Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

@BluegillsTightlines, @A-Jay, and @Bluebasser86:

 

 

@IcatchDinks: Beautiful bass!

[TnRiver46]

My wife outfished me with her 3 wt fly rod the other day on a 2.5 hour float, already missing clear water as ours is yohoo colored 

 

[Swamp Girl]

I went fishing with a pal this morning. I had three goals:

 

1. I wanted him to catch a lot of bass.

2. I wanted him to enjoy the morning.

3. I wanted him to catch a four-pounder or bigger.

 

He achieved the following:

 

1. He caught 35 bass. Success!

2. He had a great time. Double score! He commented several times about how beautiful it was in the fog.

3. I caught the four-pounder. Dang it!

 

Here's one of his average bass:

 

 

Here's a 3.5-poundish* bass I caught:

 

 

 

Here's my four-poundish* fish:

 

 

And here's a pond pic:

 

 

I only caught 22, but I was doing nearly all the paddling and a lot of positioning him. The only baits that were working were a wakebait and a spinnerbait. I couldn't catch a single bass on an underspin, which is my main lure. 

 

* "ish" means I'm guessing. My length-to-weight table tells me that when they get up to 19", they're about four pounds and I do know what a 19-incher looks like. I am certain that my biggest bass had a big head and my second biggest bass had a chubby belly and that my fishing buddy did a great job of netting them in deep weeds. That pond is at Peak Weeds right now. 

[CastingClinic]

Couple of river smallies on a spinnerbait and chatterbait.

Weather app said it “feels like” 100 when I called it quits and packed up at 10:15am. ☀️

 

[MN Fisher]

Another evening out - got there a couple hours before sunset, stayed for an hour after that.

 

Quiet night - only got one bass it was all of 14oz. Again on the 1/8oz Shakey with the GP-Magic Finesse Worm.

[Swamp Girl]

I went fishing again yesterday evening as I'd taken a pal fishing yesterday morning and whenever I take someone fishing, as much as I love to do that, I miss being able to focus on my fishing. Well, I focused, but for the first hour, could only catch one pickerel. I had a couple weak hits, but no bass. In the final two hours, the fishing picked up and I landed eight brown bass and seven green bass. The smallmouth were all cookie cutter. This size:

 

 

Of course, being smallmouth, there was nothing thin about their fights.

 

The lmb were thicker and they fought like the dickens too:

 

 

Nothing big, but a fun evening. I think the heat and bright, blue skies are why I caught fewer than I normally do. I caught them on a wakebait, spinnerbait, and underspin, the only three lures I tried. The second bass from the bottom was in less than a foot of water, lying in the little river right behind her, a river which hosts Atlantic salmon. However, the best fishing was off-shore, in eight to ten feet of water. 

[Bluebasser86]

Got the video wrapped up. Some pretty quality fish catches from a few hours of fishing. 

 

[Swamp Girl]

@Bluebasser86

 

Flying freshwater fish? Who knew?

[Peacedivision]

Just now from an extremely pressured and carp choked urban pond. I was actually happy just to see a bass still living in there, and got a decent little belly for the size.

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

@Bluebasser86

 

Flying freshwater fish? Who knew?

Got to get them out of those water willows fast or they’ll bury up and it’s impossible to get them out then. Not my fault they were miniatures 😂

[LrgmouthShad]

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Got the video wrapped up. Some pretty quality fish catches from a few hours of fishing. 

 

Little 'flips' into that water willow... messy fishing. I don't enjoy working a t-rig through that stuff. It's definitely not my favorite grass to fish but dadgum some nice ones live in the thick stuff you can't get a moving bait through. That skip under the overhanging tree for the fish @ 15:42 was beautiful. I thought to myself, "oh no he didn't!!"

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Got to get them out of those water willows fast or they’ll bury up and it’s impossible to get them out then. Not my fault they were miniatures 😂

 

Sadly, I am the Queen of Bass Burying Themselves in Weeds. So, yeah, I understand your motivation and envy your strength. I think, if a carrier's catapult breaks down, that the Navy could use you to launch their jets. 

[AndrewJ]

Top water bite wad good to me.

 

 

 

Caught on the same crankbait at the same time.

 

 

[Pat Brown]

Well with the new moon coming I figured I better fish a little harder than normal and was rewarded handsomely yesterday.

 

After work a storm was set to roll through hard and wet just around sunset and we said 'heck - that sounds pretty swell'.

 

We packed ourselves into the car and made our way to the ponds and only got some hits and taps with one small fish upon a mepps for an hour of our time.

 

We changed the tune and decided to hit a local spillway that has produced before but only a couple dinks - figuring maybe the weird weather would activate them.

 

Well it was a good adjustment.

