Best thread on the fishing internet, always so enjoyable to come back after a day or two away and see all the great information, stories, and catch reports!    Really appreciate the kind words, and the great discussion related to my last post.   

 

@Carolina Pines  Dude what a banger of a day, and to do it with your dad.....absolutely priceless!    Beautiful fish, glad you guys made a memory for life. 

 

@N Florida Mike  Let's Goooo Mike, glad the toads are showing up for you!   

 

@Woody B   Really hate to hear that buddy, but I honestly believe that for a true grinder and real one like yourself, the fishing Gods will swing that luck deal back your way in the near future.     I had my nicest spinning rod and a Drift Fry hanging over the boat barely in the water on Saturday and I had a 2lb fish eat the bait and by some miracle I caught the rod before it went over board......kind of washes out the fish stealing my KGB TSG a week ago.   

 

@Creek Pirate  100% agree and awesome SM brother!

 

@ATA  Heck of impressive fish sir, the harder you grind for it, the more you got my respect.   

 

@Pat Brown  Continuing to show why he's the king of lipless cranks!  

On 2/11/2024 at 8:05 AM, ol'crickety said:

 

 

Gosh, I miss fishing. I'd just like to be on the water again. I would seriously be happy with a skunk just to be there once more.

 

 

 Half the treat of a great day is a Katie reply 😁

 

Katie I can honestly speak for this entire thread, WE'RE ALL READY FOR KATIE SEASON 😎

 

The part about the one bait and daunting......my exact thoughts, and I wonder what my winter season would have been like without the Drift Fry.

 

The Drift Fry has made the lake appear that it's never seen a Bass angler, but it's actually a very pressured lake......there's no lake sadly in Alabama that isn't pressured heavily.      

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

Katie I can honestly speak for this entire thread, WE'RE ALL READY FOR KATIE SEASON 😎

 

Ha! Me too!

 

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

The Drift Fry has made the lake appear that it's never seen a Bass angler, but it's actually a very pressured lake.

 

I've long inferred that your lake is "very pressured." Heck, there's a dock every ten or twenty yards. And the developed shorelines will also, as I recently wrote, reduce water quality, which is another kind of pressure on the bass. Plus, when you hook your seven-pounders, you don't do it in a secret cove. I'm sure people see your great success and people talk. Like @Pat Brown and @PhishLI and @Woody B and others, you fish in a fish bowl, making all of your successes even more praise-worthy. 

We all reduce water quality when we flush the toilet , most lakeside homes don’t just go dumping stuff into the water. The EPA will pretty much bury people for that nowadays, water quality has gone WAY up since the 1970s 

First roberts bass of the year yesterday.

Had about a 20mph north wind but it was sunny so I took to the rocks

Water temps are in the high 40s

Haven't felt very good for about a week now. Really felt bad Saturday but felt a little better Sunday. Got up enough energy to go out for a couple hours before the Superb Owl. 

 

Thought I was going to have the first cast curse, but ended up catching one on my last cast as I was just getting back to the ramp. Both were ugly fish but better than a skunk.

 

Coming off two inches of rain, a fast rising barometer, clear blue skies, and winds 10-12 out of the north gusting 20+. Then I lost a couple hours dealing with a dead battery. But finally made it out, squeezing in just over 2 hours. Water was high and a bit more stained than usual, but fishable. Caught about a dozen crappie and two bass. Best bass almost 4 lbs.; best crappie was 2.31 lbs.

 

 

45 minute session at a pond at the community college next to where my son has basketball practice yielded a limit on the buzzbait this evening.

 

Pat, you know those puddles in the street after a downpour? I think you could catch bass in those. 

And I do it using monofilament line!  😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

 

Lucky I guess. 🥹😂🎣

 

Thanks for the kind words @ol'crickety

12 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Pat, you know those puddles in the street after a downpour? I think you could catch bass in those. 

     I agree Katie, I think Pat could catch fish on morning dew!

I could see Alex hanging a hog out of my goat trough!      Me?   Well.....I catch my lunkers vicariously through my BR friends! I can catch the newborns all by myself!

Jerkin and spinnin' em up outta the pond this morning before work.  Decent one on the Jerkbait and a big crappie and a big sunfish.  Multi species Jerkbait bonanza!

 

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Jerkin and spinnin' em up outta the pond this morning before work.  Decent one on the Jerkbait and a big crappie and a big sunfish.  Multi species Jerkbait bonanza!

 

What kind of sunfish is that? Ear lobe too long to be a BG.  Not a greenie. Is it a Red-breast? Or some hybrid?

I reckon that's a green sunfish but fairly pale on account of winter time. It could be a green sunfish bluegill hybrid or a green sunfish red ear hybrid.  Definitely got green sunfish in it.  It has the tropical facial stuff going on.

@Blue Raider Bob @Pat Brown I’d say it’s got either some redbreast or longear going on with it as well due to the longer "ear". Might also have muted colors for early season or muddy/stained water.

3 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I reckon that's a green sunfish but fairly pale on account of winter time. It could be a green sunfish bluegill hybrid or a green sunfish red ear hybrid.  Definitely got green sunfish in it.  It has the tropical facial stuff going on.

I'm thinking hybrid Pat. Our Greenies have a distinct yellow/orange edge on all fins. That long earlobe makes me think Redbreast, but that mouth is more like wolfhound. No telling but it ate the bait!

Redbreast 

Only caught two today. But I did hook, fought, and lost my first truly magnum Spot. That thing had to be six pounds. Looked like a football with a head and tail.

19 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

But I did hook, fought, and lost my first truly magnum Spot. That thing had to be six pounds. Looked like a football with a head and tail.

 

Arrrgh! I don't wail for you, brother. I wail with you, as I've lost footballs with fins too. 

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Redbreast 

 

That looks right!

@GreenPig  Hate hearing that but the silver lining is you know where they live now.  You'll have another shot no doubt buddy!  

 

@Pat Brown  It's comical and equally impressive at this point where you can catch Bass, to the point I wish you had a GoPro.      

24 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

@Pat Brown  It's comical and equally impressive at this point where you can catch Bass, to the point I wish you had a GoPro.   

 

As @Blue Raider Bob said so well, Pat could catch bass in a dew drop. 

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

 

That looks right!

I forgot it was a pond, I guess it could be anything in there. I think stocked sunfish can be all manner of hybrid 

I've got my new buzzbait tied on and have dedicated a rod to it, and am determined not to take it off until I start catching them on it. @Pat Brown has inspired me. No time is the wrong time for a buzz bait.. apparently  

So awesome to see you hauling them in nonstop. And motivating to pay more attention to the ponds around the area for quick stops!

I just got a GoPro and I might try to videotape some buzz bait catches tonight because I'm going to that pond that was on fire a couple days ago that's next to my son's basketball practice tonight. It will help to be able to show people my retrieve because I think it's a big part of getting bit.

 

It's about the most fun way to catch a bass there is I do believe and for some reason it works on fish that have been caught a lot and during all seasons where water is wet.

 

The crazy part is, in my opinion, the perfect water temperature for a buzz bait is basically about to hit for the next 2 months and I predict that when we get to that 55 to 60° range it's going to be nuts.

 

They're already starting to hit it like crazy.

 

This morning I got a couple dinks before work on the lipless and that was only a 45 minutes session and I missed two bites. So I'm thinking that all the little guys are moving up. Looking to make beds in the next couple week with the full moon approaching.

 

Thankfully Jake got a toad on the lipless after work yesterday!