Fishlegs

I'd say 25% of my trips take place during my lunch break. These trips are always less than 1 hour. 25% of my trips are on a boat with a friend. Those usually last 6-8 hours. I could usually go longer, but my friends are usually ready to go. It's their boat, their call. I always appreciate any time I'm allowed to fish from someone's boat. 50% of my trips are right after work. How long those last depends on how much sunlight is left, what family obligations I have that evening, how tolerable the temperature is, and whether or not I'm catching fish. Those trips usually last 1-3 hours. Mostly in the 1-1.5 hour range.

I intentionally mix colors. I love the standard colors, but I always mix a few watermelon worms in with my reddish worms. It makes a fantastic looking color that's not a super bright red, but also not a bubble gum pink. Another one that I really like is a disco violet colored plastic mixed with some red shad/red bug plastics. I do the same with chartreuse. I rarely ever fish chartreuse colored plastics, but I buy them to mix with my watermelon, green pumpkin, & white plastics. This gives it some pop without being too wild. I've never mixed dark colors, but looking at yours I might have to try it. It looks good.

I was really hoping to see @Pat Brown holding a big bass that he caught on a frog while wearing a tux after the wedding! 🤣 Nicely done, Pat!

@Swamp Girl You are more in touch with the emotions around fishing than anyone I've ever seen. You also have a great gift of describing them in a way that we all feel with you. It's an extremely impressive gift that you have.

8 in a row is mighty sweet. Awesome day. You and Clayton (there may be others) catch fish at rates that are unfathomable to us mortals. It sure is fun to watch though. I'm thankful y'all take us along for the ride.

Maybe they remembered the entertainment you provided for them earlier, and were hoping for another show. 🤣 That's a big one. Nice fish! Another beauty, @T-Billy!

Y'all are cracking me up. @Dwight Hottle's smallies have their own zip code, and @Bluebasser86's measurements will automatically convert from inches to miles at some point. He's just a hair under .13 miles of bass now. 🤣

My youngest wanted to go fishing yesterday after I got home from work so we went to a friend's pond. She caught the first one after we'd been there for about 10 minutes. I believe this is her first bass all by herself. She selected the lure, made the cast, hooked the fish, and fought the fish to the bank all by herself. She was not about to hold it for a picture though. After that, she was happy, and done fishing. She said it was OK for me to fish after that so I did. My friend (the pond owner) and I caught 25 fish in about an hour. The best one was 5 lb 7 oz. I'm not sure if it's an early spawner that's already bulked back up, or a late spawner, but she was fat, and hungry. There was a fish's tail sticking out of her throat when I got it in. Not all of the fish were big. My little one's favorite was the dink below. She wanted to take a picture of it. Little did I know that she was going to use my phone to send it to a few folks in my contact list while I was fishing. Good times. 🤣

Sounds awesome! Looking forward to hearing about it.

It's a love/hate relationship for me. I love getting new lures, but I also hate it because I don't have enough fishing time to lose all the lures I buy. The monkey knows right where to hit me. He knows I'm a sucker for a sale on Strike King Rage Tail lures, Dingers, Trick Worms, Zakos, lizards, brush hogs, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, rods, reels, and of course hooks, line, and sinkers. 🤣

Wow @T-Billy! That’s incredible!

Our fishing sure is good after y'all get a lot of rain. Unfortunately, we can only fish in between storms ourselves. It's been relentless this year.

600 this year? Here's your crown king @Bluebasser86. Pull you over for speeding. Good one @Swamp Girl. 🤣

Got to fish for a little while after work a couple of days last week. In about 2 and a half hours I managed 3 largemouth, 3 smallmouth, and a catfish that wrecked my favorite spinnerbait. My little one got one too so that was fun.

Glad it went well for you. My mom had eye surgery a while back, and had a similar experience. I was amazed at how much it helped, and how quick the recovery was. Medical technology has come a long way in that area.

Hang in there, man. Keep throwing those lures in the water, and I the fish will come.