 

Minutes after we arrive Jake nails a really nice fish on the ox blood dinger weightless:

 

 

A very healthy fish that portends good things and tells me we are in the right spot - maybe.

 

Jake and I make our way to the dam - me with my frog and Jake with his dinger and Jake proceeds to nail fish #2 on the finger:

 

 

I'm feeling antsy about my choice of the frog - but the storm is getting closer and the weather is getting funkier so I keep tossing it.

 

I bomb one waaaaay out into the main river channel the dam dumps into and my frog gets smoked nearly instantly in about a foot of water on a hump I know is out there.  I somehow manage a hookset and it feels nicer:

 

 

It is nicer.  Sadly it snapped my frog rod on the landing but a fish on topwater from this spot seems very odd and special.....Okay maybe we are getting somewhere with the bite.

 

I release this healthy porky fish and return the corpse of my frog rod to my trunk and retrieve my drop shot rod.  After about 3 casts I conclude a dropshot is not going to work at all with the bottom composition and retie with a weightless Zoom Speedworm in green pumpkin on a 3/0 offset worm hook.

 

I bomb my first cast out on a rocky flat and try buzzing it and it gets smoked by a dink - I land this fish and continue to try to get one buzzing the speedworm to no avail.

 

Storm is getting rather serious at this point.  Some thunder and some lightning but very far off - the rain and wind however were picking up.

 

I insist that the bite is exceptional and it's nearly a new moon - I decided to make a few more casts at some choice locations before we depart.

 

I head to the mouth of the creek that the spillway dumps into and bomb one to a sandy point that sticks out into the main channel noticeably with a ton of wood dammed up in the water just beyond where I can physically get my bait.

 

I very very slowly begin to retrieve the bait with my rod tip down.  Rain is pouring everywhere and we can't really hear anything.

 

I merely felt like I was snagged all of a sudden and then the snag began to pull back!  Oh boy fish on and it's a doozy.

 

 

We get recombombulated after the excitement of a big fish and I bite the head off my speedworm and retie my knot with shaking hands all in a matter of 1 minute and make one more cast to the same spot.

 

I begin the same barely moving retrieve.

 

This time I'm sure I'm snagged (I've lost dozens of baits at this spot to fishing line and rocks and trees limbs under water) but this snag begins to pull back and my drag slips.

 

Then she jumps.  Uh Oh.

 

 

Back to back casts yielded giant fish number 2.  This one a true NC trophy.

 

Spawned out 7 lber that would easily go 9 in the spring.

 

Incredibly healthy fish with a small mouth and a giant body.  Probably from the same school the first one came from.

 

Jake and I pack the car-  soaked in silty spillway water and rain and fish goo - with adrenaline pumping through our veins.

 

Not bad for a quick trip out after work before a storm hit around a new moon.

 

 

[fin]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

Sadly it snapped my frog rod on the landing but a fish on topwater from this spot seems very odd and special.....Okay maybe we are getting somewhere with the bite.

 

I broke my rod, but I got a special bite on topwater!

 

What's wrong with us? 😆

 

I was thinking I would cry a lot more over that rod, but then I scrolled down and saw the pics of the fish. Ah-ha. I understand now. And being proven right to stick it out through the storm is priceless too. 😉 Congrats on a great experience.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

@Pat Brown: Way to go!!!

 

I fished my pond this evening and I continue my downhill slide...catching fewer and fewer bass. It's not just hot. It's steamy. Yeah, that humid. Plus, the sky was clear. Still, I caught eight, starting with two in the middle.

 

 

Then I caught my best bass tight to shore. It was one of those extra fun bass because there were weeds behind weeds by weeds atop weeds beneath weeds. So, boating her was a rush.

 

 

I picked up a couple more nice ones and finished with eight bass, all lmb, and all on an underspin and wakebait.

 

 

 

[WackyWormNedRig]

Fished crystal clear water today. Landed a nice bass off a wacky worm in about 3 foot of water

[Fried Lemons]

It was hot but the fish were biting at midday. I was fishing offshore rock in 12-20’. Got on a few with a 10” worm

 

They were also eating the swimbait pretty well in similar areas.

 

[Woody B]

I need to get some or 'y'all to re teach me how to catch Bass.  I went yesterday morning and caught one 14 inch Spot.  I found a few scattered Bass but for the most part I couldn't even coax a look or follow.   I decided to try at night.  That was no better.  I went last night around midnight and fished until 4AM.  I caught one dink Largemouth.  My night pictures are usually pretty bad so I didn't even attempt for a dink.    Both were on points in 12 to 14 feet of water.   Both were on a 6 inch Texas rigged "trick" worm with 1/8 ounce weight.  

