3 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

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. 

 

Fantastic job Tim!

 

What a beautiful fish, looks exceptionally healthy.  

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

 

Very nice.  #Straightbraidbrigade

? The only way to roll!!! Ain't no fluoro crap woulda pulled her outta there!!!

                                                         

 

Quote

 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.

 

Wow! That was a gutsy move. I'll have to remember that, but I don't know that I'll ever have the moxie to try that too. What a gorgeous fish!

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Wow! That was a gutsy move. I'll have to remember that, but I don't know that I'll ever have the moxie to try that too. What a gorgeous fish!

Sometimes it works, sometimes they come off. Success rate is roughly 50/50. If I can get to them with the boat, and they're hung up shallow enough to reach, I'll keep 'em pinned to the cover and go get 'em. It doesn't happen often since I started doing all my pitching with a H rod and straight braid. 

 You don't want to give them any slack line, you just want to let off enough pressure for them to be able to swim away from whatever they're hung on a bit. Don't let 'em go more than a couple feet at most or they'll wrap you on something else. 

Tim, I lost a big one in wild rice reeds about a week or ten days ago. She powered into the reeds and I just couldn't turn her. So, I told myself to stay cool, keep the pressure on, and go plumbing for her, which required me to back my canoe into the reeds with one hand with maintaining pressure with the other. I could feel her tugging for about 30 seconds while I went digging for her into the reeds, but by the time I got to my lure, she was gone. However, I'm glad you won your fight. Go, Tim!

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Tim, I lost a big one in wild rice reeds about a week or ten days ago. She powered into the reeds and I just couldn't turn her. So, I told myself to stay cool, keep the pressure on, and go plumbing for her, which required me to back my canoe into the reeds with one hand with maintaining pressure with the other. I could feel her tugging for about 30 seconds while I went digging for her into the reeds, but by the time I got to my lure, she was gone. However, I'm glad you won your fight. Go, Tim!

Thanks Katie. Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. It's a lot harder for you in a canoe than it is for me in a boat with a foot controlled trolling motor. Hope you get the next one. That new rod and braid will help. You'll be able to really winch on em now. 

She Just Hammered a walking bait ~ 

A-Jay

Our weather went from ridiculously hot for up here (105+) to absolutely glorious in the 70's. Been almost 6 weeks since I was last able to take my dad out, so he was bursting at the seams about getting back on the water. We had an incredible morning with 35-40 LM and SM on topwater before 800AM. There were a few dinks but most of them were in the 1.5-2 pound class with a few bigger ones around 3 pounds.

 

Good sign when the second cast of the day has a bass go "air jaws" on a rat.

 

Pretty nice of this bass to share a threadfin and let me know my topwater matched the hatch. 

 

By no means AJ quality SM but it was cool catching some of those little tanks.

 

Pops getting in on the action.

 

One of the last ones to cap off a great morning.

 

What a thrilling morning for you, Norcalbassin!

2 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

to absolutely glorious in the 70's

That’s my kind of weather too. Been like that since early August here.

My parents came over for a long weekend and took my father out on the lake. Unfortunately for him the only strike he has broke his line. He doesn't believe in retieing and he was hung up quite a few times on light mono. He still thinks it was a toothy fish....lol

 

Had a decent frog bite all day with my new SCUM frogs (my new love) and managed these two 4lbers with 3 or 4 2lb bass mixed.

 

3 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

Our weather went from ridiculously hot for up here (105+) to absolutely glorious in the 70's. Been almost 6 weeks since I was last able to take my dad out, so he was bursting at the seams about getting back on the water. We had an incredible morning with 35-40 LM and SM on topwater before 800AM. There were a few dinks but most of them were in the 1.5-2 pound class with a few bigger ones around 3 pounds.

 

Good sign when the second cast of the day has a bass go "air jaws" on a rat.

 

Pretty nice of this bass to share a threadfin and let me know my topwater matched the hatch. 

 

By no means AJ quality SM but it was cool catching some of those little tanks.

 

Pops getting in on the action.

 

One of the last ones to cap off a great morning.

 

Wow, what a time that must have been.    That's a ton of Bass to be catching for an entire day much less morning.   

 

What are the odds I caught a chunky little Spot that puked up a threadfin on my hand this afternoon as well ?

 

Unlike you though I only managed 4, and for the most part caught everything that hit my baits for a change.    Caught a nice 3lb+ fish on my new reel I got today, so everything after that was gravy on top.    Nice fish came on a 3/8th Breaking Bream Chatterbait with zoom twin tail trailer, 2 Spots and small LGM came on a T rig Roboworm.   

 

I wish I could have frozen time this afternoon and the weather always be like it, while still a bit hot it was truly a beautiful afternoon.  

