On 5/1/2022 at 2:26 AM, PhishLI said:

Last year I couldn't crack the 6lb mark at my favorite local spot, but came close with two confirmed 5-15s. Rang the bell tonight with a 7-6 chunk and my new PB for this place on a Zman Freedom chatter bait in Threadfin with a 5" Diesel Minnow Bad Shad trailer. My camera got soaked from splashing, headlamps were blaring, pictures are a mess, but I did my best to salvage one with color editing. My brother ran back to get his phone, but couldn't get his flash to work until right before I needed to release her. It took a minute but she bolted off. He was way late for a date and needed to tear out of there. I'll get a look at his tomorrow as long as his phone doesn't spontaneously combust before he hits "send". Hopefully I'll get at least one solid picture from his roll. Aside from all of  that fun, 4 more fish came on medium sized wakes! Good times.

 

P.S. Added normal pics

 

She’s a monster. Nice largemouth.

On 5/2/2022 at 5:09 PM, A-Jay said:

Got the timing right this morning.

Ended up with a 27.92 lb bag.

Anchored by two over 6 lbs.

A first for this guy !

Report (with video) in the works . . .

A-Jay

Not gonna lie. Those are all trophy bass your catching. Those are nice catches. You make our bass look tiny lol. Awesome fish.

Finally, after a two year gap due to pesky covid, I finally managed to go bass fishing again! My dear friend Tim invited me over to stay with him at his house on Smith Mountain Lake in VA for a week and we had an absolute blast. We timed it pretty perfectly as the weather warmed through the week and the fish were going from spawn to post spawn depending on where on the lake we fished. We didn't have a bad day, and by the end of the week we had it pretty dialled in. Absolutely fantastic to be whizzing about in a bassboat with Tim again. 

We also fished a club tournament on Lake Moomaw, which was a fascinating change of pace, somehow I even sneaked a third place finish!  I got lucky with the heaviest fish of the week, with largemouth of 4-03, 4-15 and 5-04 plus the biggest striper at over 10lb. We also spent a morning chasing crappie, which were harder to find than they should have been, but I just love a meal of crappie. Caught enough for a lunch for the two of us with a white perch and a yellow perch to bulk out the meat. 

Can't tell you how much I love our adventures, and after the 2 year winter that has been covid, it was especially sweet.

Out - Standing !

Proper looking Bass.

Very Happy for you Sir

Congrats @Tim Kelly

A-Jay

 

 

                                       

Cold, nasty, and wet today. 15-20 mph winds, steady rain. Might as well go fishing then!  Since there wouldn’t be pleasure boats out, I went to the big lake and practically had it to myself. It was hard going with the wind, but spotlock was helpful to keep the kayak in place. Managed 4 bass up to 2.5 lb, a 13” crappie and a 13” perch. Not bad for a couple hours on a lake that flummoxed me for bass last year.

 

 

Got a nice little wiper today while casting around crowds. Heat index well over 100 seems to be here for a while. I have a work trip to San Angelo coming up, which will take me right by OH ivie. Have to see if I can find a shore spot there...

Bumped into a few green bass today ~

She was the best of the bunch.

A-Jay

3 hours ago, thediscochef said:

Got a nice little wiper today while casting around crowds. Heat index well over 100 seems to be here for a while. I have a work trip to San Angelo coming up, which will take me right by OH ivie. Have to see if I can find a shore spot there...

 

FWC stocks hybrids in some of the lakes around here, I'd love to get the boat out one of these days and try to target them. They look like a lot of fun.

 

@A-Jay that's a good looking LMB, very pretty colors. Will there be video of it?

10 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

@A-Jay that's a good looking LMB, very pretty colors. Will there be video of it?

Thanks ~ 

No video - just me and the fishes today.

A-Jay

May so far has been on fire! here in New Jersey we're finally in the heat of the spawn, caught more fish in three days this past week than I did in all of April!! Bunch of fish on beds and cruising around at my lakes! Including this first fish which was close to 3lbs on a bed! Mostly caught on senkos and chatterbaits, almost had my first buzztoad fish but I didn't set the hook right. 

 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Bumped into a few green bass today ~

She was the best of the bunch.

A-Jay

She’s a beauty…? good job as always

1 hour ago, Aaron_H said:

 

FWC stocks hybrids in some of the lakes around here, I'd love to get the boat out one of these days and try to target them. They look like a lot of fun.

 

@A-Jay that's a good looking LMB, very pretty colors. Will there be video of it?

They're a ton of fun, that one might be the largest I've caught in looking at other photos. Probably right around 2-3lbs. That one absolutely smashed an ultimate jerk shad, I thought it was a solid 3-4lbs LMB until it didn't fight like one. They fight like a giant sand bass, you should check them out when you can. They run with stripers and also sandies so found in many places but not always the same places.

