13 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

Usually they chase me away with loud hissing and spread wings. 

 

They are mean nasty disease ridden birds.  I've had run ins with nesting geese or geese with goslings more than once in the past and they will NOT back down.  Consider yourself lucky to have gotten that close to their nest without being mauled by a pair of 15 pound rats with wings.

 

There is a pair of them hanging around my neighbors yard lately.  Eating grass, crapping all over.  When they set foot in my yard, I release my dog.  They fly off squawking.

@ol'crickety it was. She gave a couple good leaps and head shakes on the way in, too. Lots of fun.  

 

@gimruis the parents were nowhere to be seen this time around. I usually give them a wide berth. I've never had to actually tangle with a goose, but I imagine their necks make a good handle for flinging them about. That and a few well aimed kicks are my current combat strategy. 😄

22 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

Then a big gust of wind came up just as I went to cast and carried my lure way farther than I had intended, landing it in about a foot of water on the other side of the small pond. The water boiled as a fish struck and missed. I reeled the bait in just a little bit, and she chased it down. Fish on! 

 

She was telling you something!  I'm always amazed at how shallow and exposed larger bass are willing to be in the pre-spawn.

@IcatchDinks this would be my suggestion with aggressive hissing geese.

 

 

8 minutes ago, gimruis said:

@IcatchDinks this would be my suggestion with aggressive hissing geese.

 

 

 

Actual footage of me stumbling upon a goose nest...

3 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

I always love a good photo of @Bluebasser86's tie-dye Crocs.

You're going to love my new sticker on the kayak then 😆

 

 

 

The Brown Bass Tools were effective today ~

Report with some insane video to follow.

I had a day. 

A-Jay

 

5 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I had a day. 

A-Jay

 

Good Lord! That's a season end recap for people who routinely catch big smallies!! 😆😆

50 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

The Brown Bass Tools were effective today ~

Report with some insane video to follow.

I had a day. 

A-Jay

 

 

holy smokes!!!

 

Nice fishes, @A-Jay! I showed my wife and said "And here I was, happy with my 16incher!" 

Her reply: "Yeah. His name isn't 'Icatchdinks' " 😆

 

Always love seeing the fish you catch. Some beautiful smallies, for sure. 

Wow! Congrats on an amazing day! @A-Jay is the chosen one...

 

 

ps - It's "a day" for you, but that would be a lifetime for most of us. Amazing!

This is how I deal with nesting geese. Dirty buggers. We have way too many of them around here. Filthy things crap all over everything.

 

Flood waters are down about 2.5' and the lake is now about 4' high and dropping a few inches per day. Surface temp has held steady at 58 since last week. The receding waters have moved the greenies from back in the woods to the flooded shoreline brush, and there's a killer flippin bite going down. I put a couple dozen in the boat today. Best three pictured below.

5.35# with a cool tattoo on her tail. First 5+ of the year.

3.44#

3.38#

I had another 8 in the 2-2.5# range.  Best five would go about 17#. Best day of fishing I've had in quite awhile. Off the next three days. Fingers crossed this bush pitching mayhem continues all week.

 

 

@T-Billy: Atta, angler!

2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@T-Billy: Atta, angler!

Thanks Katie. I had a killer day that absolutely PALES in comparison to @A-Jay's!!! 😂 GOOD GRIEF A-Jay!!! Congratulations brother!!! What an epic day!!!

Thanks @T-Billy for biting the bullet and being the first to follow-up @A-Jay LOL

 

Great job @A-Jay!!

54 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Thanks Katie. I had a killer day that absolutely PALES in comparison to @A-Jay's!!! 😂 GOOD GRIEF A-Jay!!! Congratulations brother!!! What an epic day!!!

Y'all are both hammers, as well as many others around here.  I'm just thrilled to be on the same planet will all of y'all.  

Thanks for the kind words @Woody B. You're a darn good stick yourself. I thought of you on the water today. A big flathead came cruising past in shallow water. I tried to get it to pick up my flippin rig, but it didn't wanna play. It was far enough outside the brush line, I'd have had a good shot at landing it. I'm 0 for 2 against them in laydowns. It's like trying to pull a Mack truck out of a pile of wood.

Well I had an interesting 2.5 hours of fishing after work today. I caught 5 in the time that I fished and I had a big pike more than likely, I doubt that it was a musky give me one heck of a fight. I got it within 5 feet of the bank and saw its size. Probably 35 inches plus and thrashing away in the shallows, the biggest one that I have ever stuck. My poor little dobyns 745c was no match for the fish, I felt like I was not in control of the battle. Tried my best to get the thing in through the narrow gaps along the bank, but the fish was not having any of that. Ended up snapping a point of the #3 treble hook and just swam off. The hook broke near the shank. I was honored to hook a fish like that but I really would have liked to have landed it but oh well. Looks like my tequila baccara might just have a new target species to break it in on. All in all it was a good day.

Pops starting off the afternoon trip with an eager buck on the edge of the tulles.

 

Up to this point the best fish was an unexpected crappie 😆

 

Dinkfest for me this time

 

His best fish in years. Long arming so it's not quite as big as it looks, but it was still a solid 4lbs with an incredible amount of girth. Great afternoon!

On 4/22/2024 at 8:52 PM, IcatchDinks said:

 

 

 A pair of Canada geese have nested in the same spot at this pond for three years running. This was the first time I've seen the nest without one of them on it. Usually they chase me away with loud hissing and spread wings. 

 

 

Several years ago a member tipped me on using a green laser pointer to deter geese. I find it essential this time of year. Doesn't work as well in bright sun but if you point it at the ground and guide it to just in front of them it works like a charm. Avoid the super cheap ones but something a notch up (mine was around 20 bucks on Amazon) works fine.

I didn’t catch crap, lol. There was a tournament on the lake and I was hearing guys complain constantly though so maybe it’s not just me. I did have one bite in 20ft but felt like it was hooked funny. As soon as the fish jumped the bait came back towards me. I was DD hunting though so I ain’t stressing about not catching. 
 

I did, however, snap a very pretty shot of the moonlight in the dark. Very pleasant fishing conditions once the sun went down. 

I got skunked and broken off in shallow rock last night during my first sorta night fishing session of the year @LrgmouthShad.  Happens to everyone.  I'm gonna redouble my efforts this Friday and see if I can figure out what's breaking me off 😎👍🏼

 

Great fish everyone and congratulations to your dad @NorcalBassin!  That's a tank!  I know that lit his spirits up!

43 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I didn’t catch crap, lol. There was a tournament on the lake and I was hearing guys complain constantly though so maybe it’s not just me. I did have one bite in 20ft but felt like it was hooked funny. As soon as the fish jumped the bait came back towards me. I was DD hunting though so I ain’t stressing about not catching. 
 

I did, however, snap a very pretty shot of the moonlight in the dark. Very pleasant fishing conditions once the sun went down. 

Go back in two weeks when there's NO (New) MOON.

Run the same Program and I bet you do much better.

A-Jay

Weird @A-Jay, I do better at actual night under the full moon and better during the day around the new moon in general but I'll have to try more night fishing around the new moon this summer.

@LrgmouthShad: Thanks for sharing that you were skunked. I love the whole story and not all have the courage to share their skunks. In the end, every story worth telling is one of struggle to achieve success. 

 

@NorcalBassin: I also love when Pops catches bass. I like the ends of the spectrum, i.e. Jake and Pops catching bass. I laugh when I see long-armed bass with their bodies looking as big as the torsos of the anglers. It is a girthy bass!