BammerBass

Huge!!

Oh yes, especially on light line, it was a blast!! Probably be close to three lbs before she spawns this spring.

Haha I hear ya, and man does it sting when they do that!!!

Yikes. Dont think I've had one swell like that before, but definitely lots of stinging and burning. Sounds like that fish perhaps may have some kind of mild toxin in those fins. Catfish do, and ironically, if a catfish sticks you, just rub the area on its belly, soothes the sting every time. They got the poison and the antidote evidently.

I cant say anything for saltwater fish, as I have never been saltwater fishing before, but out of my experiences, little stripes and white bass have stuck me several several times, and man, those little suckers can hurt!! Catfish have stuck me a bunch of times before too, as have bluegill and shellcracker. Them stripe and white bass have really hard fins that hurt like the devil when they grt you, and catfish supposedly have a toxin in theirs that makes it sting so much. Ironically, I've never had a largemouth or spot to fin me, even though we all know their fighting nature.

nor here in alabama really. I have caught hundreds of these things, not a single one was so darkly colored. And on a side note, this one was a male, somewhat on the large side too. How do I know this? Well it is said in fiahing circles that if you see orange on the black spot, is a female red ear, or shellcracker; if it is more of s blood red color, like that one, then it is a male.

Yeah thats a colloquial term for that particular species of panfish.They are called that because they eat freshwater mollusks as part of their diet, and they can crack open the shells of those mollusks, hence "Shellcracker". They are more widely known as Red Ear, Red Ear Sunfish. And that is a nice warmouth.

Was browsing through my pics I had on my phone and had just about forgotten about this guy, this one is from 3 years ago, caught on a nightcrawlers with flloater set about a foot from the hook. Casted into some weeds sticking up out of the water and caught a few more besides him, but none of them had that color. They were all the lighter color. I thought this was a rather pretty looking fish (hard fighter too).

Thank you! She absolutely nailed that silver minnow panfish assassin, she was hungry!

What a beast of a crappie!!

Oh man yeah, I haven't caught a lot of "pure" stripes, but I have caught some hybrids and white bass....... absolute blast!!!. Caught a whitr bass one time I figure approached 3.5 lbs, it was roughly 18.5 inches long. And I defi itely agree about not being able to get bait to bass as fsr as bluegill getting that size, those would be real predators right there.

Wow, look at them hawgs. Hybrids have red meat that has to be cut out of them for safe consumption, but the rest is pretty good, about like that of largemouth in my opinion. Dont think I've ate a pure stripe before, so im not sure how they would taste or if thry have that red meat too.

That would be some beastly fish don't ya think? The fish in the topic fight very hard for their size, qnd especially bluegill, if they got up around 5 or more lbs, yikes, one would really have their hands full with that fight.

Not sure about weight, but when I was about 13, I caught one out fishing in a boat in the Tennessee River with my dad and cousin, and it measured 14 1/4", and she was quite plump too, so possibly 2 lbs.

Wow..... just...... WOW!!!!!! What a beast!!!! Bet that was a fun battle.

A little bummed out my fishing is probably done. I thought I was goinf to have another shot or two, and based on what I observed from the bass I saw chasing bluegill around the shallows I decided to get a small crankbait that resembled a bluegill and I was excited about the possibilities, but alas, wasn't meant to be I suppose. Then again, perhaps I woulda got it hung on a rock and lost it on the first cast, heh, who knows?

Oh and then there was the very last fish I caught. We had made a small campfire as it had gotten dark and right before it burned down so we could go home, I decided fo grab my ultralight and toss it out there just to see what would happen. Had a general idea of where I aas throwing, steel beam to my left and a steel cable to my right, so I overland tossed it in a general direction I figured I wouldn't grt hung on. Eventually I sorta lost track of where my line was but continued my slow retrieve until I felt somethinf "bump it" . I thought yeah I threw in the dark and got hung on a rock, but then it moved and began pulling, and I aaid " I donr think rocks do that". So I ask dad to shine the flashlight at the water becauze I thought I had something, and sure enough a drum was on the line, literally a shot in the dark. I was rather happy I was abls to tell I got a bite just strictly going by feel on that one . I wont make habit of casting out with no light lol, but that was cool.

