1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Went for a casual mid-day outing today.

Fun was had.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Went for a casual mid-day outing today.

Fun was had.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

Dannngggg. Those are some hogs. I'm still trying to get my first smallmouth over 6. (6 as in 6", not pounds....)

Biggest of the young season so far. 4.7# on a black and blue Jackhammer.

 

3 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

Biggest of the young season so far. 4.7# on a black and blue Jackhammer.

 

Really healthy and beautiful fish, congrats!    

 

Jackhammers usually payoff if you got the patience to fish for quality over quantity.

I'm down in Orlando at the moment. My brother and I have fishing in the resort lake and some of the surrounding canals and ponds the past couple of days. Been catching a fair number of small to medium fish, but just can't seem to land any bigger ones. I've lost a couple that were probably 18-20". Lost of 12-16" fish. My brother got one 17.5", but we're blanking on the big ones. I'm open to any suggestions. I manage to catch my first tilapia today though. 18". I think that's a pretty big one but I really have no idea.

 

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Really healthy and beautiful fish, congrats!    

 

Jackhammers usually payoff if you got the patience to fish for quality over quantity.

Thanks buddy. Not quite on the level of some of these other beauties you guys and gals have been posting recently, but I'll take 4 pounders all day! 

16 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

Thanks buddy. Not quite on the level of some of these other beauties you guys and gals have been posting recently, but I'll take 4 pounders all day! 

Oh yeah. Anything over 3 is a good fish for me. It's impressive how well the jackhammer produces better quality fish.

Ready for tournament in the morning. 

10 minutes ago, Cbump said:

Ready for tournament in the morning. 

Good luck brother! Stay safe in those winds

Yes it’s going to be tough in the wind tomorrow for sure! Thank you. Hope to have some giants to post tomorrow. 

Had a small window open up in my day and had to take advantage of the great weather and active fish.

 

Didn't come across any big girls, but caught quite a few of these fellas.

 

Wacky senko was the ticket when it was flat calm.

 

Spinnerbait did the job when the wind picked up.

 

These teeth are wearing out my thumbs, but it's a nice problem to have. ?

 

My day yesterday was utterly unlike A-Jay's casual day of catching trophies. I fished a new bog. It was 450 acres. I fished it midday after two mornings of fishing in the thirties.

 

To launch my canoe, I had to enter negotiations with some boulders. They agreed to not break my neck, legs, and back if I agreed to slow the launching. I paddled miles and even though it was a bird refuge, I only saw a few eagles and ducks.

 

The wind kept changing directions like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. It came out of thisa way and then out of thatta way. It literally came from all four cardinal directions and the ordinal directions too.

 

Most of the bog was merely one to three feet deep. I spooked a lot of fish in the one-foot depth, but could. not. catch. them. 

 

I tried: 

 

1. a bluegill swimbait

 

2. a Rage Swimmer retrieved fast in the shallows and slower in the rare 5'-6' water

 

3. a Mepps spinner

 

4. a wacky-hooked Senko

 

5. a jerkbait

 

6. a Senko floater on a Shakey jighead

 

7. three colors of Senko floaters fished weightless, which looked great in the water and coasted over the weeds, but didn't elicit a strike

 

8. a Whopper Plopper

 

Yeah, I fished a Whopper Plopper out of desperation and it caught my only bass. So, mostly it was five hours of paddling in an ever-shifting wind, which is something I do as well as A-Jay casually catches trophies. On the plus side, it was a beautiful bog, with zero shoreline homes and islands and bays every which way, so many that I could lose my bearings, so I kept my head swiveling like the wind. I was also, like usual, the only one on the water. 

 

So, I appeal to the Bass Resource Brain Trust: I spooked scores of fish in the shallows. The bog has largemouth, pickerel, pumpkinseed, and yellow perch. Some of the swirls seemed to be made by catchable fish and I was fishing right where those fish were located, but could only provoke three strikes in five hours. How would you have fished that bog, with zombie weeds everywhere and some algae blooming?

 

There was a lot of wood, even far from shore, and I peppered that without luck. I considered going to a fluke, but my weightless Senko looked like a fluke in the water.

57 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

So, I appeal to the Bass Resource Brain Trust: I spooked scores of fish in the shallows.

