Super User BrianMDTX Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 @Jmurphy87 I’ve caught bass on craws before. Rage and X Zone craws in particular. But I never had so many bite on them in a morning like today. I made the BM happy. I stopped at Academy and bought more Rage Craws and also decided to try some Rage Bugs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thediscochef Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 I continue to discover the joys of ultralight fishing. Spent about 2 hours in my usual spot tonight until the state parks police fussed at me for where I was standing, said I have to be on the pier after a certain hour. Funny cause I've had whole conversations with him while I was standing on that same rock...after midnight...while I was fishing. Whatever, I still caught 3 bluegill, 2 crappie, three spotted bass, two largemouth, and a smallmouth. One of the better numbers days I've had in a while and catching decent bass on tiny line is tons of fun. 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAngus752 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Don't know why, but it's the year of the 5+ pounders. I haven't caught large numbers of bass this year but I'm way, way ahead on the 4 and 5 pound bass. I'd tell you my secret, but it's secret even from me. Quite a blessing so far this year. 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 @BigAngus752, that's a GOOD-lookin' fish! I like your humility too. @thediscochef, the coloration on your first bass and second to last bass is stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User PhishLI Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 Night fishing under a full moon around here is typically a recipe for hurt feelings. I refuse to be seen blubbering uncontrollably in public, so I'll usually find something else to do, but last night was different because of the cold front that landed on us. Sometimes odd combinations of historically unfavorable elements mix to produce favorable outcomes, so I decided to give it a whirl. By some miracle, the bucketeers were wrapping it up just as I got there, and I had the entire place to myself for once. Just as expected topwater wasn't happening even a little bit, but I got plenty of soft nips and bumps dragging the bottom. The rattle augmented swimbait-hook rigged black and blue Zman Pro CrawZ concoction continues to get their attention, but I could get none to commit. Then a band of puffy clouds moved through and temporarily softened the moon's electric white glow, and they decided to eat. This was short-lived though and, as if a light switch had been thrown, the hard bite evaporated instantly once the clouds blew away, so I called it a win and boogied. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottW Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 45 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said: I'd tell you my secret, but it's secret even from me. You’d think they’d (the bass) share once in a while, but nooooo! Gotta leave the ‘hooman’ guessing! Went out to the pond this morning to try out some of the new worms I got from Big Bite Baits and only took one rod. A baitcaster. Figured with 12# flouro I’d be good. Hit the shallow end and after a few casts I switched out worms (colors). First cast with the ‘new’ color and the reel birdnested enough a pterodactyl could lay eggs in it. 😑 Picked at it until I noticed the line running on the ground. Looked up to see something had taken the worm. Dropped the rod and started hand-reeling the line back until whatever it was spit the worm and ‘finned me off’ as it swam away. 🙄 Suffice it to say I’m now cutting the nest out so I can respool with some new line. Knew I should have brought a spinning rod. 😤 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thediscochef Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 59 minutes ago, ol'crickety said: @thediscochef, the coloration on your first bass and second to last bass is stunning. The native spotted bass at Ray Roberts are absolutely beautiful....they don't get much bigger than 3-4lb but the markings on them are just so pretty 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishing_Rod Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Greetings All, Some great catching fun in the SE AZ sunshine. There was plenty of both catching and sunshine at Parker Canyon Lake. I managed to get a full day of angling adventures in my kayak working the shoreline to find all sorts of fun from bluegills, green sunfish, and large mouth bass. All fish were caught within 15 feet of the shoreline. Yes, I tried a few submerged reefs with no response, so we'll come back another time to see how that goes once all the weeds get going. I did tease about the standing reeds for a few bass. It was a bit different for me to use a heavier rig with 8 pound mono from my typical 4 pound. Still all said and done there were fish caught with all the rigs. I can't help but notice the trend of the larger quality fish caught on the 4 pound mono. The two most successful baits are the 2 inch curly tailed grub on 1/32 oz jig and a weedless short three inch worm. All three species took to those baits aggressively when presented near the shoreline and allowed to settle before moving. Most of the time within two seconds of entering the water the line would simply go tight and move off laterally. Simply wind down and help the rod load up to a modest bend. Those sharp fine wire hooks pin easily and generally stay that way as long as there is some bend held in the pole. While all fish on line are fun there are some that are additionally fun. I will say it is always a bit of an act to get a selfie with fish. There is the hot mess of managing the fish carefully. This time of year the fish are drying out as soon as they are out of the water, so to minimize the stress I keep them held in the water. That leave the other hand to position the phone on the front deck of the yak so a self timer shot is possible. Then there is getting the yak in a reasonable position with all that bright AZ sunshine. It is very exciting to eventually get everything set to trigger the self timer and hope the fish cooperates with the pose. Even with all that fussing about it was so much fun catching so many throughout the day and pretty much everywhere. It was also good to meet up with some very nice folks on the water too. The post holiday visitors were all very polite and cordial. I provided some encouragement that helped a few folks get on fish. Plenty of catching fun to share with all. We have to make the most of this short widow before the real heat sets in. There after it becomes a safety gamble as our seasonal monsoons get going and the storms are no joke dangerous. You would rather not be out on the water during monsoon without access to safe harbor. So get out there have a great time catching while the catching is GREAT! Be well and Cheers! 