@Bluebasser86 - dude that rules - congratulations! It’s definitely something different IMHO and it can work extremely well on fished over fish.

@RenzokukenFisher: I love big bags! Congrats!

Speaking of bags, that's all I could catch today. I was expecting to do really well today as we've our first day in the fifties in a week, but I think a week of chilly weather chilled their appetites. I caught a bag. Yep, five bass, but they were all thick ones. I wish I could say I caught them with skill, but I lucked into them. I couldn't catch anything in 99.5% of my pond. I happened to hit one feeding school and caught five bass and lost two in half an hour. These five, with the first one on the bump board being the smallest:

The last one I caught was the thickest with a big head:

You can see my pond is still brown. I'm launching again tomorrow and it'll be another 50-degree day, so I'm hoping two days of warmer air will trigger some feeding.

I was fishing with a MH rod with braid and a G. Loomis M Bronzeback rod with mono. I also lost a thick smallmouth in another area, my only other fish. All three bass I lost were with the M rod with mono. There are a couple threads where guys are talking about ultra-light rods with 4-pound test. I couldn't land the bass I hook with such stretchy gear and especially not once the weeds return.

I estimate my bag at today at 89 inches.

I've caught 69 bass this year.

Beatiful fish @Swamp Girl ! Some thick healthy fish :)

Seems I timed a week of fishing well as today was very solid from shore again. Started at a river mouth and got 6 smallies, missed probably a half dozen. No largemouth. Jigs were dead here, but paddle tails came through. After it really dropped off, I headed to a harbor and feel I hit the first wave starting to poke in. Pulled 11 from two particular spots, 7 brown, 4 green. Jig/finesse and paddles were about equal.

I have a little spot with a single piece of “cover” no one else ever fishes that I found last year. It gives up several fish most times unless it’s flat and bright.

Day 6 of our smallie quest. Best five went 28-2. We had three over 5 lbs & two over six. Air temp was 39-45. Water temps were 39-42. Most fish on blade baits in 20-40 feet tight to the bottom & very lethargic. Cloudy skies all day but extremely clear water.

@Dwight Hottle: Your bass are Nature's supertankers. How long does it take to land a six-pound brown bass, Dwight? Do they jump? Take out line like big pike? I ask because it's nothing I'll ever experience.

Katie the water is so cold we only had one wallow at the surface. Compared to Erie they came in quick but were caught much closer to the boat. The Erie fish were jumping as high as 4 feet above the surface.

5 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

The Erie fish were jumping as high as 4 feet above the surface.

Holy moly!

Just call me Shrek. @Dwight Hottle has turned me green with envy. Congrats on one heck of a trip buddy!!!

Doubled up!

Got too many fish to count Saturday morning, tons and tons of big male white bass. Also got some yellow bass, all 3 available black bass species (a couple on a spinnerbait that a buddy of mine at work made and gave me as a form of torture) and a yellow perch. Also saw and eagle, ospreys, and dozens of blue herons trying to eat all the fish. I got a decent photo of an eagle sitting in a sycamore, an osprey flew by and tried to fight at one point

@Dwight Hottle , I’ve never seen a golden eagle in person but apparently bald eagles are larger than goldens and bald eagles are brown/black for the first 3 or so years of their life before they reach maturity and turn black with a white head

I also got a video of a bird doing a crazy dance on a log

You had a great day, Russ. I have never seen dozens of herons in one trip.

There are thousands of herons around here now, when I was a kid they were rare. People have to protect their backyard koi ponds from them 😂. Amazing how many large birds can thrive when you stop using DDT.

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

There are thousands of herons around here now

I would love that, Russ. I feel lucky to see one in a fishing session.

50 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

couple on a spinnerbait

And you have pictures to back it up.

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Got too many fish to count Saturday morning, tons and tons of big male white bass. Also got some yellow bass, all 3 available black bass species (a couple on a spinnerbait that a buddy of mine at work made and gave me as a form of torture) and a yellow perch. Also saw and eagle, ospreys, and dozens of blue herons trying to eat all the fish. I got a decent photo of an eagle sitting in a sycamore, an osprey flew by and tried to fight at one point

@Dwight Hottle , I’ve never seen a golden eagle in person but apparently bald eagles are larger than goldens and bald eagles are brown/black for the first 3 or so years of their life before they reach maturity and turn black with a white head

I also got a video of a bird doing a crazy dance on a log

hey my friend, did you eat the white bass?

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve never seen a golden eagle in person but apparently bald eagles are larger than goldens

I always thought Goldens were bigger than baldies too but I think you're right after doing some online research. Baldies are apparently slightly bigger.

Goldens have larger and heavier gauge talons though, as they often target larger terrestrial prey. Baldies are primarily scavengers and fish eaters.

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Got too many fish to count Saturday morning, tons and tons of big male white bass. Also got some yellow bass, all 3 available black bass species (a couple on a spinnerbait that a buddy of mine at work made and gave me as a form of torture) and a yellow perch. Also saw and eagle, ospreys, and dozens of blue herons trying to eat all the fish. I got a decent photo of an eagle sitting in a sycamore, an osprey flew by and tried to fight at one point

@Dwight Hottle , I’ve never seen a golden eagle in person but apparently bald eagles are larger than goldens and bald eagles are brown/black for the first 3 or so years of their life before they reach maturity and turn black with a white head

I also got a video of a bird doing a crazy dance on a log

That bird was twerking! LMAO

Just moved to Buffalo and went fishing for the first time since moving and fished a Lake Erie harbor. Fishing was really hot and got rewarded with some nice smallmouth and my first pike. Hopefully it’s not all beginners luck but couldn’t have asked for a better introduction.

2 hours ago, IYAOYAS said:

That bird was twerking! LMAO

Tweaking or Tweeking? I've seen people move like that in town.😂

3 hours ago, throttleplate said:

hey my friend, did you eat the white bass?

I let them go, already have some in the freezer. I love them

5 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I would love that, Russ. I feel lucky to see one in a fishing session.

I’m at the Knoxville Smokies AA baseball game in the middle of downtown right now and two bald eagles circled the field for half an inning

Thursdays highlights

@RenzokukenFisher what was that glide bait?

Last day of our 7 day search for big smallies. Once again Mother Nature sent us another curve ball. High pressure with starting temps in the 30’s going up 58 and water temps from 40-43. The water is clear to the bottom in 35’. We could see smallies on the bottom but they could see us & would turn away when our finesse baits hit the water. We did score a few on Deps Sakamata shads on light jig heads using FFS. But the majority still came on blade baits. Our best five were 27lbs-13 ounces. Biggest fish was 5-15 today. I gotta tell you fisher people you will not regret a trip to the St Lawrence for small mouth bass. It is unique.

3 pounder out back…