8 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Time will tell, my sample size today was pretty small. Had four good bites, hooked into two of them and both threw it on the jump even with the whole bait deep in their mouth. Four bites is not enough data to say either way, but it was not a promising start.

 

Looks good in the water, though, that iridescence really comes to life in the sun. I do wish it had a bit more secondary action, tail thumps like crazy but the body is pretty static. It reminds me a lot of how the Live Target swimbaits run, but it's getting bit so who am I to judge?

I've got the 4" and have had 0 problems with hook ups on that thing.  What are you throwing them on?

3 hours ago, hokiehunter373 said:

I've got the 4" and have had 0 problems with hook ups on that thing.  What are you throwing them on?

 

The 3" is significantly smaller than the 4". It's a small, reasonably light wire hook (very stout, just not heavy gauge or anything), so I'm throwing them on my lighter Texas-rig rod. 7'2" M/XF SLX, 30lb braid to 20lb fluoro leader. Rod is stouter than you think for a medium, can push 3/4oz+ on it easily, a 3/8 oz bait with that hook is easy peasy to drive home.

 

Again, 4 fish is not a large sample size, this was just my early impression.

i caught 16 spots this afternoon 

7 minutes ago, lo n slo said:

i caught 16 spots this afternoon 

Chunky. Great job, looks like a fun day!

Just now, thediscochef said:

Chunky. Great job, looks like a fun day!

yes it was, thanks man ?

5 hours ago, lo n slo said:

i caught 16 spots this afternoon 

Good to see you back on some fish!

I got a couple as the sun went down on the watermelon seed super fluke. The high south winds were blowing right into our little end of the lake canal. It had blown a mat of pollen up in there. When I threw the fluke up on the mat , and dragged it off the edge… BOOM..

Suprised that I didn’t catch more !

Not a bass, although I got one more new rig with a catch on it for the year. Alabama rig, nice little chunky pike 28-30 inches. Didn't want to get too close don't feel like getting stitches today lol. Water was very cold ? 35 degrees out, cheap waders had me feeling every degree.

It's been too long since I've posted in this thread. 2022 has mostly been a dink fest for me until this weekend. Feels good to post here again.

 

The first set of pictures was from Friday. It was cold, windy, and the water was extremely muddy. Visibility was only about a foot so we thought we needed to throw loud lures. We threw lipless, chatterbaits, etc. Nothing worked all morning.

 

After noon I decided to tie on a finesse worm. It doesn't make sense in those conditions, but it worked. I thought the first one had to be luck, but they kept biting all afternoon. After I landed the 5 pounder in the third picture my partner quit resisting, and tied on the same lure. He started catching fish too. We ended up having a good day. Just another case of let the fish tell you what they want.

 

 

 

 

The pic below was the first fish of the day on Monday. If you look closely you might recognize the rockstar @roadwarrior in the back of the boat. I got the first fish of the day, but he caught the next 10 in a row in the exact same spot.

 

 

I was feeling pretty good coming off of Friday, but the fish reminded me of my amateur status on Monday. I hooked several fish Monday, but had great trouble landing the good ones. There were 3 in particular that hurt. If I had landed those three it might've been the biggest day I've ever had from a "best 5" standpoint, but it turned into a story of the one(s) that got away.

 

The one that stung the most was crazy from the start. I threw a lipless toward a small point. The lure barely hit the water before a big girl jumped up and got it. When I realized she had it I started reeling, but never really got a good hookset. After a few acrobatic jumps she was gone. I'm pretty sure this one would've been a new PB for me, but alas...she got away. I know where she lives though. I plan on paying her another visit.

 

It's funny how razor thin the line is between a great day and a frustrating day with fishing. I guess the thrill of victory vs the agony of defeat is what keeps us coming back for more. I'm trying again tomorrow. It's a new lake that I've never fished so I'm excited.

 

1 hour ago, Fishlegs said:

It's been too long since I've posted in this thread. 2022 has mostly been a dink fest for me until this weekend. Feels good to post here again.

 

The first set of pictures was from Friday. It was cold, windy, and the water was extremely muddy. Visibility was only about a foot so we thought we needed to throw loud lures. We threw lipless, chatterbaits, etc. Nothing worked all morning.

 

After noon I decided to tie on a finesse worm. It doesn't make sense in those conditions, but it worked. I thought the first one had to be luck, but they kept biting all afternoon. After I landed the 5 pounder in the third picture my partner quit resisting, and tied on the same lure. He started catching fish too. We ended up having a good day. Just another case of let the fish tell you what they want.

