Did you look in that incredibly juicy looking standing timber to the side of you? 😁

12 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Did you look in that incredibly juicy looking standing timber to the side of you? 😁

For real. I'd be chucking anything I could into that stuff, taking my time picking it apart.

@AlabamaSpothunter @Rocky998 standing timber is synonymous with TX. The area in that photo is covered with it. He is sitting next to the last visible standing timber before it becomes fully submerged. Seeing big trees in 60ft is not uncommon around there. We fished a lot of timber today

Just now, LrgmouthShad said:

@AlabamaSpothunter @Rocky998 standing timber is synonymous with TX. The area in that photo is covered with it. He is sitting next to the last visible standing timber before it becomes fully submerged. Seeing big trees in 60ft is not uncommon around there. We fished a lot of timber today

Ah ok. Not as common where I am

Caught 28 + 2 Crappie + 1 big Channel Cat in the middle of what seemed like millions of shad, and hundreds of Bass.   At one point I watched a wolf pack of 15-20 fish cruising on the surface.   I knew they did that when corralling bait, but it's the first time they were close enough to the surface for me to witness.   Bass will never stop impressing me, they're just such a supreme predator.  

 

 I watched a 25-30lb sack blow up all around me for hour after hour but never even caught a single big one.   I've said it a number of times in this thread over the last several years, but schooling Bass can easily be one of the most frustrating things I've experienced in life.  Watching 5lb+ fish clear the water over and over and not being able to catch them is akin to being waterboarded 😂

 

 

 

23 hours ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

I’m surprised by that. How long do your water bodies have ice on them for? Anything up here less then 15ft will almost certainly winterkill if there’s not flowing water. 

I’ve questioned that before too since it’s something we often experience here in shallow waters with long winters. I’d be surprised if it never happened there.

11 minutes ago, gim said:

I’ve questioned that before too since it’s something we often experience here in shallow waters with long winters. I’d be surprised if it never happened there.

Yeah less than 10ft would freeze out every year for us I’d imagine, at least for bass. Pike on the other hand are tough, they live in some swamps and little lakes that are really shallow for as cold as it gets. 

That video was EXCITING, Alex. In 2023, I couldn't catch any wolfpacking bass, but I had some success in 2024 reeling an underspin right under the surface. I moved it so fast, I'm guessing, that they couldn't differentiate between it and shad.

20 minutes ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

Pike on the other hand are tough, they live in some swamps and little lakes that are really shallow for as cold as it gets. 

Small pike, yes. They are very tolerant of poor water conditions.

 

Bigger ones, no. They need colder, well oxygenated water.

30 minutes ago, gim said:

Small pike, yes. They are very tolerant of poor water conditions.

 

Bigger ones, no. They need colder, well oxygenated water.

lots of times the old ones in those water bodies are small as well, they can get stunted from the lack of food. 

Thanks Katie, it's hard to describe the frenetic activity, as well as the numbers of shad and Bass but that little snippet of video I felt was the perfect representation of it.   That went on for the 5 hours I was there, and I'm sure it was going on before I was there, and after I left.   

 

I tried two different underspins along with:

 

2 different jighead minnow combos

Shimano jerkbait

A-Rig

1/8th jighead/3.3" small paddletail swimbait

Molix 1/2oz tailspinner

Crush Flat 75x crank

3/8oz Vault

1/2oz Dyna Response

1/8th Flashback mini/3"armor shad

Spinnerbait

 

The fish certainly won that round.  

 

 

 

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Thanks Katie, it's hard to describe the frenetic activity, as well as the numbers of shad and Bass but that little snippet of video I felt was the perfect representation of it.   That went on for the 5 hours I was there, and I'm sure it was going on before I was there, and after I left.   

 

I tried two different underspins along with:

 

2 different jighead minnow combos

Shimano jerkbait

A-Rig

1/8th jighead/3.3" small paddletail swimbait

Molix 1/2oz tailspinner

Crush Flat 75x crank

3/8oz Vault

1/2oz Dyna Response

1/8th Flashback mini/3"armor shad

Spinnerbait

 

The fish certainly won that round.  

 

 

 

 

That's spoon water!  

https://thehookuptackle.com/products/metal-adict-01?variant=42594966208679

https://shimreels.com/search?page=2&search=little jack metal adict zero

 

Ripped and killed, give em the erratic flash they want!  Seriously though, these two salt spoons have been magical at times when my fish behave like you're describing.  

 

scott

Thanks Scott, and that funny you bring those up because I remember asking you about them earlier and thinking I'd like to get some.  

 

I was actually going the opposite direction, trying to go slower and more dead action.     The blade bait usually gets them when they won't eat the normal schooling lures, but I think I only caught a couple on the Dyna Response.

I've got some spoons I'll try next time and report back, thanks again! 

A friend took us out to the local nuclear power plant lake on Thursday. Water temps about 77 degrees. It was my buddy's birthday, he caught all the numbers and I caught the big bass at the end of the day. Probably like three to four pounds. Nothing like fast squarebill fishing in mid February. I haven't been out since, work took me away from a trip I'd hoped to make to a special central Texas lake. 

 

Spawn is just around the corner

@thediscochef: Have you lost weight? Nice bass!

