13 hours ago, herder said:

Had to hit the reservoir  again today before the rain tomorrow.

Wound up with another 12 fish day, 6 Largemouths, 5 Smallmouths and one Rock Bass.

Lost about 6 fish on the jump. One was really nice Smallie that I hooked and thought I lost it, it was charging the kayak and I thought it wasn't on, well it was and kept coming up and I lost it on the jump.

I got hung up on the bottom and had to retie my drop shot rig as I lost the whole rig, of course I loosen up the drag to retie, cast it out and got a nice hit,,well it went zzzzzzzzzz and no fish, forgot to tighten up drag

From what I can see on this thread we should always post a pic of of Rock Bass 

 

That SMB looks massive 

Looks 😃, I don't bring a bump board with me or even own a scale.

I did a quick measure with a tape on my paddle, 18" which is a good sized one here.

 

Got the nasty old skunk today for the first time since late february. Had a bunch of other stuff go wrong as well-- spilled my hooks and couldn't find them, baitcast reel locked up and needs to be dressed down and inspected to find fhe issue,Alternator went out on the way home. I decided to go on into work in my other car I had such a miserable time this mornint

Short 3 hour trip today, as I've got some other stuff I have to do.   I managed 9 Bass, 4 Largemouth, and 5 Spots, as well as a smallish Channel Cat.  My first Bass was 5.30 pounds, 21 5/8" long.  (first picture)  I wish I would have gotten a better picture.  I didn't look at it until after I released the Bass.   I'm thinking about some kind of external light for night pictures,  but would probably wipe out my night vision for while when used.  Something rolled on a Devils Horse, I followed up with a wacky worm and got the 5 pounder.  Two of the nine Bass were "micro Bass" but the others were all decent including a 19 1/2 inch Spot.   (other picture) I didn't weight the Spot.  It wouldn't have been 5 pounds (my "mark") but probably well over 4.   I caught it on a Devils Horse.  It was all tangled up in my net with the trebles on the Horse.  My unofficial clock said it was time to get it back in the water after untangling and a quick picture.  Water temp is down to 81 degrees.  

Some big bass are being caught nowadays. Congrats, @Woody B, @Team9nine, and others.

I'm excited for the fall run to kick off but I might have been a few weeks early. Lots of fish activity today but not exactly the size I'm after.

gave up on the striper and senko'd up a few bass before heading home.

Scouted some new spots to hopefully add to the rotation when the time comes. Usually these types of trips end in skunks but not this time. Got three on the first lake with the biggest at 4lb 5oz all on a big gill worked with a stop and go retrieve.

 

I was running low on time at the second lake which also had significantly more anglers. I hit a few spots without any signs of fish then decided to make a last ditch cast from a dock as the other anglers occupying it just left. Big fish of the day ate on the drop and came in at 5lb 4oz. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.

 

22 minutes ago, Fried Lemons said:

Scouted some new spots to hopefully add to the rotation when the time comes. Usually these types of trips end in skunks but not this time. Got three on the first lake with the biggest at 4lb 5oz all on a big gill worked with a stop and go retrieve.

 

I was running low on time at the second lake which also had significantly more anglers. I hit a few spots without any signs of fish then decided to make a last ditch cast from a dock as the other anglers occupying it just left. Big fish of the day ate on the drop and came in at 5lb 4oz. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.

 

Nicely Done ~

Congrats

A-Jay

Got about 2 hrs of time this evening on the home lake. Been since before June I was able to fish here. Water had a lot of sediment but wasn't chocolate milk like usual. Tried forcing a frog and jig but they weren't having it. Switched to a jerkbait at drop offs and hit them the last 30-45 minutes from one spot. 

 

No picture:  2.5lbish bass, rattled off as I was getting the lip grippers on him. Small catfish. Something massive, hit the jerkbait hard and just casually turned away and kept swimming in no apparent rush to my drag whaling away. Started to TM towards his direction and it came unbuttoned after about 30 seconds of trying to figure out how I'm going to surface this monster. I'm assuming a really big cat. 

 

Then I closed the night with these 2. 

 

5lb bass and a 1.5lb crappie. I can't imagine a star record nearly 5lb black crappie and 4lb white crappie. This thing was a slab as is. I've pulled 2 other 5lb bass out of this lake, not sure if it holds larger but I'm willing to bet it does. 

 

Id like to blame @A-Jay for what's going to turn into an expensive addiction to jerkbaits. Appreciate it! 

 

 

 

Man, @BluegillsTightlines that’s a rough day of fishing when you go to work to get away from it.  But I’ve been there. lol

 

We had rain all night Friday-Saturday noon then spotty showers blowing through on a 10-20mph west wind.  Wes and I went out around 2pm and enjoyed a cool, windy outing with some spotty rain.  We’re in cold front conditions now - it was 57 degrees yesterday afternoon (water temps 68). It’s 42 this morning!

 

Wes was the bass guy yesterday, I was the pike master.  I really wanted to fish a whopper plopper but it was too windy, so I caught one bass on a DT-14 but we found them shallow so I switched to a white and chartreuse spinnerbait.  The pike loved it so I spent my time shaking off 1-2# pike with a few similar bass mixed in.  Wes only caught a few bass on his underspin paddletail, but all were bigger than mine including a 3.4#.  We were very glad to have our rain suits for warmth and the couple of showers that we got.

