No, we photographed her several different ways for TPWD and the ShareLunker Program and submitted it just on her length (=> 24"). TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.) has a "length to weight" chart and it indicated that, on average, a 25.5" bass weighs 10.40 lbs. Funny, that was just about what Reagan and I thought she'd weigh before we checked the chart. Too bad she was spawned out. I'd suppose she might have weighed a pound or so more if not. A fish of the exact same length was captured (TPWD was electro-shocking for reports, I believe) at Marine Creek in Fort Worth yesterday, she had a belly full of eggs . . . and weighed 11+. At 13+, and between 01-01 and 03-31 each year, you can "donate" your fish to TPWD and they use them to breed big bass. But, they lose a lot of them, I think over 50% die. I'd rather have a photo and let them swim off for a few more productive years building bass the old fashion way!  Brad

Headed over to the ski resort in Maryland to see what was up... 39 degree water but surprisingly they were chewin'! Don't bash my jerkbait, lots of toothies around so I had to be economical.

 

Looks like a Spro? I have some cheapies that have really found their way into my box because they do certain things that the expensive ones don't do. It's not stupid if it works.

11 hours ago, everythingthatswims said:

Headed over to the ski resort in Maryland to see what was up... 39 degree water but surprisingly they were chewin'! Don't bash my jerkbait, lots of toothies around so I had to be economical.

 

It’s not how much the jerk bait costs, it’s how you jerk it 

A few from the mud Thursday. Most of the lake has about 1-2" of visibility, but found some areas with 3-6 inches and that's where these came from. Every decent sized body of water within about 100 miles of me is flooded and muddy right now from the 12" of snow and 3+ inches of rain we've had over the past two weeks. A couple lakes even closed due to the conditions.

 

 

 

Nicely Done ~

The red eye color on a couple right there is quite pronounced. 

A-Jay

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Looks like a Spro? I have some cheapies that have really found their way into my box because they do certain things that the expensive ones don't do. It's not stupid if it works.

Yeah a spro really isn't a cheap bait but I bought one to try, I am not a fan at all of the action and effort required to move it through the water. If a toothy were to take it I would not be bothered!

 

However, my buddy was throwing a BD 95 jerkbait and I was impressed, it caught several bass and that size appeared to be in between a 110 jr and a regular 110. The jr is too small for my liking but that bait definitely caught my attention.

Stayed on the bank today due to a lack of time. Found that magic water temperature we've been discussing along with a good stain (still clearing from muddy) and managed 38 in just a couple hours doing just what I mentioned in the bank fishing thread. Nothing big, but I would have lit up ScoreTracker Live in an MLF competition with "scorable" bass 

 

 

 

Several dink bass and couple jumbo 14"-14.5" crappies today.

 

 

 

That place has the slabs! Next few years are gonna be crazy for bass there too!

I've never caught crappies with jerkbait even my lake got plenty of them ?. I hope I have time for giant snake head or Barramundi next week since I'm in Thailand.

Snuck in a 3 day trip to the big pond, weather was horrible but did manage 8.25 Hawg!

 

 

That's a Tank ~  You Still Got It !

Congrats

A-Jay

 

Fished a local club tourney Saturday and was able to finish 3rd. If only i could have got rid of a 12 incher that cost me 1st place. Only a pound separated us. Here's my best 2 from the day caught on a jig

Had an unforgettable weekend with my dad at Dale Hollow Lake! Just the 2 of us, no kids, no cell phones, no emails, just the 2 of us on a boat for about 30 hours in 3 days. We didn't catch a bunch as the weather turned cold the day we got there, and had trouble figuring out where to get them, but did catch a few decent fish. The one with the spinner in its mouth was the biggest bass in the boat, it was almost 4 pounds, and only 18.5 inches. Chunky little girl. Also, caught a 9 pound cat that sure was fun wrestling on a medium/light spinning setup. 

 

But I do have a great, the one that got off story, or a terrible one depending on your point of view. I hooked a huge smallie fishing with shiners one night. I won't venture to guess the size but it was the biggest bass I have ever hooked. It rolled down and then jumped and spit my hook out as if to say, "better luck next time, sucker!!" But what a rush for those 10-15 seconds!

On 4/7/2018 at 12:10 PM, Team9nine said:

A few from the mud Thursday. Most of the lake has about 1-2" of visibility, but found some areas with 3-6 inches and that's where these came from. Every decent sized body of water within about 100 miles of me is flooded and muddy right now from the 12" of snow and 3+ inches of rain we've had over the past two weeks. A couple lakes even closed due to the conditions.

 

 

 

Is that a rare smile i see on your face? I can count on one hand how many I've seen in your pics lol.  Btw, I think I may be fishing that lake to much when I recognize where you are just by the reflection on the water in that 2nd pic

Lol on both counts. I think we should have fished the spring Classic Sunday. Only took 13 for first and 11 for second. Have to believe we could have easily matched that ? Bite should get real good real quick out there with warm weather finally arriving toward end of week.

