What a day!

 

BTW,

If I get to see 'em, they count.

Roadwarrior, if I ever hook AND land three four-pound bass in consecutive casts, I'll be Irish dancing on my canoe seat. 

 

See them? I could have kissed them! That's how close they were.

20 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

A bass hooked my finger a couple weeks ago. This morning, a pond gut hooked me. It was a new pond and because I have some great ponds in my fishing rotation, a pond has to be pretty special to make the cut. Well, I caught 27 fish this morning, 23 bass and 4 pickerel, with quite a few in the 15"-17" range. And I had about ten blow-ups on my frog and didn't hook a one. I think the heavy action rod I ordered will help. I also lost lots of fish with my fluke, but what gut hooked me was something that has never happened in my life before this morning and likely never will again: In three casts, I hooked three four-pound fish. Two jumped right beside my canoe and threw the lure and the third one was inches from my net when it came unbuttoned. 

 

I know what you're thinking: "Old Crickety is exaggerating. She doesn't know what a four-pound bass looks like. They were probably pound and a halfers."

 

But they were four-pounders! No lie. I was inches from all three and I had every advantage: deep water, no reeds or pads, no trees, etc. 

 

So, I'll be going back to that pond. I'm totally sleep deprived and I think that's why I missed so many fish. I even missed a dozen or so fish on my Whopper Plopper and that thing bristles with hooks. 

Your frequent posts are a gem, thank you. You fish a lot! 

23 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

A bass hooked my finger a couple weeks ago. This morning, a pond gut hooked me. It was a new pond and because I have some great ponds in my fishing rotation, a pond has to be pretty special to make the cut. Well, I caught 27 fish this morning, 23 bass and 4 pickerel, with quite a few in the 15"-17" range. And I had about ten blow-ups on my frog and didn't hook a one. I think the heavy action rod I ordered will help. I also lost lots of fish with my fluke, but what gut hooked me was something that has never happened in my life before this morning and likely never will again: In three casts, I hooked three four-pound fish. Two jumped right beside my canoe and threw the lure and the third one was inches from my net when it came unbuttoned. 

 

I know what you're thinking: "Old Crickety is exaggerating. She doesn't know what a four-pound bass looks like. They were probably pound and a halfers."

 

But they were four-pounders! No lie. I was inches from all three and I had every advantage: deep water, no reeds or pads, no trees, etc. 

 

So, I'll be going back to that pond. I'm totally sleep deprived and I think that's why I missed so many fish. I even missed a dozen or so fish on my Whopper Plopper and that thing bristles with hooks. 

Out of likes still, but another exceptional trip.  Way to go Katie, and I bet you are tired after those two trips.

 

Do you have a net?   To me a net, a scale, and a camera are as important as remembering to bring my poles.    

 

I've had something like that almost happen.....where the lures pulls right besides the boat, and it goes flying into my chest or worst back at my face.   

 

Some people call that "quick release" as well ?

Had my final Kansas Kayak Anglers tournament of the year this Saturday. I prefished Friday and it went as good as it could have possibly gone. I was torn between 2 parts of the lake, a creek and then one arm of the lake. I started in the creek, it was horrible. I caught 4 dinks and a 17 incher and the mosquitoes were about to carry me away, so I moved to my other area. With the feeling that I was going to end up fishing that area, I removed my hooks and put on screwlocks to attached my soft plastics. I ended up getting around 30 bites in 4-5 hours on a lake I'd usually be pumped about getting 10 bites in a day this time of year. I did stick a couple fish on a Ned and bladed jig just because there was no way to remove the hook, one would have been a heartbreaker on tournament day.

Tournament morning, I launched under a bright, Harvest Moon and sat in the cool air at a picnic table by myself for about an hour. I've been close many times this year to winning and I felt like I finally had the area to win, my heart was racing the whole time and time just drug by. I was sure I would be fishing with several people around me, but to my surprise, I was the only kayak in the cove I started in. My alarm went off, I took a deep breath and started casting one of my Code Blue bladed jigs. 3 cast into the morning, I got slack knocked into my line on the shallow flat I started on and the fish went nuts thrashing around and charged the kayak. I hurried the net out and she tailwalked right in. I was off and running with a thick 18.25" fish.