Awesome fish Functional and A-Jay, some pigs to be sure

Some more small fish out of me, but hey I am not complaining. Use to be I could never catch fish at this park, also using a left handed baitcaster for the challenge made it even more fun. I love a challenge.

Wife and i went to the dam in north dakota today and she caught 5 walleye on Gulp Alive 3.25" minnows on a 1/8 oz ball head jig and bobber. I caught a tiny walleye ?.

We did catch alot of smallmouth, wife again using gulp minnows and me berkley flat worms on jig bobber also crank baits, and silver cotten cordell rattletrap. I also caught a nice white bass below the the dam on an old creek chub that i bought as a kid in 1970 and this is the first time i ever caught a fish with it.

 

And of course my day wouldnt be complete at the dam if i didnt catch one of these dinks grrrrr. I caught her on a cotten cordell silver sided rattletrap. She fought and kept pulling drag so i loosened it up a bit so she wouldnt break off. At one point she ran a good 10 yards after she seen me so i just let her play herself out. There was a friend of the nd yak angler fishing next to me, he had a muskie net and netted her. This muskie was thick and best of all i caught her on my new 7 ft, $15.00 clearance sale Berkley cherrywood rod.

On the way to the lake. Day 1 of a 2 day tourney. 530am, 75 degrees. High of 96 today. 
 

 

Water is 80 degrees. Forgot the tournament starts at 7 and not 630. Been sitting quite a while on my spot lol

Fishing the tops of these early. As It warns up moving out to the points and dragging c-rig. 

Thanks for the fish pics, guys! Some real beauties!

 

I love this line: "I wish I could have frozen time this afternoon...."

 

We should all be on the water with such awareness and gratitude. 

Caught 11 bass this morning.  A couple were nubbins (dinks) the rest were between 14 and 18 inches.   This one was 3 pounds 3 ounces.  I suspect it's a Largemouth/Spot hybrid.  No teeth on tongue, "normal" largemouth teeth, largemouth dorsal, but smaller scales on it's cheeks, and smallish mouth.   

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

Caught 11 bass this morning.  A couple were nubbins (dinks) the rest were between 14 and 18 inches.   This one was 3 pounds 3 ounces.  I suspect it's a Largemouth/Spot hybrid.  No teeth on tongue, "normal" largemouth teeth, largemouth dorsal, but smaller scales on it's cheeks, and smallish mouth.   

Looks like a LM to me. Mouths are sometimes disproportionate to body size with very healthy fish. That one looks well fed.

Rough day for me. Lost a Daiwa spinning rod/reel out of the boat first thing. Broke off on a big topwater bite. Trolling motor kept messing up. Backlashed so bad I had to put that rod up. Broke about 8” off the tip of my Champ Extreme. Wind was blowing about dang 30 mph. And my wife out fished me lol. I did manage to end the day in first for big bass. My wife is in 3rd overall. 2.5 pounds back. Anything can happen tomorrow. 
 

 

Micro jig still doing work. Figured that out when I got bit on the first cast - love when that happens. Managed 7 or 8 before calling it after just an hour to get home for dinner. Still waiting to get to the wolf pack pond with this little thing.

 

 

 

16 hours ago, throttleplate said:

This muskie was thick and best of all i caught her on my new 7 ft, $15.00 clearance sale Berkley cherrywood rod.

Nice muskie @throttleplate!

Fishing conditions changed in Maine. It's no longer summer. It was 45 degrees this morning after three days of the wind blowing in cold air, from 14-18 m.p.h. I feared the sudden cold might clamp some mouths and it did. I took five rods and caught bass with all five lures, but determined no pattern whatsoever. The one bonus is that when the bass did hit, they hit hard and I caught 19 of the 20 bass I hooked. The first one was 17.5 inches. There were some small ones like you see in the last photo. Then there were also some in the 16-inch class. I did catch one thick fish: 19.75 inches. She hit a pumpkin Senko with a chartreuse tip. There were two tiny taps and then nothing. I watched the line and thought I saw it moving. I didn't wait long because I don't like to gut hook bass with Senkos. When I set the hook, it was barely in her lip. I actually managed to photograph her with me. I'm holding her with my elbow behind my head to situate her right beside me for perspective. I always have a hard time discerning size when fish are thrust toward the camera and maybe I'm not the only one who prefers a fish positioned right beside the fisher. Note how thick her tail is. The state of Texas has a length to weight table and that says she weighs 4.5 pounds, but I think Maine bass are thicker than many bass in other places. What do you think? I think she might weight five pounds. 

28 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

What do you think? I think she might weight five pounds.

I'd say its a darn nice largie for Maine.  I haven't caught one that big this season yet.