18 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've never caught one that big here (they don't grow that big), but a couple times in the last decade, my biggest largemouth of the season was on accident while I was crappie fishing.  One time I thought I had the next state record crappie on lol.  Unfortunately, bass season wasn't open yet so I really didn't count it since it wasn't a legal catch anyways.  Then I bass fish for months without catching one that big.  ?  Kinda sucks to be honest but not much you can do about it.

I would still consider that a catch. You caught it. I mean you probably would have released it anyway.

4 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I would still consider that a catch. You caught it. I mean you probably would have released it anyway.

Yes, that's correct.  I wouldn't even think twice about keeping it but rarely do I keep fish anyways regardless of size or species.

 

Part of the reason I don't consider it a legitimate catch when its out of season is that I'm in a work fishing contest every year and entering a fish out of season is against the rules.  The rules specifically state that the season must be legally open in order for it to count.

This is a tough one. Last year I tried to  commit to an a-rod but caught zip on Thing looked like a buffet table and had a couple follows. I never used it on a day when everything else was hot so might just be bad luck. 

 

My main issue last year was WFH with covid, which continues. I used to fish to get away from people. But in Canada everything's been shut down and I work from home. I'd then drive 2 hours on a Saturday to be alone some more and instead of feeling relaxed I'd feel even more anxious. So I'd like to figure that out and hopefully get a more balanced approach, covid  willing. 

On 1/1/2022 at 9:10 PM, whitwolf said:

Deep crankbaits. I spent a good part of the past two Summers doing this and that experiment is over.  I gave it a fair shake and was not successful.  

I'm with you but being stubborn it has been a much loner experiment.

This year my only plan is to spend more TOW. The last couple of years my youngest daughter has been in girls soccer which seemed to be every Saturday and Sunday from April 1st through July. Combine that with the fact that my boat spent months in the shop last year I didn't get to fish as much as I wanted. As for baits I will catch something this year on a chatterbait or I am going to just sell all of them.

 

Allen