Blue Raider Bob

Always fun to catch all three species of Black Bass and I did it again yesterday on the river. Hooked 43 until the wind uncorked and blew me off the river. Most were small but I did get three over 15" with a Smallie almost 16". My "plus" was a couple of species I did not expect including a Sauger and a Redbreast Sunfish. Next to a Longear, this must be the prettiest fish that swims. This one ate a Ned Rig plastic. Half the fish came from one of the bridge pillars at the Bridgeport Alabama drawbridge. Water clarity was down to six feet and the little'uns were biting like sharks!

Went to the Tennessee Wildlife website and our two Shad Species are legal to catch and fish with. I am moving them to a private pond on my property so no violations there. Thanks for the suggestion. My live well pumps water into the water so I ordered a 12V aerator. Maybe that will help. Lots of them did swim away after releasing.......but there were also some big swirls out in the pond so for some, the swim was short. Would love for a sustaining population.

Slipped away from work yesterday to lake fish but got bored after 30 minutes without a bite. Saw gobs of bait on my livescope so I got out my cast net and caught dozens. I really stink at throwing the cast-net with only about one in ten being a good pancake opening but I had a blast because with live-scope, you can actually watch the net descend over the schools. After putting about a hundred in my lifewell and turning on the aerator, I headed for home hoping to put the shad in my pond. When I pulled up to my pond, at least half were dead, and the survivors were not in great shape. It is a forty-five minute drive from this lake. Any insight on how to keep shad alive? Do I need air-stones as well as the pump?

You'll be standing in line for this one. Right after me!

Say it ain't so! No way I can go through the fall and winter without seeing your fat Maine Bass! It may surprise you, but the bass are not nearly as interesting to me as the places you catch them. I cannot go months without seeing lily pads and Pickerel Rush! Please keep fishing......PLEEEase!

Wow, what a story! People like that gentleman, and yourself, inspire and embarrass me. I'm inspired by your sense of adventure, backbone, and dedication, but embarrassed because I never had the nerve. Now it's way too late. A grade, and high school teammate buddy of mine once rode a bicycle from Seattle to Memphis one summer. He told me later that once he called his mom from the great divide to come and get him, he was giving up. His mom told him no. If you give up now, you will never forgive yourself. He finished the journey.

I really appreciate how you take EVERY opportunity to fish. I'm sure your (slip-a-way) gear is always in your truck. Way to go! Back in the day, before mobile phones, when I used a pager and pay phones, and spent lots of time on the road, (modern technology has me office bound now), I kept an ultra-lite spinning outfit in my truck. Many's the time I would cross a bridge, do a double-take, turn around and fish for a few. Is that a Roostertail you caught 'm on?

Like most of the responses, yes I am fishing. We can't always control when our fishing opportunities appear, and we can't control the weather, so we go. Like a previous post explained....sure beats working!

Ya'lls Northern Largemouth are so incredibly fat. Is it the invasive Goby's or have they always been that round? An eighteen inch fish here is lean, at least the ones I catch. Our major forage fishes are the Threadfin and Gizzard Shads, and there are lots of them.

I'm going to have to break down and try the underspin. May need another tacklebox soon as every visit to my BR friends = whipping out the credit card. I'll tell you its a shame when you can remember your number! A house framer asked me the other day, "Does Amazon come to your house every day?" I said no why? He said "Because they come to my house every freakin' day! ?Oh well, at least my wife is happy!" What? Am I not vicarious enough? Alex, and the chef couldn't catch a nose bled much less winter bass.....uh....maybe that's me I'm describing.?

Great info. Thanks for taking the time!

I bought a book, "Match the Hatch", but it's written and based on England's Mayfly species. There are so many different species just on the British Isles that it took up a volume. I would love to read more about the species that live locally. Even my untrained eye identifies a half dozen every year on the Duck. They range from 1/2" long to big gray monsters of what seems like 2-1/2 ". They pile up in drifts along log jambs they are so plentiful. Life is good for the fish several times a year.

Sounds like Heaven and you didn't have to die to get there!

How 'bout motoring during a hatch when you had better have eye protection or else constant eyeballs full of Mayflies. I've experienced good hatches on the Duck River in Tennessee. Just like Gimruis noted, it's a sign of a healthy water body. I've still caught fish when the water surface was covered with dead and dying Mayflies, but obviously the fish have their choices. Bummer to be a Mayfly though.......months or years, depending on species, in the bottom muck just to spring free for a few hours, the joy of flight, romance, then the gullet of a Bluegill!

I just love the pictures of the waterways and landscape. You sure do have the water lilies and Pickerel Rush. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to get the natural beauty of the places you fish.

Katie, calling Maine bass fat is like calling Usain Bolt fast, Rodney Dangerfield funny, or The Marine Corps tough! Maine Bass are obese not merely fat!

Alex, what are you doing on the water during a thunderstorm? I may have to report you to Gimruis. That is a violation. Now I'm going to be stressing every thunderstorm at night wondering if you are safe! Just not a safe one! ? This topic makes me want to jump in......splash! Yesterday, on a local mid-state reservoir with water clarity of only 12" due to heavy phytoplankton, there were skads and gobs and zillions of schools of Shad all around and I noticed one thing of super-importance. Those of us that use trolling motors need to be aware they are not stealthy at all. The Shad could not see me but they heard/felt me coming from a distance. My livescope would clearly show the huge schools in the top of the water column dash for safety as I approached. The movement would begin as far as 10-15' ft out. What this means for me, and possibly others, is we are not sneaking up on fish when we troll. The few fish that I did catch close to the boat were aware of the trolling motor disturbance but ate my offering anyway! I'll certainly try to use the motor less when I imagine I'm sneaking up on them!

WOW!!!!

At least I didn't get skunked! Went lake fishing for the first time in a long while. Got kinda hot in the afternoon but I only shared my area with two other boats......until everyone else got off work. Then I shared it briefly with four jet skis. I say briefly because life is too short to fish with jet skis and riders that have no common courtesy. I loaded up and went to the house. We always hear about searching for the bait. Well, let me tell you that there is no shortage of baitfish on Percy Priest near Nashville. I saw clouds of baitfish on my sonar and frequent schools of shad on the surface. Thought a couple times my livescope was malfunctioning because of the clouds but everytime I trolled over the masses, I could see the whole schools swim down. With so much bait, its a wonder I caught anything at all! Ha! Didn't mean to crash your thread LrgmouthShad. I posted in the wrong topic! Can't follow directions or fish!

I've never experienced that. Maybe someday.

Are the Snakeheads edible? Looks like some really good fillets could be obtained.

Thanks Katie! I tried to go today but just as I got a mile from home my phone rang. My boss needed help on a project shipping Friday so I had to turn around and go back to work. I was a long, slow drive back?. Gonna try again tomorrow! I'll be lake fishing at Percy Priest Res. for the first time in years. Hope its less crowded since it will be during the workweek.

Which of you usual battery did you have the most success on? Curious to try them Sunday when I have a chance to go. I got a 20 lb bag Sunday before last.......but it took twenty five fish to get there.

Spinnerbait? TnRiver46 says it didn't happen?

Sounds like a request for Santa! After all, you got a Vanford for your B-day! Bet it happens!