Johnsfolly

Great job on the striper and spot! Great looking fish! Both beat my PBs for those species so really would love to catch either or both😉

Get you some Brim Bites!😉

We had a great pond at the facility I worked at in FL back in the 90's. My buddy didn't often change his lines out, especially after he just got to our facility. So he hooked up a giant green sunfish on a big bladed roostertail. The fish broke off. Less than a week later I caught the same fish on a 3 inch fluke. It still had the roostertail in it's gut with the blade in the fish's mouth. Not wanting to kill the fish outright we did not try to forcefully remove the roostertail. In hindsight probably should have kept that fish. I have never eaten a green sunfish. Not a fan of how they smell when caught and was not keen on keeping them. May have to give them a try. Lots of places they are becoming the dominate sunfish species.

Quite a fish story. You do what you have to do sometimes to land the big one😉 https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/pike-fishing-misadventure/

Are you guys going to add any structure before it fills up? Should be a great spot to fish with family!

@Maverickpro201 that sounds delicious. We have been using thighs more often than breasts lately. Much more flavorful in my opinion.

Congrats and glad to see you back out on the water. That is a fat drum!

FIFY😁

A Rabbi, a Catholic priest, and a Baptist minister were sitting together on a park bench in a small mountain village. They see a bear ambling down the street in search of food. The three men decide to hold a contest over the next 30 days to see which of them can bring the bear to religion. They agree to meet again at the same time in the park in 30 days. After thirty days the priest and the minister show up at the park on time. "How did you do with the bear?" asked the priest. "Oh, not bad at all. He is coming to services twice a week and he's started teaching Sunday School classes! He is even considering being baptized! What about you? Any success with the bear?" "You bet! I have him attending Mass at least once a week and he's starting to learn his Catechisms!" At that moment, an ambulance stops in front of them and an EMT goes around to the back and opens the door. The rabbi is wrapped in bandages and laying on a gurney. "What happened?!?" asked the priest and the minister. "Well I had the bear coming to services and he started learning quotations from the Torah. But I probably should have waited on the circumcision..." 🤣

I fish because I enjoy catching fish, but also to experience more. Whether that is a new species or a new location for species that I have already caught before. Did I need the MDC or other state agencies giving out medals for these "slams", I would say no. I have been doing these "slam" goals for many years. But it would not hurt to have a pin to put on my fishing cap. Just sayin' 😉😁 Yeah buddy!

Jeff that is so that those of us at work can enjoy the sunny day from our office windows 😒

I can understand not wanting to eat catfish all the time😉

@Daryk Campbell Sr sounds like fun regardless. The boat looks like it worked well. You caught a few as well. Congrats buddy!

Used to be a decent Cajun place in Monett that I liked to go to when I was fishing Crane crk or Roaring River or Capp's, etc many years ago. Maybe it was the Bayou lunch box. If it was then they may have moved, since the restaurant I'm thinking of was right on 60 across the street from the Super 8 motel. The restaurant there is now the Southern Standard and the Bayou lunch box is up on Dairy street.

Hey Ike - Glad to have you posting. Those are some great fish and love the photos😁. Kind of a running joke, but I do like to have photos in a report to help tell the story. It's one thing to say that you caught a 21 inch smallmouth, it's another to see it on a bump board ruler pushing the 21 inch mark. Looking forward to many more posts!

Congrats on your success last year. That is a fat spot for sure!

Been doing a lot of travel lately targetting another sculpin species, the potomac sculpin. Had my chances but haven't gotten it done. I did finish one of my 2022 goals on Sunday. 2) Catch at least three species of darter; at least two different species in MD and one lifer. I've posted this guy before. My lifer tessellated darter. Last Thurs caught my first MD fantail darter. On Sunday caught my first MD greenside darter. Still haven't caught a nice colored up male greenside darter (actually the name sake for these guys) and did not see any on Sunday. All were juveniles or females.