6 hours ago, Catt said:

Snuck in a 3 day trip to the big pond, weather was horrible but did manage 8.25 Hawg!

 

 

That girl's got some length on her, Catt.  Nice work!

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Lol on both counts. I think we should have fished the spring Classic Sunday. Only took 13 for first and 11 for second. Have to believe we could have easily matched that ? Bite should get real good real quick out there with warm weather finally arriving toward end of week.

Shoot, I probably could have been around those weights solo, woulda been lights out with both of us in the same boat. You know I'm always up for fishing a tournament with you, I'll cover entry fee if that's an issue -more than worth it just for the learning experience. And yep, I expect to see some serious moving towards the shallows by this weekend, warning water and impatient fish are a good combo 

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Lol on both counts. I think we should have fished the spring Classic Sunday. Only took 13 for first and 11 for second. Have to believe we could have easily matched that ? Bite should get real good real quick out there with warm weather finally arriving toward end of week.

Heard we're going right back in this cold pattern after Sat. storms.  I don't ever remember the cold being this persistent and I'm almost 64.

Sandy was... her usual on Sunday. Found a few fish, then they all disappeared. Actually that's a little better than usual, shes just a skunky smelling desert most times. 

 

The fish we did find seemed willing to chase down and inhale an underspin. But then some wind picked up and patchy clouds rolled in over us, the bite shut off and they wouldn't bite even a ned rig or senko. 

I missed a solid 3lber first fish of the day. Shook loose at the boat. Hooked up on a 2lber after that, then landed the biggest of the day, 5.2 lbs, about 20.5". Got another 2lber shortly after. 

Floated around another hour or so before getting another 2lber on the same underspin, then got a dink on a medium diving crankbait running along a grass line. Had a couple more misses on the underspin, crappie maybe. Quick multiple bites then they would tug hard and spit it.

Not enough fish for 10 hours on the water, but it did snow saturday. 

 

Water temp was just under 60F, mud murky maybe 3ft vis. up in the creek area where we were fishing. 5-6ft vis and much more clean out main lake. Saw some patches of bait suspended at various depths in 25FOW, but not much in the way of bass. 

On 4/7/2018 at 3:23 PM, everythingthatswims said:

Yeah a spro really isn't a cheap bait but I bought one to try, I am not a fan at all of the action and effort required to move it through the water. If a toothy were to take it I would not be bothered!

 

However, my buddy was throwing a BD 95 jerkbait and I was impressed, it caught several bass and that size appeared to be in between a 110 jr and a regular 110. The jr is too small for my liking but that bait definitely caught my attention.

I have a love/hate relationship with spro. 

 

I've had two of their frogs break hooks trying to pull fish up out of grass (using 15lb floro at the time) But others Ive had for years and used the hell out of them. Had one stuck solid on a tree and broke 40lb braid and it wouldn't let go. 

Had a brand new spro crankbait (dont remember the model) lose the bill running into a tree. 

But also have a spro lipless that catches everything and anything. I burn it through grass, I throw it in brush piles, I hop it on bottom 20+ feet deep. I've bounced it off bridge pilings, had it stuck multiple times and bounced 3oz sinkers off it to get it loose, and it looks like hell but it wont give in. 

Couldn't wait any longer and just had to spend a few minutes after work fishing at a nearby retention pond.

Water temp 40

Air temp 38

Caught three in 30 minutes on a drop shot/KVD Dream Shot.  One 13 inches and two 15 inches, including this one.

They're still deep, about 12 ft down with no interest yet in moving shallower until spring decides to show its face.  It's looking like that won't be until about August.

Hands were frozen after half an hour and couldn't stay out in the cold and wind any longer.  But at least it's a start!

 

Got on the lake at 3pm today after school was out of the way. 42 degree water temps and it snowed all day, but I found a couple! 4.8" Keitech on a 1/2oz head for the bigger ones, and a jerkbait for the smaller ones.

 

I think I am dealing with a ton of fish, but their behavior is extremely confusing. Today I had 3 bites in 3 casts on the 4.8, casting up into 12/14' bringing it down into 20'. I lost the first one, then caught my biggest two fish on the following casts.

 

Then 2 bites in 2 casts on a Spro McStick on a main lake hump that comes up to 6', I landed both of them, they are the smaller smallmouths pictured.

 

 Then 2 bites back to back long lining the damiki abyss 90 on the same spot that the swimbait bite happened, I caught the 12" spot, and on my next cast had a fish run off with the bait on a slack line but I never connected. They fire up really hard for a couple minutes, then it's like they aren't even there!

 

 

When they do fire up, you appear to be very effective and efficient at catching what is available.