Awesome, you guys have been tearing them up!

They really wanted the black/blue rage menace swam shallow in the canal today, got on a good pattern, but had a lot of short strikes. Here’s my best of the day.

 

 

4-25-18 First trip of the year . 200 acre lake northern Missouri .  Overcast sky high temperature 63 degrees , wind out of the NE at 8 to 15 MPH.  Water temp mid 50's with one foot of visibility .All  fish were caught off shallow  wood with a chartreuse Strike King Spin Dance spinnerbait . I also tried a chatterbait , various  crankbaits , worm and jig .

 

Caught a lot of fish today; most were pretty small.

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, deep said:

most were pretty small

Total slab haha nice 

Got on a few at my local public fishing area yesterday after work, which is surprising.  Normally I'm doing good if I manage one fish out of the three ponds ever since they opened Georgia PFAs to anyone with a license.  It used to also require a WMA permit, which, of course, costs a smidge more money and kept a lot of folks out.  Now, the place is swarmed with bank fishermen and a few boats and most of them have a bucket to toss whatever gets caught into them.

 

It's the place I go to figure out if a new bait will catch fish, considering they're so pressured and scarce.

 

Well, I've recently fallen in love with jigs, landing my personal best and probably my fifth jig fish a few weeks back on a private, unpressured body.  I wanted to see if they'd pass the test against very wary bass.  The old black and blue bankroll jig and Christie craw did well.  Four fish in three hours, which is whipping them for that spot.

 

This girl fought hard from 20' down to several jumps and a tailwalk from about 30 yards out.

 

 

 

@Bluebasser86 sorry about your boat, broheim.  The only cylinders I blow are in my calf muscles, but then again, the kayak tops out at 7mph!

54 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's at the shop, probably getting a new cylinder put on it. Made it very clear that if it comes to that, to put one that the hoses run into the ends instead of the front on it. It's ruined 2 trips now and I probably could have paid for what it's going to cost me to get it fixed with all the time and money I've spent fixing it the last few times.

 

Sorry to hear about the problems @Bluebasser86 If you get a chance, could you snap a pic of where its happening? This is info I think all boat owners/future boat owners should know about and look to avoid. It might help prevent boat owners from going thru what you are going thru. 

@Bluebasser86, that sucks. My motor is not allowed to trim all the way up either because the support arm that the motor rests on digs into the cylinder when it's maxed out. Problem is, all my buddies want to help put the boat on the trailer and they always trim it all the way up no matter how many times I tell them not to. They always say "well I didn't wanna drag the prop on the ramp." I may soon institute a "only I get to put the boat on the trailer rule"

 

 

My New PB fishing with my students!!!  Huge girl for around here!

Nice Bass ~

Congrats on the new PB.

A-Jay

Congratulations @dgkasper58 On your new PB! Way to show the kids how to get er done! BTW, how much did that big ole girl go?

1 hour ago, J._Bricker said:

Congratulations @dgkasper58 On your new PB! Way to show the kids how to get er done! BTW, how much did that big ole girl go?

No scale issue.  I was going to call the DNR since I was pretty sure it is a lake record but she was tired and I wanted to get her back in the water ASAP. The Length to Girth chart put her at 7.3 but I don't know if she was that big. I asked the question in the  forum if the charts are accurate during the spawn most said yes.

 

BTW I am 6'3 295 lbs

 

 

an approaching front provided perfect conditions today and the spots were eager to bite. this 2.5 lb beauty fell for a GP Zoom 5” lizard in 6 fow. 

3 hours ago, dgkasper58 said:

No scale issue.  I was going to call the DNR since I was pretty sure it is a lake record but she was tired and I wanted to get her back in the water ASAP. The Length to Girth chart put her at 7.3 but I don't know if she was that big. I asked the question in the  forum if the charts are accurate during the spawn most said yes.

 

BTW I am 6'3 295 lbs

 

 

Thanks for that additional info ‘cause she now looks even bigger or she makes you look small :). Again, well done and congratulations 

Part of a 21.90 limit.  Missed big fish by .05 pounds. Got lucky and won the event.

