You hit the sweet spot, @Woody B. As PhishLI says, "Don't leave fish to find fish."

Got the big one today. My PB. Of course, the wife had the scale and she wasn't with me. So, the pic is pretty bad. 12lb braid broke at the hook when I tried to bring him onto the bank but he was stunned/tired after a good fight and I had to wade in and get him. Took a quick pic and released with no problem. Caught on a weightless black lizard. The pole for scale is a MH 6'6 Ugly Stick with the biggest reel I own. 

 

 The rest of the day wasn't so hot. Reel problems on other rods. Missed fish. Wound up with one more LMB about 2.5lbs and a small crappie. 

7 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

You got to hang with ICD, Pat!

 

You got to hang with Jake and Pat, ICD!

 

Pat, you have many fine qualities, but one of your best qualities, Mr. DD, is how you're happy with all the bass you catch. I've told this story in the past, but it's worth retelling. I was fishing with two female anglers who've achieved some fame and the boys in their boat on a different river were catching beasts, while we caught dinks.

 

And when I bewailed the difference, one woman said, "They're all good."

 

I've never forgotten that. That's you, Pat, celebrating all your bass, from dinks to DDs. 

Same kind of thing happens when hunting, someone will shoot a 6 point deer, or a 4, and someone else says he'd have been a good one in a few years.  Every deer is a trophy deer though!

 

I try to take the time to look at and admire, and take a picture of every fish I catch, even the small sized ones.

1 minute ago, Bazoo said:

Same kind of thing happens when hunting, someone will shoot a 6 point deer, or a 4, and someone else says he'd have been a good one in a few years.  Every deer is a trophy deer though!

 

I try to take the time to look at and admire, and take a picture of every fish I catch, even the small sized ones.

 

They're all good!

 

Well old froggy got me a big before the storm hit on the boat today.  Scum Frog launch in shad.

 

Woooooweeeee!  Don't get better!🎣🐸

 

Hitting a secret little spot tomorrow with the boys from The forum and we got an 11° drop and temperature and cloud cover and I'm beyond excited.

I fished a different lake this weekend.  This lake is only 2 hours away, and I have fished it a few times, but never had much luck.  I do know there are some big bass, but I haven't been able to catch any.  The water is at it's lowest, and starting to go up with the first rains.  I didn't have much luck with a 2.5 pound bass being the biggest for 2.5 days of effort.  I did find a cliff that might be good when the water is higher.  Looks like a good place for a big bass to hide out.  Any one else think a big bass may want to hide in a cave when the water is up?  High water will be at the very top of the cliff.  The water will be at the top in about a month, but very muddy. It will stay high and clear up in  November.    The cliffs are the only place I have had much luck catching bass.  

That looks like a big bass paradise (those caves) @king fisher

@Pat Browngo to bed. We gotta go fishing in the morning. 😄

16 hours ago, OmegaDPW said:

Got the big one today. My PB. Of course, the wife had the scale and she wasn't with me. So, the pic is pretty bad. 12lb braid broke at the hook when I tried to bring him onto the bank but he was stunned/tired after a good fight and I had to wade in and get him. Took a quick pic and released with no problem. Caught on a weightless black lizard. The pole for scale is a MH 6'6 Ugly Stick with the biggest reel I own. 

 

 The rest of the day wasn't so hot. Reel problems on other rods. Missed fish. Wound up with one more LMB about 2.5lbs and a small crappie. 

Congrats! 

@OmegaDPW: Can you guesstimate the length or weight of your big bass? 

@Pat Brown, @FishTax, Jake, and myself hit up another urban pond this morning. I hooked a skinny 17 inches right away just after 5:30, and the rest of boys absolutely slaughtered them while I dipped my lure in the water and watched. 😄

 

I'll post mine and let the others speak for themselves. It was a heckuva fun morning, with more fishing planned for the week.

 

 

 

@OmegaDPW: Can you guesstimate the length or weight of your big bass? 

 

@IcatchDinks: Congrats on the 17-incher. Yet another not-a-dink! Excited to see the pics of your buddies' bass and hear their tales. 

