Some very stout bass @ol’crickety, great looking water! 

16 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

This morning, I fished my tenth pond this summer. I fished a little less than three hours. The pond was really a swamp. The water was clear and it looked like there was 18-24 inches of water, but when I stuck my paddle into the water trying to reach bottom, I realized that there were a couple feet of weeds down there. I caught ten fish, but two were 18.25", one was 19", and one was 20.5". This pond/swamp is right on a major highway.

 

The skinny fish was stunningly strong, turning the canoe and nearly yanking my pole into the water. The two biggest fish hit in open water, but both burrowed into weeds. I felt lucky to land them. I liked paddling through the reeds in the fog. I did try my frog again and triggered a couple monster strikes in heavy cover and I kept my cool and wanted for the fish to engulf the frog, but I failed again. I'll keep trying. 

Here's a pic that shows you what the "pond" looks like. More reeds than open water.

 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

This morning, I fished my tenth pond this summer. I fished a little less than three hours. The pond was really a swamp. The water was clear and it looked like there was 18-24 inches of water, but when I stuck my paddle into the water trying to reach bottom, I realized that there were a couple feet of weeds down there. I caught ten fish, but two were 18.25", one was 19", and one was 20.5". This pond/swamp is right on a major highway.

 

The skinny fish was stunningly strong, turning the canoe and nearly yanking my pole into the water. The two biggest fish hit in open water, but both burrowed into weeds. I felt lucky to land them. I liked paddling through the reeds in the fog. I did try my frog again and triggered a couple monster strikes in heavy cover and I kept my cool and wanted for the fish to engulf the frog, but I failed again. I'll keep trying. 

Here's a pic that shows you what the "pond" looks like. More reeds than open water.

Fantastic fish!   Those are all the size that make your heart race, third one down is especially nice.  You need to get a scale, and I need to upgrade mine to a clamp one.   

 

Thankfully I don't fish areas with uber vegetation that would make a frog a good choice.   I throw them on the rare occasion, almost never catch a fish on them.

 

Went out another night in the rain two nights ago thinking the Covid wasn't that bad, but I guess I overdid or something.   Hopefully I'll be back to fishing in a few days.   Quite surprised I haven't caught a Spot over 3-4lbs yet, but this one is a start at 2.4lbs.    Fought like wall hanger though haha

 

Thanks, guys! You are very supportive of an old woman in a canoe pushing through the reeds in the wee hours. 

 

Mr. Bricker, they are stout bass! I was thrilled by the thickness of the two biggest.

 

Mr. Hunter, I am soooo reluctant to add more tackle. It's one more thing I'd have to carry through the woods. To fish a frog with a bait caster, I left one spinning rod behind. Plus, I like my fish measuring board, for it both measures and settles the fish for the photo. They don't flop out of it. Weird, huh? I have never caught a spot. I've read about them, their power and ferocity. An old gal can dream.

 

Mr. Shad, I did enjoy the reeds. As I worked my way up the pond, they'd open and close and open again. It felt otherworldly. This afternoon, I scouted a blue, deep, cool smallmouth pond, which looks so different than this morning's marsh, but I'm kind of settling into the salad and slop. I might feel lost with all that water beneath me.

I needed a change of scenery and to expand my options, so I tried a new lake today.  It’s a bit big for a canoe so I barely saw a fraction of it and the wind made it a chore - dropping and pulling anchor constantly, trying to hold at some likely spots.  I caught a few little lmb, then switched sides of the lake.  I was working my way along a steep shaded bank with overhanging cedar trees, casting a Texas-hooked Yum Dinger on a bubba shot.  I was expecting largemouth when my line took off.  He dug for deep water first, then came up for a lazy jump that I thwarted by getting my rod tip down and keeping his mouth full of water.  So he could only wallow and then back to digging.  I thought I had a good largemouth right until he was in the net.  Turned out to be an 18” smallmouth that had a hump back like a largemouth.  My arms-reach selfies suck and I wish I had gotten a better profile pic.  Not sure of weight, but he was one of the thickest smallies I’ve seen.

 

I really do look forward to having a bass boat with a trolling motor.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful to be on the water by any means.  But this canoe thing is growing old.

5 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Thanks, guys! You are very supportive of an old woman in a canoe pushing through the reeds in the wee hours. 

 

Mr. Bricker, they are stout bass! I was thrilled by the thickness of the two biggest.

