Bass fishing today

[caveman]

I have not posted any fishing topics in a few weeks.  We are still catching fish, but not as many big ones.  This week the three pits that we primarily fish near the lodge had an algae bloom.  I saw a bluegill that was struggling to hang on this morning that was belly up.  My two trips today were artificial baits only, but I took them to another pit a few miles away.  They caught fish on drop shots mostly (Yankee fishing, but DanG effective).

Today was a long day with an early trip for tomorrow.  At least it is not busting big rocks into little rocks.  

The wind was up today so I did not even take pictures of the good fish since I was on the trolling motor and untangling lines constantly.  

[caveman]

Sorry to reply to my own post, but yesterday I had over 14 hours on the clock with two fishing trips and all of the other stuff ( boat cleaning, loading and launching boat, prepping tackle, etc.).

I was not even scheduled to work yesterday.  This morning, I was supposed to take a few corporate guys fishing at 9 a.m. Last night I was notified that three wanted to go at 7 a.m. and only fish artificial baits.  Another guide's guests showed up 15 minutes early and he took them to my first spot of choice.  When I left the dock, he went to my second spot, using live shiners.  I was a bit aggravated but went to a few other spots where we caught decent bass. We went and fished the spots where he had previously fished shiners with artificial baits and caught several good fish.  After the trip, I found out that my guys caught 17 bass on artificial baits and his guys caught 0 on shiners. My guys should have caught more. One, a CEO, was not a fisherman at all, but ran into a few fish.

I found out later in the morning that the other guide's guests did not land a fish.  I felt bad for him and them.

I had another corporate trip at 1pm.  The temperature was 93 and there was an algae bloom this week.  I was afraid this might be my first shutout trip.  The first two fish that hit, the guests missed.  The five of them all ended up catching multiple fish, with the biggest being 6lbs, 14oz (post spawn).  We only caught three pre-spawn fish today.




This is a pic of my little skiff on a recreational trip on Monday.  Some of the rods are not pictured, and only some of the tackle made the shot.  There were three of us fishing out of that boat for a few hours, but we landed over 70 bass.  I became a believer in the drop shot rig with floating worms that day.

FYI- I've had that boat since my birthday in 1985.  It is on the third outboard and at least that many trolling motors since I've owned it.  We've put two floors in it, but the keel and transom is the original 1976 homemade rendition.  

[tule peak timber]

Kyle, did you check out the Punta Gorda boat rage incident ? Man you charter guys take your fishing really seriously !

[Raider Bill]

That boat captain screamed his way into a world of hurt.

[tule peak timber]

Yeah, his six pack is short one can,,,,,

[caveman]

I saw it-disgraceful behavior.  Many years ago, when John and I were fishing with our young wives, a couple of guys cut right in front of us while we were trolling for kingfish near the Egmont Shipping Channel offshore of Tampa Bay.  We motioned at them to move.  They came over and got quite lippy. 

At one point, I thought one of the men was going to try to board our boat.  That probably would not have ended well for him.

I get perturbed at the tarpon guides quite often.  At my best nearshore snapper spot, there happens to be quite a few tarpon during the spring and early summer.  These guides will pull up right next to us either fishing for tarpon or for snapper like they own the place.  Heaven forbid someone encroaches on them while fishing.

Some are not too bad though.  Several years ago, after catching bait early one morning, my usually reliable Honda outboard would not start, and a morning thunderstorm was approaching.  A guide who was also netting bait nearby towed us to a boat ramp.  He would not even take any cash.  There are still some good folks out there. (Good grounds are important.  Check them and clean them even if they appear to be good).

Unrelated to the comments above, but relevant to the bass fishing post-while standing on the bank fishing one of the pasture pits last week a 9' gator slipped up really close to me (3-4' feet away) before I noticed him.  He hissed and made an aggressive move towards me.  I jumped back and looked around on the shore of the phosphate pit and found a rock about the size of two bowling balls and tried to hit the gator with it.  I missed by a few inches, and I anticipated that the gator would move along.  Instead, he came at me.  There was another rock of similar size.  I did not miss with this one, landing it right on the back of his head.  He swam offshore about 30' and then continued to follow me along the shore.  They can get stoopider than normal during mating season. 

