Fried Lemons

Imo it's not worth blowing up a small lake for five minutes of fame. In my tiny state all the lakes are pressured and it is a grind trying to get on big fish. You learn the hard way to keep quiet about bites. I'd take enough photo and video evidence to prove beyond doubt the size of the fish but no way would I make it official.

Two fish from a short float on the river. Spotted two of the fish I was looking for but unfortunately by the time you can see them it’s too late. I really dislike these catfish, they slam a bait so hard you think you have a giant for the first few seconds then the rolling starts. The smallie came off one of the sunken trees I was able to spot at a sufficient distance to make a bomb cast downwind. Another 19” 3.5lber. Getting into that next class of fish is proving difficult, they are spooky and only seem to hit at the end of the cast.

Green fish are finally starting to bite again. Got 5 all on a jig fished in wood 8-12’ deep. Biggest of the day went 4.7lbs. Earlier on I dumped one around 6 on a glide. I couldn’t stop her jumping and on the second jump out flew the bait.

Do you guys think there is anything special about dots on bass? Not black splotches but a small singular dot resembling a mole. I know some who believe they are some kind of genetic marker because a lot of big fish seem to have an identifying dot, Dottie being the most famous one. I also know of a nearby lake record which was caught a few times in the last two years which also had a dot on the chin. Here’s a small one I caught recently for example.

These fish are always a letdown - they hit like a ton of bricks, then you feel the characteristic death roll. I think they are spawning now, that’s when the males can get super aggressive hence the moving bait bites. One on a buzzbait in a hole through the weeds and another on a glide along a rock ledge. I dumped two good smallies early on before the heat sent them deep. I got a dozen dragging a swinging jig through a deep hole. Nothing big but good practice with strike detection. Also this was in the sky while I was catching. Not a rainbow, more like rain circle.

Overall 50/50 but it depends on the technique and the mood of the fish.

Nah I’m on a paddle board. Too many ticks, chiggers and snakes. Definitely used to do stuff like that though!

Went back to the same rocky flat I was finding fish on last time and the conditions were just right. Overcast with wind blowing from the north. I started throwing the soft glide but felt that I should be fishing something fast and aggressive. Tied on a squeaky black buzzbait and within four casts a massive blowup. She jumped fully out of the water twice and shook free of the main hook but got stung by the trailer hook in the process. Thought I had the four I was after but she was just short. Caught a few small ones after and then the wind and topwater bite died. Dumped another nice one on the soft glide working a tree then called it a day as the recreational boaters were coming out.

A couple more from another stretch of river. First fish was loosely associated with a tree and grass. The other fish I caught was on an extensive flat with scattered rock. Slammed the bait on the end of a long cast. Third fish came at the end of the flat loosely associated with a log jam. Thickest fish I’ve seen so far on this river - almost 3lbs at only 15”. I ended up missing 4 out of 7 bites which was a bit frustrating. Overall I really liked this section of river - very wide with good depth and variety.

Explored a different section of river on foot. Kind of a low percentage thing without wading or floating because from my experience there are long stretches of dead water on the river. I was fishing a nice drop off on the end of a sandbar and had 5 fish between 8-12” following my bait. They were being pretty aggressive and swiping at it but had no hope of fitting it in their mouths. Just as my bait approached the drop this 19” fish rocketed up from underneath and ate headfirst.

Making it a mission to break 4lbs on a smallie this year. Population density on this river is not great and fish tend to be lean from fighting current all day so this is easier said than done. Got this one as the only fish of the day after a 6 hour grinder. Ate a bubblegum fluke.

Went for a float on the river today. I’ve waded this spot before and never gotten on any good fish. With the paddle board I was able to cover a lot more ground and I found that the first mile or so by the ramp was just dead water. Once I cleared the first set of riffles I started seeing life - suckers and big schools of 6-8” channel cats. The fish were mostly set up in deeper areas with moderate current and large boulders. This was sort of an impromptu trip so I did not have much of a selection of lures - just what I had tied on last at the lake, a gantarel jr. Luckily the fish were all over it once I got into the correct areas. They ranged from 8-19”. The big one took me for a ride, one of the best fights I’ve had this year. Also had the biggest walleye I’d ever seen take a swipe at it. I’ve caught many in the 24” range and this one I would estimate was over 30”.

