I'm also guilty of the fish pictures that are not of bass.....but.....this big girl sure put a stretch in my 8lb mono! Slow bite and hot day on the river. Caught twenty but only two over 3lb. and this one big river monster.

@ol'crickety I'm grinning because the person holding the camera is my wife, and everything is just better when she's involved. 

45 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

 

@Dominat0r, that grass looks plastic in that first photo, which makes me wonder about the bass too. Say, have you been spending the summer sitting on one of those Florida lanais, sipping Mai-Tais and photographing plastic bass on plastic grass once a day? ?

ROFL, it was pouring all night, had to go out in the rain to get my fish for the day. Battling the rain is part of the streak!!

 

 

What a great day, @Blue Raider Bob! 

 

@IcatchDinks: You da hubby!

10 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

What a great day, @Blue Raider Bob! 

 

@IcatchDinks: You da hubby!

Katie, that big blue cat was bigger by far than all the twenty bass combined. She gently bit the Ned Jig and got really angry when it bit back. I though I'd hung a ski-boat! When the drag finally quit screaming it turned into a war of wills. I'd gain some and she'd gain some as I floated down the river.  Got her up and got her lipped and over the side. Only kept her long enough for a picture and back she went. Glenda said, "It only looks big 'cause your holding it out to the camera!" I said "BS"! I ain't strong enough to hold that fish out! It's straight up and down!

17 hours ago, T-Billy said:

One for @ol'crickety. How's that for fattening up? It weighed 2.19#. At least .19 was the bluegill in it's gut. The whole tail was sticking out it's gullet, and the little glutton still choked my sweet craw.

 

I got tired of fighting the legs on my little cell tripod, so I snapped 'em off this morning. Now all I have to do is drop it into a seat pedestal, and it's ready to take pics. Much easier, and faster. 

Durn Tim! That bass looks like it ate a boat seat!

3 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

She gently bit the Ned Jig and got really angry when it bit back.

 

^Great line!^ 

 

I love when fishers write like poets. They then remind me of the samurai who were also poets. 

 

4 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Glenda said, "It only looks big 'cause your holding it out to the camera!" I said "BS"! I ain't strong enough to hold that fish out! It's straight up and down!

 

^Funny!^

@Blue Raider Bob I had a similar experience hooking into a big old carp last year while fishing for panfish. I don't generally like catching carp. But WOW was that a ride. 

Fished Sinclair last night from 10p - 1a last and caught 5. 

2 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

@Blue Raider Bob I had a similar experience hooking into a big old carp last year while fishing for panfish. I don't generally like catching carp. But WOW was that a ride. 

You mean one of these! This river monster tested my reel warranty! This was a wild ride as well. I can relate to your experience!

2 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

You mean one of these! This river monster tested my reel warranty! This was a wild ride as well. I can relate to your experience!

Yep. One of those.

On a Ned rig

Not that big,

But I was using an ultralite rig.

 

( @ol'crickety, is this the kind of poetry you were talking about?)

 

 

28 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

Fished Sinclair last night from 10p - 1a last and caught 5. 

Oh, right. This is BASS thread isn't it? Nice fish. 

9 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

Yep. One of those.

On a Ned rig

Not that big,

But I was using an ultralite rig.

 

( @ol'crickety, is this the kind of poetry you were talking about?)

 

 

Oh, right. This is BASS thread isn't it? Nice fish. 

Yep....Ned rig on medium light spinning gear. 8lb mono while bass fishing. I'll never see a 23lb bass but I saw a 23lb Carp up close!

Katie will commend your poetry!

Friend of mine and I went to South Dakota to catch smallmouth and walleyes... and fortunately we did!  Biggest walleye was mine at just under 27 inches, and his smallmouth at 21.5 inches. Great trip, great memories?

2 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Friend of mine and I went to South Dakota to catch smallmouth and walleyes... and fortunately we did!  Biggest walleye was mine at just under 27 inches, and his smallmouth at 21.5 inches. Great trip, great memories?

Holy-moly!!! nice fish!! That bass is a hog! 

9 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

@IcatchDinks: Beautiful photos and fish. You look so happy in that last photo. 

 

@thediscochef, I know how those streaks go and they go both ways. I've been landing my big fish this year too, but in three consecutive casts last year, I lost three four-pound bass. All three jumped. I worked all three to the canoe. And all three came unpinned right there. I think that's a lifetime three and done for me, that I'll never hook such three fine fish on consecutive casts again. Anyway, I'm just happy you've caught such big fish this year. I remember how your year started, BUT YOU DIDN'T QUIT.

 

That would make a fine epitaph for all of us if we'd earned it: (S)He didn't quit.