Took my oldest out in the kayaks for a couple hours Saturday morning. He had a fish caught before I ever got the kayaks set up. Took a last second comeback for me to even the score with him before we had to head home 😅 I had him a little more official with my spare measuring board and a net this time. Hopefully he'll want to try out one of the Tuesday night tournaments before too long. 

 

26 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@OmegaDPW: Can you guesstimate the length or weight of your big bass? 

 

 

 I'm terrible at guessing weight. I could get out the measuring tape and estimate on the rod, I guess. I'm thinking my son caught the same fish last November. His was right under 9lbs. Same pond, same spot, different lure. One of these days, I'll have to break down and buy my own scale for the tackle bag. 

 

 I told him it was 10lbs just to "one up" him a little. 😄

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Took my oldest out in the kayaks for a couple hours Saturday morning. He had a fish caught before I ever got the kayaks set up. Took a last second comeback for me to even the score with him before we had to head home 😅 I had him a little more official with my spare measuring board and a net this time. Hopefully he'll want to try out one of the Tuesday night tournaments before too long. 

 

@Bluebasser86 it’s when the student starts to surpass the master is when you know things are as they should be. I gotta say Lake and Finn are well on their way to being great tournament partners with you, and their smiles holding up a fish says it all. Continued good fishing!

We met @IcatchDinks at the secret lil spot™ and we commenced to get learned by Jake on how to catch pond bass on a fluke at sunrise:

 

 

Just a couple of his many catches including a giant snapping turtle - he really put on a clinic.

 

Well when he stuck a fish on his first and second casts with a fluke I tied one on and fished it hard for an hour or so - never got a bite - Jake was doing something special they really liked!

 

@FishTaxrolled up with a hot cup of coffee and a buzzbait that he claimed didn't run right and that he was having to reel too fast to get on plane......'here, lemme show ya' he says - 'yeah you show me, bud 🫢' I says

 

 

Yeah he casts it out and it commenced to look quite tasty and got smoked on his first cast and nailed his very first buzzbait bass right before my eyes - on cue!

 

 

That's a happy @FishTax 

 

Well Pat started to get antsy and jealous of all the action and wasn't feeling the fluke so went back to the car for Ole Scummy™ 🐸🐸🐸

 

Wind picked up and blew back into a drain and a nice pine straw mat formed.

 

A few missed blow ups later I stuck #1 and #2 out of that spot on the shad scum frog:

 

 

Feisty dudes!

 

I tell the fellas where they're at and start walking the wind blown bank in search of another school to frog and run into @FishTax who claims it's nearly time for work and is feeling distraught with only one catch - he ties on his favorite swim jig with his secret sauce trailer and started doing a very subtle mid stroll technique and within minutes hooked a near 3 lber - the big fish of the day!

 

 

I tell him about some blow ups that were incredibly subtle and required a very specific cadence to my frog.

 

He asked me to demonstrate before moving on - I cast out maybe 30 yards and demonstrate a subtle twitch walking retrieve 3 feet off the bank and while talking to him my biggest of the day demonstrates the efficacy of my retrieve - on cue!  😂😂😂😂

 

 

Snapping turtle got scummys skirt and off to work I went but scummy is ready for some night fishing adventures with Josh and Jeremy and Jake (the three 'J's) - Scummy got a new skirt.

 

 

Hoping for a giant tonight....stay tuned Bass Resource....🦉🦉🦉🎣🎣🎣

 

I'm out of reactions, @Pat Brown, but I loved, loved, LOVED your trip report. You are a joyful angler and a fun storyteller.

 

I'm fishing again Wednesday morning with near perfect conditions: 1 m.p.h. wind and partly cloudy. I'm going to launch at a big bass pond. Yeah, I'm a quantity angler, but here and there, I'm hoping for a bigger bass. Maybe with the kid and his dad. Maybe not. I don't yet know if they're up to rising and shining at Crickety o'clock. Shining is the hard part.  

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Hopefully he'll want to try out one of the Tuesday night tournaments before too long. 

