My best one from the bank this morning.  All caught on Vision 110 and TN60.

These were all about the average today. Caught 10 that went from 2 lb to 3 lb 4 oz. These were the 4 biggest, not sure the order but a 2-14, 2-15, 3-01 and a 3-04. Just couldn't find the big ones.

 

4.4lb Jackall Rerange 110

Apparently I simply cannot catch anything but a "3 pounder" lol. These were 2-14, 3 even and 3-3. I just cannot find any big ones. Oh well, I can't complain. 

@jbsoonerfan, 3 lbs is a good ‘un!

Thanks! I'm not complaining, they are fun to catch that's for sure. Would like to get into a good one soon though.

Crazy swimbait dinks!

 

 

Pb alert. First trip of the year.  Caught this big girl today and is my new personal best.  Water was 44 degrees and she was hanging out in 7ft of water and nailed a #5 shad rap in delta craw.  Air temp 50 degrees.  I bought the shad rap on a whim off of eBay.  I am now a believer in red lures 

Fatty McBugeye... Almost lost my entire grip on her trying to take the darn picture ?

 

That’s awesome man thanks! I’ll be sure to give you a shout next time I’m down that way. Time-line for that at this point... who knows. Hope you guys are staying safe and practicing your “social distancing” out there! 
 

 

Around here my fishing has been kinda dismal the last few weeks. Fronts and cold and hot, then almost snow, then about 1.5” of rain the last few days, fish are all over, but are pulling up almost ready to spawn! 
Finally got on some bigguns today after work! 5-1/2lbs that went 22” and a 4-1/2lbs around 20”. Only caught three fish in three hours and they were on brush around 5-8feet just out from shallower areas. The other one was a serious dink, but hungry enough to eat the same jig these big girls fell for.  

@Fairtax4me, nice fish! It appears we suck at social distancing in East Tennessee. Kindness may indeed kill us 

You guys may not have as much to worry about right now as we do, but please do not take this virus for granted! The shads hitting the fan here and in a lot of major cities across the US, and it’s not gonna be pretty for us or the rest of the world.  
Not the thread for this topic I know, so enough [/offtopic], back to the fishes!! 

The fishes appear to be moving shallow and feeding 

Enjoy the outdoors but be safe and take precautions guys and girls

My best one of 2020 so far, 18". I didn't bring my scales this time, but I'm guessing it was around 3 lbs judging by other 3 lbers I've caught there. Another catch on the jerkbait with the Fury 703 and he choked it. It's been mostly jerkbaits and lipless catching me fish so far with a couple on the Ned Rig. The water is still around 48 degrees and it was a pretty shallow park pond. 3lbs is a good size around here, I only caught two 4+ lbers. ever and one was from the same pond as this one.

 

 

On 3/26/2020 at 3:01 AM, PhishLI said:

I made my way down a bank that finally provided some relief from the wind. It was like I was in another season instantly, so I went to work. Within 3 casts of the Beast Coast Miyagi I had a taker. Absolutely choked it. On the next cast another one grabbed the bait and ran hard, but spit it on the hookset.

Please share more about his Swimbait, it doesn't get talked about much.

 

It's not massive, and I like how the nose has some girth to it which should pair up nicey with a large CPS screw. What size hook are you using? How durable is the plastic?

I have it in 3 colors: Dope Gill, Pro Ghost Alewife, and a limited run color called Deluxe Hitch. I got my PB Smallmouth at 21 1/2", and Walleye at 29," on that particular color. I threw the Dope Gill shown in my earlier post in this topic. There's no doubt that my confidence baits are 4"-5" paddeltail swimmers, especially with eyes that have been applied. I believe they offer the "correct" amount of flash. This bait is chunky compared to the other types I use the most, but still presents an easily eat-able meal. The plastic is very soft, yet very repairable. I keep a good stock of Mend-It on hand which has allowed me to repair these baits multiple times to like new status. If the CPS gets pulled out along with a core of plastic, I chop up a piece of a senko very finely then use it to fill the hole, apply Mend It, then it's ready to go again. The Owner 6/0 1/4oz weighted Beast hook is perfect for this bait as it runs very true with it, and it also keeps it quite weedless. However, rigging it with a wide gap unweighted hook like a 6/0 EWG superline makes it run erratically which has been effective too. Both my PB smallie and walleye were caught on the same night running with this rigging, but this hook wouldn't be my first choice. I only did this because baitfish were getting hammered in a flat I was working, and I wanted to mimic them injured and running. It worked. Anyway, this is an affordable and fantastic bait. I've had bass from 2 1/2lbs to 7lbs smash it. Highly recommended.