Took my second trip of the year and second in two days . Today it was sunny with a north wind at 5 to 10 mph and air temp at about 65 . The bass were still shallow on wood and I caught them on the same Strke King Spin Dance spinnerbait  as yesterday . I got in one heck of an argument  with some guy who claimed they were not 15 inches . I was at the cleaning station and he was in his boat . I filleted one and tossed the carcass  out in front of him and told him "to measure that one " . LOL that made him mad and he was a big SOB . He beached his boat and I thought uhoh.  He grabbed his measuring board and started measuring my fish .  After he measured them and saw they were legit he then lectured me about catch and release . I just kept right on  filleting  .  

 

 

[April 26, 2018]

 

1st Bass of 2018

 

 

19'', 3lb 03oz Smallmouth Bass

 

Winter is finally over, but it's been a rough early spring. The weather has been non-stop rain/snow every day, and it wasn't until last week my area finally got the warming trend I've been waiting for since the beginning of the year. I had plans with my buddy Jeremy that Monday (4-23-18) would be our first fishing trip of 2018. Monday is one of our scheduled days off from work, and having the extra time to fish would help us on our first trip out this year. The day was looking good with a forecast of clear skies and a high of around 62F. Sadly, while I was at work on the 21st (two days before our fishing trip), there was a big wind storm which got me sick later that evening. I was in bed all the next day, and Monday morning when I woke up at 4:00am for fishing, I was still sick and had no energy so I had to cancel our plans. Jeremy did head out with another friend that day since I couldn't make it, and they both managed to catch some good bass, which was their first fish of the year.

 

We rescheduled for Thursday the 26th, which would be a shorter after work fishing trip. We had till 7:00pm to fish, when we launched the boat and were headed to our first spot it was 3:30pm. We decided to start where he had caught them last Monday and adjust from there. I had 4 combos, and was throwing (1) a Lipless (2) a Crankbait, (3) a Chatterbait, (4) a Grub. Water temp was 50-53F, and Clarity was Stained 1-2ft. We fished the first spot for a good 30 min without a bite. I made a cast with the grub on the new combo I put together for this year and was working it slowly along the bottom. When I lifted it up it felt like it hit something, but then started pulling back, so I reeled and swept the rod back and it was fish on. It was a good fish, it felt heavy and I could feel it head shaking... then a few seconds later the hook popped out. Never got to see it, so it will be another one that haunts me. I had learned that the new Medium-Heavy combo I just put together for this year, was more like a Medium compared to my other combos. I just didn't make a strong enough hookset to really drive the hook in. We fished that first spot for over an hour and that was the only bite, so it was time to move.

 

Second location was a bit warmer at 53F, with more stain to the water around 1ft Clarity. 25 min into fishing Jeremy hooks into his first fish of the day which was a good Smallmouth probably around ~2 pounds (didn't weigh it). I was throwing all 4 baits, mixing up retrieves and nothing, not even another bite. By this time it was 6:00pm and we had an hour left. Started to think about the one I lost and how it might be a 1 bite a day deal and how I might have missed my opportunity. There was a lot of little things that day, like snags, multiple break offs from fishing an open hook, line twist since I recently put new line on all my combos for this year, etc. I still managed good Positive Mental Attitude though, knew the water was warm, we had bites / caught one, and we still had time. We both had different ideas on what should be our third (and last) location. I mentioned mine was near some deeper water which I found to be good during the early season in years past. It's also a place that I believe is over looked and doesn't receive a lot of fishing pressure. I mentioned we can run to it, spend 15-20 min fishing it, and if we don't get a bite we can head back. The one possible down side is that it's on the shady side of the lake, and our results today were in the direct sunlight. We decided to head to my spot for our last location.

 

Third location, 6:12pm, water temp was 54F. I decided to change Grub colors from Green Pumpkin to Junebug as the water was still stained at 1ft Clarity and we were in darker conditions being in shadow now. I also changed just to fish something new to see if it helps.

 

 

10 min into fishing our third location Jeremy hooks into his second bass of the day a Smallmouth probably around ~1.5lb (didn't weigh it). 5 min after his fish, I make a cast near the last dock and seconds after my grub hits the bottom I see my line moving off... I wasn't about to make the same mistake again, so I reeled down and gave a good hookset with the new combo and it was fish on. It had me wrapped around the last piling for a few seconds... got it to the boat and figured I had better lip this one, and that's the one in the first picture. Landed it at 6:27pm, and even managed to hook a second one at 12", 13oz. Jeremy hooked his third of the day (similar size to mine) at 6:48pm. We headed back to the boat ramp at 7:04pm.

