Ok yesterday (saturday) my buddy and I went out on the lake for about 4 hours. And for some reason, the fish had "lock-jaw". Conditions wernt that bad, windy and 71 degrees. At the end, I caught 1 fish and that was it.

Last night, it rained a lot. I go out to the lake today and conditions had changed...a lot. The water was up, water was muddy, very windy (gusts of 30), cloudy, and cold (50 degrees). This time out, it was a whole different story. I got 2 good ones (dont know the exact weight, but I'll say 3-4 pounds) on a red XCalibur rattle trap. I also landed numerous small ones.

When the conditions made such a drastic change for the worse, I really didn't expect to catch much. But boy was I wrong.

Here is my first fish (2 pic's):

And here is the second:

great job... looks like a nice spot!

very nice! great job

nice fish

Thanks guys.

Not 100% sure, but I think the first one was a male and the second a female. The first one fought very hard, was pretty shallow, and it also had the bloody tail. Maybe this fish was guarding fry. The second one however, had no bloody tail, was suspended in about 15 feet of water, and didn't fight nearly as hard as the first. This one was probably done spawning.

Thanks again.

Sweet fish buddy!

good job, nice fish :

Nice fish! Idk I think sometimes this early in the year the muddy water might actually turn the fish on.  In your case it looks like it did, or maybe you used the rattle trap because the water was muddy and thats what they wanted? lol  :

that is one good looking rod...

nice fish!

Nice fish. That reminds me, I need to get a sexy reel for my puls-r, I keep neglecting it!

Good lure choice.

In the dirty water they could hear the rattles and lock on your bait.

The red could be seen as they approached the target.

You have reminded us of the fun of bass fishing. Every day is totally different from the day before and the next day.

It can drive you crazy. ;D

nice fish

Thanks for all of the comments guys!

Brett: I think you're right. The day before, most of the water was clear. Except for one cove that was muddy...and that's where we got most of our bites.

RayRe: The Puls-R is my favorite rod that AiRRUS makes. It is sooooo sensitive. As you can see, I have a Curado on mine, but I'll have to say, a Revo STX or the Daiwa Alphas looks 10x better.

nice fish

Thanks for all of the comments guys!

Brett: I think you're right. The day before, most of the water was clear. Except for one cove that was muddy...and that's where we got most of our bites.

RayRe: The Puls-R is my favorite rod that AiRRUS makes. It is sooooo sensitive. As you can see, I have a Curado on mine, but I'll have to say, a Revo STX or the Daiwa Alphas looks 10x better.

Yup If only mine were a baitcaster I could pair it. I have the MH spinning puls-r. Time to sell off one of my extra BC's and get a spinning reel. Maybe a tierra or a symetre, we'll see. I have a president on it that is simply way too big and heavy/beat up.

I'll bet those fish will weigh an extra half a pound or more once they start putting on some summertime weight.  Nice fish.  You never know how the fish are going to react to conditions.

Looking at that fish and the water behind you makes me want to go out and cast a few.  Nice fish!