I'm with ya, Jar, pining for bass, but grateful for the guys who are still catching and not just catching any old bass, but one fat bass after another. If @AlabamaSpothunter suddenly decided to keep his fish like the old timey guys who'd keep a hundred bass, his little boat would sink. The headline?

 

Local Man Drowns due to TOO Successful Fishing

 

Alex, that thumb is:

 

A. Nasty

 

B. Whoa!

 

C. Impressive

 

D. All of the above.

 

Of course, the answer is D. I did that to my thumb a couple times and went through three gloves before I found one I liked. Now I use that glove all the time. 

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Alex, on the lousy hook. I've been ordering new hooks all spring. I lost too many fish last year and hope to do better in 2023. 

 

My prayer for 2023 is this: Dear Bass Resource Group Overall Director, aka Glenn, please let me catch as many big bass as Alex in 2023. I have watched the videos and read the articles and fed the Bait Monkey, month after snowy month. The Bait Monkey is now so fat he can barely cling to my back. All I ask is for some Alex-sized bass. Amen. 

 

 

For comparison who has the bigger gut? 

 

 

Too funny, Dwight!

3 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

For comparison who has the bigger gut? 

 

 

Hmm... It would seem that bluegill, shad, and crawfish are similar in calories to bacon, donuts, and beer. ?

16 hours ago, T-Billy said:

That's a sweet looking stretch of river. Good luck.

Skunk, got tossed around like gilligan. Went by stumps at Mach 3 slinging a spinnerbait 

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Skunk, got tossed around like gilligan. Went by stumps at Mach 3 slinging a spinnerbait 

10-4 been there. Give it a go later in the year once the water level comes down and clears up. Lots of good looking stuff there. Fast channel lined with stumps at the current seams, adjacent shallow slackwater flats with wood. Can't imagine that place not holding fish.

I was busy yesterday and this morning, but I made it out for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon.   I caught 4, all spots all between 14 and 16 inches.   Water temp was 49.  Last Saturday is was 49 in the morning, but warmer later.  I saw something that really surprised me considering water temp.  I saw 2 people water skiing.   

 

So, what are the fish in the sonar screen pictures?   I wanted them to be bass.  I thought perhaps Striped bass, or Crappie.  They weren't interested in anything I had.   A-rig, spinner bait, lipless crank, DT16, Money minnow, jigging spoon, shakey head, or a crappie jig.     They didn't follow, or respond in any way beyond moving out of the way.   Crappie will sometimes hit a money minnow, but they usually follow anything.   I would think I would have gotten a reaction strike if they were cats.   I spent an hour pestering them.  I went further up the river to catch the 4 I caught.  

Got out on a really nice day today, too nice for my liking. Took the boat so I wouldn't get run over because I was sure it would be a zoo and I wasn't wrong unfortunately. First bass of the morning was also my biggest of the year so far at just over 19" and 5 3/4 pounds on a 6th Sense 75x in Brown Eye color, only bite I got on a crankbait all day. Fishing until 2 pm and only caught 6 more, 5 on a Ned rig and 1 on a shakyhead.

 

37 minutes ago, Woody B said:

I was busy yesterday and this morning, but I made it out for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon.   I caught 4, all spots all between 14 and 16 inches.   Water temp was 49.  Last Saturday is was 49 in the morning, but warmer later.  I saw something that really surprised me considering water temp.  I saw 2 people water skiing.   

 

So, what are the fish in the sonar screen pictures?   I wanted them to be bass.  I thought perhaps Striped bass, or Crappie.  They weren't interested in anything I had.   A-rig, spinner bait, lipless crank, DT16, Money minnow, jigging spoon, shakey head, or a crappie jig.     They didn't follow, or respond in any way beyond moving out of the way.   Crappie will sometimes hit a money minnow, but they usually follow anything.   I would think I would have gotten a reaction strike if they were cats.   I spent an hour pestering them.  I went further up the river to catch the 4 I caught.  

I’d guess those are shad 

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’d guess those are shad 

On the bottom, below the ball of shad?

36 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Got out on a really nice day today, too nice for my liking. Took the boat so I wouldn't get run over because I was sure it would be a zoo and I wasn't wrong unfortunately. First bass of the morning was also my biggest of the year so far at just over 19" and 5 3/4 pounds on a 6th Sense 75x in Brown Eye color, only bite I got on a crankbait all day. Fishing until 2 pm and only caught 6 more, 5 on a Ned rig and 1 on a shakyhead.