When I go out on a longer period I've started wearing shirts specifically designed for fishing like the one in the link below. One feature that I like is that the sleeve is longer on top than it is on the bottom so it covers the tops of my hands. It has a little built-in loop that you put over your finger to keep it in place. This gives the top of your hand some sun protection without having to wear gloves. It may not work for everyone, but I don't like gloves so it's great for me. https://www.academy.com/p/magellan-outdoors-mens-fish-gear-angler-long-sleeve-hoodie?sku=caviar-large

Any of my trips that are remotely comparable to yours are very good days for me @Swamp Girl. The last two trips I've been on with this friend has put over 70 fish in the boat. As stated earlier, it's good for the soul.

I'll keep the busy boat theme going. My last trip started with a white bass on the first cast. I thought the first cast curse was going to get us because the second fish was a rock bass, followed by a small crappie. The next fish was the smallie that got us going. From there on the day got much better. My friend got the big fish of the day with the 4 lb 13 oz smallmouth below. We caught 31 in all, with over half of them being smallmouth. They released over 90,000 cfs all day long so there was a lot of water moving. Most of our fish were caught behind current breaks in about 12 feet of water. I didn't catch any big ones, but perfect weather, and a busy boat always makes for a good day.

Kent told me that one while we were fishing near where it happened. A-Jay might have lost one in his lifetime too. Those guys have superhuman skills. There are others on the site too, but they were the first two that came to my mind. Kent has been kind enough to let me fish with him many times in the past few years, and I've always been blown away at his knowledge, and skill. If it's on his line, I'm 99.9% sure he's going to land it. He's coached me up a lot. My landing percentage is better than it used to be, but I still lose more than I'd like. I've told Kent I hope to be a fisherman like him when I grow up.

Smallmouth are a different class of fighter than largemouth IMO. I love largemouth because they get bigger, but when I land a big smallmouth I feel like I've made a higher level accomplishment. I lost a 4 lb+ smallie my last time out that was an impressive acrobat. It shot out of the water like a missile several times so we got a good look at her. It eventually jumped against a wooden pier that the wind/current had pushed the boat too close to, and broke my line. It's disappointing, but it happens to us all. Nobody lands every big smallmouth...except maybe @A-Jay and @roadwarrior. 😉

Congrats on the 5 pounder, and a day full of fat Maine bass!

Congrats on the PB @Pat Brown! Beautiful fish! Love the new boat @The Baron!

This post is from 2010, but it is still great info. Like you, I don’t have much experience fishing offshore. I’d love to learn more about it too. Spot lock is a game changer IME, but people were fishing offshore long before it existed so it can be done. The Tennessee side of the lake does have a lot of docks, but the Alabama side has far less. It’s more current, and underwater cover/structure oriented. You may be focused on the Tennessee side because of the license. If you have an Alabama license you can fish the whole lake. A Tennessee license gets you access from Pickwick dam to the Bear Creek/Waterloo area. https://www.outdooralabama.com/freshwater-fishing-licenses/ala-miss-tenn-reciprocal-fishing-license-areas

Pickwick is a beast. It can produce glorious days, but it can humble you too. It's possible to catch fish any way you want, but Pickwick changes by the hour. Just when you think you have it figured out...everything changes. Part of it fishes like a current driven river. Part of it is shallow grass & structure. Part of it is a deep lake with feeder creeks that are like rivers on their own. Part of it is untouched nature. Other parts are lined with yachts, and McMansions. The depth can rise/fall by 8-10 feet in a couple of days, and flow ranges from 5,000 cfs to 180,000 cfs depending on the amount of rain in the area (the area being east Tennessee to northeast Mississippi). You can be cruising along the edge of the channel in 40 feet of water right next to a gravel bar, stump field, or rock ledge that's 1 foot deep, and not even know it. Not to mention that there are hundreds of boats pressuring Pickwick all day, every day...winter, spring, summer, and fall. These variables make it quite a challenge. All of that to say, don't get discouraged. It is not easy to learn. I have fished Pickwick from beginning to end with @roadwarrior who's a legend on this site (at least that's what he tells me 🤣). I've learned so much from him, but Pickwick makes a novice out of me most of the time. Even the best fishermen get beat by Pickwick. You have to adjust as it does, and keep with it. You will eventually have one of those glorious days, and you'll see why so many love Pickwick.