Team9nine

A lot of work, but a fun afternoon on the water. Found a couple new bass spots, and a handful of crappie roaming around. Bass went almost 4 pounds, and lost one other. Crappie went 2.62 lbs.

“A” for effort and love dragging scientific equipment in to analyze all things fishing - my old stomping grounds, but agree with @MIbassyaker in that the research data supporting IR/UV vision in adult bass is pretty weak. I’d actually go so far as to say outside of potential juvenile possibilities that get outgrown with age, it’s really not there at all.

Yeah, SC, but Mississippi is the crappie capital, with Grenada and several other record class crappie fisheries, so I thought it was interesting. MS also holds the world record for white crappie. It’s strictly a comparison of weight class based on the WR, so it’s a universal thing, not region specific…some places/states simply produce more trophy class fish, and geography certainly plays a part to some degree.

Never really tried to do that, but I don’t watch a lot of those type videos. I can say, and I think this probably goes for most anglers, I’ve caught and weighed/measured so many of my own fish over the years that I’ve become a pretty good judge of weight for any I catch whether I pull out the scales or not. You frequently see some of the guys on tour do this with catch-weigh-release format events and they’re usually pretty darn accurate.

Still catching a few green fish while chasing the slabs. Most all bass have been shad school related despite temps and timing suggesting spawn time. Got one of those other good ones, too - 2.55 lbs. Mississippi biologists equate a 2.5 lb crappie to catching a 10 lb bass, and a 3.5 lb one to a 15 lb bass (I’ve caught 2 that size this year), which I found interesting.

I believe spots also don't have that more pronounced break in their dorsal, similar to the smallies.

Did some digging and came up with this info from a NC forum: "There are smallmouth in the South Fork Catawba which feeds Wylie. So no surprise there are smallies in there. There are also smallies in the Jacobs Fork which feeds into the South Fork. Above lincolnton but others have caught smalls and even trout around the old mill and hydro dams on the south fork as there are several." Just based off the picture, and another a guy posted in that above mentioned thread, I'd guess smallie, too. We would occasionally catch them in IN in reservoirs where you'd never expect to see one because every once in a great while, one would end up either coming down from out of a feeder creek/river or got caught above the lake and transported down for some reason. Cool catch from the sound of it for there.

Studies suggest that if there is a quick influx of heavily silted water (very muddy), there is a short term stress response that depending on species, could last from a few minutes to a few hours. They basically increase their breathing rate to compensate for the increased silt load in order to maintain a steady flow of oxygen. Once adjusted, they go back to normal breathing rates. The more fish are exposed to such events in their normal environments, the faster they return to normal. For example, most river fish adjust quicker than lake fish, because high muddy water is a common occurrence.

Location, location, location

Come on now @A-Jay, you know the BR forums are just Intuitive Angling without video, with people just as passionate on some subjects, and just as experienced and knowledgeable on others 😉

Still catching mixed bags. Got a decent largemouth today and three more crappie over 2 lbs. Think they’re probably about spawning here now. Going to pull out a trick worm and cover some shallow water before long. Big crappie bite seems to be winding down quick.

Could be worse - you can probably still use yours as a topwater - lol. I've broken 3 or 4 (or 5) over the years. Seems like the colder the air/water, the greater the chances.

Second day post front, so changed up water bodies and hit a more stained reservoir today. Had a decent mixed bag for about 3.5 hours of fishing with 4 bass (3 keepers) and about a dozen crappie. Had 5 crappie between 1.25-1.70 lbs, and the rest were just nice chunks. Water temps surprised me, only hitting 57-59 deg. today. Couldn’t really tell though if the fish were running a little behind some of the other warmer lakes or not.

Agree with @TnRiver46 No gators in the upstate to my knowledge. There are a few poisonous snakes, but the odds of running into one are probably pretty low unless you really get deep into the swamp or woods. Here’s a link with info. SC Poisonous Snakes I’d be more concerned with wasps, fire ants, etc., but right now it’s still very early in the year and not a lot of critters have come out yet.

Not the first time this has happened - won't be the last, either, I imagine. Remember this bass: https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes/2012/03/arkansas-bass-wiped-state-record-books-angler-didnt-have-valid-fishing-lic/

If it’s the same density, due to all being the same temperature, then it clears from the top down, and usually the bank out. How it gets muddy can vary. If the incoming muddy water was much different than the lake temp., then you could have a different scenario. Same goes for wind/current induced muddiness.

Garmin makes a more powerful ‘saltwater’ transducer (XR). If you’ve watched Zaldain’s boat setup video featuring some of the BM tour pros and their units, you’ll notice many had both the traditional and the ‘saltwater’ transducers mounted. According to Garmin, the XR is good to 350’ in saltwater and 500’ in fresh. The standard transducer most guys are running seems to be good out to 100’-125’. So lake trout at any depth would be no issue with the right setup.

Picked off a couple bass this afternoon, but also picked off another big crappie - 3.50 lbs. Believe that bite will be coming to an end very soon, then I can go back to focusing on green fish full time - hopefully before the post-spawners start grouping up. Had to downsize pics for size (MBs), but that last pic is an 18" Golden Rule, and if you look close, you can just see that number between his tail fins. He lifted his tail as the pic was shot. He was actually just a little shy of that mark.

I know a guy in the Carolina’s, I believe, that has been doing this for big bass for years pre-FFS. He doesn’t talk much or post online. There is a live bait guide on Chick that uses FFS and scored 32 DD bass last year. Not certain what the mix breakdown was between live bait and artificial, but the clients seem to usually go live bait and he fishes with artificial behind them from what I can tell.

Just saw this posted elsewhere…

There are 4 primary factors for growing big fish and habitat is definitely ONE of the four.

Interesting - I crushed them back in IN in shallow cold water with it. Largest was 8 pounds. I hop in deep(er) water, but slow and steady in shallow water, especially if that water is a little stained. One of the few moving baits (crankbait style) I can fish slow in as little as 15" of water. It's a Rat-L-Trap without the rattles, only better lol. Always interesting what works or doesn't work for different people and places. Confidence or regional variability? Who knows...

I never questioned that aspect - lol.

Penalty: Illegal use of context. 15 Yards - repeat first down. Said poster has no idea where I'm fishing, if anyone else even crappie fishes these waters, or even has FFS. Nor does he know what would happen if I legally kept every big crappie I've caught each trip, up to my limit of 20 per day. Carry on...