[tule peak timber]

Boeshield T-9 on all connections is your friend. Tight lines buddy 

[doc henderson]

Yup, some guys only got one oar in the water.

[YellowHammer]

That guide should never get a license again, and hopefully spend some time in electro shock therapy, he was totally out of control, and I'm glad they charged and jailed him.  Makes me wonder how many others he's done that too, some may not realize just how deadly that could have become.

The kid could have also done more to keep the boats separated, he should have never let the other guy bump boats.  I spend a lot of time on the water, makes me wonder what I would have done.  I have had people try to rob me at gunpoint on the water, certainly mouth off to me, try to push me off fishing spots, but I would never let anyone get within boat bumping distance, even if I have to do the old "trim the engine up, full throttle firehose spray" defense technique.  It is amazingly spectacular.

Also, watching the demeanor of the charter guests, they could tell the guy was out of control, and the kid should have tried to engage them more, to settle the guy down, especially when the guide said they were his friends.  I have had to do just that, talk to clients in guide boats and ask them to settle their guides down, and yes they get that close.  Sometimes that works pretty well.  Only a coulple years ago, I had a bass guide pull up on me, getting pretty mouthy, trying to push me off a spot I was catching fish on, because "He's a guide and do this for living" whatever that matters to me, and after I asked the client how much he paid this guy to embarrass him with his ridiculous behavior, and if he wanted to climb my boat and fish for free, the client said to his guide, "Hey man, it's just a %%## fish, get a grip! It's my money, we are done, take me back".  That was good.

It's also very common behavior when people are fishing tournaments, they really get stupid aggressive,.  "Hey you, leave, I'm fishing a tournament here!"  So what?? Once I had my dog "Buddy" in the boat, and I said, "No, Buddy really likes this spot."  Then the guy went right around me, cutting me off, and fishing right in front of me down the half mile or so long weed line, and I told the partner in the back of the boat, "Sorry you are going to lose the tournament, the guy in the front isn't very good, how about I'll just follow behind you guys and catch all the fish you are missing?"  And I did, and every time I caught a bass they missed, I'd hold it up and say "Hey, you missed another one, this one was big!"  It was hilarious to me, and after one about 4 pounds I caught right behind them, I heard the front guy say a few choice words about me, fire up their boat and drive off.  As I said the guy in the front of the boat wasn't very good.     

[caveman]

This morning was a different kind of fishing trip-one I volunteered for several weeks ago.  My boss/buddy mentioned that he had to take the J-1's out on the boat this morning.  I told him that I'd take the trip.  He mentioned that they would not be expected to tip.  I did not care about that.  These folks leave all that they know and are familiar with for the chance to come here for a few months or so to work and further their education.

They met us in the parking lot with Jen, from HR a little after 8 this morning.  We took them on a tour of the three pits by the lodge looking at birds and looking for gators.  Each got a chance to steer the boats.  We also took them fishing for a bit.  The water is not the same as it was a few weeks ago-we've had an algae bloom, and it looks like peas soup now.  The fishing has become tougher.  To fish, I took them to a cove in the far back that usually has a few fish.  I've never fished with shiners there.  It started slow, but I noticed a cork was down and appeared to have a fish swimming with the huge shiner.  My guest up front (for the life of me I could not pronounce her name, much less spell it-she was from South Africa and she and her South African friend laughed each time I mispronounced their names) reeled down, set the hook and landed a 3lber.

I was casting a worm on a drop shot and hooked a fish that I handed to the other female guest.  She was elated to land another 3lber.  Pepsi, the name the male guest from Maldives asked me to call him, finally landed one about 4 lbs that hit a worm in another area.  My buddy's guests had not landed a fish at this point.  He took them to a rock flat in 6' of water and they each caught a fish.  These folks were so grateful and had the time of their lives.  

