Best day of fishing? 2024

LittlePineyAngler reply :

As i sit her in my 8 hour class i get bored pretty easy. I'd love to be entertained by some of your fishing stories. Your biggest catch? best day of fishing? worst day of fishing?

crazy things thats happened?

Kidflex reply :

My best day bass fishing happened Jan 2, 2016. Me and a buddy went fishing in a nearbt lake in a John boat. Ended up getting on the water around 1pm. We decided to use 3/4oz black and blue football jigs with matching rage craw. My First cast ended up with a 2lber and he doubled up with a 3lber. My very next cast(second case for me) I hooked into a 7lb 10oz beauty. My personal best! I didn't want to get too excited by drawing attention so we kept it quiet. Within the next 30 minutes i pull out a 6lb 14oz, 3.15, 4.01, 6.01 and a few more 2lbers. My buddy wasn't so lucky and only got a couple 2-3lbers. 3 hours into our trip I was saying that I never thought I'd be trying to cull a 4lber. 2 casts later I landed a 7.3. We fished for 4 hours. My friend got 5 fish 3lbs and under. I ended up with 11 bass. My top five weighed 31lbs 13oz. The Stars were aligned for me that afternoon. During that time I lost my lucky jig on a bad cast.

I decided to take advantage of the bite so I went out the next morning with my new son in law. He never caught a bass before in his life. I gave him instructions on deep water jig fishing. My first cast I felt a slight difference as I was dragging. I pulled up my jig and it was wrapped in some braided line with my lucky jig still tied! First cast got my jig back! We fished for 30min or so without a bit and I started to get discouraged from the previous day's magic. We moved a few times before getting on fish. He caught a 3lber for his first fish. His second bass weighed 6.4. And his 3rd fish ever was 4.8. Not to be outdone I got a 7.8 and a 6.4. I also lost the largest bass of my life 10ft from the boat. My son in law is now hooked! I told him not to get used to that kind of action and that I fished for many years before landing a 6lber. I mentioned these fish in a previous post but wanted to share again of my best day bass fishing. I went back twice after that and only got 1 fish. The next time going back to that spot(10days after) we had 2 boats on the water. Another buddy caught a nice fish and paddled over tonweigh it. It weighed 7lb 4oz. We noticed it had a red round hole under the left side gill. That was my 7.3 I got 10 days earlier. The hook on the scale busted thought the bottom of gill plate on 3 of the bigger fish. No doubt in my mind that it was my fish from before. Same general area just a lil shallower. Bit a jig too!

LittlePineyAngler reply :

wow what a day of fishing. sounds like a dream! lol Just this year is the first time i've used jigs. What would be your advice to a beginning jig fisherman?

ww2farmer reply :

I have had too many "best day ever's" to remember. But there's a few that stick out, not because they were/are better than other days I have , but because they have caught me off guard, and happened out of the blue.............or more like, I was in the "right place at the right time" for this to happen, and I have rarely been able to duplicate it since.

#1..........Late April, a few years ago..........pre-spawn largemouth fishing was already good that day, I was hitting my usual spots, and pretty much calling my shots, when without warning one of the strongest south winds I have ever been in kicks up out of nowhere without so much as a light breeze before hand as a warning. I was at the extreme north end of the lake, the boat launch is at the south end, and this wind turned my little 3 mile long lake into the Atlantic ocean. I tuck in behind a tree line, to "wait it out" and while I am there figure...........what the heck, might as well make a few casts. Well for the next hour or so, I catch a bass on dang near ever cast in an area no bigger than my living room on a lipless crankbait. And they were all 2.5-4.5 lbers, then the clouds broke, the wind let up, and it was over just like that.

#2.............Also late April, probably a year or two before incident #1...........I was struggling bad one evening after work. Nothing was working, and I was about to go home possibly skunked. Just as the sun was setting I pulled up on a main lake point, whipped a football jig out to the bank, and slowly started to drag it back. As soon as that jig "fell" off the point into deep water a decent bass just about ripped the rod out of my hand............cool, at least I am not skunked.........next cast, same thing, and then this went on every cast, for the next 1/2 hour to 45mins until the sun had finally set and was dark. Once that sun was gone, so was the bite.

#3................Late June/Early July a few years ago, I just launched the boat and a splash under a tree in the shade at the boat launch got my attention. I put the trolling motor down went over by the tree just in time to see another splash. A bird, landed on a grass mat just outside the shade line and a bass blew up on it, I picked my frog rod up, started whipping it around on the mats in the area and in the next 20 mins had 2 20lb five fish limits without ever starting the outboard. And about as soon as it started, it was over.

