5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Got out for about four hrs last night. Five LM between 12"-16", this 5.14# LM, a small saugeye, and a 3# ish channel cat. First 5'r of the year for me.

The bite on the flats still ain't happening. This is the latest I've ever seen that bite go down. It's usually on by the first week of June. With the cool nights and recent rains, the surface temp is still hovering around 70. Need the gills to hit the beds in order for the mayhem to ensue.

 

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

@T-Billy, that's a beauty, Tim. As you might recall, I was raised in Ohio. Ohio is where I caught my first bass. And I NEVER caught a bass like that. 

 

Cool story, @IcatchDinks!

 

Keep streaking, @Dominat0r! I mean, uh, er, never mind. 

 

That is a fat one, @Jmurphy87.

 

Well that makes three of us that grew up in Ohio. Akron/Cuyahoga Falls area for me. OSU fan for life even though I spent 4 years at OU in Athens. I fished Magadore & Portage Lakes mostly but did try Leesville & Caesar Creek plus spent some time fishing the western basin of Lake Erie & over in New York state at Lake Chautauqua while still living in Ohio before retiring & moving to PA to fish for smallies.   

The ridiculousness continues.  Friday after work it took only a couple hours to catch a bunch with the top 5 weighing 15lbs 15oz.  I don't know why.  This lake is usually at it's toughest in the summer but the water is at 81 degrees and I'm still pulling lots of fish.  Going to enjoy it until it's over.

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

Well, today was our opener here finally.

Got out for a few hours on my home lake. Didn’t want to travel too far cause they were calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so a 30 sec drive to the ramp it was. Caught around 30 or so, on a mixed bag of frogs, flipping a creature and a ned rig. About a 50/50 mix of green and brown ones today, no real giants, but did get this nice copper coloured guy on an epic frog explosion to end the day almost at the ramp. All in all, it was a decent start for me, and I was back in the boat shed before the storms hit??. 

That's not a filter on your phone camera?  That's one beautiful fish!

38 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

 

Well that makes three of us that grew up in Ohio. Akron/Cuyahoga Falls area for me. OSU fan for life even though I spent 4 years at OU in Athens. I fished Magadore & Portage Lakes mostly but did try Leesville & Caesar Creek plus spent some time fishing the western basin of Lake Erie & over in New York state at Lake Chautauqua while still living in Ohio before retiring & moving to PA to fish for smallies.   

Nice. Leesville is my #1 Lake. I live 15min from either ramp. Piedmont is #2. I live on the shores of Atwood. Leesville is where most of the muskie mayhem went down last fall, with Piedmont getting honorable mention.

50 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

 

Well that makes three of us that grew up in Ohio. Akron/Cuyahoga Falls area for me. OSU fan for life even though I spent 4 years at OU in Athens. I fished Magadore & Portage Lakes mostly but did try Leesville & Caesar Creek plus spent some time fishing the western basin of Lake Erie & over in New York state at Lake Chautauqua while still living in Ohio before retiring & moving to PA to fish for smallies.   

 

 

Well, since I am from Florida and went to school there...Ill say GO GATORS!

 

Went out to have a quick smoke break, thought I would take the patroller out for another jaunt. 3rd cast in.....keeping the streak alive. #2 Sunday fish and probably the smallest all weekend. 

 

Still though, topwater fishing is the most fun I have had so far....when they hit the top of the water like a shark, its awesome. I do find myself forcing the topwater lure in just because I love to watch it happen. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

That was a pretty good morning. I fished for only 2.5hrs because the wind got brutal, but picked up a limit. My first on this lake. 

 

I fished three spots. I caught at least one bass at each. First two fish were on a zoom uv speed worm in junebug red. This is while it was still early in the morning. Once the sun came up, I switched colors to watermelon candy, and then got another fish, but it was while I was swimming it. By this time, the wind was already pretty crazy, so I figured since I got a bite swimming, and it was so windy, I should tie on a spinnerbait. I almost didn't bring any, but before leaving I saw the wind forecast and thought, yeah, that'd be a good idea to bring em. The two that I got on a spinner were actually the larger fish. They made it out of dink status. I winched both of them out of bushes. Heavy tackle and accuracy were keys today. I was in some thick stuff. Like the kinda stuff you'd see @T-Billy run 100mph across the lake for, dropping some heavy braid on em ?.