 

Mr. Hunter, I am soooo reluctant to add more tackle. It's one more thing I'd have to carry through the woods. To fish a frog with a bait caster, I left one spinning rod behind. Plus, I like my fish measuring board, for it both measures and settles the fish for the photo. They don't flop out of it. Weird, huh? I have never caught a spot. I've read about them, their power and ferocity. An old gal can dream.

 

Mr. Shad, I did enjoy the reeds. As I worked my way up the pond, they'd open and close and open again. It felt otherworldly. This afternoon, I scouted a blue, deep, cool smallmouth pond, which looks so different than this morning's marsh, but I'm kind of settling into the salad and slop. I might feel lost with all that water beneath me.

I really dig your fishing style.....very pure, and very spartan.    Have no clue how old you are, but if you're doing that type of fishing you are in most excellent shape.         

 

Totally get the tackle deal, as I love bank fishing and guerilla fishing as much as fishing on a decked out Bass wagon.    Your pics are evidence of the fish you can catch if you are willing to put in the hard work to get into backwoods places.     

 

Measuring vs. weighing must be geographical thing or something.   Here in the South, very few people measure Bass, just weigh them.  Then I joined this forum that seems heavily populated by members from above the mason dixon line, and started seeing lots of Bass being measured.  Maybe a carry over from other northern fish species that are prized on length more than weight.

9 minutes ago, The Baron said:

I needed a change of scenery and to expand my options, so I tried a new lake today.  It’s a bit big for a canoe so I barely saw a fraction of it and the wind made it a chore - dropping and pulling anchor constantly, trying to hold at some likely spots.  I caught a few little lmb, then switched sides of the lake.  I was working my way along a steep shaded bank with overhanging cedar trees, casting a Texas-hooked Yum Dinger on a bubba shot.  I was expecting largemouth when my line took off.  He dug for deep water first, then came up for a lazy jump that I thwarted by getting my rod tip down and keeping his mouth full of water.  So he could only wallow and then back to digging.  I thought I had a good largemouth right until he was in the net.  Turned out to be an 18” smallmouth that had a hump back like a largemouth.  My arms-reach selfies suck and I wish I had gotten a better profile pic.  Not sure of weight, but he was one of the thickest smallies I’ve seen.

 

I really do look forward to having a bass boat with a trolling motor.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful to be on the water by any means.  But this canoe thing is growing old.

Dang what a beautiful fish, and I'd wade on a blowup tube to catch a fish like that LOL.

 

I too can't do the kayak thing after using small boats with trolling motors my whole life......mad respect for those who fish that spartan.

 

The wind kills me in a 14ft jon boat with TM, it would be essentially impossible to fish my lake many days in a kayak with no TM  

2 hours ago, The Baron said:

I needed a change of scenery and to expand my options, so I tried a new lake today.  It’s a bit big for a canoe so I barely saw a fraction of it and the wind made it a chore - dropping and pulling anchor constantly, trying to hold at some likely spots.  I caught a few little lmb, then switched sides of the lake.  I was working my way along a steep shaded bank with overhanging cedar trees, casting a Texas-hooked Yum Dinger on a bubba shot.  I was expecting largemouth when my line took off.  He dug for deep water first, then came up for a lazy jump that I thwarted by getting my rod tip down and keeping his mouth full of water.  So he could only wallow and then back to digging.  I thought I had a good largemouth right until he was in the net.  Turned out to be an 18” smallmouth that had a hump back like a largemouth.  My arms-reach selfies suck and I wish I had gotten a better profile pic.  Not sure of weight, but he was one of the thickest smallies I’ve seen.

 

I really do look forward to having a bass boat with a trolling motor.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful to be on the water by any means.  But this canoe thing is growing old.

Gorgeous smallmouth. It doesn't just have a largemouth's cro-magnon forehead. It's got the bigmouth's big gut too!

 

Mr. Hunter, I turn 66 in three days. Yeah, simple fishing is sweet. I love being the only one on a lake. 

Finally got out again, caught 2 yesterday. Smaller ones, did not bother to take pictures, one on a evergreen grass ripper swim jig chartreuse and white with a rage menace rigged vertically in summer craw, next small one came on a chatter bait once again white and chartreuse with a beast coast blade runner in chartreuse pumpkin I think. I caught 2 more small ones tonight, one came wacky rigged on a owner ultra head 1/32 jig head with a chompers  salty sinker in huckleberry, the one I took came on the same evergreen grass ripper swim jig with a Berkley 4.3 paddle tail in bass candy color. Both fish were caught in the dark, I have fished here enough in my kayak that I knew of a deep pocket that had to hold a fish. I need to buy a new jig though accidentally turned my handle too far on my steez with the hook in the handle slot. Jammed up tight, couldn’t get it out and wanted to use my swim jig, pliers to the rescue. Bent the hook out gently and removed it and bent it back and caught the fish in the pics. I need to look into one of those Fuji hook keeper things.

