IcatchDinks

I'm not really sorry I'm not hauling in monsters. I'm having fun this summer, and being able to take my son fishing is a dream come true. But I am sorry that all I'm able to show Gim is his most hated species. Lol.

@gim What can I say? the fishing is really slow. All I'm catching are rock bass and dinks. I'm sorry I'm such a sorry angler. 😂 I did catch this tonight. (The fish. Not the toddler.)

Snakeheads are so cool. They're like the komodo dragons of the water. Congrats on the PB!

Small bass. And a rock.

Every time I go out recently it's a mid-sized bass and a rock bass. I'm not complaining. Especially because I found a free telescoping rod discarded in the weeds. Always wanted one of these, because I'm a sucker for a gimmick. Was never gonna shell out for one, because it's a gimmick.

My most frequented pond has only a couple deep-ish pockets where the bigguns hang out. Those pockets are absolutely choked with weeds and are at the limit of my casting range from the bank. You have to nail your cast accuracy and distance, dropping it into one of the few open pockets in the weeds, let it sink to the bottom, and hope they hit it, because that's you're one shot at those spots. Once you start to retrieve, it doesn't matter what rig you're using: you're bringing back two or three pounds of vegetation, and have probably disturbed the area and ruined the bite there. It's how I caught my PB last year, and a couple 18"+ bass since. But it's tricksy. I'll see if I can find any pictures after work.

Spent a couple hours in the afternoon wading the river yesterday. Between dodger tubers, and I slow bite during the heat of the day, I managed a mid sized largemouth and a fat rock bass. Also saw A LOT of turtles. I like turtles. Normally I complain about tubers, but both groups I ran into yesterday were super chill, took a lot of care to float past stealthily when they saw me fishing (which they absolutely have no obligation to do), and we're very friendly. Great weather, great people, and just a lovely day all around.

I finally have some more fish to report. The last week or two have been crazy busy, and I've not had a lot of time to fish. I took the teenage son of a family friend fishing yesterday, and we caught a handful of small bass. Nothing very noteworthy: And then this evening I watched a crazy mayfly hatch on the river, and the wildest feeding frenzy I've ever seen. The fish were all after the mayflies and I didn't have any similar baits. I only managed to fool one little smallie with a floating crankbait. I'm sure he went back to his buddies feeling like an idiot for biting hard plastic when the real live thing was everywhere, twitching and fluttering on the surface. But the hatch and feeding frenzy were super cool to watch, even if I only managed to nab one small bass.

I usually catch and use them when bank fishing a shallow river. I'll put em on a worm hook, with split shot, usually no bobber, and cast it upstream, letting the current carry it through the places I think the fish are hiding. Problem with grasshoppers are that they are so soft bodied, they rip off the hook super easy. It's got to be a gentle cast, and if you hang up on anything, you'll have to rebait your hook. But everything from creekchub to Smallmouth will eat it. Kind of like rolling the dice on what species you'll catch. 😆

I always fish with lures, but if I manage to catch a stray crawdad or a large grasshopper, I'll happily use them for bait. But it's always a spur of the moment thing, and never pre-planned.

The pond I usually fish: 2/5. It's super shallow (no deeper than five feet in its deepest hole) choked with heavy weeds for most of the year, urban and heavily pressured, and pretty small (I can walk all the way around it in 10-15 minutes). And yet, it gave me a 4+ pound bass last year that would have been much heavier in a healthier body of water. And 15-17 inch bass are not uncommon. Extra points to my pond for being five minutes from home, hence why I fish it so often. The Chippewa River: 4/5 It's a lovely medium sized river that can get pretty wide and deep in certain stretches. It holds all manner of smallmouth, a few largies, pike, walleye, trout, catfish, and even the extremely rare muskie. My favorite approach is to wade the river where possible, and many long stretches are perfect for wading. I know there are probably many far better rivers out there, but the Chippewa feels like home to me.

One pale, skinny bass this morning. Haven't managed to go fishing in almost two weeks and I was starting to panic. Got my fix in, so I should be good until the weekend...

I second this. Stay safe out there.

Went camping this weekend on the shore of Lake Michigan with my siblings and their families. Didn't get any fishing in, but my sister did manage to capture some lovely scenery:

I went fishing with my toddler this evening. We got rained on pretty good, but found refuge under a bridge and still caught a fish. It's been pretty difficult finding time to fish, and similarly difficult finding fish when I manage to find the time. The difficulties this trip were most likely directly linked to the rocks my boy kept throwing into the water.

Coffee and water. Copious amounts of water. If it's a long trip, I'll eat before and after.

Hey, where did you find this photo of me the other day? I'll spare you all the gruesome photos. Use your imagination. (It's not really that bad.)

Happy Independence Day! I woke up early and walked the banks of the Chippewa for about a half mile. Only caught two little smallies, but the morning was still and beautiful, the wildlife was out, birds were singing. It was one of those mornings that makes you grateful just to be alive. Now I'm sitting at home drinking coffee with my 6 month old daughter crawling around at my feet while my wife and one year old sleep in.

Happy Independence Day, y'all. Remember the freedoms we enjoy were not easily won and are all too easily lost.

Good looking bass @Bazoo @FishTax, those are some beauties!!! (everyone else, your bass are cool too.)

Grabbed one skinny bass this morning in the hour before work. Lost another when he threw my crankbait at the bank.

Yeah, I was gonna say, looks like a sharp-shinned hawk to me, though I'm not confident I could tell the difference between that and the Coopers.

I love looking at those shehemoths! What a bass!!

Fishing must be slow for everyone. I used to pick blueberries for my neighbor's blueberry farm as a kid. It was a fun first job.

No. Caught my PB last June. It was super skinny for how long it was (4.2 lbs and ~22 inches long.) Definitely not a pre spawn bass.