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In my last post, I said I was rigging up a jig and some 20lb fluoro to head back to the cold mud, with bigger fish in mind. I never could have predicted the day that I ended up having! I did have a little feeling though, because three or four years ago I fished the same conditions in the same place and caught two big fish, and my best 5 were probably in the 18-20lb range. After discovering active fish on Christmas day from the bank, my little brother and I headed back to the river with our kayaks, so we could access the fish a little better. After the bite we experienced, I think water must have been at least mid 40s, but we didn't have a thermometer, so I will never know. I do know they would only eat a bottom bait, and even though the bite was good, you still had to be extremely methodical about your retrieve (if you can even call it that). My first fish of the day was a 6.04lb gorgeous winter largemouth, I knew I was going to have a shot at one over 5, so I was stoked to get it as my first bite! It was in an eddy that produced one of the big fish I caught years ago under the same conditions, I love having a home field advantage. I spend a lot of time on this river so I know where big fish usually like to hang, and where all the little depth changes, rock piles, etc are. That knowledge definitely came in handy since I had to fish so slowly. The bite was pretty consistent, we fished wood cover close to the bank, and many of the fish were actually sitting on the upstream side of the wood, which is an awesome indicator of their activity level, and surprising for cold, muddy water. Most of the bites we were getting were in the 1.5-2.5lb range, nothing big after the first one. Home field advantage came in handy again, there was a log with some brush pushed up on it that was a few feet from where I caught a 7lber on a wiggle wart in March, and historically, that small 50'x50' area holds big fish. On my first flip, I hooked a fish in the 4lb range and lost it at the kayak, I was bummed! On my next flip to the same piece of wood, I caught a 2.5lber. After releasing that fish, on my next flip, again to the same piece of wood, I buttoned up a good one. That fish ended up weighing 5.22, and yet another big fish from that little sweet spot! I continued fishing the area catching small fish, but never anything over 2.5lbs. My little brother hit a stretch of bank and lost two big fish, one of them he said was 5lbs or so that he lost boatside. He went back to the same tree 30 minutes later, and caught a 4.9! Clearly, the big fish were bunched up. After about an hour, I headed back to the tree where I lost the 4 and caught the 5. I made many pitches to the piece of cover, and finally locked up on a fish. This one was a 6.15, I couldn't believe it! I was keeping track of my best 5, and was bummed that I lost the 4lber boatside, because it was my fault for rushing it. I knew I had the opportunity to catch a really impressive bag of fish, so I stayed after it, going back through water I had fished throughout the day. Any spot that produced fish earlier in the day had reloaded, so I just made a milk run fishing the good stuff. I popped a 4.21 and a 3.74 in about a 5 minute flurry of bites, once again the bigger fish were grouped up! Those two fish brought my best 5 to a whopping 25.36lbs (A Big Dumb Bag), my best 5 fish limit ever by far, and I did it from a kayak in late December! It is a beautiful thing when preparation meets opportunity. I have been diligently fishing that place in my kayak for at least 6 years, and had only broken the 15lb mark a handful of times, nothing close to what I did this time around! For anyone wondering, I was fishing a 3/8oz black and blue Molix Kento Jig, with a 3" and 4" chigger craw on the back. 20lb red label fluorocarbon on a 7'8" Heavy Doomsday "47" flippin' stick. 6.04lbs, also you can see my life jacket sitting on my kayak behind me from where I had taken it off after beaching the kayak for pictures. 6.15 5.22

I got to fish South Holston Lake in Tennesee on Friday, I have family nearby and was in town for our Christmas celebration (boat in tow, obviously ). Cloudy and rainy, but those conditions have been good to me at that place historically. As with the stellar largemouth fishing two days before, I had no clue what was in store for my brother and I that day... We started off catching a couple fish on a 2.8 keitech on points, that stupid little bait knocks their lights out in east Tennesee, because they feed on tiny alewives a lot. I wanted them to eat a jerkbait but I couldn't get them to, and after fishing a handful of points, my brother in the back of the boat had proved that the 2.8 keitech was the way to go. We headed down the lake and after rounding a corner, I looked ahead and saw what we refer to as a "beehive" on the Chesapeake Bay, birds diving in such a frenzy that the constant movement looks like a swarm of bees! Upon closer inspection, we could see smallmouth coming out of the water underneath them. We idled to about 100 yards and then closed the distance on the trolling motor (not many people do this unfortunately!) I lobbed an A-rig out off the end of the point, but fish started blowing up, so I set the rod down and cast another bait. I didn't get one, but my brother hooked a good smallmouth on a LC Staysee. I went to pick up my A-rig rod and it had snagged in something 50 feet down. During my lure retriever antics, my brother boated 3 smallmouth in 3 casts on the Staysee, one of those casts he had a double but lost one of them. As quickly as it began, it was over, and we began fan casting on the point to no avail. Fish were sporadically breaking, and I actually got one to eat a pencil popper in 50 degree water, unfortunately it came unbuttoned. We soon saw another beehive of birds on a different point, and headed over to see if it was more smallmouth. It was, and we doubled up on deep diving jerkbaits on our first casts! We caught a couple more after that, but there were a lot of fish showing themselves compared to the bites we were getting, time for a bait change. I fished a 3.3" keitech on an underspin, but no dice. My first cast with the ol' east Tennesee 2.8 keitech proved that it would be the bait of the day, and we began doubling up on every cast after that, it was insane! Mother nature was displaying so much visible carnage on this point, that I was waiting for David Attenborough to start narrating. Birds were attacking the alewives from the air, and smallmouth had them pinned to the surface! The waves of activity came and went, but for the most part, we sat on this point all day, landing at least 50 smallmouth, it was happening far too fast to keep track. Because it poured rain for the first half of the day, we somehow had the lake to ourselves, and no one ever saw any of the birds or breaking fish, it was beautiful! Towards the end of the day, we started catching some of them on a spybait, which is a bait I have very little experience with, so it was good to do some learning! The spybait ended up producing 3 of our best 5 fish for the day, so there was definitely "something to it". East Tennesee is a wonderful place, I am jealous of those who are lucky enough to call it home! A little over 17lbs for a best 5. Broke my biggest 5 LMB and Biggest 5 SMB during a 3 day period!