13 hours ago, Fairtax4me said:

You guys may not have as much to worry about right now as we do, but please do not take this virus for granted! The shads hitting the fan here and in a lot of major cities across the US, and it’s not gonna be pretty for us or the rest of the world.  

A thought popped into my head last night as I was mindlessly casting a Rat 40 while waist deep in water: Am I fiddling while Rome burns? I'm no emperor, so that thought evaporated quickly as a crazed prespawner blasted my rat about 100 feet out. I'd never thrown that bait before on a crankbait stick, and the fight felt harder than it would've otherwise.

 

 

I've only thrown mine on a cranking stick, mind you a 25. It feels right at home with it for straight retrieving. Twitching or walk the dog is out of the question. I'm grabbing a Rat 40 after NDYakAngler's last video, probably toss it on a MHMF jig rod or  fury 735.

Got my first of the year. First time out with a bait caster too. Hoping there are many more.  

I was at the local lake bass fishing yesterday and as I was leaving I had a little birdie tell me the crappie bite was good. I hadn't actually fished for crappie in a long time, but I was going back today to bass fish and I took along the smallest spinnerbait I could find, a little H&H in white, to see if I could catch a slab. I would bass fish the banks and if I cam across some old submerged bushes I would toss that H&H in there and see if I could find any takers. I found a few and amongst those were these two beauties. A 1-15 and a 2-03. Biggest bass and biggest crappie weighed the same LOL

A couple of serious serving plate sized slabs! If the biggest bass were the same size, it’d be difficult NOT to fish for ‘em. Another good day on the water for ya!

Another nice day Wednesday so the wife, the boys, and I took the boat to a local park lake I haven't fished much but have heard it's been good, it wasn't, not for us anyways. I did hook 3 or 4 heavy fish on a jerkbait that just pulled off for some reason. We were only there for a few hours but only managed a crappie, a small bass, and one more solid fish that had a huge shad in it's throat. My youngest had the honors of cranking her in.

 

Thursday was the nicest day of the year, but the fishing was a grind to start out with. We started on the power plant lake, which typically fishes very tough when it's nice and this day was no exception. I caught a 3.99 on a Ned rig after about a hour on the water.

I lost another one off that bank 10 minutes later then had 2 hours of nothing before I got another bite. Wasn't sure it was a bass when I set the hook on it. Fishing the Ned slowly and it was very heavy, but I catch so many flatheads and drum on Ned rigs there that I didn't want to get my hopes up. Finally got a glimpse of her and realized it was a bass just barely hooked in the tip of the lip, but I babied her in and got her lipped. 6.79 pounds on a Ned rigged big TRD and homemade 1/16oz head, my biggest of the year so far.

I caught one more 15" fish on the Ned a hour later, then 3 hours of no bites. I knew of another lake that I thought would have a much better bite, and I didn't want the guy that was with me to go home empty handed, so we made the short drive that I wish we'd made sooner. We caught about 30 in 2 hours on my homemade bladed jig and a spinnerbait. I caught 2 over 4 and we had several other solid fish. We went from struggling to torn up thumbs in a hurry.

Water temp 44 degrees: ✅

 

Dead flat conditions: ✅

 

Nothing in the tackle bag's working: ✅

 

Back is stiff and I'm feeling old: ✅

 

Self confidence in shambles: ✅

 

Really have to poop:✅

 

Ready to throw in the towel: ✅

 

Chuck a Whopper Plopper as a last resort? Bingo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good action yesterday but nothing big.

5 on Jerkbait and this one on a Buzzard.