2 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

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!

 

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

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

 

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

Thanks y'all, I feel better for sure. I was 247 then, and at the doctor this morning I was 203. It's been work and I still have about 10-15 to go. Hopefully I can get a workout from lifting bass again soon 

Made it out on Sunday in the yak on the power plant. I thought about skipping it and going to a different lake to avoid the crowds after the idiocy I dealt with out there last week, but I decided I'd go and stay until boats got bad or until the fish quit biting, whichever came first. It was a cold morning with a pretty good breeze, I headed straight to my point that I got ran off of last week and it was on right away. There was tiny shad everywhere, looking like they were stunned from the cold snap, and fish were occasionally boiling on them. Water temps had come up about 6* since the week before and I don't know if that or the cold front rolling in or maybe a combination of both, but something had them moving. I had several baits to try but my guides were freezing all day, and that always messes with my willingness to switch up too much. They were chewing a Ned real good like usual, but I had some Geecrack Neko Hack neko rigging tools I wanted to try, so I tossed a Neko rigged Big Bite Baits worm and stuck a nice one. When I say these fish were gorging on dying shad, I'm starting to wonder if it's possible for a bass to eat itself to death?

18.5" and 5.08lbs, a fitting football on Superb Owl Sunday. 

 

Very next cast with the Neko, another bite, another heavy fish. I was thinking megabag at this point.

This one was "only" 4 and some change.

 

Those would be my only big bites of the day though. I caught fish steadily the entire 9 hours I was on the water, to the tune of over 30 fish and constantly had them boiling around me, but the big ones stopped biting after those 2. I did catch the biggest little bass I've ever seen. I thought it was a white bass when I first saw it flash under the surface. Nope, just a 13 incher that weighed 1.75lbs.

Huge winter storm coming again this week. We're looking 6" to a foot of snow on Wednesday and really cold temps, not looking good for next weekend. Might have to finally do some trailer maintenance that I've been neglecting all winter. 

@Bluebasser86: I laughed out loud at your bass. They're, they're preposterous! 

46 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Made it out on Sunday in the yak on the power plant. I thought about skipping it and going to a different lake to avoid the crowds after the idiocy I dealt with out there last week, but I decided I'd go and stay until boats got bad or until the fish quit biting, whichever came first. It was a cold morning with a pretty good breeze, I headed straight to my point that I got ran off of last week and it was on right away. There was tiny shad everywhere, looking like they were stunned from the cold snap, and fish were occasionally boiling on them. Water temps had come up about 6* since the week before and I don't know if that or the cold front rolling in or maybe a combination of both, but something had them moving. I had several baits to try but my guides were freezing all day, and that always messes with my willingness to switch up too much. They were chewing a Ned real good like usual, but I had some Geecrack Neko Hack neko rigging tools I wanted to try, so I tossed a Neko rigged Big Bite Baits worm and stuck a nice one. When I say these fish were gorging on dying shad, I'm starting to wonder if it's possible for a bass to eat itself to death?

18.5" and 5.08lbs, a fitting football on Superb Owl Sunday. 

 

Very next cast with the Neko, another bite, another heavy fish. I was thinking megabag at this point.

This one was "only" 4 and some change.

 

Those would be my only big bites of the day though. I caught fish steadily the entire 9 hours I was on the water, to the tune of over 30 fish and constantly had them boiling around me, but the big ones stopped biting after those 2. I did catch the biggest little bass I've ever seen. I thought it was a white bass when I first saw it flash under the surface. Nope, just a 13 incher that weighed 1.75lbs.

Huge winter storm coming again this week. We're looking 6" to a foot of snow on Wednesday and really cold temps, not looking good for next weekend. Might have to finally do some trailer maintenance that I've been neglecting all winter. 

 

I'm surprised some of those fish can even swim with how fat they are, my goodness.

@Bluebasser86  Mother of Pearl!!!!!!!!  Some of the fattest Bass I've seen!

