On 9/12/2022 at 9:54 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

 

 

Way to go Blue! Very nice!

FM

This year I decided to finally throw hardbaits, found this neat jerk bait at my local tackle shop and my confidence has definitely been boosted. I’ve been fishing it for about 2 months I can only post one pic but it’s just seems to attract nicer bites most fish have been around this same size and thicc

2 hours ago, crispychurro17 said:

This year I decided to finally throw hardbaits, found this neat jerk bait at my local tackle shop and my confidence has definitely been boosted. I’ve been fishing it for about 2 months I can only post one pic but it’s just seems to attract nicer bites most fish have been around this same size and thicc

Nice one crispy 

A busy evening of fishing. I caught 42 bass and a single chain pickerel. I was proud to land 7 bass with my frog. I am embarrassed to have missed about 30 bass with my frog. I have never fished a lure that provokes as many strikes as a frog. I am sooo looking forward to my new bait casting rod arriving. It's seven feet four inches with a long handle that I can leverage against my life jacket. I just don't have the hand and arm strength to stick bass with those frog hooks. I'm also going to 50 lb. braid.  

 

Despite my many lost fish while frog fishing, I feel I'm making small improvements. I actually had about 10 of those lost bass hooked for a few seconds. I didn't catch any big fish, i.e. 18 inches and above, but I enjoyed the bass erupting on my frog and it was fun to keep busy with the bass I did manage to land. Here are a few of the fish. Look how skinny that fifth fish is!

 

Alex, you are so right about bass connect us even though some of us are fishing in the deep South and some in Yankee Land and some in cities and some are fishing farm ponds. 

 

Mr. 215, did you get a chance to best that Ned stealer?

4lb14oz caught today on a trick worm and shaky head .

6 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

A busy evening of fishing. I caught 42 bass and a single chain pickerel. I was proud to land 7 bass with my frog. I am embarrassed to have missed about 30 bass with my frog. I have never fished a lure that provokes as many strikes as a frog. I am sooo looking forward to my new bait casting rod arriving. It's seven feet four inches with a long handle that I can leverage against my life jacket. I just don't have the hand and arm strength to stick bass with those frog hooks. I'm also going to 50 lb. braid.  

 

Despite my many lost fish while frog fishing, I feel I'm making small improvements. I actually had about 10 of those lost bass hooked for a few seconds. I didn't catch any big fish, i.e. 18 inches and above, but I enjoyed the bass erupting on my frog and it was fun to keep busy with the bass I did manage to land. Here are a few of the fish. Look how skinny that fifth fish is!

 

Alex, you are so right about bass connect us even though some of us are fishing in the deep South and some in Yankee Land and some in cities and some are fishing farm ponds. 

 

Mr. 215, did you get a chance to best that Ned stealer?

You break a number of sterotypes.....you outfish men, you seemingly have the energy of a teenager, and you're making Maine a Bass state ?

 

It's awesome how you get both numbers, and quality fish.  

 

Keep up the great reports and catches!    

 

 

5 minutes ago, scaleface said:

4lb14oz caught today on a trick worm and shaky head .

Really nice fish brother!   Healthy looking too.     You rig that whacky worm in the middle with a shaky head or you talking about just making it weedless the standard way with the shakey head?

 

Jackle makes a shakey/jig head with built it weed guard so you can hook those whacky worms in the middle that I got a pack of.   Need to try them out.   

5 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

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.)  

Awesome stuff!   That last fish is a real beauty!  

6 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

just making it weedless the standard way

I ran the hook all the way through Texas style with the barb exposed .  

You are always so kind and encouraging, Alex. I wish I were as good as my numbers, but I'm fishing overlooked water. There are lakes where I live with boat ramps and there are always cars with trailers in their parking lots. I would never fish those because they hold educated bass. I'm fishing ponds with prop-snaring weeds that only permit paddling. See the weeds in the bottom of my canoe? Those are just the ones I haven't chucked back into the water. I pull weeds off my lures every other cast and land many bass enrobed in weeds. It's a challenging form of fishing, but I've come to love it. It rewards a stealthy approach and accurate casting. I'm sometimes casting in a foot of water. Most boats could only dream of fishing that shallow. 