 

Edit: Bonus picture from this day, Canada Goose nesting in a flower pot.

 

 

WolfyBrandon

 

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

Took my second trip of the year and second in two days . Today it was sunny with a north wind at 5 to 10 mph and air temp at about 65 . The bass were still shallow on wood and I caught them on the same Strke King Spin Dance spinnerbait  as yesterday . I got in one heck of an argument  with some guy who claimed they were not 15 inches . I was at the cleaning station and he was in his boat . I filleted one and tossed the carcass  out in front of him and told him "to measure that one " . LOL that made him mad and he was a big SOB . He beached his boat and I thought uhoh.  He grabbed his measuring board and started measuring my fish .  After he measured them and saw they were legit he then lectured me about catch and release . I just kept right on  filleting  .  

They look like healthy fish to me, I doubt the lake will miss a few. 

 

I had a guy do something similar at weigh in during a tournament a couple years ago. We'd already had words on the water when he didn't approve of me catching a keeper off "his spot", despite us being there first. I have a hard time biting my tongue with guys like that but I'd rather chew my tongue off than have someone do something stupid and end up on the news. 

16 hours ago, Gundog said:

Sorry to hear about the problems @Bluebasser86 If you get a chance, could you snap a pic of where its happening? This is info I think all boat owners/future boat owners should know about and look to avoid. It might help prevent boat owners from going thru what you are going thru. 

I won't be able to most likely, because hopefully the cylinder is replaced with a different model, but I can give a basic idea. It's a Bay Star steering system, with 2 "T" pieces that screw into the front of the cylinder (not my motor but this is the same system). 

 

The way my motor sits on a jackplate, if the motor is trimmed all the way up, the piece that screws into the cylinder will hit the transom and snap off, leaving a piece of threaded metal screwed into the cylinder. In the past I've been able to get the piece out with an easy out kit, but this time it actually snapped off also, leaving me with no possible way to remove the piece. 

18 hours ago, dgkasper58 said:

No scale issue.  I was going to call the DNR since I was pretty sure it is a lake record but she was tired and I wanted to get her back in the water ASAP. The Length to Girth chart put her at 7.3 but I don't know if she was that big. I asked the question in the  forum if the charts are accurate during the spawn most said yes.

 

BTW I am 6'3 295 lbs

 

 

From the looks of both of your pics, 7.3 doesn't look like a bad estimate.  She has a heck of a mouth.  Congratulations on the PB.

 

Fished yesterday and caught my first smallies of the 2018 season. Had six in the boat & lost one. All bites came after lunch as the water was warming. Water temps were 43-45 degrees.  

 

First smallmouth of the season, approximately 4 lbs. A blade bait assembled from components is hanging from its lip.

We are at the end of our spawn, a few stray males still holding out hope, but all of the females seem to have already dropped their eggs and are in postspawn mode.  The bass below was the 47th & final one I caught yesterday in about 8 hours of fishing.  She hit a 5" wacky rigged Senko, color green pumpkin/amber laminate, skipped under a boat dock in about 4 feet of water.

 

She weighed in at 6 lbs, 2 oz, 23" long.  With her length & build, she may have pushed the 7 lb mark last month when full of eggs or next month after feeding up a bit.  She was blind in one eye, so she now is nicknamed "Sami" in case I ever catch her again (short for Sammy Davis Jr.).

 

 

Good to see lots of nice fish being caught! 

 

Lake Anna today. She wasn't so hospitable. Cool and foggy this morning. Muddy water, maybe a foot of vis where we were fishing up beyond the splits. We landed a couple dinks. About mid morning after the fog burned off I managed a 4.6lb chunk on a spinner bait on a main lake point. The rest of the fish seemed to have lock jaw. Eventually we had to call it as the wind picked up and boat traffic got to be too much for our little boat to handle. We also ended up in what felt like a sand storm of pollen! It was like breathing saw dust. My eyes are still burning from it. Historically, Anna has always been tough for me. This is my biggest catch from there yet. 

first decent catch on the kayak for the year.

just made the 3 lbs mark on a picasso shock blade with a lake fork magic shad trailer both in white.