 

Nice! 19” fish are about 2.75-3 lbs in my water haha. They smoke cigarettes and drink mtn dew instead of eating shad

14 minutes ago, Woody B said:

On the bottom, below the ball of shad?

It sure looks like it in the top picture, the bottom, one may be some white bass, but they usually bite. gizzard and threadfin alike will blanket the bottom sometimes and gizzard are big enough to look like stacks of crappie on electronics 

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

10-4 been there. Give it a go later in the year once the water level comes down and clears up. Lots of good looking stuff there. Fast channel lined with stumps at the current seams, adjacent shallow slackwater flats with wood. Can't imagine that place not holding fish.

Oh it definitely holds fish, just my first time up there. That’s actually part of a reservoir so it will come up 5-6 feet starting in mid April. I took that little boat because I thought it was too shallow for my 18 foot flat bottom, got passed by a massive Lund and saw other boats with walk thru windshields hahah. Doh ! Some kind of mountain wind tunnel thing, go around different bends to hide from wind and no change 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Skunk, got tossed around like gilligan. Went by stumps at Mach 3 slinging a spinnerbait 

 

You are funny, Mr. 46!

 

Love that fat bass, Mr. 86.

13 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Had to post this one up as it was ridiculously fat but only weighed in as a low 5lber. She still had the remnants of something in her throat when I unhooked her.  

 

 

Man what a beautiful fish Dwight!   You're on some big girls right now!  

16 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

@AlabamaSpothunter still crushing it. I’m waiting for the day I check this thread to see that you got a whole 5 fish limit on one cast of the A-rig. 
 

You and @TnRiver46 are keeping this thread going. I can’t wait to be able to contribute again. The cabin fever has been BAD the last 2 weeks. I could potentially be wetting a line in less than 8 weeks, but it all depends on how much of a lion March is. So until then I’ll keep living through you guys!

Thanks Jar!  I can't wait until you guys AND GAL make that first report in this thread ?

13 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I'm with ya, Jar, pining for bass, but grateful for the guys who are still catching and not just catching any old bass, but one fat bass after another. If @AlabamaSpothunter suddenly decided to keep his fish like the old timey guys who'd keep a hundred bass, his little boat would sink. The headline?

 

Local Man Drowns due to TOO Successful Fishing

 

Alex, that thumb is:

 

A. Nasty

 

B. Whoa!

 

C. Impressive

 

D. All of the above.

 

Of course, the answer is D. I did that to my thumb a couple times and went through three gloves before I found one I liked. Now I use that glove all the time. 

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Alex, on the lousy hook. I've been ordering new hooks all spring. I lost too many fish last year and hope to do better in 2023. 

 

My prayer for 2023 is this: Dear Bass Resource Group Overall Director, aka Glenn, please let me catch as many big bass as Alex in 2023. I have watched the videos and read the articles and fed the Bait Monkey, month after snowy month. The Bait Monkey is now so fat he can barely cling to my back. All I ask is for some Alex-sized bass. Amen. 

 

 

God love you Katie, he surely must laugh as much as me while reading your incredibly well written and always funny replies ?

 

I can't even imagine how giddy you guys are gearing up.....getting much closer now

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Got out on a really nice day today, too nice for my liking. Took the boat so I wouldn't get run over because I was sure it would be a zoo and I wasn't wrong unfortunately. First bass of the morning was also my biggest of the year so far at just over 19" and 5 3/4 pounds on a 6th Sense 75x in Brown Eye color, only bite I got on a crankbait all day. Fishing until 2 pm and only caught 6 more, 5 on a Ned rig and 1 on a shakyhead.

 

HAHAHA....look at that 4th pic, all of them are uber fat.   Fantastic fish!

Alabama Spot Hunter, might need to buy a bigger boat and start guiding buddy!  You're a hammer!  You might have also just sold me a Damiki Blade ?

 

So awesome to see those big offshore fish hats off!  One of these days I'll learn how to make one note.

 

Got out on the Jon boat for a little while yesterday and got skunked.

 

All I could find was shad carpets at 17 ft off the main lake points.  Couldn't seem to find an active bass.  Surface temps were 42° which usually makes the shallow bite really tough here.

 

Oh well!  Here's hoping the string of 55° days we got going this week gets those ST moving back towards 50° again.

 

That was a lot of fun there for a little while!  ?

