@thediscochef Congrats on the new PB!

13 hours ago, thediscochef said:

8-6

Choppo 105

PB

💪 Nice!

@thediscochef Nice! That girl is thick.

First time taking out my new bonafide ss107. Super fun and easy to stand and fish. Paddles about as fast as my old ascent fs10 which was a sit inside. On my first few casts on the new kayak I caught this 3 pounder near a log by the bank. Only had about 30 minutes to take out the kayak but it was worth it because of this guy.

17 hours ago, thediscochef said:

8-6

Choppo 105

PB

Boom!

Congrats!

@Brycecover Nice bass & boat.

Congrats on the new PB and welcome to the 8 lb club.

What a fun change of pace. A 50 year old 9’ Nightcrawler Secrets rod built by Fenwick, some 6 pound line, and a dozen keeper bass. The technique dates back 60 years to when it was first written about (1966).

@Team9nine: I love how you're not just fishing for fish. You're fishing for fun! I keep saying that I'm going to spend a morning fishing nothing but my childhood lures. Maybe I'll follow your lead of fishing for fun and do that in 2026.

I was thinking about going back to Stinkweed pond again, but didn’t feel like it and went back to my local pond. The one where I got skunked last week. Hit the water about 8:00 am and started casting the same Bitsy jig with the Keitech Easy Shiner in sungill trailer. After a few casts I felt a light hit and set the hook. It was a decent bass but lightly hooked and it threw it. I casted back in the same area 3-4 times and felt the same hit. This time the hookset was good. 3+ lb. bass. I worked my way to the north end as that’s the way the wind was blowing. Casted a bomb cast and just started reeling when I felt the same light hit. I set the hook and boated another 3+ lb. bass. When I got to the far north end, I switched to an A-Jay Special with a green pumpkin Rage Craw trailer. On the second cast, I felt an extremely light tap but saw the line move sideways. I reeled the slack in and set the hook and knew this one was bigger. It was guthooked deeply but luckily the barbed end was exposed, so I cut the line and got the hook out without damage. Took one quick pic so I could get it back in the water fast. Looked to be 4.5 lbs. or so.

Caught two more on the A-Jay and one more on the Bitsy, but all were 1.5 lb.‘ers. Those hits were amongst the lightest I’ve ever felt. Barely noticeable.

That's a beauty, Brian! In three hours, I'm going to cast a few times from the dock on my pond. I probably won't catch anything, but....

11 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

That's a beauty, Brian! In three hours, I'm going to cast a few times from the dock on my pond. I probably won't catch anything, but....

I bet you catch something. I can sense it! 😎

My fishing G daughter got this 3 pound 7 oz fish at one of my (somewhat) secret ponds…

New pond this pond this morning. 54 and clear skies. Winds out of the South at 3-4. Gin clear water.

Started out with the wacky senko, winds picked up switched to an Evo Elite. Found a nice shallow flat on the north end of the pond and caught 22. Bad news is they were all dinks.

Still a beautiful day to fish.

I salvaged a crappy morning with a couple bass from the nearest lake including this super skinny 21” 4-08. The water is warming…

Went out today and only had 1 hour and 45 mins. Ended up catching 11, but all were 1 pounders and under except this nice 6 pounder. This will be another new pb for me, even though it’s only beating my previous pb from earlier this spring by .2. Caught all fish on a wacky rig senko. Despite the wind blowing they wanted the 6 inch June bug x zone senko rather than a bladed jig. Surprised me. Caught this in my 28 acre home lake. Picture doesn’t do the head of this fish justice, it’s crazy how much wider she was than some 4-5 pounders I’ve caught before.

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

I salvaged a crappy morning with a couple bass from the nearest lake including this super skinny 21” 4-08. The water is warming…

Nice one, but skinny

I caught a couple 19-inchers while shorefishing my pond for half an hour. I caught seven in total, but quit when my pup jumped into the water to get one of the nineteens. He was so cold that he ran back to the car, so I followed him.:

I'm going to shore fish again tomorrow and then launch for the first time on Tuesday.

Congrats, @Brycecover, on the PB!

13 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

@Team9nine: I love how you're not just fishing for fish. You're fishing for fun! I keep saying that I'm going to spend a morning fishing nothing but my childhood lures. Maybe I'll follow your lead of fishing for fun and do that in 2026.

