Had an hour or so while my wife was out and the sun was behind a cloud so went to a local pond. Tiny place- 1/2 acre, 3’ deep. I’ve never seen or caught a fish bigger than 12” there before but it’s 3 minutes away and has a bunch of 6-10” fish. Grabbed the bfs rod. And because someone on an other thread got me fired up about them, a Zara pooch, the tiniest spook ever made which hasn’t been made for 20 years now. Three casts in a get a little birds nest and as I pick it a little bass comes up for the spook but doesn’t eat it. Fourth cast I put it right on the little log he came from and am immediately snagged in an inaccessible place. I considered wading for it then realized I had another choice. I still bad my gear in the truck so grabbed a flipping stick with 50lb braid and pitched it right past the spook. One twitch later and I had it- my spook firmly caught in the braid. A quick pop and it was free. Best catch of the day. First cast with the jig. 
 

I managed three little bass and a bluegill on trout magnets before I called it. 

Those little Zara’s are awesome 

Dom's Dink of the day! The worm was just an inch shorter haha....already got one today, but the streak goes on! 33 days!

 

Hot and sunny, mid to upper 80s, and light winds. Ended the afternoon with 15 bass; 8 on swimbaits and 7 on finesse worm. Bass weren’t overly active, but the catfish sure were for some reason - maybe spawning or post-spawn feeding. Both ate finesse worms but saw several others cruising I couldn’t get to bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Streak continues for Sat 7/8/. Rain let up for a bit and again, the mosquitoes were out for BLOOD! Sounded like little helicopters flying around. 

 

Dinks again, but the bigger one did put up a fight....first 2 were on Carolina rig and the 3rd was on a speed worm. 

 

 

 

It’s been a while since I pulled a night session, I got up for work at 5am Friday morning and went to work. I got the urge to go fishing around 10:30pm Friday night, so I went. Started around 11:30pm with plastics and a glass bead and brass clacker with a 1/8oz tungsten bullet weight. I tried 3 different spots and not as much as a sniff, decided to throw top water. That was the right decision, I caught 2 small ones on a whopper plopper 110 in blue blood color. Then it went dead, decided to throw a pop max and had a few miss it. I finally caught a decent one around 2:20 am that went for 3.20lbs, not huge but still a decent fish for Michigan and where I was fishing. I called it a night after that one. It 3:14am now and I am getting ready to go to bed. Saturday is off to a good start, sorry for the bad picture quality but my phone has duck tape on the back of it so I don’t have a flash so I used my headlamp.

A couple of hours on the lake this morning…

Got up early this morning to try a pond I never fish. There was a light drizzle coming down, but I figured, what the heck, it wasn't bad. I got to the pond around 7:30 and as soon as I walked to the water it started dumping buckets. It continued that way for about five minutes. Then it stopped raining. Then it would just turn into a torrential rainfall for a couple minutes. Then it would let up again. It went like that for the entire two hours I was out. I caught three fish total. Nothing big. But I figure that's not too bad for a pond I don't know. The mist rolling off the lake in the dry intervals was pretty beautiful too. Unfortunately my phone camera couldn't quite capture it. By the time I went home, I was soaked and cold from the light breeze that's been blowing all morning. 

 

I like the two bottom photos, @IcatchDinks, i.e. the fat-bellied bass and the beautiful pond. Fish on, my bass brother!

I caught 8 today (and a small Perch I didn't waste pixels on).   Got to the landing at 5.  I caught 5 before 7 on a Devils Horse.   The topwater bite died....and most of the other bite for me too.  I caught 3 more before leaving around 11.   One was just over 18".  2 were dinks (under 14")  1 of the dinks was tiny.   On a side note.  "They" (the State?) have been working on a "day use" near the landing I use.  It features a swim beach, fishing trails and several fishing piers.   It opened yesterday.  "They" said police would be there today for crowd control.  When I left today, around 11 the only people there were the crowd control police.   I figure it will be popular, I just think no one knows it's open yet.  

Caught my biggest of the year this morning 

Also caught about a 15lb grass carp on a Berkley Surge Shad.

 

Since I’m the dedicated haircut police now.

 

@IcatchDinks you need to trim up the mop.

 

@Woody B is looking good with the recent trim.

@Bluebasser86

 

Here's some footage of your blimp swimming right before you caught it:

 

 

 

Best outing of the season for largies this morning. A friend and I caught 24 bass and 2 pike in about 5 hours. There was a decent spinnerbait bite early with a low cloud deck, and as the sun came out the dock bite really took off with plastics.  I followed up my skinny 20 incher on Thursday with a beefy one (last photo).

@gimruis: That is a walrus! Well done. 

