AlabamaSpothunter

Yeah sorry I should have mentioned that......Blue Heron snagged that dude and then kept struggling with it and dropping it, finally flew off without the fish and that's when I grabbed it. Not sure if it would have come back to eat a dead fish, but those Herons get plenty of opportunities. Lots of fish I catch have scars from them. Katie, from your lips to God's ears 😁 Thanks Tim!

Lake is blown out from the huge Xmas rains to a degree, but the bite is still really hot. Now that it's truly winter fishing, the fish seem to eat whatever you want to catch them on. For me unlike most anglers, I want stained water for the A-Rig, that's when it works best for me. This was the first day they were really chewing on the A-Rig, had two double ups but both came off. Caught about 25 fish, big fish was close to 5. Like last winter, watching schools of 1-5lb fish toss seemingly hundreds of Threadfins in the air for 10mins on some days to all day long on others is one of the greatest spectacles I've ever seen in the wild. I'm overwhelmed with excitement, and anything that can do that to me as an adult is worth its weight in gold.

That's a beautiful winter fish and heck of day @GreenPig nice job! @TnRiver46Third guy is a Meanmouth ha? Second guy could have fed a starving army of Pygmies 🤣 I wonder if Meanmouth could survive in slightly warmer waters....what the full menu of genetic differences exist b/t them and both Alabama and SM Bass.

Merry Christmas to all the filthy stinking animals, glad to see everyone's catches who was lucky enough to get a visit by Saint Bass. @Creek Pirate Great job brother! @TnRiver46 Awesome fish on such a tiny setup, I guess you know how I felt yesterday lol. Glad the day didn't end on the lost fish! If we adopt TNRiver46 as an Alabamian there's a trend here. Had a huge warm rain last night, fished for about 4.5hrs this afternoon in drizzle. Caught 20-25......15+ came in about 20 mins all in a 10ft x 10ft area, all b/t 1-3lbs.....winter fishing is just wild, then caught a pair on the new KGB 7" TSG in Threadfin. Oddly enough there was another angler and his wife out there, he asked me....."you throwing live bait?" Even KGB fools humans 😂 As cool of a color line as I've ever seen.

Yeah the JDM version of the MB P5 Destroyers are ridiculously versatile. The recent 110 stick I got not too long ago really sold me on the JDM line.

@TnRiver46 Oh I'm not trying to come across as woe is me, it's just incredibly frustrating when you feel you put yourself in the right position, and in this case the fish just won. Fishing in relative, and for me at least it's only a competition against myself. I can't try to compare my results to Milliken or guides scoping on O.H. Ivie, but I can evaluate myself based on my water's Bass population, and my own past results.

Thanks Katie, I've found watching the GoPro footage to be an invaluable tool. One of the biggest eureka moments happened last year when I realized 90%+ of the A-Rig fish I caught came right after a rod pop. Now it's second nature using rod pops in my A-Rig retrieve. When the fish are biting it's crazy how quickly you'll learn new things or nuances to a bait. After today I realized my default setting on a blade bait should be smoother, smaller rod lifts, letting that bait hit the bottom again for at least the first half of the cast, and generally fishing it slower than I had in the past. I should have included my technique in the video, but I just want to bomb cast that thing in 15-25fow on clean structure areas free of hard cover......let it completely hit the bottom, then begin the yo yo retrieve. For non electronic folks, I'm looking for channel swings, pinch points, main lake points, and anywhere deep water comes close to the shore....bluff walls, sharp tapering dropoffs, etc. For 2D/Sidescan folks, I'm looking for swaths or a carpet of bait in those same above areas, but then specifically I'm looking to see fish on the bottom or edges of the bait in order to throw the blade bait. When I see the Bass making spaghetti lines over the bait, that's when I switch to the Damiki Axe Blade or A-Rig.

Edited to remove oversharing woe is me stuff, it was a nice day. First time seeing a Coyote on the lake, and man was it mangy looking. Crazy looking lion tail on it as well. Haven't seen the big Bucks yet as I don't see them until the rut, but this was a pretty little 3pt guy.

