Not a bass post as our season isn't open yet. But I've been Pike fishing a bit this spring.  Many fish boated, this is the biggest so far. Just under 8lbs.  I haven't been able to get out the where the 15+lb pike hang out. It's a 50 minute run through partly open Lake Erie. Need the right wind. 

 

Also, the Gar Pike were spawning. Hundreds of them along the shore line rocks. 

 

Fished this morning from 3am - 11am and caught 4 LM( biggest two went 4.75 & 4.50) and 5 Spots. 2 x Wake Bull, 2 x D & M Slow Roller buzzbait, and 5 x Z - Man SMH Worm. 

1 minute ago, GreenPig said:

Fished this morning from 3am - 11am and caught 4 LM( biggest two went 4.75 & 4.50) and 5 Spots. 2 x Bull Shad, 2 x D & M Slow Roller buzzbait, and 5 x Z - Man SMH Worm. 

at 3am i was having a dream where i was working for a  cartel gangs chop shop loading chopped parts into a truck and found they had stolen My winshield.

me and my son hit Lake Norman early this morning. it had already hit 86 degrees by the time we put it on the trailer at 11:00.

Caught everything today on Spinnerbaits and Keitech 3" easy shiners.

And of course my buddy with a cigarette, what's new. 

     I fished Tepic this weekend.  I was hoping to crush them like last year at this time, but fishing was tough.  I left the house at 3:00 AM., on the water at daylight.  Afternoon winds, started before noon, and were strong.  35 MPH gusts.  I fished until dark, only landed 5 small bass.  Lost way pounds in tackle, than pounds of bass landed. The wind didn't let up enough to set my tent up until 11:30 PM.  Long day.

      Started fishing at daylight.  Managed to land two 3 pounders, and this 5.5 pound bass before the wind picked up.  Wind started early and I decided to leave at noon.  Water is much higher than last year, and the bass are not on my favorite humps and ridges.  I like to catch them schooled up on structure, throwing crankbaits this time of year. The bass don't care what I like, they only care about what they like.  They like barbed wire fences that lead from the shallows to deeper water.  The Bait Monkey also likes underwater fences.  It was quite a challenge trying to get a bass off the bottom wire on a fence in 7 feet of water with the wind blowing 30 MPH while not breaking a rod, or flipping the kayak.  A few years ago I flipped my kayak while trying to unsnag a lure off of a fence in strong winds and waves.  I bumped a post I didn't see that was barely under the water.  Over I went along with lots of gear.  I guess you can say I'm a slow learner, but luckily this time I only lost lures the traditional way, one at a time.         

       Long two days, but I did manage to catch a few bass.  Can't wait to go again.  

Nothing special really, 1 fish 2.64lbs caught on a jerk bait in the Kalamazoo river in allegan at jaycee park. Funny thing is that a little bit over a year ago I caught a nice smallie out of here. I struggle to catch much here at this location. Was a fun fight on a medium light casting rod with only a maximum of 8lbs of drag, it tried to run up into a channel and got my line hung under the bank lol. I got the fish though ?

It was a cool, bright, windy morning. I was hopeful that there would be a good number of smallmouth cruising the flats but it was slow going. The season is at least a week late in Western Massachusetts.

 

 

The first smallmouth came on a 3/32 oz. mushroom-headed marabou jig, my go-to bait this slow season.

 

Putting soft plastic into play, the second smallie took a Z-Man TicklerZ on, again, a 3/32 oz. mushroom head. Next, after some length of time playing a decent fish that hugged the bottom, my knot failed leaving this fish with a Duo Realis Spin Bait 80 in its jaw. Gave myself 40 lashes with a 7" Senko for this bit of carelessness.

 

 

 

In an area with 61.7º water, I found a bit more activity but not what's usual for mid-May. Next week will be better . . . 

Caught some fish today, definitely nothing special by far. Had maybe a hour after grabbing dinner for the family. 1 tiny bass

2 tiny crappie 

1 tiny but chunky rock bass

jerk bait for everything but the rock bass, that came on a 1/32 black hair jig.

It was a calm morning, partly cloudy, slight chop. It has been years since I've tried a buzzbait, so it was perfect conditions. No kidding, the first cast, I missed her. The next cast in the same area the lure didn't even have time to surface. The fish just smoked it. The buzzbait was a Strike King black skirt clacker with a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw trailer. There is nothing more exciting than a topwater strike, it's so violent and deliberate! The next one was on a 6th Sense 70x Trap in Lava Truese, just ripping grass with 12lb mono and Champion XP 685CB and Shimano SLX MGL 70HG. This was very unconventional setup, but it worked. I typically use this for poppers, but since it was designed for treble hook lures, I figured this couldn't hurt. I actually the feel of it. Shorter crankin rods are very fun to use and they give more control. I'm thinking about trying spooks on it, to see what that's all about. At any rate, great morning and productive. As I write this, we are in the middle of a monsoon. Fishing won't be on the agenda this morning. Tight lines folks! 

