2026 first bass on the board

Well I said I wasn't going to do it again after last year, but I got talked into it so I'm doing the Fishing for 2026 challenge again this year. Unfortunately, I didn't enter before this weekend, so my first trip of the year didn't count, so my very cold day on the water Sunday was my first day officially towards trying to catch 2,026 bass in 2026. I put 17 on the board, and as per usual, they were almost all of the overserved variety.

When 17" fish are going over 4lbs, you know they're living right. Ned rig did most of the damage but also caught a couple on a jerkbait and flatside. Had a big one come off on both the jerkbait and flatside also. Those fish pull so hard when they're built like that.

Went fishing yesterday on Lake Kissimmee with my buddy Capt. Erik Tilson. It was 38 degrees with 20+ mph winds out of the north. We put in at the south end of the lake decided to head for the north end to find some cleaner water. I ended up with brain freeze from the cold wind in my face without a windshield or face shield. That had to be the longest & coldest ride I have ever taken! Anyhow as you can expect it was a slow day. I had 8 fish total for the day. This was the biggest.

"It was 38 degrees with 20+ mph winds out of the north."

YIKES!

2 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I ended up with brain freeze from the cold wind in my face without a windshield or face shield.

I bet!

Pulled a nice one off of sun baked ledge when it was 37 outside in my backyard on the jig! She probably wasn’t in more than 2 feet of water!

@Pat Brown 2ft of water in January is crazy! My bites were all coming in 30+

It was over 50 degrees on Friday so I worked through lunch in order to have a little time at the river after work before it got dark. I caught this largemouth on the first cast. The scale bounced over 4 lbs several times, but settled at 3 lb 15 oz.

The picture below shows where I was standing when I caught it, and where I had to go to get it. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's about a 10 foot drop down the rip rap to the water with the lake at winter pool. I had to keep it pinned while I climbed down to get it. Fortunately, I had a good hookset. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get my pliers before I went down so I had to climb back up to get the pliers to unhook it. I didn't want to toss it back from that high up so I climbed back down to release it. This fish gave me a workout 🤣, but it was worth it to watch it swim away. The first cast curse was in force because I didn't get another bite the rest of the day. Not a bad start to the year though.

Might be the last one before the big freeze, I’ll try and get out one more time before then!

Lost a 4 or 5 lb LM at the boat at daylight this morning on a 1/2 oz Football jig. Drug a big jig, little jig, Ned, and Shakey head from 7am - 1pm and caught nothing. Caught this little beast when he busted the surface 60 yards away, luckily a 3/4 oz spoon will fly. Water temp was 50.

2 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Lost a 4 or 5 lb LM at the boat at daylight this morning on a 1/2 oz Football jig.

Been there. So close we could have touched them.

What I also share with you is taking the time to photograph the glory we see.

What I have never shared with you and never will is a 13-14 lb. lmb. With Tom gone, I suspect you've caught the biggest lmb of the Bass Resource crew.

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Been there. So close we could have touched them.

What I also share with you is taking the time to photograph the glory we see.

What I have never shared with you and never will is a 13-14 lb. lmb. With Tom gone, I suspect you've caught the biggest lmb of the Bass Resource crew.

Unlike Tom my big girl came by the blind hog technique. You know even a blind hog will find an acorn every now & then.

There are very few on Tom’s level, but don’t sell yourself short @GreenPig. Landing a DD bass takes more than luck.

8 hours ago, Fishlegs said:

Landing a DD bass takes more than luck.

Especially landing a 13+-pounder. I bet a score of ten-pounders are caught for every bass over 13 pounds.

So this happened on the way to the lake today....

And on the way back....

They said they're going to break it up by blasting it.

Nobody was hit by or hit it. Nobody injured.

I’d need a new seat for my truck if that thing came rolling down in front of me.

With the crazy weather most of you are experiencing right now I almost feel bad posting about the continued unseasonably warm and sunny days we've had. Water temp still around 55* with so-so action but it sure has been nice getting out so much the past few weeks.

Underspin was the ticket again

Wow! @Glenn, that’s crazy! Glad to hear no one was hurt. It kind of looks like that massive rock is giving you the side eye. 😂

14 minutes ago, NorcalBassin said:

With the crazy weather most of you are experiencing right now I almost feel bad posting about the continued unseasonably warm and sunny days we've had. Water temp still around 55* with so-so action but it sure has been nice getting out so much the past few weeks.

Underspin was the ticket again

I experienced similar conditions until 3 days ago. Gonna' be a short winter.

They blowd it up!

Not my pic. I would've loved to hear that big boy go off!

14 hours ago, Fishlegs said:

Wow! @Glenn, that’s crazy! Glad to hear no one was hurt. It kind of looks like that massive rock is giving you the side eye. 😂

Is that curt Cignetti ?

Caught two bass, one of very good size, with the lure that Tom @WRB-2.0 gave me. Look how I fixed the skirt by ziptie 😂 when I didn't have skirt material with me. For two days, I was thinking of tom and I was sad that he was not around to show him the fish that I caught on the lure he gave me.

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Is that curt Cignetti ?

Have you ever seen Curt look that happy? 😂

Another nice day with no winter weather in the forecast for at least a couple more weeks. Fish are going to start thinking it's already spring. Caught a few at a slow pace of a bite every 20-30 minutes.

Better fish were on a wacky senko

Dinks were liking the drop shot

Been loving the eagles keeping watch

@NorcalBassin: You've really been getting out there. If I can build a high speed train from coast to coast by Wednesday, I'd like to join you later this week.

My son just moved back from michigan.

He’s already getting into the fish…