49 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I'm certainly getting very very excited for hunting season but probably not for the same reasons you are ???

 

For me personally fishing gets really fun in October ???

Haha, I get it.  Every once in a while I get out in the fall and I love it when I do but (for me) nothing is better than being in the woods in the fall.  Enjoy less traffic on the water and some fat fall bellies

It was 108 friggin degrees when I launched the boat last night. It’s like being in a toaster

@LrgmouthShad I compare it to fishing inside of a labrador retrievers mouth that just got done playing fetch.  At least here in NC, that's how it feels.  Bring 4 large canteens of ice water and lots of sunscreen and you still end up burned and dehydrated.  It's downright dangerous.

@Pat Brown yeah y’all get generally more humidity too. A day in the triple digits in NC is not something to just disregard

This morning was a grind. Got started just after 01:00 finished up at 11:00. Only managed a couple on the chatterbait but they were both over 2#. Z-Man GOAT Toad put five more in the boat. Ended up catching 11, with the best five going about 12#, anchored by this chunky 3.22#. I caught it pitching a Mag II into a hole in a hydrilla mat in the early morning light. Only managed a few dinks after that. Slick calm, sunny and 6' visibility left 'em not wanting to play after the sun got up.

Got on the water at daylight and nothing hit top water so went to a flickShake " Cola " 1/16 VMC wacky and caught 8.

Cloudy, calm, water temp 83*

I was expecting a typical midsummer morning of topwater & plastics.  That turned out to be a little bit right, but mostly wrong.

 

3 hours in, I had gotten exactly three bites: a couple of buzzbait dinks and a 2lb frog fish:

 

I had seen basically no surface activity. But nobody wanted a worm or jig on the bottom either, at any depth.  Nor a senko, a flipping craw, a chatterbait...what to do? 

 

A warm, sunny, dead calm July morning doesn't exactly scream "spinnerbait" to me, but why not?  Maybe the sun flashing on the blade could get me a reaction bite or two...

 

Well, that did it - the SB produced 8 more bass over the next hour before I had to leave, all keeper size (14") or bigger including this 2.30lb and 3.00lb:

 

(That's a 3/8oz Pepper Baits Bleeding Bluegill gold double willow...today's hero)

 

When in doubt, try something out!

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

It was 108 friggin degrees when I launched the boat last night. It’s like being in a toaster

I'll have the Texas toast with a side of 5 lb bass please. ?

24 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

When in doubt, try something out!

 

That's the hardest thing to teach my baby engineers.

I had my third frustrating session in a row. For a few months, I was hooking AND netting fine fish (for me). Now, for the third straight trip, I lost a big bass. I did catch ten fish, but I was fishing a quality bog hoping for a big, ol' gal and I hooked her and lost her. I set the hook (T-Rigged 7" Green Pumpkin Senko) with both arms and immediately knew she was a slab, because it was like setting a hook into wood. She jumped right by the boat and I saw her gorgeous length. Then she plowed through some reeds and peeled free. Argh! From time to time, I weigh lesser bass to get an idea of what they weigh. The last bass was 2.88 pounds. 

 

 

32 minutes ago, Bird said:

Got on the water at daylight and nothing hit top water so went to a flickShake " Cola " 1/16 VMC wacky and caught 8.

Cloudy, calm, water temp 83*

Looking good Sir.

A-Jay

22 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I had my third frustrating session in a row. For a few months, I was hooking AND *** (for me). Now, for the third straight trip, I lost a big bass. I did catch ten fish,

Look at it this way. If you fished where I fish, that would qualify as a smashing success even on a great day. I'm digging deeply to summon tears for you, and in order to get them flowing I went back to the moment when I found my childhood hamster Evel Knieval stiff as a board, but they just won't come. It's all good, yo. ?

Went out yesterday and threw the 250 for the first time ever, not a giant but wasn’t expecting a bite on my first trip out. Super stoked!

I squeezed red onion juice directly into my eyeballs. That worked.

