[mindcrime]

I gotta be honest... I was not expecting to catch any bass today. First, it was cold, two, it's the Eno River where I'd had basically zero luck with bass to date, and three, I went out really meaning to focus on catfish. But once I had the catfish line in the water soaking, I decided to throw a finesse TRD on a Ned head around for a bit, and - lo and behold - look what jumped on my line. I didn't feel like keeping him out of the water long enough to root around in my gear and find a tape measure, but I used my rod for a size marker, then went back and measured it later. He came in at right around 17". Unfortunately my scale was still in the truck, so no weight.

Not a huge fish, but decent. Especially by my standards over the last year or two since I started fishing again.

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[BillinDurham]

Nice fish anywhere but especially here and now.

The red mouth markings remind of how early season bass tend to have them. I’ve heard it’s from feeding on crayfish or part of the nesting/breeding process but dunno.




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[bertboy90]

Nice. Can't wait for things to warm up!

 

[SurfRider]

Nice job, mindcrime! Keep at it!

Nice fish anywhere but especially here and now.

The red mouth markings remind of how early season bass tend to have them. I’ve heard it’s from feeding on crayfish or part of the nesting/breeding process but dunno.

I have seen that in piedmont bass throughout spring and summer so I eventually decided I didn't think it was a spawn thing, and it was in places where their diet is heavy on crawfish (I know because I would often see the antennae or tail sticking out of the bass' throats when I unhooked them). Once I grabbed the tail of one of the craws with my needlenose and pulled the craw out a bass' throat, and it was a brilliant red and dark green mottled pattern. Made me think that was why I had such good luck on red shad colored worms. If I can find the picture on my old laptop I'll post it

EDIT: Found it. I laid the pliers next to the craw for scale. It was a biggun.

 

[srsykes]

Love that Ned rig, caught quite a few fish on it last year. When out on High Point city Lake today. First time fishing in 2021. Couldn't even get a nibble. Glad to see somebody's catching a bass or two.

 

[drjon]

Nice job, mindcrime! Keep at it!



I have seen that in piedmont bass throughout spring and summer so I eventually decided I didn't think it was a spawn thing, and it was in places where their diet is heavy on crawfish (I know because I would often see the antennae or tail sticking out of the bass' throats when I unhooked them). Once I grabbed the tail of one of the craws with my needlenose and pulled the craw out a bass' throat, and it was a brilliant red and dark green mottled pattern. Made me think that was why I had such good luck on red shad colored worms. If I can find the picture on my old laptop I'll post it

EDIT: Found it. I laid the pliers next to the craw for scale. It was a biggun.

View attachment 218696

I hear your pliers begging for a soak in WD-40!!