 

As far as my energy, I sure felt like an old woman tonight when I climbed the rocky slope to my car in the dark. It was a little scary too, since I was in a gorge and it was misting. The scene reminded me of a horror movie, but I tried to concentrate on the work at hand and mostly succeeded. 

 

I did catch a couple 17-inchers that I didn't photograph because I landed them in the near dark. No fishing for the next three days though. It'll be too windy for a canoe. So, I'll make do with the photos of fish that others are catching! I do love looking at the photos. Bass come in so many different shapes and colors.

It's still Dink Days around these parts, but it's been at least 5 days since I didn't catch a bass. I'm having fun. I like this picture for the drop of water coming off the tail ?

Fished another 2.5 hrs until dusk, another just beautiful day, but not a cloud in sight.  Lucky for me the wind went from 8mph to 0 when I decided to start fishing.    An hour of that was wasted chasing around Crappie trying to figure out how to catch foolishly without knowing a single thing about Crappie fishing.    Some days you just get out there and it's so nice you just enjoy being there.  

 

Animals/Birds seen today:  1.  Barred Owl   2. twelve Deer including several fawns  3. Mallards and Wood Ducks 4. numerous Blue Heron 5.  Red Tailed Hawk  6.  A flying V formation of Canadian Geese 

 

Sometimes it's easy to take for granted how much we fisherman are blessed in regard to experiencing nature in the most serene and quiet settings.    

 

4 fish total:  3 Spots/1 LGM.    Biggest was actually a Spot for a change, right at 2lbs.   Everything else was smaller.     Not sure why the last Spot is bleeding, he was hooked in the lip.   Swam off mad as heck, all I could do.  

 

All 4 came off a 6" fat Roboworm in New Ayu on a 1/8 tungsten with 2/0 EWG T-Rigged.    Lost a fish on a chatterbait which happens at least once every time I throw it lol.

 

Water temps actually rose a little....avg. was right around 82.   Still a long way to go before we get into that Fall mode even though outside temps are falling nicely around central AL.  

 

 

We caught all kinds of little fish last night

17 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Mr. 215, did you get a chance to best that Ned stealer?

 

 

 

 

 

Nope. He’s on the lam I believe. I have asked the resident goose to keep an eye out for him. ? By the way, I’m Scott. 

Scott, it works the same way up north. I'll hook and lose a big bass and I go back to that spot and pound the water and nothing. Nada. Nichts. Zip. My thinking is that big bass can claim prime ambush points, like muskies do, and nothing can move them from that spot, but I think they mosey all by themselves. 

On 9/12/2022 at 10:22 AM, ol'crickety said:

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."

 Nope. I'm thinking, That Katie is a Hammer!!! You catch lots of quality fish, and it ain't just because of the waters you fish. I guarantee you can catch 'em on those more pressured waters as well should you decide to fish them. Don't sell yourself short.

 Looking forward to the pics of all those frog fish once you get a proper froggin setup. Don't know what brand you're using, but all frogs aren't created equal. Some are softer and have a better hook angle than others. Tactical Bassin has a good YT video on it. I believe he said the SPRO was one of the softer bodied ones. 

On 9/13/2022 at 2:20 PM, sdw215 said:

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! ?

 

Ouch - I know the feeling. I lost a likely pb smallmouth on Gun Lake last summer, shaking a Ned Rig over a deep saddle.  When I finally got her up kayakside, did a taildance and slipped away like it was nothing.....and then I saw my Ned no longer had a hook. Broke right off.

 

On 9/12/2022 at 10:54 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

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.

 

 

Beautiful plaque, and congrats!  Again!  They're totally going to ban you from the circuit, aren't they...

 

22 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

A busy evening of fishing. I caught 42 bass and a single chain pickerel.

 

 

You are on a roll! keep 'em coming!

14 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

 Nope. I'm thinking, That Katie is a Hammer!!! You catch lots of quality fish, and it ain't just because of the waters you fish. I guarantee you can catch 'em on those more pressured waters as well should you decide to fish them. Don't sell yourself short.

 Looking forward to the pics of all those frog fish once you get a proper froggin setup. Don't know what brand you're using, but all frogs aren't created equal. Some are softer and have a better hook angle than others. Tactical Bassin has a good YT video on it. I believe he said the SPRO was one of the softer bodied ones. 

