Pics are sideways, but oh my gosh. Was having a rough morning with back to back big fish throwing hooks. But an hour later I casted out and this thing smashed soon as it hit the water. When that head broke the water surface on the first jump I thought I was gonna poop bricks. And pretty sure I could be heard yelling "stay on baby girl, stay on darlin!!! from across the lake lol. It hit way out so it was a very challenging battle. Got it in and it measured at 24" Pretty sure this is my PB.

First time out since memorial day on the home lake .  Fished from daybreak til 10:30. Calm and warm conditions. When I fish mornings here I usually start towards the other end of the lake and fish back. Today I just started at home and fished holes in the eel grass and algae pockets. Started out with a top water frog but no action .

Caught the most on watermelon red speed worms, june bug magnum speed worms ,  watermelon red horny toads, and junebug flukes, in that order. Had a couple on the pumpkin swimming senko but couldn’t hook them. I caught nearly every fish with a slow retrieve.

Ended up with 13 . Planning to go again this afternoon, so we’ll see what happens…

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I watch YouTube videos of other Florida bassheads. You're exceptional.

 

Thank you! That means a lot coming from such an accomplished angler.

 

1 hour ago, BluegillsTightlines said:

Pics are sideways, but oh my gosh. Was having a rough morning with back to back big fish throwing hooks. But an hour later I casted out and this thing smashed soon as it hit the water. When that head broke the water surface on the first jump I thought I was gonna poop bricks. And pretty sure I could be heard yelling "stay on baby girl, stay on darlin!!! from across the lake lol. It hit way out so it was a very challenging battle. Got it in and it measured at 24" Pretty sure this is my PB.

 

When they say big bass should be held horizontally, I'm not sure this is what they meant lol. Awesome catch!

 

37 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

First time out since memorial day on the home lake .  Fished from daybreak til 10:30. Calm and warm conditions. When I fish mornings here I usually start towards the other end of the lake and fish back. Today I just started at home and fished holes in the eel grass and algae pockets. Started out with a top water frog but no action .

Caught the most on watermelon red speed worms, june bug magnum speed worms ,  watermelon red horny toads, and junebug flukes, in that order. Had a couple on the pumpkin swimming senko but couldn’t hook them. I caught nearly every fish with a slow retrieve.

Ended up with 13 . Planning to go again this afternoon, so we’ll see what happens…

 

Nice ones, Mike! Looks like the break in your normal pattern worked in your favor.

6 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Thank you! That means a lot coming from such an accomplished angler.

 

 

When they say big bass should be held horizontally, I'm not sure this is what they meant lol. Awesome catch!

 

 

Nice ones, Mike! Looks like the break in your normal pattern worked in your favor.

 Yeah, I never made it to the far end that I like to fish in the mornings. If I go this evening, I’ll fish down there.

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

@The Baron: What a great day! How big is Wes???

haha.  Cooper’s not a big guy, but Wes is - 6’3” 245# and still a few months until he’s 16yo.  He’s pretty much the same size as me - I used to be 6’4”, now I’m shrinking.  But I’m 240# of old muscle and life experience, so Wes still has to mind his manners.😝 I’m guessing that scale will tip after one more football season though.😬

 

Some nice fish from the crew here.  I’m hoping to contribute more as our water temps cool and the fall bite heats up.🤞🏻

@BluegillsTightlines: 24"??? You rock, buddy!

 

@N Florida Mike: You almost doubled my morning's catch. If you fish again this afternoon, don't just change your sequence. Change your line, your pants, your mind, your hair, etc. Change works for you!

 

@The Baron: That's a lotta boy, soon to be a lotta man. 

2 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

That's very kind of you! It's Florida, though, those big bass grow on trees down here 😅

I'm pretty sure those are Iguanas in the trees and they fight totally different on rod & reel. 😁

I fished for several hours with only a few breaks offs and nibbles......so I decided what the heck and tossed a craw style lure towards a dock - whack, this 18 inch SMB (this ties my PB for a SMB) grabbed it and dove, jumped, and battled - but the real big one came on the next cast..... 

 

 

and, literally on the next cast to the same dock - ZZZZZZZZZZ, my drag was buzzing, I thought I must have hooked a big carp, because this things went blazing from the dock to deep water fast - after quite the battle (this was on 6 lb. line and a Light + rod) I reluctantly hauled this Northern Pike in to the boat - it was 30 inches long (I tried to load the picture of it next to the measuring board but it says the file is too big) , it's head/mouth were very big (my guess is this thing will eventually grow to be a monster)

@Aaron_H is in violation of the haircut code.  Consider this a warning.

 

- haircut police ✂️

10 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

I'm pretty sure those are Iguanas in the trees and they fight totally different on rod & reel. 😁

 

Iguanas have scales, bass have scales. Iguana = bass. It's science!

2 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Iguanas have scales, bass have scales. Iguana = bass. It's science!

 

I don't argue with science.

 

PB, @WaskaCrank12! And back-to-back biggies. 

 

@BluegillsTightlines: I see a scale in your bottom pic. Did you get your long girl's weight?

