2017 Bass Photos

Last fish of the night. 20 1/2 inches and 4.84 lbs.

Looking back through fish photos and I suspect this guy might be a personal best for me!

Switching over to largemouth for awhile… 5:45 this am right before the rain started in. 20 inch on a caffeine shad skippin’docks

Another hungry 20″er ate my muskie fly.

From the pond. I am guessing that she is about 4.5-4.75 lbs and that’s a 5″ Savage Gear Bluegill in the back of her mouth. I didn’t get a weight because I took enough time taking picts and trying to get the hook out cleanly, which I did, even though a hook was at the base of the gills.

I’ve notice with this lure and my Live Target Sunfish the bass inhale the lures and get hooked deep. I thought it might have something to do with them loving a sunfish meal or the lure itself. Now I am thinking it just has to do with the shape of the lure. The profile of a panfish/shad is perfect for a bass inhaling their meal. They must get good drag when they inhale them pulling the prey in deep, as opposed to say a worm.

Interesting, I just bought one of those Live Target sunfish lures. Was meaning to try it out yesterday but the rain came early… was wondering if it’s a gimmick or actually works – I guess you cleared up that question. Nice fish!

Will start using it and see if I have issues gut hooking. Not a good thing, but usually lures like that (i.e. Hollow body frogs) the hook up ratio is quite low. Would have to work on hook removal carefully I guess, but maybe the sunfish is a plus in terms of better hook up ratios than my frogs …

That lure is the Savage Gear 5″ Bluegill. The hooks are on the front, so I assume they are hitting it head first, which they have to with bass to avoid being spined.

I’ve caught 3 bass on it so far, 2 were hooked deep. The other was that florida walleye.

Every fish I’ve caught on that and the Live Target, the bait was completely in their mouth. I believe I deep hooked 1 on the Live Target. Ok, the walleye didn’t have it all the way in it’s mouth.

I like the Live Target because it has a different action that a frog. Once it’s full of water it will start dipping and you can work it under lilypads instead of going over them. You will like it too. I thought it was gimmicky too until I tried it.

Pug: What action do you mostly use with the Live Target sunfish – walk the dog, jerks over open pockets in the weeds, etc?

I keep it irratic. Sometimes I’ll walk it and twitch it in open pockets. If you jerk the rod straight down in front of you, it will make it dip. So you can make it dip under a pad.

My biggest SMB to date. A touch over 21″.

I did get an opportunity to see the latest gen SI in action. Impressive abilities for spot on spot definition.

18 and a 19. Both on the same flu flu jig tipped with a Gulp Alive 1″ minnow while fishing for panfish.

Kyle Wills wrote:

18 and a 19. Both on the same flu flu jig tipped with a Gulp Alive 1″ minnow while fishing for panfish.

Well that’s dumb. The pictures aren’t sideways when I open them.

Kyle Wills wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Kyle Wills wrote:</div>

18 and a 19. Both on the same flu flu jig tipped with a Gulp Alive 1″ minnow while fishing for panfish.

Well that’s dumb. The pictures aren’t sideways when I open them.

I noticed that as well. I posted mine with my IPhone and the pic is normal. If I open the thread with a desktop the pic is rotated.

Wacky Woman strikes again … a new personal best for her at 5.91 pounds. An ounce shy of 6 pounds!! Dad was honored to net it for her

Wow, great bass! Sad, I haven’t caught one bigger than that in 3 years here. Granted, mist of my fishing is in the same ponds. Proud papa! Congratulations.

Nothing super huge compared to some here, but a nice one for me from last week.

Nice fish. No one needs to justify a picture!

Here’s my largest Arizona bass to date. No scale but looks to be pushing the 10 lb mark.

Now THAT is a behemoth!! Nice job

Fish from a couple of recent river trips. My wife and I spent a day on the Mississippi near Monticello, and yesterday I fished with Fred Bartling and his dog Cooper out of Marine on St. Croix. They showed a distinct preference for topwaters, yellow, and long pauses. The St. Croix fish were found near faster current areas.

I miss the smallmouths. Nice fish Steve.

I caught this HOG on a bit of worm on a 1/32 oz jighead.

Yea but you’re a really big guy so that’s still a nice fish

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

I caught this HOG on a bit of worm on a 1/32 oz jighead.

Barefooted?

Son found this 21 incher under a dock with a Wacky Worm, what a fight it put up too on light tackle!!

Very nice!

mplspug wrote:

Very nice!

Pug, I decided to really try out the LiveTarget Sunfish and decide if it’s for real or gimmick… Well, I caught two fish right on the edge of the Lilly pads. Both times it smacked the lure the second it hit the water, so I’m thinking it does look real to them. Got 2 fish out of 3 strikes, so that’s a better hook up percentage than my frogs!

Very nice! I should give mine a try, I haven’t in a while.

Were they hooked deep? The fish I’ve caught on them had the lure completely in their mouths.

Today might be a good day. We have an unusual weather feature for July, a cold front passing through and it will be cloudy all day. I also noticed last week the Bluegill decided to move shallow again, I am not sure, but I think they are spawning again.

These were not hooked too deep as the fish smashed the second the lure hit the water. You can see the fish on the right has a hole in his lip where he was hooked. But I don’t know how many times I’ve had the immediate strike with a frog and seems majority of the time I miss. So it’s worth continuing with the sunfish for sure.

Two spawn cycles per year is hard for us Northerners to get our heads around, but hopefully presents another active fishing cycle for you!

To be clear, it’s the Bluegill spawning…if they are. It may be the redbreast, I’ve seen them on beds this time of year.