7 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I'm hurting with you! You actually wont have long to fish with him again. You will think of your dad every single trip you take for the rest of your days. It's been thirty years since I said goodbye but I still feel him beside me every trip, and so will you! Only he's not telling me to shut  up and be still.?

 

HAHA....thats so true.....I love that man, thank you for that, really made me laugh ahah....

I changed my approach this morning because I felt I wasn't enjoying my trips enough when I lost a big fish. Instead of targeting big fish with big lures, I reverted to my comfort lures and decided I'd set out to have fun. I caught 34. They were Maine butterballs up to 17". I also caught, just using my comfort lures, two big bass. The first one is as pretty as a bass can be: healthy, dark, and plump. I photographed her on the bump board and with my holding her too because she's a perfect fish. 

 

The second one is plump too, but missing a rectangle of her tail. I hope she'll regrow it this summer. Her tail wasn't tattered as if she'd just finished spawning. I caught the first on a wakebait and the second on a bone-colored Whopper Plopper. I weighed the first and she was 4.48 lbs. I assume the second is about the same since she's been spending her summer days in the feed bag too. I also caught bass on Senkos and paddletails. And, yes, I had fun!

 

 

WTG @ol'crickety! Keep doing it your way. Fishing should be fun.

 

 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I changed my approach this morning because I felt I wasn't enjoying my trips enough when I lost a big fish. Instead of targeting big fish with big lures, I reverted to my comfort lures and decided I'd set out to have fun. I caught 34. They were Maine butterballs up to 17". I also caught, just using my comfort lures, two big bass. The first one is as pretty as a bass can be: healthy, dark, and plump. I photographed her on the bump board and with my holding her too because she's a perfect fish. 

 

The second one is plump too, but missing a rectangle of her tail. I hope she'll regrow it this summer. Her tail wasn't tattered as if she'd just finished spawning. I caught the first on a wakebait and the second on a bone-colored Whopper Plopper. I weighed the first and she was 4.48 lbs. I assume the second is about the same since she's been spending her summer days in the feed bag too. I also caught bass on Senkos and paddletails. And, yes, I had fun!

 

 

WOW....look at the belly on that beast....REALLY nice fish Crick, during dog days of summer too....amazing. 

That's a lights out session anyone would consider a lifetime day down here.  Congratulations @ol'crickety

 

Your bass are so dark and plump.  I love the football player physique of northern LMB.

1 hour ago, Dominat0r said:

during dog days of summer too

Your idea of "dog days" in Florida and Maine's dog days are much much different.  Its glorious in the summer up in Maine.  Its actually been lovely here the past 10 days too but unfortunately that is going to change dramatically next week.

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

That's a lights out session anyone would consider a lifetime day down here.  Congratulations @ol'crickety

 

Your bass are so dark and plump.  I love the football player physique of northern LMB.

 

I thought about you this morning, Pat.

 

I thought, "Okay, I've caught two fine bass and together, I'm still two and a half pounds shy of Pat's one bass."

 

However, I agree that northern bass are gorgeous. The first one is jet black on top and snow white on the bottom and the second one looks like a Crimson Tide linebacker. I couldn't keep the second one out of the weeds. It was only five feet deep where I hooked her and the bottom two feet of that was mushy weeds. Luckily, 17 lb. braid was enough to wrench her out of there. I have less luck when bass run to reeds, where they nearly always use the fibrous weeds to peel free. 

Pouring rain here, hoping it nicer up north for tomorrows Headwaters trip. I got a little sprinkled on, but got my fish of the day. I will go back out after dinner and after the rain lets up. Little dink here ate my speed worm, like all the way down its throat. I saw a smidge of the tail and tried to put it out of it, but it ripped and down it went. That is going to fill his belly for a few days. Interesting markings too, almost thought it was a smallmouth. 

 

Dinky fish for 7/21.

 

Post frontal today, and the bite was a bit slower. Was able to pick off 9 bass, all on Ned variations along with a pair of channel cats. Might be scary what I could catch if I just focused on the cats with ‘crawlers or chicken livers ?

 

 

 

 

I expect to see this post one day from @Team9nine: Tricky fishing today. Multiple tornadoes. Was sucked up into one and took quite a ride, but still managed to cast down into a few ponds below me. Only managed to catch 8, but a couple were pretty nice.  

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I expect to see this post one day from @Team9nine: Tricky fishing today. Multiple tornadoes. Was sucked up into one and took quite a ride, but still managed to cast down into a few ponds below me. Only managed to catch 8, but a couple were pretty nice.  

 

As you just posted recently, you just got to do "you" and enjoy the ride, whatever fish it might or might not bring  Forums and forum posts, especially fishing reports, can really get you chasing down rabbit holes and away from "your game." If I can pick off a few while riding out a tornado, you know I'd try just to see if I could do it, and to see how the bass reacted 

Caught a 4 lb even today . Five foot deep , mouth of a cove using a Texas rigged Yum Dinger , Junebug. Lots of smaller fish on Dingers, a small soft plastic swimbait and neds.

No pictures out of me again today, once again wading the mucky shoreline of the lake in my swimming trunks lol. I have not bought any new waders this year, hence no pictures when I am waist to chest deep in water. I bought a couple jigs today to go throw along with a couple trailers to match.  I bought a couple beast coast battle flip 3/8oz jigs one in dope gill and the other in 420 pro. The trailers that I chose was a old favorite that is the rage chunk in California craw for the 420 pro.

