As I fished this morning, I thought of @softwateronly, with his Lake Michigan fatties, @A-Jay, with his gobie-gorged beasts, and @pdxfisher, with his big river brownies. I didn't expect my thoughts to wander to the brown brethren, but they did, and here's why. This was my first bass of the morning at my green bass pond:

 

 

And this was my last bass of the morning, again at my GREEN bass pond, a thick 18-incher:

 

 

I caught 13 bass total and four of them were smallies, the most I've ever caught there. The other two smallies weren't like the ones above, but not bad. Here's one:

 

 

My biggest bass was an lmb:

 

 

I caught other fine lmb too:

 

 

However, this one was slender enough to look a little like a river walleye.

 

 

And here's its twin!

 

 

Back to thicker bass:

 

 

I'm coming to accept that there are no milk runs in July. In May and June, I'd determine a pattern and milk that for a few days or weeks. In July, it seems like everyday is different. I return to where I caught bass the prior morning and they're no longer there. Yesterday, I caught bass at a drop-off, but that fishing sure dropped off this morning. Here's where I caught bass this morning, from this kind of weed in the middle of nowhere:

 

 

Now, what I'm about to say is heresy, but it only applies to my pond. At MY pond, the largies outfight the smallies. The largies at my pond are dogged, tear off line, burrow into weeds, and jump just as much as the smallies. 

That is a great morning! Way to find them when everything changed yet again.  I'm lucky to be able to get on water with LM and SM, but neither of my areas are better than 95/5 in ratios of either numbers or size. Your pond and your skills are really fun to watch.  

 

scott

2 hours ago, softwateronly said:

everything changed yet again.

 

Yeah, it never stops changing in July. I could foolishly believe that I now have a steady bead on the bass now because I know the weed where they hang...and I will try that weed again (Plan A!), but I better launch with Plans B, C, and D too.

 

2 hours ago, softwateronly said:

Your pond and your skills are really fun to watch. 

 

Thank you! My neighbor fished my pond with his two sons this week and they caught two bass total. It can be tricksy finding fish in July.

 

I fish a river where there are Alabama and Shoal Bass and most people say the Shoal Bass fight harder than Alabama Bass but, in my estimation, the Alabama out fights the Shoal Bass.  I've caught plenty over 21" of each kind.  I did catch a 5.0 lb LM in another river and still favor the Alabamas.

50 minutes ago, Alex from GA said:

I've caught plenty over 21" of each kind.

 

Whoa! You should know, Alex, having tussled with so many big ones of each species.

Looks like some type of floating pondweed. Fun stuff to fish 😎

4 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Looks like some type of floating pondweed. Fun stuff to fish 😎

 

I photographed it hoping someone would identify it. It's an easy weed to fish. My underspin can snag it, but most of the time, it goes right through it. 

I agree with @Team9nine, definitely a type of pondweed. I would guess either American or broad leaf pondweed. 
I like pondweed because it stays greener later into the season than the milfoil and hydrilla. In mid or so August, the hydrilla and milfoil die back and don’t hold as many fish, and that’s when the pondweed patches immediately become more productive!

2 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

In mid or so August, the hydrilla and milfoil die back and don’t hold as many fish, and that’s when the pondweed patches immediately become more productive!

 

I did not know this. Great tip. Thanks!

 

I googled both pondweeds and I think it's American.

THAT'S IT!  I'M MOVING TO MAINE!

 

My budget is $800-1M.  Will that get me a pond or small lake?

 

😆

1 hour ago, DogBone_384 said:

My budget is $800-1M.  Will that get me a pond or small lake?

 

Yes, yes, it will. I bought my five-acre waterfront lot for $75,000 last year.

I'm jealous. It's too dang hot to get out on the lake in my kayak and fish down here right now. The heat index has been running between 106 and 112 lately.

 

I may bank fish one of the ponds at work for 15 minutes at lunch or on my way home, but that's about it. I just couldn't find the will to get out on my kayak this weekend.

12 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

I'm jealous. It's too dang hot to get out on the lake in my kayak and fish down here right now. The heat index has been running between 106 and 112 lately.

We’ll revisit this in February.

58 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

It's too dang hot to get out on the lake in my kayak and fish down here right now. The heat index has been running between 106 and 112 lately.

 

I actually wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt the last two mornings lest I be cold.

 

45 minutes ago, gim said:

We’ll revisit this in February.

 

So true.

 

 

2024 might have been the best fishing year of my life: my PB, my first 25+ pound bag, and more than 2,000 bass. I'll break a thousand this year, but there's no way I'll break 2,000 as I won't be fishing for nearly all of August due to cataract surgeries and between my tendonitis and a death in the family that put me on the road during the fishing peak, I just can't match 2024, but I'm still happy with 2025 and mornings like this one are a big part of that. Some local bass anglers that I know are struggling, but I'm still bringing thick bass into my canoe. They keep moving on me, but I keep finding them.

Wow! What a great day! Those smallies were thick and the largemouth looked like they weren't missing too many meals either!

 

We're the smb and lmb on the same spot or were they on different spots. 

9 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

We're the smb and lmb on the same spot or were they on different spots. 

 

Great question. I caught the first two smallmouth exactly where you'd expect to catch them, on a rocky flat about two feet deep. I buzzed my underspin over it, but even then the spinner was tick-tick-ticking the bottom. 

 

I caught one at the flat's drop-off, another normal smallmouth spot.

 

I caught the thick 18-incher exactly where I wouldn't expect to catch it, I.e. a weed field.

 

She rocketed out of the water and flashed brown and I thought, "Huh?"

 

9 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

Those smallies were thick and the largemouth looked like they weren't missing too many meals either!

 

Yeah, that's typical of my pond, where the bass are nearly always well fed. It's my pal's pond where they can be skinny, like this girl who's all head:

 

On 7/20/2025 at 9:15 PM, Swamp Girl said:

 

I actually wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt the last two mornings lest I be cold.

Even in summer with the 100 degree plus heat index I wear a long sleeve, moisture wicking fishing hoodie and long fishing pants along with a UPF50 boonie hat.

 

Amazingly, I don’t get hot or overheat. The moisture wicking gear does a great job.

 

A few years ago when we were out fishing, @flatcreek warned me about the dangers of skin cancer and I took it to heart.

I'm launching again today at my pond at four. It's forecast to be a rare, low-wind afternoon and evening, which explains why I fish mornings mostly. I might also launch tomorrow morning for three hours. I find that when I fish three hours instead of five, I have more energy the rest of the day.