After eating lunch, Jimmy and I went out to one of the pasture pits and caught some nice bass.  Our best 12 would likely have weighed 48-50 lbs.  I'll probably take my afternoon guest tomorrow out to the pasture pit we fished today.  It is about a 10-minute ride from the lodge, but the water is clear, and the fish are hungry.

[caveman]

I had a one person, three hour trip this morning.  The guy caught several bass (30 or more) on a chatter bait.  I was tossing a drop shot with a Z-man worm above it.  I handed him quite a few fish to reel in.  The last one was 6lbs. 8oz.
It would have been much bigger before spawning.  

We fished a new pit to me today after lunch and actually moved the skiff into it.  We caught small ones, medium ones and large ones- about 50 in an hour.  I hope to move our pontoon boats tomorrow after my morning trip.  The pits near the lodge have become green with algae and the fishing has become difficult.  

I have to take several folks at 8 tomorrow morning.  I hope we can find some in the green water.

[caveman]

Today was challenging, I met the guests and had them at the dock 10 minutes before their trip was to begin.  The boat was already loaded with shiners, freshly lined reels, the seats had the dew wiped off and the motor was warmed up.  We headed to the first spot.  When I dropped the trolling motor, the only thing attaching it to the boat were the wires.  No problem, we'll head back in, and I'll transfer everything to the newest boat that a guy guided in yesterday.   
 
I moved three dozen shiners, nine rods, an ice chest and my tackle box.  I went to start the boat, and the key was nowhere to be found.  I ran to the office to grab the key.  It was not there.  I called my boss/buddy.  He called the guy who took the trip yesterday afternoon and he thought the key might be in one of our Explorers.  It was not.  I began casting out live shiners near the dock for the guests while I was awaiting a key.  Boss/buddy came down with a spare key.  We headed to another spot that was not facing the morning sun.  I dropped the trolling motor, and it was as dead as a beaver hat.  I could barely turn.  The other guide used it yesterday afternoon.  I apologized and asked them if they would consider an artificial only trip about 10 minutes away, crowded in a small skiff.  They were game.  I drove too fast down dirt roads and through cow pastures, but we got in the skiff in pit four and caught a lot of fish.

I kept them out and extra 30 minutes and would have gone more, had they not had to catch a plane back to glaciated Minnesota in Tampa.  They caught small ones, medium ones and a few good ones.  I think all caught their personal best bass today.  They even had a triple.  Their tip was not commensurate with their fishing experience, but I don't know that I'd tipped much either after the morning debacle. 

I stuck around and got the pontoon boat prepped for an afternoon trip, including loading it with shiners, only to find out the group cancelled 30 minutes before we were to get started.  I should have come home and sawed $650 of wood in an hour or so, but I played with the grandchildren instead.  The babies kept saying, swing me higher Papa.

 They had a triple that would have gone 10-11 pounds.  I'd take that any day of the week.  The dude in the middle caught about 25 bass during a two-hour trip.  I was thankful the other two stayed in the boat.

I'm not guiding trips until next Monday. 

[aigheadish]

Yikes to the morning... Hopefully people can have a decent attitude about that, similar to my Costa Rican mistake "it wasn't meant to be at that time..."

[caveman]

We will likely be moving boats on Monday morning.  I talked to my boss/buddy this evening.  He had three guys on the skiff in the same pit this evening and said they likely caught 80 bass in 2.5 hours, up to six pounds.  The boys from the panhandle could catch them.  My guys yesterday were lucky to run into some.  YH would likely catch 50 an hour in this pit.

Another guide took a trip today in the pits near the lodge.  They boated one fish, but it was 6.5 lbs.

John and I will be sawing and doing other sawmill chores tomorrow.  I asked him if he wanted to work or go fishing-the boy is evidently all about working.  We do have a lot to do.

I did not fish today.  I did deliver wood, load wood and make an extensive list of things we need to do.

[firefighter ontheside]

I went out for about 4 hours yesterday with my son's buddy.  My kids will go fishing,but only Connor likes to fishlike me, so went out in one of my canoes on a little local lake.  I guess I caught about 25 fish.  Nice to get out.  Some were small and some were not as small.