Really thought I was going to smash them at this point. 2 hours later, I had caught a 9, 10, 11, and 13 inch fish to finish up my limit and the bites were not happening like they were the day before. I watched an old man catch a 20+ inch fish when he was burning in a popper. It was an awesome bite and his excitement was great, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt my feelings a little bit. I ran back through the cove a second time and culled up a little bit with a 13.5" fish, but I decided to work on out of my starting spot. I got to a point and pitched to a tree and there was a fish on it immediately. Not a big fish by any means, but that little 14.5" fish felt huge compared to what I had been catching.

I had some fish start busting by my kayak and culled another little 13.5" fish swimming a white Ned. Down the bank a little further, I wasn't feeling great, it was getting to be midmorning and I was struggling way more than I thought. I cast my little power worm to a stump and mumbled to myself about how I never catch anything good off this stump. I fished it out a little deeper than I had been and got a light bite. It was on the surface real quick after the hookset and in the net just about as fast. My second solid fish of the day was right at 18".

I fished all through the rest of that creek arm and was only catching a small fish here and there, except I did find that heartbreaker again.

I tried a bigger worm that I'd got a lot of bites on the day before but they just weren't eating it. I'd noticed a lot of bluegills huddled tight to the trees and thought maybe they were eating those gills instead of the huge schools of tiny shad I'd been seeing. I switched my little power worm to a Rage Menace in watermelon/red with the tail dipped in chartreuse JJ's. I was really struggling at this point. It was 1pm, lines out was 2:30 and I still had 3 fish under 15" in my bag. I think it was my second cast just kind of in between some trees on a rocky point that my line started moving off on the initial fall. The fish wrapped me around a tree, which is about a kiss of death in a lake with zebra mussels, but my 15lb Tatsu held and worked it back around the tree. I peddled backwards trying to get a better angle and ended up on top of a submerged stump, trying not to roll my kayak while I was netting the fish. She cooperated and jumped right in the net for me. Another solid keeper that went 17.75" had me feeling like I'd made a good change.

Just a little ways around the back of that cove was a hedge tree that I'd missed 2 bites in that day. I pulled up to it and cast that Menace into it. A fish bit right away and pulled me towards the tree but again I managed to wrestle it away. The fish that had beat me the 2 previous times that day turned out to be another 18 incher.

That fish bit at about 2pm and would be my last cull. I hadn't looked at the leaderboard since 10am and had no idea what it looked like when I submitted my 86.50" bag. At the awards, everyone was talking about tough fishing but that doesn't ever mean that someone didn't still smack them. I was afraid that little 14.5" fish was going to be the reason I got beat. As it turned out, I didn't need the last 18" fish and would have been fine with the 14.5" and the last 13.75" fish that the 18" fish culled out. 

It was a tough day, the limits drop really fast after that top 5 into the 60's, then a couple 50's, with some 0's at the bottom. Made me feel good to finally put everything together and walk away with a win and one of the awesome plaques that the winner gets.

 

Mr. Shad, I don't fish enough! ?

 

Alex, you can see my net in the first photo. And I am tuckered. Lifting the canoe on and off the car and carrying it to the water and paddling for miles drains my tank. Luckily, it also fills my tank! 

7 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Had my final Kansas Kayak Anglers tournament of the year this Saturday. I prefished Friday and it went as good as it could have possibly gone. I was torn between 2 parts of the lake, a creek and then one arm of the lake. I started in the creek, it was horrible. I caught 4 dinks and a 17 incher and the mosquitoes were about to carry me away, so I moved to my other area. With the feeling that I was going to end up fishing that area, I removed my hooks and put on screwlocks to attached my soft plastics. I ended up getting around 30 bites in 4-5 hours on a lake I'd usually be pumped about getting 10 bites in a day this time of year. I did stick a couple fish on a Ned and bladed jig just because there was no way to remove the hook, one would have been a heartbreaker on tournament day.

