Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Swamp Girl]

I fished my pond again this evening for 1.5 hours and had a great time because...I caught:

 

Three bass out of trees,

 

One bass out of weeds,

 

Two bass off of shorelines,

 

and Three bass that were open water wolfpacking.

 

Nine total. Here's the first one, taken from a shoreline:

 

 

Then another shoreline bass, nearly 17 inches:

 

 

I caught two of my wolfpacking bass at the same time, as I was paddling back and had two rods out, one with an underspin and the other with a spinnerbait. The first was 17.5" and the second was 16.5":

 

 

 

I finished my evening on the very next cast with a muscular 15.5-incher:

 

 

I love all the ways we can catch lmb. Again and again, I have thanked Glenn for urging us to stay mobile in the fall to catch bass and it's so true. I no longer pursue and apply a pattern like I did in the summer because there is no pattern, no catching 40 bass 10 feet offshore or 50 bass in one feet of water tucked under woody bushes. They're here and there and everywhere, but I have to find each one. 

 

I also love having fishing five minutes from my home, being able to ring my spouse when I reach the car and say, "I'll be home in five minutes."

 

@Rocky998: Congrats on your new PB. Those are two beautiful bass.

 

[Swamp Girl]

Yeah, I fished again. Just an hour and 15 minutes this afternoon, from 12:15 to 1:30. The disadvantage of my short trips is that there often isn't time to locate bass, but I did catch four and all on a hard jerkbait, as that was the only lure I took. It's always fun to use a lure I don't use much. This was the biggest:

 

 

And this was the smallest. It's my new PW (Personal Worst). However, don't mock this bass. Rather, fear it for one day, it'll be fearless and ferocious and BIG ENOUGH to swallow a musky lure...or your Yorkie.

 

 

There were bass feeding on the edges of off-shore grass, but I couldn't match the hatch. If I'd had a small popper, I think I could have caught them. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

I didn't know you had small Bass in your lakes Katie 😎

 

Whenever I catch a fingerling I wish I had an aquarium.   BamaBass on youtube has documented their journey raising numerous Bass from wild caught fingerling sizes.  

[Swamp Girl]

I don't catch many small bass, Alex, perhaps one 12-incher for every 50 bass, but my new PW is truly perhaps the smallest bass I've ever caught.

 

I once kept a fingerling and raised it in an aquarium too, along with a baby bluegill, baby crappie, and baby catfish. 

[softwateronly]

On 9/13/2024 at 12:13 PM, ol'crickety said:

@softwateronly: Thick pike. Thick bass. Keep this up and I'll be calling you windycityalex. 

I’d be lucky to earn that nickname and appreciate the sentiment.  I’ve been floundering the last 4-5 weeks in generating any type of pattern. I’m chasing schoolies without good electronics or a working trolling motor. I’ve identified a couple choke points that seem to funnel shad into or out of the open water and work the beginning or end of daylight. But it’s terribly inefficient. In fishing terms, I look forward to some cooler weather/water.  
 That pike was heavy and strong. Needed both hands to lift her over the pontoon sidewall. Got her unhooked, snapped a bad pic, and got her back in the water in less than a minute. Felt good because I fought her on a medium rod and 10lb test for more than a few mins. 
 

scott

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, softwateronly said:

I’d be lucky to earn that nickname

 

Heck, I'd love to be New England Alex. 

 

1 hour ago, softwateronly said:

Got her unhooked, snapped a bad pic, and got her back in the water in less than a minute.

 

Well done. I love when anglers are quick to return fish to breathing. 

[GreenPig]

Hit the Nursery again yesterday evening for some BFS play. Caught 9 bass and a bonus bream. The wind was dead calm so a Z - Man Micro TRD in GP/1/32 bullet weight/Gamakatsu #2 EWG did most of the work. It amazing what the Aldebaran BFS/Dobyns will throw.

[Swamp Girl]

@GreenPig: The nursery's bluegills are bigger than its bass!

[GreenPig]

36 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@GreenPig: The nursery's bluegills are bigger than its bass!

Pretty sure the Bluegill are feeding on the bass.😁 I might be able to catch magnum Gils on a baby bass Super Fluke. 

[Swamp Girl]

8 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Pretty sure the Bluegill are feeding on the bass.😁 I might be able to catch magnum Gils on a baby bass Super Fluke. 

 

If the Nursery keeps going in this same direction, a few years down the road, you'll be telling this story: "So, I was fighting a pretty nice bass for the Nursery, three or four pounds, and just about had it to shore, when an eight-pound bluegill suddenly appears, t-bones that bass, snaps my 30-lb. braid, and takes my bass to the deep. I expect I'm the only man alive who knows, so trust me when I say that an eight-pound bluegill runs like a bonefish on crack."

[JayMac89]

Been a rough end of summer for me. Decided to go back to my favorite and best producing lake just for a bit of a confidence boost. Still struggling in that big lake iv been trying to conquer. Think that's just going to be how that lake fishes, but that's besides the point. 

 

Been at least a month, maybe 2 since iv been to the lake I went to this morning. Vegetation looks like it's starting to die off. Lots of matted vegetation. Wasn't having luck in my go to spots, had a long hard weekend without much sleep, decided to call it quits. On my way back to the ramp I was tossing a weightless t-rigged creature bait on the outer mat line and in little holes. Ended up finding a few, one being a really good one. A little skinny, didn't get a weight but probably close to 3 but not quite. Had she been a little more full of would of been a 3.5-4 pounder for sure. Put up a real good fight too. Confidence boost.... mission success

 

[Swamp Girl]

 

23 minutes ago, JayMac89 said:

Been a rough end of summer for me.

