so it’s been unseasonably warm up here in mid-michigan.  a lot of years we would still be ice fishing.  i’ve been walleye fishing the saginaw river for the last month from my boat.  How we fish for walleyes in the saginaw river is by using a 1/4-1/2 oz walleye jig either tipped with a live minnow ( always emerald shiners)or split tail like a fin-s or other brands. this is a vertical presentation where we keep the jig 6-8 inches off the bottom and than basically jig up and than let the jig slam off the river bottom.  there were 100’s of boats on the river today walleye fishing. 

 

 

 I should have brought some smithwicks.  

 

I did catch 2 walleye but, the talk of the river was all of the small mouth.  Apparently the smallies were hungry.  there were a couple 4-5 pounders caught.  just sucks that where all the small mouth were caught that section of the river will shut down due due to the walleye spawn at 12:00 am march 15th.  it will not open again untill the last saturday in april. 

 

 

Keeping the "a bass every month" going at least one more and the last challenging month for awhile.  These 2 clones were pushed up in 5-6' of a windblown shore, but the bites were few and far between.

 

scott

Short but sweet trip yesterday where all fish were caught on a swim jig with a chunk on the back of wood.  Found some pretty big concentrations of fish staging and going back tomorrow for a longer trip and hoping the warm weather has them eating up shallow!

 

Oh snap, Pat's rocking that gucci gopro.......can't wait for some footage! 

 

Beautiful fish as always. 

Thank gawd these NE Ohio bass are turning on... 

Stopped at the local pond after church for a few minutes. First cast with a 1/4oz white beetle spin. Didn't even get a bite after that. 

 

Wellllll.....I went back out today.  Being my 37th birthday and all I really wanted to catch a special fish.  Also my wife made me enter the 'Big Bass Bash' which is a local annual tournament for our 3 major lakes where the 12 anglers who submit and certify at marina scales the biggest bass on any of the three lakes for each of the 12 months of the year get to compete the following spring for a cash prize.

 

Today, I got to submit one.

 

 

Currently in the lead for March for the tri city piedmont NC big bass bash and may compete next spring!

 

At around 2:30 pm I found a culvert where fresh water was dumping into the lake near some lilly pads.  They weren't in the pads today so I decided to fish some wood on the adjacent channel swing banks thinking they'd be excellent staging areas (and seeing some big herons sneaking around figured plenty of bait).

 

Well she smoked my @Siebert Outdoors 3/4 oz blue bug brush jig with a rage craw on the back on the fall next to a long lay down towards the end where it ended.

 

Meagan netted her and I kept her alive boatside all the way back to the marina for the submission and I revived and released her personally.  She swam away with vigor.  Bass are tough fish.

 

What a birthday.  One I'll never ever forget!

 

 

 

(And yes I got the whole thing on camera!)

@Pat Brown Yeah, buddy!  Fingers crossed you stay in the birthday money with that big girl. 😎

Jake got a real nice one too.  🎣😎♥️

 

LET'S GOOOOOOOOO JAKE!!!

 

Hammers don't fall from the hammer tree 😎

 

 

52 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Wellllll.....I went back out today.  Being my 37th birthday and all I really wanted to catch a special fish.  Also my wife made me enter the 'Big Bass Bash' which is a local annual tournament for our 3 major lakes where the 12 anglers who submit and certify at marina scales the biggest bass on any of the three lakes for each of the 12 months of the year get to compete the following spring for a cash prize.

 

Today, I got to submit one.

 

 

Currently in the lead for March for the tri city piedmont NC big bass bash and may compete next spring!

 

At around 2:30 pm I found a culvert where fresh water was dumping into the lake near some lilly pads.  They weren't in the pads today so I decided to fish some wood on the adjacent channel swing banks thinking they'd be excellent staging areas (and seeing some big herons sneaking around figured plenty of bait).

 

Well she smoked my @Siebert Outdoors 3/4 oz blue bug brush jig with a rage craw on the back on the fall next to a long lay down towards the end where it ended.

 

Meagan netted her and I kept her alive boatside all the way back to the marina for the submission and I revived and released her personally.  She swam away with vigor.  Bass are tough fish.

 

What a birthday.  One I'll never ever forget!

 

 

 

(And yes I got the whole thing on camera!)

Magnificent fish Pat, you are one exceptional angler!  

