2 hours ago, B-Gee said:

Thanks for the explanation. I guess you fish these wacky style with the hook thru the center of the Wormz. Is this correct?

Yes, usually the center of balance, which might not be dead center. It varies depending on what brand worm you use (they all work). 

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

Nice. I sometimes make noises similar to that gator.

That youngster asked me If I burped 

Wife and I were lake camping again and she layed out the frying pan before we even got into the boat.

This was a spring fed lake and the fish tasted fantastic.

This was her catches and she did all the work.

 

Fished a tournament on my new home lake yesterday. Felt pretty decent headed back to the ramp with a limit anchored by these two.  Turns out I was a full five inches out of the money.  The lake was giving up some real hogs.  I think I counted ten fish over 20 inches in a 46 boat tourney.

I'm hurting so bad!!! Last cast of the day, I was fishing near a fountain and  found a nice little pocket, very narrow and the perfect cast had to be executed or you'd be in the grass and possibly hung up, so I nailed the cast reeled in the slack and the strike dang near took the rod out of my hand (I was throwing a Jackhammer)...the fish hit with something fierce, we battled back and forth i was trying so hard to be delicate but stern in my fight, but she slipped away over to the fountain, and wrapped herself around the dang thing. My line broke off and I knew it was a big fish, it never jumped to where I could see her, but you know what a big fish is when you fight, she did make some heavy splashes and make tons of drama to know I something special. Oh well, it just wasn't meant to be, but it was enough to make my day. You win some and you lose some. It could be a special summer! 

Gotta like it when this is the result of the first cast of the day. She was half blind but blasted the sb on the second handle turn.

 

Pops getting in on the action.

 

Caught this nice 20" fish early in the morning on a buzzbait along a rock jetty.

 

I bought a new spinning reel recently, but haven't had a chance to try it out. I had a couple of hours to fish Saturday morning so I headed to the pond. I caught 3 dinks with the new reel on a wacky rigged Yum dinger before I switched to a different setup.

 

I also picked up a new swim jig recently. I caught a fish on the first cast with the new swim jig. I don't remember ever catching a fish on the first cast with a new lure so this one is definitely a keeper. I caught one dink, and two that were a hair under 2 lbs on the swim jig. Anything 2+ is pretty good in this particular pond.

 

 

My last catch of the day was on a 4.8 Keitech fat. I caught 7 total, and picked up breakfast for the family on my way home. Not a bad way to start a weekend.

 

Had another kayak tournament this past weekend at one of my favorite smallmouth lakes. Wasn't sure what to expect, lake was 4' high and dirty, not great smallmouth conditions. I tried for about an hour in prefishing to fish for largemouth and hated every second of it, so I went smallmouth fishing. 2 hours later, I was done prefishing. I was going to fish the sides of flooded boat ramps where they transitioned from concrete to chunk rock. They seemed to be schooling in large numbers on them for some reason. 

Tournament morning I started at the state park ramp because I'd caught some fish in the surrounding area as well as the ramp. My first few cast netted 2 sauger and a crappie, not what I'd hoped for. About 15 minutes in, I finally caught a 15.5" smallie and next cast a 15.25" fish. Not the fish I needed, but better than nothing. After about 30 minutes and only managing to lose 1 more fish, I started to drift across the ramp and fishing my Ned rig really slowly down the ramp. I thought I hit a rock but my rod tip slowly started to bend. An angry smallie went airborne immediately but the hook held and I scooped a 19 incher.

I fished the other side of the ramp but couldn't get anything off it for some reason. I peddled to a bank I'd caught a couple in practice but another kayak was parked there. I moved down from him a little ways and caught another 15.25" fish my first cast. Nothing else came from that bank so I went back to the ramp. I was already starting to feel like I was at the wrong ramp. There was so many other anglers at this one. I went back to the ramp and fired a long cast and picked off another 15.5" fish. I tried for another half hour to get bit again but nothing was happening, so I threw the kayak in the truck and moved to the other ramp. 

 I was really happy to find only 1 other kayak at that ramp and they were a long way from where I was going to fish. Again, I started with a small walleye, but then the next hour I went on a tear of smallmouth catching. It seemed I was constantly catching fish every couple cast, but I was only culling small amounts. I got a 16.25", 16.5", 16.75" and had a 17.25" literally almost jump into my net laying on the front of my kayak.

It really felt like a matter of time before a bigger one happened, and then a truck pulled into the parking lot and out jumped 3 people. All 3 came straight down the bank, and for the next hour I was dodging bobbers and crappie jigs, untangling lines, doing everything I could to be nice and keep my cool, but it was more than I could take, I loaded up and left to the ramp where I'd camped at down the lake. I had caught a couple nice smallmouth there, including a 19.5" fish from the bank, and it's one of my favorite big fish areas normally, but it also was even dirtier than the rest of the lake. They'd released a ton of water overnight and with it being in a shallower part of the lake, I think the fish backed off, I only caught 2 more small bass the rest of the day. I had a heartbreak drum and back to back channel cats in the last 30 minutes that were all big disappointments. Despite the difficulties, I managed to pull out a 3rd place finish and my 19" smallmouth was 2nd big bass of the day. 

