When I first joined I had no idea what a Whopper Plopper was because they came out when I was taking a break from the sport.     I just kept seeing fat Maine Bass after fat Maine Bass being caught on them, so obviously I had to get some Whopper Plopper love in my life.

 

Long story short I own half a dozen now and caught a ton of fish on them late Spring last year thanks to you Katie.

 

 

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Long story short I own half a dozen now and caught a ton of fish on them

 

That will be coming to a screeching halt very soon and they'll end up on your christmas tree as an ornament instead.

@Swamp Girl, it can definitely freeze down this way. Not sure if @Pat Brown is on the same latitude as me but surely pretty close. I’ve seen people drive ATVs on Douglas lake, a massive 30,000 acre reservoir that is way less likely to freeze than a pond. 
 

And a couple years ago I saw people ice fishing in TX on the internet. I think @Catt posted photos of a cypress swamp frozen over in Louisiana 

4 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I never fully realized how special the Green Fish was until I joined here and become buddies with folks like @Swamp Girl and @The Baron who taught me that people up north are every bit as passionate and talented at chasing LMB as any angler who gets to fish for them year round in Alabama.    I'm a much better angler today because of all the things I've learned from you Yanks since joining.   

 

Did @AlabamaSpothunter just call this Canuck a Yankee? 🧐🤔😝🙃

34 minutes ago, The Baron said:

 

Did @AlabamaSpothunter just call this Canuck a Yankee? 🧐🤔😝🙃

Oh someone’s in the stuff now! 🤣

43 minutes ago, The Baron said:

 

Did @AlabamaSpothunter just call this Canuck a Yankee? 🧐🤔😝🙃

Haha, for us simpletons everything above the Mason Dixon line is Yank territory 🤣

 

 

10 minutes ago, ScottW said:

Oh someone’s in the stuff now! 🤣

Back me up fellow redneck 😁

 

Nice to see you posting again Scott!  

1 hour ago, The Baron said:

 

Did @AlabamaSpothunter just call this Canuck a Yankee? 🧐🤔😝🙃

That's a BIG compliment in my town !

Get over it.

🤪

A-Jay

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Haha, for us simpletons everything above the Mason Dixon line is Yank territory 🤣

 

 

Back me up fellow redneck 😁

 

Nice to see you posting again Scott!  

Agreed! This coming from a former yankee too! Been a minute since I’ve posted hasn’t it? 

 

4 minutes ago, ScottW said:

Agreed! This coming from a former yankee too! Been a minute since I’ve posted hasn’t it? 

 

Sure has buddy, hopefully you're getting some fishing in!   

5 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Thanks, guys, for the especially the kind words!    That 7lb fish was the best medicine/gift I could have received.    

 

I never fully realized how special the Green Fish was until I joined here and become buddies with folks like @Swamp Girl and @The Baron who taught me that people up north are every bit as passionate and talented at chasing LMB as any angler who gets to fish for them year round in Alabama.    I'm a much better angler today because of all the things I've learned from you Yanks since joining.     

 

@Pat Brown  I really like your thoughts on the whole 'controlled burn' aspect of what's happening in your area.   One thing I know for certain is that one of the best recipes for creating the conditions for an epic winter big fish day is a hard freeze down here in the South.      O.H. Ivie as we know it today was discovered after a historic hard freeze/winter storm several years ago, when Milliken and a few others set the internet on fire with a 50lb bag.       The incredible winter fishing that I've come to love over the last three years doesn't start until consistent freezing morning temps happen.    I'm a betting man, and I'd say within TWO WEEKS, Pat will be posting a 7-10lb fish (I'm being modest not to jynx you 😁).

 

ETA:   It looks like Canada or Maine in Alabama today......we got a couple of inches of snow last night.    It can't melt fast enough 🤣

 

 

As we've talked about a bunch before.......I feel like attitude is the second most important attribute to have to become a great Bass angler.   The first is confidence.  

Every day out I try to work on my attitude, and I use many people on this forum and especially in this thread for motivation and example.  

 

Pat no doubt has the right attitude, and I've never met anyone who has a better fishing attitude than you Katie!  

 

 

Been looking back through some special spring time fish - 9.1 in early February, 9.3 on late January, lots of 8s in March and basically when that ice first comes off - there seems to be some REALLY big fish all up in them warm shallows all in a big old hurry.  It's quite like a light switch.

