Two more hours today.  Two bass.  The first, a10", up shallow on a D-shad. 

 

And then when I backed off-shore to a 10-15' shelf and begin dragging a zoom lizard, this 5.73 was waiting: 

 

That's the first bass over 5lb I've caught in probably 3 years.

@MIbassyaker your 5lber looks like it could beat up my 5lber and take its lunch money.  😂

1 minute ago, bp_fowler said:

@MIbassyaker your 5lber looks like it could beat up my 5lber and take its lunch money.  😂

 

Day of the 5s -- lets goooo

Two five-plus-pounders!!!

 

 

13 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

@MIbassyaker your 5lber looks like it could beat up my 5lber and take its lunch money.  😂

 

I'm pretty sure that MIbassyaker somehow caught a Kansas bass. 

On 5/1/2025 at 9:36 AM, Mike L said:

I don’t usually post pictures of catches on here but this time I had too. 
 

The boy was making his Ma and grandma a little nuts just being himself. 
I told them “we’re going fishin, see ya when we see ya”

I called a friend who owns a golf course that’s being redesigned around 3 existing ponds that have been there longer than anyone knows. 
 

I took his spinning rod and I grabbed my new Okuma Cerros combo.
First, The rod is a 7’0 rated as a M/XF coupled with the new Haikai DT reel. 
I own 2 rods that are also rated XF and both are nothing like this. 
The action ends more than a 1/4 way down which is more inline with almost every other fast action rod I have.  
Okuma has every rod in the Cerros lineup designated as a XF but in my experience it’s not. 
I spooled the Haikai reel with 12# Sniper. 

 

The Cerros, is as light as anything I have with the action being almost perfect for a Medium power rod. 
The XF rating not withstanding. 

The fit and finish is more than what I expected for a medium priced rod. 
Another thing I like is the first 4 guides are all double footed which is different from other rods I have in that price range and a more than comfortable molded grip. 
 

The Haikai DT reel which I’ve posted about a few times already on here continues to impress as it’s the only magnetic only brake reel I own. 
I’ve always refused to buy one as I much prefer a dual brake system or at least a centrifugal only, but this is so smooth being untouched out of the box it doesn’t matter. 
 

Anyway, we walked around a pond staying well off shore as there were beds with guarding males 2 ft in. 
I rigged a 4” Rage Cut R and handed it to him and told him where to cast which he did like pro. 
As he brought it to about a foot from the edge of the bed I told him to drop it as I saw a male turn and face out.
I knew he would see it fall. 

Sure enough he did and hit that thing hard!

He took a step forward to get his balance and yelled “PAPA”!!!

I yelled back…“don’t look at me, you know what to do”

 

His face says it all 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words…  Great memories Papa….

Something is happening with that big swimbait bite this week to be sure.

 

Paralleled a steeper bank with a Zaldaingerous swimbait and nailed this 5.5 lb beast!

 

 

We caught some more on the floating worm and Jake wrecked beautiful bluegill and now we are going bowling!

 

Gonna test the big swimbait pattern on the lake this weekend and I'm anxious to report what we find!  😎☝🏼🎣

 

 

Oh yeah I got a monster on the hybrid hunter also.  He ate it like a topwater though which was quite epic.

 

 

I knew it was coming @bp_fowler congratulations dude!

 

@MIbassyaker that's such a beautiful beast dude - epic!

Fished a new lake today in southern WV and this lake was extremely clear.

Must have caught all males, long and skinny. Lol

2 on wacky finesse worms and 8 on Mepps spinner.

Water temps 62*.

Oh and a couple of red eyes.

4 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

Two more hours today.  Two bass.  The first, a10", up shallow on a D-shad. 

 

And then when I backed off-shore to a 10-15' shelf and begin dragging a zoom lizard, this 5.73 was waiting: 

 

That's the first bass over 5lb I've caught in probably 3 years.

 

 

Just checked my records -- this is actually a PB!

2 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

 

 

Just checked my records -- this is actually a PB!

I wish I could add to the five-pounders caught today, but alas, I only caught 16.5" bass. It's been unseasonably cool here the last couple days and I think that suppressed their appetites. I fished for 2.75 hours and caught 15 total. The last time I fished my pond, I caught half a dozen long bass, but this time, they topped out at 17 inches. I started with these two, near twins, and both caught on my underspin with my favored chartreuse and white Zako:

 

 

I caught this one off a tree, one of three from the tree and you can see the tree behind the bass:

 

 

Here's a little one from that same tree:

 

 

I caught this little one in a shallow bay, so shallow that I could see the bass charge my lure, along with two others:

 

 

Here's that bay:

 

 

I paddled down to a little river and caught this one, the biggest of the evening, but not by much, as it was only 17 inches:

 

 

This one came from the same little river:

 

 

Paddling home, I caught my only bass by trolling:

 

 

I still think the fishing is about to become much hotter with just a little more heat. Today's high was only 52. Sigh. I'm fishing again tomorrow morning. I want to be on the water when the switch gets flicked and the bass go bonkers. 

 

A pretty pic to close this trip:

 

5 day?

Doesn't look it, but she just edged over; 5.10.   Hit large Mayor on Siebert Inhaler jig head

Was probably best numbers day for me...ever.  only a few over 3, but I'd be surprised if total was much under 100.

  If I went two consecutive casts without a bite, it was unusual 

@Choporoz: Yet ANOTHER five and nearly 100 bass!!! Wow! What a day. I'm about to launch and will likely struggle to catch 15. Again. However, I feel that the bass are a few days away from going berserk. 