Stopped by the pond for five minutes just for the heck of it. Only had a ML/XF set up with a weightless Senko TR with me, and it was breezy so I knew wind knots would likely be a factor. But five minutes of fishing beats no fishing lol. 
 

First cast got a nibble. Second cast was dink on but he let go (think he only had the tail). Two more casts were empty. The next cast I had the bait about two feet from shore and something hit it, rolled over through the algae and let go. I thought it was a catfish. I casted back to the same spot and it got nailed immediately. It wasn’t a cat. Not bad for five minutes! 
 

 

 

 

this is the first big bass of the season. put up a good fight. i caught it on a homemade buzzbait. she grabbed it like a gentle dog taking a treat! came right to the boat. then i think she realized she was hooked. the acrobatic dislpay i thought i was gonna lose her. 

about 21" long. im guessing 5-6 lb. good for PA.

Nice bass! 

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Had another kayak tournament this past weekend at one of my favorite smallmouth lakes. Wasn't sure what to expect, lake was 4' high and dirty, not great smallmouth conditions. I tried for about an hour in prefishing to fish for largemouth and hated every second of it, so I went smallmouth fishing. 2 hours later, I was done prefishing. I was going to fish the sides of flooded boat ramps where they transitioned from concrete to chunk rock. They seemed to be schooling in large numbers on them for some reason. 

Tournament morning I started at the state park ramp because I'd caught some fish in the surrounding area as well as the ramp. My first few cast netted 2 sauger and a crappie, not what I'd hoped for. About 15 minutes in, I finally caught a 15.5" smallie and next cast a 15.25" fish. Not the fish I needed, but better than nothing. After about 30 minutes and only managing to lose 1 more fish, I started to drift across the ramp and fishing my Ned rig really slowly down the ramp. I thought I hit a rock but my rod tip slowly started to bend. An angry smallie went airborne immediately but the hook held and I scooped a 19 incher.

I fished the other side of the ramp but couldn't get anything off it for some reason. I peddled to a bank I'd caught a couple in practice but another kayak was parked there. I moved down from him a little ways and caught another 15.25" fish my first cast. Nothing else came from that bank so I went back to the ramp. I was already starting to feel like I was at the wrong ramp. There was so many other anglers at this one. I went back to the ramp and fired a long cast and picked off another 15.5" fish. I tried for another half hour to get bit again but nothing was happening, so I threw the kayak in the truck and moved to the other ramp. 

 I was really happy to find only 1 other kayak at that ramp and they were a long way from where I was going to fish. Again, I started with a small walleye, but then the next hour I went on a tear of smallmouth catching. It seemed I was constantly catching fish every couple cast, but I was only culling small amounts. I got a 16.25", 16.5", 16.75" and had a 17.25" literally almost jump into my net laying on the front of my kayak.

It really felt like a matter of time before a bigger one happened, and then a truck pulled into the parking lot and out jumped 3 people. All 3 came straight down the bank, and for the next hour I was dodging bobbers and crappie jigs, untangling lines, doing everything I could to be nice and keep my cool, but it was more than I could take, I loaded up and left to the ramp where I'd camped at down the lake. I had caught a couple nice smallmouth there, including a 19.5" fish from the bank, and it's one of my favorite big fish areas normally, but it also was even dirtier than the rest of the lake. They'd released a ton of water overnight and with it being in a shallower part of the lake, I think the fish backed off, I only caught 2 more small bass the rest of the day. I had a heartbreak drum and back to back channel cats in the last 30 minutes that were all big disappointments. Despite the difficulties, I managed to pull out a 3rd place finish and my 19" smallmouth was 2nd big bass of the day. 

Now that’s determination !

Got out yesterday. Nothing massive like most of you. Biggest was 14 inches. But regardless of size, it's always lotsa fun. 

Only caught 3 this morning, but they were good enough for me. Each one was better than the last, and each bit on a Senko off a downed tree. A decent pond bass, a good pond bass, and a big girl (too bad she was spawned out).

 

 

 

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Excellent @ironbjorn and others. I have not found the "bigguns" recently. Just will post up what I have from recent trips. Couple more catfish as well and this time, I made wiser decisions handling and photoing them, lol. 

 

Keep on catching em good ya'll

Got out today about 7- 12:30. Got 14, 1 on a texas rig yo mama, 1 on a bladed jig,2 on a spinnerbait and 10 on a buzzbait with the best a 3-12 on the buzzbait 

4 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

Only caught 3 this morning, but they were good enough for me. Each one was better than the last, and each bit on a Senko off a downed tree. A decent pond bass, a good pond bass, and a big girl (too bad she was spawned out).