 

Those warm rains have that ice gone in a hurry and you *really* wanna be pitching things up to the bank - *the day* - that change happens IMHO.

 

The big fish are really good at being there and gone before ya know it and after that lots of 6-8 lbers to be had but I think the 9-12 range are really in that very first day or two of warm rain following the thaw when it freezes.

10 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

Been looking back through some special spring time fish - 9.1 in early February, 9.3 on late January, lots of 8s in March and basically when that ice first comes off - there seems to be some REALLY big fish all up in them warm shallows all in a big old hurry.  It's quite like a light switch.

 

Those warm rains have that ice gone in a hurry and you *really* wanna be pitching things up to the bank - *the day* - that change happens IMHO.

 

The big fish are really good at being there and gone before ya know it and after that lots of 6-8 lbers to be had but I think the 9-12 range are really in that very first day or two of warm rain following the thaw when it freezes.

 

And for Pat, it ain't over til the fat lady (makes his line) sing(s).

 

You target those big fish in quite the unique fashion Pat, if memory serves, many/most of your monsters come from shallow water, so your last reply makes perfect sense.    

 

Regardless of the time of year, the vast majority of my 7lb+ fish come from 10-25fow.     They might bite a bait 3-6ft under the surface, but they'll be over 10-25fow.  I think I've caught one 7lb fish in less than 3fow, and oddly enough that one came from an A-Rig two winters ago during a real big warm up in the middle of January.  

 

Amazing how unique and adaptable LMB are based on the incredible range of them.    I love Spotted and SM Bass, but to me the LMB stands alone for no other reason than they can thrive in so many different habitats and locations.   They're the one sub species that seems to connect us all, the one that we all can relate to.   

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You target those big fish in quite the unique fashion Pat, if memory serves, many/most of your monsters come from shallow water, so your last reply makes perfect sense.    

 

Regardless of the time of year, the vast majority of my 7lb+ fish come from 10-25fow.     They might bite a bait 3-6ft under the surface, but they'll be over 10-25fow.  I think I've caught one 7lb fish in less than 3fow, and oddly enough that one came from an A-Rig two winters ago during a real big warm up in the middle of January.  

 

Amazing how unique and adaptable LMB are based on the incredible range of them.    I love Spotted and SM Bass, but to me the LMB stands alone for no other reason than they can thrive in so many different habitats and locations.   They're the one sub species that seems to connect us all, the one that we all can relate to.   

 

 

We don't have 25 feet down and basically water clarity and avian predators have fish buried in covered a lot of the winter - what truly does happen is you catch them on the bank with your boat over 10 feet of water on a lake where 17 feet is as deep as it gets.

 

I generally catch my shallow fish on ponds and on lakes that are exceptional on shallow areas that drop off rather.....fast?  😎😎😎

22 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Sure has buddy, hopefully you're getting some fishing in!   

As much as possible while we’ve been dragging this thing around 😎

Couldn’t pass up a chance to fish in the snow. Went to the quarry behind my house and first fish was a nice crappie, never caught one of those out of there but a buddy has. Also got a little bass and missed some hits. There was a portable sauna set up in the parking lot and people were jumping into the water after they left the sauna. One girl said “there’s a guy over there ice fishing” when she saw me 🤣 

@TnRiver46: You had me at " the quarry behind my house."

Well my boy's BB game got canceled Saturday, so a buddy and I went to the power plant lake to try to find a few. The wind was way stronger than it was supposed to be, with white caps rolling most of the day on the main lake, and the 18* air temp at the ramp didn't feel good with the 15-20mph wind. Plus there was probably 20 groups of duck hunters scattered around the small lake, it sounded like a war zone out there. The bite was slow, my buddy only had 1 fish all day, I got on them a little better but it was still a grind, all of them were on slow moving baits. 

