1 hour ago, Lottabass said:

Shades of Charlie Brewer!!!!!

I did catch several on a slider head Sunday 😅

Black bass were tough to come by yesterday, but the fishing was not slow. We caught 6 smallmouth in the 2 lb range, but we caught a total of 45 fish in about 6 hours. My friend caught a 10.5 lb buffalo, and I caught the longest skipjack I've ever seen in person (over 18" & over 2 lbs). Everything else was white bass after white bass. The dogwoods are blooming, and the white bass showed up on cue.

 

We tried several lures, but the only thing that worked was a mid-depth crankbait. Everything I caught was with a green/brown craw pattern with a red belly (pictured), and my friend was using an orange belly craw pattern. The only bad thing was the wind stealing my favorite fishing hat. They were releasing water at 80,000 cfs so we couldn't catch it before the current pulled it under. It's hard to complain about a day where you average catching a fish every 8 minutes, but I'll sure miss that hat. Otherwise, it was a great day.

 

 

@Fishlegs:

 

A. White bass are a blast.

 

B. That skipjack is crazy big.

 

C. Nice smallie.

I had an early day at work (I’ve been working so many hours this week, it doesn’t feel like I’ve been home since Sunday). Getting off at 2 today felt great and the wind wasn’t howling for a change so I snuck out for a couple hours in the kayak. The fish were small but cooperative. I popped a couple under a dock on my Okuma X combo. Had to add a leader of 15lb Seaguar Pounce because I could see bottom in about 5’ of water. I was really impressed that I was able to accurately skip a 5” Bang Stickz with a 1/8oz tungsten. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it with a heavy action rod like that but it did it no problem. I also found someone’s boat in 8’ of water.

 

Someone should let @Bluebasser86 know that someone has hacked his account. Clayton would never go fishing and just catch some "small" bass. Clayton would cast a 1/64th ounce jig into a 50 mph gale a quarter mile to hook and land an eight-pound bass. Being a Kansas bass, it would be a perfect sphere, measuring an incredible 15 inches by 15 inches by 15 inches. And then he'd hook a 100-pound blue cat to simply have it tow him back to the dock. 

Been a while since I’ve been on a good jigging spoon bite, but after a lot of futile casting and trolling with a variety of other baits, I finally figured out that was what they wanted. Caught a good 2 dozen bass up to 3 lbs. in a stiff south wind with regular gusts of 20-25 mph. 
 

 

 

 

 

On 3/30/2025 at 8:02 AM, Swamp Girl said:

@Lottabass: Holy Greenies, Al, those are big bass!!!

@Swamp Girl Thank you!  I'm blessed to have good lakes to fish.

9-10 release.

 

 

Now Dwight's red hot too. Way to go, my faraway friend! Great photo. It's not just big bass being caught, but they're being photographed in cool, creative ways too.

The rain had been relentless for the last 48 hours.  All of my spots nearby are blown out for the time being.  Decided to head out east to the AEP. 
 

Bit cooler today with a steady drizzle and overcast skies.  Wind was dead though mostly so that made it much easier to take the canoe out.  
 

When I pulled up to the launch I saw tons of smaller bass cruising in the clear shallow water.  I tossed a Ned around and caught a half dozen dinks before I decided to put my canoe in and search for larger fish.

 

I used a bluegill pattern bladed jig caught another 12.  Including my best of the day this fish right here.

 

Had something big hooked further down the way   But it ran into weeds near the bottom and came off.  Also on my way back out spooked two more that were easily the same size as the big one I caught.  
 

The bigs were spread out, some near shallow cover, the others near the middle in deeper water.  Next time I’m here I’ll need to be equipped to fish not only the shallow stuff but also the deeper spots and steep rocky bluff banks.

 

@bp_fowlernice fish and nice boat! Cool spot to fish

@bp_fowler: You are crushing it with your new canoe! 

 

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

But it ran into weeds near the bottom and came off.

