More trip reports, please.

[Swamp Girl]

To help develop some mercy for us northern anglers, open your freezer. See the ice cubes? That's how our water looks. I can only look at my old trip reports so many times and I go back in time and read other old trip reports, but go back too far and the photos are no longer there. So, I rely on you southern anglers to share your tales of glory and woe. They keep me warm and limber. Otherwise, I'll lock up solid like our ponds and bogs and the coroner's report will read, "Calcification by bass deficit," which, in case you don't know, is the number one killer of northern anglers. 

[Koz]

Other than taking a few casts off my dock, I haven’t been out on a lake in nearly a month.

 

I caught one little one, but the baitfish all but disappear from the waters around me in the winter. I rarely catch anything fishing from the bank in my backyard in the winter.

 

It’s actually supposed to be in the 70’s the next few days, but I have to work. I have no idea when I will have time to get out on the lake.

[Blue Raider Bob]

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

"Calcification by bass deficit," which, in case you don't know, is the number one killer of northern anglers. 

That's just too funny! This caused a sure-nuff belly laugh!

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

That's just too funny! This caused a sure-nuff belly laugh!

 

Yeah, we just grind to a stop, like the Tin Man in the rain without oil. 

 

#bassareouroil

[Choporoz]

Plans for three days of 20# bags this weekend destroyed by emergency babysitting duty for granddaughter.   Turned out to be a good tradeoff.   

 

I did get out for 90 minutes in the cold wind Friday.  Spent an hour looking for bait schools before I gave up and flipped a couple normally reliable brush piles with only one hammer-handle pickerel to show for it.

[Swamp Girl]

17 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Plans for three days of 20# bags this weekend destroyed by emergency babysitting duty for granddaughter.   Turned out to be a good tradeoff.   

 

I did get out for 90 minutes in the cold wind Friday.  Spent an hour looking for bait schools before I gave up and flipped a couple normally reliable brush piles with only one hammer-handle pickerel to show for it.

 

I bet the grandbaby sitting was fun! 

[Jig Man]

Not much of a report but I did take a friend to Table Rock today.  It was 32°, foggy and we had to stay close until about 10:00.  We struggled to find fish.  We caught 20 and missed or lost several more.  The Ned rig and Pee Wee jig were the only baits that produced.  

[TnRiver46]

@Jig Man, struggled and caught 20? I succeeded catching one Sunday 😂 

[Swamp Girl]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Jig Man, struggled and caught 20? I succeeded catching one Sunday 😂 

 

I thought 20 was a pretty good total too. You, on the other hand, never fail to catch fun. 

[TnRiver46]

Fishing is indeed fun! Hoping to go tomorrow after work , maybe slow trolling the kayak for crappie 

[NorcalBassin]

Was planning to finally get back out there last week and those ***'s shut down the ramps to my local lake because golden mussels were found in the Delta more than an hour away. Boat is now in a 30 day launch quarantine even though it's just been collecting dust for months, so I might need to find a new "home" lake.

[TnRiver46]

Hope you find somewhere to fish @NorcalBassin

[T-Billy]

I got out Monday for a few hours. I lost a 40" ish muskie boat side and had two more follows on the A rig. Then I got hit out of nowhere with the flu. Man, it came on fast. I came home, crawled into bed, and slept for 16hrs straight, interupted only by bathroom trips and uncontrollable shivering. Feeling semi human again this morning. Back to work for four days, and next week is looking pretty cold. The week after Christmas is currently looking decent though. I may get to make a Hail Mary attempt at reaching 100 muskies yet. I still need 7 fish. 🤞

[Koz]

Fished off my backyard for a little bit after work yesterday. Caught nothing, but there was a nice consolation prize.

 

[LrgmouthShad]

@Pat Brown @FishTax and I should have plenty headed your way soon. NC has been hit hard with cold recently though. I know they both have been out, but it is tough fishing right now. 

[Swamp Girl]

I kid you guys not: I get up some mornings and imagine it's spring and imagine where I'd be launching and where I'd paddle first and second and third and what I'd be throwing. Sometimes I even dare imagine a bass hitting. 

[Pat Brown]

I did catch one big fish on a Jerkbait a week ago but it's been slooooooooow.

 

Few bites on the frog and lipless but no real commitment or consistency.

 

Water temps got down to 40° on the surface (frozen in creeks and pockets wind blew into) during a very hard snap and then it went up to 65 day/40 night and the fish are acting confused.