 

 

 

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Nice and I love that sweatshirt. Go pack go

I'm not a Packers fan I just like Aaron Rodgers btw haha

Had our state tourney this week at Norton County Lake, two day event, but prefished a couple days.

 

First day of prefishing we had 17 pounds, caught fish on almost every cast.  We left good spots alone, and didn't fish them until tourney day.

 

Big baits you threw, smaller fish you caught.

 

First few cast:

Swim Jig fish:

Day two bag:

@Bluebasser86 flipping jig prefishing:

\

Prefishing:

Culling day two:

Day one was tough for us, only weighed 10 pounds.  Might have culled once.

Day two was much better,  weighed 13. 59, culled at least 5 times. 

 

Should've done better based on prefishing, but we were happy with an 8th place finish, during state, on a lake we'd never heard of.

3 minutes ago, HaydenS said:

Had our state tourney this week at Norton County Lake, two day event, but prefished a couple days.

 

First day of prefishing we had 17 pounds, caught fish on almost every cast.  We left good spots alone, and didn't fish them until tourney day.

 

Big baits you threw, smaller fish you caught.

 

First few cast:

Swim Jig fish:

Day two bag:

@Bluebasser86 flipping jig prefishing:

\

Prefishing: 64.09 kB · 0 downloads

Culling day two:

Day one was tough for us, only weighed 10 pounds.  Might have culled once.

Day two was much better,  weighed 13. 59, culled at least 5 times. 

 

Should've done better based on prefishing, but we were happy with an 8th place finish, during state, on a lake we'd never heard of.

Great job Hayden ?????

Fished 3a - 10a this morning and caught two 18 - 20' deep on rocks on a T - Rigged beaver and two on the Bull Wake after daylight. 

We had some showers go through yesterday afternoon and evening but that had cleared out by the time I was able to fish.  Water was high and murky and it seemed like a good chance to slow down and try out the molting craw color TRDs I had gotten a few weeks back but hadn't used yet.  Suspicion was confirmed with a few 1 pound fish and then it started to sprinkle.  Checked the radar and there was some spotty stuff around but whatever I don't mind getting a little wet to catch some fish.  Wanted to see if I could get a better bite so I switched to the trusty KVD 1.5 squarebill in neon bluegill.  Right away I had the best fish of the night, a ~2.5 pounder, on and thrashing around.  The strike was weird and I set the hook late and barely had him by the back treble.  He came off trying to lift him up onto the bank.  Caught a few more 1 pound fish and had a few more brief showers on me.  Then this bluegill crushed the crank.  I get a chuckle every time they blast a lure that won't fit in their mouth.  During that catch the rain had picked up.  Sky didn't look great but I was already a decent bit wet and light was fading anyway so I'd only be there a few more minutes.  Plus the radar I had previously looked at seemed fine so why not keep fishing.  

 

 

 

Switched back to the ned since I hadn't fished it on this side of the pond.  I was hopping it back to me when on the 3rd hop I felt a little more resistance than usual.  Leaned into it and the line started running.  I saw someone on here mention yesterday about watching how the fish react if you keep tension on the line but barely fight them so that's what I did.  The fish basically swam to me without a fight.  Once I got her to the bank was a different story but I had a high 2s - low 3s fish in hand.  Soon as I unhooked it it was like the skies decided, "ok, you've had your fun now, time to go home" and a monsoon unloaded.  Luckily I keep a towel in the truck and had a spare shirt to boot because I was soaked from head to toe and through to my boxers lol.  Worth it for a few fish ?.  Ended up with 8 bass and the 1 get away in about 80 mins.

 

Found a number of post spawn smallmouth at depths of 15', give or take, in locations not far from where they had spawned.  They were receptive to Z-Man's small stuff, the Finesse TRD and TicklerZ fished on a 1/16 oz. or 3/32 oz. mushroom head .

 

 

 

 

 

Wife and i for the first time in 4 weeks stepped away from the river fishing for walleye and brownies which we were succeessful at but the dam has been releasing lots of water the past week due to more rain.

The dam at the river we fish is releasing 2000 gps of water and it has flooded out our fishing spots.

It is not a giant dam or river but the effect it has is major.

When they release a bit more now and then the rolling waves of the surges are like being at a swimming parks wave pool. Pic of the dam.

 

 

So we went to our favorite lake and fished for crappie and blugill. Caught lots more bluegill than crappie as gills are spawning now.

I was messing around with bass before the blugill and after throwing a spinner bait 1 cast and then a chatter bait 2 casts i put them away and just wanted to fish lazilly.

I was burnt out from casting jerkbaits, crankbaits the past month at the river pulling them upstream against the current.

Do you ever get to that point where you are just tired of casting a thousand casts and want to chill out?

So i pulled out the red 8" berkley kingtail t-rigged and cast it out and sat on a rock and slowly dragged it in. I caught a hand full of bass, nothing big 2-3 lbs but enjoyed just dragging away.