Team9nine

Ain’t happening - save your time and money. They’re here; they’ll spread; and eventually the population will level off or even start collapsing under its own weight, and everything left will adapt accordingly.

Very pale fish are pretty common depending on water body and water conditions. Most pictured are just some variation of washout. I came across this pic in my feed this morning with extreme variation. Near the head is heavily washed out, and near the tail is very prominent. However, the mid section appears to be completely absent.

Only once to try out a Musky Jitterbug I purchased. After I caught one, I stopped - lol. I fish til dark often, but not much after. Might change that up a little this year on those ponds that aren’t ringed by homes to see what I’m missing. Even bought some bug repellant over the winter ?

Ponds are a lot more complex than many give them credit for. Hard to say for certain ‘from the outside looking in,’ but very possible the 1.5-2.5 pound fish were your ‘dink’ year class, now grown bigger, and the bass had a poor spawn or following year class, so you’re seeing much fewer ‘dinks’ to take their place right now. As for the big fish, a lot of possible scenarios. Many could have died off, and/or ran into a resource partition. Many of them in there could be becoming accustomed to your presentations after having been caught, or even switched their feeding schedule, perhaps going nocturnal. This is why I enjoy fishing these little bodies of water regularly, trying to see if I can figure out exactly what is going on in each from year to year. You can have two ponds right across the street from each other, and yet both can be totally different fisheries.

Suckers run very early and will probably be the better bite. Chubs are a little more warm waterish from what I recall. If you’re not getting bit, move often.

When I was much younger, we fished chubs and suckers a lot in the tiny creeks around here. Small hooks and little bits of worm were usually the ticket. Add a small split shot if there’s current, and very light line (2-4 lb test). One of the earliest open water bites in moving water.

Been 3 months almost to the day since I last got the boat out. Had a near perfect day here to finally get out and check everything after sitting all winter. Mostly sunny, highs in the mid to upper 50s, and no wind. Outside of some trailer light issues, most everything went smooth. Took about an hour to shake the rust off, but once I got settled in and found the fish, I caught them pretty good. Felt good to swing on a bunch of crappie again after a long winter.

Looked down while fishing today and saw this guy on a mat of weeds and grass stems along the bank. Figured he was dead since he wasn’t moving. Took a pic, then used my rod butt to brush him off into the water - he took off ? Now I’m wandering how big the bass was that chased him up onto the bank as he tried to escape being a meal ?

Day 2, post-front - usually the toughest day. Mostly sunny skies, slightly warming air temps into the high 40s. Not enough wind to fire up the jerkbait bite, just 6-8 out of the NW with periods of near calm. Went with Ned at a clear water spot and caught 14 working slow and well outside the weedline. Fun stuff.

Had no plans to go out today. Cold front has set in good. Went from a high of 66 yesterday afternoon to a low of 22 overnight. Clear skies, very high pressure, light NE breeze, and temps that barely made it out of the 30s…but I ended up out there anyway. Found them back on the muckline and was able to garner a handful of bites on Ned. “Some bass” are always better than “no bass” ?

We officially went post-frontal less than 24 hours ago, but the temps lagged the pressure line by nearly the same amount of time. Today started out after lunch near our high for the day (65/66) with WSW winds 28 mph gusting to 40 mph. Grabbed a couple jerkbaits and headed for some wind-blown pockets. Was able to catch 32 fish before calling it with some clouds moving in, the wind starting to rotate to the NW, and air temps 10 degrees cooler than when I started.

One of those that has been fishing through the mild winter this year. Ned, suspending jerkbait, blade bait, small jigging spoon and hair jig have been it this winter. Will start adding a couple more baits to the rotation once waters start warming.

Lol - wasn’t a fan of Belzer, though was sad to hear he just passed. Bowie, on the other hand…I still have a rather extensive vinyl collection of his stuff. Always was a huge fan and glad I got to see him live in concert ?

Took advantage of the big break in the rain this afternoon. Decided to go to the clearest lake due to the heavy cloud cover. Nearly calm and low 50s when I started, so went with Ned. Picked up half a dozen scattered fish. Then the warm frontal line hit us, with temps rising very fast, and actually setting a new daily record of 71 degrees. The old record of 70 was 101 years old, set back in 1922. The wind also suddenly blew up, steadily blowing 25 mph out of the SSW. Switched to a jerkbait and headed for the windiest corner and proceeded to catch another dozen bass, mostly smaller fish, but a sign of good reproduction and the future of the fishery. Never disappointed seeing and catching the little guys.

Blue skies, sunshine, quickly fading winds and clear water made for another tough bite. Nothing on jerkbait from the windiest pocket was a sign - a bad one - lol. Switched out to Ned, but got nothing out deep. Finally found a few hanging shallower around the muckline, bringing 8 to hand. Most interesting aspect was a break-off on a fish during hookset. My fault for not retying my 6 lb. line. Took a few minutes and tie on and rig another Ned, duplicate the cast, and catch a bass. Sure enough, two Neds in his mouth ? Not sure I’ve ever had that happen before. Look close - two Neds in there ? A rare glimpse at a pair of Neds reproducing in the wild

And as best we’ve (Paul Roberts and myself) been able to research and determine, both theories are wrong - lol. It’s most likely hormonal, with possible winter physiological influences, though neither of us has yet been above to convince any of the researchers we’ve spoken with to test and prove this in the lab. You can dig up some old threads going into a lot of the discussion on this site if interested.

Agreed. Can’t tell from your picture, as the mouth shape is one of the best ways to tell, but threadfin north of the Ohio R is a rarity that would require warm water discharge of some type through the winter as a refuge to survive. DNR has occasionally stocked them here in Indiana in lakes as a temporary food source knowing they won’t survive our winters. Thread (left); Gizzard (right)

That is awesome! ?

On our reservoirs, I like clear and calm, or perhaps light winds for this early in the season. However, in our small waters, often we only have 7-8 ft max depth. When the water starts getting really clear, combined with sun, blue skies and little wind, I think our bass just go to the center of the pond in the deepest water they can get and just sulk. The bite might even go nocturnal - I haven’t tested that out yet. I can say more days than not, strong winds and warm temps are the key triggers for a good bite through the winter - or heavy downpours that stain the water.

Wind didn’t blow, and my fish weren’t happy about it. That’s supposed to change these next few days. Rain in the forecast for Wed. might be a good thing, too - water is getting a little too clear for these sunny, bluebird days. Just a handful of little chunks this afternoon.

It happens, especially if you’re just looking at it as a single angler, but it’s very rare if enough people are on the water - rare, but still occurs. One such example

Same reason why Sunline makes 5, 7, and 9 pound test line - because sometimes 4, 6, 8 and 10 pound lines just aren’t good enough ???

Prior to retiring and Covid, the work complex I was at was gated and had 2 ponds on the property, one of which was pretty good sized. They sort of frowned on fishing during business hours, but after work when most everyone had left, I’d frequently fish for an hour or so. I would also drive in just to fish on weekends when almost no one was around. They went to lockdown during Covid in early 2020, and even retirees weren’t allowed on site. I’m hoping that one day that policy gets lifted and I can get back out there occasionally.

Marketing ?

Wind direction, to me, is irrelevant outside of knowing which areas will be protected and which will not. I make it a point to know my waters well enough to have potentially productive areas or spots for any given scenario.