2019 Fishing Thread

[5king]

Back on June 28 we went outside Boston light and jigged up a dozen mackerel on the zabiki. Anchored off Point Allerton Hull. A few schoolies later we got this 42” cow.

 

[peterk123]

It was crappie time again. Enjoyed them fried up in butter, with veggies from the garden and some homemade limoncello...

 

[Dennis in MA]

Spent 3.5 hours on the lake today. One bass for my efforts. I was searching so it wasn’t in vain.

Missed a HUGE pick while drifting on a spinnerbait. Picks are so hard because there isn’t much to stick into in that mouth. He nailed it at the boat, spot it, but again and shook off seconds later. Oh well. It was fun to get out for so long.

 

[Tony2Times]

Caught this small mouth on the boat yesterday.

 

[01906]

I haven't done much fishing myself this year. I've got the kids out quite a bit. They're probably good for about 50 each. With a couple of good ones tossed in. My daughter caught a nice rainbow last weekend in Maine. My son got skunked he was devastated Lol.

 

[smokingbarrel]

 

[Tony2Times]

 

[Dennis in MA]

Got this huge one this morning. Lol

 

[Penniepup1]

Smiles an schoolies

 

[bob king]

I smile for schoolies too

 

[dhuze]

It was crappie time again. Enjoyed them fried up in butter, with veggies from the garden and some homemade limoncello...

View attachment 294945

View attachment 294946

Crappies have been out of control this year. I've taken home about 30 in 2 trips and threw a bunch back.

Next time buy a package of Instant potato. I like the Idahoan Parmesan Garlic ones. I add some more parmesan and whatever spice I like, I mix eggs and cream to make a wash and use the potato as the breading and fry them up. Sometimes I make fish tacos out of them as well.

 

[Dennis in MA]

I was 5 of 6 sentences into that before I realized you were eating the instant potatoes, not using them as crappie bait. ROFL!!! ("Parmesan garlic name-brand instant potatoes? With more parm???? Do crappy really eat that?????" LOL)

 

[bob king]

I was out the other night, Bad night, No hits no runs no errors. That hasn't happened in awhile.

 

[dhuze]

I was out the other night, Bad night, No hits no runs no errors. That hasn't happened in awhile.

I went out a couple weekends ago and caught nothing.
I haven’t been skunked in years.

I did have a couple misses and two came off with frogs, but I don’t count them as caught

 

[Dennis in MA]

Bit the lake yeterdsh and caught a couple of asmallies on a tube and a jig. My first jig fish ever. Seriously. Never been a jig guy.

This am went out at 5:30. I’ve been wiped. Sick last weekend thru now. Had a brutal couple of days at work. Was whumped. So I packed it in after this guy bit my Plopper. Then went in and back to bed.

Supposed to be dead calm tomorrow am. Gonna try some top water action again.

 

[bob king]

Nice fish

 

[Dennis in MA]

Lost a huge pick at the boat yesterday. I hate pickerel but it was big enough to measure. He knocked about 3’ of slack in my line when he hit my chatterbait. Then pulled like no tomorrow.

 

[dhuze]

I went out Saturday to one of my favorite hidden ponds and it is almost dried up. I have never seen this at this pond. You can only access it by a small boat and now I can't get into it at all. I'd say at least half the pond is gone. I can't even see any water from where I can put my kayak in.

This pond has/had lots of fish in it, Bass, bluegills, perch, carp, catfish, and some giant snapping turtles.
That peninsular you see in the back is usually mostly under water. I'd say it's normally 5-6 feet deep over there.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Whoa!!!

 

[smokey-seven]

I'd say at least half the pond is gone.

You check the in and outflow? Possibly some drainage change like removal of a Beaver dam? There's always a reason for a change like that.

 

[Penniepup1]

Striper fishing at the end of the Kennebec River and other beach activities going on.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Productive weekend at the lake. Caught a couple Sat and missed a few yesterday. Nailed 3 angry Sally’s this am before we went on a loon hunt. 20 min tops. They seem to be heading to fall pattern. They slammed the Plopper and jumped for the moon after. Angry. It was a blast. Wish we had gotten better loon pix sooner and I could have gone back for more. Ran out of time.

 

[Al-Jim19]

Is anyone else willing to admit they’ve had a shitty year fishing?

I’ve caught a lot fewer bass this year than the last few. I used to get a lot more bites on basic lures like senkos or Texas rigs and they just have t been there for some reason. I do t think I’ve caught a bass on either this year.

Caught a few on flukes, a handful on frogs, and crank baits, but even they’ve been lackluster.

 

[pupchow]

My springtime striper (surf) fishing trip was the worst in years. Using fly, artificials, and bait. No keepers, and not many fish all. I usually do another week or two in the fall, but nope. Those thousands of dollars I add to the economy will be spent elsewhere, until the current striper stock situation turns around.

I'll be targeting freshwater fish now, and hope to tie into a carp on the fly while sight fishing. That's my last "bucket list" fish, and I'm new to targeting them. In between carp, I'll be after largemouth and smallmouth, mostly with fly gear.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Is anyone else willing to admit they’ve had a shitty year fishing?

I’ve caught a lot fewer bass this year than the last few. I used to get a lot more bites on basic lures like senkos or Texas rigs and they just have t been there for some reason. I do t think I’ve caught a bass on either this year.

Caught a few on flukes, a handful on frogs, and crank baits, but even they’ve been lackluster.

Me! My son in Missouri as well. Maybe it's a lunar thing. Or global warming. Or something. Monday was the first time I caught 3 fish in an hour or less this season. Usually I'll get 2-5 days of hammering a dozen or more in a couple of hours and just stop because it's getting silly. Biggest was near-5. I've had seasons where I catch multiple 6+ largemouths. OK, I did hit a 3.3 Smallie yesterday. That's pretty big. But nothing north of 5 all year.

Based on how much boat movement I watched on the lake, I wasn't the only one.

But overall - my go-to this year (just based a lot on when I fished) was a whopper plopper first-thing in the AM.

 

[pupchow]

Hung out until the sun dipped below the horizon, when the bass move out of deep water to feed. The wind kicked up but I managed to pick up a couple small bass on topwater.

 

[Ski]

Got out this am and picked up a few...
One decent sized.
Anyone recognize the bones?
Changed up from black to white spinner and started getting hits first cast!

 

[bob king]

Nice!!!

 

[Dennis in MA]

Went out for my last weekend on the lake for the season. Pulled the boat yesterday. Sadness!

I did catch a pile of Smallies and one 4lb Larry on Saturday though. I got skunked on Friday which was odd. Went thru the same area with the Whopper Plopper on Sat and hammered a ton of fish from sunrise for a hour or two. Then came back after lunch and put on a jerk-bait. Caught a few more. I don't think I've ever CAUGHT a fish on jerk-bait. Ever.

My wife has any/all pics. I know she was snapchatting video to the family so I'm not sure how many pix she got of the fish. I'll post what I can get.

Boat removal was changed this year versus previous years. And it took 10 min. Which means that in the future, I may stall my boat removal a few more weeks than normal. I could have done 2 more weekends, weather permitting, of fishing.

 

[bob king]

I took my grand son fishing in the pond outback, the water is low but fish were down at the other end of the pond at the dam. We caught a big bluegill on every cast. We had a ball and still made it home to watch the Pats game