You big bass catchers are givin' me an itchin' for fishin'. Conditions look to be perfect Thursday morning. No wind and overcast. Now, can I keep pace with you pacesetters or will the weeds win again?

7 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Woo-hoo, @FishTank!

 

The discochef doesn't have to perfume his beard. Rather, all the world's great perfumes come from the chef's beard. The extraction process is proprietary. 

I have fished with the chef something like four times. If you are wondering why we haven’t posted a report for every trip, it’s because bass are smarter than us. The chef’s beard is just epic. Never shave it.

8 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I have fished with the chef something like four times. If you are wondering why we haven’t posted a report for every trip, it’s because bass are smarter than us. The chef’s beard is just epic. Never shave it.

 

Oh, I've seen his beard. All New Englanders have. Whenever he tips his head back, his beard peaks over the horizon, like the rising Sun. 

Scored three progressively bigger largemouth yesterday ending with a new personal best (far right).

 

First came on a gold and red spinnerbait during the morning during calm wind and while the sun was still low and the shade lines pronounced.

 

Next two came on a classic silver and white under the bright afternoon sun and with a bit of wind on the surface.

 

On all three catches the spinnerbait was ambushed while I was running it as intimately as possibly along the edges of lilypads.

 

Winter is coming, I can smell it in the morning air and so can the fish!!

Quote

On all three catches the spinnerbait was ambushed while I was running it as intimately as possibly along the edges of lilypads.

 

I love making that particular cast.

 

Great bassin', CC! 

 

I am so excited to fish tomorrow morning because the weather conditions look perfect. Nearly no wind, so canoe control will be a breeze and there is fog forecast for the first three hours, so the bass won't be raptor wary. The stars are aligned. Now I just have to wrangle a big one or two out of the weeds. 

 

Speaking of spinner baits, I ordered some titanium ones. Those steel ones only last for ten to twenty fish and you just don't know when they're about to break. Here's what I ordered. They're Molix Lover, in different colors and blades:

 

@ol'crickety  Ooooooo shiny!!

 

Can never have enough spinnerbaits.

I went out in the afternoon yesterday and got a nice smallmouth out of the Gunpowder. I was going for snakeheads, but I’ll take a brown fish.

 

 

Megabass SV-3 is a durable spinnerbait. It should last over 20 fish. I’m sure it fishes fine stock.

Last night the Tuesday night tournament finally swung by the lake by my house. I never fish the lake, but 5 minutes from me, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to fish if it worked out and I just happened to get off work early enough to make it. I asked my oldest son if he wanted to go with me and he said he did, but it was going to rushed because he had to go to a night before school started event. So I unloaded the kayaks and mom ran him out to me 5 minutes before the tournament started. I forgot my extra measuring board so we had to stay close so he could use my board for his fish. The weather was perfect, cloudy and cool with a decent breeze, so of course the bite was brutally tough. I missed a couple on a frog and it was 45 minutes into the tournament when I finally hooked up with a fish on a homemade micro jig off a dock ladder.

I was a mess all night, skipped my frog under a dock and got it stuck so bad I had to get out and crawl across the dock to cut my line and get my frog back. Then cast my bladed jig so high in a tree I couldn’t reach it. I was so worried about Lake getting fish, I was having a hard time concentrating. Right where I got my bladed jig stuck, I caught another fish on a wacky rig.

 I was letting Lake lead, telling him where to cast, but the frustration was pretty obvious and he was having a hard time focusing and listening. I caught another behind him on a wacky rig right off the spot I’d just told him to cast his wacky rig to fill out my limit. I told him he just needed a few good cast and he was right back in it and there was still 1.5 hours left. 
We ran around a point to some deeper water and I crossed paths with another competitor who fished the lake a ton and he said it was really tough and he only had 3 dinks. Lake was behind me and right then I heard he had a fish on! It wasn’t a big fish in size, but it was his first ever tournament fish so it was a huge accomplishment and a big confidence boost for him.

I had one dock on the south end that if you told me I had 5 minutes to catch a fish for a million dollars on that lake, that’s the dock I’d go to. So we fished all the way down to it, passing another competitor who said he had nothing but a bluegill. I made several pitches before I finally got bit but it was another decent fish.

We turned and went back towards the ramp, fishing the opposite side of the lake. I caught 3 more, including a disappointing dink that hit a 6” Bull Shad Wake. With 11 minutes left, we ran to a main lake point that had 2 docks I wanted to fish. I was fishing one while Lake worked the point and he hooked up. He got it in and was holding it in the air over the water while I was about pleading with him to get it over his kayak, when it fell back in the water. I know he felt bad but I probably felt worse than he did. He kept casting though and just a few cast later he hooked up again and this time got it in the kayak and put it in the net. With 2 minutes left, he scored his second keeper.