Stopped at a muddy pond this morning  .  One inch of visibility . Caught a five bass 20 lb limit . Lost a giant in the 7 to 8 lb range . The knot failed .Black spinnerbait copper blades . They were choking it .   5.5 lbs was the biggest .

17 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Stopped at a muddy pond this morning  .  One inch of visibility . Caught a five bass 20 lb limit . Lost a giant in the 7 to 8 lb range . The knot failed .Black spinnerbait copper blades . They were choking it .   5.5 lbs was the biggest .

 

What a bag from a small pond even with the lost giant!!  Well did.

 

scott

On 5/5/2022 at 1:29 PM, thediscochef said:

I've always seen them labeled as soft jerkbaits so this makes sense. Might have to tie one on for clearer water next week...

Today was pretty good. Caught maybe a dozen bass and a boat load of pickerel, one of which was almost 20" long. One bass over 3lbs. Used a swim jig and spinnerbait as a one-two punch at the first pond I fished, then moved ponds and started off throwing a spinnerbait but later switched to a freaking whopper plopper. @Deleted account told me I should try a big plopper this time of year so I broke it out. I actually tried selling off both of my whopper ploppers but I've still had one. So I tie this thing on with not a whole lot of confidence. Chuck it around, start thinking it sounds pretty cool like I remembered from the last time I threw it like a year and a half ago. Start thinking I should throw a spinnerbait... POOF. Bass blows up on it. Then I catch another, and another, and another. Maybe these things do work. I keep throwing it, make a second pass on the same area later on in the day and I had a huge explosion on it. I tried winching the fish in and it came off in grass. I was heartbroken :(. Then I fish a little more and call it a day. 

 

I've been sharing photos of lures that I've been using recently but unfortunately all my stuff is still in the truck right now so I can't show em yet. I'll add them later. The biggest fish I caught was on a spinnerbait. I'll show the eight bass I photo'd quick.

 

 

                                       

All packed up and heading for Table Rock . Stopped by for one last try at some good old North Missouri dirty water . Caught a good one and now for some clear water fishing . 4.5 lbs  Black spinnerbait copper blades .

A couple of extras I couldn't include in my other post. Fishing Lake Erie last week. 

 

 

 

                                                  

23 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

A couple of extras I couldn't include in my other post. Fishing Lake Erie last week. 

 

Oh my goodness!! Hawgs!

4 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

A couple of extras I couldn't include in my other post. Fishing Lake Erie last week. 

 

 

All of them are fabulous bass, Dwight, but that last one looks like it could star in the next Godzilla film! Congrats.

6 hours ago, scaleface said:

All packed up and heading for Table Rock . Stopped by for one last try at some good old North Missouri dirty water . Caught a good one and now for some clear water fishing . 4.5 lbs  Black spinnerbait copper blades .

Your very own personal scuba diving cameraman? Must be nice!

That's awesome, @Tim Kelly!!!  I love SML.

I ain't done yet! 

 

Me and the kayak made a rare appearance on the water on a weekday. 

 

Today was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. Day started off rough, but I was still in high spirits, because, well, I was going to fish today. Then I get to the pond and the wind gusts were ridiculuous and often sustained. For a while I was just trying my best to stay on target. And also for quite a while I was only only catching small bass on a swim jig. But I was convinced that the swim jig was my best option today and my best shot at catching a big one, so I stuck with it. Later as the wind started to settle down and I get my wits about me, I catch a decent bass in a wind-protected area near some rock. In my head I'm thinking, "Duh!". So I start looking around for more similar targets. Now, there is a bank I hardly touch on this pond because I don't think I'd ever caught anything on it up until today. But on this particular day, it just looked right. Little rocky bank, out of a Northern wind, and in close proximity to deep water and the dam. It looked like a decent place for bass to stage for the spawn too or do their actual spawning. I make a dozen casts or so there, and I see an absolutely huge swirl soon after my jig hits water. In my head, I'm telling myself "Don't panic, wait until you feel pressure." I timed the hookset perfectly. Then the fish makes a flop and I see how big it is. I'm fishing in heavy cover, just a bunch of lily pads, not all of them alive. I've got a big fish in heavy cover, so I start pulling with all my might on this fish. Surprisingly, it was enough. Get her alongside me and I scoop her up. I'm shaking. Get a quick pic and... my scale is dead :(. But I believe this one was very close to my NY PB. Around 20.5" with really big girth. I calm myself down and then just keep fishing, and then catch a few more decent ones on the same bank. Really amazing day. I just had to stick with it. I'll be back for more soon! 

 

Also, my facial expression are priceless in this one; I have no idea why. I was keyed up the whole day. Energy on high.