 

 

Nice one, Wes!

 

And even nicer one, @Functional!

Night fishing season is over for me. Spooky season arrived at approximately 4am this morning as the thermometer finally read a number that started with a 5. My beloved fall topwater cove is now active. Caught 6 in about 2 hours, in front of three kayaks and about four other shore anglers who all showed up after me. Nothing over about two pounds, but it's good to know that pattern is setting up. Man it feels good to be back in my button up

Caught a handful on this chillier weekend (love it though). Here's the best two, on a Cha Cha and a fluke:

 

 

Man, I thought today was gonna be THE day! Low 60’s when I got up and mid-60s when I got on the water. Bit of a breeze but it felt great! You could tell as the pond had more anglers fishing this morning then I’ve seen in my past six outings combined lol. 
 

I started with a Whopper Plopper, even though the water had a bit of a chop. The topwater bite didn’t last long but I caught two bass. One halfway to the boat in open water and the other as soon as it hit the water. Nothing on jigs, a Zoom Magnum Trick or a jerkbait, but those Rage Craws did the trick again. I caught two and lost three. They were all hooked in the lip, so they were not sucking the bait in lol. 
 

So, caught 4 and lost three (one of those was nice, too). And I saw others catching bass, which is a rarity. 
 

Yall ain’t kidding about the cooler weather! I had to put on a windbreaker at night! Just caught a small one and a big drum last night. Looking to go to a new smaller body of water for a fast trip trying to get a little more this weekend before I am gone for about 2-3 weeks 

I'm enjoying the cooler weather here too.  Short trip this morning.  One of these weekends I'm going to have more time to fish.  I caught 8, all Spots, all between 14 and 17 inches.  First and last are pictured.  I caught the first at 6:27 on my second cast.  The last at 8:30 on my last cast.   Water temperature is down a degree from yesterday, at 80 degrees.   

 

Had a decent (for me) numbers day, catching 9 small ones, mostly around 11-13 inches.  Best one was ~2lbs. One of them spit up a baby perch (2.8 rage swimmer for reference). 

 

 

The best spots were eddy-like areas caused by thick grass up to the surface and broke the wind, and moving baits into/past that.

 

Swim jig fish: 

 

 

 

 

 

Went fishing this morning at the river, gotta love it.

We had a nice cool front come though last week. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up that summer is really over, but I can't help it. I headed to the river after work on Friday. This spot has been good to me for several years, but that has not been the case in 2024. I've been skunked more times than not at this particular spot in 2024 so my expectations were low. I just wanted to fish in the cooler weather.

 

When I got to the water there was a bit of wind creating a slight chop on the water so I decided to try a spinnerbait. Good decision as I caught the largemouth below on my second cast. It was just under 2 lbs. I worked the spinnerbait downstream for a little while, but didn't get any other takers so I decided to try fishing on the bottom on my way back toward the car. I tied on a yum dinger, and caught the smallmouth in the first picture. It was right at 2 lbs. I had only been there for about 30 minutes so it was already a success at this spot for this year.

 

 

This particular spot is a VERY public spot, and a popular teenage hangout on the weekend. It's where the kids come to see who has the loudest trucks, and motorcycles. They were starting to arrive so I knew I didn't have long. I decided to try a spot where I've caught some nice fish in the past. Another good decision. I caught the smallmouth below. This spot is about 6 ft above the water with rip rap bank. I knew I couldn't swing this fish up the rocks with a spinning rod & 6 lb test so I had to climb down the rocks to get it. It was quite a challenge to keep the fish pinned while climbing down the rocks with a rod in one hand, and the net in the other. I managed to get it in the net without hurting myself. I tried to figure out how to take a better picture using the phone timer, but I couldn't find it quickly enough. The fish had been out of the water longer than I like because of the time it took me to get up & down the rocks, so I just took a bad picture, and put it back in the water. Thankfully it looked strong as it swam away. Good time, and a memorable fish. Just don't tell my wife I climbed up and down the rocks to get it.

 

Cranking pattern on one of my local lakes is still holding up. Managed a limit this afternoon despite the high blue skies, sun and light winds. Surface temps 81-82 deg. and water is about half foot low. Good rain chances in the extended forecast, but think I can squeeze in one more trip late week before it arrives.

 

 

 

Got one on the rage shad just before dark, he obliterated it right near the trolling motor and I just assumed it was a miss but set the hook hard anyway. The gamakatsu nano alpha hook/50 lb seaguar tactx pinned the fish and put a decent smallie in the boat . I also caught some dinks and a mooneye trolling a shad rap before that. 

 

@Fishlegs: Beauty! I love to read about anglers protecting the resource.

 

@Team9nine: You are hot, man, after all the heat of the summer.

 

@TnRiver46: That Rage Shad is new to me.

@ol'crickety, it’s like a weedless whopper plopper 😂 

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@ol'crickety, it’s like a weedless whopper plopper 😂 

 

Dang it! Now I have to buy it. 

4 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Dang it! Now I have to buy it. 

If you do, separate the tail from the body before using, it’s extremely loud. I think all rage baits have this feature with appendages