5 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I don't have his brilliant fish-catching, detail-remembering brain, but I try.

Sure you do. Your brain is covered in scales....er.....surrounded by gills......Oh, never mind, this is coming out all wrong.

2 hours ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Sure you do. Your brain is covered in scales....er.....surrounded by gills......Oh, never mind, this is coming out all wrong.

 

Me:

 

I always try and fish when I see pre frontal conditions in the forecast. I was hoping there would be a good bite on moving baits but nope. They still only wanted jigs. 

 

 

 

 

On 8/17/2025 at 3:52 PM, Swamp Girl said:

FWIW, the kid and I fished last Tuesday morning and caught five bass like the ones pictured above. Since then, he's caught another three with his dad. All eight of these bass over four pounds were caught at drop-offs where the bottom dropped from 2-3 feet to eight feet. So, when I return to the water, guess where I'll be fishing? There's a sudden drop-off on the shoreline above, but we also had luck fishing a drop-off that plunged quite a ways from the shoreline. I found the off-shore drop-off by continually jabbing my paddle into the water until I couldn't feel the bottom anymore. This might be a little too high-tech for most of you guys.

 

All were caught in low light conditions, i.e. morning or evening. I'm guessing the bass were staging preparing to go shallow to feed (evening) or returning from nighttime, shallow water feeding before the dinosaurs could attack.

 

I share because this Maine pattern might work for you too.

 

https://hawkeyeelectronics.com/products/fishtrax-1c-fish-finder

A little more high-tech than paddle poking, but simply so.  The transducer drops over the side of a canoe or kayak and is suspended by an adjustable float.  It lets you keep paddling while surveying the bottom (and seeing fish).  The screen is about the size of a larger Iphone.

I bought mine specifically to explore and ‘map’ my favorite stretches of the Upper Potomac from my sit-in kayak.  Without it, I’m pretty sure I would have never found a number of spots related to underwater structure…sudden drop offs to small holes, shelves in layers of rock, submerged boulders that created underwater current breaks, humps on the bottom, etc. that have turned out to hold smallies more often than not.  And on several occasions over deeper water I was even able to ‘see’ a few of the rascals.  
And when the river has been too high to float, I’ve also used it on several nearby lakes that were unfamiliar to me.  And in the deeper water of those, not only does it locate fish, but revealed in more detail some features that were only generalized on available contour maps.  Other than my pfd, it has proven to be the best $99 I’ve spent for anything related to my kayak fishing.

Thanks for the suggestion, @OldManLure, but I can barely carry the gear I already use.

Wet waded a river for smallies a few days ago and had a nice run. That late afternoon into evening has been good for me on bronze bass. I had to do a little dialing, but just goofy subtle changes that fish do. Nothing tells you “right call” then a solid fish immediately after switching up. Fish weren’t hot to trot, but bit steadily once I threw what they wanted.
 

I have a feeling a few things could likely get me more numbers as this stretch has them. At the same time, I can’t argue with the average size I’ve had in 3 smallmouth trips. I landed an 18.5”, 19.25”, and 20.25” for big fish; all soft taped in the water(difficult at best!). Fights were just great fun man, hard…dogged power in current. A bitsy bug/craw did best by far, but a ned head/craw got a couple and the ol’ football jig/hula grub got inhaled on the drop by the 18+. There’s something I just love about setting the hook into a good river bass in some flow with a bait caster 

 

6 minutes ago, JonB2 said:

I landed an 18.5”, 19.25”, and 20.25” for big fish; all soft taped in the water(difficult at best!).

 

Please take @IcatchDinks fishing. He's such a good guy, lives in Michigan, and I'd love to see him fish a river that's thick with smallies, not tubers. 

@Swamp Girl I’m not sure we have rivers in Michigan that don’t have hordes of tubers, kayaks or canoes during summer lol. People from downstate and out of state  invade and ruin our vibe in the northern parts of the state 

56 minutes ago, JonB2 said:

@Swamp Girl I’m not sure we have rivers in Michigan that don’t have hordes of tubers, kayaks or canoes during summer lol. People from downstate and out of state  invade and ruin our vibe in the northern parts of the state 

I catch fish right under their tubes in Michigan! 

25 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I catch fish right under their tubes in Michigan! 

 

Russ, you catch fish everywhere and with everything. I could give you a safety pin, some string, and a French fry and you'd catch five species out of street puddle. 

You are too kind @Swamp Girl, I prefer to just target small rock bass no matter where I go, seeing as how they are a genetically superior game fish. Got one last night! 

13 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

You are too kind @Swamp Girl

 

Not really. I've seen you catch fish in the city, in the winter, from every type of craft, in the thick of tubers, with your wife and 47 friends, and in the rain, which reminds me that Dr. Seuss wrote about you:

 

Can Russ catch bass in the rain?

Can Russ catch bass of every strain?

Can Russ catch bass with his wife?

Can Russ catch bass all his life?

 

Yes, Sam, yes, he can.

My town erected a statue of me. So many locals have seen me struggling through the woods with all my gear and to honor my grit, they depicted me in bronze. Here it is:

 

 

To get the full effect, it's best to view the statue at night. 

My biggest Karashi and bfs fish yet. 21" and just north of 4lbs. She's going to be a big girl in the Spring. 

 

Caught 9 last night in 1.5 hours using bfs out of the kayak. Two perch, one bluegill, one crappie, and 5 lmb.

 

Also caught 3 more lmb using the crush city mayor. 

14 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Caught 9 last night in 1.5 hours using bfs out of the kayak. Two perch, one bluegill, one crappie, and 5 lmb.