Tournament morning, I launched under a bright, Harvest Moon and sat in the cool air at a picnic table by myself for about an hour. I've been close many times this year to winning and I felt like I finally had the area to win, my heart was racing the whole time and time just drug by. I was sure I would be fishing with several people around me, but to my surprise, I was the only kayak in the cove I started in. My alarm went off, I took a deep breath and started casting one of my Code Blue bladed jigs. 3 cast into the morning, I got slack knocked into my line on the shallow flat I started on and the fish went nuts thrashing around and charged the kayak. I hurried the net out and she tailwalked right in. I was off and running with a thick 18.25" fish.

Really thought I was going to smash them at this point. 2 hours later, I had caught a 9, 10, 11, and 13 inch fish to finish up my limit and the bites were not happening like they were the day before. I watched an old man catch a 20+ inch fish when he was burning in a popper. It was an awesome bite and his excitement was great, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt my feelings a little bit. I ran back through the cove a second time and culled up a little bit with a 13.5" fish, but I decided to work on out of my starting spot. I got to a point and pitched to a tree and there was a fish on it immediately. Not a big fish by any means, but that little 14.5" fish felt huge compared to what I had been catching.

I had some fish start busting by my kayak and culled another little 13.5" fish swimming a white Ned. Down the bank a little further, I wasn't feeling great, it was getting to be midmorning and I was struggling way more than I thought. I cast my little power worm to a stump and mumbled to myself about how I never catch anything good off this stump. I fished it out a little deeper than I had been and got a light bite. It was on the surface real quick after the hookset and in the net just about as fast. My second solid fish of the day was right at 18".

I fished all through the rest of that creek arm and was only catching a small fish here and there, except I did find that heartbreaker again.

I tried a bigger worm that I'd got a lot of bites on the day before but they just weren't eating it. I'd noticed a lot of bluegills huddled tight to the trees and thought maybe they were eating those gills instead of the huge schools of tiny shad I'd been seeing. I switched my little power worm to a Rage Menace in watermelon/red with the tail dipped in chartreuse JJ's. I was really struggling at this point. It was 1pm, lines out was 2:30 and I still had 3 fish under 15" in my bag. I think it was my second cast just kind of in between some trees on a rocky point that my line started moving off on the initial fall. The fish wrapped me around a tree, which is about a kiss of death in a lake with zebra mussels, but my 15lb Tatsu held and worked it back around the tree. I peddled backwards trying to get a better angle and ended up on top of a submerged stump, trying not to roll my kayak while I was netting the fish. She cooperated and jumped right in the net for me. Another solid keeper that went 17.75" had me feeling like I'd made a good change.

Just a little ways around the back of that cove was a hedge tree that I'd missed 2 bites in that day. I pulled up to it and cast that Menace into it. A fish bit right away and pulled me towards the tree but again I managed to wrestle it away. The fish that had beat me the 2 previous times that day turned out to be another 18 incher.

That fish bit at about 2pm and would be my last cull. I hadn't looked at the leaderboard since 10am and had no idea what it looked like when I submitted my 86.50" bag. At the awards, everyone was talking about tough fishing but that doesn't ever mean that someone didn't still smack them. I was afraid that little 14.5" fish was going to be the reason I got beat. As it turned out, I didn't need the last 18" fish and would have been fine with the 14.5" and the last 13.75" fish that the 18" fish culled out. 

It was a tough day, the limits drop really fast after that top 5 into the 60's, then a couple 50's, with some 0's at the bottom. Made me feel good to finally put everything together and walk away with a win and one of the awesome plaques that the winner gets.

 

Clayton, great fishing, great photos, and great storytelling! I am proud of you and happy for you too. I love the shape of that 18.25 inch bass. 

12 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Had my final Kansas Kayak Anglers tournament of the year this Saturday. I prefished Friday and it went as good as it could have possibly gone. I was torn between 2 parts of the lake, a creek and then one arm of the lake. I started in the creek, it was horrible. I caught 4 dinks and a 17 incher and the mosquitoes were about to carry me away, so I moved to my other area. With the feeling that I was going to end up fishing that area, I removed my hooks and put on screwlocks to attached my soft plastics. I ended up getting around 30 bites in 4-5 hours on a lake I'd usually be pumped about getting 10 bites in a day this time of year. I did stick a couple fish on a Ned and bladed jig just because there was no way to remove the hook, one would have been a heartbreaker on tournament day.

