@Swamp Girl Although I have no photos to share currently, the photos in the link you shared although a much larger plot of land than what we vacationed on in my youth are pretty similar in that my grandfather’s friend owned I can’t remember how many acres and it may have been that many with 3 small cottages on the lake. I’m going to have to ask my dad whose memory isn’t the best these days to see if I can gather some more information. I’ll never forget “exploring” the woods on the opposite side of where we stayed and coming across a unlocked deer camp/cabin that actually had a book to sign, I’m not positive as I was no older than 12 years old and probably even closer to 10 at the time but I do believe my older brother and our older neighbor who I was with did in fact sign the book. It was definitely a memorable experience and one I would absolutely love to experience again. 

Little snippets of Friday Saturday and Sunday 

 

Took a friend this morning from 8:30- 1 .

It was very windy , and clear to cloudy. It was slow to say the least. Paul had never bass fished. At least I was able to put him on a couple fish. I only caught 4 myself, and every fish was caught on june bug yum dingers. We lost around 7 fish.I hooked a big fish on my finesse combo with a baby brush hog, but he got off near the boat. 

Coming home we stopped to fish a deep hole and I was reeling in a pumpkin speed worm . It got nailed by a fish but was going around the front of the boat. I turned the boat to get a good angle ,  and the fish let go right before I set the hook.

One of the more frustrating days I’ve had on the water in awhile !  Still glad I was able to go.

I caught 5 yesterday, though I didn't have the phone with me.

2 were caught on pre-rigged creme swimbaits, 1 on a big bite baits suicide shad swimbait with a belly weighted ewg hook, and 2 using flukes on the same hook after a gill bit my tail off!

 

This is big for me, as it's my first wintertime success. True wintertime.

1 hour ago, Bazoo said:

I caught 5 yesterday, though I didn't have the phone with me.

2 were caught on pre-rigged creme swimbaits, 1 on a big bite baits suicide shad swimbait with a belly weighted ewg hook, and 2 using flukes on the same hook after a gill bit my tail off!

 

This is big for me, as it's my first wintertime success. True wintertime.

I was going to try and get out this past weekend and beat the bank but everything had a sheet of ice on it 🤨

Great start to 2026! 6.06 ate a football jig crawled over a rock pile in 20’. In honor of our resident jig master @WRB-2.0

 

You are hardcore, @Fried Lemons. A passionate angler. I can't catch anything. The feels-like temp here was four below this morning. See that ice on your rod tip? We have a little more than that.

4 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

See that ice on your rod tip? We have a little more than that.

Tell me about it, I snapped off an expensive swimbait when my line guide iced up on a cast.

Just now, Fried Lemons said:

Tell me about it, I snapped off an expensive swimbait when my line guide iced up on a cast.

 

This is why you should drive north. You would not have lost that swimbait in Maine. Sure, it would have snapped off, but you could have simply walked onto the ice to retrieve it. 

Beautiful fish and tribute!

Please keep all these catch pictures coming, I'ts been cold and windy here and I'm up there in years.

The only thing I've caught lately is some respiratory crap that lasted almost a month.

On 12/29/2025 at 5:44 PM, Bazoo said:

though I didn't have the phone with me.

I remember those peaceful days. Before Phones and GPS, and trucks that slam you from all sides with sensor chimes, and seatbelt chimes, and chimes, and chimes, and chimes! And a radio you could turn on without navigating a touch screen! I got this mean woman voice on my GPS that sounds like Nurse Ratchet! She's always telling me where to go, and I'm always telling her back where SHE can go! 

Please @Blue Raider Bob, don't hold back, tell us what you really think?

2 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Please @Blue Raider Bob, don't hold back, tell us what you really think?

     My boss has got this cute little french maid voice on his GPS that gently reminds him to "Turn Next Left", I have been trying to figure out how to get mine changed. Nurse Ratchet actually told me one time in a loud angry voice to do a U TURN! No way! I don't want to get fussed out when I go fishing.

Been fussed at enough when I got home!

6 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I don't want to get fussed out when I go fishing.

I can certainly agree with that. Without a doubt.

 

Happy New Year bud

57 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I got this mean woman voice on my GPS that sounds like Nurse Ratchet!

 

I'm just glad you referenced Nurse Ratched. I love that book.

54 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I got this mean woman voice on my GPS that sounds like Nurse Ratchet

  Funny you should mention her. My mom had surgery a couple weeks ago and my sister has been looking after her while she recovers. Guess what I've been calling my sister? 😂 Don't feel bad for her, it's the nicest thing I've called her in a long time. 😂😂😂

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I'm just glad you referenced Nurse Ratched. I love that book.

