2018 fishing tread

I haven't been able to get out lately but last night I put the kayaking in the truck and went fishing. I didn't have much luck with frogs and poppers but when I put a whopper on things got better. 3 pickerel 2 bass and a pretty good size crappy, this bass was the best of the night.IMG_4088.JPG
 
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I got out into my favorite hidden swamp after work and did ok with the frog. I lost a lot of them while reeling in and two I lost because I couldn't get them through the lily pads. One got stuck for a while and I tried slack in the line and walking around to different angles. It finally came off and I got my frog back. I'm fishing here from shore so I have to bring the fish into the heavier weeds.

I was using a Booya Pad crasher and having no hits on it so I switched to a cheap ($2.98) Savage Gear frog and the bass wouldn't leave it alone.
This one hit at my frog 3 times on one cast, chasing it through the weeds. It was a 2 lber which is decent for this isolated swamp.

tbiMJsN.jpg
 
I went out again last night to my secret hidden pond. The bass there have no idea how to eat a frog I guess. They try, they just suck at getting them all the way in. They were hitting at the frog quite a bit, but not getting it. I caught a couple 1.5 pounders. Then I figured I'd throw out a Yum Grub and catch a couple Bluegills. Pulled in some of those and it was getting late so I made my way around the pond/swamp and played the old "Just one more" game. Bass were not hitting so I threw in the grub on my ultralight into the lily pads and this 2lber takes it as soon as it hit the water. Not a bad fish for an ultralight setup.

 
Frog fishing is fun but you do get a fair number of swings and misses. Definately gotta give them a second to hook themselves, don’t pull it away.
 
That's pretty impressive on an ultralight rod. What kind of line were you using to get through the pads?

I have 4lb Berkley Nanofil on a Shimano Stradic 1000 attached to a St Croix 6' Ultralight rod.

I'll admit that I've had a line break once or twice. I try to tire them out beyond the weeds then get them on top so I can pull them out. I'm not necessarily fishing for bass with the ultralight, but I do like to catch them.
 
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Got my best one of the year last night: 3.7lbs. Threw an ozark trail brand frog, $1.88 at Walmart, into some open water between patches of pads and started twitching it quickly back. Wasn’t a huge blowup, but it was a great fight. The thing jumped twice.

Every frog fish I’ve ever gotten has been with slow twitches with long pauses, but they were responding to a quick retrieve last night.

Missed a second fish that wasn’t very big. My friend I was with had a nice fish hit in open water but missed it too. I think they mostly approach the bait from the side and slash across it which can cause them to miss sometimes.
 
I have 4lb Berkley Nanofil on a Shimano Stradic 1000 attached to a St Croix 6' Ultralight rod.

I'll admit that I've had a line break once or twice. I try to tire them out beyond the weeds then get them on top so I can pull them out. I'm not necessarily fishing for bass with the ultralight, but I do like to catch them.
That’s a crazy light setup for ANYTHING near pads. Must be some awesome fights though. This season I dropped down my finesse setup from 10lb mono to 8lb braid and I broke off two, one of which was really nice.

I’ve become a braid fanatic this year.
 
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Got my boat cleaned up today, can't wait to get out now and do some open water fishing. Heading out early tomorrow morning. Ice fishing is the only fishing I've been doing the past few years.
 
Ice fishing??? Funny, as today I was watching a video on using the same depth finder I have. Love to see my jig and the fish coming to it. Only 6 months away. Lol.
On another note, I placed an order for a Hobie Outback Friday and will now be selling two other kayaks and my duck/fishing boat.
 
Ice fishing??? Funny, as today I was watching a video on using the same depth finder I have. Love to see my jig and the fish coming to it. Only 6 months away. Lol.
On another note, I placed an order for a Hobie Outback Friday and will now be selling two other kayaks and my duck/fishing boat.

Only 6 months away is right, but I will have fun using the small boat to take out the little one as she likes to ice fish but has yet to fish from the boat. She's 5 and is liking fishing so far which is good. Father will probably be hanging it up soon so I'll have a fishing buddy to show the ropes. Hopefully when she gets older she'll want to fish with the old man.
 
I’ve been fishing all week and doing pretty good. No monsters, but 1-2 pounders, some black crappies, pickerel and bluegills. I have not been skunked once this year. Today the only thing I could get bites on was a small grub. Nothing else was working.
I was kneeling in my new kayak and fell out in the middle of a pond earlier this week. Fortunately I only got wet and lost nothing.

2lbs on the ultralight

View: https://i.imgur.com/tJK0aGi.jpg

1/2 lb bluegill

View: https://i.imgur.com/OF2FVUt.jpg



View: https://i.imgur.com/Om3xLxn.jpg
 
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I always come in here to post stories of heartbreak.

Friend and I found a nice looking new spot today that connects with the CT river. We’re there about 15 minutes when he hooked a nice pike on his 3” TRD rig. I’d guess it was 24”-28”. Of course we’ll never know because it chomped through his 6lb line 6 feet from shore.

Both had a ton of bites but couldn’t manage to land any.
 
I always come in here to post stories of heartbreak.

Friend and I found a nice looking new spot today that connects with the CT river. We’re there about 15 minutes when he hooked a nice pike on his 3” TRD rig. I’d guess it was 24”-28”. Of course we’ll never know because it chomped through his 6lb line 6 feet from shore.

Both had a ton of bites but couldn’t manage to land any.

Pike can bite through 50lb mono bite tippet like it's tissue paper, that much I know. Many times I've only felt the slightest of bumps when the line was bitten off. In known pike territory, I only use wire. Pickerel can do almost as much damage. Awesome takes when they hit though.
 
I brought my twin grand kids out for their first time fishing yesterday. I was smart enough to bring them one at a time. In about an hour and a half each we had a great time. I had to make sure they both caught the same amount, 4 fish. Here are pictures of their first fishIMG_4245.JPG IMG_4269.JPG
 
I’ve been fishing all week and doing pretty good. No monsters, but 1-2 pounders, some black crappies, pickerel and bluegills. I have not been skunked once this year. Today the only thing I could get bites on was a small grub. Nothing else was working.
I was kneeling in my new kayak and fell out in the middle of a pond earlier this week. Fortunately I only got wet and lost nothing.

2lbs on the ultralight

View: https://i.imgur.com/tJK0aGi.jpg

1/2 lb bluegill

View: https://i.imgur.com/OF2FVUt.jpg



View: https://i.imgur.com/Om3xLxn.jpg

I’ve been fishing all week and doing pretty good. No monsters, but 1-2 pounders, some black crappies, pickerel and bluegills. I have not been skunked once this year. Today the only thing I could get bites on was a small grub. Nothing else was working.
I was kneeling in my new kayak and fell out in the middle of a pond earlier this week. Fortunately I only got wet and lost nothing.
Fred Flinstone feet ;)
 
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