 

I think we are still losing daylight and the weather being funky and waaaaaay warm suddenly at the same time has had a very strange effect on the bass around me.

 

Another thing that's odd/observably very different from last winter - I can see 6 feet down everywhere.  Like water is so so clear around here.  Rains and winds and dead leaves and mud have not seemed to do the usual tannic orange brown tea thing.  I was pretty certain last year my wild lipless success was at least due in part to the uniquely poor visibility we got.  Now I'm feeling very certain.

Fishing Florida LMB in gin clear winter water ain't my thing it turns out - but hopefully weather getting back on its seasonal track after today has the fish acting a little more frantic and hungry and wintery.

 

At any rate here's that ~5 I caught on the jerkbait last weekend at sunset during the last of the cold stuff before it got silly warm.

 

[Jig Man]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Jig Man, struggled and caught 20? I succeeded catching one Sunday 😂 

Compared to the last trip this was a struggle.  Last trip we found spots congregated near the bottom in 25-30’ of water.  We only fished 2 places and boated 91.  Alas they have moved on and we could never find any concentration.  We covered over 10 miles checking various places.

[DogBone_384]

9 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

Boat is now in a 30 day launch quarantine even though it's just been collecting dust for months, so I might need to find a new "home" lake.

 

Politicians don't fish, do they....🤐

[Jigfishn10]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Jig Man, struggled and caught 20? I succeeded catching one Sunday 😂 

The struggle is real  

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

I can see 6 feet down everywhere.  Like water is so so clear around here. 

 

I ended my 2024 season fishing similar water. I'd paddle around look down and see every rock and weed six and eight feet down. I didn't like it. I felt seen by the bass.

[Mike L]

I entered a team tournament on the Caloosachatchee River last Saturday just to help out a friend as his regular partner couldn’t make it. 
 

We fished the dog legs all day starting on 1 end and coming out the other.
We did that for about 2 miles, turned around and started again. He didn’t want to spend anytime on the river itself so in and out we went. 

He loves a black and blue weightless Senko almost as much as I love my Magnum UV Speed worm.
By 8:30 we had our limit (12.4 lbs) and went big girl hunting.
I was hoping to find beds but didn’t see any all day but we were culling by 10:00 

 

About 12:00 the wind picked up with a passing shower and the water changed. 
He stuck with his Senko but I changed to a  honey candy Rage Cut R then to a regular sized June Bug UV Speed Worm.
I did that because heading out the other way changed our casting angle. 
I got 2 more a little over 2lbs each that wouldn’t cull. 
 

Rain stopped, wind died down so I decided to change to the Magnum again.
He got 2 about 3# each.
 I culled twice more but 1 swallowed the hook which penetrated her gills and I couldn’t stop the bleeding. 
We’re not allowed to cull a dead fish which I knew she would be by the time we got back for weigh in at 3:00. 
We had to take the 1/2lb penalty. 

 

The water was moving quick as we approached a lay down that we fished hard the first time through but didn’t get anything. 
This time coming in from the opposite side I decided to fish the Speed Worm more vertically. 
After 1 slow pull straight up I hit it again this time really hard and there she was a 9.2# !

We trolled around and dropped it in on the other side but before I could engage the reel another one hit but she headed out to open water. 
She jumped twice and looked almost as big as the other one. 
Once I got her settled down and headed to the boat I told my boater to grab the net as I knew I wasn’t gonna flip it.
He leaned over the gunnel as I brought her up. She must have seen the boat, the net or him but she lunged, he scooped and she was gone!!

I said a few colorful metaphors as he just stood there. I knew how he felt and nothing I said made him feel better. 

We both just sat there awhile. 
Neither of us hooked up again the rest of afternoon 

 

 

Mike
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

@Mike L: WOW!

[Blue Raider Bob]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Jig Man, struggled and caught 20? I succeeded catching one Sunday 😂 

That's what I thought! Struggled to catch 20! I'm struggling to comprehend 20!

[Pat Brown]

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I ended my 2024 season fishing similar water. I'd paddle around look down and see every rock and weed six and eight feet down. I didn't like it. I felt seen by the bass.

I firmly believe that muddy water = bass on the bank - any time of year and any water temperature where the water is not solid.

 

Bass that would be tight to the bank and feeding right now are hanging where they can not be seen at the deepest points.

 

On a pond where that's a hole waaaaaay out in the center and the rest is gin clear and flat - tough times for sure.