IcatchDinks

Yep. One of those. On a Ned rig Not that big, But I was using an ultralite rig. ( @ol'crickety, is this the kind of poetry you were talking about?) Oh, right. This is BASS thread isn't it? Nice fish.

@RipzLipz thanks for such a comprehensive and informative reply. I've gone ahead and marked it as "the solution." I've already got a cheap pair of split ring pliers. Definitely not idiot proof, but they work for now. I've caught a good bunch of fish off that same whopper plopper with zero modifications to it since this post, so maybe the fish were just non-committal that day. That doesn't negate the need for new hooks on MANY of my lures, especially since I'm getting into making my own hard baits. Again, thanks!

@Blue Raider Bob I had a similar experience hooking into a big old carp last year while fishing for panfish. I don't generally like catching carp. But WOW was that a ride.

@ol'crickety I'm grinning because the person holding the camera is my wife, and everything is just better when she's involved.

My application for the #teamlonghair club. Caught three tonight. I've used almost nothing but topwater for the past month. Blowups are addicting.

I've only ever posted photos of bass. And a turtle. I did post a photo of a turtle once. And a Michigan logo. I did that too. And my face. I guess that doesn't really count as a bass either. But other than all those crimes, I'm completely innocent, your Honor!

Yesterday we got a lot of much needed rain. Heavy, steady rain, all day long. Around 6 or 7 in the evening it cleared up. So I hit the ponds. Caught three "meh" sized bass. The best part of the evening was watching a dad with his two little girls, about 7 or 8 years old, I would guess. They were fishing with crawlers, and they were pulling in the bluegill and dinky bass left and right. It didn't matter how tiny the fish was, the girls would shriek with delight every time they dragged one up onto the bank. Then one of them pulled in a big old catfish. She didn't really care that it was a catfish, or that it was almost two feet long, compared to the dinks she'd been catching all evening. The only thing she cared about was that it was one more fish than her sister had caught, putting her in "the lead." It was a fun evening. I just can't wait till my own little one is old enough to bring fishing with me.

You've already been given tons of great suggestions, but since my local rivers here in Michigan sound similar to yours, and since I'm also limited to where my own two feet can take me, here's the lures I use: Topwater: Rebel Pop-R (or any popper of your choosing. They all work) whopper plopper (the small one) Crankbaits: pretty much exclusively use the Rebel Wee craw in shallow water. If the water gets more than three or four feet deep, the Rapala Fat Rap or the WeeCraw's bigger, meaner brother the Rebel Big Craw (they really do have a very creative naming scheme going on here) have both been productive for me. Plastics: in shallow or slow moving water I use a weightless Texas rigged senko. If it's deeper water or current, I'll put a bullet weight on it. I usually use the four inch Yum Dinger. Or the four inch Gary Yamamoto. I've never understood the need for these massive 7-8" worms everyone uses. The four inch works great for me. Curly tail grubs on a jig head with an exposed hook always work for me. And I've caught almost as many fish as I have snags with a Ned rig. Spinners: various Mepps inline spinners have caught countless smallies for me in shallow rivers. You gotta fish them against the current, though. They have trouble spinning when fished with the current, and tend to sink to the bottom and get snagged. Also, if you're not wading, you should. It's loads of fun, keeps you cool on hot days, and you can reach so many more fishy-hidey-holes than from the banks. Happy fishing!

I don't know it, but I did some searching on the interwebs. Found this website https://smithwickcollector.com/devils-series-and-other-wood-lures/ And this picture from it. Is this what you're looking for:

Beautiful fish! One day I'm gonna have to come try out that mud puddle you threatened me with. ?

It's all relative. If I catch even one fish, I go home happy. Some days I'll be out for hours getting skunked and then land one decent bass, I'll go home satisfied. (average size in our area is about 14 inches so decent in my book is anything bigger than that.) But it's all variable. Yesterday I had a really good day. But that was because it rained. A lot. Water levels are finally back up, the weather isn't scorching hot anymore, and I caught three fish in 2 hours. Nothing big, not a lot of fish. But I went home feeling like I had a great evening out. Of course, the more and bigger the fish, the better. I'd say my best day was fishing a new lake, and I only casted about 4 or 5 times. I caught a pike for dinner, the biggest rock bass I've ever seen, a big fat bluegill (also dinner), and a new PB smallie. Four fish on four or five casts, delicious dinner, and a new PB. I have similar rates, so don't feel inadequate. Some people just live with better fishing. Lol

These are beautiful! I aspire to be this good one day. Very lovely paint job!