Hadn’t been out in far too long, probably about a month. Finally changed that last night with an hour and a half long outing. Wasn’t expecting much as the weather has been awful and all over the place lately.  Glad I still went. Started with the s-waver as it was already tied on and worked it along a grass line. Got to watch this football of a 2.5 pounder t-bone it. That was fun. 
 

 

Worked that some more with no luck and then switched to the buzzbait. My favorite lure on hot summer days. Walked over to the little shaded pocket and made a few casts. On my 3rd or 4th one I got crushed. She dove down under the grass and was not happy at all about the dude pulling on the other end of the line. Hardest bass fight I’ve felt and I thought for sure I had my PB. Finally winched her out and got her on dry ground and she was starting to shrink as I pulled the grass off her. I still don’t understand how she didn’t break my PB. Longest fish I’ve caught at nearly 21” but sure as heck didn’t look like @Bluebasser86 fish (congrats btw!). She was tall but just not beefed up.  Pics don’t do her justice. Really bummed when I put her on the scale and got 4.4 but it was a lot of fun and I couldn’t have asked for more when I debated even going out. 
 

 

 

 

Beau approved. 
 

Very next cast I threw that buzzbait into a tree never to be seen again. Ahhh the roller coaster ride that is fishing lol. Caught a couple more on the wacky rig as the sun set before I called it an evening. 
 

Well I got out today and wanted to fish a worm. There was a little wind today. I was fishing a 1/8oz tungsten with a red glass bead and brass clacker, worm was a 5 inch crème worm black blue laminate. Took me a minute, water was warm but there’s a small creek that runs into the lake from a natural spring pond. That means cooler water and a nice 4 foot deep channel in a normal 2 foot deep flat. I casted out it landed and I felt nothing, kept working it back to me and then I felt tension and noticed my line running off to the left. I had a fish and never felt it hit, I was happy that I caught something. I brought it up to unhook it and seen the worm was deep in its mouth. The fish engulfed the worm and 4/0 hook, I got the hook out but noticed that it sustained a tiny cut from the hook on its stomach. It was bleeding when I got the hook out and gave it some water and observed it. The fish seemed spunky and lethargic all at the same time. I knew that it was not going to make it.

 

the bleeding stopped but it wasn’t quite normal so I decided to bring it home to cook up for the wife. I didn’t have a bucket so I cut my trip short and headed home to fillet the fish. I felt bad because I normally don’t take fish home. First one in 4 years, I know it happens but I still feel bad. I don’t let food go to waste or just discard the carcass and pretend that the fish didn’t mean anything to me. I enjoy bass fishing and like to keep them healthy, happy as can be for getting a hook stuck in there mouth and growing.

You did the right thing, Murph.

 

What an evening, @hokiehunter373! 

Well, I was getting sorta jealous of all the dang giant bass everyone was catching and had to go and get me one too ??????

 

Thanks to @ol'crickety for encouraging me to keep tossing topwater, my admitted kryptonite.

 

I may have found a topwater bait I can fish at my pressured pond in the old hollow body frog!

 

Set up:

 

Right before going to the beach for the 4th of July I was getting out to the pond around sunset a lot and getting blow ups around the boat house consistently as the sun was setting and missing the hook sets every single time.  I was sitting the hook instantly as soon as the frog went underneath the water and pulling it out of the fish's mouth every single time. I switched to a popper and a walking bait with treble hooks and actually had the same experience.

 

I noticed that I got significantly less bites on those baits though, which made more noise and commotion in the water and projected themselves more. So I switched back to the frog when I got back from the beach and tonight was my first outing with the frog since giving the fish by the boathouse that were blowing up a little break.

 

I actually fished for about 2 hours in other areas with no bite from 5:00 to about 7:00 p.m. and then made my move to the boat house at 7:00 p.m. and started fan casting around the vegetation.

 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a huge swirl on a very shallow sandy flat to the right of where I was fishing where a large fish was corralling small fish right up against the bank.

 

The cast my frog to that area where the boil was and worked my frog through it with nothing.

 

I went back to fan casting the area and started my fan casting efforts on top of the flat.

 

I was doing a steady walking cadence with little brief pauses and I was trying to impart as little actual movement as possible to keep the bait in place as it was walking from side to side.

 

 The bite was very subtle.  She slurped it and I could tell by the boil around the frog which was in no more than a foot of water. It was a giant fish.

 

 I remembered all those fish I missed last week and waited til I felt her pulling THEN I set the hook.

 

My drag immediately started screaming out.  She jumped probably nine times and about gave me a heart attack on the way in.

 

 I locked my drag down. Took a deep breath and winched her to the edge of the bank where it became very quickly apparent that flipping her was not an option.