Dang pat you are always on the bigs !!! I have those same oars and oar locks………. Hard to spot lock them 😂 

 

I went fishing a while in my boat today, white bass completely evaded me which is somewhat rare but I got a crappie and a nice SM and a couple tiny LM

 

Beautiful fish and pics @TNRiver46........thanks for taking one for the team, sucks to post after Pat in this thread 🤣

Somebody had to do it! 😂. I’ll keep after the 3-4 lbers while he’s after 8-11 lbers……. You can only catch what is in the water I guess 

@TnRiver46 Sometimes I can't even do that 😂😂😂

 

The amount some of you guys catch astounds me and leads me to think I have so much to learn!!!  I mean for crying out loud. A bassmaster elite series champion learned everything he knew from Alex this past winter and won on Toledo Bend.

 

All I did was start a thread about Bama Strolling which led to a measly fourth place finish for Tyler Williams this week.🥲

Pat, your fish and Jake's are very nice.

The winter/pre spawn season is officially over here, males have finally flooded the bank and I've found a few huge female cruisers one with a mate but she won't lock down, two days in a row.    Fascinating watching the whole process with a year under my belt knowing what to look for.   

 

It was a great day with 22lbs and a 7.4 big fish on the pixie wand.   Drift Fry produced the 7.4.   

 

 

 

Lastly some have been interested in my dive down the mid strolling a minnow hole, and I found a secondary minnow I really like for slicker or sunnier days and that's the Fish Arrow Flash J 4" Split tail in Pro Blue Silver.    Caught a 5.9, 5, and lost a 6-7lb fish over the last cpl. weeks.   The Flash J straight tail has worked with some success but results speak and it hasn't produced like the Drift Fry or Split Tail model. 

Fish Arrow Flash J Split Tail Shad | Tackle Warehouse

 

 

Happy birthday, Pat. Whadda birthday gift! Way to fish, Jake! Your daddy's a sledge hammer, but you're still a 16 oz. hammer. 

Duuuuuuude let's GO Alex!  Absolute gorgeous tank you got there.  Really need to start playing around with the drift fry.

Thanks Pat!   I think you could catch a giant on just about anything 😎

That’s a tank Alex! So big it ate your trolling motor handle plum off! 

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

The winter/pre spawn season is officially over here, males have finally flooded the bank and I've found a few huge female cruisers one with a mate but she won't lock down, two days in a row.    Fascinating watching the whole process with a year under my belt knowing what to look for.   

 

It was a great day with 22lbs and a 7.4 big fish on the pixie wand.   Drift Fry produced the 7.4.

 

So... what do those places go for around your lake? I may need to start working a second job and then come join you in a few years.  😆

Wow, Alex. Just wow. You and Pat achieve the same feat, which is catching big bass in the middle of bustle and buildings. Whatever compliments you pay to Pat apply to you too, Alex. And vice-versa. I'm so excited to go strolling this spring. 

17 minutes ago, NorcalBassin said:

So... what do those places go for around your lake? I may need to start working a second job and then come join you in a few years.  😆

Sadly the neighbor who property and boat I use listed her house recently, come buy it please and it will be a happy ending for all! 😁

 

Thanks Katie, and I can't wait for you be fishing again period!  Especially look forward to the reports from your new dream "home lake" 😎 

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I can't wait for you be fishing again period! 

 

Me too, buddy. I quit fishing too early last fall and regret it. Next fall, I'm going to fish into November. And in 2023, I didn't start fishing until mid-April. We hit fifty degrees today and will reach fifty again one other day in the next two weeks. Plus, tonight's low is only 38 and there will several other nights above freezing. So, we might have wet ponds and bogs by the end of March. It would be great to begin again in early April. I LOVED fishing last April before the weeds grew. 

 

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Especially look forward to the reports from your new dream "home lake" 

 

This evening, I was replacing hooks on my childhood fishing lures: A South Bend Bass-O-Reno, a Creek Chub Plunker, a South Bend Spin-I-Diddee, a Heddon River Runt, a Heddon Pumpkinseed, and others. I wanted to do a vintage lure trip last year, but never did. I'm going to do it this year.

 

The lures I listed above are collectively worth hundreds of dollars to collectors and I know I reduced their value by replacing the hooks, but it'll be worth it to fish like I'm 12 again.

 

I have an old Zebco Cardinal too and I'm thinking of using that too.

 

Alex, congrats again on your incredible winter. So. many. six-and-seven pounders and I'm guessing you lost count of the four and five-pounders! I'd pity the pros who had to fish against you in a tournament. 

 

One more thing: If Bass Resource ever held a convention with seminars and Pat and Alex each taught one, I'd climb over attendees to sign up and I'd be sitting in the front row with an apple each for these bass whisperers. 

You're too kind Katie, and I'd love to see you do an article about the vintage lure fishing trip.   That would be an amazing piece based on the writer and subject matter.  

 

The sooner you can be on the water before it's 50d the better I'd think, but after seeing what you do in Maine if somebody told me Mars produces big ones I'd believe them now🤣