This time of year, dirt shallow spots like this experience big temperature swings. Wind is the biggest factor, especially where overnights are in the 30s. It will suck out most of the warmth which might have accumulated during calmer, sunny days. It's been quite chilly at night in NY for the past week and a half, so pretty much the same for Maine, just colder.  During a rapid cold drop bass tend to be belly down in darker bottomed areas and are slow-moving. So is everything else. The first time I drove in the snow and ice by myself right after I got my license my father told me that whatever I think driving slowly is, cut it in half. This is a good place to start in your current situation at a place like this. Slow won't help if the fish are not there, spooky if they are, and not in the mood to eat, but it's the safe play if they are. This will all change once green weeds start popping up in this place. It's remarkable how much warmer those zones stay once they're up. When I wade just outside of them, I can instantly feel the difference in temperature, and it's not small. Once these green zones expand, so do the bite windows which might still be short, but furious. In a few weeks this bog will be a completely different place, and don't be surprised if it holds giants.

I want to post up my early season, at least the parts of it that y'all haven't seen.

 

Not a lot of fish, but good quality. I've spent just about as much time graphing as I have fishing. 

 

Pic 1 is a fish I caught in Missouri before I left. Pics 2-4 show my best of the season so far. 

 

Looks like I need to break up the photos a little because of lacking storage. Anyways, Pic 5 will be another one in Texas, Pics 6-8 will be another one. All the Texan fish were on the same day. 

@LrgmouthShad, you catch big bass and that ain't no lie! Plus, you're a paddler, i.e. my tribe. 

 

Thanks, @PhishLI. I replied in Messages.

38 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I want to post up my early season, at least the parts of it that y'all haven't seen.

 

Not a lot of fish, but good quality. I've spent just about as much time graphing as I have fishing. 

 

Pic 1 is a fish I caught in Missouri before I left. Pics 2-4 show my best of the season so far. 

 

Looks like I need to break up the photos a little because of lacking storage. Anyways, Pic 5 will be another one in Texas, Pics 6-8 will be another one. All the Texan fish were on the same day. 

Those are some studs! 

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

My day yesterday was utterly unlike A-Jay's casual day of catching trophies. I fished a new bog. It was 450 acres. I fished it midday after two mornings of fishing in the thirties.

 

To launch my canoe, I had to enter negotiations with some boulders. They agreed to not break my neck, legs, and back if I agreed to slow the launching. I paddled miles and even though it was a bird refuge, I only saw a few eagles and ducks.

 

The wind kept changing directions like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. It came out of thisa way and then out of thatta way. It literally came from all four cardinal directions and the ordinal directions too.

 

Most of the bog was merely one to three feet deep. I spooked a lot of fish in the one-foot depth, but could. not. catch. them. 

 

I tried: 

 

1. a bluegill swimbait

 

2. a Rage Swimmer retrieved fast in the shallows and slower in the rare 5'-6' water

 

3. a Mepps spinner

 

4. a wacky-hooked Senko

 

5. a jerkbait

 

6. a Senko floater on a Shakey jighead

 

7. three colors of Senko floaters fished weightless, which looked great in the water and coasted over the weeds, but didn't elicit a strike

 

8. a Whopper Plopper

 

Yeah, I fished a Whopper Plopper out of desperation and it caught my only bass. So, mostly it was five hours of paddling in an ever-shifting wind, which is something I do as well as A-Jay casually catches trophies. On the plus side, it was a beautiful bog, with zero shoreline homes and islands and bays every which way, so many that I could lose my bearings, so I kept my head swiveling like the wind. I was also, like usual, the only one on the water. 

 

So, I appeal to the Bass Resource Brain Trust: I spooked scores of fish in the shallows. The bog has largemouth, pickerel, pumpkinseed, and yellow perch. Some of the swirls seemed to be made by catchable fish and I was fishing right where those fish were located, but could only provoke three strikes in five hours. How would you have fished that bog, with zombie weeds everywhere and some algae blooming?

 

There was a lot of wood, even far from shore, and I peppered that without luck. I considered going to a fluke, but my weightless Senko looked like a fluke in the water.

How would I fish it?    I wouldn't because I don't have your grit, tenacity, and canoe abilities ?