 

4 hours ago, lunkerboss923 said:

Tight lines folks! 

Oh. I see @LrgmouthShad lent you the "How to smile for selfies" DVD that @TnRiver46 sent him.?

7 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Oh. I see @LrgmouthShad lent you the "How to smile for selfies" DVD that @TnRiver46 sent him.?

LOL! ??
 

Headed South, leaving NY for good right now. Hope to send some more fish selfies for you to enjoy in a few days. Can’t leave you without seeing my pearly whites for too long! 

15 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Oh. I see @LrgmouthShad lent you the "How to smile for selfies" DVD that @TnRiver46 sent him.?

Hahahaha. Fishing is happy time!!!

11 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Hope to send some more fish selfies for you

I tried it just once, and that was the last time. Forever. Beauty of a 24 1/2" bass. First shot from straight on looked like one of those eerie dead-eyed civil war portraits, and only half of the fish. The second, with camera at a lower angle, cut off part of the fish's tail, my smile could've been mistaken for pain, I had a piece of broccoli between my teeth, a booger in my left nostril, and my god I'm getting a double chin. And that's all she wrote.

Went out this morning spur of the moment, was up and saw it was cloudy with some wind so I figured perfect conditions. Went out to the pond and caught about a dozen on the new Cavitron buzzbait I picked up. Nothing substantial size wise but a fun couple hours of topwater fishing. Only gripe is it seems like the Cavitrons get all bent up if you so much as look at them weird. But they catch the hell out of fish.

 

The buzzbait bite died shortly thereafter and I was throwing a swim jig around and had the worst backlash of my life. Nothing like respooling a reel on the bank.

Just finished a Table Rock vacation . Caught keeper largemouth , smallmouth and spots . This is the biggest of the trip . 3.5 lb smallie caught 7 foot deep , main lake point with a Fat Gitzit .

2 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Just finished a Table Rock vacation . Caught keeper largemouth , smallmouth and spots . This is the biggest of the trip . 3.5 lb smallie caught 7 foot deep , main lake point with a Fat Gitzit .

Yes sir 

Conditions were perfect for a popper this morning. Dead calm, 66 degrees overcast with a bit of fog. The popper of choice was the Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bug. Picked one up at Walmart yesterday for $6.99 Target species on the river was Smallmouth Bass.

 

 

Target species acquired

 

 

Also caught some Chain Pickerel. Including one over 2 and a half pounds that was a wild ride. Three peeling drag runs before I could land him.

Broke two myths today. One, it takes high dollar rods and reels to catch decent fish and two, you gotta spend big bucks on the best lures. The tool of the day was a $59 H2O Express baitcasting combo pre-spooled with fluorescent yellow/green braid and a $2.18 Ozark popper I picked up at Walmart yesterday thinking, “What the heck?”  That landed me a new PB of 6.59 lbs. 

 

 

The pic doesn’t do it justice. 

4 minutes ago, gunsinger said:

Broke two myths today. One, it takes high dollar rods and reels to catch decent fish and two, you gotta spend big bucks on the best lures. The tool of the day was a $59 H2O Express baitcasting combo pre-spooled with fluorescent yellow/green braid and a $2.18 Ozark popper I picked up at Walmart yesterday thinking, “What the heck?”  That landed me a new PB of 6.59 lbs. 

 

 

The pic doesn’t do it justice. 

Heck yeah! Congrats on the PB!

Top water bite finally heated up and now the weather is about to cool down. Caught a half dozen or a few more in an hour this morning. Half on top water. Half on the roboworm. 

I always take 8 rods in my kayak....well...because I can.  Only needed one this weekend.  It was a spinnerbait fest.  Two of the bigger ones here....dozens of others, nearly half over 3 lb.

20 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I always take 8 rods in my kayak....well...because I can.  Only needed one this weekend.  It was a spinnerbait fest.  Two of the bigger ones here....dozens of others, nearly half over 3 lb.

Awesome. Nice looking SB too. Like that skirt color

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Awesome. Nice looking SB too. Like that skirt color

I'm rapidly becoming a Stanley fan.  Thanks, @Catt

Up north and fishing big crystal in benzie county. Big smallie came on a maxx scent tube on a tube jig.  Other 2 came on a sun gill kietech paddle tail on a 6th sense divine swim bait hook . I don’t believe they are on there beds. Fish look to be roaming around.  Water temp 60 degrees when I first arrived.  Down 54 when I pulled the boat