 

I fished a little differently today and I think it worked out for me, but there is no doubt they were chomping today. 

 

Love me some Junebug red Speedies......they crush here in florida. Junebug and Junebug Red are the 2 best colors by far. 

9 minutes ago, Dominat0r said:

Junebug and Junebug Red are the 2 best colors by far. 

Yessir I like em too. I like all the subtle little nuances in colors from zoom. Junebug red is a darker hue than Junebug and as another example plum apple is a darker hue than plum. 
 

I won’t spend time rotating through a bunch of colors but I will spend time trying to establish what are the hot colors on a lake and when do they work

3 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

 

Well that makes three of us that grew up in Ohio. Akron/Cuyahoga Falls area for me. OSU fan for life even though I spent 4 years at OU in Athens. I fished Magadore & Portage Lakes mostly but did try Leesville & Caesar Creek plus spent some time fishing the western basin of Lake Erie & over in New York state at Lake Chautauqua while still living in Ohio before retiring & moving to PA to fish for smallies.   

My wife went to hocking hills but was a bartender at a biker bar in Athens ohio a long time ago, small world 

 

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Yessir I like em too. I like all the subtle little nuances in colors from zoom. Junebug red is a darker hue than Junebug and as another example plum apple is a darker hue than plum. 
 

I won’t spend time rotating through a bunch of colors but I will spend time trying to establish what are the hot colors on a lake and when do they work

I even got the red bug and have been mixing them in the bag with the junebug and trying to get some of the color to leak on there. I have got a few with the red bug color, but always like mixing my own colors. 

45 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My wife went to hocking hills but was a bartender at a biker bar in Athens ohio a long time ago, small world 

 

My first teaching job was in Hocking Hills. And I loved visiting Athens.

 

OH-

For all the Ohioans: 

 

7 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

For all the Ohioans: 

 

And to think that I was going to take you to a lake where you'd best your personal best five times in a morning. Now, if you ever come to Maine, I'm going to suggest you fish in a puddle. A muddy puddle. Real muddy.

 

"Oh, yeah, big bass in there. Just. Keep. Casting. Never. Stop." 

55 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My wife went to hocking hills but was a bartender at a biker bar in Athens ohio a long time ago, small world 

I was bartender at the Inferno for several years. The only biker bar I remember was on the edge of town but like most college towns there was no shortage of bars in Athens. 

3 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

And to think that I was going to take you to a lake where you'd best your personal best five times in a morning. Now, if you ever come to Maine, I'm going to suggest you fish in a puddle. A muddy puddle. Real muddy.

 

"Oh, yeah, big bass in there. Just. Keep. Casting. Never. Stop." 

Honestly, compared to most of my local spots, a mud puddle in Maine probably would best my PB. 

10 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

For all the Ohioans: 

 

Go Blue!!!

 

Born in Ann Arbor

5 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I was bartender at the Inferno for several years. The only biker bar I remember was on the edge of town but like most college towns there was no shortage of bars in Athens. 

I’ll ask her where she worked here shortly 

5 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Go Blue!!!

 

Born in Ann Arbor

 

I kid you not:

 

My grandfather went to OSU.

So did my parents.

And my six siblings.

 

Cut one arm and I bleed the normal scarlet.

Cut the other arm and I bleed gray.

 

I'm confused: After years of losing, how did you guys finally remember how to play football again?

5 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

My grandfather went to OSU.

So did my parents.

And my six siblings.

It's okay. You don't have to explain. I understand you had no choice in the matter. Don't blame yourself.

 

6 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I'm confused: After years of losing, how did you guys finally remember how to play football again?

It really makes you wonder doesn't it? This has to be a tough time for OSU fans. 

 

?

 

Watched that game last year while on leave at home for Thanksgiving. I caught the ol' muddy pond record @6.6lbs, killed a decent buck and took his delicious meat, and then watched my favorite football team crush the buckeyes. That weekend was AWESOME

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

 

My first teaching job was in Hocking Hills. And I loved visiting Athens.

