26 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You're so kind Katie, but honestly you've forgotten more about Bass fishing than I've learn thus far.   I have a very unique situation where I can spend almost some part of every day on the same body of water.    I'm starting to know the lake better than my backyard lol.   

 

On days like today, the shad are pushing right up onto the banks in many places, and you can just observe waves of them, and then the Bass flying through the air with a few dozen silver flashes going airborne at the same time.    They come up to the surface whenever it warms like this I'm guessing.  

 

One of my biggest goals is to understand the Shad as much as the Bass.   

You don’t need to understand them, just keep dumping them in there. Putting them on a small hook can also be very fun 

34 minutes ago, Cbump said:

I got 3rd overall and also 3rd big bass. 
No joke, this was the big bass top 3:

 

1. 7.4

2. 7.35

3. 7.34 (me)

 

?

You Texans make me sick. ?

17 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Dang Scott you got to take care of those mitts......but I get it, addict gone addict ?

 

Seriously though, sounds like the bait were doing the same thing in your pond.   It got really hot this afternoon.  

Yeah, kinda wishing the doc used superglue instead of stitches. You know, hindsight being 20-20 and all. ? ? And today is another beautiful one with temps in the upper 60s to lower 70s. /sigh

Starting to find open water and was able to start putting numbers up for '23. Took a lot of grinding to get these two bites with a Z-Man Ticklrz ned but a week ago would have never imagined being out yet. Looks like there'll be a few more opportunities in the short term as well.

24 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Starting to find open water and was able to start putting numbers up for '23. Took a lot of grinding to get these two bites with a Z-Man Ticklrz ned but a week ago would have never imagined being out yet. Looks like there'll be a few more opportunities in the short term as well.

Good looking fish man! Congrats!

I managed to get 4 in the boat.  All between 14 and 16 inches long.   1st bass of 2023 was 16 inches long, 1.84 pounds.   (I decided to weigh in fractions instead of ounces this year)   Water was 47 degrees.  The coldest I've ever seen this lake.   I also got a picture of a confused Blue Herron.  The nest he's standing in is clearly marked "Osprey nest".  Can that bird not read??

Drove home from FLA and still had an hour of daylight left, went to the rock pit and lord have mercy I didn’t realize I might as well have walked into a massive day care center. There were hundreds of kids screaming at the top of their lungs, somehow I captured a bass and a Warmouth after trying to get on a spot without rock throwers for about 45 minutes. After dark somebody even went for a swim, I think there was ice on it last week. Hello 2023. 

 

Today was tough for my first trip of the year, but I got on the board.

 

On 12/31/2022 at 7:32 PM, Jar11591 said:

I credit the waters i fish. And this size has been the skunkbuster on a couple occasions if I’m being completely honest ?

Triple bread it and you've got a taco.?

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Today was tough for my first trip of the year, but I got on the board.

 

Holy buffalo throw a saddle on that thing 

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Holy buffalo throw a saddle on that thing 

It was a wild ride from the kayak. The bank fishermen barely let me take the picture before they were running off with it.

A couple more ponds thawed overnight, so stopped and threw at each for a bit today, landing a handful. Several came on a bait few of today’s anglers probably either own or throw. Always a kick catching them on a piece of angling history ?

 

 

Caught 10 today at my pond in a bit over an hour while waiting on a hay delivery. I've made it as a fisherman, just look at that crowd watching me from the bank.?

Water temp 46-47, fishing a tube . Also got a dink on first cast, I’ve had worse luck 

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

A couple more ponds thawed overnight, so stopped and threw at each for a bit today, landing a handful. Several came on a bait few of today’s anglers probably either own or throw. Always a kick catching them on a piece of angling history ?

 

 

And this mystery bait is?

7 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

And this mystery bait is?

SJ “Action Jig”

 

 

Enjoyed 60* temps yesterday with decent action. No bigs yet but lots of bites. Weather's supposed to cool down quite a bit but should be able to keep fishing for a while.

3 hours ago, The Bassman said:

Enjoyed 60* temps yesterday with decent action. No bigs yet but lots of bites. Weather's supposed to cool down quite a bit but should be able to keep fishing for a while.

Interesting. I expected a great bite with high, warm and stained water yesterday over here. Instead, I had to fish 3 ponds and work way too hard to avoid the skunk, finally getting one at the last stop after nearly 40 minutes of fruitless casting. I think I need some new water…

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Interesting. I expected a great bite with high, warm and stained water yesterday over here. Instead, I had to fish 3 ponds and work way too hard to avoid the skunk, finally getting one at the last stop after nearly 40 minutes of fruitless casting. I think I need some new water…

Most of my fish came on storm drains. The few that were caught on jerks were from a larger pond that tends to stay clear. What also makes a difference is that I was out for over three hours vs 40 min.   Sat. I fished as long for two bites. Temps above mid 40's make such slow fishing tolerable.

4 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Most of my fish came on storm drains. The few that were caught on jerks were from a larger pond that tends to stay clear. What also makes a difference is that I was out for over three hours vs 40 min.   Sat. I fished as long for two bites. Temps above mid 40's make such slow fishing tolerable.

Drain bite doesn’t work on any of my ponds. They almost never have good rushing water. I think some are old and silted up. Makes a big difference in the bite. My old neighborhood, you could catch 2 dozen from a good drain, then move to the next one and repeat. I miss those days - lol.

4 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Drain bite doesn’t work on any of my ponds. They almost never have good rushing water. I think some are old and silted up. Makes a big difference in the bite. My old neighborhood, you could catch 2 dozen from a good drain, then move to the next one and repeat. I miss those days - lol.

 

Gosh, that sounds fun! I've experienced the same flurry below waterfalls.

Caught about 10 fish on the Jerkbait the day before an epic 24hr rain/thunder storm (1/2).......went out on the water now for three straight days and the lake still looks like chocolate milk.    I'm amazed I caught a fish today.     Viz is measured in inches....3-4" maybe.    After and before pics tell the story, I can't even imagine what the fish are trying to do right now.   Never seen it like this, let alone take now 3+ days to recover.     This sucks, peak PB season 

 

Thread must be bumped though ?

 

 

The water color looks better in the 2nd pic.  Is part of the lake clearer or is that just how the picture looks?   I figure I'll be going up the creeks a ways tomorrow to find decent looking water.  We've had a BUNCH of rain.   

17 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Caught about 10 fish on the Jerkbait the day before an epic 24hr rain/thunder storm (1/2).......went out on the water now for three straight days and the lake still looks like chocolate milk.    I'm amazed I caught a fish today.     Viz is measured in inches....3-4" maybe.    After and before pics tell the story, I can't even imagine what the fish are trying to do right now.   Never seen it like this, let alone take now 3+ days to recover.     This sucks, peak PB season 

 

That is tough. Without a doubt my least favorite conditions to fish are chocolate milk clarity. Cold and muddy is even worse. Did you get the one through the mud on a jerkbait as well? 

If you're fishing chocolate milk, a chatterbait or noisy surface lure might work even better since they couldn't study the lure before hitting it. 

 

Full disclosure: I'm just guessing!!!