Tournament morning, I launched under a bright, Harvest Moon and sat in the cool air at a picnic table by myself for about an hour. I've been close many times this year to winning and I felt like I finally had the area to win, my heart was racing the whole time and time just drug by. I was sure I would be fishing with several people around me, but to my surprise, I was the only kayak in the cove I started in. My alarm went off, I took a deep breath and started casting one of my Code Blue bladed jigs. 3 cast into the morning, I got slack knocked into my line on the shallow flat I started on and the fish went nuts thrashing around and charged the kayak. I hurried the net out and she tailwalked right in. I was off and running with a thick 18.25" fish.

Really thought I was going to smash them at this point. 2 hours later, I had caught a 9, 10, 11, and 13 inch fish to finish up my limit and the bites were not happening like they were the day before. I watched an old man catch a 20+ inch fish when he was burning in a popper. It was an awesome bite and his excitement was great, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt my feelings a little bit. I ran back through the cove a second time and culled up a little bit with a 13.5" fish, but I decided to work on out of my starting spot. I got to a point and pitched to a tree and there was a fish on it immediately. Not a big fish by any means, but that little 14.5" fish felt huge compared to what I had been catching.

I had some fish start busting by my kayak and culled another little 13.5" fish swimming a white Ned. Down the bank a little further, I wasn't feeling great, it was getting to be midmorning and I was struggling way more than I thought. I cast my little power worm to a stump and mumbled to myself about how I never catch anything good off this stump. I fished it out a little deeper than I had been and got a light bite. It was on the surface real quick after the hookset and in the net just about as fast. My second solid fish of the day was right at 18".

I fished all through the rest of that creek arm and was only catching a small fish here and there, except I did find that heartbreaker again.

I tried a bigger worm that I'd got a lot of bites on the day before but they just weren't eating it. I'd noticed a lot of bluegills huddled tight to the trees and thought maybe they were eating those gills instead of the huge schools of tiny shad I'd been seeing. I switched my little power worm to a Rage Menace in watermelon/red with the tail dipped in chartreuse JJ's. I was really struggling at this point. It was 1pm, lines out was 2:30 and I still had 3 fish under 15" in my bag. I think it was my second cast just kind of in between some trees on a rocky point that my line started moving off on the initial fall. The fish wrapped me around a tree, which is about a kiss of death in a lake with zebra mussels, but my 15lb Tatsu held and worked it back around the tree. I peddled backwards trying to get a better angle and ended up on top of a submerged stump, trying not to roll my kayak while I was netting the fish. She cooperated and jumped right in the net for me. Another solid keeper that went 17.75" had me feeling like I'd made a good change.

Just a little ways around the back of that cove was a hedge tree that I'd missed 2 bites in that day. I pulled up to it and cast that Menace into it. A fish bit right away and pulled me towards the tree but again I managed to wrestle it away. The fish that had beat me the 2 previous times that day turned out to be another 18 incher.

That fish bit at about 2pm and would be my last cull. I hadn't looked at the leaderboard since 10am and had no idea what it looked like when I submitted my 86.50" bag. At the awards, everyone was talking about tough fishing but that doesn't ever mean that someone didn't still smack them. I was afraid that little 14.5" fish was going to be the reason I got beat. As it turned out, I didn't need the last 18" fish and would have been fine with the 14.5" and the last 13.75" fish that the 18" fish culled out. 

It was a tough day, the limits drop really fast after that top 5 into the 60's, then a couple 50's, with some 0's at the bottom. Made me feel good to finally put everything together and walk away with a win and one of the awesome plaques that the winner gets.

 

 

 

Out of likes, but I really enjoyed reading your report!

 

Great job buddy, and congrats on the win!   

Just now, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Out of likes, but I really enjoyed reading your report!