 

Man that's awesome.   What's the lake record in that place?   I'd fish that place 24/7 😎

 

@TnRiver46  Fantastic report and what a fun day!  Those bream are beautiful too.    I can only imagine how happy that drum makes Roadwarrior wherever he may be 🤣

We hit 80 yesterday, but struggled to top 50 today under partly cloudy skies and an east wind at 6-10 mph. Water temps cooled slightly, now 53-54 deg. Found bass working shad schools uplake and landed between 25-30 keepers in just over 3 hours. Fun afternoon on the lake. Now we wait and see what 3 straight days of heavy rain does to everything. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The BR crew is doing it all, catching big numbers, big bass, and even big drum plus delicious bream. All the weights are up except for @thediscochef's scale!

11 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 Now we wait and see what 3 straight days of heavy rain dies to everything. 
 

I think I know the answer 

 

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

@Bluebasser86  Mother of Pearl!!!!!!!!  Some of the fattest Bass I've seen!

 

Man that's awesome.   What's the lake record in that place?   I'd fish that place 24/7 😎

Lake record is 10lbs 15oz, caught not too long ago in a tournament on the guys first cast of the morning on a DT6, he’s got a good video of it on YouTube. Our state record is only a pound heavier. I’ve caught more fish over 7 out of that lake than all other lakes in the state combined, but I’ve never broke 8 yet. 

Heak yeah Clayton, that place is the stuff of big Bass dreams.

 

The WR Striped Bass was caught not too far from me, and it was using a cheat code where warm water flows out of steam plant IIrc.   I fished a hot water discharge area on Lay Lake which was good fishing in the winter but never seen fat fish like your lake.   Those fish are crazy. 

 

eta:  You'll get an 8 before summer if you get to fish it some more 

For a long time, I thought he was called @Bluebasser86 because he protects and serves, but I learned today that he's also called Bluebasser because he catches bass shaped like Bluegills. I think he's called 86 because he 86s all our hopes of ever catching bass as fat as his. 

On 2/9/2025 at 5:54 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Today’s catch of the day is this Floridian shivering during a Texas cold front holding a 12 bass. 12 ounces. We caught small ones today. I picked up 3 more. Where are the bigger fish???

Hey, that’s doubles digits. Just say you caught a 12 and leave it at that. 👍🏻

13 hours ago, Team9nine said:

landed between 25-30 keepers in just over 3 hours.

EPIC !!!!   Sounds like a dream day on the water!

Visited my friends pond/nursery in the cold misting rain and caught 15 micros in 2 hours. Caught them all on weightless Zoom finesse worms drug very slowly.

Those are excellent photos, GreenPig. I wish I'd been beside you, catching bass too!

It's always a good day when thread regulars like @Greenpig are posting fish pics!

 

Found a separate group of schoolers yesterday and tried some of the things suggested like the Spoon and Fluke.    Couldn't get any bites but then again, I'm not a spoon or fluke guy.   Fish in this school were bigger on average and a little more aggressive than first school but still couldn't catch any fish bigger than about 3.5-4lbs. 

 

I did however find a bait that the fish seemed to be totally uneducated on, a bait just the night before I remembered to grab out of my childhood tackle box because of its legendary wintertime prowess.    The bait I grabbed was a Made in Ireland Shad Rap 6 in Crawdad.  If you Bass fished in the 90s, you almost certainly owned this bait.   The Crawfish colored Shad patterned bait is one of the most iconic lures of all time imho.    

 

So, at dawn I'm back at the location of the first group of schooling fish that frustrated me so much armed with a 30+ year old Rapala with OEM hardware taken straight out of the tackle box I fished with as a kid.

 

I spent the first 6 hours stripping my thumb of all the skin with 1-3lb class fish.   At least they're biting more consistently on the new bait, but at that point after 3 days on heavily schooling fish and not catching a single fish over 5lbs.......I'm starting to question the nature of the universe.

 

Long story short, this majestic creature gave me a memory that will last forever.  She was 8.7lbs, and about as short and fat as they come around here.  

