Good time of year to cull those buck spots to get the size up on your lake and for some tasty fish!  Sounds fun @Woody B!

Between work & weather there was not much fishing to be had this week.

 

To make matter worse I managed to grenade my baitcasting reel earlier this weekend putting it out of commission, perhaps permanently.  
 

So when I was able to get away for a little while today I decided to take my cranking rod out for a test drive.  It had been sitting a corner collecting dust since I bought it earlier this year. 
 

I didn’t do too hot, but I got one and it’s kinda special for me since it’s my very first fish I’ve caught on a crankbait.

 

 

Also I finally saw a fish on a bed so that’s exciting as well.  I hope that means things will start picking up around here soon.

Hit a local spot super early for a change of pace. High winds and cold overnights have really chilled the shallows since last I was out, so it was no surprise that Pickeral were still on a rampage. Thought I hooked into a lunker bass when a big one nailed my fluke and fought like crazy. Its head was the size of my fist, and somehow its razor teeth didn't slice through my braid. Just after daybreak and just before I had to go, I landed a nice chunk, so I was able to go to work with a bounce in my step.

Awesome fish @PhishLI, love how dark she is.  

Beauty, @PhishLI. I've fought a few pickerel that fought as well as four-pound bass. Love that four-pounder! You work so hard to pull a beauty like that out of pounded ponds and employ your considerable craft. 

Heck yeah @PhishLI super good to see your swamp photos with big dark fish showing up again!  🙂🎣

7 hours ago, Woody B said:

I know a guy who stayed out of work today and went fishing. 

 

I need to find ^this^ guy and pin a medal on him. 

Caught this little lady a few days ago on a sexy shad fluke in a pond that doesn't even have shad in it...

 

@Brian11719 now there’s a Texan bass. Excellent work 👏🏻👏🏻

@Brian11719: Lady? Ja. Little? Nah!

I realize it’s not the biggest bass, but 18” 

3 1/2 pounds is nice in Wisconsin. My best so far this spring!

@Dan N: If the day ever comes when I can't appreciate a 3.5 lb. bass, that means I'm dead so buy the coffin and say some prayers. She's a beauty, sweet and deep.

Slow day at the pond. Wanted to fish before the rain and cold front came through this afternoon (and it sure did). 
 

I started with a chatterbait and a jig-and-craw, even though they are not the best producers here. That stayed true today as well. I switched to a weightless TR with a Rage Bug. Had a couple light bites and then had a good strike. Just under 3 lbs. The Bug got torn so I switched to a Rage Craw, but the bite in that spot died. Tried a WR for a while with no bites but was noticing some action on the surface. So I tied on a Pop Max. I casted 3-4 times and something was hitting it every time but no hook-ups. The next cast I got a good hookset. What a bluegill! 
 

I later went back to the Rage Craw. I made a cast under some overhanging limbs and was working it back slowly, when the line just started moving sideways. Never felt or saw a bite, but the bait was moving. I set the hook and caught a bass about 1.5 lbs. Like a male moving it off the nest. That was it for the morning. 
 

@ol'crickety I finally remembered to take pics of where I casted when I caught the bass. You mentioned that last year and I always forget to do that. Glad I remembered today. The center of the pond pics is where I caught the two bass. Right up tight against the cover. 
 

I've said on here several times that I'm pretty good and making a plan (that usually works) but when my plan doesn't work I usually struggle.   There's 2 clubs that were having tournaments out of the landing I normally use so I used a landing several miles down river a couple miles up a creek channel.   My plan was not a good plan since I didn't look at the weather forecast.   My "plan" was to launch then go up river a few miles.  I had what should have been a good "milk route" planned.  The problem was the fog.  (first picture)   I caught a 12 inch White Perch (pic soon to be in other species thread) near the landing in the fog.   I was frustrated by the fog, and my poor planning.  I found plenty of Bass, near the landing before the fog lifted but either couldn't make accurate casts, or couldn't keep them pinned.  After the fog cleared (still near the landing) I caught a couple Spots (14" and 16") then called it a day.  I need to get better with "plan B", and quit getting aggravated when plan A doesn't work.  When I'm aggravated it's not fun, and when I'm not having fun I can't execute.  Right now my tomorrow plan is to go back the the same landing I used today, and fish near the landing.   There's Bass there I just didn't catch them today.  Forecast includes some rain.  I'm cool with that as long as there's not lightening.   

