1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Blue skies, SW wind 6-10 mph, and a high of 59 degrees made for nice conditions out on the water today. With the local lake trashed and likely unfishable for the next couple weeks, I decided to head to what I thought should be the clearest lake. Wasn’t totally shocked to see stained water when I pulled up, but upon closer examination, it was not the fresh red clay colored stuff, just a good stain with 12”-15” of visibility (normally 4 ft. or better). Water temps were 45 degrees.

 

Headed out and started shallow on some riprap without any luck, then a steep bank with some laydowns - still no good. Moved uplake to the last area I found them grouped up on, and finally got a bite - from a 4-11 bass. That one bite made my afternoon, but slowed down and worked through the larger area and came up with 3 more keepers. Down to the last 20-25 minutes, so I returned to the area where I got that first big bite, and sure enough, about 50 yds down the breakline I stuck and landed a 5-4 to complete my limit. 
 

More rain in the forecast, possibly 1-2 inches, followed by a good shot of cold air. No idea when that next trip will be, but I know where I’ll be going.

 

 

 

Nicely Done ~

It was only a matter of time.

Congrats

A-Jay

Gosh, those are sweet fish, @Team9nine. 

Weather and sickness are keeping me off the water as well. I've missed 3 trips in January already from one of those 2 things. I'm hoping I can go somewhere this weekend even though it's high winds again. Don't think I can go out in my kayak as every day looks to be > 15 mph sustained winds, but maybe I can hit a pond. Feels like it's been 6 months since I went out, although in reality only about 2 weeks. I don't know how you northerners do it, I'd go insane if I was locked inside for months on end! 

53 minutes ago, FishTax said:

I don't know how you northerners do it, I'd go insane if I was locked inside for months on end! 

 

We do go insane. This is me:

 

The weather is absolutely terrible for fishing but I'm still gonna trudge through the slop and mud to see if I can get bit tonight.  It's been a long week and I need to at least cast. It's raining pretty hard which usually is terrible for fishing in the evenings but it's kinda warm rain so maybe it balances out?  Let's hope!

 

I haven't been on the boat in 2 weeks and if nothing catastrophic happens tomorrow after Jake's basketball game I'll get a short trip out.  

 

I need to catch a bass y'all 😭😭😭

I'm with you Pat.  All the lakes around here a full of floating stuff.  A couple months ago they were all 5 to 7 feet low.  Not they're all spilling or close to spilling.  Lake Norman is 7 feet higher than it was 6 weeks ago.  How many gallons is 7 feet of water in a 30,000+ acre lake?   

 

I'm going to have breakfast with my Dad tomorrow then head to Lake Wylie later.  Wednesday they had all 4 generators running and 4 flood gates open.   Maybe moving all the water will create some clearer spots.   Wylie is 5 feet higher than 6 weeks ago.   I managed a 5 pounder Monday with high muddy water.  Maybe they'll be hungry again.   

3 hours ago, FishTax said:

I don't know how you northerners do it, I'd go insane if I was locked inside for months on end! 

Most people ice fish here. A whole lot more than during open water season too. Just not me.

 

The difference this winter is that the ice is either 1) non existent, or 2) unsafe.

 

I just got word of a fatality from a truck going through the east side of Mille Lacs. Only 6 inches of ice. Recommended thickness is 13-17 inches for a truck.

@Pat Brown and @Woody B, if you’re up for a drive the mtn lakes stay clear for whatever reason , not sure how far yall are from western NC

3 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

The weather is absolutely terrible for fishing but I'm still gonna trudge through

I'd cleared out tomorrow's work today in hopes of getting a wade in before the arctic drops on us next week, but sometimes God simply doesn't want me to catch a fish. 25-28mph winds and fishing under giant overhung trees is just looking for a concussion or worse. The ground is soaked from rain already and we're getting hammered again tonight, so treefalls are likely. Oh well. Catch one for me!

4 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

The weather is absolutely terrible for fishing but I'm still gonna trudge through the slop and mud to see if I can get bit tonight.  It's been a long week and I need to at least cast. It's raining pretty hard which usually is terrible for fishing in the evenings but it's kinda warm rain so maybe it balances out?  Let's hope!

 

I haven't been on the boat in 2 weeks and if nothing catastrophic happens tomorrow after Jake's basketball game I'll get a short trip out.  

 

I need to catch a bass y'all 😭😭😭

Don't do it! This is page 666 of this thread, just saying

Dad gum this tropical storm nonsense sure is wild middle of January!  And the polar vortex coming in hot on Tuesday.  Gonna be a wild spring!  The good news is those fish arent gonna be missing a meal on account of the weather and they just gonna be that much fatter when we get back on em! 😉😉😉

Beautiful, calm winter morning at the ramp.

 

First spot of the day on an underspin.

 

Pops with a little fella on a senko

 

This guy hit a ned while still having a partially digested craw.

 

Butt ugly tube always seems to deliver when the winter bite slows down.