 

 I put my pole down giving her the requisite slack for me to go in and get her and thankfully she was pegged deep in her throat and was not coming off.

 

 The hooks came right out though with no damage or bleeding and she swam away with fervor after a brief photo shoot.

 

 Biggest fish ever caught in the middle of the summer and by far my biggest fish on a frog or top water!

 

Happy summer bass resource!!!

 

BOOOOOOM SHAKKALAKAA   G-G-G-GIANT BASS ON FROG ?

 

That's awesome Pat, what a way to catch her as well, congrats!  

19 hours ago, Jmurphy87 said:

Well I got out today and wanted to fish a worm. There was a little wind today. I was fishing a 1/8oz tungsten with a red glass bead and brass clacker, worm was a 5 inch crème worm black blue laminate. Took me a minute, water was warm but there’s a small creek that runs into the lake from a natural spring pond. That means cooler water and a nice 4 foot deep channel in a normal 2 foot deep flat. I casted out it landed and I felt nothing, kept working it back to me and then I felt tension and noticed my line running off to the left. I had a fish and never felt it hit, I was happy that I caught something. I brought it up to unhook it and seen the worm was deep in its mouth. The fish engulfed the worm and 4/0 hook, I got the hook out but noticed that it sustained a tiny cut from the hook on its stomach. It was bleeding when I got the hook out and gave it some water and observed it. The fish seemed spunky and lethargic all at the same time. I knew that it was not going to make it.

 

the bleeding stopped but it wasn’t quite normal so I decided to bring it home to cook up for the wife. I didn’t have a bucket so I cut my trip short and headed home to fillet the fish. I felt bad because I normally don’t take fish home. First one in 4 years, I know it happens but I still feel bad. I don’t let food go to waste or just discard the carcass and pretend that the fish didn’t mean anything to me. I enjoy bass fishing and like to keep them healthy, happy as can be for getting a hook stuck in there mouth and growing.

Agreed with Katie, noble thing to do, and hopefully it was tasty.   

Only 1 smallie today between the wife and I fishing the Sheyene river south of valley city, was the size of a stick of butter. I dont know where the brownies are hiding but it isnt at the dam. The dam is still high and with recent rain is running muddy.

Wife was using fat head minnows while i started out with lures and caught 1 walleye on a white mimic minnow. Wife caught a big walleye on a bobber with 1/8 jig and fathead. I got tired of casting so i put on a bobber and a 1/4 oz ballhead jig and a ugly fathead minnow, ugly meaning its head was black and body had no sheen to it unlike shiners which look much better to my eyes.

North Dakota does not allow shiners to be fished in the entire state because they are not native.

I did catch a big catfish with the ugly fathead which put up a nice fight. Scheels to me is skimping on what they call a scoop of fatheads at $3.50. I suppose instead of raising the price just give less fatties so i bought 2 scoops.

 

 

60° this morning, lots of rain yesterday. Slow day to start but around 11:00 a.m. I pitched a wacky Senko on a drop shot next to a dock.... didn't feel the bike, just saw the line moving sideways. 4 lb 6 oz. Less than 2' of water.

 

Ended day with two 16"s, one small bass, and a crappie that hit my square bill : ) 

 

@gimruis my wife was gonna cut my hair tonight. But now we've postponed it to flaunt the law: 

 

 

I went out again for several hours tonight. Didn't catch a lot, but enough that I was happy. I hooked a really good bass, but my drag was too loose and by the time I had adjusted it, he was able to unhook himself. He musta jumped 4 or 5 times. Oh well. I caught several other fish, but nothing as big as that first one. 

 

 

 

 

I also spent about twenty minutes distracted by wild blackberries... 

 

@Pat Brown, that was riveting storytelling. Frogs are my hardest lure. I don't know why I can wait until I feel a fish's weight on other surface lures, but with a frog, I don't. I catch bass frogging, but I mostly miss them. Anyway, great catch, Pat.

 

So many big bass were caught today! This is for all of you, the two, greatest cheerleaders of all time:

 

 

@IcatchDinks, in the world of LEOs, the Hair Length Deputy is the Barney Fife of Bass Resource. I, on the other hand, as the Sheriff of Hair Density, am the Andy Taylor, and since I've seen @gimruis without his cap, I'm taking his one bullet.

 

Big storm cell pounded us this morning to the tune of over 1.5” of rain in 2 hours. Drains weren’t running when I finally hit the lake late afternoon, but the cloud cover was still thick, and the water level was normal or above for the first time in months. Only caught nine bass, but they were healthy and pugnacious. Managed one over 5 lbs and several other chunky fish to go with it, all on wacky worm.