Very True!

Looks great Marty!

Congrats on a couple more fat browns!

Wishing a happy Bday to one of the most cerebral fisherman that I know! @Ham spends the time to figure out what, how, and when a fish will want to bite. Have a great day buddy!

Nice brownies Pete! Thanks for sharing your report and the photos 😁

22May22 - Sea Bass trip on the Angler As mentioned previously we had to be at the marina at 5 am. We got there about 4:50 to get in line for the boat. Felt where we were in line that we should be able to get either the back corners or up near the front which are ususally the better spots to be on a party boat. (@snagged in outlet 3 going to be a bunch of photos😉 ) Was a nice sunrise - had about a two hour run before we started fishing. A bit choppy made us glad that we took some Bonine before heading out. Finally got anchored up in 100 feet of water and ready to go. We were fishing clam snouts on high/low rigs with 5 to 6 oz weights. Sue boats her biggest black sea bass ever on the first drop. Probably close to 3.5 lbs. Go figure that there was no daily pool on this trip 😒. Sue caught five or six fish right away and three were over the 13 inch minimum and were on ice in our cooler. Before the trip she gloated that she would be able to recall the number of fish that she caught just by counting those in the cooler. So the trach talk began. I had a really heavy fish that got be hung up in something then I broke off. We had been near a lobster pot at the time. There was another guy later that said that he thought he had hung into the line from that pot. The lobstermen came and lifted that pot and there were two bass hung on the line. One had the chartreuse gulp bait that the toher guy was using. I can't help but think that the one that was further up their line might have been my first fish. Took awhile but I did land my first keeper a 13 inch female. followed by a larger male. Livie like Sue and I was catching a bunch of smaller fish. She probably had th emost double hook-ups during this trip. She finally did catch a couple of keepers including this nice male (also the fish face in that thread). Sue and I only caught sea bass and Livie also caught a 14 inch female tautog (too short to keep and out of season). We totaled well over 100 fish and kept 16 for the freezer. It was a rough rolling day and we were all sore from trying to keep our balance. It started to flatten out as we headed back. So a smooth trip back to port.

15 and 21May22 - search for Feather blenny Hit the saltwater to try and catch a feather blenny. On the 15th Sue and I went down to Ocean City to try a free fishing pier that has rock piled below. I targeted low tide. we got there about 90 mins before low tide. I could not see the rocks below us very well yet. So we tried casting Gulp swimming mullet in chartreuse and a white Gulp jerk bait to try for flounder. Nothing. Switched to high/low rigs with blood worms for 30 mins - nothing. The folks next to us pulled up two horseshoe crabs and a small tautog (blackfish). After 45 to 60 mins of fruitless fishing the tide was low enough to begin trying for the blennies. I had on a 1/4 oz bell casting sinker and a size 18 hook on a dropper loop a few inches above the sinker. Baited it with some blood worm and began trying to get the bait down into the cracks and openings between the rocks. I went from hole to hole for over an hour and all I caught were five tiny black sea bass like this little guy. Sue still wasn't catching anything so we headed home. On the 21st we were back down in Ocean city. We were going out for sea bass the next morning and stayed over since we had to be at the marina at 5 am. I found a spot that looked promising near the bridge going over to Assateague Island. I had seen on INaturalist that a guy had seen a feather blenny near that location. Since it was only 10 mins from the hotel it was worth the shot. I used the same setup as before. Livie also had a similar setup. We found the rocks that I wanted to try. The concern is that they were all in less than 2 ft of water. I had hoped for a deeper drop off. Long story short we probed a lot of cracks and holes but no blennies were found 😒. We both did catch a few mummichogs. I think that it might have been @Flysmallie that once stated that we don't see too many "failed" trips and only successful ones. Well here are two failed trips. I still will go after these guys but I need some successful trips for other species first.

@snagged in outlet 3 I agree with @Quillback that you had a tough day at work.😉 and with photos👍