Oh I had a blast, even the time before I found "the honey hole" catching dinks and a brim, I still enjoyed it, it was nice to grt back out there after such a long time(3 years of not even grtting my license or touching rods or tackle). Then came when I hooked up with what I suspect was my personal best bass, had I not got so eager in reeling it up thst it snapped the line as it came up the pylon. Figure it was around 4lbs, fsirly long (19-20" best estimation) and a fatty!!! And what made it runner was that was the first fish of that day, so to aay I was pleasantly surprised and caught off guard is a humongous understatement. Then after that on the same day, the shellcracker tore nightcrawlers up as if they had been starving, every throw id grt a bite, almost instantly numerous times. Caught some nice shellcracker. they were MEAN, kept their fins up the whole time and stabbed me pretty good, one even tried to jump in my shirt, haha. Then came the next trip, a few little bass, a coule bluegill, a 15" drum, 11.5 inch crappie and a catfish. And the last time, caught 4 drum on panfish jigs, including a 17" drum, and a fairly nice and healthy 16" ~2.5 lb bass thst I DID cstch this time because I lewrned my lesson from the big one before and didn't horse it that time. Carried on like a kid, as if it were my first fish ever, I was excited!!!! That thrill of fighting thwt gorgeous fish on that light action rod was amazing. Dunno what it is about bass, even if it is a mere "keeper" size, it gives me an epic adrenaline rush, and it tickled me beyond pure joy. So all in all, especially considering I was just really happy to grt back out there again, and content to cstch even just some decent size bluegill, id say definitely a success, as I was certainly hoping in the back of my mind to run into a nice bass, but not expecting it given how novice I still am even though I had been fishing for years since I was 5 untilnsuddenly stopped going for 3 yearss due to work and little opportunity. Still sick t my stomach i lost thst one thought, but it was a very exciting hansful of trips indeed, and actually really exceeding my personal goals.

Oh there are some good ones in there. Lost a likely 4lb bass I had hung and had an awesome battle with, hung my arm over the railing of the pylon for 5 minutes while we tried to figure out away to grt it. I got over anxious and began cranking it up on my light action rod n reel....... splash, fish had snapped the line and went back to the water still makes me sick thinking about whst could have been. Just about everh tjme I have been there I have seen some decent size bass patrolling the shores, and one time one was giving those poor lil bluegill absolute heck, even a good 7-8 inchch bluegill ran for its life and flopped up on thr bank as a result of the bass chasing it. Didn't catch that bass sadly. Went back the next week and caught a 16" bass and a 17" drum plus a couple dink drum as well. I had also lost anothrr one I had hung but it got away before I got it to the top of the water even, but it felt like a potential 2.5+ lber. Just had found thst spot last month, and man I bet in the spring those fish have parties there. And those shellcracker were mean lol, very uncooperative, got stuck a couple times by both,and one just about flopped inside my shirt lol.

so then in such case, what seems like an absurd color choice, may not be absurd at all if certain factors are just right then, eh?

I have a feeling in the spring, that place could very well be a real hotbed for rwally just about anything from feeding bluegill to crappie, to spawning snd feeding bass, and even catfish. The potential is definitely there.

Qnd that looks like a good 8 lber to me. Its long, its chunky, and it has quite the girth, might even push 9.

Wow, what a warpig, well done!! Last time I went, I went with usual light line, light rod, and light jig, with it being windy and cool, and the water so down and clear, I thought I wouldn't grt a single bite. But after two hours, had caught 4 drum and one decent, 16" bass. So just because conditions may not be ideal, that doesnt automatically mean the big 0!!

Something that gives off a nice "flash" or a contrast like chartreuse color would be good for muddy water, they'll be able to see it better, and somethj thwt gives off a good vibra tion would be a good option as well. It has been aaid that fish, bass especially in particular, dont take kindly to "in your face", bright type colors. So while perhaps you may not get a hunger strike, per se, but you can get " anger strikes" because of their territorial nature, they wont like thst being up in their face and as such, they'll take a chomp at it.