I just tell myself it was probably just a 3lber.

Here’s what got me thinking about this topic. On one of my lakes there’s a population dynamic where most of the fish are average to below average. They look something like this: However, once they reach a certain size around the 19” threshold that changes and they start to balloon: I’m no biologist but I suspect this is because the competition in the smaller size brackets is fierce but once they reach a size where they can exploit large forage they pack on weight rapidly. This got me thinking: if there were fewer small fish competing for resources, the remaining fish could reach the threshold faster and maybe the population would shift more toward the latter type of fish.

That's wild but not surprising to me. The poaching is part of what turned me toward catch and release only fishing but luckily it's not a problem on the lakes I fish now.

Seems there are mixed opinions on the taste. Largemouth bass is considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. They are farmed for food and can be found live in some supermarkets here. I've eaten a lot in the past and find them generally good but with a lot of variance. I've eaten some muddy tasting ones from canals and some really good ones from clear mountain lakes. Smaller ones have better taste and texture and coincidentally are the ones that usually need culling. I haven't kept any in years but plan to start again this summer when the season opens.

There has been much discussion as of late about the benefits of harvesting and problems caused by pervasive catch and release mentality. I’m curious if any of you guys have started or are thinking about starting to harvest bass.

I was hoping to see some shad spawn activity but it was slow. I did get one good bite on a 7” paddletail as the moon popped over the trees. She was short but had a nice build.

Big soft swimbait. There’s just something therapeutic about fishing one low and slow, bumping into rocks and anticipating that tick. Every time it happens the anticipation that there could be a giant on the end is there, even if that is often not the case. It works well in the cold months but a weedless bait thrown into grass is also effective in summer, so it can be a year round deal.

Got a solid one to come out from under the dock, working a glide in and out. The ensuing fight was chaotic-the extra rod was getting in the way and being on a paddle board I couldn't just power the fish in like I would from shore. Luckily she was hooked so well even after the 4th jump she couldn’t throw the bait. Definitely need to start packing a net. Fish was 21” and didn’t quite make 5. Post spawn blues.

Looks like it has potential based on your description and pictures. If you’re really curious you can start recording length and weight of every fish you catch and calculating relative weights. That’s what I did when I was eliminating lakes from my rotation. I’d also try some baits that cull a lot of smaller bites in favor of big ones. Recently I went for a short after work trip with a buddy to a lake I was convinced was a dink factory so I packed accordingly with regular baits. My buddy, completely naive to this lake was throwing a Deps 250 and stuck a 6. Turned out I was the naive one.

Funny you mention this, last year I started going out on a canoe with a buddy and this year I got a paddle board to get off the bank with minimal hassle. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly prefer either of these modes of fishing over bank fishing but I still have way more success chasing big fish from the bank. Part of it is the learning curve of controlling my position from a floating object which gets pushed around by wind and current and even the resistance of a lure. This isn’t that big an issue fishing moving baits but when I want to slow down and work the bottom I find myself often wanting to beach or tuck up right against the bank to fish uphill. Also sitting unsupported all day is murder on my lower back.

One of my lakes suffered a major drawdown and I was able to recover some stuff off a certain long rocky point. This bait was only gone for a week, snapped her off on a fish. Still good as new. This one I broke off a year ago. Covered in algae, cracked and dried out. After a good wash, a long soak in some bang spray and copious amounts of mend it, she’s back in action. Also found countless jigs and worms that were lost off that point. This was an interesting one someone was throwing.

I primarily fish 3 lakes which I determined through lots of trial and error have big fish potential. In my state I found the best lakes have either gizzard shad or rainbow trout forage. The trout lakes are small and fly under the radar for sure.

Carrying on with the theme last time I found them even hotter on the same pattern. Got a couple dinks and was getting swiped and slapped at every 5th cast. I’ll only bore you with one of here. Reached a spot with immediate access to the deepest water in the lake and had another small fish miss on two consecutive casts. On the third I felt the bite and swung. Imagine my shock to find two fish on! The small one that had been missing and a much bigger one! They had a combined weight of 9lbs which is more bass than I’ve ever gotten in a cast.