 

You fish to the beat of your drum, highly unique fishing style for very unique Bass.  I'd love to offer some advice, but I'd get blanked fishing the way you do.   I can't manage 10-15mph changing winds in a jon boat, I'm not about to offer suggestions ?

 

If you didn't catch them, then they just weren't in the mood to chew most likely, those fish aren't pressured in the least and you are very sneaky and know how to hammer them.

 

Sorry it didn't work out well today, lot of work for one fish, but you didn't get skunked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

This time of year, dirt shallow spots like this experience big temperature swings. Wind is the biggest factor, especially where overnights are in the 30s. It will suck out most of the warmth which might have accumulated during calmer, sunny days. It's been quite chilly at night in NY for the past week and a half, so pretty much the same for Maine, just colder.  During a rapid cold drop bass tend to be belly down in darker bottomed areas and are slow-moving. So is everything else. The first time I drove in the snow and ice by myself right after I got my license my father told me that whatever I think driving slowly is, cut it in half. This is a good place to start in your current situation at a place like this. Slow won't help if the fish are not there, spooky if they are, and not in the mood to eat, but it's the safe play if they are. This will all change once green weeds start popping up in this place. It's remarkable how much warmer those zones stay once they're up. When I wade just outside of them, I can instantly feel the difference in temperature, and it's not small. Once these green zones expand, so do the bite windows which might still be short, but furious. In a few weeks this bog will be a completely different place, and don't be surprised if it holds giants.

This is a great point, when it's cold that shallow water gets hit the hardest, there isn't a zone where the fish can slide down to warmer water like in deeper water. 

 

During my winter, when we had a big warming trend, I'd run shallow and most times the fish would as well, like really shallow.....1-3ft in mid winter.   However, anytime outside of those warming trends, the fish were in or very close to deep water.   

You might be right, Alex. Maybe they just didn't want to eat yesterday. I didn't spook them. When I say that they swirled in front of my canoe, my canoe was a foot or two away before they knew I was there. One time, to test, I glided into a shallow area and thumped my paddle on the side of my canoe. There were swirls everywhere, so I was casting to fish that just wouldn't hit. 

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

My day yesterday was utterly unlike A-Jay's casual day of catching trophies. I fished a new bog. It was 450 acres. I fished it midday after two mornings of fishing in the thirties.

 

To launch my canoe, I had to enter negotiations with some boulders. They agreed to not break my neck, legs, and back if I agreed to slow the launching. I paddled miles and even though it was a bird refuge, I only saw a few eagles and ducks.

 

The wind kept changing directions like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. It came out of thisa way and then out of thatta way. It literally came from all four cardinal directions and the ordinal directions too.

 

Most of the bog was merely one to three feet deep. I spooked a lot of fish in the one-foot depth, but could. not. catch. them. 

 

I tried: 

 

1. a bluegill swimbait

 

2. a Rage Swimmer retrieved fast in the shallows and slower in the rare 5'-6' water

 

3. a Mepps spinner

 

4. a wacky-hooked Senko

 

5. a jerkbait

 

6. a Senko floater on a Shakey jighead

 

7. three colors of Senko floaters fished weightless, which looked great in the water and coasted over the weeds, but didn't elicit a strike

 

8. a Whopper Plopper

 

Yeah, I fished a Whopper Plopper out of desperation and it caught my only bass. So, mostly it was five hours of paddling in an ever-shifting wind, which is something I do as well as A-Jay casually catches trophies. On the plus side, it was a beautiful bog, with zero shoreline homes and islands and bays every which way, so many that I could lose my bearings, so I kept my head swiveling like the wind. I was also, like usual, the only one on the water. 

 

So, I appeal to the Bass Resource Brain Trust: I spooked scores of fish in the shallows. The bog has largemouth, pickerel, pumpkinseed, and yellow perch. Some of the swirls seemed to be made by catchable fish and I was fishing right where those fish were located, but could only provoke three strikes in five hours. How would you have fished that bog, with zombie weeds everywhere and some algae blooming?

 

There was a lot of wood, even far from shore, and I peppered that without luck. I considered going to a fluke, but my weightless Senko looked like a fluke in the water.