Honestly, compared to most of my local spots, a mud puddle in Maine probably would best my PB.

For all the Ohioans:

When in doubt, throw dark. That's been my general rule of thumb. Regardless of water colour, dark and natural colored baits always seem to work better for me than lighter, flashy colors.

The Joe DiMaggio of fishing

Hook slot isn't critical. It helps a little bit keeping the bait weedless, but it'd work just as good the other way, too.

Been a slow week until today. Haven't been able to get out much, what with our Church's VBS and it being pretty dang hot (for Michigan. We don't hold a melted candle to you poor chaps down there in Texas). Tried a new pond on Wednesday. Kept getting tons of little bumps from the bluegill, but nothing big. Figured I'd at least downsize the bait to have some fun with the little fellas. I did not catch a bluegill: Today was a much different story. We have a series of little ponds here in town that get pressured pretty heavily, but still seem to yield pretty good numbers of fish. One of them had become almost filled with weeds, so anything with treble hooks is really hard to fish with. I went out this evening to try the topwater bite, but got nothing but swings and misses on the popper. I've never used a weedless frog before, but own two of them. I tied one on and started fishing among the weeds. Bass were hitting it, but I really struggled to resist the reflex to set the hook. Had one bass hit it three times before I finally relaxed enough to wait before setting the hook. Then I had to drag the poor fella 15-20 feet through dense vegetation. But I finally landed my first ever weedless frog catch After about an hour, I went down the road to try another pond. As I pulled up, two jacked up, very nice pick-ups driven by young guys about my age were getting ready to leave. They were all kitted out: nice baitcasters, nets, go-pros, etc. Everything looked brand new. I had my grandpa's old fiberglass rod and a couple topwater lures. One pick-up leaves, the other guy hollars at me as I get out of my car: "There's no fish here. We've been trying for hours. We're leaving!" I said, "No fish? I've caught tons of fish out of here. If you're not catching anything you must be doing it wrong." The guy replies with, "they're just not biting tonight then." As he says this, I dropped my line in the water and immediately had a big blow-up. I'm not a very good angler, and maybe those guys could kick my butt at fishing any other day, but it made me laugh. Managed to land two more fish in the next hour, before calling it a night. I know these aren't huge bass, but they're pretty decent for around here. Boy I love fishing. Sorry for the book.

Got another bait in the works. This time it's a popper with a propeller tail on the back.

I didn't even think that could happen. That's insane. Btw, what boxes are you using? Those look super useful.

It's my first father's day today. My dad says I haven't yet joined the club because the baby isn't due to born until September, but my mom says it counts. Happy father's day, y'all. Take your dad fishing. Or take your kids fishing. Or both.

I also have become partial to measuring. Especially considering how depending on what the fish eats, what season it is, spawn, etc, they can weigh more or less. Length pretty much always stays the same unless something took a bite. ?

I've never caught a 7lb fish. But I've caught plenty of 2lbers. Your fish is AT LEAST twice the size of any of my two pound fish.

Thanks! Marling is one of my favorite YouTubers to watch, and the one who inspired me to try my hand at it. The guy is an absolute artist. And super funny to boot.

Spent this past week hand carving and hand painting a crankbait. I've never tried making lures before, but after watching several YouTube videos, it looked like something I could do too. I finished it up last night and got up early before church this morning to give it a try. I caught decent largemouth on it. I probably won't use the bait again because it's not the best crankbait I've ever used. It wants to pull to one side and I didn't space my hooks far enough apart, so they occasionally become tangled. I have cheap crank baits that work better and that I haven't spent hours hand carving. But it sure feels rewarding to catch something on a lure I made with my own hands.