On 8/24/2022 at 3:39 PM, A-Jay said:

The Brown bass were shallow this morning

and they were chewing . . . .

A-Jay

I watched the video last night.  Your verbal reaction to the first jump of the chatterbait fish is truth.  lol

I went out again for the third straight morning, but now my hands must rest and recover. I returned to the swamp.  I fished yesterday where I landed 10 altogether

and four beauties. Because it's so weedy and I had two of my four bass burrow into the weeds, I upsized my spinning reel, rod, and line last night, going from a 7' rod medium light rod to a 7.5' medium rod and from 8 lb. test to 17 lb. test.

 

I caught 39 fish altogether, but the first 30 were nothing big, save for this one nice fish:

 

I caught those 30 fish on a wacky worm, a fluke, and my Whopper Plopper.

 

Then I hooked this big gal, who was 19.5 inches.

 

Then it started to rain and I had no raincoat, but it was wonderful because it was a dinner bell for the bass. I caught these six, five on the Whopper Plopper and one on a frog in a spot that was more weed than water. The six rain fish were between 16.5 inches and 18 inches. Isn't it strange how different their shapes are? Five are bulgy and one is so streamlined. Now I'm going to rest my hands for a day or two. I've caught 106 bass in the last three mornings and it looks like a litter of needle-toothed beagle pups have been using my hands as chew toys. 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I went out again for the third straight morning, but now my hands must rest and recover. I returned to the swamp.  I fished yesterday where I landed 10 altogether and four beauties. Because it's so weedy and I had two of my four bass burrow into the weeds, I upsized my spinning reel, rod, and line last night, going from a 7' rod medium light rod to a 7.5' medium rod and from 8 lb. test to 17 lb. test.

 

I caught 39 fish altogether, but the first 30 were nothing big, save for this one nice fish:

 

I caught those 30 fish on a wacky worm, a fluke, and my Whopper Plopper.

 

Then I hooked this big gal, who was 19.5 inches.

 

Then it started to rain and I had no raincoat, but it was wonderful because it was a dinner bell for the bass. I caught these six, five on the Whopper Plopper and one on a frog in a spot that was more weed than water. The six rain fish were between 16.5 inches and 18 inches. Isn't it strange how different their shapes are? Five are bulgy and one is so streamlined. Now I'm going to rest my hands for a day or two. I've caught 106 bass in the last three mornings and it looks like a litter of needle-toothed beagle pups have been using my hands as chew toys. 

That's one of those ponds that you don't even tell your momma about lol.    I get the hands needing rest, the skin is one thing, but where I set the hooks really starts to hurt the side of my hand after a bunch of fish.    

On 8/24/2022 at 1:55 PM, ol'crickety said:

For me, the key to catching a lot of fish is fishing for uneducated fish, i.e. fish that haven't seen a lot of lures. I don't fish lakes or ponds with ramps. I do prefer ponds and lakes that require some sweating and grunting to reach. A canoe helps a lot. Being quiet also makes a big difference. However, the biggest difference is simply living in Maine, where there's a lot of water and not a lot of people.

 

I was using a Medium rod with the frog. Was that a mistake? I am also terrible at casting a frog with a baitcaster. I watch the guys on YouTube frogging and they're casting geniuses, casting both far and with pinpoint accuracy. It doesn't help that I'm sitting in a canoe and that I'm old and stiff. Because I can't cast far, when the bass hit, they're just a few feet from me and I reflexively react too soon. 

 

P.S. - Thanks, Mr. 46.

I'll be on my annual trip to Maine, week after Labor day, China lake here I come!.

FM

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I went out again for the third straight morning, but now my hands must rest and recover. I returned to the swamp.  I fished yesterday where I landed 10 altogether and four beauties. Because it's so weedy and I had two of my four bass burrow into the weeds, I upsized my spinning reel, rod, and line last night, going from a 7' rod medium light rod to a 7.5' medium rod and from 8 lb. test to 17 lb. test.

 

I caught 39 fish altogether, but the first 30 were nothing big, save for this one nice fish:

 

I caught those 30 fish on a wacky worm, a fluke, and my Whopper Plopper.

 

Then I hooked this big gal, who was 19.5 inches.