 

Story of my life. It's amazing how they use weeds to free themselves.

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

@bp_fowlernice fish and nice boat! Cool spot to fish

Thanks!  And yeah it is a pretty neat spot (s).  If it was just a bit closer I’d probably spend all my time fishing there. 

 

32 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

@bp_fowler: You are crushing it with your new canoe! 

I’m loving it.  It lets me fish places I’d never be able to fish from the bank and it gives me a whole new way to fish my regular spots.  My only regret is that I didn’t go bigger.  

7 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

My only regret is that I didn’t go bigger.

 

Smaller gives you some advantages. Utilize them. For example, I launch at places bigger boats can't launch.

Got a good fish in the church pond where I’m still after Mrs Big…This one was 4 pounds 5 oz.

Nothing wrong with that one; you'll get her.

First fish of the year here in Michigan. I had about an hour window this afternoon to get out of the house while the children napped. Hit up the pond where I caught my PB last year. Third cast with a soft plastic minnow on a jig head, and I hooked up. It was my only fish today, but I'm thinking I'm back! 

 

 

1 hour ago, IcatchDinks said:

I'm thinking I'm back! 

 

You are back, Papa! Good job.

  Spent some time with the country bass, and didn't catch any worth a pic.  Lots of 1-2lb bucks sitting on the 12-15' break.  They were very susceptible to highly erratic cranks and twitch baits.  The duo bayruf 85 hw seek is a blast to fish, and even called em up at times from 20-25'fow at times.  I meant to bring it back with me to the city, but forgot.  

  So I spent the next 2 mornings fishing in the city and boy did the smallies cooperate.  Water clarity was dropping as the winds shifted, but the bass were on bait.  Shaking a minnow was catching every few casts but playing the swirling current was tricky.  1/2oz scrounger would only get bites when ripped and killed, but the lip would leave a poor hookup ratio.  Walked a 12g br head near the bottom, and immediately got smashed.  Unfortunately, the hooks on those heads are slightly brittle, and I left the point of my only 12g in the upper lip of a nice 4ish lb bass.  So I decided to put a 4" deathadder on a 3/8oz ballhead and mimic the scrounger retrieve.  I was met with instant success and access to more water with my longer casts.

  In about 7hrs over 2 mornings, ended up with at least 45 bass.  I'd bet on a 20lb+ bag each day with another thrown in for great luck.  Couldn't leave without dragging a jig/tube when the action slowed down, and got rewarded with 3 more good fish.  Lots of rambling and boring pics, but the variation in color always fascinates me.

 

scott

 

 

 

 

@softwateronly: You're catching footballs like Jerry Rice!

Ok, I'll fall on the sword and follow @softwateronly. Good grief!!! You got on quite a roll there brother. Congrats!!!

First bass of the year. Ended up catching six pitching laydowns this afternoon, on the backside of today's monsoon. Only took a pic of the first. No bigs. Best was a couple shad shy of 3# I'd guess. 

 

 

15 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

No bigs. Best was a couple shad shy of 3# I'd guess. 

 

 

I know it might be small potatoes for you, but I'd be pretty darn stoked if I could catch a 3-lber and call it "no bigs." 😆 Nice fish! 

 

@softwateronly, those are some beautiful brown bass!! 

Does my heart well seeing you post Bass pics @T-Billy, I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one morning and you'll be lost to the Muskie darkside forever 😆

 

Congrats on getting on the board for 2025, this is the year of the 7lber for you if those dang Dinosaur fish don't get in the way. 

Thanks for the kind words @Swamp Girl @T-Billy and @IcatchDinks !! I just had access to my lucky rock and free time at the right time.  Lots of bass makes the cold and rain much easier to deal with.

 

scott

1 minute ago, softwateronly said:

I just had access to my lucky rock and free time at the right time.

 

Please share the exact latitude and longitude of your lucky rock in a PM. Don't share it with any others! They can find their own lucky rocks.