[Stephen1]

Just found this post, I like hear about your escapades. I'll follow along for a while  

[YellowHammer]

Me and my BIL (old school fisherman, doesn't even use a depth finder, went Tuesday and caught a little over 50 bass before lunch, mostly on top waters, the shad were spawning and that is always a fun topwater bite.  We were returning to the marina about noon, boat on plane, and drove over a big school of shad about 20 feet down and I saw a bunch of gamefish on the sonar tearing into them, and said we need to turn back, we were going to hammer them.  He looked at me like I was crazy and I said if we didn't catch a fish in 5 casts, we would leave and go home.  About 30 minutes later, he said he was tired of reeling them in, mostly stripers, with the occasional bass, and I put the boat on the trailer.

I took this picture Friday as a group was leaving from fishing our piranha bream pond Friday, they had maybe 30 lbs in the fish basket, and he said some were so big they weren't sure they would fit int the top door.  One of the guys said he'd never seen bream this big and several were his "personal best" about the size of a paper plate.  The picture doesn't do them justice, some were huge. 

[caveman]

Those are some thumper bream.  Y'all smacked the bass too.

I fished four separate pits today, while collaborating with my boss/buddy on where to put boats.  We moved the skiff a couple of times and ended up in what we call pit two.  We fished it this morning after catching 58 bass in pit three.  In pit three, in about an hour, I had over 30 bass which were mostly small, but some up to four pounds.  

Sometime this morning.  I don't recall if it was in pit three or two, but my boss/buddy and I were throwing square billed crankbaits.  He was throwing a 2.5 size when I felt a smack on the back of my head.  I reached up to determine if I just got whacked or whacked and hooked.  Unfortunately, a hook was buried in my head up to the bend and my hat was pinned to my head.  Jimmy was more upset than I was.  I knelt down and asked him if he could pull the hook out of my head.  Thankfully, he had some pliers that he uses when installing split rings on baits that have a little nib on them.  He asked if I was ready and I told him to let me get a grip on the trolling motor with my right hand and for him to not miss on the first pull.  He got it out.

He was super apologetic.  I reassured him that it was not a problem, and we continued to catch a lot of fish.  Later, we moved a pontoon boat over to pit three.  The mounting bolt that used to hold the trolling motor on the bow bracket vibrated out on a few mile trip on the washboard dirt road. 
 The motor was not damaged but fell from the bow onto the tongue of the trailer.
I had a trip this afternoon from 5 pm and we stayed out until sunset.  The father/son duo were good guys and mediocre fishermen.  They struggled to trick fish on crankbaits, but the dad got many on a swim jig and the son finally ran into some on a wacky rigged worm with 1/8oz of lead about 1' above the hook.  The last hour, they both caught a bunch of fish on topwater chugbugs.  The biggest bass of this trip was a 5lber, but they likely boated 50 or more.

I suspect that between the guest trip and the fish we caught this morning, we likely boated 150-170 bass.  I even caught two at one time on a 1.5 square bill crankbait this morning.  I've got two trips booked for Thursday.

[customsawyer]

That's some hot fishing. The only time I remember getting that many fish in one day, was with a bow. Used to shoot carp and use them for bear bait.

[caveman]

We used to shoot tilapia with a bow, but if we got a few, it was a good outing.  I'd be exhausted after pulling my bow back enough to shoot hundreds of fish.  Even when I was in shape, after 35-40 shots, I was done.

[Jeff]

Ouch Kyle!!

One of those Brim would be equal to a limit here I think!

[caveman]

Jeff, it hurt at the time, but today I can't even tell where I was hooked unless I rub my head and feel for a small bump.  It did hit pretty hard though.  The split ring that holds the treble hook to the plug was nearly opened and the hook that grabbed my head was bent partially open.  We were casting into a pretty good headwind, so we were rearing back.

After delivering some dunnage in town this morning, I stopped off at the tackle shop on the way home.  I even ran into the husband of my third-grade teacher while in there.