Grandson’s first fish of the season. Good stuff. 

Stuck another good one today fishing before the severe storms blew in. Had stocked up on some more Husky Jerks, and they once again came through. Picked off 21 bass before having to leave, including another over 4 lbs. which is a rarity on the handful of ponds I have access to. Landed this guy, got a couple quick pics and then called it a day. Post front tomorrow, but the promise of 20 mph winds has me ready to get out there again. Seems like wind has been critical to getting a good bite on the jerkbait, and tomorrow I should have plenty 

 

 

Watched the weather this morning and they showed the north side got over 2" of rain. Don't know if you fish north but guessing that the high off color water would change your tactics. I'm going to hit some storm drains. With wind advisory it's going to be interesting to say the least.

Today was an interesting day for sure. Got up this morning and fished a jackpot at a lake that I have been doing good at so I felt pretty confident about the way things would go. Well, we missed a couple fish early and only ended up with 2 in the livewell by the time it was ready to head in. We decided not to even weigh in and drove home with our tails tucked. I told my wife we didn't do so hot and we were headed home and she told me that her and the girls were headed to home depot. I told my buddy that the day was still young, so let's go to a different lake. We got to the lake about 3:00 and by 5:00 we had caught 5 fish for 17 lbs, LOL. He caught a 4-8 and I picked up a 4-6. I missed one that I think would have been bigger but who knows. Only fished till 6:00 and caught 8 so all in all it was a good day.

Well the weathermen called for a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms off and on throughout the day. I figured I could watch the radar and maybe find a chance to get a few casts in today. The rain stopped about 7:30 this morning so I went and got drinks and snacks and some ice and headed to the lake. Got to my spot about 9:00 and within 10 minutes I had a nice 2-12 on the board. I could see the rain and storms coming from the south but figured I had a little bit more time. About 10 minutes later I hooked up with one and it gave me a ride into the sticks and I ended up losing it. As the thunder got closer it started to sprinkle, and then rain a little harder and thunder a little closer. I drove to the nearest restroom, parked the boat on the bank and took shelter under the porch. I watched the radar and figured this one would pass and I would be able to get back out there. After 15 minutes or so I was back on the water. Went back to the place where I left off and within a couple minutes I had a 2-15 in the boat. I could tell by the sky that she was about to open up. I fished another 20 min or so in the pouring rain and heard a loud clap of thunder and decided it was time to go. Made the run across the lake in the rain and sat in the truck for about an hour when I finally decided today just wasn't going to be a good day to be on the water. Oh well, a couple to show for it and there is always tomorrow.

Gah, all you guys with boats :(.

 

Anyways, caught one this morning. Was a little cool out there. 

 

 

Water was a chilly 38° but still managed to get one. 

Weather was a little better today. It was still a cool 49 when I got to the ramp about 9:00 with a North wind about 11 mph. Morning bite was pretty good and they completely shut down about 1:00. Caught everything on a soft plastic (sweet beaver to be exact) in about 2 ft or less. Once again, just me catching 3 lbers LOL. Not sure the order but these were 3-1, 3-3, and 3-6. Still waiting to catch big momma though. 

Got out today for about 6.hrs. hooked up 3 times on a jerkbait but only boated 1 which was o.k. as I didn't want to deal with trebles with numb fingers. Also got 2 on spinnerbaits after the sun came out towards the end with 1 weighing 3-2.

I did a scouting mission during daylight yesterday in search of emerging pad fields. I found a pretty good stretch in an area I usually don't do well in, but it's near the deep spot, so why not. Plus, I wanted to try out my new hip waders. Until the other day I've only had fulls. I talked to my bud about 8pm. He'd just wrapped up a quick dusk sesh, but was frozen and done for the night. Told him that I was heading up to a juicy spot I'd found earlier at about 10:30 'cause I had a feeling. He paused, but then said "I'm in". It was 37F with 10mph NE winds when we got there, and naturally the spot I chose was on the west bank. That didn't matter though because on my 3rd cast down the bank of the Keitech Noisy Flapper I got a nice scrapper. A few minutes later my bud got one too on a twitching fluke, and the cold didn't matter much anymore.

 

I worked my way north throwing a few wakes and glides, but found nothing. I just got a new Quantum Tour S3 and was hoping to hook up with it. It's always nice getting that first fish on new gear. It doesn't always happen right away for me, so I was pumped when a nice chunk slammed my Berkley Champ swimmer. Great fight!

 

I got a 3rd a few minutes later, but in the moment somehow forgot I wasn't in chest waders. It was a shock when the 45 degree water poured in and hit my foot. Wet foot, wet leg, and cool and the gang were soaked and frozen too. It was a mere 1000 ft. trek through the woods and a creek sloshing all the way back to my truck, no biggie. Miserable and happy at the same time, I was just glad I had the sense to have spare socks in the glove compartment. I started practicing my explanation immediately as to why I was driving naked from the waist down in tube socks and sneakers. I wasn't pulled over thankfully. It felt good to make it home without a rap sheet.

I finally caught a decent fish - 6.3 lbs.  Pretty amazing for me in Pa.

Went out for a couple hours after work hoping to find them hitting spinnerbaits again but it wasn't happening without the sun. Picked up the jerkbait and boated 3 with the best weighing 3-6.

