11 on a tough bite @T-Billy……… one day you may experience a tough bite but I doubt it ! I’ve had many tough bites where I caught negative 11 

Couldn't sleep and wanted to break in a new reel last night. Skipping weightless senkos around for a couple dinks.

 

Side note the Alphas SV 800s does really good! Should be a really good post spawn bite soon on the senko when they are finicky. 

34 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

11 on a tough bite @T-Billy……… one day you may experience a tough bite but I doubt it ! I’ve had many tough bites where I caught negative 11 

 Ha!!! I catch my share of skunks. Today was tough in the aspect they were in very specific trees, on very specific structure, and they were buried up in the gnarliest parts of the trees. Flippin rig only spots. No way a jig or a skin hooked Trig would come through clean. Most folks wouldn't pitch a bait into the tangles those fish came out of.😉

 This kinda stuff has become my "go to" anytime they don't have weeds to bury up in. Fairly recently fallen pines that still have their boughs are the best. 

AEP again today.  The wind was not cooperating so I decided to bank fish.  I went to a series of three ponds that I had been studying on google earth.  
 

 The weather had cooled down considerably so I only brought my spinning setups intending to go finesse figuring bits would be tough to come by.  
 

At the first pond I caught a dink on the first cast with a small paddle tail. I kept catching them after that but also losing my lure to snags.  I switched to the mayor rigged weedless on a weighted belly hook.   I wondered if they would still bite the 4” bait but they did and I caught several more dinks and my best fish of the day.

 

I saw a bigger bass, probably around 4 lbs at least follow in a dink that I had hooked.  Not sure it was also chasing my bait or if it was attracted to thrashing fish I was reeling in.  It took off once it got shallow but I caught another fish on the next cast and what I presume was the same fish followed it in again.  This time it stayed put while I unhooked the fish I caught.  I froze, not wanting to spook it but I didn’t want to kill the fish I just unhooked so when I put it back in the water the big bass reacted to my movement and took off again towards a lay down.  
 

I moved on to the second pond which had a cool beaver dam.  I saw tons of small bass shallow but there were so many lay downs, logs, stumps and standing timber I knew it would be dicey try to fish it with my lighter gear.  I was kicking myself for not bringing a casting rod because I would have loved to have had a jig or spinner bait at that moment.

 

The last pond was much bigger but I was only able to fish along the dam.  It’s about half a mile in from where I parked and I figure I could portage my canoe that far the trick will be doing that while also carrying a rod or two.  I’ll figure it out soon since I’ll probably be back out later this week.

First local tournament of the year was this past Sunday. We had a major cold front roll through that dumped some rain and knocked our overnight temps down below freezing. I didn't prefish at all and just went completely off past knowledge. I was the only one of the group that decided to launch where I did, wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Water was way down and more stained than I'd expected. Did a quick check on my Deep Dive app and it's suggestions were pretty spot on with what I was planning on throwing.

I had 4 different jerkbaits rigged up, 2 crankbaits, a tube, as well as a spinnerbait, and of course a Ned rig. I don't think any app could be calibrated to my confidence in a Ned rig, especially when smallmouth are involved, and that's what started the party, first with a white bass, then I jumped off a smallmouth. The jerkbaits got in on the action quickly though, with my first keeper smallmouth of the day at 16.50".

I lost another on a different jerkbait, before I caught my second keeper on the same jerkbait I started with, a 15.75" fish.

I switched back and forth between the Ned and jerkbaits frequently. I had one jerkbait they were really preferring it seemed. It was also the only one I was fishing on flouro (12lb InvisX), so maybe that was making a difference? It was a small area I was fishing, had to get what I could from it. I managed to pick up a small limit on the Ned before I caught a cull fish on the jerkbait, a 15.50" smallmouth.

It wasn't long after that one I picked up another cull, another 15.75" fish on the jerkbait.

My bite pretty much died at that point and I tried to get out in the wind and explore a little bit. After a hour of wasted time and only catching a drum on a jerkbait, I was back to my starting area with just over a hour left, feeling like I really needed at least one better quality bite to have a chance. I worked down my most productive bank from the morning, lost a heavy fish on a tube, and then started back up with a Ned. I had just about finished out that bank, when my Ned disappeared. When I found it, my line was almost under the boat and running along a dock cable. Real glad I had upgraded to the 10lb Pounce leader instead of my normal 8lb, because, there was a strong, dark smallmouth attatched to the other end, one that stretched the board to 17.50" to put me at 81" even. Not sure I would have got it off that cable otherwise.

