July is tough fishing for me too, Clayton.

Went out this morning with the intention to do some jig fishing.  I only really started using them late last year. Once I learned to  pitch accurately I had some success.  

That was from the bank however and it’s tough to pitch from a seated position in a canoe.  so today was more about practicing my pin point roll casting and skipping with baitcasting gear. 
 

Happy to report that I did okay.  Caught 13 with 11 of those being jig fish.  The two outliers were caught with the Mayor which I used to fish a couple shallow flats.  Nothing huge but a lot of 12-15 inch fish.

Biggest fish was one of the two below I didn’t measure or weight them so more just of an eye test.

 

Caught 3 in a row (including one of the bigger fish) on the outside weed line on this point. 

There rest were caught along the drop-off adjacent to shallow flats.

1st catch on the new kayak 😀

Had a ton of fun fishing some spots I don't normally fish the past couple days and even had some notable success!

 

First we had a pretty fun but tough short boat trip on the little lake on the 4th and I managed a nice fish on the buzzbait and Jake got a real nice one too and I managed one more little guy.  Lost a big one that wrapped me up in bridge stuff.  Missed a few bites that could have been sizeable fish.

 

 

Next day we went out west to visit @LrgmouthShad to fish at the legendary pond known as 'Ole Muddy'.

 

This was not my first time fishing 'Muddy but it was my first time catching a fish at ole Muddy - she didn't disappoint.

 

She waited til the sun was just beginning to set and she ate a shaky head with a manns jelly worm on the back (one of my last jelly worms).  5 lb on the dot on LMS scale and a great pair of shoulders on her.

 

 

Jake managed to catch a few but he really impressed us all with a giant post spawn female he secured on the weightless trick worm.

 

 

Meagan almost caught one on the buzzbait but she did hook one on the trick worm!

 

 

Muddy did NOT disappoint!

 

We hit a very large reservoir a little east of us with @FishTax yesterday before a massive tropical storm hit.

 

We got bit EVERYWHERE but only caught a couple dinks before the sky opened up and all the rain fell.

 

 

Jake was the star of the show with 4 fish including a green Sunfish - he almost got a 3 lber we could see considering eating his spinnerbait but couldn't close the deal.  It was tough but fun!

 

Not much more luck today - 96° and 100% humidity had me feeling a little soggy and slightly dizzy at the pond after work but I managed two bass anyway.

 

 

One had a gnarly Picasso chunk removed via heron.

 

Tomorrow is @LrgmouthShad 's last day in NC and we are gonna try the Lil Local Lake™ where I have done exceptionally well this spring and summer and we are gonna hope they are in the mood to eat - after a fun little pond early in the morning that is near where @FishTax works.

 

Thunder Moon ⚡🌕 is a coming in hard and fast - I expect at least a shot at a sizeable critter tomorrow.  😎👍🏼

 

 

Hopefully one of us can seal the deal!

 

 

 

 

20 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

So true. As I've been fishing with my teenage buddy, I keep coaching him to mix up his retrieves. 

Yes, LISTEN TO THE FISH!  They will tell you where they are and what they want.

101 degrees out today on Hartwell. Nailed this fat 2 and a half pound spot with a pearl Battlebaits brigade blade bladed jig with a pearl mooch minnow trailer. The little guy hit a Picasso Rhino Shaky head with a z dude SMH worm in sprayed grass on it thrown up against a rock bluff. Not bad considering I had to retire at noon as I was starting to get some serious heat exhaustion and didn't want it to progress into heat stroke.

I didn’t have long to fish before getting around to get ready before work today. The first cast I caught this small one and I decided that I succeeded in my mission and I had some errands to complete before heading home to get ready. This tiny little pond gets pounded non stop so any fish is a victory, felt the hit watched my line start running and set the hook. I made one more cast to get the braid tightly back on the spool and called it good. 1/8 oz jig head and a little hazedong shad got it done.

Went out fishing today at the pond across from my apartment complex. We've been getting a ton of rain down here and the fishing's been a little weird. Glad to get back out there for a hour and caught a couple. Good O'l worm fishing.

Had a great time with @Pat Brown and @LrgmouthShad the last few days even though the bite has been tough. Adding to Pats post, here is my fish from Little local lake and a larger one from the larger reservoir. 

 

The tropical storm jacked things up here, as well as causing some devastation in my home town here around Graham and Burlington, but thankfully no one in my family has any major damage. 

I caught these bass. They probably weighed between 2 and 4lb

I fished a bog this morning and whereas I managed to catch 31, they were all small. I might have hooked two big ones, but they ran into the weeds and I couldn't turn them.

 

Here are a couple photos of our morning. That's me in the solo boat and the kid in the foreground:

 

Great to see you fishing again @Swamp Girl!! 😎😁

I left my desk early yesterday, for an afternoon/evening fish.  Very slow, Wes caught a nice one on the flashy swimmer.  I caught a couple smaller ones, on a spinner bait and an evening fish on a Choppo.  That was for almost four hours’ trying.  Our dog days may be here. 😕

1 hour ago, The Baron said:

Our dog days may be here. 😕

 

July is tough, no doubt. I'm happy Wes caught a big one. I love to see the youngins catch bass.

On 7/7/2025 at 9:48 PM, Pat Brown said:

Jake managed to catch a few but he really impressed us all with a giant post spawn female he secured on the weightless trick worm.

 

Holy Hannah, I didn’t really see this properly first time.  That girls huge on the front end and torn right up on the back.  I’d assume she was a beast pre-spawn!

Back at it this morning for 3 hours, after a couple weeks of doing other things.

 

Lot of water lilies. Wonder what's in there?

 

Oh hello

 

Best of 10 -- 3.30lb:

Morning trip with a local guide whom I've interacted online for a few years now. Rain off and on all day and we actually were chased off the lake due to some lightning for a bit. But back out we went. Neither of us caught anything substantial even though he could see larger ones on his sonar...they ignored my Shaky and his Ned. Pretty slow, half dozen for each of us with my first of the day probably being the best of the day at almost 2#.

Nice one @MN Fisher!! Bet that was fun

Nice one Ken! Nice hat too.

I caught 19 the other day, but didn't have the phone for pictures. 10 bass, 8 bluegills, and 1 flathead catfish. Almost all of them were on a black roostertail. The cat was about 5-6 pounds, and one of the prettiest fish I've seen.

 

Today I got a few more, with a bonus turtle! The boy scooped him up and we passed him around a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too bad the weather didn’t cooperate, but glad you got to go @MN Fisher!

Atta, Ken!

9 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I caught 19 the other day, but didn't have the phone for pictures. 10 bass, 8 bluegills, and 1 flathead catfish. Almost all of them were on a black roostertail. The cat was about 5-6 pounds, and one of the prettiest fish I've seen.

 

Today I got a few more, with a bonus turtle! The boy scooped him up and we passed him around a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red-Eared Slider They grow up to be dock-pigs!

Just a small one the other day, used Glenn's suggestion of using a beaver style bait.

 

Tuesday evening 

 

 

 

one hour paddle on Wednesday evening 

2 hour paddle last night after weedeating for a solid hour

Russ, I wouldn't be surprised if you one day post pics of bonefish and Arctic char you caught on an evening paddle because you already catch pert near everything else.