 

[Swamp Girl]

@Woody B: If anyone teaches you how to catch bass again, please send that teacher to me too. I was catching 45 bass per outing mere weeks ago. Last night I caught eight and I felt lucky to catch eight because they just weren't hitting.

 

It's confusing because the water looks soooooo bassy now with all the weeds.

 

There was another boat near mine with three anglers and they caught none, so, yeah, I felt lucky to catch what I did, but here are my catch rates for my last three outings: 22...15...8.

 

At this rate, I'll catch two next time or be smooched by this guy:

 

 

@Fried Lemons: Great fishing, but I beg you: Please delete that pic of the deformed bass!

[NorcalBassin]

14 hours ago, Fried Lemons said:

They were also eating the swimbait pretty well in similar areas.

 

That first one on the rising son has a crazy curvature! Nicely done btw... what a great trip!

 

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

@Woody B: If anyone teaches you how to catch bass again, please send that teacher to me too. I was catching 45 bass per outing mere weeks ago. Last night I caught eight and I felt lucky to catch eight because they just weren't hitting.

You jinxed yourself with all that happy to just be on the water nonsense.  😎😉😆 

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

You jinxed yourself with all that happy to just be on the water nonsense.  😎😉😆 

 

I don't need bass for bliss. I don't think you do either. 

 

Pops + your kid = West Coast Bliss

[NorcalBassin]

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I don't need bass for bliss. I don't think you do either. 

Pops + your kid = West Coast Bliss

You know I'm just messing with you! And speaking of...

 

We were able to sneak in one last evening trip before she headed back to college. Of course she broke the first rule again and caught the first fish.

 

I could almost hear this fella say "toss it back on the bank." 😆

 

"Biggest" bass of the evening 

 

Apparently even bluegill like underpins.

 

Double hookup and I was relieved when she boat flipped hers. 😆

 

Beautiful sunset to top off a great evening.

[The Baron]

@NorcalBassin I absolutely love seeing stuff like this.  Fishing with my kids are my most special days.  My son is a keener, my daughter likes fishing but all conditions need to be perfect - not early, not too hot, not for too long… lol

[The Baron]

I was up north for work last week (Thunder Bay area) and came back to some much improved fishing.  A buddy and I were on the water at 5:30am at a favourite small lake, and the fish actually cooperated.  We started on a long underwater point and I had some luck with a couple good smallmouth (3.2# and 3.7#) on an underspin with a white paddletail.  After about 45 min. I picked up my cranking setup.  Went to bomb my first cast, and as I did I notice the line was looped at the end but it was too late to react and I pulled the second rod guide off because the line had been looped behind it. 😕 Still functional, so I went to cranking parallel to the slope/weedline in 12-16ft. of water and picked up a nice largemouth on my third toss but then crickets with the crankbait.  After a while I switched gears and threw a Tokyo rigged 10” Power Worm around the inside curve of the weed line, closer to shore in 8-10ft. of water.  I picked up a couple 2-2.5# lmb within 5 minutes - I love that 5/0 hookset.😁 My buddy had caught a few and lost a few, so within about 1.5 hours of fishing we were into double digits.👍🏻

 

We fished some more weed lines and settled on 8-10ft. of water right on the weed edges as the pattern.  Both of us dragging worms and we caught another 10 or so in an area that’s been good to us in the past, but that was over about 2 hours.  That bite died, so we moved to a little hot spot I’d found on a previous trip.  It’s a very specific spot in about 14ft. of water where there’s a tree top with weeds on the bottom, or maybe it’s a rock covered in weeds (if I think of it next time, I’ll idle over it and take a pic of my graph to see what you guys think it is).  We rolled up on that, hit Spotlock and I told my buddy the cast to make.  The fish were there, and between his TR worm and my Berkley Hit Worm on a dropshot we boated 6 more 1.5-2.5# lmb in about 15 minutes. 😎

 

By then it was about 9:30am and the heat quickly got bad (88F, humidex 100F - that’s extremely hot for up here).  We pressed on fishing for another 1.5 hours with only a couple small bites, then called it a great morning and bailed.  I turned the AC in the truck to “Canadian” and by the time the boat was packed up it felt like heaven in there. 😊

 

I got home about 1:30.  Wes (my son) made me an awesome 2 egg sandwich on a bagel, then I shaved, showered, and absolutely crashed for a 2.5 hour nap.  Wes was suuuper pumped about fishing and I’d told him we’d go in the evening.  Wes had to wake me and I was not too thrilled about going back out in the heat, but it wasn’t too bad once we were on the water around 6pm.  We went out on a different lake and caught about 1/2 dozen each, including a nice fattie for me on a frog.  Wes don’t want any pictures of him or his fish, said they weren’t big enough.

 

So after struggling through July, today was a great day of fishing - hopefully I’ve turned the corner on my summer slump. 🤞🏻