I must have got amnesia at that point, because I left my area, again, to go explore some more (there's a bigger tournament out there next weekend that I'm also not prefishing for, so this was kind of being used like a prefishing day for that). I caught one 13" smallmouth and a little walleye before my time ran out. I was leading when the board shut off, 1" ahead of my buddy Deric, but when I got to the meet up area I heard that he had culled in the last few minutes. After the scores were added up, we'd tied. In a kayak tournament, the tiebreaker is whoever has the biggest individual fish. Deric had a 17" largemouth, I had a 17.50" smallmouth. So I ended up winning with a tiebreaker and also getting big bass for the day.

Turned out that it was a very tough day for most everyone else. Deric and I relaunced our kayaks and fished for a couple more hours and caught several more fish after the tournament. We fished and BS'd about how it had been a fun day and didn't understand why everyone was struggling. My fish were on very specific areas and only eating a few baits. The main reason for my lulls in activity were mainly my own doing. Deric said he had no lulls, just didn't get enough bigger bites. 

Completely different conditions this upcoming weekend. About 30 degrees warming after a warming trend and wind from the opposite direction. Not sure if I should hope I can go back and milk the same spot again, go to my usual favorite area, or to a 3rd area that I don't think will be as busy and hope I can pick off enough to have a chance. 

The weather finally warmed up enough to warrant a trip out to the pond after work. I work nights, start at 9pm and get off around 6/7am. So friday I loaded up the rods, then once I clocked out Saturday morning went straight to the pond for a few hours. Bite was super slow but I managed to catch my first bass of the season. Didn't get a good side photo but have a video on the release. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/OIc3buRMfak?si=zYzVVLFhJSjwH1Gz

Same place, same lures, different pond.  Even colder today highs in 40s overnight lows in 20s.  Bite was correspondingly slow.  Only managed 5.

Biggest fish of the day.

High blue skies, light and variable breeze, post frontal. Received over 2” of rain, but the water was relatively clear. Surface temps 69-70. Ended with about 20 bass on a combination of cranks, spoons and jigging Raps.

 

 

 

 

 

Got out for a couple hours before dark. Cool and mostly sunny.

Worst bite in a year. I managed 2 on speed worms. The bigger one was caught off a tree that had blown down during one of the storms we had last year.

I got run off by feral hogs this morning 

So delicious you got scared @thediscochef??

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

So delicious you got scared @thediscochef??

Feral hogs are delicious!

1 hour ago, thediscochef said:

got run off by feral hogs this morning

A big bore handgun stuffed with cast semi wadcutters will put an end to that. 

30 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Feral hogs are delicious!

Absolutely! But being prosecuted for hunting within state park borders is less delicious lol

8lb 11 oz.  Smaller than the one caught Saturday. 

 

46 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

Absolutely! But being prosecuted for hunting within state park borders is less delicious lol

How scared were ya? Self defense 

@Rockhopper: Wow. Just wow! You are part of a big pack that's oh-so hot.

 

                             

 

Meanwhile, I cast from the shore again this afternoon and skunked again. I don't think bass like when I stand on snow. I did get a hit on a fluke.

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

How scared were ya? Self defense 

Yup. "He's comin' right at me!" is the legal standard I think.   

@Rockhopper, what a fish! Nice catch! 

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

How scared were ya? Self defense 

Lol! They were coming right at me!!

 

Nah I saw them up the trail about 30 yards and just turned around 

@Rockhopper  What a beautiful fish, congrats on the giant!   

 

How'd you catch her, you folks that post big fish gotta give a little fish story on them 😁

26 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

I saw them up the trail about 30 yards and just turned around 

 

Smart. Wild boar deaths were tracked worldwide over a 20-year span and averaged 8.6 human deaths a year. I lived on a pig farm and developed a healthy fear of them.

 

11 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

How'd you catch her, you folks that post big fish gotta give a little fish story on them 😁

 

I love the stories as much as the photos.

@Dwight Hottle you're giving me the green bass envy!!  Frame's full of giants!

 

My city bass are still on bait, but not as schooled up near the magic rock.  Wind layed down a bit for the first time in 3 days, the current slowed, and the water cleared a bit.  Lost a really nice salmon that hit right at the rocks.  Felt 2-3 kicks as I tried to bring her up and turn her away from the rock overhang, saw a big, broad silver flash as she turned to dig back down and while I was trying to loosen my drag she popped free.  My line came back with a straight ryugi r-snap. 🤷‍♂️

 

Here's 3/4 of the good smallies, 9/10 landed in total and the one that came off my hair jig was definitely pic worthy.

 

scott

 

@softwateronly, you sir are on one heckuva ride

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@softwateronly, you sir are on one heckuva ride

 

Thanks!  Getting a lucky weather break, ice out has been followed by a week of sun and 60's followed by 3.5 weeks of 40's.  I'm pretty sure the water is stuck between 43-46, keeps the alewives and gizzards close to the marinas and hungry smallies taking advantage.  It'll fall apart soon, just getting what I can.

 

scott