Of course i didn't have my scale with me, but she was a MONSTER!  well over 5 lbs.

19 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 

Personal Best Brown Trout Today ~ 

A-Jay

That is enormous! Nice catch! What was the weight on that one? 

@teethmarksyour bass with the spots on it is called melanosis. Basically a build up of pigment in the skin. Not contagious and even safe to eat. 

Fished a couple's tournament on greers ferry yesterday. Absolutely stunning lake, beautiful clear water. As for the fishing just caught 3 keepers and a bunch of almost 15 inchers so the finish wasn't too hot. Had a blast all-n-all though. Good weekend spent with the significant other. The fish in the pic was by far the smallest of the day lol 

6 hours ago, Fairtax4me said:

That is enormous! Nice catch! What was the weight on that one? 

Thanks - 

I sort of sad to say I didn't weigh it.

She was being extremely uncooperative.

In an effort to release her unharmed I got some quick video, revived her sufficiently and sent her on her way.

I hate guessing but my best one is maybe 10 to 12 lbs.

And I will readily admit I have only weighted one big trout before and it was a 7 lb Steelhead.

This was fish was quite a bit taller, longer & had a serious set of 'shoulders'.

A-Jay

 

Tough fishing yesterday. Fishing behind a dozen other boats on a <200 acre reservoir didn't help much, and I couldn't find anything offshore either.

 

Caught a dozen or so bass in northern Indiana on a topwater frog on Friday. One of them even pooped out an ewg hook that I was easily able to remove the rest of the way. 

4 in a couple hours on the t rigged black/blue Dinger. Largest was 2.7. Hooked into a big fish and it snapped my line. In the past 1.5 years of fishing 3-5 times a week, this has never happened to me. My drag on my Pflueger was cranked all the way down(from trying to get out of a snag). So that was a bummer. 

 

 

On 5/14/2018 at 9:06 PM, WolfyBrandon said:

[May 14, 2018]

^ Previous

 

[May 20, 2018]

 

Sometime last week while planning our next fishing trip, Jeremy mentioned that he might not have a lot of time. He asked if I would still be interested even if we only had a few hours to fish, to which I replied I'm always willing to go. We planned to fish during our weekend on Sunday, meet up at his place around 6:00am, and probably fish till around noon.

 

When I woke up I took a look at the forecast for today...

 

 

I could see it was partly cloudy with a high of 73F. There was a front off the coast, and a low pressure system to the south. It was looking pre-frontal as the pressure was going to fall after a few hours, and the clouds were moving in with a chance of rain. 

 

Arrived at his place at 5:50am, retied my starting bait selection which was the same as our previous trip except I swapped the Bladed Jig to a Wacky Rig. We headed to the lake at 6:15am, launched the boat at 6:35am, and noticed the lake level had dropped slightly since our last trip. Water temp also dropped from 49F to 48F, and the water clarity was now about ~3-4ft. We headed to our first location at 6:45am...

 

 

It was a short run to our first location, water temp was 49F, and stained with ~3ft clarity. We began fishing and noticed the area had some current to it. They must be really drawing the lake down today, which explains the lower lake level even after a day of heavy rain last week and the snow melt and spring runoff still continuing. I was using the current to my advantage letting my weightless wacky rig get pulled 3-6ft under a large mat of wood, logs, & debris. I didn't have high hopes with the water being this cold. We moved down to some current breaks and fished around them and even into a pocket with slack water. There was enough pollen on the surface you could easily see where the edge of the current was. We fished our first location for 1 hour, and not a single bite for either of us (lots of snags though due to the current). During our time fishing the first location we saw numerous bass boats heading to the south end of the lake. I haven't been checking up on the tournament schedule lately, but what we didn't know was there was actually a bass tournament held on this lake just yesterday the 19th.

 

We decided to move, and were discussing where our second location should be. Jeremy wanted to head south where everyone else was headed (thinking they might know something we don't), and I wanted to head north where everyone else might be overlooking. We actually had some time today and the possibility to do both, so the question was which one first? I figured since the south end is shallower we should head there first during the morning hours, and before the fishing pressure increases. The idea was to spend and hour or so down there and if things don't work out, turn around and head back up north while we have time. We also wanted to at least check it out as around this time last year (May 22, 2017) we actually had good luck fishing the south end, though year to year conditions can vary. At 7:50am, we headed south...

 

 

On the way there we slowed down to an idle to check out a ledge and creek channel that we passed over a few trips ago and marked fish. There was also a large debris field near it on the surface created from all the runoff. We didn't see much activity out deep, so we continued on.