 

Great job buddy, and congrats on the win!   

Yeah there is always that calculation that goes on right before you get the fish close to boat....."do I grab the net now and try for it".

 

Luckily once I have the net in the hand, the vast majority of the time their getting caught.

Alex, I HATE that moment when the bass is beside my canoe and I can choose to play it with two hands or lose one hand to reach for the net. 

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Had my final Kansas Kayak Anglers tournament of the year this Saturday.

 

 

Thoroughly enjoyed the pics & the narrative ~

Nicely Done and Congrats !

A-Jay

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

BTW,

If I get to see 'em, they count.

 

If that's the measure of catching a fish, I'd never get skunked.

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Had my final Kansas Kayak Anglers tournament of the year this Saturday. I prefished Friday and it went as good as it could have possibly gone. I was torn between 2 parts of the lake, a creek and then one arm of the lake. I started in the creek, it was horrible. I caught 4 dinks and a 17 incher and the mosquitoes were about to carry me away, so I moved to my other area. With the feeling that I was going to end up fishing that area, I removed my hooks and put on screwlocks to attached my soft plastics. I ended up getting around 30 bites in 4-5 hours on a lake I'd usually be pumped about getting 10 bites in a day this time of year. I did stick a couple fish on a Ned and bladed jig just because there was no way to remove the hook, one would have been a heartbreaker on tournament day.

Tournament morning, I launched under a bright, Harvest Moon and sat in the cool air at a picnic table by myself for about an hour. I've been close many times this year to winning and I felt like I finally had the area to win, my heart was racing the whole time and time just drug by. I was sure I would be fishing with several people around me, but to my surprise, I was the only kayak in the cove I started in. My alarm went off, I took a deep breath and started casting one of my Code Blue bladed jigs. 3 cast into the morning, I got slack knocked into my line on the shallow flat I started on and the fish went nuts thrashing around and charged the kayak. I hurried the net out and she tailwalked right in. I was off and running with a thick 18.25" fish.

Really thought I was going to smash them at this point. 2 hours later, I had caught a 9, 10, 11, and 13 inch fish to finish up my limit and the bites were not happening like they were the day before. I watched an old man catch a 20+ inch fish when he was burning in a popper. It was an awesome bite and his excitement was great, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt my feelings a little bit. I ran back through the cove a second time and culled up a little bit with a 13.5" fish, but I decided to work on out of my starting spot. I got to a point and pitched to a tree and there was a fish on it immediately. Not a big fish by any means, but that little 14.5" fish felt huge compared to what I had been catching.

I had some fish start busting by my kayak and culled another little 13.5" fish swimming a white Ned. Down the bank a little further, I wasn't feeling great, it was getting to be midmorning and I was struggling way more than I thought. I cast my little power worm to a stump and mumbled to myself about how I never catch anything good off this stump. I fished it out a little deeper than I had been and got a light bite. It was on the surface real quick after the hookset and in the net just about as fast. My second solid fish of the day was right at 18".

I fished all through the rest of that creek arm and was only catching a small fish here and there, except I did find that heartbreaker again.

I tried a bigger worm that I'd got a lot of bites on the day before but they just weren't eating it. I'd noticed a lot of bluegills huddled tight to the trees and thought maybe they were eating those gills instead of the huge schools of tiny shad I'd been seeing. I switched my little power worm to a Rage Menace in watermelon/red with the tail dipped in chartreuse JJ's. I was really struggling at this point. It was 1pm, lines out was 2:30 and I still had 3 fish under 15" in my bag. I think it was my second cast just kind of in between some trees on a rocky point that my line started moving off on the initial fall. The fish wrapped me around a tree, which is about a kiss of death in a lake with zebra mussels, but my 15lb Tatsu held and worked it back around the tree. I peddled backwards trying to get a better angle and ended up on top of a submerged stump, trying not to roll my kayak while I was netting the fish. She cooperated and jumped right in the net for me. Another solid keeper that went 17.75" had me feeling like I'd made a good change.

