BIG bass being caught! Congrats, guys. Alex, I love the photo of your big bass in the water.

 

 

Thanks Katie!   It was a happy accident when the GoPro was pointed to far down to capture my normal angles😁 

 

It's so hard to judge a fish's size and quality from a 2D picture I've found, I struggle with my own sometimes.   Funny enough my brain has even more problems when I see them on bump boards.    I think the biggest thing is most people can't get the depth or distance away from the camera to give proper perspective.   

 

You really only get a few magical minutes with these special creatures, a picture, video, or memory can never capture how exquisite a healthy Bass looks like in the flesh imho.   

 

 

7 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I think the biggest thing is most people can't get the depth or distance away from the camera to give proper perspective. 

 

That's my struggle. I stretch my arm as far as possible and even lean back sometimes to fit a bass into my camera's frame, but there's no reference point for size. However, backdropped by the water I fish, they are handsome photos. In 2025, I plan to alternate between handsome photos and bump board photos, as I did at the end of 2024.

 

Of course, some kayaks and bass boats bristle with cameras, but that's not an option for me given the way I fish and my declining strength. I already struggle to carry my gear. 

 

The least informative photos for me are the ones with the bass thrust at the camera. With the angler as a backdrop and the bass in the foreground, the bodies of the bass can appear as big as the bodies of the fisherman and whereas the BR crew catch big bass, no one catches bass as big as them. 

 

To circle back to your point, Alex, no photo captures what we experience. 

22 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

The least informative photos for me are the ones with the bass thrust at the camera. With the angler as a backdrop and the bass in the foreground, the bodies of the bass can appear as big as the bodies of the fisherman and whereas the BR crew catch big bass, no one catches bass as big as them. 

 

I disagree. ~ I think @Team9nine does a very nice job displaying his many bass catches here.

 

11 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

 

 

A-Jay

All the approaches have advantages and disadvantages. For example, @Team9nine's photo approach show both him and the bass, which is good, but looking at his second photo above, that bass goes from the top of his head to the top of his thigh. At first glance, it appears to be three feet long or thereabouts.

 

When I used to have a fishing partner who could take a photo of me with a bass, I put my elbow behind my head so that the bass would be right beside me to provide scale. I understand that I'm in the minority here and that a bass displayed this way looks small compared to a bass with extended arms. You can see that the bass below goes from near the top of my head to mid-torso. At first glance, it's a considerably shorter fish. 

 

 

I love having photos, but as Alex noted, I love my mind's memories even more. Even though I caught the bass above a decade or two ago, I could take you to the exact spot where she hit, as long as you were willing to launch just above a waterfall, paddle across one lake, bulldoze through the current of a narrows, wind through a reed field, and then cross another lake. There's an even better lake beyond the one above, but it takes crossing a couple swamps and four sets of rapids. Oh, I wish I were young enough to reach such places still. 

 

5 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

All the approaches have advantages and disadvantages. For example, @Team9nine's photo approach show both him and the bass, which is good, but looking at his second photo above, that bass goes from the top of his head to the top of his thigh. At first glance, it appears to be three feet long or thereabouts.

Agree with the advantages/disadvantages. I never ‘long arm’ fish. In my case, being alone in a 16 ft boat, camera propped on a seat or against the side of the boat, I can only get about 5 ft away from the camera, so all ratios of me-to-camera and bass-to-camera get exaggerated, and sometimes even more so depending on exact angle. If you look close at my arms, you’ll see they are nearly next to my body, with forearm slightly extended away from me, and the bass sitting right over my left thigh. It even dripped on my new ‘hole less’ jeans (which everyone failed to appreciate😆), but which I thought I might get a scolding from the wife over - lol. I’ll ‘uncrop’ them later when I get a chance as that probably plays into perspective, too.
 

The bump board ‘kayak’ shots are the best from a true length perspective, and as a former R&D guy, I can appreciate; but from a photographic eye and interest perspective, just one step above a bass-to-foot or bass-to-rod ground shot, IMO…same with holding a fish out into infinity from your wide-angle GoPro. But again, as you mentioned, we are all forced and dictated by our individual limitations in this regard to showing off our catches.

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

The bump board ‘kayak’ shots are the best from a true length perspective, and as a former R&D guy, I can appreciate; but from a photographic eye and interest perspective, just one step above a bass-to-foot or bass-to-rod ground shot

 

Fully agree. Bump boards tell the truth, but its a drab truth, which is why I try to mix bump board pics with pretty background pics. 

