More nice bass pics - you folks are gonna get me through winter. 
 

I got out on Friday, on Lake Ontario.  Absolutely crazy to say that about March 8.   Air temps were about 55-60F, so we didn’t even need gloves.  We were after big spring pike though, so I won’t post pics here (I did in the other species forum).  But it sure felt good to be fishing again, especially to feel that thump and have the road load up.

 

We have lots of cold rain this weekend, headed back down to the negatives by end of next week.  Hopefully it’ll swing back up and we’ll get out again in April.🤞🏻

I fished for 4 hours today. I caught an 18 inch Spot on my first cast.  After than I caught 6 more spots between 14 and 16 inches, then I caught a 5.20 pound 20 1/2 inch Largemouth on my last cast.  3 came on a buzz bait, including the 18 inch Spot.  The rest were on a bladed jig.   They were all on secondary points in almost no water.    The lake was "funny" today.  We had a BUNCH of rain yesterday.   Lake Wylie is fed by the Catawba river, from Mountain Island lake,  but 1/3 of Lake Wylie's water comes from the South Fork River.  The lake is up about a foot or so from yesterday.  They were not drawing water.  The wind was from the West.  The South Fork is really muddy, almost blood red.   I suppose due to the wind, and lack of current there was a mud line coming up the lake from the South Fork.   They were scheduled to turn the generators on----- start pulling water a Noon today.  I suppose after some water got moving the mud line went back down the lake.  Pictured are the 18 inch Spot, and 5.20 pound Largemouth.   

 

Nice fish!

@Woody B!

Nice job @Woody B!!! We had a %**\!€£ hurricane and i nearly sank my battleship. Got a tiny crappie 

Awesome fish Woody, chatterbaits and buzzbaits.....the soul of Bass fishing 

If Woody strings an Alex-grade streak, we'll have to say that there's a new sheriff in town:

 

Had about an hour and a half of free time this morning , wind howling again and 34 degrees. Can’t use a worm so I tried a crankbait that a BR member gifted me, seemed like a good idea against shallow rip rap in the waves. Well by golly a 16” smallie grabbed it and fought like crazy! Fun 

 

34 and howling? True grit.

 

@ol'crickety it was sunny and I had a black hoodie so that helped, bout over the wind tho. I like dragging the bottom. I don’t know how the people on the plains live with it 😂 

34 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@ol'crickety it was sunny and I had a black hoodie so that helped, bout over the wind tho. I like dragging the bottom. I don’t know how the people on the plains live with it 😂 

 

Springs on the coast of Maine tend to be windy. I find it maddening. Yesterday was steady at 26 mph and gusting to 40 mph. Today is better, but still 20 mph. Tomorrow is more of the same. I read that some sodbusters in the 1800s, living in their sod homes, sometimes went crazy, hearing the wind howl for months. 

25 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I read that some sodbusters in the 1800s, living in their sod homes, sometimes went crazy, hearing the wind howl for months. 

 

Hmm...

I was born in Wichita and grew up in Kansas City. Spent 20 years in Denver before

moving to Tennessee in 1997. Until I moved to the Mid South the wind howled every

day.

Good gracious, it isn’t nearly that strong here 😂 

I left out early this morning with the temperature below freezing to fish a place I haven’t been to in a good while. Im thinking of entering a kayak tournament in a few weeks and wanted to see if I could catch any in this area. I ended up having an amazing day on my kayak.

 

I ended up catching two small ones like pictured and the 16” pictured which is much better than last weeks 13”. I saw a beautiful bald eagle that kept flying away down the creek so I saw him several times. I wish I could have gotten a little closer for some better pics.  My favorite section of the creek is also pictured even though pictures can’t do it justice.

With a creek as beautiful as yours, you don't have to catch anything to have a great fishing trip.

Nice work @Jmilburn76, that’s a great eagle photo. It’s getting to be where I see one almost every time I’m on the water year round 

@ol'crickety it really is a pretty area that’s right outside a state park. At the very top and a little to the left in the pic is an historical house that was built in 1802. I enjoy the area anytime I can get my kayak on the water.

@TnRiver46 I try to keep an eye out but I’m usually zoned out with fishing and controlling my kayak.  I just happen to look up and see him, stopped fishing for a good 10 minutes to watch him. 

Second day post front, so changed up water bodies and hit a more stained reservoir today. Had a decent mixed bag for about 3.5 hours of fishing with 4 bass (3 keepers) and about a dozen crappie. Had 5 crappie between 1.25-1.70 lbs, and the rest were just nice chunks. Water temps surprised me, only hitting 57-59 deg. today. Couldn’t really tell though if the fish were running a little behind some of the other warmer lakes or not.
 

 

 

 

Had a very success day of catching on Sunday, just not really what I was after. The bass were hard to come by, but I also caught a bunch of trout, several drum, a couple walleye, a catfish, and a wiper, most of my fish fell for a Ned rig, couldn't get them to eat a moving bait hardly at all. 

First fish of the morning, I pitched a RI Sweet Beaver into a tree, got a tap and slight pull down into the tree, not at all what I was expecting.

I actually hooked another that bit the exact same my next pitch into that tree, but it came off. 

It took close to a hour to get my first bass bite, but it was at least a pretty nice one.

Again, not the flavor I expected but I'll never complain about a 18.5" 3.57lb smallmouth, especially for my first one of the year. It just barely breathed in a Ned rig in 6' of water.

I made myself some "scoping jigheads", and found a flat loaded with fish so I tossed that rig, and caught another trout that could barely fit the plastic in it's mouth.

Jumped across to a shallow bank I'd never fished before, but I spotted a nice laydown I had to pitch to, worth it.

Kept picking up fish steadily, mostly trout and very small largemouth on the Ned rig, but then hooked a much heavier fish. Not a big surprise to catch one, but I've never seen a walleye that big from this lake. Not my longest kayak walleye, but she was super fat and 4.51 pounds, for sure my heaviest kayak walleye ever and probably my second heaviest I've ever caught. Released to get even bigger.

I caught 1 more walleye I thought about keeping but couldn't remember if the length limit was 15" or 18" so I just tossed him back.

 

This was the last trip before I head to Oklahoma this weekend to prefish for the Kayak Bassmaster Classic. The tournament is Wednesday and Thursday, the nerves are starting to set in 😬

Multi-species days are a blast, @Bluebasser86! Plus, you caught quality to go with your quantity of species. Good luck at the Bass master Kayak Classic! Is this the big tournament you qualified for last year?

@ol'crickety yes it is. I've paid my entry fee, signed my waivers, done my tax forms, and got most everything ready to be packed into my truck. I need to get a couple more big micro SD cards for my GoPro. 3 days of practice, 2 days of tournament, then we're going to the Bassmaster Classic after that, so I'm going to need plenty of storage space to get everything. 

I know I've never met you and likely never will, unless I spend my days driving at 100 m.p.h. back and forth across Kansas, but I'm still excited for you. I'm sure the whole BR crew is. It's clear that you're also excited, as you should be, for your participation is a big deal and you've the skill to land in the money. 

 

Speaking for all of the BR crew, we're proud of you. I'm an Ohio State Buckeye and our arch rival is Michigan. Michigan's battle cry is, "Go, Blue!"

 

Well, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm saying it now, albeit about you: GO, BLUE!

 

 

Best 3 of 14 today.

Still hard work around here - can only seem to get them on ayu jerkbaits at the moment.

 

Good thing I like throwing ayu jerkbaits

Good luck @Bluebasser86! We are cheering for ya !!!