My season isn't quite over yet, but it's getting close. It's a pretty safe bet that I'm not gonna top any of these, with muskie being a possible, if not probable exception.  Let's see BR's best fish of 2023!!!

 

Got my PB muskie back in March. Super fat, prespawn 48.25". 

 

Caught this long, lean LM back in July. Early morning on a chatterbait. 5.85#. My #3 all time. Woulda been my #2 had I caught it prespawn.

 

Again, coming in at #3 all time is this 5.67# SM. Caught in September on a chatterbait, in the wee hours.

Finally, this nice saugeye. Caught on an A-Rig in November. Just one shad shy of 6.5#, and my #2 all time.

 

 

12.5 inch crappie

20 inch largemouth

20 1/4 inch smallmouth

22 3/4 inch walleye

33.5 inch northern pike

38 inch tiger muskie

 

I didn't specifically target walleyes or northern pike in 2023, both those were by accident.

6-12 caught early last month on a spinnerbait off the deep end of a large laydown. She ties 2nd all time for me. This fish was very fat - pic doesn’t her justice. After wearing her down, she came out from under the boat & I looked down & got a bird’s eye view & her belly was wider than her shoulders.

 

Sorry for markups - small public lake & keeping it quiet.

They aren't going to win any awards around here, but some bests for my year:

 

Largemouth - 19.5" 4.59lb:

 

Smallmouth - 17", 2.5#-ish (river bass get to add a bonus pound or two, right? right?)

 

Channel Catfish -- best and only for the year; didn't measure but probably around 4#:

 

White Crappie - 14"...i'm sure this was a PB White:

 

Pumkinseed Sunfish -- the only one:

 

Brown Trout: Eh....8"? best of three, the others even smaller:

 

 

Didn't get any Pike or Bowfin pics, as I usually don't bother taking them out of the water.

My final stats for 2023 for brown bass were fish at 5.66lbs, 5.68lbs, 5.84 lbs 5.98 lbs, and big fish of the year was 6.06 lbs.

For a top 5 weight of 29.22 lbs

Also met a nice brown trout.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

 

Bunch of nice fish.  I hate to post my minnows but I will.  

 

Best 2 Largemouth, pre spawn 6 pounds even only 21 1/4 long.    Other best Largemouth 6.1 pounds post spawn skinny  22 3/4 inches long.  It rained so much that day my automatic life jacket deployed.

My biggest SmallMouth was 19 inches.  I didn't weigh it.  I only fished one time in a lake that has a real Smallie population.  I caught 3 smallies and 7 LM's that day.  I caught a 12 inch Crappie, not huge, but I can't tell which picture it is.  My biggest Cat was a 42 inch, 37 pound Flathead.  I also caught a 33 pounder and a couple Blues over 15 pounds.   I'm not sure what my biggest spotted bass of 23 is.  I caught one that was 4 pounds 15 ounces last December.  I'll see if I can catch a big spot today.  

 

 

I didn’t really catch anything big. 2.5-3# was a lot of the size range I constantly caught. Nothing really stands out to me. Didn’t even touch my musky rods this year.

Yeah... Um... Those aren't minnows @Woody B. Them's some dandies!!!

@Woody B what T-billy said.

 

@king fisher Lindner boys always preached location - you got that down no doubt about it. Giant. What did the behemoth weigh?

6.82 caught back in march on a ned.

It's been a good year for numbers, but not for size.  This one weighed in at 5.75 lb and was caught back in February. 

Top 10:

 

Here are ten of various shapes. I also caught two 22.25-inchers that weighed 6.71 (seventh fish down) and 6.75 pounds (not included), but I like these fat ones best, even if some weighed less:

 

@Pat Brown I smell bacon.

 

@ol'crickety Fat basses.

On 12/2/2023 at 6:18 PM, T-Billy said:

48.25"

 

Tim, I have never caught a musky as big as yours. I've come seemingly close a couple times, but as you know, in the world of musky fishing, my measly 46" muskies are a mile away from a 48.25" beast. 

 

@Pat Brown, your ten are so impressive, but we must all bow down to @king fisher's monster.

 

@king fisher sure does make it look easy down there in Mexico!  🎣🎣🎣

 

I'd love to have a crack at some of the action south of the border someday.  Seems it would be a fun time for sure.

Just now, Pat Brown said:

I'd love to have a crack at some of the action south of the border someday.  Seems it would be a fun time for sure.

 

Heck, yeah, it would! However, I'd settle for fishing for bass where there's more water than weeds. 

@ol'crickety those are some gorgeous bass. Glad you included my favorite with the shocked look on it's face. Lol. A 46" is a dandy in my book.

I may or may not top that fish someday, but it'll be no easy feat. Getting that kind of girth is only possible for a few weeks a year. That's a late prespawn female who's been gorging on shad all winter. 

@T-Billy, I kid you not: I always think of you and that bass together now because I know it amuses you! 

 

Say, Tim, I just visited an Ohio musky board and the backbiting there reminded me of one reason I stopped musky fishing. So few fish leads to overwhelming competition, at least for me. 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Heck, yeah, it would! However, I'd settle for fishing for bass where there's more water than weeds. 

We don’t have any weeds in the water but you could fish for 50 years and never get anything like what you catch at home 

 

weeds in the water are good for the bass 

37 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

weeds in the water are good for the bass 

 

Yeah, I know, but what you see are the bass I catch. What you don't see are the bass I lose to weeds. The don't break my line. They just shuck my hooks when they plunge into the weeds and reeds are the worst. Of course, I ask for trouble when I see a four-foot wide opening in a green field and drop two, big treble hooks on top of that just to see Mini-Mount Saint Helens erupt. 

4 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Yeah, I know, but what you see are the bass I catch. What you don't see are the bass I lose to weeds. The don't break my line. They just shuck my hooks when they plunge into the weeds and reeds are the worst. Of course, I ask for trouble when I see a four-foot wide opening in a green field and drop two, big treble hooks on top of that just to see Mini-Mount Saint Helens erupt. 

Still better than the bass not existing I would guess 

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

@T-Billy, I kid you not: I always think of you and that bass together now because I know it amuses you! 

 

Say, Tim, I just visited an Ohio musky board and the backbiting there reminded me of one reason I stopped musky fishing. So few fish leads to overwhelming competition, at least for me. 

Yeah, unfortunately that's the world we live in Katie. I was blessed to meet Chad last fall. We had one mutually beneficial conversation at the ramp, and quickly hit it off and became fast friends. He also introduced me to a nice ol fella who's lived on my #1 lake, and has been chasing the muskie there for 38 years. I gained two wonderful friends in one day who have happily shared info and mentored me in this new addiction.

That bass does amuse me. I chuckle every time I see that pic.