3 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

My son caught a 4 pound , 20 inch fish out back on a watermelon red super fluke. He was using 4 pound mono, which impressed me a little !

I’m impressed too!  

6 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

My son caught a 4 pound , 20 inch fish out back on a watermelon red super fluke. He was using 4 pound mono, which impressed me a little !

Just getting a hook set with 4lb and a Super Fluke is impressive. 

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

@bp_fowler: I find it helpful when you share photos of where you're fishing and delineate why you choose the baits you fished.

I will do my best going forward to do so.  As for bait selection that’s a subject that has been constantly evolving as I have grown as an angler.
 

Here’s my template as things stand right now.
 

First thing I tend to look at is what the predominant cover is in a given body of water.  I group this into three categories: hard vegetation (wood), soft vegetation (weeds/grass), and rocks. I then select baits in three different categories: bottom baits, moving baits, and finesse/light line presentation.  
 

Each different category of cover has is own techniques that I prefer.  For example:  soft vegetation I would start off using a vibrating/bladed jig for my moving bait.  For a bottom bait a Texas-rigged worm would get the call.  As for finesse I would start with a shaky head.  For wood cover I would go with a spinner bait for my moving baits and a jig for bottom contact.  Rocks? Crankbait and Texas-rigged craw.

Color is of course dictated by water clarity and predominant forage.  
 

Unfortunately it’s not that always that simple.  Some bodies of water have none of the above or all of the above in some combination.  I also have to take into consideration weather, light conditions and fishing pressure.  Which as you already know is a concern here in my part of the country.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that these templates are just a starting point.  I’m going to change things up if my plan A doesn’t work.

That brings me to today.  Previous experience had shown me that the big baits either mid water column or on the bottom were not working.  Fishing pressure combined with clear water meant that I was pretty much going to have to grind it out with finesse presentations if I expected to catch anything.  
 

This is why I only brought two spinning rods with me. To me, it was only a question of which finesse presentation was going to work.  Granted, it’s debatable whether or not things like fluke or soft plastic paddle tail swim baits are “finesse”. 

I think as anglers we tend to think of clear water as a negative. Understandably so because in most cases it is.  
 

But today it allowed me to experiment and see how the fish reacted to various lures and through process of elimination select the ones that gave me the best chance of getting bit.  Especially since the ponds that I were fishing didn’t fit neatly into my templates.

3-1/2 pounder fought like a 4. Fun time…

@N Florida Mike: Your son's bass looks bigger than just four pounds. On the chart I use (link below), a 20-inch bass typically weighs 4.68 pounds. YMMV, as @Bluebasser86's 20-inchers can weigh five and six pounds and skinny bass can weigh less than four pounds, but your son's bass isn't skinny.

 

@treble hook: That's a good-looking fish. It's dark and healthy and as such, really belongs in Maine. Please consider overnighting it to me and I'll stock it in my pond. I suggest Fed Ex.

 

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

But today it allowed me to experiment and see how the fish reacted to various lures and through process of elimination select the ones that gave me the best chance of getting bit.

 

That's a good point and clear water is how I learned to fish four and six-pound test for decades. The weeds of Maine ended my preference for light line.

 

 

 

Over 2 inches of rain the previous day cooled surface temps a bit (72), but the rain originally forecasted for today never materialized, so took advantage of a cloudy day. Started slow with just two small keepers throwing topwaters around spawning bays during the first couple hours, so ended up moving out deeper. That was the deal, as I added another dozen plus keepers to the mix on cranks and jigging spoons.

 

 

 

 

I went back this evening for a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the largest bluegill I've ever caught, largest I ever seen in person too. I'd guess it to be a solid pound and was 1 1/2" wide. It fought like a bass of similar size.

 

 

8 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Your son's bass looks bigger than just four pounds. On the chart I use (link below), a 20-inch bass typically weighs 4.68 pounds.

Thanks for the positivity, but I actually was surprised it weighed 4 pounds. ( we know how to optimize pics lol)😆  That scale is less than a year old , I believe it to be accurate.

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

Thanks for the positivity, but I actually was surprised it weighed 4 pounds. ( we know how to optimize pics lol)😆  That scale is less than a year old , I believe it to be accurate.

 

As Glenn has reminded us many times gauging weight from photos is tricky. I tend to go the other way with some photos, where a weight is shared and I think, "Really? That much?" So, it was nice to say, "Really? that little?"

 

@Team9nine: Really? That many big bass?

Jake waxed everything at the pressured public pond last night on the pop and fly.

 

I sadly lost a 6+ at the bank that I was in the water trying to land - she was even hooked nicely and stayed on longer than she should have during the clumsy and awkward job I had to do landing her.  I almost snapped my jig rod going into the water for her and I had to grab the line both to protect the rod and to keep her in grabbing range and she started flopping and jumping in 6" of water on some rocks 2' down from where I was standing.  I went in for her and even bloodied my knuckles trying to get a hand in her mouth but she was a cunning old girl and she slipped through my fingertips quite literally.  Good for her!

 

We also saw a MASSIVE bullfrog being consumed by a water snake and it was epic!