13 hours ago, Woody B said:

So, what are the fish in the sonar screen pictures?   I wanted them to be bass.  I thought perhaps Striped bass, or Crappie.  They weren't interested in anything I had. 

 

I speak Furuno and Garmin more fluently than Lowrance, but those sure look like striped bass to me.

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

Alabama Spot Hunter, might need to buy a bigger boat and start guiding buddy!  You're a hammer!  You might have also just sold me a Damiki Blade ?

 

So awesome to see those big offshore fish hats off!  One of these days I'll learn how to make one note.

 

Got out on the Jon boat for a little while yesterday and got skunked.

 

All I could find was shad carpets at 17 ft off the main lake points.  Couldn't seem to find an active bass.  Surface temps were 42° which usually makes the shallow bite really tough here.

 

Oh well!  Here's hoping the string of 55° days we got going this week gets those ST moving back towards 50° again.

 

That was a lot of fun there for a little while!  ?

Thanks for such kind words Pat!   Don't give up on those offshore fish brother, you'll have that breakthrough soon enough offshore if you keep studying them on sonar.    With your water temps and being a bit north of me, you might just be a few weeks behind me.   

 

The fun always returns, that's why we're junkies ??

9 hours ago, Deleted account said:

 

I speak Furuno and Garmin more fluently than Lowrance, but those sure look like striped bass to me.

My Son in law is an avid striped bass fisherman.  He has the same Lowrance unit I have.  He said it was Stripers.  I can't believe at least 1 didn't want.....my tackle box.  He uses some type of live bait fishing for them,  but I've accidently caught a few bass fishing before including a 21 pounder on a spinner bait.   He said people use A-rigs for them all the time.  

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

My Son in law is an avid striped bass fisherman.  He has the same Lowrance unit I have.  He said it was Stripers.  I can't believe at least 1 didn't want.....my tackle box.  He uses some type of live bait fishing for them,  but I've accidently caught a few bass fishing before including a 21 pounder on a spinner bait.   He said people use A-rigs for them all the time.  

When they stack like cordwood like that on the bottom, specially with bait above them like on that shot, they aren't looking to eat. You'll temp one on live bait, or what amounts to a large dropshot with some gulp or other attractant held motionless, but it will be few and far in between. They will turn on at some point though based on current or light level, you'll see the upper ones start to head towards the mid column and spread out some, then it's on, and then like a light switch, it will be off.

My buddy Ramon left NY and this behind on Saturday morning.

Just sent me this pic from the Stick Marsh. I'm officially jealous! Matt Lures Strong Shad.

 

 

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

My buddy Ramon left NY and this behind on Saturday morning.

Just sent me this pic from the Stick Marsh. I'm officially jealous! Matt Lures Strong Shad.

 

 

I got one of Matt's first baits a soft big bluegill swimbait, wish I had one of his hard baits.  You and your buddy love to fish these big hard swimbaits, I can't wait to get back to them.   They are perhaps the most exciting way to catch them.    They also remove my overzealous concern of small fish's welfare being caught on the heavy gear and lures I'm trying to catch a white whale on.    Dang small fish still hit the A-Rig, but nothing small will hit the big hard swimbaits, and if they do they certainly aren't getting hooked badly.   

4 hours ago, PhishLI said:

My buddy Ramon left NY and this behind on Saturday morning.

Just sent me this pic from the Stick Marsh. I'm officially jealous! Matt Lures Strong Shad.

 

 

Congrats Ramon, that looks a lot bigger than 6 

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Congrats Ramon, that looks a lot bigger than 6 

 

i also thought it was bigger than six, but he is long arming it.

14 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You and your buddy love to fish these big hard swimbaits, I can't wait to get back to them.   They are perhaps the most exciting way to catch them. 

There's definitely something about it, and that's probably because when contrasted against typical sized baits, there's always a bit of doubt they'd actually eat something much larger than usual while knowing all along that they will. Whatever the novelty really is for each person who's throwing them, it doesn't seem to get old.

 

A few weeks ago, we had a brief warm front roll in. I was still laid up, but he made it out on the yak. It was mostly brutal other than Yellow Perch and Pickeral, but he managed to bag this 3.8lb on a 9" KGB Crappie. A perfect example of "Holie sheet, he actually ate that?!!!"

We had a beautiful 65 degree day so I hit the river bank on my lunch break. I was rewarded with a 3 lb 2 oz smallie. My best lunchbreak of 2023 so far. ?