Just now, gimruis said:

Definitely an egret.

Awesome, thanks!

 

There are a lot of fish eating birds once you start paying attention.

 

That two species of Egrets

Blue Herons

Kingfishers

Osprey 

 

I see lots of Hawks, but not sure if they are fishing or not.   

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

There are a lot of fish eating birds once you start paying attention.

 

That two species of Egrets

Blue Herons

Kingfishers

Osprey 

Seagulls and cormorants are very common fish eating birds in addition to those ones you already mentioned. We have loons here too, they are the state bird of MN.

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Seagulls and cormorants are very common fish eating birds in addition to those ones you already mentioned. We have loons here too, they are the state bird of MN.

Dang I forgot to list the Cormorant that TNriver46 ID'd for me months ago.    

I have actually thought I saw a Seagull but dismissed instantly because I'm used to only seeing them at the beach be it Orange Beach or Outer Banks.     Great to know, I'll be on the lookout for them now.    

 

We have plenty of loons in Alabama too, just not birds ?

11 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Seagulls and cormorants are very common fish eating birds in addition to those ones you already mentioned. We have loons here too, they are the state bird of MN.

Man I miss hearing loons☹️. Although in my youth we only went for a weeklong fishing trip to Minnesota every summer,  the songs those loons sang would stay with me for quite awhile after we left?

22 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Dang I forgot to list the Cormorant that TNriver46 ID'd for me months ago.    

I have actually thought I saw a Seagull but dismissed instantly because I'm used to only seeing them at the beach be it Orange Beach or Outer Banks.     Great to know, I'll be on the lookout for them now.    

 

We have plenty of loons in Alabama too, just not birds ?

You’ve probably got loons, we have tons in winter. Also we have massive flocks of ring billed gulls all winter, they were swarming me all day at the dam. The gulls also love wal mart and McDonalds parking lots 

 

I got a loon pic and some video the other day, they really cover some water when they disappear 

 

I see them crazy gulls in truck stop parking lots all the time. Watched one swallow a big bite hot dog from 7-11 whole ?

38 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

You’ve probably got loons, we have tons in winter. Also we have massive flocks of ring billed gulls all winter, they were swarming me all day at the dam. The gulls also love wal mart and McDonalds parking lots 

 

I got a loon pic and some video the other day, they really cover some water when they disappear 

 

I used to love watching the loons swim, I would try like all get up to follow them but man I never knew where they were going to pop up?

10 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm kinda scared that the A-Rig is nothing but a oversized Spinnerbait.....has me questioning my life ?

A member who I haven’t seen in a while @Bubba 460, liked a spinnerbait in the wintertime and said that it is a mini A-rig. He told us about a crazy day in the winter where he and a buddy caught multiple 8+ lbers on spinnerbaits. Hopefully my memory is right there. 

Man, I had a good morning!

 

Second outing of 2023 and the first time I’ve taken the boat out in probably two months or so. Forecast was a high of 75° and overcast. Got on the water about 7:30 and started with a Zara Spook. No takers. Switched to a chatterbait (which I’ve never caught a bass on) and on the second cast it got walloped. Nice bass just under 2 lbs. Tried a Zoom Trick TR with no bites and then a jerkbait. Caught a bass as big as the lure lol. Then I switched to a 5” black Senko WR. That’s when all hell broke loose. 
 

In under 2.5 hours I caught 8 bass all between 2.0-2.5 lbs. Mostly while working the bait back to the boat but one actually jumped over a sunken branch and hammered it as it dove on it. That was pretty awesome. Had a dink throw the hook and had another that I’d say was 2.5-3.0 lbs. throw the hook as well (that one hit the bait immediately and I had some slack to reel in so I’m guessing the hookset wasn’t all that great. 
 

All of those bass really fought. Hard. They must have been in real attack mode. It made for a great few hours!

 

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

Man, I had a good morning!

 

Second outing of 2023 and the first time I’ve taken the boat out in probably two months or so. Forecast was a high of 75° and overcast. Got on the water about 7:30 and started with a Zara Spook. No takers. Switched to a chatterbait (which I’ve never caught a bass on) and on the second cast it got walloped. Nice bass just under 2 lbs. Tried a Zoom Trick TR with no bites and then a jerkbait. Caught a bass as big as the lure lol. Then I switched to a 5” black Senko WR. That’s when all hell broke loose. 
 

In under 2.5 hours I caught 8 bass all between 2.0-2.5 lbs. Mostly while working the bait back to the boat but one actually jumped over a sunken branch and hammered it as it dove on it. That was pretty awesome. Had a dink throw the hook and had another that I’d say was 2.5-3.0 lbs. throw the hook as well (that one hit the bait immediately and I had some slack to reel in so I’m guessing the hookset wasn’t all that great. 
 

All of those bass really fought. Hard. They must have been in real attack mode. It made for a great few hours!

 

Those are some nice, healthy fish !

 

 

I avoided the skunk today in a new pond, but not by much…

I was skunked today, for the 73rd day in a row!

 

 

20 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I was skunked today, for the 73rd day in a row!

 

 

All I can hear is Smash Mouth lol. 

41 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Those are some nice, healthy fish !