You only have to do it a time or two. I found it a great mental reset from the normal routine and grind year after year. Opened a few more doors I’m poking my head into to see what might be in there.

I hit an eastern lake with my brother for an afternoon Jon boat session. There were four other boats and two kayaks on it when we got there. Not great for 45 acres, but we went in anyway. Crisp, shifting, steady 20 mph winds had the real feel in the lower 30s even under a high sun, so it was unpleasantly chilly to say the least, and having to stay on the trolling motor constantly or else pretty much sucked.

I got a big Pickeral on the Swag LT, and this weekend it didn't get through my uprated Big Game leader. Four more bites for me over the next two hours but only one bass landed on an underspin. One kayak dude had one shake off about ten feet out from him and invented a few new curse words in frustration.  Everyone else skunked, so I can't complain.

6 hours ago, PhishLI said:

There were four other boats and two kayaks on it when we got there. Not great for 45 acres, but we went in anyway.

6 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Everyone else skunked, so I can't complain.

The one advantage of fishing with unwelcome company is that you get to see how your skill, tactics, and techniques compare to the skills, tactics, and techniques of others.

9 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I caught a couple 19-inchers while shorefishing my pond for half an hour. I caught seven in total, but quit when my pup jumped into the water to get one of the nineteens. He was so cold that he ran back to the car, so I followed him.:

I'm going to shore fish again tomorrow and then launch for the first time on Tuesday.

Congrats, @Brycecover, on the PB!

I knew you were gonna catch 'em! What a way to start the year! Congratulations, Katie!

1 minute ago, Lottabass said:

I knew you were gonna catch 'em! What a way to start the year! Congratulations, Katie!

I wish I could remember exactly what @Pat Brown said about how you work a lure makes all the difference; That sure was true yesterday. When I first retrieved my blue craw, I didn't let it sink to the bottom first and I retrieved fast enough to get its claws flapping. Nothing. So, then I applied what @PhishLI said and let it sink before dragging it across the bottom.

I thought, "Why would a bass hit it now with no claws flapping?"

Then I saw my line jump. I caught bass on four out of six casts (I caught rotten weeds on two casts.) and then my hook broke.

So, then I had to figure out how they wanted my Vision 110 retrieved. The first few casts produced nothing as I tried different retrieves like a pop-pop-pop and letting it rest, but then I tried leaving some slack in my line, so that the lures would really snap from side to side. That's what they wanted. That specific retrieve.

So, I could have fished the craw and the jerkbait and caught nothing if I hadn't used those particular retrieves. I love many things about bass fishing, but cracking the code is near the top.

13 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I wish I could remember exactly what @Pat Brown said about how you work a lure makes all the difference; That sure was true yesterday. When I first retrieved my blue craw, I didn't let it sink to the bottom first and I retrieved fast enough to get its claws flapping. Nothing. So, then I applied what @PhishLI said and let it sink before dragging it across the bottom.

I thought, "Why would a bass hit it now with no claws flapping?"

Then I saw my line jump. I caught bass on four out of six casts (I caught rotten weeds on two casts.) and then my hook broke.

So, then I had to figure out how they wanted my Vision 110 retrieved. The first few casts produced nothing as I tried different retrieves like a pop-pop-pop and letting it rest, but then I tried leaving some slack in my line, so that the lures would really snap from side to side. That's what they wanted. That specific retrieve.

So, I could have fished the craw and the jerkbait and caught nothing if I hadn't used those particular retrieves. I love many things about bass fishing, but cracking the code is near the top.

Your fish apparently missed you 🙂

Way to figure it out, and nice first outing!

Well they can't all be perfect trips

Got on a mess of bass this morning but lots went wrong. Had one wrap me on a log and snap off my favorite choppo. Rip pb machine. Lost four more, two of which felt and looked heavy. Last one stuck but busted the tail on my other favorite choppo. Ran out of choppos and they wouldnt hit anything else so I'm gonna get my wading shoes off and head to thr bps

Whoops

At least I wasn’t skunked this am…

Banded water snake for the win…woulda just cut it off and called it a day, but that’s a $30 kicknocker there…