 

9 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

they just gonna be that much fatter when we get back on em! 😉😉😉

I don't know what's going on with the Lake Wylie Largemouth.  They must me on some kind of fitness program.  The 5 pounder I caught Monday was full of eggs, but otherwise skinny.   21 3/4" long pre spawn, but only 5.04 pounds.   The Spots I catch are pretty much all fat, even the 10 inch long micro Bass.  21 3/4 long LM was 5.04, a 17 3/4" long Spot was 3.66.    There's plenty of forage for all of them.   From what I've seen on sonar the Spots are hunters....even wolfpack hunters.   The LM are ambush predators.   Flathead Cats are ambush predators too, but they manage to get really fat.   

 

@TnRiver46 I should venture out but I'm usually busy and have limited time to fish.  Those clear, deep lakes would be a whole new ball game for me.   All of the lakes within an hour of me are "blowed out" right now.   

 

I'm not in a "woe is me" situation.  My lakes aren't and don't freeze.  I'll have fun searching Lake Wylies 13000+ acres for clearer/cleaner areas even if I skunk.   I don't get embarrassed, and I will eventually catch some Bass.  

@NorcalBassin: Big spot! Here's a GIF of it swimming by your boat.

 

19 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

 

I need to catch a bass y'all 😭😭😭

I feel this, still looking for first bite of the year

Another awesome sunrise at the ramp to kickoff a solid day on the water.

 

First one dragging a 2.8

 

Another on a 2.8

 

Hula grub also did some damage

 

 

This chubby fella came on a finesse jig.

 

 

 

Awesome Spots!   That last one is why N.Cal produces the WR fish.    They just get built differently.  

 

It's been a long time since I caught a 5lb Spot, grew up catching dozens......having caught a 5lb SM, Spot, and LRGM, the Spot is just that much of a stronger, harder fighting fish imho.    

 

Caught this nice Spot on Thurs., weather just wrecked the fishing but it was very much expected.   Every day that passes now the lake clarity should return, but we're heading into the coldest 4-5day stretch of the whole year. 

 

 

😒😒

Wind chill was -7f when I went to work this morning 

I skunked yesterday at Lake Muddychuck.   I had a plan, but I didn't stick to it.  Mike Tyson says "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth".   The first part of my plan was to check a creek right across from the landing to see if there was any clearer water.  There wasn't and no signs of activity on sonar.  The second part of my plan was to go down near the dam.   There was 20 mph winds with 30+ mph gusts.  It was about a 45 degree cross wind to the direction I was going.   I was getting SOAKED by the white caps.   I decided to fish a while near the landing, then headed home.   I went to Mountain Island Lake today, the next lake up the Catawba river from Wylie/Muddychuck.   I had limited time and decided I was going to do "one and done".....meaning catch 1 then head back home.   I caught a 16 inch Spot on my 3rd cast.....so I decided to fish a bit longer.  ~20 minutes later I caught a 14 inch Spot.  The wind was starting to get up so I decided to head home.   Next weekend the lows are supposed to be in the teens, with highs around freezing.  I probably won't be going then.   I caught both on a Damiki Vault.   A total of 2 isn't great, but it's WAY better than none.  I also caught one of them on my last cast.   (like I try to often)

 

No boat trips today.  It was blowing Winn Dixie and Mrs. Meagan didnt approve of the risk with water being low 40s.

 

We went to the pond for a super muddy water windathon and I managed to finally catch one!

 

Red Eye'd Shad in red got it done.  Had maybe two little bumps that didn't connect within the same one hour before sun hit the tree line. 

 

Jake's off tomorrow and we may try to focus our efforts more from 10-2 and see what happens.

 

 

Love the extremely pale color they get when you got 4 inches of visibility!!! 😂😂😂

Glad to see my NC buddies getting it done today. I didn't want to deal with the wind so I went to academy to see what's on sale. Big clearance, lots of red lipless on sale from various brands. Pat you may want hit the Burlington store if you have a minute in the next couple days. 

Normally would have never gone given the wind forecast - steady at 14-20 gusting 28-33 mph…but the high hit 56 today, the extended forecast is crappy, and I thought I had formulated a game plan based on wind direction to try and continue learning how these Southern lakes and bass behave and react. Was really just hoping for one decent bite given the conditions. Got my first keeper within 15 minutes and felt like I had already done what I wanted, but kept running the pattern and ended up with a limit of bass topped by a 4-0 fish. The last 45 minutes I tried repeating my bite from a couple days before and got the best bite of the day at 5-10. Learned a lot and feel really good about how things are setting up.

Last pic of trailer gives you an idea of the water clarity I’m dealing with. This was near the dam and water temps were 44-45.5 most everywhere. Water color only gets worse as you move uplake due to 5.0” of rain the past week.

 

 

 

 

Let's go @Team9nine!     Awesome stuff, and I learn more in a week during the winter than months in the Spring and Summer.......I just flat out suck in the Fall 😆

 

This is the most concise and perfect advice I've seen in relation to winter Bassin.  Word for word everything is spot on.

 

 

@Team9nine, @NorcalBassin, and @AlabamaSpothunter are all boating big bass. Way to go, guys!

Figured I better fish some before the snow hit. We got 5-6 largemouth, 5-6 bluegill, a crappie and a yellow bass. My buddy caught a LM with a fly he tied casting it up under a dock with an 8 wt.

 

got some snow on the ground now with lots of single digits in the forecast, might have get creative