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody B Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 I slept in this morning. I caught a 17" Spot on my 2nd cast at 6:03am. I caught my 13th, a 17" Largemouth on my last cast at 9:07. All on a Bladed jig. Those 2 are pictured. I'm kinda pleased with the size of them. Only one was under 14". I figure as long as I'm catching "keepers" a few big ones will come along. A few weeks ago all I was catching was dinks. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 On 6/3/2023 at 1:30 PM, T-Billy said: Don't get your finger in their mouth if you want to keep it. Once they bite down on something they're not big on letting go. I’ve had them close their mouth on jaw spreaders designed for pike and muskies. So ya, their mouth is like a vice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User T-Billy Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 Got started this morning as the Strawberry Moon was setting over the lake down the street. I started out pitching bushy stuff like pictured below, but only managed three over four hours. No pic worthy fish today. Biggest was about 2#. Decided to switch gears, and started rolling a rage swimmer around all these laydowns. That put six in the boat over three hours, plus had four more come off. I sure wish the MWCD would quit spraying the grass in this lake. There used to be a big milfoil bed on this flat, and it held tons of LM and saugeye. Fishing here can still be decent, but it's a shadow of it's former self. The watershed caters to the sailboaters and pontooners on this lake and sprays the grass most years. Back when they let the grass grow this was one of the best LM lakes around. 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User BrianMDTX Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 I posted two weeks ago that my arm was going to fall off from casting as I was going to fish as much as possible while my wife was in Europe with our oldest daughter. She’s due back around 5:00 and had some chores to do this morning so I didn’t hit the water until 10:30 or so. I learned something new (to me) today. I’ve read numerous times that varying weight (to vary the fall rate) can make a difference, but I’ve never seen that in action until today. With limited time I only brought two rods, but only planned on using one. Once again, after yesterday‘s results, I brought my Kistler Helium MHF with a Rage Tail Craw on a 5/0 hook with a 1/8 oz. tungsten bullet weight. It was the same exact set-up as yesterday. Even the craw was the one I caught nine bass with on Saturday. Today, it was dead. I thought about switching over to a 5” Senko TR on my finesse rig, then on a whim, I re-rigged with a 1/4 oz. tungsten bullet weight. Bingo! That bit of difference made a big difference. Caught four bass and had to go. Sad to say, I had to retire the Rage Tail Craw. It gave its all for catching 13 bass over two days! I bit two of the segments off and it still kept catching bass! 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User LrgmouthShad Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 5 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said: I posted two weeks ago that my arm was going to fall off from casting as I was going to fish as much as possible while my wife was in Europe with our oldest daughter. She’s due back around 5:00 and had some chores to do this morning so I didn’t hit the water until 10:30 or so. I learned something new (to me) today. I’ve read numerous times that varying weight (to vary the fall rate) can make a difference, but I’ve never seen that in action until today. With limited time I only brought two rods, but only planned on using one. Once again, after yesterday‘s results, I brought my Kistler Helium MHF with a Rage Tail Craw on a 5/0 hook with a 1/8 oz. tungsten bullet weight. It was the same exact set-up as yesterday. Even the craw was the one I caught nine bass with on Saturday. Today, it was dead. I thought about switching over to a 5” Senko TR on my finesse rig, then on a whim, I re-rigged with a 1/4 oz. tungsten bullet weight. Bingo! That bit of difference made a big difference. Caught four bass and had to go. Sad to say, I had to retire the Rage Tail Craw. It gave its all for catching 13 bass over two days! I bit two of the segments off and it still kept catching bass! Was this Raven in the weeds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User BrianMDTX Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 No. I fished there last weekend but this weekend I stayed local. Neighborhood pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Brown Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Full moon fever on the boat today. Cold front hit and dropped the temps a lot. Wind and grey skies rolled in. I hit some sandbars and rocky humps with a black and blue jig and did pretty okay. My buddy caught his PB at the pond with me again!!!! 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody B Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said: Today, it was dead. I thought about switching over to a 5” Senko TR on my finesse rig, then on a whim, I re-rigged with a 1/4 oz. tungsten bullet weight. Bingo! That bit of difference made a big difference. Caught four bass and had to go. I think fall rate is one of or maybe the most important thing for sinking baits. I've seen a big difference by changing 1/16 of an ounce. I also think most times, for most baits color is one of the least important things. I fish murky water pretty much all of the time. Clear water may be different. Nice bass, both you and @Pat Brown 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Team9nine Posted June 4 Super User Share Posted June 4 Have a pond with an overgrowth of algae still, so had to grab the frog rod and have some fun before they treated it again. Managed 15 or 16 good blowups, though nothing big, except the fun 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted June 5 Super User Share Posted June 5 4 hours ago, T-Billy said: Got started this morning as the Strawberry Moon was setting over the lake down the street. I started out pitching bushy stuff like pictured below, but only managed three over four hours. No pic worthy fish today. Biggest was about 2#. Decided to switch gears, and started rolling a rage swimmer around all these laydowns. That put six in the boat over three hours, plus had four more come off. I sure wish the MWCD would quit spraying the grass in this lake. There used to be a big milfoil bed on this flat, and it held tons of LM and saugeye. Fishing here can still be decent, but it's a shadow of it's former self. The watershed caters to the sailboaters and pontooners on this lake and sprays the grass most years. Back when they let the grass grow this was one of the best LM lakes around. As much as I love looking at pics of bass, photos of where you guys cast are just as great, if not better, for they're instructive. So, thanks, Tim. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optimator Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 We didn’t get into any big ones but we had a blast. It was the first time this year my son and I were able to get out together. 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmurphy87 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 I got out this afternoon around 1:50pm, I was planning on fishing a small pond that I had not been to in a week or so. I have been seeing more and more people there recently than the past 2 years, not sure what to make of it but oh well. I always hit the river before I get to the pond, I mean it’s right on the way there and why not. I started off pitching past a rock outcropping that normally holds fish, nothing. I then thought about how it’s been warmer than it has been all this past week long. Temperatures between 85-90, decided to throw out towards the deeper water a little ways ahead of the pylon. Bingo, felt the tap and set the hook and got a nice little 2lb smallie. Bait was a 1/4 oz strike king tungsten football swinghead jig with a owner 3/0 j hook along with a black and blue bandito big. I then snuck the back way into the pond, this way I don’t have to walk past the only shady spot on the pond. Much to my dismay the water level was a couple feet lower than normal so a lot of the structure was not even in the water. I kept at it with the same bait that I caught the smallie on but no takers. I had a couple blow up on it when I was dragging it across the top of the weed mats but they never grabbed it. I then decided to change baits, I went with a weightless super fluke in Houdini on a 3/0 hook. I figured that I might get more action. I caught one tiny one and was ready to go, I was tired of picking the cotton off of my line and fighting with that. I stayed a little longer and caught another tiny one and left skunk free. I then decided to go to spring valley to throw the fluke because it is also very weedy but hard to catch much there. I was in one of the spots that I know of. Looked like most of the other spots were occupied from my vantage point, plus a couple kayaks out fishing also. This place is slammed with people fishing it most of the time. Less than 10 minutes I caught one working it back next to the brush in the water. I told myself that’s good enough for me, difficult fishery and less than 10 minutes is a victory. they were not big fish by far but I earned every one of them with my knowledge of the spots and also knowing where the fish are holding throughout the year at these places. This is what drives me, to be able to go places where people fish but don’t catch many and catch them consistently is a start. We can work on size latter, patterns, locations and weather are the things that we can use as tools to stack the odds in our favor. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted June 5 Super User Share Posted June 5 @Jmurphy87: Another photo of where you cast and thanks for that! 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmurphy87 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 13 minutes ago, ol'crickety said: @Jmurphy87: Another photo of where you cast and thanks for that! 2 No problem, I figure it will help someone out one way or another. I look at it as a piece that helps add perspective to the story as we tell them. This way you can feel like you’re there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User NorcalBassin Posted June 5 Super User Share Posted June 5 Pops with one on a senko. I picked up a nice one on an underspin with a 2.8 on 4# test. That was a good time! 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter373 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Got out Friday night for an hour and a half or so. Threw a buzzbait around for a bit and got a couple of good eats. Nothing on the chatterbait. Seemed like fish would really eat a worm but I didn't feel like rigging up a texas rig. Had my light rod with an inline spinner already tied on and thought wth I know I'll catch some fish and it'll be a lot of fun. Proceeded to catch everything from 6" bass to giant bluegills to a bunch of 2 pound bass. Had so much fun. Had around 15 bass on the evening and mixed in close to a dozen bluegills as well. 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Raider Bob Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 18 minutes ago, hokiehunter373 said: Got out Friday night for an hour and a half or so. Threw a buzzbait around for a bit and got a couple of good eats. Nothing on the chatterbait. Seemed like fish would really eat a worm but I didn't feel like rigging up a texas rig. Had my light rod with an inline spinner already tied on and thought wth I know I'll catch some fish and it'll be a lot of fun. Proceeded to catch everything from 6" bass to giant bluegills to a bunch of 2 pound bass. Had so much fun. Had around 15 bass on the evening and mixed in close to a dozen bluegills as well. I call the Mepps Aglia my "Secret Weapon". When all else fails it will get bit. Only thing for me is that it is a hang up machine. If you fish laydowns, forget it! I ALWAYS have one tied on! I especially like it because of what you just described, it is multi species. It catches everything that swims. I even caught a big grass carp on it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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