I’ve long armed short armed and everything inbetween. If you get the whole fish in the picture , you’ve done well. Bonus points if you post in on bass resource 

Hard to make ‘em look big if they aren’t, so I didn’t even try 😉 - lol. Kidding. Just 4 cookie cutters today on A-rig on another “too nice” of day. Water clear and floating around 48-50 degrees.

 

 

 

We had dinner with friends scheduled at 6:30, figured I would squeeze in a short trip to quarry from 5-6. Caught 5, all the exact same size. I’ve fished here for 3 or 4 years and never caught a bass of any different size haha. One of them had some black markings, pretty cool. Its eyes were bugged out too, I think I pulled it from way deep. It swam straight back down vertically when I let it go. Some parts of the quarry your lure never hits the bottom so no clue how deep.  Fun way to pass an hour 

 

Dive, dive, dive!

 

Since we seem to be on a roll with the dinks I'll share one too. I caught some of the fish that @roadwarrior doesn't like to see in January, but this is my first bass of 2025. It's not big, but it had nice coloration. Hopefully, it will hang around this area so I can catch it again when it grows up.

 

Way to get on the board @Fishlegs!  

 

Thread is a thousand times better when people post whatever fish made them happy enough to share it 🙂

48 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Thread is a thousand times better when people post whatever fish made them happy enough to share it 🙂

 

 

And that is a pretty fish, @Fishlegs.

57 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Way to get on the board @Fishlegs!  

 

Thread is a thousand times better when people post whatever fish made them happy enough to share it 🙂

I agree wholeheartedly. I love seeing what everyone catches. I don't always get excited about every fish I catch, but I am happy every time I catch a fish.

@Fishlegs: You are also doing a public service when you post winter bass. We Yanks are pathetic, so cold and fishless.

What we need is more rock bass, redeye, goggle eye photos……

 

oh no I’ve said too much 

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

What we need is more rock bass, redeye, goggle eye photos……

 

oh no I’ve said too much 

 

Please don't poke the @gim Bear. We northern bears are hibernating and when someone pokes us mid-winter, we don't wake up sweetly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

@Fishlegs: You are also doing a public service when you post winter bass. We Yanks are pathetic, so cold and fishless.

 

@A-Jay counting down the days to ice out like

 

 

"Y'all got any more of those bass pics?"

Caught a nice 7.2 yesterday on the Queen Tackle Rollin Strollin/Drift Fry combo. 

 

Tried to make a complete video showing the ridiculous action on this bait but the stupid editing program kept getting buggy.    This is the second season of using these Drift Fry, and the novelty keeps growing.    That front lip makes the bait almost stand still while aggressively rolling, it's the closest bait I've ever seen to matching what a stunned Threadfin Shad does in cold water.   They do this thing where they roll on their sides and the right themselves.    

 

Adding the elastomer models was the final cherry on top.   I think it's the coolest fishing lure I've ever owned.    

 

 

 

Wowza 

Alex, your winter fishing makes this one of the best seasons at Bass Resource. I pity the fools who live on your lake and don't fish it in the winter! 

 

Thanks Katie!   I feel like one of the real perks of catching a nice fish since joining this forum is getting an attaboy from you.....I'm spoiled now 😎

 

The weather the last week and for the foreseeable future has been so nice that other anglers have been out there, but the Bass know I'm the only one that calls them Sweetie 🤣

18 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Caught a nice 7.2 yesterday on the Queen Tackle Rollin Strollin/Drift Fry combo. 

 

Tried to make a complete video showing the ridiculous action on this bait but the stupid editing program kept getting buggy.    This is the second season of using these Drift Fry, and the novelty keeps growing.    That front lip makes the bait almost stand still while aggressively rolling, it's the closest bait I've ever seen to matching what a stunned Threadfin Shad does in cold water.   They do this thing where they roll on their sides and the right themselves.    

 

Adding the elastomer models was the final cherry on top.   I think it's the coolest fishing lure I've ever owned.    

 

 

 

 

That's an awesome fish, bud. You've got me itching to hook into a big prespawn girl.

I got my unicorn today. A lot of close calls, but only 2 bites today. She bit a MB 110 FX late under cloudy skies just as sprinkles were moving in. Went 8.20 on the Rapala and 8-1/4 on the Chatillon. Water already warmed up to 55 degrees, but I’m sure that’s just surface. A good 4 days or more of rain next week will probably change everything.