 

 

I avoided the skunk today in a new pond, but not by much…

For a relatively small pond that sees its fair share of pressure (although from what I’ve seen, it’s more panfish vs. bass fishing), they are rather healthy. And beautifully colored, too! 
 

And avoiding the skunk is avoiding the skunk. Beats nothing! 

31 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

All I can hear is Smash Mouth lol. 

For a relatively small pond that sees its fair share of pressure (although from what I’ve seen, it’s more panfish vs. bass fishing), they are rather healthy. And beautifully colored, too! 
 

And avoiding the skunk is avoiding the skunk. Beats nothing! 

Avoiding the skunk, you say? Can you teach me this art?

 

I have skunked today. Nada. Zip. Zero. I don’t know man it’s like they just shut down 

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Avoiding the skunk, you say? Can you teach me this art?

 

I have skunked today. Nada. Zip. Zero. I don’t know man it’s like they just shut down 

 

Did you somehow get a white stripe painted down your back? I know that attracts skunks. Like this one:

 

12 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Avoiding the skunk, you say? Can you teach me this art?

 

I have skunked today. Nada. Zip. Zero. I don’t know man it’s like they just shut down 

Umm, no. One can try and avoid the skunk, but one is not always successful. Much to our everlasting dismay!

I swear I have bad outings every time the weather all of a sudden turns really nice in the winter. Its almost 70 here. It’s like the fish don’t know what to do with themselves when it warms up all of a sudden. One day I’ll crack the code

20 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You nailed it at least when it comes to me.....POSITIVE ATTITUDE is the most important thing to load on the boat before I fish.      It's a constant fight some days with yourself....."I suck", "you're just wasting your time" thoughts start to creep in, and once that happens it's like manifested destiny in terms of bad luck, and poor results.    

 

One thing that helps me to stay positive and focused on a tough day is, when/if I get bit, there's a good chance it'll be a good one. Seems to me, the average size is generally bigger on tough days.

Everything I checked yesterday was frozen. Today, one partly thawed and one completely thawed. Just 39 deg., breezy with rain and misty rain all day, but wanted to test out a float and fly setup I put together for winter…and what do you know, I scored a little one on my first attempt. About 45 minutes was all I was dressed to handle - lol. Partly sunny and breezy tomorrow, so hoping to have a little nicer conditions to keep experimenting with it.

 

3 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Man, I had a good morning!

 

Second outing of 2023 and the first time I’ve taken the boat out in probably two months or so. Forecast was a high of 75° and overcast. Got on the water about 7:30 and started with a Zara Spook. No takers. Switched to a chatterbait (which I’ve never caught a bass on) and on the second cast it got walloped. Nice bass just under 2 lbs. Tried a Zoom Trick TR with no bites and then a jerkbait. Caught a bass as big as the lure lol. Then I switched to a 5” black Senko WR. That’s when all hell broke loose. 
 

In under 2.5 hours I caught 8 bass all between 2.0-2.5 lbs. Mostly while working the bait back to the boat but one actually jumped over a sunken branch and hammered it as it dove on it. That was pretty awesome. Had a dink throw the hook and had another that I’d say was 2.5-3.0 lbs. throw the hook as well (that one hit the bait immediately and I had some slack to reel in so I’m guessing the hookset wasn’t all that great. 
 

All of those bass really fought. Hard. They must have been in real attack mode. It made for a great few hours!

 

Awesome fish, keep throwing that Chatterbait!

Speaking of birds.  I saw a goose fight yesterday.  I didn't get pictures.  It was still in the 20's.  My phone was buried under a bunch of layers of clothes.  There was a group of Geese, 10 or so on the bank.  Another group about the same size landing in the lake, near the bank.  The Geese on the bank started spreading their wings and squawking.   One of them went out into the water, it was flapping it's wings, squawking, and had it's neck/head stuck out almost horizontal.  One from the other group was doing the same thing.  They were swimming toward each other.  When they got pretty close the entire group that had just landed flew off.   The one from that group that was "flexing" flew off too.  I guess the ones on the bank won.   

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I was skunked today, for the 73rd day in a row!

 

 

Skunks only count if you get a bait in the water so you're still good. I would love to experience what Maine has to offer.

I got a couple on a Keitech today. Extra slow rolled just over the bottom. Both were very subtle bites. I also found a KVD 1.0 square bill that I lost a month ago on a lay down. I managed to snag it with my swim bait and reel it in.

15 hours ago, Jmontgomery87 said:

I also found a KVD 1.0 square bill that I lost a month ago on a lay down. I managed to snag it with my swim bait and reel it in.

Well done!

Lost our sunshine right as I got to the lake today. The 20 mph wind rotated to the NW as the clouds rolled in, and air temps dropped 7 degrees into the low 40s - it got cold out there quick. But, I was able to land one nice 16” fish on FnF, so I’m calling it a win. This spot was still partially frozen yesterday, so happy just to see totally open water again.

 

I love those 16" bass. I think of them as 16-year old boys, not much meat, but a lot of young muscle. 

3 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I love those 16" bass. I think of them as 16-year old boys, not much meat, but a lot of young muscle. 

And today on bassresource I listen to @ol'crickety describing 16 year old boys, especially their physique, comparing them to bass of a certain size, and likely daydreaming about sticking hooks through their faces.