It was 64 degrees when I launched at four in the afternoon and windy, overcast, and rainy. I had decided to troll. If I hadn't, the wind would have kept pushing me into the weedy shoreline and the bass at my pal's pond aren't in the weeds anymore. They're off-shore. I caught 22 bass in three hours and 15 minutes. The quality was top notch. Until my 22nd bass, I hadn't caught one under 16.5 inches and the 16.5 inchers were thick. When I troll, I troll with two rods. One was an underspin and one had a T-rigged crawdad. Six times, both rods snapped back within seconds of each other, telling me the bass were still schooling. Twice, I managed to land both bass, netting one and then the other. It was NOT easy in the wind and waves.

 

I started with four 16.5-inchers and then started catching bigger bass: 17, 18, and 19-inchers. My second-to-last bass had a big head. She was a 19-incher and I landed her with maximum difficulty. She hit my little Shimano 1000 reel, which spools little line. She hit so hard that she popped the bail open and stripped the line down to the final coil. I decided to handline her to the canoe. Because I was using both hands to control tension on the line, I had to hand-land her too. It all actually worked, surprising me. Here she is, a four-pounderish fish:

 

 

Here are other fine northern bass:

 

 

I caught some smallies too. Here's one:

 

 

I was going to fish tomorrow morning, but I'm too tired. It was a super fun evening, but sucked the sap outta me. 

 

I'm at 1,025 for the year.

You are on fire. Fantastic day of fishing under less than ideal conditions for you, but apparently not for catching fish.

21 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

You are on fire. Fantastic day of fishing under less than ideal conditions for you, but apparently not for catching fish.

 

Thanks, Kirtley. It was fun bouncing about and looking for schools of bass. I did try a couple shorelines, but didn't even trigger a single hit. I did get two, open water hits on surface lures, a popper and Plopper, but couldn't hook either.

 

I wore shorts and a fleece top and actually was hot because I was working hard positioning the boat. 

 

Kirtley, I caught 23 bass and 22 bass my last two outings. Fingers crossed the cooler temps are ending the August doldrums!

8 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Fingers crossed the cooler temps are ending the August doldrums!

Amen to that sister!!! I had a good day as well. Five muskie plus nine follows, no bigs, but it was steady action by muskie standards. 33"x2, 34", 35", 37". Season total now at 51. 

 The cooler weather is forecast to continue. Highs in the 60's and 70's and lows in the upper 40's and 50's. The bite should be heating up over the next couple weeks. The cooling water should bring some big girls shallow.

30 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Amen to that sister!!! I had a good day as well. Five muskie plus nine follows, no bigs, but it was steady action by muskie standards. 33"x2, 34", 35", 37". Season total now at 51. 

 The cooler weather is forecast to continue. Highs in the 60's and 70's and lows in the upper 40's and 50's. The bite should be heating up over the next couple weeks. The cooling water should bring some big girls shallow.

 

I always felt that a follow as almost as exciting as hooking a musky. Congrats, Tim, on the great day and on reaching 51. We're at the same point, count wise, as we're both at about half of our 2024 totals. 

That sounds like a nice day on the water! Some fatties there! 

Nice report and nice fish. Sounds like the bass were enjoying that dreary looking afternoon!

Another monster day! No wonder you are tired