Just a little ways around the back of that cove was a hedge tree that I'd missed 2 bites in that day. I pulled up to it and cast that Menace into it. A fish bit right away and pulled me towards the tree but again I managed to wrestle it away. The fish that had beat me the 2 previous times that day turned out to be another 18 incher.

That fish bit at about 2pm and would be my last cull. I hadn't looked at the leaderboard since 10am and had no idea what it looked like when I submitted my 86.50" bag. At the awards, everyone was talking about tough fishing but that doesn't ever mean that someone didn't still smack them. I was afraid that little 14.5" fish was going to be the reason I got beat. As it turned out, I didn't need the last 18" fish and would have been fine with the 14.5" and the last 13.75" fish that the 18" fish culled out. 

It was a tough day, the limits drop really fast after that top 5 into the 60's, then a couple 50's, with some 0's at the bottom. Made me feel good to finally put everything together and walk away with a win and one of the awesome plaques that the winner gets.

 

Congratulations BB.. another great tournament ?????

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

A bass hooked my finger a couple weeks ago. This morning, a pond gut hooked me. It was a new pond and because I have some great ponds in my fishing rotation, a pond has to be pretty special to make the cut. Well, I caught 27 fish this morning, 23 bass and 4 pickerel, with quite a few in the 15"-17" range. And I had about ten blow-ups on my frog and didn't hook a one. I think the heavy action rod I ordered will help. I also lost lots of fish with my fluke, but what gut hooked me was something that has never happened in my life before this morning and likely never will again: In three casts, I hooked three four-pound fish. Two jumped right beside my canoe and threw the lure and the third one was inches from my net when it came unbuttoned. 

 

I know what you're thinking: "Old Crickety is exaggerating. She doesn't know what a four-pound bass looks like. They were probably pound and a halfers."

 

But they were four-pounders! No lie. I was inches from all three and I had every advantage: deep water, no reeds or pads, no trees, etc. 

 

So, I'll be going back to that pond. I'm totally sleep deprived and I think that's why I missed so many fish. I even missed a dozen or so fish on my Whopper Plopper and that thing bristles with hooks. 

You measure them all, we know you ain’t fudging the stats

Been out most every day this past week, and catching about half a dozen each trip. Weather and water are starting to change to a bit more "fallish"-like, and we've missed the majority of the heavy rain that has hit the area, so the bite is a bit in flux. Alternating between the drop shot and the finesse jig most trips. Did get drizzled on today, but got to swing on several without getting soaked.

 

Temps have been dropping a little and we just got some rain the past 48 hours so I thought the fish would be chomping. Last weekend had similar and the fish were eating. Tonight, I was wrong. Maybe I picked the wrong lake. Maybe I should have sat in my tree stand. The guy pulling out at the ramp said it was tough and he managed two dinks on a drop shot between 10 and 4. The rain this evening came later than called for so it was sunny and still. My usual answer is a swim jig dropped through the grass so why not here too?  I managed a 16” bass and a 20” pickerel in the first half hour. A couple casts later a pitch into the pads was rewarded with the telltale tink on the rod and the line darting for the deep. Of course when I set the hook all I had was a bit off jig and cut line (probably a pickerel). That was my last GP swim jig and for whatever reason they didn’t want a bluegill skirt. So I swapped to a GP purple dredge jig from @Siebert Outdoors which has been doing well lately and started picking them back up. Not the gangbusters night I hoped for (and absolutely nothing looking up for topwaters) but I’ve come to love the telltale tick of a bass sucking in a jig and the inevitable hook right in the top of the mouth. 
 

 

Fished for about 2.5 hours this afternoon from 430-7pm.   Beautiful day, very little cloud cover and the first day where you could feel that Fall chill in the wind.       Water temps were averaging at 81.

 

Missed too many fish, but ended up catching 7, including a Crappie which really made my day.   I've been meaning to learn how to Crappie fish as this lake is loaded with them.   I see them all the time, but I fish big Bass baits mainly, so I don't get them as a byproduct.     

