2022 Fresh Water Catch Thread

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
@Duckmauler dhc what would the gar eat?

1/8 oz damiki type rig…..would see them and either drop on them or make a short cast and just bring it in front of them and more times than not they would thump it…..hookup ratio wasn’t very good for obvious reasons and has a few line breaks but it was interesting lol never knew if it was a gar or striper as they were all in the same area together
 
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LIZZRD

Eight Pointer
A few times , when a friend invites me to Kerr , we have caught big gar while targeting stripers.
Pretty much assuming the gar are some of our short strikes.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
1/8 oz damiki type rig…..would see them and either drop on them or make a short cast and just bring it in front of them and more times than not they would thump it…..hookup ratio wasn’t very good for obvious reasons and has a few line breaks but it was interesting lol never knew if it was a gar or striper as they were all in the same area together
I’ve noticed stripers are always moving and gar just kind of sit still….. on livescope. Stupid things would sit and face me in the potholes at HR and look just like a crappie til they turned to eat a jig and got 10x bigger on the screen 😂
 
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Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
I’ve noticed stripers are always moving and gar just kind of sit still….. on livescope. Stupid things would sit and face me in the potholes at HR and look just like a crappie til they turned to eat a jig and got 10x bigger on the screen 😂


The gar were moving slower but after I started getting gar to bite I dropped on a couple I just knew we’re gar and they ended up being stripers. But you’re right it’s impossible to tell when they are facing you head on.
 
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Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
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I have caught a lot of fish much bigger than this one in my life but this one was special because it’s the first 5+ pounder I’ve ever caught on a jerkbait. I have vowed over the past couple years to get better at fishing a jerkbait in clear water when the water temp gets below 50. Had a good day with it today. Lost another one that was slightly bigger than this one.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
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I have caught a lot of fish much bigger than this one in my life but this one was special because it’s the first 5+ pounder I’ve ever caught on a jerkbait. I have vowed over the past couple years to get better at fishing a jerkbait in clear water when the water temp gets below 50. Had a good day with it today. Lost another one that was slightly bigger than this one.
maybe things have changed but you have a fairly close great place to play that game.
My Dad sold a zillion jerkbaits to guys playing at Belews in the winter. But that was awhile back. And there was a warm water flow to help the bite.
But clear- OH Yeah. :)
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
maybe things have changed but you have a fairly close great place to play that game.
My Dad sold a zillion jerkbaits to guys playing at Belews in the winter. But that was awhile back. And there was a warm water flow to help the bite.
But clear- OH Yeah. :)
I love belews and don't really have any problems catching the spotted bass on the jerk boat although I still probably catch more on other things in the winter time. It's more the largemouth bite. I'm gonna go to another big bass fishery that has clear water tomorrow and throw my jerkbait all day.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I love belews and don't really have any problems catching the spotted bass on the jerk boat although I still probably catch more on other things in the winter time. It's more the largemouth bite. I'm gonna go to another big bass fishery that has clear water tomorrow and throw my jerkbait all day.
you gonna slay them. New moon - moon up at 11:30 in the morning.
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
Well I struck out today. I went to fish for a giant and hooked one probably over 8 lbs and after a long fight on light line he came off right at the boat. Caught 1 bass all day and could not get the perch to leave me alone. Did catch this giant crappie on a jerkbait incidentally. Water temp was FOURTY TWO! That’s as cold as I’ve seen it in December on a long time. F164F78D-A8A0-40C6-ABB8-3163CEC67D99.jpeg
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I was pulling for you @Duckmauler dhc . I think we may have some tough sledding this winter with the bass. Too cold too quick. I want some of that last year bite. Water was down too. That ole jerk should be the ticket after this blast of cold- Shad die off maybe?
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
I was pulling for you @Duckmauler dhc . I think we may have some tough sledding this winter with the bass. Too cold too quick. I want some of that last year bite. Water was down too. That ole jerk should be the ticket after this blast of cold- Shad die off maybe?


Yeah I think I will be chasing the spotted bass for the next little bit……they should go crazy after this week. But at the end of next week we might have 60s again…..if we get 3-4 days of sun and 60s after this cold snap then we could get a short window of good fishing. Last year the week after Christmas we had a serious warm up and I caught a ton of big largemouth before it cooled back off.

I would LOVE a massive shad die off. We haven't had true winter for an extended period of time in a long time. We have more bait in almost every lake around than ever and it makes fishing a lot tougher with so much bait.
 
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Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
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Well the last fish of 2022 was a nice one. Had a fantastic winter day on the water and boated 30+ plus despite doing something really dumb this morning that set the day back 2 hours. I decided that it would be a good idea to leave my boat keys on the front of the boat trailer this
Morning after hooking up the trailer and drove off. Got to the lake and walked around the tailgate and immediately realized my mistake. Had to go back home and retrace my trail and by the grace of God found my boat keys laying on the side of I-40 by the entrance ramp. Haven’t made that mistake in 20 years and hopefully never will again. Despite having a more limited schedule it was an awesome year on the water. I feel like I learned a great deal this year and had some great new experiences. Hope to see this thread pop up again next week/year and hopefully with the warmer temps will have the little man in the boat again soon.
 
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