I caught a majority of them off a shallow point that has a creek channel swing on the end of it and lots of rocks and a few stumps scattered around it. It's a normal spot for me in the winter that is usually productive. This day the south wind was pushing the warm water from the outlet straight into it, which is a big deal on power plant lakes. I could see the gulls diving from across the lake, so I knew there was bait there. What was confusing to me, was it looked like there was a bunch of big logs on the bottom that had never been there on my sidescan. Well I was dragging my Ned rig through about 3' of water when one of those "logs", thumped my bait. I thought it was going to be a drum from the initial bite, but the hookset was so solid, and then it was just and unstoppable force as it headed out for deeper water. I tried to stay spotlocked, but I knew there was several stumps and actual logs, I was afraid it would get me wrapped and be gone, so I had to follow it. I was only armed with a 7' ML spinning rod with a 2000 size reel, 10lb Seguar Tactx to an 8lb Seaguar Grand Max leader tied to a homemade 1/16oz Ned head with a #2 hook, but we played Tug-O-War for over 20 minutes before the monster finally surfaced. I've never tried to put someone like that into the kayak, it wasn't easy. I got her head in the net and struggled for a minute or two, almost flipped the kayak towards her lifting over the side and then to the other side once we both slide back into the kayak. I've seen a lot of big catfish, I've never seen a fish like this one. My 50lb scale wasn't nearly big enough. I've caught several 50lb class fish, I've never struggled to lift one like I did with this fish. My gut says 70-75lbs, but I'll never know for sure. 

 

@Bluebasser86:

 

Jeeeeeez that's one big kitty!!!!

 

The mouth on that thing is like a whale 😮

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Well my boy's BB game got canceled Saturday, so a buddy and I went to the power plant lake to try to find a few. The wind was way stronger than it was supposed to be, with white caps rolling most of the day on the main lake, and the 18* air temp at the ramp didn't feel good with the 15-20mph wind. Plus there was probably 20 groups of duck hunters scattered around the small lake, it sounded like a war zone out there. The bite was slow, my buddy only had 1 fish all day, I got on them a little better but it was still a grind, all of them were on slow moving baits. 

I caught a majority of them off a shallow point that has a creek channel swing on the end of it and lots of rocks and a few stumps scattered around it. It's a normal spot for me in the winter that is usually productive. This day the south wind was pushing the warm water from the outlet straight into it, which is a big deal on power plant lakes. I could see the gulls diving from across the lake, so I knew there was bait there. What was confusing to me, was it looked like there was a bunch of big logs on the bottom that had never been there on my sidescan. Well I was dragging my Ned rig through about 3' of water when one of those "logs", thumped my bait. I thought it was going to be a drum from the initial bite, but the hookset was so solid, and then it was just and unstoppable force as it headed out for deeper water. I tried to stay spotlocked, but I knew there was several stumps and actual logs, I was afraid it would get me wrapped and be gone, so I had to follow it. I was only armed with a 7' ML spinning rod with a 2000 size reel, 10lb Seguar Tactx to an 8lb Seaguar Grand Max leader tied to a homemade 1/16oz Ned head with a #2 hook, but we played Tug-O-War for over 20 minutes before the monster finally surfaced. I've never tried to put someone like that into the kayak, it wasn't easy. I got her head in the net and struggled for a minute or two, almost flipped the kayak towards her lifting over the side and then to the other side once we both slide back into the kayak. I've seen a lot of big catfish, I've never seen a fish like this one. My 50lb scale wasn't nearly big enough. I've caught several 50lb class fish, I've never struggled to lift one like I did with this fish. My gut says 70-75lbs, but I'll never know for sure. 

 

 

 

Dude - WHAT!?!?

 

You caught a sea monster!

 

What a day!

35 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Jeeeeeez that's one big kitty!!!!

 

The mouth on that thing is like a whale 😮

 

I know, huh? Clayton isn't content landing the fattest bass on Bass Resource and winning tournament after tournament. He has to catch these too:

 

 

9 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

Dude - WHAT!?!?

 

You caught a sea monster!

 

What a day!

 

He didn't just catch the Kraken. He caught the Kraken in the snow. While standing in freezing water. And he played it from a boat not much bigger than the beast. He's the Chuck Norris of Bass Resource. 

 

That thing has eaten a fully grown nutria or two.

16 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

That thing has eaten a fully grown nutria or two.

Hahaha ... I know right, whatever kind of cat chow that thing was on, I want some to feed our fish  

 

EDIT:

Phone rang, should have finished my thought haha

That is crazy impressive. I can't believe you landed it on a kayak. That entire catch from hookset to release was pure skill, I don't know how you got it on the kayak but I think I'd have been scared to try. Incredible!