly]

....

[MIbassyaker]

On 1/2/2024 at 1:04 PM, gimruis said:

The regs here are to protect the sacred walleye.  They really have nothing to do with bass.

 

We get some of that too, but more often regulations are built around protecting steelhead and salmon....for instance, it's still illegal to dropshot in rivers here, due to potential for snagging during the salmon run.

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

@softwateronly Somebody likes spoons. 

[softwateronly]

58 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

@softwateronly Somebody likes spoons. 

Could barely get a bite on anything else.  One on a blade bait, and o-fer on a little swimbait, crankbait, jig, jerkbait, and 15 ish on the little spoon and a 4" spoon over the last 4 days.  I dodged a little bit of ice the other day and think the shad die off is still in full swing.  Tightline to the bottom, half to 2 reel turns, tightline back to the bottom.  repeat.  And get bit relatively often, for me, in this cold water.

 

scott

[softwateronly]

[Firstoutfisher]

4 hours ago, softwateronly said:

Could barely get a bite on anything else.  One on a blade bait, and o-fer on a little swimbait, crankbait, jig, jerkbait, and 15 ish on the little spoon and a 4" spoon over the last 4 days.  I dodged a little bit of ice the other day and think the shad die off is still in full swing.  Tightline to the bottom, half to 2 reel turns, tightline back to the bottom.  repeat.  And get bit relatively often, for me, in this cold water.

 

scott

 

I've never been able to get a bass on a spoon

[DaveT63]

Got my first 2024 bad yesterday.

[softwateronly]

@Firstoutfisher  me either till this year.  I thought it had a role on my lake and turned out to be right.  Started in post spawn and has carried all the way through till now.  Late fall gave me some epic every other cast early morning/evening as the shad migrated from/to their nighttime cover.

 

scott

[thediscochef]

Still chasing my first bite of the year. I'm not known for being a good winter fisher

[Pat Brown]

54 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

Still chasing my first bite of the year. I'm not known for being a good winter fisher

 

Dude just keep tossing that red eye shad up shallow on windy days.

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

 

Dude just keep tossing that red eye shad up shallow on windy days.

It ain’t that simple. I’ve been in Disco’s hood, as well

[Pat Brown]

14 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

It ain’t that simple. I’ve been in Disco’s hood, as well

 

He's got some toads on that thing!  Just cheering my brother on!  I'm sure he's gonna find a fish.

[LrgmouthShad]

3 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

He's got some toads on that thing!  Just cheering my brother on!  I'm sure he's gonna find a fish.

Yeah I gotchu. You’re right. I need to cool down a little

[TnRiver46]

[LrgmouthShad]

2022 was an awesome year for starting fish. I didn’t fish until March in NC and the first fish I caught the whole year was a 4lber on a buzzbait. Then the first fish I caught in New York was my best for the state, a 6.21lb chunk on a spinnerbait. 
 

This year I do not anticipate fishing until possibly February but potentially as late as May. 

[N Florida Mike]

Hopefully my first fish of 2024 isn’t a harbinger of things to come  this year…😟

[Alex from GA]

Hopefully you're right.  That's one of the ugliest bass I've seen.

[Woody B]

First of 2024.  On an A-rig.   

 

[A-Jay]

53 minutes ago, Woody B said:

First of 2024.  On an A-rig.   

 

Nice - did you use a Musky Rod ?

A-Jay

[Blue Raider Bob]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:23 PM, softwateronly said:

Could barely get a bite on anything else.  One on a blade bait, and o-fer on a little swimbait, crankbait, jig, jerkbait, and 15 ish on the little spoon and a 4" spoon over the last 4 days.  I dodged a little bit of ice the other day and think the shad die off is still in full swing.  Tightline to the bottom, half to 2 reel turns, tightline back to the bottom.  repeat.  And get bit relatively often, for me, in this cold water.

 

scott

Thanks so much for sharing your cadence/technique. I still have so much to learn and it helps so much when anglers share knowledge. I have tried blade baits and spoons, but I think I give up on them too soon. I need to learn patience!

[softwateronly]

@Blue Raider Bob Thanks.  I'm thinking the original tightline to the bottom has been the key.  The spoon just slowly wobbles it's way to the bottom, giving the bass time to identify it as a struggling prey and also time to slowly move toward it.  Nothing happens very fast in this 30 something degree water but yet I've been thumped numerous times on the initial fall near the bottom.  Once it's on the bottom, I work both the spoons and blade baits relatively fast, never leaving them on the bottom for more than a 2-3 count.  I will say the blade bait is usually better with less is more on the lifts, just 2-3 wobbles before I let it back down.

 

scott  

[Zcoker]

It was a one-two-three punch for me with the bigger fish, starting off 2024 pretty good! 

 

 

 

[fishingtx]

Didn't get a picture of the first one of the year, but got some of the first tournament.me and my partner weighed a total of 12.30lbs placing us 8th with a little bit of gas money.