11 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Caught 28 + 2 Crappie + 1 big Channel Cat in the middle of what seemed like millions of shad, and hundreds of Bass.   At one point I watched a wolf pack of 15-20 fish cruising on the surface.   I knew they did that when corralling bait, but it's the first time they were close enough to the surface for me to witness.   Bass will never stop impressing me, they're just such a supreme predator.  

 

 I watched a 25-30lb sack blow up all around me for hour after hour but never even caught a single big one.   I've said it a number of times in this thread over the last several years, but schooling Bass can easily be one of the most frustrating things I've experienced in life.  Watching 5lb+ fish clear the water over and over and not being able to catch them is akin to being waterboarded 😂

 

 

 

I think we all know why you didn’t hook up in the first part of that video when they were jumping all around, because you threw a spinnerbait! That footage proves the uselessness of that lure beyond the shadow of a doubt! 😂 

 

in addition to @softwateronly’s spoon suggestion, a weightless fluke can sometimes trigger them. I’d even toss a spook/popper into that madness, I’ve seen hundreds of white bass ignore everything but walk the dog action many times 

@TnRiver46, thanks for the tip on the fluke buddy!   I'll hit them with that next time out.   I give the spinnerbait a hard time like you, but occasionally a blind squirrel finds a nut 😁

 

@thediscochef   Nice one buddy!  Those power plant fish are interesting especially in regards to spawning

10 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

@TnRiver46, thanks for the tip on the fluke buddy!   I'll hit them with that next time out.   I give the spinnerbait a hard time like you, but occasionally a blind squirrel finds a nut 😁

 

I thought a fluke would be the solution to my 2023 wolfpacking bass, but it wasn't. It was rod tip up and reeling like crazy that fooled some 2024 wolfpackers. Of course, YMMV.

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Caught 28 + 2 Crappie + 1 big Channel Cat in the middle of what seemed like millions of shad, and hundreds of Bass.   At one point I watched a wolf pack of 15-20 fish cruising on the surface.   I knew they did that when corralling bait, but it's the first time they were close enough to the surface for me to witness.   Bass will never stop impressing me, they're just such a supreme predator.  

 

 I watched a 25-30lb sack blow up all around me for hour after hour but never even caught a single big one.   I've said it a number of times in this thread over the last several years, but schooling Bass can easily be one of the most frustrating things I've experienced in life.  Watching 5lb+ fish clear the water over and over and not being able to catch them is akin to being waterboarded 😂

 

 

 

I'm going to get you a trolling motor handle whether you use it or not!

2 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I'm going to get you a trolling motor handle whether you use it or not!

 

Will you also buy me a floatplane whether I want it or not?*

 

 

 

 

 

*I do, I do want one!

Haha, I fix that stupid motor seemingly weekly.

 

Yesterday I broke a blade off a prop, and the day before the tilting mechanism broke.

 

The term b.o.a.t. still applies to the S.S. Minnow too.....it's just b.o.a.d......bust out another dollar instead of thousand 🤣

4 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

@thediscochef: Have you lost weight? Nice bass!

Thanks! She hit like a freight train. And yes, I have. Just over 40lbs since mid November. I appreciate that you noticed

22 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

Just over 40lbs since mid November.

Dude !  That's a half pound a day! I will always admire people with discipline! Unlike me. I'll loose five only to celebrate at Las Fiestas! And, you did it over the holidays! Way to go!

Had an interesting fun fishing trip on Super Bowl Sunday. The water was incredibly swift, my buddy with his robot trolling motor and spot lock was fishing nearby and the spot lock was no match. I beached my craft in an eddy and started casting a swimbait. Whilst doing so, I noticed a bunch of shad swimming by. Got the trusty cast net out and got some, then deployed one on a jighead. Something took off with it and swam really fast, I thought surely a striper. After a few good runs in the current, I got some video rolling. Some bald eagles were up in a nest nearby, noisily cheering me on. If you turn the volume up on the video , you can hear them well. I took this as a sign that the eagles would win the Super Bowl, go birds! When I finally got the fish near the boat, it turned out to be a medium sized drum. They aren’t typically that fast but this one sure was ! I then caught another small drum and decided to go try something else for a bit. Found a slower spot tucked in behind a bridge pillar and tried some night crawlers. My first fish was a nice shellcracker that I let go. Then I got a couple nice bluegill and a yellow perch that I also let go. Well they just kept biting so I decided to start keeping some and ended with nice little mess of tasty fillets. A largemouth even decided to show up and bite a nightcrawler. After I ran out of nightcrawlers, I went back down to the eddy where the drum were. This time I got an even bigger 26” drum but it didn’t fight nearly as hard as the first one. Cleaned the fish and froze the fillets, took a shower and made it to a Super Bowl party in the nick of time. Water temp was 48 

 

the blooper pics near the bottom are a goose that identified as a pigeon, trying to nest on a bridge 60-70 feet off the ground. And an accidental photo of a shellcracker that flipped up right when I hit the button 

 

 

 

 

Once again, I want to live like @TnRiver46. He lives with gusto!

 

40 lbs.??!!?? That deserves a Texas yee-haw, @thediscochef!