Got her today on the rapala jerk bait. 24” Virginia Stud. Was noticeably larger than my 9.3 from January.

Just watched a Christmas story and could not help myself. I did not win the leg. Actually I entered KastKing's holiday gift giveaway and received an e-mail stating I won a prize. Today a Speed demon pro crankbait rod was delivered to my door. I put my spare Tatula loaded with 12 pound Flouorokote line on it and proceeded playing around in the yard. It is a very nice rod. It will see a lot of action, throwing rattle traps. Can't wait to try it out. Ironically I almost bought this same rod a couple weeks ago, but decided to wait until after the holidays.

My dad. He wasn't much into fishing, but I was...so he took me out when I wanted to fish someplace too far to bike. This pic is from '67 or '68 as we're about to head to Wachusett Reservoir, MA for a day of fishing.

Got to go for a few hours yesterday with my oldest son. We kept 12 of the smaller ones for a fish fry Friday to celebrate my baby boys birthday. Biggest fish is 7 pounds even and next is 5 pounds even. Now we got flash flood, tornado, and severe weather watches for the next 24-48 hours. Glad we got to go yesterday!

Not many places you can do this, but I went to a specific lake with the intention of trying. Pulled it off!

It is a bit of a Christmas tradition to head to the nearby river after we finish up with lunch and gifts at my grandparent's house. My younger brother and I only had one rod each, and a handful of baits, with a short bank fishing trip in mind. Water is high and muddy, as it has been for most of this year. Not ideal conditions for fishing considering the water temps in the low 40s. Since I have grown up fishing this river, I pretty much know where the bass live, and what they do depending on the conditions. This is a key for cold, muddy water, because even if I'm not getting bit, I know I'm probably dropping it on their heads, so it's easier to slow down and be patient. Water had less than a foot of visibility, but was clearly fishable. I fished a black and blue jig for a while, but they weren't having it. My brother caught one small fish on a shakey head, and missed a couple other fish. His bites were coming in eddies with wood and brush, right up against the bank. It is strange to fish pretty much straight down in front of you, but those river bass want to get out of the current when it's cold and muddy. All of our bites today were in less than 3' of water, some as shallow as 1'. I switched to a shakey head, alternating between a 5" black single tail grub, and a 3" black and blue chigger craw. I don't think it mattered what bait you used, as long as you fished it slow and gave it enough movement for them to locate it in the dirty water. We ended up landing 13 bass up to 2.5lbs in around 2 hours, and my brother lost one that was over 5 while he was trying to lip it. The fish were surprisingly aggressive given the conditions, and we are planning to take the kayaks out tomorrow and further exploit the bite we stumbled upon! Even though I didn't get bit on it today, I know that ol jig will work. I'll be suiting up with some 20lb fluorocarbon and a stout rod to try and yank a big girl out of a tree tomorrow! Note that there is no hook-up preventer (some call it a screw lock) on the shakey head.....

Got another good one! Just over 21”, we had a few 18” mixed in as well

It was a cold one this morning but I wanted to try to catch some Christmas Eve bass. Little skim ice around the edges, lots of ice in the guides, but managed to trick some, even got one on a blade bait and lost a few more on it.

Great late December day out on the water chasing spots.

Got out for a bit before Christmas Eve get together. We got down in the mid 20's the night before so I couldn't get a line in the water until after 2:00 because of ice. Caught 4 including this nice one on coppertreuse TRD. I'm finding that this cold water fishing is more predictable than many other times. Just wish the fish could fight harder. Can't have everything I guess.

Couldn't have asked for nicer weather on the first day of winter in Kansas Friday. It was 30 when we launched, nearly 50 with barely any wind when we took out, and the fish were biting as good as they have in a month. All about moving baits, jerkbaits, RES, mid depth flat sided crank, and a shad rap were the deal. Had 3 keepers over 18" with a 4.89 BB. White bass were thick and hungry everywhere, which kept us busy between bass bites. If I could have boated a couple more of my big bites it could have really been a great day.