Tim, coincidentally, I ordered three SPRO frogs today. My 50 lb.braided line arrived today and my 7'4" heavy action rod was shipped today. So, we'll see! I generally don't think men have a fishing advantage over women, but when it comes to froggin', men do due to upper body strength. Froggin' is like carrying my canoe: I can't muscle it, so my technique has to pert near perfect. 

 

I landed one 19.25" bass on my frog a couple weeks ago and I "hooked" it right beside the boat, but the hooks weren't even in the bass. She simply clamped down on my frog and didn't let go and the cover was so thick that it couldn't dive, dive, dive and I got the net under her before she reopened her mouth. Last night, I was working on my hand placement to help hook them and I'll continue to tweak my technique. I'm already pretty good at hitting the pockets and sneaking up on them, so I provoke the strikes. I just need to start closing the deal more often.

 

Then, if I ever figure out froggin', I'll have to learn Roboworming.

 

Thanks, Tim, for the kind words. 

On 9/12/2022 at 3:59 PM, Team9nine said:

Been out most every day this past week

I can see a new hole forming in the right knee of those jeans.

Lost another one this morning when it jumped off a Ned-rigged worm. Got some EWG type ordered so I can Texas-rig them with a better hook. ?

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I generally don't think men have a fishing advantage over women, but when it comes to froggin', men do due to upper body strength. Froggin' is like carrying my canoe: I can't muscle it, so my technique has to pert near perfect.

 

 

Technique beats muscle strength every time -- there is no good reason why anybody shouldn't be able to set the hook with a frog.  Kids can often do it just fine; just put your body into it. .

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

don't think men have a fishing advantage over women, but when it comes to froggin', men do due to upper body strength. Froggin' is like carrying my canoe: I can't muscle it, so my technique has to pert near perfect. 

 

The stouter rod and braid will help. Good technique is absolutely important. Make sure you're pointing your rod tip at 'em and reeling the slack out, then crack 'em as hard as you can.

Tim, I don't think I've been pointing the rod tip at them and reeling out the slack before cracking them, but I will now. The new rod arrives Friday!

You can only pressure the smaller waters so much before they get tired of seeing the same thing, even finesse stuff. Still been getting a few on my usual finesse jig and drops shot setups, but watched a lot of fish spook yesterday whenever I got the drop shot near them - or just completely ignore it and swim past. Managed a few, but that bite is definitely slowing down. So I got the idea last night to try going even more finesse-y, pulling out the micro jigs, and that seemed to be the ticket today. Sometimes it doesn't take a huge change to get the bite going again, but it does take some change, and rigging method, bait style and color haven't been getting it done. Really curious to go back to the small lake now where the wolf packs are cruising but largely ignoring my efforts (just 3 bites yesterday). Hopefully another report, yea or nay, in the next few days.

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Team9nine said:

You can only pressure the smaller waters so much before they get tired of seeing the same thing, even finesse stuff. Still been getting a few on my usual finesse jig and drops shot setups, but watched a lot of fish spook yesterday whenever I got the drop shot near them - or just completely ignore it and swim past. Managed a few, but that bite is definitely slowing down. So I got the idea last night to try going even more finesse-y, pulling out the micro jigs, and that seemed to be the ticket today. Sometimes it doesn't take a huge change to get the bite going again, but it does take some change, and rigging method, bait style and color haven't been getting it done. Really curious to go back to the small lake now where the wolf packs are cruising but largely ignoring my efforts (just 3 bites yesterday). Hopefully another report, yea or nay, in the next few days.

 

 

 

This reflects exactly what I've experienced the past couple of days. I think that calm conditions play a big part as well. Wind is supposed to increase the next few days so things should improve.

FINALLY broke 5# for the first time this year pitching cattails this morning. The Sweet Craw strikes again!!! Bite and fight were awesome. I had pitched about 8' back into a cattail patch. She hit it and took off through the reeds before I even got the reel engaged. Had her pinned up against a bunch of stalks for a minute and couldn't move her. Wasn't gonna be able to get to her with the boat, so I let some pressure off her, and luckily she swam around that bunch the right direction and I was able to winch her out. She's a chunk. Weighed 5-4.

It was a heck of a tug o' war. We managed to open up a 4/0 6th Sense OX flippin hook a little. 

 

3 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

FINALLY broke 5# for the first time this year

 

Very nice.  #Straightbraidbrigade