I know this may come across as ignorance on my part but I didn’t know “One flew over the cuckoos nest” was a novel until I just read your response 😬 And before you ask I was an avid reader in my youth up until my early/mid 30’s. I’m planning on trying to get back into it as I really miss slowing down and immersing myself in a good book. 

Edited January 2Jan 2 by Eric 26
Content

26 minutes ago, Eric 26 said:

I know this may come across as ignorance on my part but I didn’t know “One flew over the cuckoos nest” was a novel until I just read your response 😬 And before you ask I was an avid reader in my youth up until my early/mid 30’s. I’m planning on trying to get back into it as I really miss slowing down and immersing myself in a good book. 

 

It was written by the great Ken Kesey, who led one of the more interesting lives of the 20th century, as chronicled by Tom Wolfe in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." In short, Kesey hung with the Hell's Angels, Ginsburg, the Grateful Dead, Neal Cassady, and the Merry Pranksters. Crazy times. 

I hadn’t planned to fish my lake again today but conditions were perfect in mid afternoon so I gave in to the temptation.Temps in the 60s, Mostly cloudy , day before the full moon, and the perfect ripple of wind. 
I fished mostly the east bank today going south. I thought maybe there’d be some fish there in a traditional bedding area , and I was right. I was using a watermelon red chartreuse tail trick worm. The first fish I caught blew up on the worm as I pulled it over a small patch of weeds, but he missed. I threw over again and got nailed. The very next cast I got a slightly bigger fish., and another within 5 minutes of that one . All within 50 feet of each other. I caught a couple more around the eel grass patches  then it got slow for a long time. Got one off a  friends dock by our island, and switched to the yum dinger coming back. The one fish I lost nailed the dinger and when it came up and did a head shake it got off-3-4 pounds ?

Went back to the bedding area and caught another fish on the dinger.

Ended up with 7, but the bite was better today than it’s been lately….nice average size today too.

2 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

I hadn’t planned to fish my lake again today but conditions were perfect in mid afternoon so I gave in to the temptation.Temps in the 70s, Mostly cloudy , day before the full moon, and the perfect ripple of wind. 
I fished mostly the east bank today going south. I thought maybe there’d be some fish there in a traditional bedding area , and I was right. I was using a watermelon red chartreuse tail trick worm. The first fish I caught blew up on the worm as I pulled it over a small patch of weeds, but he missed. I threw over again and got nailed. The very next cast I got a slightly bigger fish., and another within 5 minutes of that one . All within 50 feet of each other. I caught a few more around the eel grass patches  then it got slow for a long time. Got one off a  friends dock by our island, and switched to the yum dinger coming back. The one fish I lost nailed the dinger and when it came up and did a head shake it got off.

Went back to the bedding area and caught another fish on the dinger.

Ended up with 7, but the bite was better today than it’s been lately….nice average size today too.

 

 

@Glenn needs to update the "like" button with a "JEALOUS" emoji. 

I had to follow @Fried Lemons lead with a season opener on a jig and conditions were perfect for it.  What makes this one special is it’s my first bass on a jig with a pork trailer that i haven’t instantly broken off on the hookset - I did the classic Tom/ @WRB-2.0 reel fast and sweep hard hookset and her extremely sharp teeth didn’t cut my 15 lb big game.  Got it on camera too!

 

she had a nice fat belly and I found her in 4 feet of water on wood - water temps in the mid 40s - nice and cloudy.

 

@Siebert Outdoors 1/2 oz living rubber black and blue brush jig with a paw paw E pork chunk in blue on the back did the heavy lifting.  I didn’t feel the bite or even move my bait.  Just saw the line swimming.  Made the flip from probably 5 feet away from the laydown she came off of.

 

 

really nice way to start the year - a jig bass with pork for Tom!

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

Ended up with 7, but the bite was better today than it’s been lately

I see that you received that Genie in a bottle I sent you 😄

 

Just picked up the annual pass at the only fully open local lake ($325 🤬), so I figured I better start getting my money's worth with a quick trip between storms. Fortunately quite a few spots and LM's were willing to cooperate and made it a really fun afternoon.

 

Tried speed cranking for a good 30 minutes with no takers, so it was senko time to get the skunk off.

 

Eventually came across a big school that corralled a bunch of bait into a pocket, and the underspin started loading the boat.

 

Nothing big, but we’re on the board in 2026 with about a dozen bass Friday on jighead minnows. In the process of trying to obtain lake permits for the year 🤑 💰

 

@Team9nine: One of the reasons I admire you as an angler is your range. You were fishing those apartment ponds in Indiana and consistently catching bass, even in the winter. Now you're fishing in Florida on much bigger water and consistently catching bass. 

 

Two of the reasons I envy you as an angler is that you're fishing now and your boat is sooooo much neater than mine.