Had a storm roll through the other day and it has been pretty darn windy since. Got out two days ago, the day after the storm wind was strong light braid of my bfs setup and a 4.5 robo worm was not doing anything but blowing back at me on the weed line. Persevering for a hour and a half didn’t catch squat, but I tried lol. Still windy yesterday so I held off.

 

 I got out today and it was a lot calmer, broke out the robo worm 4.5 fat in watermelon magic on a 2/0 gama fineness hook. Caught 3 small ones, shifted colors and went with a 4.5 straight tail in black grape, caught the biggest small fish of the day and a couple more. Changed baits again to a local stick bait m pierce I think, called stink o stick garlic scented in perch color caught 1 more.

 

Then I went back to my nemesis lure as of lately the pop x in baby bass color, I had to change the hooks out due to catching a pike on it earlier this year. Was a very long process missed a few, blew a few but finally caught a small one mission accomplished. All in all tiny fish but it felt good to get some redemption lol.

I fished a new lake this morning. It was 430 acres and the water was clear, unlike much of the coffee-colored, tannin-stained water of northern lakes. I caught 23 bass and the biggest was 17 inches, but the big event was a bass drove a Whopper Plopper treble into the ring finger of my right, dominant hand. It was intense when he was flopping while the hook was buried in me. When I freed him, I still had to free myself. So, I pushed the hook all the way through me, but struggled to pinch the barb with my left, weaker hand. Finally hearing that click of the barb breaking was so sweet. The hook came free pretty easily and I went back to fishing. 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I fished a new lake this morning. It was 430 acres and the water was clear, unlike much of the coffee-colored, tannin-stained water of northern lakes. I caught 23 bass and the biggest was 17 inches, but the big event was a bass drove a Whopper Plopper treble into the ring finger of my right, dominant hand. It was intense when he was flopping while the hook was buried in me. When I freed him, I still had to free myself. So, I pushed the hook all the way through me, but struggled to pinch the barb with my left, weaker hand. Finally hearing that click of the barb breaking was so sweet. The hook came free pretty easily and I went back to fishing. 

Your a tuff gal…?

Thanks, Gary. I worried that when the barb snapped, there might still be resistance extracting it from my hand, but it wasn't bad. 

You up to date on your tetanus shot there @ol'crickety?

Great suggestion, Mr. Ruis. I just got a booster and some antibiotics. Sadly and seriously, I wasn't going to do much of anything other than shrug, but better safe than sorry. 

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Thanks, Gary. I worried that when the barb snapped, there might still be resistance extracting it from my hand, but it wasn't bad. 

I'd suggest getting some compound cutters before next time. Whopper Plopper hooks aren't thin.

☝️☝️☝️☝️ Definitely good advice. You said your left hand isn’t very strong. There’s very good cutters out there and you need to keep them handy. Just glad it worked out good for you.

Fished from 6a -1p today, caught 5 Spots and 5 Hybrids. Four of the Spots hit the Kinky Beaver T - Rigged on deep rocks, one Spot and the Hybrids hit the spoon. Couldn't find, buy, trick, or force feed a LM. 

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I fished a new lake this morning. It was 430 acres and the water was clear, unlike much of the coffee-colored, tannin-stained water of northern lakes. I caught 23 bass and the biggest was 17 inches, but the big event was a bass drove a Whopper Plopper treble into the ring finger of my right, dominant hand. It was intense when he was flopping while the hook was buried in me. When I freed him, I still had to free myself. So, I pushed the hook all the way through me, but struggled to pinch the barb with my left, weaker hand. Finally hearing that click of the barb breaking was so sweet. The hook came free pretty easily and I went back to fishing. 

I smash the barbs on all my treble hooks. Sooner or later I get a hook in me especially with smaller bass. Yes, I lose fish that I might have otherwise landed, mostly during the warmer months when they are prone to jumping. Makes life easier for me and the fish. It's much easier to finesse a hook out of a touchy place without barbs.

I made an early morning trip to one of my best little lakes.  I had two goals - catch some on a spook and catch my first fish on a jig.  Yes, believe or not I’ve never wet a structure jig before.

 

The spook bite was pretty good, I caught one good lmb and a handful of smaller incl. smb.  Of course, I lost the “largest” smallie - only a glimpse of him and he dogged and simply pulled off.  Likely only 3#, but when you don’t land them they sure are big. lol.  I also tried the buzzbait and a frog briefly in some shallower spots, but no takers so I didn’t spend much time on them.

 

I tried the jig off and on, losing my trailer claws on one bite but didn’t hook up.  Finally near the end of my available time I put the hot Yo-Zuri 3DB away and was determined to fish the jig until I caught one.  Didn’t take too long and I’d caught two - one lmb and one smb.  Then, I had to skeddadle to be home for a 12pm conference call… scheduled by some idiot (me) on a day with almost no wind and a hot topwater bite.  lol

Took a “Me morning”, and headed out for a few hours solo. Figured it’d be the best chance I get this weekend, and be on and off the water before the long weekend crowd shows up. Tried to get some largemouth on a frog, but it was mostly a pike morning. They were still fun when they hammered the frog, and I did manage to get this chunky guy to explode on it as well. 

FWIW, I got a tetanus shot this afternoon and bought some baby bolt cutters. I do heed the advice of this board's members. And I'm going fishing again tomorrow morning, which is the sagest advice.