Thanks Katie! Now if I caught 50 like that, I'd be having a typical Katie day. There are levels to this game, little did I know that Maine is at the top until this place 😎

I've been meaning to try it the last week or two.....lost two C-Rigs in a day and where I want to throw them that's gonna be a pattern it seems. Rather just lose a Free Rig or two than tie up a whole new stupid rig. Only time I want to do this in the above scenario, whatever voodoo magic the standard free rig has, I ain't touching it in any other applications. Something super nuanced to the standard rigging that big Bass especially can't resist.

When your catching fish in 20ft+ with mud on their bellies on a Blade Bait with gloved hands, for a brief moment in time one feels like they're mainlining the secret truth of the Bass universe 🤣 Fished from dawn to 10, and then 1-3pm........the most beautiful December day you could imagine, super cold at dawn but by dusk it was 69. 21+1 Crappie on the Blade Bait. Really fun day and first week of frenetic winter fishing, but atlas no true big fish yet. "If I fish it hard enough, they come" -Lake of Dreams

All the fish I caught this morning out of 48d water had really bright lipstick on. Other parts in the back of their mouth are red as well. Left my cam in the boat but got a good pic of the other red parts in the back of the mouth area. Certainly enviromental....i.e. water temps, and I'd guess it was hormonal. I'm almost positive it has nothing to do with what they're eating. I'm catching fish that are locked in and feeding heavy on Threadfins.

Florida Man is undefeated. Tik Tok challenge, PETA warrior, unmedicated mentally ill person are my guesses. The Tarpon's life is significantly more valuable than that human, hopefully he doesn't procreate.

So sorry to hear this, especially this time of year. I'll say a prayer that you, and your family find the strength to handle such a difficult time, and ultimate peace over the loss of your father. My Grandmother passed from Alzheimer's, evil disease but at least I don't think my Grandmother was in the pain that her love ones were feeling.

I was looking at getting one last Spring, but ended up getting the Spro big Rat which I really couldn't make myself fish enough to catch a fish on.

I've only ever seen them used up north on super clear SM fisheries during the spawn. With the advancements on Aquavu underwater camera systems, not sure the need for a flogger is warranted anymore at least for the pros. Gussy has been doing a lot of work this off season with the AquaVu system. Will be interesting to see it in usage next season.

Well said Katie, and I agree with you especially this early into the winter season. Dwight's last fish looks like she's already got a ton of eggs, whereas a bit north here they are just starting to put that feed bag on and I don't expect to see a belly full of eggs like that until late Jan. to early mid Feb. That last fish had the build of one of yours, but yours always stay that fat some how 💪

The Blade Bait bite is close to being as addictive as a Jerkbait bite. Love seeing these fish get fat this time of year, caught a Spot earlier that could've popped.

@Dwight Hottle Look at those slaunch donkies, that bottom one makes me smile ear to ear.....nothing better than when they got that winter time feed bag strapped on. What did the bottom one weigh? I'll guess 8ish

@RipzLipz That's awesome, how'd you train it.....or did you raise it and let it go free?

Same conditions as @LrgmouthShad, but I've come to rely heavily on my 2D/Sidescan during the winter. Wouldn't have caught this one on the Damiki Vault without it today.

Pretty sure the high end Daiwa reels don't have AR switches, my 19 Certate doesn't. I've never used an AR on any reel that had it. I found it actually to be a negative feature depending on where they put the AR switch.

From Daiwa's JDM site Steez SV TW100 (Reel)|DAIWA

Wondering where Pat the slaunch slayer was at......glad to hear you're feeling better, and hope the lingering sickness clears up quickly! Hope Jake puts a beat down on you tomorrow 😁

Agree Katie, one would think one of these days the power of computing, weather forecasting, and predictive modeling will yield an accurate Bass fishing forecast. There is a video I just watched that uses data to make some pretty good assumptions, not with regard to weather but to baits and locations. Check YT for "25 Years of Data Reveals Best Winter Bait For Bass Fishing".