went walleye fishing on the saginaw river today.  River was high, fast and dirty after the rains we had last week.  I tried vertical jigging at the confluence.  current was ripping and i had trouble keeping a 1/2 oz jig vertical.  so i decided to see if the smallies were in that same spot as last time as i brought some boot tails and jerk baits.  i tied on a 1/4 oz gamakatsu ball head jig that i pour and threaded on a blue and black strike king boot tail.

 

 i’m shallow out of the current at this point in 3-5 ft of water.  i toss my boot tail into a creek lagune that empties into the river.  boot tail gets hit as im working it like a slow lift jig retrieve.  2nd cast boom get something on water is so dirty though that it got off at the boat and i never saw it. I keep moving up stream ( trolling motor at run 7 )  12-15 minutes later i throw up into 3 foot of water and nail this nice 21 inch walleye.  walleye of that size actually fight.  that was a nice walleye.  left the cooler at home so i let it go.  10 minutes later i caught this 14 inch smallie which, it put a good fight for its size.  same boot tail swim bait. 

 

 

i moved down to the first turning basin in the shipping channel and nailed a 22 inch channel cat.  it was very windy and called it a day around 5pm. 

 

 

im really getting the itch to switch over entirely to bass.  However, i picked up my first bait store and i have sold a decent amount of walleye jigs. I might keep on the walleye untill april.  we will see how it goes. 

 

 

@Mbirdsley, bet that channel caught fought too! Those things are wild as a buck 

This is not the kind of fish you hope to catch jig fishing. 
 

I caught this one and let another small one have an “early release” this past Sunday. Conditions were not great. It was the second day of a cold front. I looked for fish in all stages of the spawn. Fish were nowhere where I expected them to be. I learned some stuff for my next outing. While difficult, this was my first real trip in TX for 2024!

 

3/4oz jig, 14-20ft of water on points for the two fish. I actually didn’t expect a jig to be what got me bites. Some wanted it, I guess. I got the photo’d fish early off of a magic tree that I’ve caught many bass off of.

 

@LrgmouthShad: Congrats on your first Texas bass 2024! I have yet to catch a Maine bass, but fingers crossed it happens today. I was struck by how pale your bass above is. I'm contrasting it with an exceptionally dark 2023 bass below. They almost look like a different species.

 

19 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

@LrgmouthShad: Congrats on your first Texas bass 2024! I have yet to catch a Maine bass, but fingers crossed it happens today. I was struck by how pale your bass above is. I'm contrasting it with an exceptionally dark 2023 bass below. They almost look like a different species.

 

If I’m not mistaken, they can get pale while laying on the bottom for a while. Graphing around, it was apparent that bass were predominantly glued to the bottom. 
 

That dark back and golden/white hue belly looks really similar to bass I’ve caught out of New York and Michigan ponds 

6 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

If I’m not mistaken, they can get pale while laying on the bottom for a while. Graphing around, it was apparent that bass were predominantly glued to the bottom. 
 

That dark back and golden/white hue belly looks really similar to bass I’ve caught out of New York and Michigan ponds 

 

I didn't know that they grow pale from lying on the bottom. So, thanks for the education!

 

The black bass I caught above came out of stained water and was pulled from a forest of lily pads, so I expect she turned black to blend into the shadows.

 

It's cool to consider that in different conditions, your bass would look like mine and mine would look like yours.

21 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I didn't know that they grow pale from lying on the bottom. So, thanks for the education!

 

The black bass I caught above came out of stained water and was pulled from a forest of lily pads, so I expect she turned black to blend into the shadows.

 

It's cool to consider that in different conditions, your bass would look like mine and mine would look like yours.

I do think region of country plays a role as well. On top of that, some of my bass here are either Florida strain or Lone Star (Northern/Florida) hybrids. 
 

But for some good fun, here is the palest bass I have caught and some others with various colorations

 

NC, winter, small pond

 

NY, stained pond with lily pads (notice how similar coloration is to yours)
 

 

NY small clear lake, maybe one of the prettiest bass I’ve caught.