I paddled with the kid and his friend. The kid's parents joined us too. I caught 11 even though I was pretty busy coaching. This was my biggest, a 19-incher (I didn't measure it because the boys had my bump board, but it sure looks 19ish, four-poundish:

 

 

I'm fishing with the kid again in the morning. I've caught 1,055 in 2025.

First time out since returning from my trip to Canada.  Decided to do some nighttime fishing at the Crappie Hole.  A young family was there fishing the prime spots so I moved to the eastern bank where historically I’ve struggled.  Managed to pick this one off of a laydown with a big single Colorado Spinnerbait.  I’m guessing at least a 4 maybe a 5 but I don’t know for sure since I lost my scale over the side during the aforementioned trip up north.

Whoa, @bp_fowler! I think that's around five. It's long and has a gut.

Some real nice bass being caught all over looks like; change is happening!
 

@bp_fowler Nice mouth shot with the spinnerbait; I take shots like that as well, but haven’t used them much lately. Shows size well in your case 
 

In celebration of “finally, YOUR last weekend up here in force” Day, I had an alright bass, but fun bluegill trip. I really love good sized, clear water bluegills around weeds. Rive rgills especially can be so beautiful. An 8’ light action rod with straight 4lb and reds/1” gulp minnows took mostly 8” fish with maybe an 8.5” or two in there. The real thing about these fish is their impressive girth. A good fish here is seriously stout and thick. I have a 9” hand span which is pretty big for a skinny guy, so it takes a nicer gill to fill them. For the record, I didn’t keep any of them

 

 

 

Got a 4 pounder and his little brother in the church pond…

My motto is "Be Like Mike," so I caught a four-pounder* this morning too. Here she is:

 

 

And here she is on the bump board:

 

 

I only caught five fish total, giving me 1,060 bass for the year. Here are two others I caught this morning, an 18 and 17:

 

 

The kid caught six, all on a walking bait, and he had some titanic hits, which we both enjoyed.. Even though it was the fewest fish we've ever caught together, I think it was my favorite fishing trip ever with him. We were both tired, as we'd both fished twice yesterday, and we both rose at four this morning, so instead of fishing hard, we did a lot of talking. The kid told me about fish he hoped to catch one day (snook, redfish, peacock bass, tarpon, etc.) and because I'm at the other end of life, I told him about fish I'd caught. We quit early and then I sat on their camp's porch and drank coffee with his parents, grandparents, and aunt. 

 

It was perfect. 

 

 

*I'm catching more 18 and 19-inchers. Fall is here and HOORAY, for this means the big girls are dancing again!

@Swamp Girl My fish was exactly 4 pounds and it was 20 3/4 inch long . So a little long in the tooth…🤠

1 minute ago, N Florida Mike said:

@Swamp Girl My fish was exactly 4 pounds and it was 20 3/4 inch long . So a little long in the tooth…🤠

 

Whoa! When Maine bass reach that length, they're nearing six pounds. Like this one:

 

 

Even the shorter bass can be footbally:

 

 

Of course, we're fishing for different critters; Florida strain vs. NLBM. And NLBM have so load up so they don't disappear come winter. Florida bass can eat at their leisure. 

12 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Whoa, @bp_fowler! I think that's around five. It's long and has a gut.

I think you’re right, looking back at other 5s that I’ve caught she compares favorably.  

First two are from the crappie hole and the last two were caught at AEP.

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Whoa! When Maine bass reach that length, they're nearing six pounds. Like this one:

 

 

Even the shorter bass can be footbally:

 

 

Of course, we're fishing for different critters; Florida strain vs. NLBM. And NLBM have so load up so they don't disappear come winter. Florida bass can eat at their leisure. 

Man, that 19" has a big tall body from the gillplate onward. That thing is going to make a monster some day.

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

I think you’re right, looking back at other 5s that I’ve caught she compares favorably.  

First two are from the crappie hole and the last two were caught at AEP.

I agree, I think it is a 5 as well. Here's one I got last year that was 5.07 lbs. Yours is almost identical in size and shape. 

3 hours ago, BluegillsTightlines said:

Man, that 19" has a big tall body from the gillplate onward. That thing is going to make a monster some day.

 

That's a bog bass. They're built differently than the pond bass. Here's another bog bass:

 

 

 

I just wish I weren't too old to fish the bog every week. There are four of them that I've fished and they're all hard work to reach. I have two canoes at my pond and one at my pal's pond and to reach those canoes, it's simply a walk through the woods. So, for those of you who are still young, fish the hard to reach water while you still can. @bp_fowler does this. A couple times a year, I muster the strength to fish a bog, but soon they'll be beyond me. 

@Swamp Girl  That bass is a…

 

2 hours ago, bp_fowler said:

@Swamp Girl  That bass is a…

 

 

Ha! Here's another from the same bog, caught earlier this year:

 

 

I think the bogs are all-you-eat buffets. This is from a different bog:

 

 

I wish my pond grew such bass, but gosh, it's five minutes away and my canoe is sitting in the water right now. 

On 8/29/2025 at 1:36 PM, gim said:

@Aaron_H is in violation of the haircut code.  Consider this a warning.

 

- haircut police ✂️