 

Havent had a chance to go fishing lately, and the weather has gotten pretty coldish. Really enjoy seeing everyone's fish. Keep it up, y'all. 

I fished a bog for the first time in 2024. My prior trips were ponds. I targeted big bass with a big Shimano swimbait and focused on drop offs adjacent to flats, points, and wood. I caught a few, but nothing big.

 

So, then I started poking around and discovered some bass in a summer location, i.e. relating to structure against the shore. 

 

I caught 14 in all and lead with a photo of the bog, then four of the bass. I hooked and lost three nice ones at the end of the evening. My hands were just too cold at that point to work well.

 

I saw three eagles at once, two immature adults and likely one of their parents. I also saw loons, geese, and ducks. 

 

 

Awesome Katie, glad you caught a few on the Shimano, should have been fun to watch them eat that thing.   That bait creates some spectacular eats I've found.  

I FINALLY broke the 5lb mark for the year, in fact I jumped right into the 6lb club with one of the thickest fish I've ever seen.

 

 

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Awesome Katie, glad you caught a few on the Shimano, should have been fun to watch them eat that thing.   That bait creates some spectacular eats I've found.  

 

That lure really wiggles. I was afraid one of the five eagles I saw might eat it.

 

I also got my first hit on a Whopper Plopper. The water is 54 degrees, so surface feeding isn't that far off!

 

@Bluebasser86: That bass makes me laugh! Sooooooooooooo fat!!!! Incredible that she's under 20" and six pounds. Wow.

Congrats @Bluebasser86!   She's been spawning too.  

Nice fish everyone.  @ol'crickety I don't usually recommend products but I use https://hothands.com/ to keep my hands warm.   They take a few minutes to warm up, but once they're warm they work great.(it's best to open and let them warm up before getting to the fishing spot)  I'm not much for wearing gloves, I just keep one in each coat pocket.  When my hands start to ache, (or worse cramp up) I'll reach in my pocket and give the warmer a squeeze for a minute.   It's raining and 60 now, but suppose to cool off as the day progresses.  I'll be using hot hands when I get to the lake today.  

@Bluebasser86, I know that vibrating jig! Think I still have at least one. 
 

@ol'crickety, the eagles will dive bomb and grab big lures, as well as osprey. It’s quite terrifying, I reeled an osprey all the way to the bank the other day . Not good 

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I FINALLY broke the 5lb mark for the year, in fact I jumped right into the 6lb club with one of the thickest fish I've ever seen.

 

 

Nicely Done ~

Fish seems almost as round as she does long ~

Congrats

A-Jay

53 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Bluebasser86, I know that vibrating jig! Think I still have at least one. 
 

@ol'crickety, the eagles will dive bomb and grab big lures, as well as osprey. It’s quite terrifying, I reeled an osprey all the way to the bank the other day . Not good 

 

I kept scanning the sky and kept rehearsing in my head what I'd do if an eagle dove on it. If I were an eagle, I'd dive on it: It looked delicious. 

 

Did the osprey free itself?

 

Thanks, @Woody B, for the reminder. I have a bag of those in my basement. I'll toss a couple in my knapsack. It had dropped into the forties by the end of my fishing and because a canoe is a wet boat and I had to step into the water to launch, I was soggy. 

 

@Bluebasser86's thickest bass should weight 4.49 pounds, according to my length to weight table, so it's more than 1.5 pounds above the norm. I share this so all can numerically appreciate what an exceptional fish she is. Of course, visually appreciating her is easy-peasy. 

Prefishing for my first club kayak tournament of the year Friday. I won this tournament last year on the same lake, also in April, so I felt like I knew what I wanted to do coming into it. After about 3 hours of fishing, I was sure I knew what I wanted to do. I had received some information about a little lake not too far away that was supposed to have real big ones, which always gets my attention, so I loaded up and headed down the road a little ways. Now it was not a numbers fishery at all, big fish lakes usually aren't around here, but it did not disappoint on the big fish. 

and of course, 2 cast after this one, I caught big momma.

I thought she might be an 8 when I saw her jump, just because of how thick she was and how big the mouth was. Once I got her in the net, I knew the length wasn't there, but still one of the thickest fish I've ever seen.