 

Second location, water temp 48F, water clarity stained ~3ft. Jeremy wanted to make a quick stop and give this area a try, as it's an area he's fished in the past. We fished it for 25 minutes without a bite and decided to move as the water here was still pretty cold. In the short amount of time we spent here, we could still see boats coming to the south end of the lake.

 

 

Third location, arrival time 8:35am, water temp 57-60F, water clarity stained ~4.5ft. We could see two other boats in this general area off in the distance. 10 minutes after we began fishing, Jeremy gets my attention and points out what looks like good sized fish hitting the surface like crazy out in the open water. At first I thought it might be birds as I could see something but couldn't make it out. So I zoomed in 8x with my camera and snapped a picture. Then zoomed in on the picture and could see it was actually a small patch of lilly pads out there and sizable fish hitting the surface all around it...

 

   

 

We put the trolling motor on high and started heading for them. Couldn't tell if they were bass or not, but we could tell they were sizable fish over a few pounds. I just so happened to bring my box of topwater walking baits with me today, so I swapped out the Deep Diving Jerkbait for a Reaction Innovations Vixen...

 

 

There were multiple surface strikes every few seconds within a very large radius, they were everywhere and before we knew it we had them on both sides of us. They were busting like a cast & a half away from us, and I could almost reach them with the vixen, so we stopped the trolling motor and went quiet. That's when they got a little closer and I was able to make a few good casts with the vixen and... nothing. I had this sinking feeling that they were not bass, but was curious just to catch one to identify the species. Time was ticking away and I told Jeremy the only way we could possibly catch one is to wait till one busts and cast something right on the rings. Well as luck would have it, one busted the surface, Jeremy made a perfect cast with a spoon onto the rings and let it sink to the bottom. Once he hopped it up and began the retrieve his rod loaded up, Fish On! It was only when we got it to the boat we learned they were big Northern Pike Minnows...

 

 

Not the target species we were hoping to catch, however this is the first time either of us has seen surface activity like that, chased them down, and were successful in catching one of them. So in a way, it was a win for us. All the surface activity had brought in numerous ospreys & bald eagles to the area, and though we didn't want the fish, a bald eagle was more than happy to make a meal of it...

 

  

 

I swapped the Vixen back to the Deep Diving Jerkbait, and we headed back to where we were originally fishing. I started throwing the Wacky Rig around and actually broke off what would of been my first bass today (seen it flash). Shortly after that (as I was retying) Jeremy hooked into his first bass which was a nice little largemouth. I was also throwing the grub around, and felt something pick it up and drop it. Never could get that fish to come back and bite again or take the Wacky Rig. We spent a total of 1 hour and 47 minutes at our third location and those were our only bites. Not wanting to waste any more time, it was now time to head north. We decided to have a little lunch break on our way out, as it was now 10:30am. Headed north, we could see snow still high in the mountains, it's going to be a while before that cold runoff is finished... 

 

 

Fourth location, water temp 51-52F, water clarity stained ~3.5ft. We arrived near one of our "honey holes" right at 11:00am. Behind us, we could see the edge of that front moving in...

 

  

   

Throwing both the Wacky Rig & Grub, It took about 30 minutes and I started catching them...

 

 

Bass 01 - 15'' - 1 lb 05 oz - Grub

Bass 02 - 14 & 1/4" - 1 lb 08 oz - Wacky Rig

Bass 03 - 14 & 1/2" - 1 lb 07 oz - Wacky Rig

Bass 04 - 16" - 1 lb 14 oz - Grub

 

I was hooking them one after another yet Jeremy was struggling to even get a bite. It wasn't until he made a bait change to a soft plastic craw, he was able to catch his second bass today. They seemed to want a dead stick presentation or something, I would throw the Wacky Rig out and just let it sink, work it out to 10-12ft depth and wait. When I would check the bait the fish would already have it. Had one deep hooked, but my Quarrow Hook Remover made short work of it. (Love that tool, it's a fish life saver.)

 

 

Spent a total of 1 hour 55 minutes at our fourth location, and it was now 1:20pm. We only planned to fish till around noon, but the fishing was just starting to get good... So we decided to keep fishing and head even further north up to this specific bay Jeremy wanted to give a try. With the front moving in, the wind from the west had picked up even more where it was now starting to whitecap, and the boat ride north was getting rough.

 

Fifth location, water temp 60-62F, water clarity stained ~4ft. We were fishing the southeast corner of the bay, right where the wind was pushing everything, and it was loaded. Jeremy caught his 3rd, we doubled up for my 5th and his 4th, then he caught his 5th, and later I hooked my 6th.

