@TnRiver46 those longears are one of the prettiest fish that swims. 

I took my boss out for the first trip since April.  We caught a few rooster fish and snapper on the first day.  We spent the next two days off shore covering many miles of ocean, but not finding any fish.  Finally on the way back home, we landed a 250 - 300 pound Blue Marlin.  I should have let the marlin go, but fishing had been painfully slow, I didn't have any fish to give my crew, and my wife was looking forward to some fresh fish.  I should be a politician.  I am constantly criticizing other captains for keeping bill fish, and this is the second time this year, I come pulling in to the dock with a blue marlin, and lame excuses. 

 

I had a fun day on the water with my bride today. We ended up catching five with the best being the 41.75" below. The rest were 32", 33", and 35" x2. Also raised another 6, all 30 somethings. 

Yesterday she put a fat 38" in the net, and I rode the skunk. 😂 The fish above brings me to 70 on the year, and we're at 81 as a team.

What are your water temps  down to?

1 minute ago, Further North said:

What are your water temps  down to?

It was down to 68, but this recent warm spell has brought it back up a few degrees. 

We saw 60° - 62° here yesterday.

I'm looking forward to the next cooling trend @Further North. There were some big girls starting to show up in the shallow weeds, but this heat has moved them back out a bit, and put them in a bad mood.

What are fishing this time of year? Cowgirls? I’m assuming if they’re in/near weeds you’re not dropping crappie to them?

4 hours ago, Further North said:

We saw 60° - 62° here yesterday.

 

It's up to 74 here.  People are using jet skis, wake boats, and tubes like it's the 4th of July again.  Absolutely ridiculous for mid September.

15 hours ago, gim said:

 

It's up to 74 here.  People are using jet skis, wake boats, and tubes like it's the 4th of July again.  Absolutely ridiculous for mid September.

We were on a river, which I expect to be cooler than a lake.

We saw 72° on a local impoundment last Sunday afternoon.

22 hours ago, VolFan said:

What are fishing this time of year? Cowgirls? I’m assuming if they’re in/near weeds you’re not dropping crappie to them?

Burning Llungen .22 Shorts and 5" Tuff Shads over weed stubble and outside edges in 8' - 12', and single #8 bucktails over weeds and in creek channels in 1.5' - 8'.

Thanks! We have Lake Adger in western NC that is the brood lake for the state. It’s about 2 hours from me but it’s one of my goals to fish it more often over the next few years.

I finally got out today😃 It was only 30 minutes between thunderstorms but hey I’ll take whatever I can get at this point. Both caught on my BPS 5’-6” ultralight paired with a Tica Cetus and a 1/32 ounce jig head and a crappie tube. Thanks again @bulldog1935!

Caught 52 over the weekend, mix of bass and striper. Out of those 52, one keeper size fish  

So after a few seasons dipping my toes into the bfs game I finally got a few albeit small fish yesterday after work. My setup consists of a Piscifun reel that came with a shallow spool in addition to a regular spool and my rod for now is a older Mitchell Fulcrum 6’-0” medium powered rod spooled with 6pound Suffix 832. I’ve been getting a lot of advice both from the general community on here and personal advice from @bulldog1935 and I will say I have a different perspective about those of you that really get involved in this style. My first hook up was a 12” or so bass that came unbuttoned when he jumped out of the water and man that was addictive to say the least and has me thinking about trying out a bfs specific rod next season. 

Got out with an old friend after work, somehow got two nice sauger with a tube in the same spot. Wasn’t fishing for those but I’ll take it !!! Sauger was my grandma’s favorite fish so we are taking them to moms house tomorrow for a meal of delicious nostalgia 
 

 

 

Kicking off a marathon 3 days on the forebay with post frontal conditions, there was still some lightning in the distance when I set out in the morning.

Took a little while to find a wind protected bank and get a first fish, but I'm ok with a slow start.

The rest of the day was all bass including a run of poor fish with messed up jaws

This was fish #11 on Friday, a sign of things to come

Probably also a sign of things to come, seals mean fish in the area

Another 8 or so rats down the road, chaos ensues. Wolf packs of striper are smashing shad on the bank, boils are popping up everywhere

Not going to post all the pics, but I landed 44 striper in a 4 hour frenzy, including this one who gave me my first hook through a finger!

He was also kind enough to rip the hook out just as fast as it went in. Owner STX-58 #2 is not gentle

After that every fish gets the grips

Spook was looking pretty good overall after that first dink. It got a workout

Day 3 back at it and fish are boiling at first light

My friend the seal ate his fill and was sleeping off a fish hangover

Do I count this as a catch?

Another 34 today, fewer boils but the spook bite is taking off and fish are being called up.

I haven't added everything up yet but the 3 day total was north of 120 fish, big thumbs up!

 

Update on the sauger I posted……..

 

 

Two fish fed 3 of us and I took leftovers home. Those things are meaty ! 

On 9/27/2025 at 6:14 PM, Peacedivision said:

 

 

 

 

That's a guy I want on my team.

 

 

Nice! I had one evening in college where I caught 10 or so saugers on a jerkbait over off Topside Drive. That’s exactly all of the sauger I’ve ever caught. 

She caught another two Bluefin and add to her this season catches. Now she is 4 and I am 1.

@TnRiver46 Wow, that looks good.

Got a bunch of bream the last hour or so of sunlight…

An unplanned evening trip turned productive! I’ve never caught this many sauger in this short amount of time , maybe it’s a good sign for the population, but then again im thrilled to reduce their population 😂 . Got one about 19” and another 16.5 “. Then I got a bonus 12.5” yellow perch, does that qualify as jumbo ?