Cold and wet but a great way to kick of thanksgiving break after work/school!

2 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

I love that T-shirt! You holding that bass the same way makes it look like one of those never ending mirror images 😄

My wife had that shirt made for my birthday a couple months ago…

Caught these a few weeks ago on the Merrimack River in NH. Drop shot and a ned. Bigger girl is #4.2 

I think I've forgotten how to catch a bass, at least bigger ones. Had several good bites but kept losing them for some reason or another. Probably caught 30 but this one was by far the largest. 

I've been having plenty of fun chasing much bigger fish on the river though.

 

 

For a minute I thought you were in a wetsuit @Bluebasser86 and doing some noodlin’ for that big old whisker fish!

@Bluebasser86: That 16-incher is still a fattie. Even though the catfish could swallow that bass whole, I hope you didn't feed it to her!  

When the bass are hard to find, I don't mind a chunky snot rocket. Put up a solid fight yesterday Bouncing a Ned rig.

 

Lost my new favorite jerkbait today, an old Rapala Husky jerk, pink and white, small, had for a couple years and just never used till this winter... gone... might try a couple more night trips until it's too cold to bear

1 hour ago, J._Bricker said:

For a minute I thought you were in a wetsuit @Bluebasser86 and doing some noodlin’ for that big old whisker fish!

Nope, just raining all day and 41* outside. We wore them out though. Had a bunch of fun.

 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

@Bluebasser86: That 16-incher is still a fattie. Even though the catfish could swallow that bass whole, I hope you didn't feed it to her!  

No, although it would have been a completely legal bait in Kansas. They were from different days. The bluecat ate half a quillback I caught in my thrownet.

Got home from work today at 2:30 and considered the stupidity of launching the boat with sunset at 4:17, but figured why not clocks really ticking on this season. Fished 3-4:45, Hit a place where there's a couple spots close to the ramp hoping to find them holed up and biting. Not to be but I did scrounge out 4 bites on a jerkbait with this 1 hitting as I was calling it quits at 430 that weighed 4-7. 

I was tired of working, so I went fishing instead.

 

Caught a little smallmouth...

 

 

...and a pretty good size white bass.

 

1 hour ago, galyonj said:

I was tired of working, so I went fishing instead.

 

Caught a little smallmouth...

 

 

...and a pretty good size white bass.

 

It's nice to have that option. I'm fortunate to be self employed and go AWOL (most of the time) when the mood strikes. 

1 hour ago, The Bassman said:

It's nice to have that option. I'm fortunate to be self employed and go AWOL (most of the time) when the mood strikes.

 

Doesn't happen often, but today we knocked off early. 

@galyonj that’s a jammer white bass 

Hard to throw a small paddle tail at water here and not run into one every so often. lol

Went again most of the afternoon on the home lake. 

Very windy / cloudy conditions.

I got the pictured fish off a lay down by the island on a speed craw.

It was a very frustrating afternoon for me. To start with , the bite was slow. Caught a few other fish at random locations on flukes , uv speedworms with the paddletail, and the speed craw. Tried a spinnerbait for awhile and the magnum speed worm to no avail.

Finally pulled out my most consistent bait of the year: the yum dinger. Got to a dock that I had caught a 7 at a few years ago. Felt the tap, set the hook…

and inexplicably, the line broke. I am meticulous about the drag, knots, retying after nicks,etc. 
So, I’m dealing with that loss as I drift along and re-tie. Next cast , I just threw out instead of in, as I fought the wind and felt another tap. Set the hook. Big fish… pulling drag. Wind is blowing me around as the fish is pulling the other way, he gets the perfect angle on me …. and he came off… Now I’m talking to myself out loud, and I don’t care if anyone hears.

The rest of the day was one problem after another, including bird nests , casting into trees, losing more fish, trolling motor getting bogged down in weeds. I finally got one more decent fish on a senko off a brush pile, and it came off and landed in the boat at least. 
I haven’t gotten so aggravated fishing in many years. Thanks for letting  me vent a little.  I will endeavor to persevere.! 
Still very blessed…

 

3 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

Went again most of the afternoon on the home lake. 

Very windy / cloudy conditions.

I got the pictured fish off a lay down by the island on a speed craw.

