The good fishing is about to really get going in the central U.S. We had a cold snap that saw temps dip down in the 50's this past week. Today, it ended abruptly and we had a high near 90. Just for the heck of it, I hit the lake knowing that Mondays rarely yield good fishing due to the weekend pressure. Well, it turned out to be a good move as the bigger bass were striking hard near the shoreline. I caught three big bass (including the 3.5 - 4.0lbs+ toad below) and a little guy before the wife and daughter grew too annoyed with the bugs. I was likea kid out there and didn't want to leave with all of the big boys starting to give us shore fishmen a chance. With the kids in school and the temps starting to drop, the fishing is about to get really good!

Yep, same here. Can't wait.

Very nice work.

Shoreline fishing, especially farm pond fishing is a lot like hunting - slipping around vegetation to find fish then once hooked actually getting them through all that vegetation to your hand.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
Very nice work.

Shoreline fishing, especially farm pond fishing is a lot like hunting - slipping around vegitation to find fish then once hooked actually getting them through all that vegitation to your hand.

That's exactly how I work it - spot to spot, in the vegetation looking for places where the plants cast shadows on the water but where I won't lose my line in the hanging branches. I never spend more than 15 minutes or so in one spot.

That last part - the getting them to the shore part - was definitely an adventure on the one in the pic. He snapped a 14lb. test line when he thrashed just as I got him on the shore. A near escape facilitated by the fact I stopped bringing the net a long time ago because I just never pulled any huge fish out of this lake. It won't get left again.