 

End of summer is tough.

 

Nice bass!

[Peacedivision]

37 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

End of summer is tough.

 

Fished for 16 hours straight Friday-Saturday, had 5 bites, that was a rough one for sure.

9 hours into the trip after throwing everything and the kitchen sink at em... first fish.

2nd bite was a wakeup, new PB @ 5lb 14oz. also ate the firecraw cb.

picked up 3 on the pop-x at change of light including this drag pulling (bfs) monster

[Swamp Girl]

13 minutes ago, Peacedivision said:

Fished for 16 hours straight Friday-Saturday

 

Whoa.

 

14 minutes ago, Peacedivision said:

2nd bite was a wakeup, new PB @ 5lb 14oz. also ate the firecraw cb.

 

There ya go!

[J._Bricker]

Congrats @Peacedivision on your new PB, all that work on the river paid off! 

[A-Jay]

@Peacedivision

Nice Bass

PBs are Always a Blast !

Congrats

A-Jay

 

[MIbassyaker]

Got to sneak out for another trip to "Lake 19" this morning, 7 to 11:30.  

 

A good one nailed nailed my Cavitron buzzbait on the first cast....and popped off a couple arms lengths away from me. 

 

I reminded myself I don't believe in omens, and carried on, throwing mostly the Cavitron  until the sun was over the trees, then moving in on the surface veg, pitching a Zoom lizard.  I ended up catching 8 LMB + a ~2-footer pike.

 

Couple of buzzbait munchers, 16" and 17", helped ease the sting of that first lost fish:

 

Another 17" ate the lizard, and a 19", 3.81lb slurped the buzzbait.

 

I was about ready to go home, when this 19.5", 4.18lb grabbed the lizard: 

 

And that, I declared, would be the last cast.

[gim]

4 hours ago, Peacedivision said:

4 hours ago, Peacedivision said:

9 hours into the trip after throwing everything and the kitchen sink at em... first fish.

Fished for 16 hours straight

 

That's serious dedication.  16 hours nonstop is a heck of a long time.  No way I would have kept fishing for 9 hours without a fish.  That's about 8 hours longer than I would have lasted for the first fish.

[Woody B]

2 day report.  Water has cooled into the upper 70's and the Bass are active.  Saturday I fished the lower end of the Lake.  I caught 13 Bass, all Spots and a couple Blue Cats.   All of the Spots were between 14 and 18 inches.   I fished the upper end of the lake today.  I caught 17 Bass.  10 Largemouth, and 7 Spots.  Smallest was 13 inches.  The rest were all over 14".  Biggest was 20 1/8" long and weighed 4.57 pounds.   Biggest Bass from each day is pictured.   

 

[Peacedivision]

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

That's serious dedication.  16 hours nonstop is a heck of a long time.  No way I would have kept fishing for 9 hours without a fish.  That's about 8 hours longer than I would have lasted for the first fish.

I was ready to give up and sleep till dawn, just one of those lucky "lets go back and check a spot once more" situations.

[Swamp Girl]

Woody scores two nineteens and a twenty. Way to go, buddy!

[Swamp Girl]

I fished from 5:45 to 6:45 and caught four, two smallies and two largies. I don't have enough time in an hour to paddle to where the biggest bass are, but I did manage to paddle halfway and scored an 18-incher:

 

 

I caught a 17-incher too:

 

 

I also caught two fat smallies:

 

 

All caught on a wacky worm, but I also hooked and lost two, one lmb and one smb, on a popper.

 

The big news is my neighbor, the guy who greatly improved my boardwalk, spread ten yards of gravel on my path and has extended my boardwalk all the way to the pond. And he did it out of gratitude for letting him fish and hunt from my lot. Whadda guy! He's grateful to me and I'm grateful to him. 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

My wife wanted to take some stuff down to the lakehouse and also wanted me to chop some firewood. Got a decent amount of wood stacked and figured I’d try to catch a gar in the kayak. Right before dropping the boat in, my wife pointed out a bald eagle fishing nearby, always a good sign. I only had one spinning rod with 6 lb line and a small selection of lures so I tied on a fluke. First throw a gar destroyed it on the surface and took me for a long ride then finally bit thru the line. Got rigged back up with my last fluke and casted to several more gar, lost another solid hookup. I got bored waiting on more to surface so I blind casted up on a shallow flat and something ate the fluke under the surface a little. It took off and loaded the rod and started towing my kayak, figured I had a big gar. Well then I saw it, a big smallmouth. Against my better judgment I got my phone up and running a video and leaned it against my stomach 😂 

 

got some good video of a jump, the rest was quite janky but still glad I got it. The fish finally tired out and I got it into the kayak. I didn’t have a measuring tape or scale but I measured it laying next to my rod and I think it was between 20” and 20.5” , sure seemed larger but still a nice fish and not as skinny as they usually are, I’d almost put it at 4 lbs or better. 
 

I’ll post a separate report with the whole video , kind of long but some might enjoy it. 

[Swamp Girl]

@TnRiver46: This should be your new tagline:

 

"Oh...my...goodness...gracious!"

 

I've followed in your footsteps, squeezing in fishing here and there, but I don't catch 20"+ smallies!

[TnRiver46]

Well I don’t catch many 20” largemouth so we are even 😂