If he had a top notch angler like you chasing him all day then I'd say that's a good sign that he's about ready. 

6 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

@Pat Brown, @FishTax, Jake, and myself hit up another urban pond this morning. I hooked a skinny 17 inches right away just after 5:30, and the rest of boys absolutely slaughtered them while I dipped my lure in the water and watched. 😄

 

I'll post mine and let the others speak for themselves. It was a heckuva fun morning, with more fishing planned for the week.

 

4 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

We met @IcatchDinks at the secret lil spot™ and we commenced to get learned by Jake on how to catch pond bass on a fluke at sunrise:

 

 

Just a couple of his many catches including a giant snapping turtle - he really put on a clinic.

 

Well when he stuck a fish on his first and second casts with a fluke I tied one on and fished it hard for an hour or so - never got a bite - Jake was doing something special they really liked!

 

@FishTaxrolled up with a hot cup of coffee and a buzzbait that he claimed didn't run right and that he was having to reel too fast to get on plane......'here, lemme show ya' he says - 'yeah you show me, bud 🫢' I says

 

 

Yeah he casts it out and it commenced to look quite tasty and got smoked on his first cast and nailed his very first buzzbait bass right before my eyes - on cue!

 

 

That's a happy @FishTax 

 

Well Pat started to get antsy and jealous of all the action and wasn't feeling the fluke so went back to the car for Ole Scummy™ 🐸🐸🐸

 

Wind picked up and blew back into a drain and a nice pine straw mat formed.

 

A few missed blow ups later I stuck #1 and #2 out of that spot on the shad scum frog:

 

 

Feisty dudes!

 

I tell the fellas where they're at and start walking the wind blown bank in search of another school to frog and run into @FishTax who claims it's nearly time for work and is feeling distraught with only one catch - he ties on his favorite swim jig with his secret sauce trailer and started doing a very subtle mid stroll technique and within minutes hooked a near 3 lber - the big fish of the day!

 

 

I tell him about some blow ups that were incredibly subtle and required a very specific cadence to my frog.

 

He asked me to demonstrate before moving on - I cast out maybe 30 yards and demonstrate a subtle twitch walking retrieve 3 feet off the bank and while talking to him my biggest of the day demonstrates the efficacy of my retrieve - on cue!  😂😂😂😂

 

 

Snapping turtle got scummys skirt and off to work I went but scummy is ready for some night fishing adventures with Josh and Jeremy and Jake (the three 'J's) - Scummy got a new skirt.

 

 

Hoping for a giant tonight....stay tuned Bass Resource....🦉🦉🦉🎣🎣🎣

 

 

Sweet collab. 

I had to let @Pat Brown tell the story because he's an awesome story teller. My accountant self is missing that poetic sparkle. 

 

I'm about to head out for night fishing. Time for @IcatchDinks to score a huge NC nighttime jig bass! 

55 minutes ago, FishTax said:

I had to let @Pat Brown tell the story because he's an awesome story teller. My accountant self is missing that poetic sparkle. 

 

I'm about to head out for night fishing. Time for @IcatchDinks to score a huge NC nighttime jig bass! 

 

Go, ICD, go! 

 

Yeah, Pat spins a yarn like a spinning jenny. See here:

 

I counted 28 caught today with the majority 10 to 15 foot deep on worms and 3/4 oz Red Eye Shad. This 4lb 6oz was the largest. Caught on a June Bug Yum Dinger. 

Well, @Pat Brown is a great fishing guide and an excellent fishing buddy. There weren't a lot of fish biting during our night fishing trip, but Pat put me on the biggest one that was, and gave the perfect advice of how to cast and retrieve to catch him. It wasn't a monster, but fought like the Dickens. We had loads of fun. 

 

I owe a debt of gratitude to Pat and @FishTax for showing this Michigan boy how it's done the North Carolina way. 

 

 

Edit: fish weighted 2.6 lbs

Another quick but slow morning trip.  Chased the skunk off with this guy caught pitching a Texas rig into some slop.

Anyone else wishin' that they'd be fishin' with @IcatchDinks, @FishTax, and @Pat Brown?