It’s been scorching hot!

I would never complain about the opportunity to go fishing but the fishing today ranked right up there with rubber hooks!

Either the bass were off or I was, I don't know. The few I did catch came stroking a bladed jig in 4-6 fow. At least the weather was nice!

35 minutes ago, Lottabass said:

I would never complain about the opportunity to go fishing but the fishing today ranked right up there with rubber hooks!

Given your considerable skill, Al, your off-day proves that bass have off-days.

Hit a reservoir today, it was a tough bite to say the least.

Managed to land 4 largemouths and 1 Smallmouth.

It was a beautiful day, blue bird sky with some wind.

All were on a drop shot in 16' to 22'

Left the house at 6:10 pm, drove up the Holston, it was chocolatey. Took a U-turn back towards home and launched downtown. Only caught small ones but managed 8-10, smallmouth and Kentucky spots. The Alabama bass takeover swung and missed, now the DNR will have to come up with another thing that will end all bass fishing as we know it.

Considering I've been averaging in the low twenties to the low thirties at my pond in July, my 14 bass this morning was below average. I fished for four hours and could only catch two in the first hour and one in the last hour.

I'd been scoring at curly-leaved Pondweed beds, but there were few in those beds this morning and I eventually determined why: The Pondweed is now covered with an alga. Yeah, they're encased in scum and evidently, the bass don't like that.

So, I tried other places: shade, shade lines, a couple streams, Eel Grass, lily pads, dropoffs, laydowns, a rocky flat etc., but I couldn't establish a pattern. Still, I caught some nice ones and bumped my 2026 total to 1,308. All were caught on a fluke, wacky worm, or craw. I've been using my newly arrived poop baits, but haven't triggered a single hit. My surface lures have also been failing. The bass:

This was the biggest:

As always, the loons and turtles visited me and I saw eagles and ospreys. And these were my views:

6 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Considering I've been averaging in the low twenties to the low thirties at my pond in July, my 14 bass this morning was below average. I fished for four hours and could only catch two in the first hour and one in the last hour.

I'd been scoring at curly-leaved Pondweed beds, but there were few in those beds this morning and I eventually determined why: The Pondweed is now covered with an alga. Yeah, they're encased in scum and evidently, the bass don't like that.

So, I tried other places: shade, shade lines, a couple streams, Eel Grass, lily pads, dropoffs, laydowns, a rocky flat etc., but I couldn't establish a pattern. Still, I caught some nice ones and bumped my 2026 total to 1,308. All were caught on a fluke, wacky worm, or craw. I've been using my newly arrived poop baits, but haven't triggered a single hit. My surface lures have also been failing. The bass:

This was the biggest:

As always, the loons and turtles visited me and I saw eagles and ospreys. And these were my views:

2nd to last pic shows my favorite laydown which should be named in my honor (or dishonor seeing as how I'm stealing it). To the right of it is my favorite bay, the SW bay. Is the water still clear or has the warmer water created plankton blooms? I remember seeing scads of fry in the clear shallows. Memories for a lifetime!

7 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

2nd to last pic shows my favorite laydown which should be named in my honor (or dishonor seeing as how I'm stealing it). To the right of it is my favorite bay, the SW bay. Is the water still clear or has the warmer water created plankton blooms? I remember seeing scads of fry in the clear shallows. Memories for a lifetime!

"Bob's Pine" is it! I caught two of my bass from it this morning and lost a third.

The water is oh-so-clear, but freckled with mayflies and other bugs that lived oh-so-briefly.

You did love the southwest bay! It's cool that you look at my pics and remember being here and there.