 

Then it started to rain and I had no raincoat, but it was wonderful because it was a dinner bell for the bass. I caught these six, five on the Whopper Plopper and one on a frog in a spot that was more weed than water. The six rain fish were between 16.5 inches and 18 inches. Isn't it strange how different their shapes are? Five are bulgy and one is so streamlined. Now I'm going to rest my hands for a day or two. I've caught 106 bass in the last three mornings and it looks like a litter of needle-toothed beagle pups have been using my hands as chew toys. 

Really Nice ~

You are killing it.

Congrats

A-Jay

 

 

                                                                   

 

 

                                                                   

Mr. Mickey, I know China Lake. It's not far from me. I haven't fished it yet, but I wanna. It might be a little big for me and my canoe though. Still, I've heard that it's great, so that tugs at me like a bluegill tugging at a nightcrawler.

 

Mr. Warrior, your gifs make me laugh. Thanks!

 

Thanks, A-Jay, however, after looking at your fish photos, I worry that you look at my fish pics and think, "Hmm. Nice bait."

On 8/21/2022 at 7:47 PM, DitchPanda said:

I caught a 15lb channel one time waking a spinner bait in like 6 or 8 inches of water...sounding like some body threw an m80 in.

 

On 8/21/2022 at 7:52 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I got an 8 lb channel burning a spinnerbait in spring of 2020, sure didn’t catch a bass with it 

 

when I saw a two foot long brown and greenish fish come up and slam it, I thought monster smallmouth 

SMASHED a chatterbait in 2' of water, then came up and thrashed on the surface twice. Thought I had a wall hanger LM. LOL. Channels spawn in June here in OH. They're very aggressive and absolutely hammer baits while they're up shallow doing their thing.

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Mr. Mickey, I know China Lake. It's not far from me. I haven't fished it yet,

Ol Crickety,

     This will be my third time fishing it. I really like the lake, It has a very healthy bass and pike population.

     Now one of the best times I have had fishing in that area is fishing Belgrade Stream below the town of Belgrade. If you can find a way to put in and take out.  Yaaaah, you really need to go fish it! I had a magical morning there. I was using a kayak that came with the airbnb we stayed at.  Take a Whopper Plopper 75 in the powder color.  Let me know your fishing report.

Fishingmickey

PS. lots of 2-3lb fish occasional 4's and 5's and I lost one that went maybe seven. Some good smallmouth there too.

1 hour ago, Fishingmickey said:

Ol Crickety,

     This will be my third time fishing it. I really like the lake, It has a very healthy bass and pike population.

     Now one of the best times I have had fishing in that area is fishing Belgrade Stream below the town of Belgrade. If you can find a way to put in and take out.  Yaaaah, you really need to go fish it! I had a magical morning there. I was using a kayak that came with the airbnb we stayed at.  Take a Whopper Plopper 75 in the powder color.  Let me know your fishing report.

Fishingmickey

PS. lots of 2-3lb fish occasional 4's and 5's and I lost one that went maybe seven. Some good smallmouth there too.

That's a super tip, Mr. Mickey. I think I'd just paddle down a ways and then paddle back so I wouldn't have to arrange a shuttle. This time of the year, there can't be much current.

Shore fishing today - just a short jaunt with not enough time to launch/land the F-9

 

HEY! They're getting bigger.

Fished today for 6 hours. 95% of the time I threw big swimbaits and 5% a swimjig. Caught a 3.21 lb on a swimjig.

 

1 minute ago, GreenPig said:

Fished today for 6 hours. 95% of the time I threw big swimbaits and 5% a swimjig. Caught a 3.21 lb on a swimjig.

 

What happened to bull wake, fish chewed it all up? 

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

What happened to bull wake, fish chewed it all up? 

817 cast with the Bull Wake and nothing. Bass didn't like the calm conditions. 

Went to the dam on the ottertail river in minnesota. Caught 2 smallies on a wopper plopper and then threw some ball head jigs and got snagged.

Just 1 snag and i broke off and said i had enough of this so i put a bobber on with a ballhead jig with a berkley max scent flat nose minnow.

Threw it out into the current and let in bounce off the rocks and down stream. I caught a nice smallie with that setup, she fought hard, pulled hard and i got her in.

 

Fishing below a dam is exciting. Nice smallie!

12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Get a load of this Bill Dance wanna be with that obnoxious hat

 

Bill was my favorite growing up, still consider a few of his signature baits favorites today.

 

Great fish, great diversity, really nice cat.