Went out at dusk last night with my friend Mike to toss some Ultra Vibe Speed Worms from the bank. Caught a few feisty bass, and this was the biggest.

I was doing some work on my computer tonight and tuned into Mike Iaconelli's Ike Live show tonight for some entertainment while working. As it happens, this was his Christmas special and he was giving away some gear. They asked for callers to the show and it just so happens that I got through and of course my question to Mike was if he had any good alligator stories. Co-host Pete Gluszek chimed in with his story, then Mike asked if I had one to tell. Of course I obliged. For my efforts they are sending me a Tackle Warehouse give bag with a gift card, hat, koozie, rod sleeve, and a bunch of other stuff. Finally, one of my alligator stories paid off!

Borrowed this one ~ "My children ask me the same question each year, "What do I want for Christmas?" After thinking about it, I decided I'd give them my real answer. I want you. I want you to keep coming around, I want you to ask me questions, ask my advice, tell me your problems, ask for my opinion, ask for my help, make me feel needed. I want you to come over and rant about your problems, rant about life, whatever. Tell me about your job, your worries, your fur babies, my grandbabies. I want you to continue sharing your life with me. Come over and laugh with me, or laugh at me, I don't care. Hearing you laugh is music to me. I spent the better part of my life raising you the best way I knew how. Now, give me time to enjoy your life as it is today. Raid my refrigerator, help yourself, I really don't mind. In fact, I wouldn't want it any other way. I want you to spend your money making a better life for you and your family, I have the things I need. I want to see you happy and healthy. When you ask me what I want for Christmas, I say "nothing" because you've already been giving me my gift all year. I want you."" Love, Dad A-Jay

Today was an awesome day! We caught 7 bass and 1 giant crappie. My friend caught his new PB at 5.5 pounds on a jerkbait! We caught all the other fish on clipless crankbaits. 8 fish in 5 hours isn't bad for December.

December fishing just keeps getting better. Caught ten this afternoon including four about this size. All came on a shortened Z-Man Hula Stikz ned rigged. Looks like we might keep cheating winter here in Indiana.

Skipping has never been my strong suit. Skipping docks, under trees, has been hit or miss for me. Today we had a rare warm day, 50 + degrees, and I was bored so I headed to a local pond to practice. Turns out it is easier than I thought. In no time at all I was skipping a jig I'd guess a good 100 yds. or better. It took me a little while to zone in on the secret, but here it is Smooth ice! It seems the smoother the ice the longer the cast, who'd of thunk it. Although in all fairness, after the first two or three skips it is more of a sliding technique. Anyone know how thin the ice has to be for a bass to bust thru and take it? Please forgive me...…… It's been a longgggg winter.

Cold weather moved in here Friday. Wasn't supposed to make it much over 30 with 15mph NW winds first thing in the morning (don't think they ever blew that light with all the whitecaps). Power plant lake fish love nasty weather though, so away I went. My spot that was good last week had fish but couldn't get them to bite. Started cranking with all the wind and my first bite was only about 18.5" but 4.46 pounds. Little further down I caught a chunky 15" fish, then my very next cast to the same spot a 6.41lb tank choked my bait. Had a few swings and misses, always hard to tell if they're bites, if the bait is running into one of the numerous carp that always feed on the rocks, or if a white bass smacked the bait. I turned and came back down the same stretch with a jerkbait and caught my 4th fish and 3rd keeper over 18" that went 3.22 and was unusually skinny for this lake. I think an injury may have been causing it some problems. I made one more pass down the bank with a 6th Sense Cloud 9 magnum squarebill and immediately hooked up with a big fish (duh). It pulled hard to get to the brush and right as I got it to the boat, popped off. Easily a 6+, probably over 7. I've never managed to land a big fish on a magnum squarebill, they just always seem to get too much leverage and shake the bait on me. Fished one more short bank that was similar and hooked another heavy fish for a minute that came off. I guess I needed a reminder on why I never fish a bait with stock hooks.

Water temp was 55° and wind was howling, caught 27 overall, my dad smoked me on rapala jerkbait. But DT6 Demon won me big bass. Just a 10 acre pond full of stumps.

Got out for an hour from the bank after work yesterday to give the dogs a chance to run around and see if I could get anything to bite. Threw a 65 Pointer and a Spro Phat Fly about 3' below a bobber and caught fish on both, about a dozen total. All fish were thoroughly inspected and licked before release.

My dearly departed father and grandfather....

After 8 years I still have those moments where it hits me "I'm responsible for that human!" Or "I can't believe we created this human being". At times it's really surreal. He's my fishing buddy, my hunting buddy, my shadow and so much more. Maybe some day he'll join this site and have the screen name 6poundbass, until then I have the pleasure of teaching and showing him hunting, fishing, and life.

Deer season is wrapped up. Time to get serious about bass fishing. Had a decent day. Caught a few whites, a few small bass, and these three. Shakyhead was the ticket Not trophies, but any bass in December is a good catch to me.