He got bit again while I was hurriedly taking his picture but missed it. It was an exciting final few minutes and he was so close to getting a limit in his first tournament, I was really proud of him. I thought for sure someone would have caught them, but turns out it was tough for everyone and my limit was good enough for the win. Lake finished ahead of a few guys and would have been right in the middle if he’d had that 3rd fish that was probably 12 inches.

That's excellent. 

Well done everyone!  Lots of hawgs in here lately and I'm sure it's only gonna get better as we roll into the fall!

 

Jake caught his second biggest ever last week at the local pond: 

 

 

Gorgeous tank and another one I caught a couple months back on a frog at 7 lbs 8 oz and he recaught later on in the summer a little less than a half pound lighter - typical of bass this time of year.

 

 

Got one of the fish I saw sharking on little gizzard shad in the grass after Debby passed through and waters receded from the local river system.  I caught a few gizzards by hand scooping em up out of the grass where bass were corralling them.

 

Jake found a pretty NC lobster

 

 

 

Had a really fun day on the boat with Jake this past weekend with a fat frog fish and Jake filling out the limit with lots of fish in this size range on a weightless trick worm!

 

 

Got a pile of smaller but nice fish on jigs yesterday afternoon - the first jig bite I've been on for months!  Very excited to toss the big more in the muddy water around those dying grass edges.

 

And as you can see I'm doing my best to be diligent and document things on the GoPro.

 

Hoping for a decent little bit of footage soon!  🤫🤫🤫😉😉😉

 

Went out for four hours tkday. Caught about 20 bass. Biggest attached. All caught on a wacky worm.

Watching kids catch bass is better than actually catching bass.   

23 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Watching kids catch bass is better than actually catching bass.   

Katie, I fished thirty years before I ever caught a bass as big as Jake's. I want to go fishing with Katie McKy, Pat Brown, AND JAKE!

On 8/13/2024 at 10:42 AM, Pat Brown said:

 

 

I figured @LrgmouthShadlent you some Dior to slather your beard and lures in.

No he just gave me his super secret fishing sunglasses 

 

On 8/13/2024 at 12:52 PM, ol'crickety said:

Woo-hoo, @FishTank!

 

The discochef doesn't have to perfume his beard. Rather, all the world's great perfumes come from the chef's beard. The extraction process is proprietary. 

I, uh, plead the fifth? 😂😂

 

9 hours ago, CastingClinic said:

 

 

Can never have enough spinnerbaits.

One is more than enough for me

1 hour ago, thediscochef said:

No he just gave me his super secret fishing sunglasses 

 

I, uh, plead the fifth? 😂😂

 

 

A fifth of whiskey? Smart. 

11 hours ago, Buzzbaiter said:

I went out in the afternoon yesterday and got a nice smallmouth out of the Gunpowder. I was going for snakeheads, but I’ll take a brown fish.

 

 

Big or Little Gunpowder?

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

One is more than enough for me

I wish I could disagree with you. But I can’t. It’s not in my Top 100 lol. 

13 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Big or Little Gunpowder?

Big Gunpowder. I’ve heard that there are snakehead in the nontidal portion of the river, but it doesn’t strike me as archetypical snakehead habitat (granted, I’ve never caught one). All of the known hotspots on the western shore are ultra-pressured, and I’m stuck on the bank.  I’m not feeling too confident that I’ll get my first snake before the summer’s end.

@Bluebasser86 is there no minimum to enter fish in the yak derby? I thought there was a 12 inch minimum.

 

Looks like big fish was a 16.25 incher. Musta been a difficult bite. Your kayak posts usually have much bigger fish than that.

18 minutes ago, gimruis said:

@Bluebasser86 is there no minimum to enter fish in the yak derby? I thought there was a 12 inch minimum.

 

Looks like big fish was a 16.25 incher. Musta been a difficult bite. Your kayak posts usually have much bigger fish than that.

Minimum in these tournaments is 8”. 
 

These ones are at local lakes and only for 3 hours in the afternoons, so they usually have a much smaller big fish than the bigger tournaments. I’ve actually only caught 3 fish bigger than 16.25” in the Tuesday night tournaments all year and they were all in the same you tournament 😂

@TnRiver46 @BrianMDTX

 

2 nice bass caught between 8:45 and 10:10 this morning. 20.5 inches and 21 inches. Fought like the absolute dickens. Weren't getting away though cuz both were hooked solid right through the tough grizzly part of the corner of their mouths. 

Been a while guys....things are going well, had to move, which was crazy. I did get to move to a house on a lake though. I am fishing almost everyday, minus a few days here and there for vacations. I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully going to hit Headwaters soon. 

 

This is the last one I caught, using a drop shot. I actually got a drop shot rod not too long ago. 

On 8/14/2024 at 7:21 PM, ol'crickety said:

 

A fifth of whiskey? Smart. 

I have a whole bottle of fifth amendment about this. It's a bicentennially aged variety 😂

On 8/13/2024 at 10:42 AM, Pat Brown said:

 

 

I figured @LrgmouthShadlent you some Dior to slather your beard and lures in.

I should mention that my scent of choice is Prada Ocean