I finally caught a fish this year (a rock bass) on Saturday. One of my kids caught a tiny largemouth... then today I got this five pounder! Skunk streak over! Bring on the bass!

 

My girlfriend took the pic on her phone which doesn't take very good pics and I didn't even pose because I was waiting forever for her to take it, but at least I got a pic. It really doesn't show the size of this fish though.

 

 

well done ? 

Congrats!!

Nice!

Nothing better than getting the stink off!

 

Congratulations on the 5 lb'er!  Sounds like the kids are hanging in there too.

13 minutes ago, senile1 said:

Congratulations on the 5 lb'er!  Sounds like the kids are hanging in there too.

My youngest one always catches them all early in the year. He got skunked after a while, but for a kid with absolutely no patience, he has a lot of patience when fishing and even if he gets skunked all day, he still keeps trying. He's going to be good. I got him a casting rod and reel for Christmas, and he used his older brother's once before that (to some success) and he remembered how to use it, and how to pull bird's nests out. For his second day with one he did surprisingly good though and far better than I did on my second day with one.

 

My older one lacks the attention span and sometimes until one of us catch something, he'll give up for shorter periods.

That's how ya skunk streak ?

I really wish I got a better picture. I wasn't even in a good pose -- waiting for my girlfriend to take the picture and getting annoyed, plus her phone takes bad pictures.

The important thing is having fun and getting the skunk off.  Patience and slowing down are two big factors.  Congrats!

If that fish is five pounds, you must be 9 ft tall....lol.  Congrats on a nice fish!

16 minutes ago, BCline said:

If that fish is five pounds, you must be 9 ft tall....lol.  Congrats on a nice fish!

I am 6'3". The picture doesn't do a great job to show the actual size of this fish but it was just shy of 2 feet long.

 

I didn't actually have my scale on me, but I do know my drag was set to 4 lbs by my scale and I tried to pull him out of the water with my rod and it just slipped like crazy. If he's not 5, he's not far off.

I am just busting your stones.  That picture doesn't do that fish justice.  I am 5' 10", would you say this fish is bigger or smaller than yours?

Come on guys he caught a nice fish.  Was it 5 pounds maybe maybe not but that doesn't mean it wasn't a great fish that was fun to catch.   Anybody ever realize how small a five pounder is in comparison to yourself.  Just because you don't long arm it doesn't mean it was any smaller.  

 

Congrats and don't listen to these people give you a hard time about it.

Alright!!!!!

 

Congrats on your catch and starting a new streak.

 

Keep it going.

Great job man, good healthy fish. Hope you catch many more of those.

3 hours ago, BCline said:

I am just busting your stones.  That picture doesn't do that fish justice.  I am 5' 10", would you say this fish is bigger or smaller than yours?

Judging by the size of your hand and the fishes head, I would rate that fish maybe 5 maybe. That guys pic was taken so far back that his whole body was in the pic and there was the ground and the sky. Your pic stops at your thighs and I would guess that the person taking the pic is about a yard at the most from you. Just remember you can make a pounder look huge if you wanted to. You could also make a ten look tiny depending on the angle and the distance.

4 hours ago, BCline said:

I am just busting your stones.  That picture doesn't do that fish justice.  I am 5' 10", would you say this fish is bigger or smaller than yours?

Yours definitely looks large because you got a proper pose in. I was trying to keep my back from killing me waiting for my girlfriend to figure out how to take a picture lol. I'd guess they probably are similar in length, yours looks a little fatter though.

 

But like I said, I tried picked it up with my rod and even thumb'd the reel a bit and it just pulled out drag like nothing and the drag is set at 4lbs at a 45 angle. I don't think a fish that is just 4.5 would pull out line like nothing at a 90 degree angle (which typically takes a little more weight) so there is some science to my estimate

I always carry an accurate scale.  The fish in my picture weighed 4 lb 6 oz (my biggest this year).  I was certain it was 5+ until I weighed it.  Large mouth Bass are truly a scientific anomaly, they are the only thing in nature that weighs more in the water than they do in air.