 

@Dominat0r, that grass looks plastic in that first photo, which makes me wonder about the bass too. Say, have you been spending the summer sitting on one of those Florida lanais, sipping Mai-Tais and photographing plastic bass on plastic grass once a day? ?

Thanks! It was a grind to start the year but I learned a lot. I've prided myself on having a generally high hookup ratio, but my losses usually come in bunches. Personal record is 8 lost in one day, so many swear words. Last night wasn't so bad, it just makes me want to go back out there. I will be doing this until there is no more fish or no more tackle

Vacationed to Lake George, NY with my GF and her parents. Bought a $30 combo up there and some ned rig gear and was able to sneak in a little fishing. Caught both smallies and largies, only LMB by the lakehouse docks, had to paddle 1mi across the lake to find some smallmouth. I especially liked that, I've only ever got into them a tiny bit at Castaic and Havasu so was really looking forward to getting a few NE bronzebacks. I'd love to go back and fish it for real the fish seemed quite eager to entertain me, certainly a lot more than the Texas and CA bass im used to. 

 

 

6 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Fished Sinclair last night from 10p - 1a last and caught 5. 

Good ‘uns 

Interesting day - Got a quick trip in before a massive frontal line moved into the area. The trip started sunny and hot, with temps rising to 86 degrees and light breeze…then the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and things started looking bad. Then the wall cloud moved in, the downdraft winds kicked in with top gusts to 70 mph, and I got my butt out of there, just getting to the truck seconds before the wall of rain could be seen just down the street approaching fast. That first trip resulted in 13 bass on swimbaits.

 

The storm blew through; the rain lasted for 5 hours, and temps dropped to 68 degrees. After it cleared, I threw on a jacket, grabbed the swimbait rod again and hit another spot - lol. Picked up 7 this time bringing my total to 20 on the day. 
 

Temps rise back to the low 90s tomorrow with a 40% chance of storms, then a bunch of rain in the forecast starting tomorrow night through Monday, so trips might be limited for a while.

 

 

 

back after a self imposed almost month hiatus.  needed a break from fishing.  focused on doing some shooting and reloading instead.  

 

hit up the saginaw bay today.  went out of the Finn road launch which, is 2 miles east of the mouth of the saginaw river.  smokey haze was covering the bay.  visibility was only 1.5-2.0 miles.  

 

started out fishing spoils island which, is right next to the shipping channel.  hit a bass and a nice 7.5 lbs channel cat next to a piling in 12 foot of water.  both came on a t-rigged spine craw.  caught my first ned rig fish in a long time.

 

i just happened to look up and i saw a lower laker coming down the channel headed for bay city.  the wind was going away from me. i was out of the channel but, he kinda popped out of nowhere 2 miles ahead off my port bow.  it was the articulated tug Olive M. Moor pushing the  barge menominee.  

 

 

storms were forecasted and it was rather windy so i decided to head back.  on the way back i stopped at a underwater rock wall in 3.5 ft.  i found it last year with a buddy.  glad i stopped i pulled 20-25 large mouths off of and around it with a green pumkin party general rigged wacky style.  not the biggest bass but, i was literally setting the hook on each cast.  i’ve never seen fish so charged up.  at the end the last worm split in half. so i was like what the heck let’s try it. rigged up each half and caught 2 extra fish on each half.  

 

 

lost my costas in the drink.  hopefully the sacrifice will please the fish gods for the rest of the year. 

 

 

48 minutes ago, Mbirdsley said:

back after a self imposed almost month hiatus.  needed a break from fishing.  focused on doing some shooting and reloading instead.  

 

hit up the saginaw bay today.  went out of the Finn road launch which, is 2 miles east of the mouth of the saginaw river.  smokey haze was covering the bay.  visibility was only 1.5-2.0 miles.  

 

started out fishing spoils island which, is right next to the shipping channel.  hit a bass and a nice 7.5 lbs channel cat next to a piling in 12 foot of water.  both came on a t-rigged spine craw.  caught my first ned rig fish in a long time.

 

i just happened to look up and i saw a lower laker coming down the channel headed for bay city.  the wind was going away from me. i was out of the channel but, he kinda popped out of nowhere 2 miles ahead off my port bow.  it was the articulated tug Olive M. Moor pushing the  barge menominee.  

 

 

storms were forecasted and it was rather windy so i decided to head back.  on the way back i stopped at a underwater rock wall in 3.5 ft.  i found it last year with a buddy.  glad i stopped i pulled 20-25 large mouths off of and around it with a green pumkin party general rigged wacky style.  not the biggest bass but, i was literally setting the hook on each cast.  i’ve never seen fish so charged up.  at the end the last worm split in half. so i was like what the heck let’s try it. rigged up each half and caught 2 extra fish on each half.  

