Had a fun and interesting trip :-)

[Fish Chris]

That Largemouths were kind of tough. Didn't get any on a wake bait, or swimbait, but managed to get 3 from 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 lbs on crawlers and the micro-light.

And I got a pretty cool shot of the 5 1/2 ;-) Yes, the fish in front is hooked, and fighting, but you totally can't see the 10 lb fluorocarbon leader. Check out the one watching watching this one fight, like, "What the heck are you tripping on" ? :-)

Also caught 4 Catfish from 4 to 7 lbs too. Another reason I like fishing crawlers. Love the bonus fish ;-)

But probably the coolest part of the trip was when I stumbled onto some BIG Red Ear sunfish ! I'm telling you guys, I caught 11 that must have went 15 to 16 lbs !

This was the biggest, at 13 3/4", and 1.90 lbs :-) And this thing absolutely RIPPED, like a 3 lb Smallmouth !

Oh... see the kitty in the live well ? I just kept it around for company though, then at the end of the trip, I decided I didn't feel like cleaning fish. Very lucky kitty

Oh, here's a nice 4 lb+ Smallie from last week (same lake) that I never got around to posting....

Anyway, going to a different lake today. Probably not as much "catching", but a better chance at a DD Largemouth :-)

....and Clear Lk. tomorrow :-)

Peace,

Fish

[Tokyo Tony]

Great pictures Fish :-)

I'm sure you've covered this before, but how do you fish crawlers? Braid with a flouro leader, big crawlers hooked on one end with an octopus or circle hook? Weightless? This is something I'd like to get into...

Can't wait to see more underwater shots!

[skeetermike]

Really awsome underwater pics!  Man those red ear were just pigs!  Pigs I tell ya!  I told someone that I had caught a red ear the other day 12" and they said I'm not sure about that.  Well you have the proof, they get that big easily.  Were they spawing, those R.E.?  

[avid]

Man, even the brim you catch are big.

Well done Mr. Chris.

[Mattlures]

Red ear are awsome. I didnt go after them this year when they were up and I regret it.

[grizzly1654]

That underwater picture is great, i cant wait to see more!

[Fish Chris]

Hey Tokyo Tony, this is pretty much all I kjnow about fishing crawlers.

http://www.trophybassonly.com/id132.htm

Oh, and here's a fun little page :-)

http://www.trophybassonly.com/id138.htm

I will say this though > if a guy wants to fish crawlers correctly, their is a LOT more than just wadding the thing on any ol' hook, throwing it out there, and setting your pole down :-) .....which is the most common misperception, about crawlers, and live bait in general.

Hey Matt, I know you guys have some big Bluegills (Coppernose) but how big do your Red Ears get ?

My goal is to get a 3.0 :-) .....or a legit 2.0 lb Bluegill.

Peace,

Fish

PS, Sure hoping the Sunfish are up at Clear Lk. tomorrow :-)

[Paul Roberts]

Chris, What camera did you use for that first pic?

Very cool. You've got some great fisheries.

I love big sunfish of any kind. My son and I go on a "sunfish hunt" every spring. We use fly-tackle and hunt for the biggest bluegill, green and pumpkinseed we can find. We already know which ponds offer what, and go to town. It sure is fun. But they offer nothing like yours do. Our best is an 11" green. Wish I had had a camera for that one.

[Fish Chris]

Hey Paul, the camera was just my Canon A630. I'm tempted to say > nothing special.... But then again, I absolutely LOVE my Canon A630, A640 and A650is cameras. Not expensive, but really nice cameras.

But for underwater shots, the ticket is my Canon underwater housing :-)

Does this thing look hi-tech, or what ? :-)

Peace,

Fish

[BlakeMolone]

have you caught trout fishing crawlers that way? It seems like it would work awesome for them ;D

[airborne_angler]

Now thats just cool . A trophy Bass fisherman that actually likes Trophy Panfish too,I can tell your a Trophy "Anything" kind of guy. The Bluegill are about to Spawn here and man they get ferocious,big and fight REALLY well. Cant wait,Im working with an ultralight outfit and I really dont think it could get anymore fun.Easy to catch and really strong pullers.

[SammyLee]

Wow, those are some great fish and great pictures.  Man those red ears must have been FUN!  I just love the way they hit and fight.  It's like they turn that flat body to the side and it feels like a stump for a second, then short crazy runs.  What fun.  

The other evening, I was bass fishing with a shad lure and had retrieved up to the bank.  It was so dark I could hardly see but there seemed to be someting under the lure.  I twitched it and this nice brim hit it an hooked himself!  The fish was just a bit larger than the lure.  

[Mattlures]

Down here all of our lakes have monster gills and red ear. I dont think all the lakes have the coppernose but some do and those have kicked out a few high 2's. The average size red ear caught is much larger then the average gill but the top end seems to be around 2.5lbs for both.  A two lb gill is rare but a 2 lb red ear is common to the guys who fish for them. Most guys dont even fish for them. There are a bunch of black fisherman down here who for some reason seem to fish for crappie gills and red ear as opposed to bass and those guys are good. I always pay attention when I see them on the lakes because I can tell what they are doing and they always come in with big catches. There is one lake down here Barrett. You have to buy a ticket through ticketmaster and its C&R only. The lake of course is loaded with 2-3lb bass but its also loaded with monster gills. If you target them a 1.5 is a given and 2lber are fairly common.

The red ears down here are usualy deep and harder to catch then gills but when they come up you can pick through the 1.5's and go after some monsters. I had one that looked to be a little over 3lbs last year wrap me up in a tree and eventualy came off. My PB was right a t 2lbs on a spring scale

[1inStripes]

Thats great Chris. As nice as the bass and cats are, I would love to hit into some gill action like that.

[Fish Chris]

Thanks again guys.

Hey Blake, I've only caught a few trout on crawlers. I know guy fish specifically for trout using crawlers. But I think trout need to be given plenty of time to really suck in a crawler. Whereas, if your fishing "correctly" for bass with crawlers, you wouldn't give them near that much tiime, as bass tend to suck it right in, and swallow it, and you would be deep hooking too many fish.

Earlier this year I actually saw a trout swimming around about 3 ft below the surface, so I flipped a crawler out too it. It grabbed it, but I could see it didn't have the hook, so I didn't set. Then it spit it. Then it turned around and granbbed it by the tail again. So again, I didn't set it. It dropped it once more. Then turned around and grabbed it once more, and must have swam 20 feet with it before it finally sucked it all the way in. Swing ! Fish on ;-) Would have never happened if I wasn't actually watching it though. Bass just almost never screw around like that.

Peace,

Fish

[Bassn Blvd]

Looking at your pictures is like looking at National Geographic, simply awesome.

Those red ears are huge. Did someone spill steroids into the lake? ;D

[LCpointerKILLA]

Looking at your pictures is like looking at National Geographic, simply awesome.

Those red ears are huge. Did someone spill steroids into the lake? ;D

x2