 

To give you all an idea of the absolutely stupid size of this bully - it's hind leg to the right of the snakes head here is 5" long extended fully.

 

 

 

Jake also got his biggest sunfish in a while and found a quality toad peeping under a street lamp!

 

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

@Team9nine: Really? That many big bass?

That many? Just 3 good fish out of 16 caught. The water shot is just a 2nd pic of the largest one. Best is 4.78 lbs., and all others caught (not pictured) were 2 lbs or less.

 

 @N Florida Mike - “picture optimizing” 😎

7 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

3 good fish out of 16 caught

 

Three good ones out of 16 caught is a high percentage of good fish. I don't average 18.75% big bass. You're a talented stick.

9 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Three good ones out of 16 caught is a high percentage of good fish. I don't average 18.75% big bass. You're a talented stick.

Agree on the good percentage. It’s always a good trip when I get at least (1) three pound (18” or better) fish (MY “quality” target), so more than one is considered an above average day in my book.

2 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Agree on the good percentage. It’s always a good trip when I get at least ***-lb. or better fish (MY “quality” target), so more than one is considered an above average day for me.

 

My idea of a big northern lmb is a four-pounder and I average about one four-pounder for every 40 bass, which is a 2.5% big bass percentage. Of course, I enjoy a trip here and there with multiple bass over four pounds, but most trips, I have to catch forty bass to land one four-pounder.

5 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

My idea of a big northern lmb is a four-pounder and I average about one four-pounder for every 40 bass, which is a 2.5% big bass percentage. Of course, I enjoy a trip here and there with multiple bass over four pounds, but most trips, I have to catch forty bass to land one four-pounder.

My stats as of yesterday are, I have to fish 10 hours to catch a bass over 18”/3 lbs., so about one good fish every 3 trips average since most trips for me are between 3-4 hrs long.

@Pat Brown Speaking of water snakes although I wasn’t there a coworker of mine shared this guy warming up on the concrete yesterday.

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

I have to fish 10 hours to catch a bass over 18”/3 lbs., so about one good fish every 3 trips average since most trips for me are between 3-4 hrs long.

 

Our stats diverge on 3-pounders. They're more common in Maine, perhaps one out of every ten bass or so. 

Today was a few dinks and this 2-2/2 pounder. Still a good day on Lake Murray, SC…

I found some green backs today. No big ones but some good tuggers. Biggest around 3lbs.

@LrgmouthShad: I like the bass second from the bottom. It has that crappie shape of @Bluebasser86's bass. 

Wasn’t planning on fishing today but plans fell through so I hit up the first pond I was at yesterday and brought my nephew along.  
 

Much cooler after yesterday’s front rolled through.  Low to mid 50s.  Still overcast with a lot breeze.  
 

I caught five with a few that probably would have been better had they not been spawned out.  Caught my first one a dink with the light 1/15 oz Ned.  It did a good job staying on top of the weeds as I had hoped but after the first fish I decided to try a light Texas rig, 1/16oz on a 2/0 hook.  I tried a finesse worm, speed worm, and trick worm all in green pumpkin with the speed worm winning out.

My nephew out fished me however and got two PBs in row with a 2.18 and a 2.8.

@bp_fowler: Good job, Unc! It's great to see men like ICD, @gim, and you taking the boys fishing.

Got out on the lake for a few hours today, hot and sunny. We caught a good many largemouth and spots and a few little smallies. Then my buddy got a small walleye back in a pocket. We were going kind of fast between pockets and I saw a 1 lb class bass with the zoomies, chasing shad on top 100 mph. I casted a Berkeley Frittside over toward the mayhem and got a larger fish, pulling drag off a baitcaster. As it comes boatside, I see it’s a nice smallie and there’s another one chasing it . My buddy drops a rattle trap in behind my fish while I’m trying to boat it, this works for us about 0.00001% of the time (trying to catch the follower). He doesn’t hook up and begins to lift his trap into the boat and an even nicer smallie slams it right next to my face as I’m lipping my fish! Wild ride. Water temp 74

 

A tiny guy on the baby bladed jig.

Finally had my first multi-fish day of 2025. I'm really eager for that first smallie and spent the first hour or so fishing the river. Couldn't get anything to bite and broke of three different baits on snags. (Including two Owner under spins which are worth their weight in gold for me.) Might go back tomorrow and try to wade out after them. 

 

I finally gave up on my smallmouth dreams and went back to the retention ponds. Fished another hour, and while I got to listen to CMU's Softball team demolish Ohio in the nearby ballpark, I couldn't get anything to bite. I was about to give up around 6:00, when I finally got one on the Mepps #4 Black Fury. Not big, but big enough beat the skunk.

 

 

Moved on down the bank to the merest bit of submerged brush poking out from the bank. It wasn't much but it was the only visible cover around. So I ran the Mepps in front of it, and sure enough a little dink darted out and ate it. Two fish on the board. 

 

 

A little bit later and a little further down the bank I caught the largest fish on the day off a pile of rocks, again on the Black Fury. About 15 or 16 inches, this one is a real solid fish for this little pond. 

 

 

Rounded out the day at 7:45 with another dink.