Got this 20.5 inch fish in the church pond. Thought it was much bigger by the fight it put up…

Zoom fluke bass this morning

4 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

Got this 20.5 inch fish in the church pond. Thought it was much bigger by the fight it put up…

 

My length to weight chart says that you caught yet ANOTHER five-pounder:

 

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/catchrelease/bass_length_weight.phtml

Boated 8 this morning, 6 of which were keepers. Storms blasted us through the middle and end of the week and brought enough rainfall to raise the lake a foot. Now today we were post frontal conditions. So, I channeled my inner Greg Hackney and picked up a nice heavy rod and started putting a bait into shallower heavy cover. At one point it took me 10-15 minutes to get a bass out of a tree. My bite to land ratio was atrociously bad due to the difficulty of removing these bass from their hidey holes but I got some so that’s all the matters 👍🏻

44 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

My bite to land ratio was atrociously bad due to the difficulty of removing these bass from their hidey holes

 

Been there. Been undone by ^that^ again and again and again.

Where the heck did the nice weather go? Cold, windy, overcast day made for slow fishing today. Got one little dink in 2 hours. 

 

First off, glad to be back for another season! Got out for the first time last weekend, caught a few. Nothing special. But man was today and doozy. And I'm not sure if it's good or bad. Comedy of errors but some good fish. 

 

Was really excited to fish today. Set everything up last night. Was waiting all week for the weekend. Finally, Saturday is here. Got to the lake early as usual. Setting the yak up. And realize....I don't have my nocqua battery for my 93sv. Any other lake I wouldn't really care. But this lake is really challenging. Only started fishing it late last year but struggled. It's very different then any other lake near me. So the electronics help. Oh well. No biggie. Well until I got home and found out the battery is just gone. Must of left it at the lake last weekend. 

 

South wind. Planned on fishing the wind blown bank/grass/grassline. Well, knowing what the forecasted wind would be, I already knew where I'd be fishing. I envisioned it the past few days. Problem was, somehow in my head i reversed it. And I'm my morning haze I didn't pick up on it. Dumbie. I'm fishing the protected side of the lake thinking to myself "huh, I thought it'd be more windy!". Still caught one average sized bass. 

 

Once I realized my error, I scooted over to the wind blown side. Saw a ton of activity. Caught one, but came unhooked at the side of the yak. Shoot, that one doesn't count.

 

Then i hooked a nice one. Not a big as a 5LBer, but was close. Had some weight to her for sure. 

 

Few casts later, I feel somthing pick up my t-rig and booooogied! I'm not sure what it was. But it took off so fast, rod bent in half almost immediately, then tink, line snapped. Ugh.

 

Few casts later, hooked into another one. Set the hook..... spinning reel snapped of the rod. You have got to be kidding me. I'm frantically trying to "reel" by hand. But the fish was gone. Called it quits right there. 

 

Caught a few average bass, the big one was the biggest iv caught at this lake by a long shot. Lots of activity, but also alot of mishaps.

 

Not sure if it's a sign of an exciting season or a frustrating one. But happy to be fishing again for sure.

 

Took a short trip out on the lake. My oldest caught her first ever smallmouth on a senko which was pretty cool. My youngest had another smallie on but, we haven’t quite got the hook set down 
 

Being a girl Dad, we spent about 30 minutes fishing and most of the time spot locked playing Barbie’s and eating snacks. I’ll take it though, it was a good day. 

Fun day out yesterday. 100 degree days the last week. Red ear and the gills are staged up roaming and seen some of their beds already fanned out. Lots of fry guarders out with the largemouth. Was skipping a keitech around and paralleling the reeds. Biggest of the day was 4.6 Got a few smaller bass drop shotting some deeper grass. The bass have been amped up my 7:3 reel is barely keeping up. Lost 5.

On 4/14/2025 at 9:47 AM, hokiehunter373 said:

2nd trip out for bass this year. First time throwing the Shimano Armajoint (thanks @AlabamaSpothunter ). About 10 casts in and a new PB. 5-2. She came up from the depths and absolutely SLAMMED it. Whole bait down the gullet. Rest of the session didn’t matter. 
 

 

 

PB only lasted 3 weeks 😁

 

Got out for an hour today. Started with the armajoint and caught a couple dinks barely bigger than the bait. Hilarious. Working around the pond and got a good swipe but she only got the tail. Gave a couple more casts in that spot and nothing so figured I’d continue my loop and come back with the wacky rig. 20 mins later I did just that. First cast was on the money and the line started swimming side ways. Tightened her up but as soon as slack was out she spit it. Cast back in and the line was over the dock post so the worm was barely in the water. Gave her a little jiggle and as soon as it got in the water I got to watch that awesome flash of green as she rolled on it and sucked the worm in. My light rod with 6# test and she put it to the limit. In and out of algae. Peeling drag. Splashing. She put on a show but she wasn’t going anywhere. 5.44# with the tail of her last meal still sticking out her throat. Tummied up beaut! 
 

 

 

Do those of us who haven't caught a five-pounder in the last two days have to leave Bass Resource forever?

 

Seriously, congrats to all the members of the Fivers Club.

47 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Do those of us who haven't caught a five-pounder in the last two days have to leave Bass Resource forever?

 

Seriously, congrats to all the members of the Fivers Club.

Few more weeks and you’ll be lights out again with 30-40 bass days.  I have no doubt.

37 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

Few more weeks and you’ll be lights out again with 30-40 bass days.  I have no doubt.

 

I think it'll happen in the next seven days. The bass were different this morning. I saw several feeding on the surface and the hits were stronger and surer. They're finally shaking off their winter blues. I also started catching them in more places, which tells me that more are interested in feeding.