 

 

Bass 05 - 13 & 1/2" - 1 lb 01 oz - Wacky Rig

Bass 06 - 14 & 1/4" - 1 lb 05 oz - Wacky Rig

 

There were more fish in the area, Jeremy saw a good sized bass follow in one he had hooked. I made a hookset with the Wacky Rig where I lost a Yum Dinger, but still had the hook & O-Ring. Something swiped at my spinnerbait as I saw it move sideways but didn't get hooked. I even managed to throw the Squarebill and hook into a bonus fish...

 

 

A nice 7 lb pike (didn't get a measurement). Even though the fishing was great, it was now 3:00pm. We were 3 hours into overtime and had to call it, so we headed back to the ramp.

 

 

We pulled the boat out at 3:30pm. The front had moved in over the south end of the lake, and we could really feel the drop in temperature as we headed back to the ramp. We even saw a bolt of lightning off in the distance. It was quite the day, started off slow, but with a change in location, and even the changing weather, things really took a turn for the better. It ended up being our best fishing trip so far this year.

 

WolfyBrandon

 

12 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I hate guessing but my best one is maybe 10 to 12 lbs.

That's about right, based on the billions of browns I've caught.  Also, at least I get to hold my PB brown over you.  22 lbs.

 

Beautiful fish by the way.  Up here, the spots are very faint until late summer early fall.

 

Spring:

 

Fall:

A nice 4+ on a black buzz bait before going to work.

hit right over this fallen tree trunk that ive been casting at for the past 3 years.  this was the first ever catch at that target.

3 more in about an hour with the t rigged black/blue Dinger. I’ve got this neighborhood pond dialed in and I don’t ever want to leave. Largest went for 3.1. 

 

 

 

Lake has got a great smile.

 

Of course, his dad's coaching and catching had something to do with it.

Decided to bank fish a residential pond after dinner tonight. I don't take for granted that I can drive to spots within 3 miles of home and have a phenomenal hour of fishing, even after putting in a full day at the office. Caught 20 fish between 7:19 and 8:19 PM, all on the U-vibe. These were some of the best fish.

 

 

 

On 5/20/2018 at 6:09 PM, A-Jay said:

 

Personal Best Brown Trout Today ~ 

A-Jay

I don’t think I have ever seen you with anything under 5 lbs lol, your just the hawg magnet!! Awesome catch

Unfortunately didn't get the video from our whole day, my power cord quit working for some reason so my camera only went as far as the battery would take it. Thankfully did get a couple good ones we got in the morning. Turn your volume down, loud squeals ahead.

 

@Bluebasser86 awesome to see you and Lake putting it on some good fish!

 

@WDE I'm a huge dinger fan myself!  YUM makes some good stuff.

About a month away till bass opener here in Ontario and it can't come soon enough!!! seeing you all post your latest catches is killing me lol Gonna have to slide over to the NY side of Erie for some of them smallies to hold me over till we can get after them here

 

 

 

 

well done brother!

nice fish stubinater

On 5/23/2018 at 7:32 PM, hawgenvy said:

Decided to bank fish a residential pond after dinner tonight. I don't take for granted that I can drive to spots within 3 miles of home and have a phenomenal hour of fishing, even after putting in a full day at the office. Caught 20 fish between 7:19 and 8:19 PM, all on the U-vibe. These were some of the best fish.

 

 

 

Are you fishing that U-Vibe weightless?

6 hours ago, Dorado said:

Are you fishing that U-Vibe weightless?

I fish them weightless just like that. With a heavy EWG hook they track perfect and it's just enough weight to get the tail moving when it's on the fall. Or you can swim them sub surface, or run on top and the tail flaps like a buzz bait. Bass crush them. Over weeds, through cover, wood, brush piles. It's one of my favorite worms. 

As you can see, it catches some hawgs! 

17 hours ago, lo n slo said:

well done brother!

 

11 hours ago, lonnie g said:

nice fish stubinater

 

Thanks Guy's! both were just over 5lbs

Tossing and bumping the Booyah Bankroll Jig with the YUM Craw Chunk in craw again, I slam another stud. 

 

Lots of folks guessed 7ish, but I think it was a pound and a half bigger.  Next year this picture will escalate to a 12 when I tell the story.

Mine is no where near as big as the rest, fishing around my parts has been tough without any rain. This fish is the first fish I have caught since I have stocked a pond of mine in September of last year. Very VERY lively fish and swam away healthy. She post spawn of coarse.