 

I just love how rage chunks help give you a nice slow fall with a lot of action. The next trailer choice was a new one I went with a Yamamoto flappin hog in 956 for the dope gill jig, not a whole lot of action but adds a nice amount of bulk without being too big. The jig falls a lot faster with the Yamamoto flappin hog.

 

I didn’t plan on a lot of bites but I wanted quality fish, I started off with the dope gill jig with the Yamamoto trailer. One of the big gills or tiny bass stole my trailer, moved onto the rage chunk a few light taps but nothing really grabbed it. I then threw it into the reeds and they stole my claws eventually lol. I then started walking back casting with no trailer and felt the tap again and new that I had a fish on. I set the hook and it felt like I set into a stump, for the record there’s no stumps on the shoreline.

 

 I hooked the fish and my rod bent over hard and the fish took off running, I knew that I had a decent fish that I was looking for. The rod handled the fish perfectly and kept me in control throughout the entire fight, I fish with a slower reel than most a 6.2 ratio for everything so I get to enjoy the fights and I do get beat sometimes also. I kept tension on the fish as the braid was screaming through the guides as I reeled it in. As the fish got closer to me it tried to jump out of the water so I changed the angle of my rod to force it back down and kept it from jumping. I had the fish right beside me and was positioning it to grab it and checking to see where the jig was in the mouth of the fish.

 

 I saw that it was hooked in the roof of the mouth out closer to the lip, I knew that this could be trouble. I got ready to grab it and it shot upward and danced underwater at a upward angle and I knew right then she was about to come off. Sure enough before I could grab her she came off and just swam away slowly. I didn’t care one bit really, I enjoyed the battle and it was a quick release and she is happily swimming in the lake and enjoying life. She probably was in the 3.5-4.5lb range.

 

the heavy power extra fast action and braid have advantages and disadvantages all at the same time, but this is what makes fishing so gosh darn addictive. The battles and victories along with our defeats are what make us better and give us insight. Sorry about the picture of the baits but I had to at least show what I was throwing.

 

9 hours ago, scaleface said:

Caught a 4 lb even today . Five foot deep , mouth of a cove using a Texas rigged Yum Dinger , Junebug. Lots of smaller fish on Dingers, a small soft plastic swimbait and neds.

Couldn't help but notice your brace. I've got chronic issues with my right ankle/foot that make working and fishing (I'm a bank walker) difficult. It's really got me slowed down right now and my podiatrist wants me to wait a bit before another injection. Nice to see that you're catching. I'm a little east of you and getting bit, too. Big heat coming next week. Stay cool. Getting older accentuates everything lol.

7 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Couldn't help but notice your brace. I've got chronic issues with my right ankle/foot that make working and fishing (I'm a bank walker) difficult. It's really got me slowed down right now and my podiatrist wants me to wait a bit before another injection. Nice to see that you're catching. I'm a little east of you and getting bit, too. Big heat coming next week. Stay cool. Getting older accentuates everything lol.

I wear it most of the time .I have  Arthritis caused by an old injury.  This was made by taking a cast of my foot. It helps immensely. Expensive but insurance covered much of it.

7 hours ago, Jmurphy87 said:

I didn’t care one bit really, I enjoyed the battle and it was a quick release and she is happily swimming in the lake and enjoying life. She probably was in the 3.5-4.5lb range.

 

the heavy power extra fast action and braid have advantages and disadvantages all at the same time, but this is what makes fishing so gosh darn addictive. The battles and victories along with our defeats are what make us better and give us insight.

 

You have such a good attitude, Murph. You're a gifted storyteller too, which comes from your keen observing. 

 

#murphrocks

Rough morning of fishing. One bass @4:07 AM. Think a weather system that came in shut down the bite. 

My first 3 at a time on an umbrella rig…

@treble hook that is wild. Lol. Nice catch. 

I caught a couple spots this morning in a shortened trip.   My Nieces husband had open heart surgery late Thursday.  He was having trouble this morning early.  My Niece was at the hospital alone.  On the lake I was 30 minutes closer than anyone else, and already up and dressed.  I loaded my boat and rushed to the hospital to comfort her.  She was freaking out, and happy to see a familiar face.   He's in a different hospital now, doing much better.   I'm going to sleep right now, for a few hours and going back to the lake tonight around midnight or so.  

 

 

I have written @Woody B's epitaph, which he is free to use one day: He was a fine fisherman, a loving uncle, and a guy who wore a transmission tower for a hat. 

"Go to the river" they said. "Small mouth are fun," they said. Nobody mentioned the rock bass...

And then one fat bluegill to finish the day. (Don't come after me, @gimruis. Rock bass are bass. ?) 

 

Also, I think the entire town today was out on the river. There were three or four groups of tubers, all with no less then ten people per group. I saw five kayakers, two canoes, and countless kids and parents wading and splashing around. Plus one extremely gregarious but very nice old gentleman that wanted to tell me every single detail of the one time he went backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas in the 60's, and his buddy who knew the neighbor of the guitarist for the grateful dead and about some hiking gear company he thought was cool, and how he ran track in highschool and how he was a physical science teacher for 30+ years, and on and on and on. But he seemed so glad to have someone to talk to I didn't want to dash his feelings and tell him I didn't want to talk to him. I also had three hikers trying to tell me how to fish. I think from now on, I'm gonna stay away from the river and stick to my ponds. 

 

Oh, and I fell and scraped my leg up on the rocks pretty good. What a day. ?

Go when it's raining. Cuts down on the riff raff. 

@galyonj funny thing: It started raining right as I started driving home. 

12 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

Don't come after me, @gimruis. Rock bass are bass.

Rock bass are indeed a bass, but they’re like that ugly loser cousin that no one in the family really wants to associate with.