It was a very frustrating afternoon for me. To start with , the bite was slow. Caught a few other fish at random locations on flukes , uv speedworms with the paddletail, and the speed craw. Tried a spinnerbait for awhile and the magnum speed worm to no avail.

Finally pulled out my most consistent bait of the year: the yum dinger. Got to a dock that I had caught a 7 at a few years ago. Felt the tap, set the hook…

and inexplicably, the line broke. I am meticulous about the drag, knots, retying after nicks,etc. 
So, I’m dealing with that loss as I drift along and re-tie. Next cast , I just threw out instead of in, as I fought the wind and felt another tap. Set the hook. Big fish… pulling drag. Wind is blowing me around as the fish is pulling the other way, he gets the perfect angle on me …. and he came off… Now I’m talking to myself out loud, and I don’t care if anyone hears.

The rest of the day was one problem after another, including bird nests , casting into trees, losing more fish, trolling motor getting bogged down in weeds. I finally got one more decent fish on a senko off a brush pile, and it came off and landed in the boat at least. 
I haven’t gotten so aggravated fishing in many years. Thanks for letting  me vent a little. I’m still kind of in a bad mood about the day…😕

But I will endeavor to persevere.! 
Still very blessed…

 

Been there myself many a time, as I’m sure most if not all of us have. That is what makes it so fun when we do have those better days & why the big ones are so awesome (and addictive). Can’t wait to see the big one - you know what I mean.👍

I slipped off early and fished the home lake a few hours yesterday. Very frustrating day, it was about as windy as I've ever been out on my kayak. The weather forecast was off or I wouldn't have gone out. I threw spinner bait and crank bait with no bites. Broke off my shaky head on second cast. Then got blown into some weeds just below surface I couldn't see and got prop wrapped up, and had to paddle into the wind out of it. Finally caught one good one on a jig on my way back in a random spot, but he got off beside the boat so no photo. 

On a positive note, I'm buying a new hummingbird this weekend so that was my last trip without electronics. Looking forward to sharing some great fish the rest of the year as December is probably my favorite month to fish in NC! 

New buzzbait PB this morning on Thanksgiving with frost on the docks!

LET'S GO!!!!

 

 

Got a couple smaller ones but this is by far my biggest bass this month and my biggest topwater fish!

 

What a thing to be thankful for today!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to y'all!!!!

1 hour ago, FishTax said:

Looking forward to sharing some great fish the rest of the year as December is probably my favorite month to fish in NC! 

Come to Indiana in December - it will quickly change your mind 🤣

 

Just kidding. I envy those of you fortunate enough to have nice enough weather to fish in the winter months. If it’s above 39° in 8+ days, I’m going for the first time in December.

Nice one @Pat Brown, seems like only yesterday you were saying you had never caught em on a buzzer. Couple

dozen bigs later, I think you’ve figured it out haha

5 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

New buzzbait PB this morning on Thanksgiving with frost on the docks!

LET'S GO!!!!

 

 

Got a couple smaller ones but this is by far my biggest bass this month this year and my biggest topwater fish!

 

What a thing to be thankful for today!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to y'all!!!!

Congrats Pat. Get a weight on her?  That tail though…

1 minute ago, RipzLipz said:

Congrats Pat. Get a weight on her?  That tail though…

 

 

I did not put her on a scale but based on heft and girth and how she physically felt in my hands, I'd say between 7-8.

11 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Nice one @Pat Brown, seems like only yesterday you were saying you had never caught em on a buzzer. Couple

dozen bigs later, I think you’ve figured it out haha

Time for you to get the spinnerbug out! 🤣

1 minute ago, RipzLipz said:

Time for you to get the spinnerbug out! 🤣

@Pat Brown:

 

 

@N Florida Mike and @FishTax: I actually miss fishing the wind, which I could do when my Lund, anchor, and motors. As I've shared before, my canoe is a sail, being high, light, and wide. It's nearly 16' long, but weighs a mere 32 pounds, so it's a nerdy kid and the wind is its bully. Even the bigger bass bully it (and me), pulling and spinning my canoe. But it you can anchor a heavy boat on a windy shore, you can enjoy amazing fishing. I don't anchor my canoe. I tried. It was dangerous. If I anchor from mid-boat, where I paddle, the waves batter me. If I anchor from the bow, I have to crawl up to the bow where the canoe is narrower and even tippier...in the wind.