 

6 fish came off T-Rigged Roboworms on 2/0 and 3/0 EWGs with 1/8th tungsten, 6" fat in SXE Shad, and 7" straight tail in Black Grape.  The Crappie was caught on a 3/0 and 7" worm......crazy, and a testament to how irresistible roboworms are to fish in general!   Last fish came off a 8" Zoom Magnum Lizard in Black Grape.

 

Biggest of the day was in the 3-4lb range, all the rest were chunky super healthy looking little 1-2lb LGM.    One fish even still had the "antennas" of a Crawfish sticking out of the back of it's gullet.  You can really tell these fish are getting fatter, and fighting harder.  The biggest of the day pulled lots of drag, thought it was gonna be much bigger.   All the smaller ones had nice little bellies, love to see it.    My biggest takeaway from the session is how quickly these fish are transitioning into cold weather months mode.    Their ability to fight, and their belly size has significantly grown in just a period of about 2 weeks and 5-7 degrees of cooler average water temps.    First year I've really been trying to plot and pay attention to avg. lake temps.   

 

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 

 

 

Awesome job and that's a very cool plaque to hang on the wall!

Alex, I can see those "nice bellies" and it's cool that the weight gain is giving them more power and pep. I also like how specific you are on how you caught them. Your photos' quality is also high. Well done!

Had a few minutes before work this morning, so I stopped and tossed the tiny Spro 40 popping frog around. One of my first cast was just a small swirl but turned out to be a pretty decent 17ish inch fish. Been having a ton of fun fishing that tiny frog.

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Alex, I can see those "nice bellies" and it's cool that the weight gain is giving them more power and pep. I also like how specific you are on how you caught them. Your photos' quality is also high. Well done!

Thanks Katie, means a lot coming from such a fisherman such as yourself!

 

I wonder if the added weight or the slightly colder water is giving them more fight.

 

All I know is that the fish I catch in mid July even at night take forever to recovery if they are over about 5lbs.    Seems to be the hotter water temps really sap their ability to fight, and the recover quickly.  

Alex, we're fishing in different climates. Your bass were baked by the summer. I live on the coast of the North Atlantic, so my bass never overheated and were feisty all summer. So, yeah, I think it's the temp. 

 

P. S. - Again, your photos are great. Mine are embarrassing. 

 

P. P. S. - I'm off to fish the pond where the bass bested me and I had a full night of sleep, so it's womano-o-abasso! 

21 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

P. P. S. - I'm off to fish the pond where the bass bested me and I had a full night of sleep, so it's womano-o-abasso! 

Same here Katie! There’s a bass there who kept one of my Ned-rig hooks and I’d like it back. He was a slippery rascal! ?

Pretty good past two weeks, had a blast fishing my lake this labor day and got on some nice fish offshore, including a gorgeous smallmouth which is rare for my lake, (there's not a lot of them) also my lakes are finally beginning the fall turnover process and the fish are becoming a tad bit more mobile, we should be on a good fall bite here in New Jersey in the next few weeks. It's still very warm up here and the fish are probably still in some type of summer pattern (for now, until the coldfronts start.)  

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Alex, we're fishing in different climates. Your bass were baked by the summer. I live on the coast of the North Atlantic, so my bass never overheated and were feisty all summer. So, yeah, I think it's the temp. 

 

P. S. - Again, your photos are great. Mine are embarrassing. 

 

P. P. S. - I'm off to fish the pond where the bass bested me and I had a full night of sleep, so it's womano-o-abasso! 

Good luck pal, and I think you're 100% correct about the heat sapping the Southern Bass over the long hot summers.   I love your pics, and mine aren't good....I'm just a technophobe who still uses a point and shoot camera lol.  I'm a boomer stuck in a late millennials body 

 

Our country is so big and beautiful that I'm ashamed of all the places in it I've yet to see.   I love how these amazing fish connect us all though!   

I have had four trips out kayak fishing in the past few weeks. The first two were skunks, the last trip I only caught a 11.5"er and somehow broke the baseplate on my upgraded rudder handle. I got fingers crossed my DIY baseplate holds up so I went today and managed to catch a few that were score able for the Catch22 tourney ,but nothing big. Both were caught on a white Booyah single Colorado blade spinnerbait.