thediscochef

i'm gonna catch a bass this week. and when i do. i'm gonna post it. and there's nothing you can do about it

I've already had a few close encounters this year with some slithering venomous guys. They were in my spot on the rocks. We seem to coexist just fine, they know I'm not interested in them and as long as I keep my distance by 5-10 feet they don't really pay me any attention It's boots-only season though

I decided that if I can make it happen, 23 is the year of the lizard for me. I caught a Guadalupe Bass on an 8" berkley power lizard earlier this year, pumpkin chartreuse/C-rig. I've hooked into a few LM with that but had them all get loose so far, just need to get better at keeping them pinned. Bass pro makes a floating lizard that looks really nice in the water but it hasn't done anything for me yet. I have some zoom 6" lizards in a few red colors, plus black and chartreuse. But the 8" lizards are getting thrown right now. Can't wait to get off this trip and get back to my lake

I probably should have put my gear away between Jan 1 and March 15 tbh. We've been stuck in low 50s water temps until this week and shore fishing has been SLOW. Finally hit 59 this week so hopefully when I'm back in town things will have picked up

Oooo zombieposting LM, for the clout and the fact that any fish over 20lbs on standard bass gear is an entirely different kind of fishing altogether

We have very different reservoirs, but I think I would be looking for the warmer shallower water near points and in coves. Probably throwing a baby brush hog or a lizard like I always do. Maybe a craw if that's not doing it. Could also do a lightweight c rig and use a super fluke

That's for the creditors to decide

This It's this Honorable mention for LM: Carolina rig a creature, do a slow lift and drop retrieve, and haul up some pigs

Bass fishing as a money-making sport is the ultimate pay-to-play *IF* you can actually utilize all the fancy gear. Plenty of tournaments are won by folks without all the bells and whistles. That said, eventually people will figure it out and unless you want to pay the troll toll you ain't gettin into that fishin hole. I do think there's a market for a "Lake X Old Fashioned Classic" or something like that. No sonar, no bells and whistles, just boat, man, rod. I would watch that; currently I think fishing tournaments are significantly less exciting than watching paint dry

My problem with YouTubers is that I would like to go for a ride on their boats and they won't let me

same, it's a pretty forgiving grass. fish love it too

hydrilla, hydrilla as far as the eye can see. Ray Roberts has a very healthy aquatic grass population through most of the lake shore, even some areas along the dam. It dies back a bit each year, but worse in the years where we have hard freezes that get below about 15-20 degrees for extended periods. We had that in 2021 and 2022 and it died way back. We didn't have that this year and it's noticeably more robust this year and the water is staying clearer. By mid May the cove I'm fishing right now will be a frogs-only zone. I'm about to go run a bunch of lizards through it right now

I'd say that the C&R of the pond probably also has to do with the decreasing size of the fish (in addition to the stocking of cats) - same thing happened at Squaw Creek when they reopened it back in october after two years closed. You'd catch a bass darn near every cast from the right boat, but 95% will be between 1.5-3lbs and none over 5. It's a regression to the mean for most bass populations; it relates to their strike speed and the speed/availability of forage. There are many factors that cause water to grow big bass, but removing competition can be one fairly straightforward and inexpensive avenue to that goal

My little tackle box limits me for sure, 5 is about all I can carry in that smaller 3400 setup. Reaction innovations little dipper Yamamoto 4" Shad shape worm Berkley 8" powerbait lizard The fluke Culprit incredicraw Covers most bases usually but not so hot this year so far

It gets easier for me to fish till I catch that last one when the fishing improves at my usual spots...still just a touch cold here. If I did that today I'd probably still be out there lol

The FFS cat is out of the bag, the bag is gone to the dump, and you're alone with the cat. Also the cat is watching you on livescope. If I could afford truck+fiberglass+FFS I would do it without hesitation. I don't think I've seen any legitimate arguments against the FFS technology, in terms of actually harming fisheries or being environmentally problematic. It's mostly just purists, and people who are upset because they can't afford/understand how to use it, and want those things to be someone else's fault. ?‍♂️?‍♂️ don't spend my two cents all in once place, not in this economy

I do generally avoid Florida, yes.

"Dad" and variations thereof. I don't have kids and my romantic partners don't call me that. Some of my longtime friends call me that. It's unsettling. I think that's why they do it. My fishing buddies do not call me this. I have a nickname for one of my more frequent fishing buddies, Country Time. Man will skin a catfish anywhere with whatever tools he has without hesitation, gets in the ankle mud to land our big fishes at the river. He's a wild man, always a trip.

Brandon Belt tournament last week - Big bass was over 10lbs, biggest single day bag was 27lbs, three of the two-day bags were over 40lbs. 70 boats in the tournament. It is rumored that there was trouble at weigh-in, but those are only rumors to my knowledge and I don't think the specifics deserve repeating. Though it is definitely comparing apples to oranges, the Brandon Belt tournament did a good job of keeping the park clean and avoiding the litter that came with the 2021 Bassmaster tournament. Lake is currently up about 18" from where it's been, almost as high as where we started the 2022 warm season; by the capacity numbers, the lake is above 100% pool. A welcome sight for sure. Temps are in the 50s still but rising steadily, a couple of cold rains this week slowed that up but it's on like Donkey Kong. I'm already seeing signs of life near the state park again; about ten days ahead of last year. One small LM on a red chatterbait yesterday before the weather moved in. Fingers crossed for a good warm season here, I need it lol

i usually target the guitar variety but the hungry ones are always a welcome sight I have sworn up and down for a couple of years that spots and LM will hybridize in certain man-made environments. And biologists have sworn up and down that I am not a biologist. However, only one of us has the piece of paper that says we're correct on the matter we're swearing about, so I guess Spots and LM don't hybridize. But I swear they do.

Finally seeing some signs of fish back at my normal grounds This scrawny lil fella ate a red chatterbait with red trailer. Bait monkey bit and now I'm c-rigging floating 8" lizards. Hoping for a pig at some point with that, lol

It was cool, wish I had caught more but still a neat experience. I'm ready to start catching bass for real now lol

Down in Martindale, TX for the weekend, right on the San Marcos River. Caught my first Guadalupe Bass today, a super neat experience. Was snaking a c-rigged 8" power lizard over a log and felt it latch on. Little guy inhaled it. Some tough fishing today but a bucket list item crossed off in cool fashion.

Well. Another favorite rod I've had for a while had a freak accident while snapping off a c rig. Can this even be fixed? Should I even consider fixing it? I can't get another one of these rods, they've been discontinued. I'm pretty upset about this, this was the rod I caught all my 5lbs fish over the summer last year and if it's fixable I would do it. But the rod itself also took a solid impact from a 1/2oz tungsten weight, I'm worried that the blank may now effectively be a matchstick. It seems fine when I bend it but you never know under load.