 

 

Sounds FUN!

 

All on the karashi?

 

I love catching panfish on tiny cranks. Bass love them as well.

 

I really wanted to get a BFS combo this year but my wife would really kill me as I've spent a ton already.

 

Oh well, I still have my UL spinning.

 

 

37 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Sounds FUN!

 

All on the karashi?

 

I love catching panfish on tiny cranks. Bass love them as well.

 

I really wanted to get a BFS combo this year but my wife would really kill me as I've spent a ton already.

 

Oh well, I still have my UL spinning.

 

 

Yeah all on the Karashi.  They were loving the baby kingyo color last night.

 

I literally have not touched my spinning rod since I got my bfs setup.  It is so much fun.  I am gravitating towards big baits and tiny baits this year.  Decided to make this a year of trying out new stuff.  I have all kinds of tackle, but was always fishing jigs and spinnerbaits.  Believe it or not, I have not thrown a spinnerbait since pre spawn. 😶

Well, this isn't just some "normal" bass I caught the other day.

 

This was my FIRST fish I've caught on a "big" swimbait. I'm in Iowa, it's "big" for me.

 

I had a couple of hours to burn Friday morning before my daughter's White Coat ceremony.

 

The plan was to test cast a reel on a new rod, and I figured I'd bring two other combos with me. One being my swimbait rod. I wasn't even expecting to catch anything, it was just to test this new rod out.

 

Before I did any test casting, I grabbed my swimbait rod and maybe on the 6th cast I hooked into this bass. It brought a huge amount of excitement. Not because the fish was big (it wasn't), but because it was my first fish caught on a big swimbait.

 

I bought this rod/reel last fall and have barely used it. My wife and kids have always joked and said I would never catch a fish on a lure that big.

 

Well I proved them wrong! Now I'm buying some more baits and can't wait to throw them.  

 

Sorry for the long story, amazing the joy a little fish can give someone.   

 

 

 

Was able to escape for a little morning sesh.  Best of 8 was 18", pulled out of the veg with a Space Monkey:

 

The shallow bite has been productive all summer. I can count on one hand the number of fish I've caught deeper than about 6 feet this year, which is very unusual.  

8 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

Well, this isn't just some "normal" bass I caught the other day.

 

This was my FIRST fish I've caught on a "big" swimbait. I'm in Iowa, it's "big" for me.

 

I had a couple of hours to burn Friday morning before my daughter's White Coat ceremony.

 

The plan was to test cast a reel on a new rod, and I figured I'd bring two other combos with me. One being my swimbait rod. I wasn't even expecting to catch anything, it was just to test this new rod out.

 

Before I did any test casting, I grabbed my swimbait rod and maybe on the 6th cast I hooked into this bass. It brought a huge amount of excitement. Not because the fish was big, but because it was my first fish caught on a big swimbait.

 

I bought this rod/reel last fall and have barely used it. My wife and kids have always joked and said I would never catch a fish on a lure that big.

 

Well I proved them wrong! Now I'm buying some more baits and can't wait to throw them.  

 

Sorry for the long story, amazing the joy a little fish can give someone.   

 

 

 

Don't let your latitude fool you.  Don't hesitate to go even bigger.  You will be surprised at what you will catch.  I am further north than you are and have no problem throwing 7" to 10" baits and catching fish.  Remember though, fishing big swimbaits you can't go out and expect to catch a ton of fish.  But it is a ton of fun, and you always have the potential to catch that monster.  But I have caught plenty of fish on big swimbaits that the fish is smaller than the actual bait.  Fish do not know how big they are imho.  If they think they can eat it, they will.

19 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Yeah all on the Karashi.  They were loving the baby kingyo color last night.

 

 

Sounds like I'm gonna have to get me a Karashi.

 

Not sure why I've put it off for so long.

15 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Sounds like I'm gonna have to get me a Karashi.

 

Not sure why I've put it off for so long.

juvi gill, kasumi ito, and baby kingyo have been VERY productive colors for me.

13 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Don't let your latitude fool you.  Don't hesitate to go even bigger.  You will be surprised at what you will catch.  I am further north than you are and have no problem throwing 7" to 10" baits and catching fish.  Remember though, fishing big swimbaits you can't go out and expect to catch a ton of fish.  But it is a ton of fun, and you always have the potential to catch that monster.  But I have caught plenty of fish on big swimbaits that the fish is smaller than the actual bait.  Fish do not know how big they are imho.  If they think they can eat it, they will.

 

We will see how my swimbait fishing transforms. Right now the rod I have maxes out at 3.5 ounces, at least that's the rating.

 

I'm already a quality over quantity kind of guy so that's good. 

17 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

… It brought a huge amount of excitement. Not because the fish was big (it wasn't), but because it was my first fish caught on a big swimbait.

Yeah, those big swimbaits are a lot of fun to fish.  I setup a rod for it but haven’t thrown them much as this summer has been very tough fishing.  I did catch my first glidebait bass while fishing for pike in May.  Walking a bone coloured S-Waver and saw it blast sideways when a 3.5# largemouth nailed it unexpectedly over a weedbed at a depth I wouldn’t expect a bass to be at that time of year.  Out of season, but still fun.

 

Our weather is cooling off here, it may be time to put in some more effort with the couple glides I have.

19 hours ago, Rockhopper said:

juvi gill, kasumi ito, and baby kingyo have been VERY productive colors for me.

Ht moroko ks has been my #1 this year, the paint is absolutely shredded on that bait and on its second set of hooks and split rings.

Farm pond this morning.

Little bass, lots of Crappie and a couple of cats.