IcatchDinks

Pond Largies: all four have been super shallow. Two feet or less. River Smallies: holding to lay downs where the current breaks and slows around the fallen trees. Although I've really struggled to catch smallmouth this spring. Frankly, fishing has just been kinda slow for me. Although, it might just be me. I've heard and seen other people doing better than me on the same bodies of water, so I assume I must be doing something wrong.

@N Florida Mike, well, congrats on the PB. Even if it is just a mudfish. Lol

Spent about four hours total fishing today. I tried to make a couple of my own handmade lures official, but nothing would hit em. I did foul hook a bluegill in the eye and he chose to leave his eye behind rather than get caught. (Yikes!) I threw half my tackle bag at em before I finally switched to a #1 Mepps Agila in hopes one of the bluegill would bite. Instead I hooked a bass. Finally! The Mepps was too small to comfortably use with my medium action pole, so I switched to an actual spinner bait. Managed to catch one more: only my second fish on a spinner bait: Turns out the fish wanted shiny stuff. Both of these bass were sitting super shallow. I told this to two other anglers fishing down the bank from me, and I watched them pull in a bass after adjusting. That felt good. What didn't feel good was losing that spinner bait on a submerged log two casts after that. I also went and spent some time bank fishing the river, but no dice. Those were the only two things I caught today, other than a slight sunburn.

I haven't fished the wilderness for smallmouth, but fly-fishing the wilds of Alaska for grayling is an experience I will never forget.

@Mbirdsley I totally agree. You just gotta fish like normal and try not to think about it. Somehow the fish know. The MA size limit for Pumpkinseed is 9". The limit for hybrids is 10". Mine was 9 3/4". I imagine if I just keep fishing I'll nab a MA worthy fish someday.

@Mbirdsleycongrats on a great haul. Looks like tons of fun. I've been chasing a master angler patch every since I heard about it, and got close with a massive pumpkin seed a while back. They informed me that they believed it to be a hybrid, and I wanted to know if there were actually any purebreds left. 😆 Again, nice job, and an early congrats on the patch. That's super cool.

I figured last fall that I would spend the winter months making baits to try out in the spring. Turns out I hate doing fishy things when I can't go fishing. Now that fishing season is in full swing, I find myself drawn back into lure making again. I spent the evenings yesterday and today clearcoating a couple lures, and starting another one. I'm still pretty new to this whole lure making thing, and I have to work off a card table in my upstairs apartment's living room, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. The unfinished lure pictured has a steel, pivoting back fin, and a steel lip. It actually has some good action when I tried it out on the bathtub. After I get it painted and coated, I'm going to take it to the lake and see what it can do. It was inspired by a couple old lures I saw online.

Omw. This is me to a T. I caught one giant smallie in this one spot two years ago. I've never caught another fish there since. But I always overfish it every time.

I stalk other anglers and cast where they're casting.

On the rare occasion that I'll be fishing all day, breakfast is usually a couple fried eggs and a potato, sliced and fried with plenty of butter and salt. Throw salsa on top of all of it. That's my go to. Quick, simple, and it tastes good. Then I take a banana and an apple for the road. Edit: I see some of you talking about coffee and the horrifying thought occurred to me that some of you heathens might not drink God's Greatest Gift To Man. So, to differentiate myself from those placing themselves under the judgment of all things Holy, I have added what I assumed everyone would take for granted: I drink a large thermos full of strong coffee with a dash of heavy whipping cream. Every. Dang. Day. Like God intended.

Some very nice fish, my friend!

I imagine that Ohio's public ponds fish similar Michigan's. (Go Blue!) I'm right there with you, @bp_fowler

Nice fishes, @A-Jay! I showed my wife and said "And here I was, happy with my 16incher!" Her reply: "Yeah. His name isn't 'Icatchdinks' " 😆 Always love seeing the fish you catch. Some beautiful smallies, for sure.

