On 1/12/2026 at 9:41 AM, Swamp Girl said:

My story is so sad:

Yeah ... 1,400+ bass in a weather shortened season! 🥲

We're all open in southern New England, come on down.

Bagged my first fish for 2026 yesterday with @Saltysmalljaws. A beautiful SMB, 1.5 - 2#, on a blade bait in 30', 40* waters.

47 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

We're all open in southern New England, come on down.

Mighty neighborly of you to offer, but I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier then two pounds for weeks because of last Tuesday's carpal tunnel surgery.

9 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

last Tuesday's carpal tunnel surgery.

I feel for you, Katie - I got an appt this Wednesday to see what can be done about mine...outside half (pinky, ring finger) of my left hand is pretty much numb and useless

6 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I feel for you, Katie - I got an appt this Wednesday to see what can be done about mine...outside half (pinky, ring finger) of my left hand is pretty much numb and useless

I had my surgery done with local anesthesia and I strongly recommend that. I got to drive myself home.

I also recommend staying away from fire for the first week when you're bandaged. I was tending the burning barrel yesterday. Due to the splint and bandages, my hand was about as big as a boxing glove. One of the bandages was loose with air beneath it and at some point, it touched the flame and caught fire too. Boy, did it burn! No damage done to me as the flames were many layers from my skin, but my bandages sure were charred. So, I removed them and went to my brace a day early.

My wife had her right hand done two weeks ago and she is getting her left hand done on Monday. She is already seeing improvement in her hand that was already done. She had severe CT to the point it was damaging nerves and they weren't sure she would get all of her feeling back. Her left hand is moderate but they want to do it anyways.

6 hours ago, IYAOYAS said:

She had severe CT to the point it was damaging nerves and they weren't sure she would get all of her feeling back.

I've got the same prognosis.

I caught my first bass of 2026 on Friday. I didn't get off to the start I had hoped. I was late getting to the lake, because I had to go get some blood work done in the morning. By the time I got to the lake, the afternoon winds were blowing 25 mph. If I really stretched my first bass it would go 12 inches.

After catching my first bass my luck didn't improve. The wind picked up to 30 mph and the bass got smaller. Finished the day with 15, best five went 5 pounds.

Camped for the night and the dink fest continued in the morning. Usually there is a light breeze out of the East, until sometime in the afternoon, when the wind shifts to strong out of the West. This morning started with a light breeze out of the East but it quickly picked up to 20 mph making it extremely difficult to fish where I had planned.

When the midday lull in the wind arrived, I managed to hook a monster. I had been fishing a large tree 10 feet deep in 30 feet of water when the wind was letting up. I landed 3 small bass, and before I left for another tree, I put a Spro Rock Crawler on. First cast while gently working it throw the tree limbs I get bit. At first I thought it might be a limb, and didn't set the hook hard. Instantly the bass came out of the water. I was happy it didn't shake lose, but just as fast as it jumped it dived, and wrapped on a limb. I peddled towards the giant but as soon as I started forward it came off the limb, and swam straight at me. My forward momentum made it worse. That was the last mistake. An instant of slack and the only bass over a 1.5 pounds for the trip was gone.

The afternoon winds had picked up to 35 gusting to 40 mph chasing me off the water at 3:00PM. I finished the day with 23 bass best 5 going around 8 pounds.

The water level was good for this time of year, surface temperature was 74 degrees, and the water clarity was almost three feet. Perfect conditions for this lake, other than the extreme wind. I always have to fight the wind at this lake, but this past weekend felt like I was fighting Mike Tyson with one arm tied behind my back.

Good news was I didn't lose any tackle, and only need to repair a half dozen soft plastic baits. I will have to replace Fluorocarbon on one reel. A long break from fishing combined with high winds and the need for long casts, made for some interesting professional overruns.

I hope to go again in May, and will be more prepared when the big one bites.

I'm on the board. First legal bass of 2026. It's also the earliest I've ever caught a legal bass living here. 18.5 incher a bluegill colored jerk bait.

I'm on the board too. I went to my pond to set up my canoe for Tuesday's launch. The wind had been blowing out of the North for most of the day, so I waited until five when it would have blowing out of the South for two hours. I only took two rods with two lures total, a T-rigged blue craw with a tungsten bullet weight and a Vision 110. I figured I'd fish first and although I struggled to cast into the wind as my dock is on the north shore, but I did not struggle to catch bass. I caught seven in about 30 minutes, the first four with the craw and when its hook broke, the last three with the Vision 110. It took me a few casts with each to determine the presentation they wanted.

With the craw, I crawled it on the bottom like @PhishLI suggested! I could see the hits in the line. With the Vision 110, I left some slack in the line before I snapped it each time. I basically worked my rod as if I were retrieving a walking bait. Thanks to @Hartwood71 for suggesting it!

My second to last bass was 19" and thick. My last bass was 19.25" and even thicker. Why didn't I fish longer? Well, the 19.25-incher raised such a ruckus that my pup jumped into the pond after it. The cold water shocked him, but he couldn't climb back onto the dock, so I helped him with one hand while fighting the fish with the other. He was so cold that he ran back to the car, so I quit fishing to join him. He rode home on my lap with the heater on high. All but one of the bass were thick and long with three being 18-inchers. These three:

This one was shorter, but chunky:

This was my only dink:

And here are the two 19-inchers:

My length to weight chart said my top five weighed about 18 pounds, which is outstanding (for me) from the shore in just half an hour. I think 2026 is going to be a most excellent year at my pond.

The only sad thing is that I never did get my boat ready. I'll do it Tuesday when I launch.

Hey @Swamp Girl I said you’d catch ONE! 🤣

1 minute ago, BrianMDTX said:

Hey @Swamp Girl I said you’d catch ONE! 🤣

And you were right! I would have caught more than seven if my pup hadn't decided to jump into c-c-cold water.

5 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

And you were right! I would have caught more than seven if my pup hadn't decided to jump into c-c-cold water.

Gotta be honest, I figured you’d probably catch one, maybe two. You had a much better outing than I imagined. Those are some good-lookin’ bass!

Hope your pup is warmed up by now!

Excellent

Living. Liv·ing / livING /

-the pursuit of a lifestyle of the specified type. "the benefits of country living"

Both you and the pup. Congrats for a great start to the season.

Btw- that's a legit bag!

It took me a while to get open water, but I made the most of it when I could.

Started the 2026 campaign with a 5.73 lb brute.

Bigger than anything I caught last season.

I may have peaked early.

A-Jay

My first fish on 5/4, after finally escaping my work/life to-do list for the time being -- a modest beginning to the year:

(That's a "hot sauce" Siebert Fogy hanging out of it's mouth)