 

 

 

 

 

So, let me get this straight. You were fishing in Alabama and shredding your thumb. Then you somehow cast all the way to Kansas, hooked one of Clayton's preposterous bass, and reeled it across the country, presumably by rivers and lakes. 

 

Seriously, you've caught so many big bass this winter, but I think this latest one is my favorite even though it's not the biggest. I just love when they look like they're about to burst. 

Got out today for app. 1.5 hours. Temps in the low 70s, cloudy, light breeze. Got 3 in the boat, and missed 2. Caught 2 on the 10 inch Red shad culpit , including this one, and 1 one on a 10 inch mister twister worm. Fish are up shallow, and I’m seeing a bed by my dock. 
It’s that time of year again!

3 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Fish are up shallow, and I’m seeing a bed by my dock. 
It’s that time of year again!

 

Just imagine that he's singing "Love is in the water...."

 

 

Lol Katie, great minds think alike, I remember holding that fish and thinking this reminds me of Clayton's recent fish, albeit not as fat.   I can't wait to see what an 8lb fish from his lake looks like, just a matter of time until he posts one.    As you know I'm an OCD numbers nerd, and I'd love to have all the lengths and girths to go with 7lb+ fish.  

Aesthetically speaking, I'd have to agree with you.   I had trouble letting her go, I just kept wanting to admire her.       

 

@N Florida Mike  Nice one brother!   Hopefully a big ole' DD rolls up on that bed 😎

@AlabamaSpothunter Yours  is a beautiful fish man ! Did you measure her ? 

10 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Aesthetically speaking, I'd have to agree with you.   I had trouble letting her go, I just kept wanting to admire her.     

 

In a way, she's still with you. That photo of her in the water is stunning and you'll always have it. We really should photograph them in their homes more. Not always easy to do, of course. I've returned more than one bass to the water that immediately went berserk as soon as she reached H2O. It's almost as if they get a kick out of splashing me. 

 

Regarding Clayton's bass, I've since gone back and looked at my fattest bass. As you know, I catch some thick fish, but NOTHING like Clayton's or your recent whale. 

 

P. S. - I never tire of seeing your little, old boat.  You and I both fish from small, cheap platforms. I paid $1,000, $600, and $500 for my three canoes. Our measly boats should encourage others to go catch bass without dropping five or even six figures on a bass boat.

I disagree Katie, your PB fish last year was ridiculously fat.  The reason why I estimated her to be 8+ was the girth.     

 

You're the queen of fat Bass.........and yes I added a B in there 🤣

 

@N Florida Mike  Appreciate it brother! 

6 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I disagree Katie, your PB fish last year was ridiculously fat. 

 

Yeah, she was a Clayton-grade/Alex-sized bass.

11 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's always a good day when thread regulars like @Greenpig are posting fish pics!

 

Found a separate group of schoolers yesterday and tried some of the things suggested like the Spoon and Fluke.    Couldn't get any bites but then again, I'm not a spoon or fluke guy.   Fish in this school were bigger on average and a little more aggressive than first school but still couldn't catch any fish bigger than about 3.5-4lbs. 

 

I did however find a bait that the fish seemed to be totally uneducated on, a bait just the night before I remembered to grab out of my childhood tackle box because of its legendary wintertime prowess.    The bait I grabbed was a Made in Ireland Shad Rap 6 in Crawdad.  If you Bass fished in the 90s, you almost certainly owned this bait.   The Crawfish colored Shad patterned bait is one of the most iconic lures of all time imho.    

 

So, at dawn I'm back at the location of the first group of schooling fish that frustrated me so much armed with a 30+ year old Rapala with OEM hardware taken straight out of the tackle box I fished with as a kid.

 

I spent the first 6 hours stripping my thumb of all the skin with 1-3lb class fish.   At least they're biting more consistently on the new bait, but at that point after 3 days on heavily schooling fish and not catching a single fish over 5lbs.......I'm starting to question the nature of the universe.

 

Long story short, this majestic creature gave me a memory that will last forever.  She was 8.7lbs, and about as short and fat as they come around here.  

 

 

 

 

 

OMG!