28 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

I went back to the moment when I found my childhood hamster Evel Knieval stiff as a board,

 

C'mon, man! Stiff-as-a-board Evel is forever worth some tears! Shoot for this:

 

Well, its a somber day today.  I lost my father this morning. It was a long battle with cancer and I knew to expect it, but it was really hard today. I had to go and clear my head and catch my fish for the day. He use to fish when he was able and I know he loved doing it. So this is for you, the best man I ever known. Rest with the angels. 

 

Fish for 7/19 (Day 46). Big one was 3lbs, next biggest was 2.75 and the smallest was just over 1.5. The 2 big ones were caught on the ball and chain (Carolina rig, AKA the Wife) and the smaller was caught on a whacky rig. 

 

Please catch a big one in the lake in the sky for us, and we will fish together again one day. Ill bring the gear. 

 

 

Praying for you and your family @Dominat0r. Nice catches 

17 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Praying for you and your family @Dominat0r. Nice catches 

 

Thank you man, appreciate that very much. Its not goodbye, its see you later. I will fish with him again.....

1 hour ago, Dominat0r said:

Well, its a somber day today.  I lost my father this morning. It was a long battle with cancer and I knew to expect it, but it was really hard today. I had to go and clear my head and catch my fish for the day. He use to fish when he was able and I know he loved doing it. So this is for you, the best man I ever known. Rest with the angels. 

 

Fish for 7/19 (Day 46). Big one was 3lbs, next biggest was 2.75 and the smallest was just over 1.5. The 2 big ones were caught on the ball and chain (Carolina rig, AKA the Wife) and the smaller was caught on a whacky rig. 

 

Please catch a big one in the lake in the sky for us, and we will fish together again one day. Ill bring the gear. 

 

 

 

I'm thinking a good thought for you, bass buddy.

Just now, ol'crickety said:

 

I'm thinking a good thought for you, bass buddy.

Thank you crick. Really appreciate that. 

Short afternoon trip due to the heat; highs in the mid 80s with dewpoints in the upper 60s; just a slight breeze, and partly cloudy skies. Only caught 7 today, but decent quality as I had 3 fish that ran the size of the fish in the pics, topped by a 3.25 lb. fish. Ned did all the work again today, just like yesterday. Had stopped tracking trips/fish back in late April, but found out I didn’t delete the file, so going through and updating the records. Will be curious to see the updated totals after I get all caught up again.
 

 

Another after-work fishing session.  Slow to begin with but once I figured out that the bright sun had positioned them UNDER wood it was on.  This was the best at 4-8.  Caught another close to 4 but let it go quickly because it was bleeding. 
 

 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:  My wife texted and said she was driving over the lake and wanted to float around with me.  First fish I boated once she sat down was a 2.5lb-er.  I boat flipped it and it shook off in mid-air and smacked her on the shoulder and leg and landed on the floor.  I told her I'd fish-slap her again if she wasn't careful.  I even made it look like an accident.  ?

No pictures from the trip yesterday as I was waist deep in water at the lake. I caught 3-4 small ones on a tube, open hook jig head. I will say nothing special size wise on the tube. The jig tore through the head so I had to improvise and swim it before it sank into the weeds. I then decided to throw a weightless stick bait, first fish on it was between 3-3.5lbs with a perfect roof of the mouth hook set. I caught 3-5 more fish on my way down to the reed island, first cast into the corner with the little bit of pads floating my 5” ocho in ghosts minnow got destroyed. I set the hook hard and she went to thrashing, I could tell that it was a good fish it was putting a really deep bend into my 844 c rod. I got her close and she was very long probably 22” or bigger, the downside was that she didn’t have a big stomach to go with the length. I would say she was at least a 4Lb fish, but I don’t have my scale in the water with me when I wade. She put up a really good fight and made my night, around my way 2 fish for 7lbs or a little over is not too bad. All within 30 minutes of each other on the bigger fish. I enjoy the fight and letting them go and growing, I need a new area to fish for even bigger fish but finding that is no easy task in Michigan lol.

Fashion police approves the vintage Coca Cola t shirt @Team9nine.

38 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Fashion police approves the vintage Coca Cola t shirt @Team9nine.

Thank you! I’ve been trying to up my fashion game while out on the water lately. Glad to know its paying off  I’ve got some Orvis clothing on the way, too.