I've been dealing with super spooky bass up shallow myself. Two things get me some bites. Pitching into the nastiest wood tangles I can find and provoking a reaction bite, and finding cover that's a bit deeper. Just deep enough where I can't see bottom. For me that's been pine laydowns early and late in the year when cover is scarce. They like to suspend under the boughs. They'll get more cooperative once the weeds get going.

I kid you not, Tim, on a couple casts, the SHADOW and MOVEMENT from my lure in the air spooked them. Being sunny and mid-day didn't help. I did see three, different bald eagles. With the water that shallow and pterodactyls in the air, they probably need to stay spooked.

 

Thanks for the advice, Tim. Now I have to remember what's been suggested if I'm in this situation again.

 

Bog fishing:

 

I got out for a few hours today. The weather cooperated good enough in my book. The bass were not in the mood today really, it has been cool lately that doesn’t help. The pike were definitely active though, but that’s normal.

 

 I started off the day with the experiment that I had planned, I wanted to try different black and blue craws and baits to see what ones my local fish prefer. I started with a black and blue bandito bug on a 3/0 owner jig rig hook. Caught a pike or two on it and no bass, switched to a rage craw same color rattle version and got one more pike.

 

 I then decided that it was time to go big or go home, I went big. Well not really but I don’t know of many people that throw swim baits around here. The lure was a jackal gantral jr in rt carp color, this pond has a lot of carp in it so I figured that they might be munching on them also. Probably 10-15 cast later I started working parallel to a old fallen tree that’s next to a old submerged stump. I caught my first and only bass of the day, not big but weighed 2.5lbs. I caught one more pike on the gantral and he destroyed my leader. I also went in the cold water shirtless to get my gantral off the old stump, sorry for the shirtless pictures lol.

 

 I then switched to a mini max black and blue with a mini zako in electric shad. Caught 3 more pike on it in 15 minutes. The odd part was that the biggest pike of the day came in with a hitchhiker a lamprey, it flopped of him on the bank and I disposed of the parasite. I then tied a jig on without a leader and had a pike destroyer it at the bank got him onto shore he bit through my line and then I removed the jig and he was back on his way and I still had my jig. I fished a little bit longer but it went dead, I had a pike on briefly with a sleeper gill but I didn’t get a good enough hook set so that one got a early release. All in all it was a good day, the experiment will pick up when the bass want to play again and I have the time.

20 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Hope the trip went great, and glad to see you guys got back home safe!

 

Cute lil bugger ?

It did until my wife came down with something. Doc thinks it was allergies. We cut off the trip to the Keys and tracked over to Tampa on the way home instead. Other than a few 'incidents' of which I'll save for later the overall trip was a blast. 

19 hours ago, Eric 26 said:

Those colors/markings are absolutely awesome. Very healthy looking ??

They are, aren't they? I think they're moving up shallow here too and the blue/black combo is working for now. 

Quick trip before the line of storms hit. Slow bite - may be water clarity combined with my pressure, or water level. The cold nights haven’t helped either.
 

 

19 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

Biggest of the young season so far

 

Shorts and flip flops?  How freaking warm is it there?  Its still winter-like to the west of you lol

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I kid you not, Tim, on a couple casts, the SHADOW and MOVEMENT from my lure in the air spooked them. Being sunny and mid-day didn't help. I did see three, different bald eagles. With the water that shallow and pterodactyls in the air, they probably need to stay spooked.

 

Thanks for the advice, Tim. Now I have to remember what's been suggested if I'm in this situation again.

 

Bog fishing:

 

I hear ya. I've cast a little TRD bug 15-20' out in front of shallow cruisers on 6# mono, and when they get to within 6-8' of it, gave it a subtle twitch, they ran from it. Pitched into huge wood tangles, the three or four laydowns all tangled together kind, landed my bait with barely a ripple, and had half a dozen bass come rocketing out like the boogieman kicked in the door. Early and late in the year, when there's no weed cover, especially if it's sunny and calm, they can be unbelievably spooky. It's a war of attrition. Put the bait in front of enough of them, and generally you'll get a few takers.

 Also, they like overhead cover when up shallow, (pterodactyls like to eat them) so big pieces of wood, especially gnarly tangles, are your friend. They'll get on the brushy stuff later after the weeds get going. That's generally how it works in my waters anyhow.