Slow moving post frontal conditions over the past several days following our big rain event. Wednesday I hit a pond I thought would most likely be stained, only to find clearing water. Gusty W/NW winds and mostly sunny skies, but still managed 8 or 9 on a finesse jig, so it wasn't too bad. Thursday was some clouds and lighter SW winds, so went to a different slightly clearer pond with the drop shot and again, 8 to 9 bites. Today, just a slight S breeze with a lot of hazy cloud cover starting to move in. Back to the first pond, but this time with the drop shot setup and was able to garner 18 fish. The good majority of these fish are running between 14"-16", so this must be the dominant year class moving through the system, but you get a few bigger every now and then.

 

 

Went back to lake #2 last night hoping for another slugfest like Wed. night, but alas it was not to be. It was a grind all night. Only managed 9 SM, but ended on a high note with this 3-11 about a half hour before first light. All on the chatterbait. Nothing but Rockbass, and dink Saugeye interested in my Trig.

Best girl from last night.....6.4lbs caught on 1/8th Jobee Hook + 7" Blake Grape Roboworm.

 

Typical of many of my nights, I'm only fishing for about 10-12 bites and looking for big fish, caught 4 and lost 1.  Two big LGMs, and two quality Alabama Bass in about 3.5hrs.    

 

The first LGM I caught should have weighed 8-10lbs, but I doubt it even went 5lbs.  HUGE mouth, and one that didn't fit its weight.    Most unhealthy Bass I've seen in awhile.   Going to send pics to a fish biologist.    In some ways seeing that ruins my fishing session.   

That bass in the photo is a beauty!

 

Your emaciated bass would have disturbed me too. I once caught enormous bullheads from a drainage ditch, but they must have had some parasite in them. They were gruesome. 

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

That bass in the photo is a beauty!

 

Your emaciated bass would have disturbed me too. I once caught enormous bullheads from a drainage ditch, but they must have had some parasite in them. They were gruesome. 

Thanks pal, and hope the finger is doing better!

 

Yeah I've been thinking about that Bass all day.   Truly had a 8-10lb mouth on it, but I've never seen one as skinny, and overall malnourished.

 

I'd love to know the reason so I can stop worrying about other fish in the lake.  Maybe he swallowed a hook or something.

 

Makes me sad just posting the pics, haven't even looked at them until now

Fun fished with a buddy today. Fished in his boat which I hate because he trolls around about 834 mph and stays as shallow as possible. He caught none but I was able to scratch out this one. 
 

 

22 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Slow moving post frontal conditions over the past several days following our big rain event. Wednesday I hit a pond I thought would most likely be stained, only to find clearing water. Gusty W/NW winds and mostly sunny skies, but still managed 8 or 9 on a finesse jig, so it wasn't too bad. Thursday was some clouds and lighter SW winds, so went to a different slightly clearer pond with the drop shot and again, 8 to 9 bites. Today, just a slight S breeze with a lot of hazy cloud cover starting to move in. Back to the first pond, but this time with the drop shot setup and was able to garner 18 fish. The good majority of these fish are running between 14"-16", so this must be the dominant year class moving through the system, but you get a few bigger every now and then.

 

 

Curious how long your shot leader is. Seems this would be very effective during the cold months too.

37 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Curious how long your shot leader is. Seems this would be very effective during the cold months too.

Starting leader length has been 6-7 ft to allow for a couple 2 or 3 reties before having to replace the leader. The bass being able to sling that drop weight/leader around while fighting them can do some serious ‘gnarliness’ to the line, as can getting the small hook deep in the mouth. I’ve played with hook to weight length, going 5” up to about 14”. Advantages to both depending on circumstances.

3 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Starting leader length has been 6-7 ft to allow for a couple 2 or 3 reties before having to replace the leader. The bass being able to sling that drop weight/leader around while fighting them can do some serious ‘gnarliness’ to the line, as can getting the small hook deep in the mouth.

I guess I should have asked how high you're suspending. I'm a little leery about the weight swinging free anyhow. I broke one of my Zodias recently and have think it was from an instance when a jig head or something smacked the blank a while back.

13 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I guess I should have asked how high you're suspending. I'm a little leery about the weight swinging free anyhow. I broke one of my Zodias recently and have think it was from an instance when a jig head or something smacked the blank a while back.

Not far - a near bottom presentation, especially when casting. I’d say somewhere between 3” and 12” depending on angle of presentation. Run a short 3”-4” leader and you can almost gish it like a jig.

11 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Best girl from last night.....6.4lbs caught on 1/8th Jobee Hook + 7" Blake Grape Roboworm.

 

Typical of many of my nights, I'm only fishing for about 10-12 bites and looking for big fish, caught 4 and lost 1.  Two big LGMs, and two quality Alabama Bass in about 3.5hrs.    

 

The first LGM I caught should have weighed 8-10lbs, but I doubt it even went 5lbs.  HUGE mouth, and one that didn't fit its weight.    Most unhealthy Bass I've seen in awhile.   Going to send pics to a fish biologist.    In some ways seeing that ruins my fishing session.   

Do you have another picture to send the biologist? Because that one looks healthy to me. Lol

 

 Just kidding. I saw the other post after I posted this. 

11 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Rockbass

You catching rockies on a chatterbait?

 

Rock Bass: the ugly low life cousin of the bass family that no one really wants to associate with.