@ol'crickety it was. She gave a couple good leaps and head shakes on the way in, too. Lots of fun. @gimruis the parents were nowhere to be seen this time around. I usually give them a wide berth. I've never had to actually tangle with a goose, but I imagine their necks make a good handle for flinging them about. That and a few well aimed kicks are my current combat strategy. 😄

I always love a good photo of @Bluebasser86's tie-dye Crocs. I went to the pond this evening. It was low sixties all day and quite windy. I was afraid I wasn't gonna get a bite. Tried using a drop shot rig for a while but wasn't getting any action, so I switched over to the trusty Rebel wee-craw. I caught a lot of slimy weeds. Then a big gust of wind came up just as I went to cast and carried my lure way farther than I had intended, landing it in about a foot of water on the other side of the small pond. The water boiled as a fish struck and missed. I reeled the bait in just a little bit, and she chased it down. Fish on! Lovely, fat old girl, 16 inches long (which is a very respectable size for my small pond) and 1.84 lbs. Then I caught a dink from the same spot just to live up to my username, About a hundred fruitless casts later and I was done. A pair of Canada geese have nested in the same spot at this pond for three years running. This was the first time I've seen the nest without one of them on it. Usually they chase me away with loud hissing and spread wings.

Havent had a chance to go fishing lately, and the weather has gotten pretty coldish. Really enjoy seeing everyone's fish. Keep it up, y'all.

That's too bad, but I guess ya gotta throw what the fish are biting.

@LrgmouthShad You gotta throw a topwater in there. The idea of going through a whole fishing season without the joy of a topwater blowup has me horrified.

@ol'crickety I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my struggles with spinners and jigs. I've felt crazy when I get online and see all these other anglers killing the bass on those two baits. I tend to stay away from them for the most part. @Pat Brown summed it up for me. T-rig senko not getting bit? By gum, imma stick with it for another hour or two before I switch. 😅 Although rather than move locations too readily, I'll fish the same dang lay down for way too long. Also, I'm a far more inaccurate caster than I'd like the rest of you to know.

Ever since I started wading, my "Lost Lure Ratio" has dropped dramatically. (As has my "Locating Some Other Poor Sap's Lost Lure Ratio.")

Tell that to the hundreds of lures and hooks I've left impaled deep into sunken logs. 😆

HECK YEAH! Super stoked to see you posting big ole beauties again. .

This. I had a story similar to @Jar11591 while bank fishing my favorite pond. Hooked something on a crank bait and it TOOK OFF. I know there are catfish in the pond, and also good size carp. I'm guessing it was a carp, although the story is cooler if it was a massive cat. I've landed carp on that little 8lb mono I was using, but not this time. Sucker snapped me off about a second after hooking him. It was fun for that second though. I think probably my craziest fishing story was my first year of fishing since I picked it up again. (This would have been 2021.) It was a short fishing trip after work. I still had my work clothes on. I had walked maybe a half mile of river bank and was on my way back to the car. I fished both ways, and had caught nothing but a handful of rock bass. I was tired and sat down on the bank, my feet hanging just above the water. I had tied on a T-rigged senko and was just fishing the bend in the river very casually, not really paying attention. I was listening to the Tampa Bay Rays beat my Detroit Tigers. The part of the bank I was sitting on was deeply undercut by the river, and as I reeled my bait in and was about to lift it out of the water, a long, dark shape darted out from underneath my dangling feet. I'd never seen a pike in person before, but of course I knew what it was. I was enamored by this long, carnivorous fish. It seemed to levitate there in the water, nearly motionless, his nose not four inches from my worm. I was locked on him, he was locked on my bait... I gave it a twitch and he struck. I went to set the hook, but all I managed was to rip the worm in half and Mr. Pike was gone. Did I really expect to hook this guy on a T-Rig? Not really, but it's what I had tied on. As fast as I could, I cut off the bass bait and tied on a big jointed crank bait. I didn't know much about pike at the time, but I figure he'd be more likely to hit a big moving bait like that than a rubber worm. Plus, the lure was big enough it might protect me from getting bit off. Five casts later, I hooked him. It was a rush of a fight. I'm afraid I was too scared of losing him that I don't remember much of it. But I managed to lead him to the bank, and now I was in a pickle. The water was two feet or more below the bank I was standing on, and I had no clue how to lift him out. I didn't have a net, and I was still squeamish of getting bit. (What a coward I was.) I think I eventually just lifted him out by the line, praying the bait wouldn't come out of his mouth. Once I landed him, turns out he wasn't nearly as big as he'd looked in my adrenaline fueled state: only 25 inches. But it's still one of my most memorable catches. My heart belongs to the smallies, but boy if the pike and musky don't turn my head.

I really like this idea. Seemed like a pretty great system that really limited the stress the fish would under.

@Fried Lemonsthat's super cool! Must have been a sight to see. Very nice fish, too!