 

 

 

 

The pic below was the first fish of the day on Monday. If you look closely you might recognize the rockstar @roadwarrior in the back of the boat. I got the first fish of the day, but he caught the next 10 in a row in the exact same spot.

 

 

I was feeling pretty good coming off of Friday, but the fish reminded me of my amateur status on Monday. I hooked several fish Monday, but had great trouble landing the good ones. There were 3 in particular that hurt. If I had landed those three it might've been the biggest day I've ever had from a "best 5" standpoint, but it turned into a story of the one(s) that got away.

 

The one that stung the most was crazy from the start. I threw a lipless toward a small point. The lure barely hit the water before a big girl jumped up and got it. When I realized she had it I started reeling, but never really got a good hookset. After a few acrobatic jumps she was gone. I'm pretty sure this one would've been a new PB for me, but alas...she got away. I know where she lives though. I plan on paying her another visit.

 

It's funny how razor thin the line is between a great day and a frustrating day with fishing. I guess the thrill of victory vs the agony of defeat is what keeps us coming back for more. I'm trying again tomorrow. It's a new lake that I've never fished so I'm excited.

 

Awesome post, great read. And wait.... I thought @roadwarrior only posts gifs/memes.... He actually fishes? 

 

?

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Awesome post, great read. And wait.... I thought @roadwarrior only posts gifs/memes.... He actually fishes? 

 

?

Thanks!

 

Oh yea! @roadwarrior fishes the way he posts gifs…like a boss. ? 

 

Missed a couple, but caught this nice largemouth in the scum pond this evening ?

Probably 2 or 3 pounder if I had to guess. 

4 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Awesome post, great read. And wait.... I thought @roadwarrior only posts gifs/memes.... He actually fishes? 

 

?

I can also confirm as I've spent a day in the boat with him, even have video proof of it.

Pre spawn bite is really picking up in spite of the weather. We've been yo-yoing between shirt sleeve and sub freezing temps. Here's a couple from Wed. and Thurs. Have caught many 2-3 lbrs. this past month but still haven't cracked 4 yet. Maybe tomorrow.

@TroxBox was kind enough to lend me a spot on his boat today, which was awesome. Great guy, great angler! Canyon Lake, TX is absolutely gorgeous but SO CLEAR. We could see bottom in some areas 15 feet I think. We caught fish, had some jerkbait heartbreak but also much success, all mine came on a KVDJ300 and an Ultimate Jerk Shad in the Ghost Shad color. They liked the green. This was the big on the day. I also caught a smallmouth which is always special. I’ve had a good day!

 Ah, the tale of two days of fishing. Went out after a front moved through and my best bite of the morning I broke off setting the hook. A couple of rats were all I could put in the the boat to keep the skunk outta the boat. 
 The next morning with the tide being a half hour laterI headed to the same bank anticipating the bite changing from the previous day.  My first cast produced a dark, football shaped 3.2lb fish that choked my offering. I had to don my prescription glasses and perform (successfully) hook removal surgery. After releasing my patient and retying, I caught a 14” fish outta the same hole. I figured I had to see if the spot would continue to produce so I fired back up in there. I felt a tick and as I gathered line my rod loaded and after a great battle of bulldogging under the boat I netted hefty 6.1lber that appeared ready to pop. As the tide bottomed out, I did land a beautiful 5.6lber that fought extremely hard before coming to net. Just kinda crazy how drastically different two days on the water can be and I’m glad for the experience.

 

                                       

Man sometimes I feel like a beginner lol ? I lost a few fish today because I did not get a good hook set/bass threw the hook, but I managed to land this beautiful example on a chatterbait ?. Easily 20"+  

First ever time seeing dale hollow, wow. Beautiful lake, tons of loons. We fished from 2:30 til dark, almost got a 3 person skunk. Luckily ran into some fish on the way back to the marina/cabin, one of which was 4 lb and 19.5”       Dale yeah! 


 

On 3/24/2022 at 4:05 PM, thediscochef said:

I had a real lucky day today all around - found out I WAY overestimated how much I needed to save for my self employment taxes. My investments jumped. A piece of audio gear I ordered in November finally showed up. 

 

So naturally I went and got a new baitcaster combo, and another vision 110. And given the rest of the day, I had to get by some water. I spent about two hours casting in various areas, with 10 minutes left I landed this nice spotted bass. Weighed in at 2.4lbs, which is technically a PB, though only by a quarter pound. It's definitely a larger fish than the last one. Now I'm going to go play bass in my band. It's a beautiful day

 

Now that is a beer belly!

On 4/1/2022 at 1:44 AM, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Having fun with some small fish for the past few day with pixy, 4” Senko and 6lb line. Most of them small less than 2lb and the bite pretty aggressive 3-4 fish almost gutted hook. Not sure if this 20” late spawner or come in for second or third round. 

