Smallmouth making my arms sore!

 There were a lot of fish caught today.  Seriously, I think that there may have been 80 plus fish caught in a few hours.  Probably 3 fish that around 16", many fish over 19"!  A sixty degree day in November with the fish biting like that, tough to top.  Winter is coming...  

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Biggest of the day Tall, Fat  20" and then some

Wisconsin River Fishing

19 er

This chunky football was caught in Wisconsin this past Sunday trolling for Walleyes.  It seemed every Smallie I caught, (maybe 7 in all)  was just laying on the bottom.  I did have one Wally on, but he came off at the surface.  I have been looking forward to some pumpkin-seed crusted Walleye too, but no such luck this time.

Lucky 13?

 A hoard of smallies moved in today.  My arm was actually getting tired...  I thought that I had a twenty incher on numerous times, with the plump piggies I was hauling in today.  Now that might seem a little silly, but the pictures I took, that was probably a third of the fish I caught!  I actually finished the afternoon on a streak.  I am not sure whether it was 12 or 13 consecutive fish on back to back casts.  During the streak, I believe only 2 fish were under 17", with one of the fish only going about 16". And, the streak started with four fish at 18" or better.  The largest fish was a little over 19".  Wow!

MN Muddy Smallies

 18"

Chunky 18"

nice fish

I love going to the Mississippi this time of year.  The fish are getting ready to hunker down for the cold season, and it is pretty fun when they get hungry.  I caught around 10 fish today, and each of them felt like great fish.  My drag got a nice workout today, I didn't lose too many.  Even though I have had a lot better outings on the river, I still felt pretty good about these bronzebacks.   

Chunker

nice one

 WIDE - 19"+

Two nice October bass in the float tube!

20 3/4 with the mouth closed.  Longest of the season for me!

19 incher

19" - big head

I got out during the rain tonight, and when it stopped, I caught a couple of tanks!  It was getting dark by the time I got back to the landing.  I'm decided to fish slow, although I didn't have any bites, and I was thinking I should have been throwing some type of frog on top.  I missed several fish, and I think I stuck them, so I never got a second chance.  I caught a pike inbetween the two bass.  The second bass was ripping out drag, and it actually spun me around in the float tube.  The head was gigantic!  I was hoping that it would go 21", but it would be short of that with the mouth closed.  It is hard to tell in the picture, but the tail actually starts to go up the side of the basket.  It was getting dark out, and it is tough to take great pics in the tube with my phone.  I wore my waders in the float tube this time, and it definitely takes a little more effort to paddle with the waders on.  With the two quality fish, it was worth the trip this time. : )

Long Bass - 20 3/4

Slow Smallies, Less Largies

 I hooked this 18 incher in the bottom jaw. It was a nice fish, but when I brought it in and saw that it was hooked in the bottom jaw I recognized a pattern.  On days that are less productive on the river, it seems that my hook sets are happening in the bottom jaw.  I don't know what this means, but I am open to any interpretation on this.  I also tried out the float tube, and struck out on largemouth, it was hot, and a new big bass lake that I have heard mixed reports on.  

Short Summer Feed

26" 

Drag-stripping Ugly Beak Face

 I only boated four bass tonight, and I missed a big one trying to turn it's head in the reeds.  It was a short night, it gets dark so fast now.  I also stupidly swung this 26" incher into the boat, in the process breaking the line on its razor-sharp teeth.  I think I might have caught this same beak-faced bass a couple years ago when it was 19" inches, but I really hope not, because that would mean some pretty slow growth when the fish start to get in their prime years.

