IcatchDinks

My opportunities to go bass fishing have been rare and difficult. Water is low, everything is changing, fish are acting different, and I haven't had the time to invest on the water figuring them out. But I did manage a very nice pike last night.

Praying for you today.

Managed to grab a couple hours at the pond today. Only caught one bass on my last cast, but it felt good get my hook into a fish again.

Haven't been fishing in what feels like ages. I think it's technically been something like a week. I just haven't had the energy for early mornings lately, and no time for evenings after work. Sure is great to see everyone else's fish though.

This last week has been a bit slow. I haven't been able to make it out onto the water for any longer than an hour at a time, and haven't caught anything substantial. I did get jump scared by a raccoon who snuck up behind me, and stood up with his front paws on my leg like he was begging for snacks or something. I would have taken a picture, but I shouted because I was startled which in turn startled him, and he waddled away in disgust. 😆 Anyways, here are this week's dinks:

@TnRiver46 looks like a ton of fun! Thanks for sharing!!

That sucks, bro. I'm sorry. I had a day like that last year. I'm sure my fish weren't near as big as yours were, but they all skunked me in a similar way, including one that at the time would have been a PB. I feel your pain. You'll get em next time. @ol'crickety, you definitely loose more fish, but you also land more fish. And you do it in very difficult waters to fish. My hook-up to landing ratio is so good because I don't fish major obstructions and difficult cover like you do. I remember not that long ago you mentioned you had an "average" day, and boated 40 fish. For most of us, that's a day we can only dream about.

Usually I go to the pond in the early morning before work, but decided to try my luck on the river today instead. Made it to the spot about 6 AM, and right away caught a fish. I didn't know I had a fish until I got my lure back in because he was so small. I thought I had just wrapped my line around one of the trebles or something. I then absolutely set the crap out of that lure on a submerged log and had to break off. 😭 So I switched to top water. Lost one right away, but then hooked another at the very end of about 100 yards of line downstream. I doubt it was actually that far down, but it was a long way off. Not a monster, but what with the fish using a pretty strong current to fight me, and having that much line out, it was the longest fight of my life. Poor fella was worn the heck out, but he seemed to revive pretty quick and splashed me as he swam off. After about 30 minutes of fruitless casting, I switched to a #5 Mepps Black Fury. Another absolutely tiny dink bit. I finished the morning with the Crush City Mayor on Owner's underspin hook. Missed two fish who seemed to have lazily swiped at it. Then I finally hooked into a really good one. A nice 16" smallmouth that leap as high as I've ever seen a fish jump. Twice. But EWGs hold really good, and I landed him with no problems.

While I completely agree with @MN Fisher, I'm also of the attitude that you make do with what you've got. I've definitely thrown super heavy baits on ultralight gear. And caught fish with it. It won't work quite as well, and will be harder to handle the fish and fish the bait, but it can be done. A 60 size WP on that tiny ultralight is definitely pushing the limits, though. 😅

Alas, I don't speak turtle. But I'm sure his wisdom was far beyond my feeble comprehension anyway. 😄 The final smallie from Sunday was big enough for me to consider it "not-a-dink." 14 or 15 inches. I didn't measure because I was trying to hurry my line back into the water to catch the bigger bass I saw with it.

A little snot rocket. He covered me in mud and bit my finger.

A little early morning fishing: I got to the pond at 5:30, but the fish have consistently waited until 6 to bite. And right on cue, I got my first bite at 6:05 and the second two casts later. Threw in the towel early an hour later. It was a chilly morning today, dipping into the high 50's. But still beautiful. Later this evening, from 7 to 8, I fished a little honey hole on the Chippewa River and caught two little smallies, and a pike who decided getting hooked once wasn't good enough, and came back to rehit the same lure he'd escaped from earlier. Pike photo in the Other Species thread. Also had an aged turtle impart his secret turtle wisdom to me. It's still a secret from me, otherwise I'd share it. He was probably telling me the secrets to world peace or something.

Caught a bunch of bycatch this past weekend, including my first ever walleye. ^^^There were about ten more of these things. I couldn't avoid them. I'll spare y'all pictures of the rest.

A few bass from this weekend: That last one was a real nice size, and I watched a massive smallie at least twice his size chase him in. Didn't manage to catch the monster, but I'll be back.