Brandon O'tinger

This porkchop absolutely ANNIHILATED a bluegill attached to my bait caster. Blew up right on top of the water. It has a rather fat belly. Did not have my scale with me, but is 3 lbs a reasonable estimate? Heres another one I caught about 2 weeks ago before my previous post from today's short trip.

Yeah I believe we have some in lake guntersville but I don't go that way very often. When I fish the Tennessee river, I usually go between scottsboro and Stevenson. I personally havent encountered smallmouth there, but I'm sure other anglers do.

That's pretty awesome. I've never caught a smallmouth before-- don't think we have any around me. Which one fought harder, the SMB or LMB? And I do believe that is indeed a warmouth, awesome coloration and pattern.

https://imgur.com/9B5m9ia Havent been fishing near as much this year due to health issues, and what times I have gotten out have been largely fruitless. I did however manage this one yesterday on a live minnow. Came from under the dock directly below where I was standing and slammed it. Unfortunately it managed to run around a dock post and jumped over a wood brace that made for an extremely challenging retrieval. But with assistance from another angler, we were able to use his net and I stretched the line enough for me to cut loose from the post and it fell right in the net. I usually dont ask for help from other anglers so as to not disturb their day, but I felt I didnt have a choice here. If we hadn't been able to get the fish loose, it likely would not have been able to get out on it's own and likely would have died. And that would have been an absolute shame.

2.50 lber from last week. Store manager was kind enough to take the pic. That is no small fish. When they breach 4lbs, that's when they start getting some nice bulk to them. A bass over 4 lbs is a great fish. I know I was tickled when I caught that 4.50 of mine 2 weeks ago.

great looking fish, nice color.

1.67 lb and a 2.50 largemouth caught on my ultralight. both were real fun fights.

Mine was last Monday. while I said in my original post I used a live shad, I actually used live bluegill. I had several encounters with it a few days prior where it had stolen bluegill from me that I had set the hook on and was reeling in. So last Monday I decided to catch a bluegill to hook up and see if I could get it to strike again. I did so and had it hooked just after 2:30 that day, sadly as i tried to hoist it over the dock railing, the line broke. About an hour and a half later, it miraculously returned and took another swipe at a bluegill I was reeling in. So I caught another one and threaded it on my Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6000 reel/Abu Garcia Vigalante 2.0 7 foot medium rod. It absolutely slammed that one, and this time I made sure to loosen the drag a bit and worked it around the back of the dock, through the grass and over to the bank where I lipped her. I was as stoked. I got her weighed(4 and a half pounds) and snapped a picture, held her like a wwe championship belt. and walked over to the boat launch where I revived her and released her.

Nice one. Those buzzbait bites are a sight to behold.

Congratulations man, it feels great doesn't it? I caught my personal best largemouth this past Monday, also a 4 and a half pounder. I'm still stoked about that. You'll never forget your catch either.

No big ones Friday, but did get this 14 incher. Thought about keeping it with the bluegill I had on the stringer, but she looked a little skinny from the spawn, so I out her back to let her recover.

Nothing better!! Thank you.

I caught my personal best LMB today!!!!! 4-1/2 lbs. It had got odd earlier in the day and left me heartbroken. Miraculously it returned about an hour and a half later and SLAMMED a live shad I was using. This time I was ready with my Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6000 and 7 foot Abu Garcia Vigalante 2.0 rod. Instead of trying to power over the dock railing, this time I worked it around the back of the dock, through the grass l, and lipped it st the bank. I am STOKED!!!!! STILL shaking right now. And she put on an AMAZING aerial show. Jumped out of the water numerous times. I'll never forget this. Sadly my phone died right after this pic. What a great feeling this is!!

16 incher caught in the middle of some bluegill. Also caught were a 2 lb catfish and a 4lb catfish.

Wasn't the huge bass I tangled with the day before and earlier in the day yesterday, but this was a "one more cast" bass as I was getting ready to leave. 17.25 inches, and a bit on the skinny side, so I say about 1lb 14 ounces.