Now, I have caught plenty of fish, and had good days on all these spots before and since, so this was not new to me, but these were just some of those "lightning in bottle" moments that have happened over the years.

Bluebasser86 reply :

My best days was several years ago (before my camera carrying days unfortunately). I was all alone on a cold January day on a power plant lake in Kansas not catching much when couple seagulls started diving off a shallow point. I didn't have anything figured out so I motored over and saw a few shad flicking and a couple small swirls under them. Figured they were white bass so I fired a Strike King King Shad across the point. A short ways into the retrieve, a 7lb 2oz largemouth slammed into the bait. A few cast later, one over 6 crushed it, then the wipers joined in. By the end of the day I had a 5 bass limit that went 30lb 2oz with a 5lb "small" fish, plus 40 wipers over 4 pounds, all on that King Shad. This is what the bait looked like after 1 day of fishing it (with new hooks added).

LittlePineyAngler reply :

On 2/2/2016 at 11:34 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

My best days was several years ago (before my camera carrying days unfortunately). I was all alone on a cold January day on a power plant lake in Kansas not catching much when couple seagulls started diving off a shallow point. I didn't have anything figured out so I motored over and saw a few shad flicking and a couple small swirls under them. Figured they were white bass so I fired a Strike King King Shad across the point. A short ways into the retrieve, a 7lb 2oz largemouth slammed into the bait. A few cast later, one over 6 crushed it, then the wipers joined in. By the end of the day I had a 5 bass limit that went 30lb 2oz with a 5lb "small" fish, plus 40 wipers over 4 pounds, all on that King Shad. This is what the bait looked like after 1 day of fishing it (with new hooks added).

never done much fishing outside of missouri. recently went to oklahoma for christmas and talked my girlfriend into letting me go out and try to catch some crappie. My grandpa used to live in topeka kansas where he had a bait shop for awhile. Told me stories about fishing "strip pits"?

Not entirely sure what they are but he said the fishing in kansas was great! sounds like an awesome day of fishing. too bad it was before your camera carrying days!

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 2/2/2016 at 11:42 PM, LittlePineyAngler said:

never done much fishing outside of missouri. recently went to oklahoma for christmas and talked my girlfriend into letting me go out and try to catch some crappie. My grandpa used to live in topeka kansas where he had a bait shop for awhile. Told me stories about fishing "strip pits"?

Not entirely sure what they are but he said the fishing in kansas was great! sounds like an awesome day of fishing. too bad it was before your camera carrying days!

The strip pits are mostly in SE Kansas in the Mined Wildlife Area. They're a lot of fun to fish and, if you know which ones to fish, you have a shot at some of the biggest bass in the state.

http://ksoutdoors.com/Fishing/Where-to-Fish-in-Kansas/Fishing-Locations-Public-Waters/Southeast-Region/Mined-Land-Wildlife-Area

geo g reply :

You want some stories that sound special. Here in South Florida we usually have seasonal rains and seasonal dry periods. The everglades are effected greatly by these drops in water levels. Usually the glades are three or four feet deep in the great marsh. The bass are way back among the reeds where you can't get to them, and they are feasting on all types of critters among the stems. When the water really drops fish have to find deeper water or become gator food as they become trapped. They have dug canals 10 feet deep all though the marsh to help control the flow of water during heavy rains. During drought times these canals become full of bass that come from miles away to survive the shrinking shallows. During these periods the catching gets crazy. I have been out from 7:00 to noon with a partner and we have caught over 250 bass in five hours. You would come in with your thumb bleeding from lipping fish. Ten in a row on ten casts is not unusual. You would catch fish of all sizes during these periods. It is something really special, and unique to south Florida. This remains until the rains come and they head for the flats again. South Florida is truly a special place with loads of bass, peacocks, freshwater snook, land locked tarpon, Oscars, snakeheads, and about every other type of exotic found in the tropics. Everyone that fishes the glades on a regular basis experiences these concentrated feeding frenzies. Besides fishing, Over the years I have seen a large snake in the marsh, a Crocodile, heard a panther on the spoil banks and islands calling to another cat, Lemurs in the trees bouncing from branch to branch. Never a dull moment in the glades. On a normal year this crazy period will last several months, until the rains come.

Burtonxj reply :

One late summer evening trip out on the Upper Potomac last year. Pulled in smallies all afternoon long. Nothing big but it was a blast. Weather was perfect, only ones out on the water. Remember pulling in my last smallie of the day (biggest of the day too, 17") with this awesome sun set going on. Ended up just floating for a few taking it in. Awesome day.