Nice one. That pic is a great example of why I quit using EWG hooks. Too many lost because they were only skin hooked or hooked through the membrane. Not knocking those who like them, just found straight shanks and offsets to hook'em better for me.

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

First ever time seeing dale hollow, wow. Beautiful lake, tons of loons. We fished from 2:30 til dark, almost got a 3 person skunk. Luckily ran into some fish on the way back to the marina/cabin, one of which was 4 lb and 19.5”       Dale yeah! 


 

That looks like a mighty fine way to knock the skunk out of the boat.

4 hours ago, Fishlegs said:

That looks like a mighty fine way to knock the skunk out of the boat.

I didn’t mind it! Got 3 this morning, 17” smallie and two largemouth 16” and 14.999999” (keeper is 15”). Going back out shortly 

Been stuck on the bank with only some short sessions for the last two weeks. Trying to cross off some “honey dos” and keep the wife happy. Finally got out on the kayak this morning. Had a cold front come through so it was a chilly 45 when I started. Wasn’t expecting much and wasn’t surprised the bite wasn’t great. Did manage to catch one on a speed worm and my first fish on the Fogyneither had much size to them. I lost three more on the Fogy due to weak hooksets. Out of practice I guess. 
 Spawn is definitely on here. Lots of beds and even got to watch a fish fanning out a bed which was really cool. Had one spot nearby that I counted around 10 bass all staging together on one piece of cover. Hoping to get back out sooner than later. 

Slow day but got these 2 that were nearly identical on back to back casts. Beautiful spring day though

 

 

Fished a little tournament today, a tiny boat tournament open to any kind of boat up to a 16' johnboat with a 15hp motor but only 1 person per vessel. I was in my kayak. Not much experience on the lake and none of what I had was good but I wanted to knock some of the rust off before tournament season starts next weekend. I ran to the shallow end of the lake hoping there would be warmer water and fish feeding up getting ready to spawn. The lake that is normally very clear had less than 6" of visibility. Still, the water was 51* and big shad were flipping, I was hopeful. Almost 2 hours later with no bites, I was no longer hopeful. I didn't know much about the lake, but I know dams of small impoundments hold bass, especially early in the year, so I peddled back to the other end. Working a Biospawn ExoNed, I snagged on the water willows and attempted to work it loose when it suddenly took off. Not sure if it popped loose and the fish ate it or if it ate it off the weeds but I finally had a 15" fish on the board.

Maybe 10 minutes later, I got a little tick, set the hook and started fighting the fish, just for it to come off. Major heartbreak on a day that I knew was going to be so difficult. I fished the rest of the dam and was just about to the end and was finishing a long cast when I felt a light bump right under the boat. I pretty much set and swung in a 13.5" fish, #2 but really wishing I had the fish I lost at that point.

I fished back across the dam, alternating baits, with nothing to show for it. I'd seen 1 fish get caught on a trap and then saw another on a crank. They were obviously eating moving baits too, I just needed to commit. Started flinging around a SPRO Essential Series Hunter 65 squarebill in the Fire Craw color. Really loud and hard wobbling bait, had my new St. Croix LTB glass rod just a dancing. Cranked it down the side of a rock fishing jetty lined with wood and got whacked. Fish was hooked funny and dove into a new cedar tree, had me in trouble for a second but swung another 15" fish into the boat. 

Things were getting interesting but I only had about 1.5 hours left since we were only fishing until noon. I popped into the back of the cut that pier was in and fan cast a bladed jig. Had one knock about a foot of slack in my line and not even touch the hook, how do they do that? 

Went back down the fishing piers where I'd caught my last one and as I was rounding out the last one, another fish just kind of mushed onto my bait. A brief fight and I had the net under a 16.25" fish, again on the SPRO squarebill.

45 minutes left, I needed another bite. Kicked over to the dam again and switched to a Junebug TRD. I'd fished almost the whole dam, made a long cast and had given up on it, but as soon as I went to reel in a fish grabbed it. #5 was only 14.5" but it was a big fish on a day this tough, it was 11:30 when I looked at my phone after the pictures.

I tried for a cull the last 30 minutes but no more bites were to be found. At the ramp, I found out that I had the only 5 fish limit on the day. Only 1 other person had 4, 1 had 3, a couple had 2, a few had 1, and several blanked. Just a brutally tough day, but those are usually the days that I shine on. My buddy Neil had big bass on the day.

 

Since we got done early than normal, I stopped by another lake on the way home and caught a nice spotted bass just for good measure ?