 

 

lost my costas in the drink.  hopefully the sacrifice will please the fish gods for the rest of the year. 

 

 

Hello from a fellow Michigander! Saw those pictures of the ship and immediately started humming The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald. Lol. 

 

Beautiful fish. 

5 hours ago, thediscochef said:

Thanks! It was a grind to start the year but I learned a lot. I've prided myself on having a generally high hookup ratio, but my losses usually come in bunches. Personal record is 8 lost in one day, so many swear words. Last night wasn't so bad, it just makes me want to go back out there. I will be doing this until there is no more fish or no more tackle

Tonight got worse, lost a monster of some kind (no guarantee it was a bass), hardest pull I've felt this year. I'd wager it was 7+. I'd forgot to re tighten my drag after snapping off and I didn't get a good hookset. Tightened the drag down and fought it for a minute before it turned and the hook came out. Missed the next three bites and then an hour of no bites says its time for bed. This skunk hurts. Back at it again tomorrow...

@thediscochef: When you land as many monsters as you do, you have to lose a few.

 

@Mbirdsley: Cool photos! I like your 3.5' frenzy story.

 

@Team9nine:And I like your storm story.

 

Well, off to fish this morning. And tomorrow morning, I'm taking a kid fishing! I'm going to put him in the bow and I'm going to be the trolling motor in the stern. My mission is to get him hooked on fishing.

Went I launched around 4:30 this morning, it was in the upper fifties and foggy. I was actually cold this morning. I figured since it's July tomorrow, I wouldn't need fleece atop my thick, wicking top. Wrong.

 

I caught my first bass froggin' and par for me, I lost about six others on the frog. The one I caught has the shoulders and tail of a bigger fish. I'd love to catch her again in a couple years. 

 

Fishing was slow and I ended up with seven LMB and five pickerel. One pickerel was so strong that I thought I had a five-pound bass. It was about a five-pound pickerel. If they were all that strong, I'd love to catch them.

 

I've got a streak going of catching at least one 19" or larger bass. I'm not counting, but it's been weeks now. I thought the streak was going to end this morning, but minutes before I was leaving, I caught one.

 

I caught some butterballs too and took some pics of the bog.

 

The PHOTOS: Frog fish first, then two butterballs, then my 19.25-incher, and finally two pond pics:

 

 

 

 

                                                        

It's been interesting since I got impaled by a treble hook last Tuesday. Seems I contacted poison ivy in our flower beds the day before after noticing big mushrooms growing in the mulch. My only thought was that my dog might find them irresistible, so I reached in and yanked them out, but didn't notice poison ivy mixed in with the shrubbery. Coincidentally, the first place the rash showed up as simply redness was on my right wrist connected to the hand that took the treble, so I thought infection had quickly settled in and began to travel up. It made sense at the time because the hook was wet with bass juice with weed garnish and I had no idea poison ivy was in play, plus my finger was still very swollen. Booked to the clinic where they recommended a tetanus shot and a dose of antibiotic. I hadn't had the shot since '85, so I wasn't about to argue even though I've been perf'd by metal objects hundreds of times since then without a problem. But I'm finding out lately that almost 60 isn't as resilient as 20, so I acquiesced to the shot without being held down by orderlies.

 

Hit a local spot on the dark side of yesterday morning and quickly caught a few dinklets and a nice crappie on the reliable Livingston Bullnose crank. Nabbed one clean looking post spawn male right after the lights came on and got a few nature shots on the way out. It was nice to finally be off the couch after seven quite uncomfortable days with a franken-finger on one hand and itching I could not scratch. It spread to several areas beyond my arms, but thank god the dangler and co went unaffected even though it made it to my waist. Yay!

Later in the afternoon I hit a nice eastern lake with my son-in-law. Pickerel were on the rampage and kept slicing our line but we got some too. Don't throw Hot Snakes TRDs around them if you want to keep them. The last one was huge, and it flopped out of the net taking my last one with him. I got a few small bass on the Zman Pro Crawz and we headed out just as the wildfire smoke got heavy. Just when we got the boat in the truck as darkness fell the topwater killshots started. I bombed one last blind cast from shore and got a heavy hit on the fall, but we really had to go. Wished we had another hour to play. Next time.

23 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

But I'm finding out lately that almost 60 isn't as resilient as 20

 

Sigh, you're right again. 

 

As always, I enjoyed reading your trip report. I contracted such a severe case of poison ivy that the ER doc said, "People come here all the time wanting treatment for poison ivy, but I tell them to buy Calamine Lotion. You, however, have the worst case of poison ivy I have ever seen." He gave me two shots and a prescription because I'd burned it two days prior and it was inside me.