19 1/2" short

Big Marine Bust

Jeremy's 18 1/8 inch, wide hunchback

Well, besides this bass, it was kind of a bust of a morning on the water.  Mostly because the trolling motor didn't work.  With a 4 mph wind we were able to fish tight, and get a few in the boat.  (15 in all)  Actually it was perfect weather, a little overcast for the first part of the morning and comfortable 60 degrees.  There must have been a tournament on the lake today too, and I don't think the bass boaters were on the fish anywhere this morning, judging by the way we were sharing water with folks.  I pulled one out of the cover, and a nice flat decker moved right in on us.  We had 5 fish that were all 15 1/2 to 15 3/4 inches, along with this kicker fish, would have given us short of 12 lbs for sure. But, I bet that would have faired alright today.  When I got home I changed the breaker and that did the trick for the trolling motor.

Swimbait Musky

Little Musky

It is always fun to catch a musky, the fight is always impressive.  Fortunately, I got this guy in the boat on a swim bait with my stout musky rod.  Unfortunately, a few casts before this I lost a giant fishing with a bass set-up.  The fish exploded out from under the pads as I jerked the plastic near them. I really thought I was going to catch it for a while, I had the fish on for about 3 minutes, taking me around the boat, and peeling of drag.  I knew it was a matter of time, before his sharp teeth would cut the line...bummer.  Wind blown shoreline in the middle of the afternoon.

Monday Bass fishing

18 1/2 Piggy

Piggyback

It was a nice night, as far as the weather goes.  I caught 5 or 6 bass with this 18 1/2 incher being the nicest.  It seemed the better the cast, the more likely I caught a fish.   I really, am interested in learning how to football jig deep water, sometimes fishing shallow can get repetitive, although dragging a fish out of thick cover is always a fun challenge.  When others are using the same strategy as me on the lake, I would much rather have another strategy that I had some confidence in.  I lost some fishing time tonight too, when I blew a trolling motor fuse, and the fuse got stuck in the plastic socket. I busted the blade on my micro- Leatherman trying to get it out.   I only have the 30 amp fuses, and I really need the 40's, but am not sure where to get them.   I need to do some boat repairs too, trailer roller, replace tail-lights, and put on a spare tire.  Yikes!

Nice night for bass for me and others...

19 " drag puller

 So, I was about to write of the night, and curse the lake...then about 8:00 the fish wanted my bait.  So, I had caught a couple of short fish one on a frog and the other on my pumpkin colored plastic, I was just about ready to call it a night, when this 19 incher hit a twitching creature bait.  I thought I had a five plus on, based on the amount of drag it was pulling out.  I caught a 16 1/2 next cast, and it was a chunker too.  So,  I took my phone out of my Otterbox, and snapped some pics, and then I paddled back to the landing making another stop, where I caught this 20 1/4 inch maniac. Sometimes when they fight like that you just know it is a good one, even before they start pulling hard.   I had tightened my drag down a bit, and this fish was just in a frenzy going from side to side.  I was glad I kept the line tight, because he had loosened that hook up really good because of the fight.  I kept my line tight with my heavy 7' Gander Mountain rod, and 14 lb flourocarbon line sometimes heavy gear pays off.  I tried to take a pic of me and the fish, since it was the longest one for me this year so far. (Pretty tough to do in a float tube.)  I was feeling pretty good about the six fish I caught, as far as quality, then I talked to a guy at the landing that caught three 20" plus.  Oh well, guess that means I'll be going back!

 

Too big to fit!

20 1/4 inch sunset hog!

Missing in Action

19 1/2 incher

4 1/2 pound, 18 incher

19 incher
 I didn't catch the big one on any of these outings.  Like most fisherman, I walk away wondering what I did wrong, or should I have fished differently.  After all, sometimes, and in each of these cases, I am actually using the same type of presentation.  A good bass, (which to me is any bass over 16 inches) will not be caught every outing, but some how I feel disappointed when I don't get a "good" one. I know that catching a good one every outing is unrealistic, and maybe I should be thinking differently. I still do get the biggest thrill when a big one was caught when I am in the boat.  It just makes it worth the time. So, hopefully Basschronicles22 will post his stories soon and get his pics to Bass Pundit's bass blog for his biggest five in MN!