 

OH-

I cannot complete that spelling…….

 

She worked at the maplewood north of Athens and she definitely had heard of the inferno but never been there

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

 

It really makes you wonder doesn't it? This has to be a tough time for OSU fans. 

 

In 1997, the last time Michigan won a national championship in football, your bass wasn't born. Neither was your bass's mama. Neither was your buck nor your buck's mama. The Internet was two years old and people accessed it by going to Internet cafes. Blockbuster Video was booming. Drivers navigated with maps. 

 

BTW, if you ever take "1-8" for under "Regretful Records" for $200, the answer is: "What is Michigan's record in its last nine bowl games?"

17 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

In 1997, the last time Michigan won a national championship in football, your bass wasn't born. Neither was your bass's mama. Neither was your buck nor your buck's mama. The Internet was two years old and people accessed it by going to Internet cafes. Blockbuster Video was booming. Drivers navigated with maps. 

 

BTW, if you ever take "1-8" for under "Regretful Records" for $200, the answer is: "What is Michigan's record in its last nine bowl games?"

We don't have to be the best. Just better than you. History has proven it ain't that hard

I've been to Ohio.  I won races at LaRue and Norwalk.  I don't remember where either are in the state, or how to get there from here, except to head North.   

 

I didn't wake up as early as planned today.  I managed to catch 6 Bass.  The biggest one (pictured) was on my first cast at 6:59.   The smallest one (also pictured) was on my last cast at 10:42.   That might be the smallest bass I've ever caught.   By 8:30 today the lake was full of boats.   There's areas full of floating debris due to the recent rain.  People were actually skiing and wake boarding right through it.   Has anyone caught a bass smaller than the one pictured?   I'm not talking about accidently snagged.  This little guy attacked a Zoom trick worm.   My arm isn't long enough to make it look big.  LOL.  That's more than likely all of my Bass for June 2023.   I may go late Friday night, but after midnight will be July.   

I really enjoyed taking a week of and having some non busy, rainy weekdays on the lake.   It's back to work tomorrow.  I'm sure I'll be going into a mess.   The buck stops here.  I get all the problem cars and customers.   I have no doubt they'll be some problem jobs waiting on me. 

 

A couple uneventful fishing days for the most part. Yesterday with highs near 90, I waited until the last hour to hit a couple lakes with topwater. And while I managed a dozen bites, nothing was worth pulling the camera out for.

 

Today, a small line of storms passed through early this morning, before clearing out. Hot sunshine ran us up to near 90 degree highs and produced some severe storm cells. One quick pass before they moved through under growing clouds, 30 mph winds and rumbling thunder produced 7 or 8 bass on a vibrating jig. After the storms passed, skies quickly cleared, so I made another pass on the lake, this time with a swim jig, and picked off half a dozen more (pics below). More rain chances again tomorrow, so hoping for a better bite if the cloudy skies will hang around for a while.

 

 

6 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

 

 

That's not a filter on your phone camera?  That's one beautiful fish!

 

Nope, that’s the way she was. Never caught one quite that copper coloured out of this particular lake before, but I have a few lakes around me where most of them are like that. 

Not a great bite but always appreciate any topwater action.

 

Got my frog fix this morning. Went to another nearby lake, that’s not known for big ones but you can usually get quite a few. In 3 hours I caught exactly 29 largemouths and 1 smallmouth, and lost several more. Nothing more than 3lbs, but almost all of em came on a frog so that was a hoot! The smoke from the fires north of here was as bad as it’s been so far this year. Couldn’t see down the lake very far, and it wasn’t fun to breathe so I packed it in around noon. It’s cleared up here now at least. 

? This map is actually pretty accurate. The biggest inaccuracy I see is, we have way more Amish than that. I live in Carroll county, right above the last i in hillbillies. Thus my screen name. LOL. SE OH is the most beautiful part of the state. Being unglaciated we have lots of rolling hills and forests. We also have the highest concentration of reservoirs, with most having been built by the Army Corp of Engineers for flood control.

 We also grow some dandy bucks around here. This is my best, and while he's a good one, they get MUCH bigger round here.