Michigan pond, lily pads and very clear water

 

PS I look like a dork in half these photos I’m about to strangle my younger self.

@LrgmouthShad: Your top bass and your bottom bass are so different that I laughed! Your bottom bass is gorgeous. 

 

@Bluebasser86 is fishing in his big tournament today. Fingers crossed! Actually, I pity the fools who have to fish against him. 

Pale bass are pretty too……. 

@ol'crickety it's actually the 20th and 21st, so 1 week from today. 

@Bluebasser86: I'll uncross my fingers then. It's hard to get work done with them crossed. 

Not had a lot of fishing days lately, and thus, not a lot of action, but I did manage a few.

 

This is a Warmouth. I'd never caught one before. He was plenty feisty.

 

 

 

Makes a man wonder how much his cheapo scale is off. Guess I'll have to have something weighed at the post office and see how close it really is.

@Bazoo, you don’t have to go to the post office. Weigh a 4 lb sack of sugar 

15 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Bazoo, you don’t have to go to the post office. Weigh a 4 lb sack of sugar 

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that.

Had to work late this morning with the commute home, gym, honey-do list I only had about an hour to fish today.  The closest body of water to me is the Crappie Hole, which with its dirty water worked out well with the clear skies today.  71 and sunny.  Winds S-SW. 

 

Just one today but the biggest so far in 2024.  White tandem blade Spinnerbait with a 3.25 rage swimmer for a trailer.

 

 

I was able to break the seal on 2024 with this pretty little pound and a half bass. The spring like weather has me optimistic the fishing will only improve as we moving forward into March…

They're still on the lipless.🥹🥹🥹♥️♥️♥️

 

@Bazoo, that bass looks too deep to be just 3.14 lbs. Do check your scale.

 

Nice one, @bp_fowler!

 

Well, I fished for the first time this year. Lawdy, that water was c-c-cold! I hooked three and landed one. I didn't get any hits on a shaky head, a small jerkbait, or a Mepps spinner. All three hits came on a black & silver Keitech on an Owner underspin. I retrieved very slowly, bouncing on the bottom. Two of the hits were soft: the lure just grew a little heavier. The third one was a couple ticks, not much different than bouncing off rocks. I usually love to handle bass, but this one felt like a Bomb Pop!

 

I saw two loons, an osprey, and some ducks. It was good to be on the water, but it sure tuckered me. 

I certified my scale redneck style by hanging a gallon of water from it and then subtracting the weight of the jug

 

It’s dead accurate, by the way

Three pics of today's trip. In order, walking through the woods with my first glimpse of water, on the pond, and my one bass:

 

Let's GO @ol'crickety and @J._Bricker!!!

 

Breaking the seal and it feels so good!!!

ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE FISHING UNIVERSE.....atlast the queen is back on her canoe throne 😎

 

I'd be so sore fishing the way you do after taking a several month break, your brand of fishing is far more physical than most anglers.

 

Is that your new home lake, the one you bought property on?

Your post made me laugh, Alex. Thanks!

 

Yep, it's the lake with my property and the first pic is the woods I bought. It does have some big trees on it, which don't show in the photo.

 

I think I unintentionally damaged a beaver trap. I gave some local guys permission to trap beavers and when I launched, there were logs in the narrow waterway. I tried to squeeze past them and one came loose, so I yanked it and chucked it. Coming back, I yanked another one and was yanking a third when I realized it was attached to some wire. Any beaver trappers here? I think that was the trap. I called the uncle of one of the trappers to explain my blunder. 

Awesome, so happy for you!   You're so deserving of that piece of paradise and I know you'll enjoy every red penny's worth.    

 

They just shoot Beavers down here, we ain't fancy enough for that trapping stuff 🤣 

Nice bass @ol'crickety ! @J._Bricker nice first fish, got a feeling you’ll be posting a 5 lb senko bass soon 

 

@AlabamaSpothunter, I can confirm loading paddle craft makes you sore, especially when its 29 of them at 11 pm 😂. I walked like a a broke down rodeo rider the next day