Jig Rookie

@Eric 26 Yup I'm a little over an hour northwest of you. I don't know exact water temps but my ponds are the same as yours; I feel like I'm more than a month late with that catch. I was catching bigguns in late March last year--this year I've been fishing the ponds since ice-out and this is my first keeper! I was starting to wonder if the beavers/muskrats had messed up the big fish population, I've heard of that happening in ponds before. Hopefully your spots start picking up soon too--Monday's the May full moon which I've read is some kind of bass spawn marker or catalyst? Good hunting out there.

Finally got one worth a picture! I've been out to a few different spots maybe ten times this season for quick milk runs, nothing to show for it but short fish til now. It's been all one-rod one-lure trips to or from work--the Tiny Klash has been the only lure sent this season so far and this girl decided to give it a try. 20.5" on her, maybe they're finally moving up around here...

I've never seen one of those, that is too cool--thanks for this! And yeah, definitely planning on next season; I'm gonna go out as many more times as I can this year before hard water (gonna slow-roll a Huddleston, a Klash9 and deadstick a jig), but not super-hopeful I'll catch anything. I'll look around and see if I can find something like it.

The nail is two inches long, the zip ties are about 3.5 inches. I figure a tiny hole and small zip ties won't obstruct/affect the fish's movements or hunting abilities.

I checked that fishtagger site; good stuff, a bit out of my price range though. I decided to go with a skinny nail (for a hole-punch) and the small-sized zip ties. At work now, I'll post a pic for reference when I get home.

DUH, I didn't even consider this! I guess I wasn't even sure it was legal; just did some searching and there's a fish tagging site where you can buy some. Thanks!

Thanks! Speaking of seeing her again; I need to go back through my pics and see how many times I've caught the same fish. Last night I was watching the latest Working Class Zero vid on YouTube, Mike Gilbert was talking about how he's caught the same fish years apart. He figured it out because he went back through his pics and saw identical markings on fish catches. At this point, I've caught enough big fish outta this one-acre pond that I HAVE to be catching the same few over and over again--there just can't be that many 4+ pound fish in this tiny body of water! I'm actually looking forward to finding some re-catches, I'll definitely post here if I do!

Couple short fish I got one night last week before the water got too cold: one on the DRT Joker and one on the Tiny Klash. I target big fish with these baits, but sometimes the short ones are so aggressive it's insane. What were these lil dudes thinking??

Ah, I get the concern, thanks! The fish was motionless because it was a photo, not a video. And it's actually a vinyl tablecloth big board I made, and I wet it down before a fish goes on. I know, blurry picture, and some people put bass on inch-numbered paper bags for pics...I guess? Never heard of that but I'll take your word for it! Thanks again for your concern and kind words, God bless! Way to go get em, had to take advantage of that day! No matter how big theyre all beauts!

Thanks--so true, I know the southerners are like, "...6 pounds?? My kids catch those with bobbers and hot dogs all the time..." Haha! The search for a 7 begins... Thank you--God just keeps giving, His love is so perfect and abundant! Praise Him!

I did--great minds think alike!

FINALLY DID IT!!! Cracked the 6lb mark, WOOHOOO! Caught this one on a Tiny Klash blank I rattlecanned; Tuesday was a 79-degree high, had to get out there and give it a shot before these storms and cold weather rolled in last night and God gave me a GIFT! She went 21.25" @ 6.26lbs, so pumped. I've wondered whether I'd ever get to see a 6 up close and personal and the dream has come true! Might be my last fish of the season, the water in these ponds is cooling off quickly, but what a fish to end it on!

Fall bite is finally turning on over at the ponds--got one right at dark today on the 3:16 Baby Wake, part of this "traveling bait share" thing we're doing on the swimbait forums. Bait arrived today and I ran out for a quick sesh (each of us gets 7-10 days before we've gotta send it on to the next guy on the list). She went 21" @ 5.22lb. God is GREAT, and so faithful. Hopefully more to come before the season's done!