Put together a good one today. I was scheduled to have a video conference with my superintendent, principal and colleagues at 9:30 this morning. My plan was to be on the lake fishing by 7:30 and take a break at 9:00, drive home for the conference and head back to the lake after the meeting. Plan was going good as I was on the lake by 7:30 and lines in by 7:45. It was 45 degrees with just a slight south wind. Once again I went straight to the Sweet Beaver in Low Blow. On my third cast I was able to catch a nice 2 lber. Good way to start the day I thought to myself. I made my way down the bank and threw into a small pocket. Hop, hop and the line started moving. I knew it was a pretty good one when I got a look at it by the boat but I figured a boat flip would suffice. As I got her over the side of the boat I noticed she had a big ol belly on her. She wasn't very long but a healthy 4 lb 13 oz. I made my way around the point and landed a 3-5. By this time it is about 9:00 and I had should've already been headed to the ramp. I made the executive decision to troll to the very back of the cove and set the spot lock, get my RAM mount for my phone and just set on the deck and do the meeting from there. I logged on and everyone was in their dining room, living room, study, bedroom, office, etc and I am just sitting there in the great outdoors. My principal said to someone, "Is Coach Bryant fishing?" LOL. Anyway, after an hour long meeting I was back to fishing. First cast after the meeting I landed another good one. About 11:00 the wind started blowing like no other, I mean it was WINDY!!! I switched to a Greenfish Tackle Ballistic HD spinnerbait in Sun Gill. I was able to catch a number of good fish from then till about 3:00 when I gave up before the batteries did. I set a new solo PB for a 5 fish limit today since getting my boat in December. Weights were as follows(not in order by picture) 4-13, 3-10, 3-5, 3-4, and 3-1 for a total of 18 lbs 1 once.

Way to make it happen ~

Nicely Done.

A-Jay 

@JediAmoeba, that’s a stud! The bait monkey says you are welcome 

Snuck out of self quarantine to wet a line for a spell. No drama tonight, and I stayed dry. A skinny guy wrecked my Miyagi, then his bodyguard blasted my chatterbait. The prespawn bite's in full effect.

 

First outing of the year in PA and I broke the 5 pound mark. 

 

Congrats @fishballer06 on your 5lb green football! Big girl’s looking like she’s about ready to pop!

2 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

Congrats @fishballer06 on your 5lb green football! Big girl’s looking like she’s about ready to pop!

Thank you! Our waters are still in the mid 40's I'd guess, so still plenty of time before they do their thing, but all the females are fat and full of eggs right now. 

Continued our new Wednesday family fishing tradition this week. It was pretty windy but I found some up shallow in the back of a creek arm that were biting. The boys got to reel a bunch in and Finn is slowly getting over his fear of touching fish. I got him to cradle and release 2 of them with me and he was very proud of himself for doing it.

 

Thursday was on a small lake fighting a howling wind all day. Caught a ton of fish, mostly on a homemade bladed jig or spinnerbait. Big fish of the day was on a big homemade spinnerbait. I also got my first sight fishing bass of the year and first frog fish of the year, which turned out to be the same fish as I spotted one sitting in some dead lily pad stalks and put my frog right by her and she immediately sucked it in.

 

I got a buddy who was cozy on his couch and "wasn't going anywhere" out for a midnight wade with the old "I've got a really good feeling" shtick. Works every time. It was kinda crappy with steady 15mph winds with 20mph gusts, but not bone chilling this time around. Got one 20 minutes in on the Rat 40. The Beast Coast Miyagi in Dope Gill got the rest of the attention.

 

A day that shall never be forgotten! We were fishing a river with roaring current about 4-5 mph, 12,000 cubic feet/second. So the main channel seemed fairly hopeless unless there was some kind of current break. We decided to make our first stop a creek mouth with a little warmer water. I started off by losing what I believe to be a nice smallmouth. Then we catch a few drum And white bass with tube jigs. I try a shakey head and I saw a skipjack herring chase after it as I was reeling it in. I tell Rachel skipjack and we both start reeling in the tubes as fast as possible and she hooks one. It was hooked in the gills so I put it on a 6/0 stainless and hurl it out there. A striper takes off with the dead bait twice and I missed it twice. Lucky for me a smallmouth threw me a bone and got himself hooked right in the roof of the mouth with my tube, I never even felt a hit but it was hooked very well. The fish only went 4 on my scale but it sure seemed bigger. After releasing that fish, the dead bait goes off like a rocket. Since I failed the first two times i asked Rachel if she wanted to try it. The fish Took the bait from the somewhat calm water out into the torrent and line was just melting off the baitcaster. Worried she would run out I put the minn Kota on 100 and took of after it. Quite some time and distance later, she gets the fish to the net and it’s 36 lbs and 45 inches! She beat my 4 lber by just a tad....

 

just added a video too, warning loud screams hAha

 

me and my son were counting rocks in the little johnny this morning. after all was said and done we had caught 43 spotties. then i got hungry.

 

the end 

 

Moonlight and slick calm water like we had last night is usually a recipe for a ride home with the skunk. The grass is still sparse, and in just a few spots, and non existent near the shoreline. The pads aren't up yet either, and there was zero activity at the surface. I spent the first hour throwing a few baits that I knew weren't the best option, and fell flat. There's nothing like defying the odds sometimes, but it didn't pan out. The area I committed to seems to be a hot spot for yellow perch to cluster in. At the very least it's where I've seen them caught most often, so I tied on a Berkley Champ Swimmer in perch that I'd glued some nice shiny eyes on. It didn't take long before I started getting hits. I pulled in one, then two, then my buddy hearing the tail splashes finally asked which bait I was using. Within 5 minutes of tying on his own Champ in perch he had a nice fish. OK for a short hop. Anything to break the monotony of self quarantine. Also, I'm hearing some nearby lakes have been closed. Gotta get em while I still can.