Fried Lemons

Got on a few in 100 degree heat. Brutal conditions but I had the lake to myself. Got 3 on a jig, one on a Magdraft. Biggest went 4 even on the jig. Lost one I think was bigger fishing a tiny klash out deep.

I'm mostly dragging over main lake structure this time of year. I picked up stitching and it has gotten me some bites that I was missing with a standard drag or hop. Swing head jig is another new one. Gotten few but big bites cranking that into structure.

It depends on the water. Is it always dirty or is it temporary? In permanently dirty water I've found fish hit glide baits and wedge tail swimbaits just fine. If it's clear water that turned dirty I would either fish somewhere else or throw something else as I find that seems to kill the bite.

Yes they work all summer long. I have more luck fishing that style of bait in shallow cover than I do fishing deep structure this time of year. I caught these fish and many more mostly in July-August.

15-20 and make sure your knot is good. If you burn the line while cinching your knot it will cause problems.

Quick 4lber before the rental boaters ran me off the lake. This fish fell for a 13” worm stitched over main lake structure. Super hot, calm conditions combined with pressured fish called for a less orthodox approach.

I’ve been having horrible luck with big fish recently. Dumped 3 in the last week that were in the 5-7lb range. I think it’s the hot weather softening their mouths so that it gets nearly impossible to keep them pinned on a big treble hooked lure. Anyway here’s two that I managed to land. Probably because they weren’t on treble hooks. 4lb 7oz on a jig 5lb 11oz on a swinging jig

Ouch! I had a very similar experience last year. Fish hit hard and started pulling drag so I assumed it was a striper until it jumped and threw the hooks. One of the most spectacular things I’ve seen. I’d estimate this fish at 45-50 based on two 40s I was able to land the year before. A real heartbreaker but at least I have a memo.

Have you guys ever caught what you think is the biggest fish in a body of water? Or do you believe there's always a bigger fish? This is more geared toward smaller lakes and ponds where you have pretty much fished every inch of water. There will always be that sense of the unknown on a large lake. I like to believe there is a bigger fish out there that has outsmarted me at every turn and perhaps has unpredictable patterns. On the other hand I have doubts sometimes when I catch the same fish on more than one occasion and have never seen a bigger fish in the same waters. My gut tells me that on highly pressured small water there is unlikely to be some mystery fish that has managed to completely evade capture although to be fair the biggest fish I've encountered slip up once a year maximum. Perhaps a bigger fish would never make a mistake.

If you are fishing a river watch out for these guys - they are attracted to lights.

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.