Man, I guess everyone's summer was as horrible as mine! For this fall bite I decided to go big--if I'm gonna take the skunk, might as well send what I wanna send. Finally paid off; got my first Deps 250 fish at a neighborhood pond! God is GREAT!! Hope you guys find some good fall action before it's over, these nights are getting CHILLY.

Finally got back out there a couple times this last week--these few rain days have been much needed for my ponds. Got a couple over 4; one the other night on a wakebait during those tornado-like winds and one this morning, right before the morning's storms rolled in, on a frog.

This is absolutely fantastic, great work Gramps. So good to see young kids catching--this kid will remember this day and be an angler for LIFE. I only hope I'll be able to put my grandkids on fish like this and give them lifelong memories of Grampa. Bravo,, hats off to you slonez.

I thought for sure there'd be a good bite yesterday before the storms rolled in so I got out there. One cast, the rod about gets snatched outta my hand and I think Oh, this is a good one...until I feel the fight and finally lay eyes on her... I guess swimbaits don't only catch bigguns 🤣

Thanks, man I could not believe the build on this fish when I pulled her outta this litle pond. I"ve always called that build a "tank," but "battleship" is SO much better and of course apropos. I'll use that from now on! They are! My last PB was a few ounces smaller, April of 2019. Took me almost five years to stick a bigger one, feels great.

Kinda rough weather in northern IL today but I've been on this 3-day weather pattern the last couple weeks (fishing the 3rd day of warm day/warmish night trend) and today is the target day. I decided to send this Jackall Gantarel knockoff (it's a super-slow sink, not a floater) and got lucky with my new PB! Went 20.75" and 5.77lbs. Water's less than 2ft visibility in this pond right now, off-and-on drizzle with 10-20mph NNE winds. I was using a moderate retrieve with pauses every three handle turns or so (reel, reel, reel, pause...let it glide off to the side and stall a couple seconds, then reel, reel...) She hit it right when I started reeling after a pause. She didn't TANK it, but it was a good double-tap. Thanks for reading! God is great!!!

I got out today--been planning this one for about a week. Finally got a couple nights of (semi)warm weather so the water temps were able to stay up a bit. Found two over 20" in less than 2ft of water on the north (windblown) shoreline. Bluegill-colored chatterbait got it done, 20mph gusts. 70 degrees while I was out there, CRASHING to the low 20s tonight after this storm runs through. My first open-water fish of the season!

Finally got that bit of rain the other day; my pond levels went up maybe a couple inches, not a ton but really makes a difference in these ponds. Took my own advice from my last post and decided to stop force-feeding them big baits--went finesse with the 5-inch Yamasenko and found a decent bite (18.5", 3.52lb).

Has this season been as tough for everyone else as it has for me?? These high-sky/no wind/drought conditions have been royally kicking my butt; I'd definitely do better if I threw some finessier stuff, but I just keep force-feeding em jigs, frogs and big baits. I've only caught three picture-worthy fish over the last month-plus: a 4.11lb on the Tiny Klash and a 3.7 and 3.11 on the frog. Man we need a week of consistent rain in the WORST way in my neck of the woods. Good luck and tight lines to everyone; unfortunately for me, no rain in the forecast for at least the next ten days. I'm DYING over here fellas, somebody go get some for me ha!

Yeah those do look nice--I'm learning there's a whole other baitmonkey rabbit hole to go down with hair jigs.

SOLID fish, man, legit tanks! Great write-up about the patterns you're on too, very helpful. You're on 'em early!

Finally got my first of the season--the float-and-fly got it done in a small neighborhood pond. I've been out a bunch but still haven't gotten bit on the big baits, but it's coming. Got a trip planned for next Friday to my PB lake, a forest preserve spot in the area. Almost certain that'll be the day. Good luck everyone, the bite's not far off.