Bluebasser86 reply :

Not a single day but a buddy and I had a terrific 4 day fishing trip to the White River below Bull Shoals, Bull Shoals, and Beaver Lake a few years ago. We caught brown and rainbow trout, walleye, largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, stripers, white bass, and wipers. I caught new PB's for Brown Trout, walleye, and striper. Probably had a new PB spotted bass too but I didn't weigh it. My buddy caught his new PBs for Striper, smallmouth, and wiper. It was just an incredible trip and we seemed to catch fish everywhere we went.

Burtonxj reply :

Nice rocks!

N Florida Mike reply :

One of my most memorable days was catching redfish with my son while wade fishing at Guana river a couple years ago.We got bit nearly every cast for 45 minutes or so on live finger mullet.All the fish we caught were 20-27 inch(no scale).We lost count of how many.After I caught my last fish ,I cast one last time and the handle just came off in my hand- completely stripped from all the big fish.

blckshirt98 reply :

I haven't had any "best" over the top days bass fishing but do remember my worst. It was a couple of years back just after spawn and I decided to go to the most productive local lake where I almost always catch something. I arrived, parked, hiked down to my spot, pumped up for some late afternoon fishing. First thing I noticed was the wind picked up and it started to blow pretty hard, and I hate fishing in wind. At the time I was almost exclusively drop shotting so I get there, cast out and before I get a bite I almost immediately get snagged and lose my setup. I re-rig and trying to re-tie, with wind blowing on me slowing down the process, cast out, bam, another snag. This is a stretch of shoreline I fish reguarly and know where the "snaggy" spots are and normally don't get snagged that often, but that day the snag monkey was working overtime. I proceed to lose like 7 dropshot rigs in about an hour without a single bite, and by the end of that hour I'm ready to snap my rod in half, throw it into the water, and find another hobby. Cooler heads prevailed and I just packed my stuff up and went home, talking myself down by saying that day it just wasn't meant to be, fish have to win sometimes. I still think about that day and get ticked lol.

Mosster47 reply :

My best day ever was last year. The area I live in now is probably the best trout fishing area in the world and that's not an exaggeration.

There is one reservoir close to here and I was told that it sucks for fishing in general and doesn't have much of anything in it. So last year I took my birthday off (late March) grabbed my spinnerbait rod and decided to just give it a shot from the bank.

1st cast, 6 pounder.

I caught an army of fish over 4lbs that day. My best five were just under 30lbs. That's the best day I've ever had and will probably ever have in this state.

1 rod, 1 lure, no boat. It kind of makes me laugh that I spend so much time in my boat and have a specific setup for everything and my best day was with none of it.

Ratherbfishing reply :

On 2/2/2016 at 11:13 PM, ww2farmer said:

#2.............Also late April, probably a year or two before incident #1...........I was struggling bad one evening after work. Nothing was working, and I was about to go home possibly skunked. Just as the sun was setting I pulled up on a main lake point, whipped a football jig out to the bank, and slowly started to drag it back. As soon as that jig "fell" off the point into deep water a decent bass just about ripped the rod out of my hand............cool, at least I am not skunked.........next cast, same thing, and then this went on every cast, for the next 1/2 hour to 45mins until the sun had finally set and was dark. Once that sun was gone, so was the bite.

With the exception of the bait used and the time of year, this story is almost identical to one of my last times out (mid October). I was using a spinner bait and had more or less zeroed out until about dusk. It was as if a light switch had flipped and suddenly nearly every fish in the lake wanted on my line. I caught about 35 bass in 45 minutes. A man who was watching out his kitchen window (this was a neighborhood pond) came out to watch and ask what I was using. Like in your story, when it got dark the bite quit. But what a glorious 45 minutes!

N Florida Mike reply :

I think the most bass I caught the fastest was 19 in an hour and a half.Could not get that 20th fish.All on flukes.

fisherrw reply :

my best day ever was the day I caught a 32 pound bag with a 6 pound smallie in the mix!

drew4779 reply :

I almost hestitate to post this, since this sounds so unbelievable, but a buddy and I once caught over 200 smallmouth in a day at Lake St. Claire. I was literally exhausted by the time we went in. 90% were at least 2 lbs with the largest being 6. I can't imagine ever having another day like that again.

scaleface reply :

You didnt say bass fishing .

My best day of fishing was on Mark Twain lake .It was July and I found a large school of catfish on the depth finder out on an offshore flat . I caught a bunch of shad with a casting net and dropped them in a cooler full of ice , I've done this before . I dont try to keep the shad alive just keep them as fresh as i can . I anchored there , from about 6 o'clock until 2 in the morning,.catching channels and blues . If I went more than a couple of minutes without a bite then the bait was already gone . No giant fish were caught but lots of 5 to 10 lbers .The fish never did stop biting .

On a side note I was using my running lights for illumination .I had an extra white light in the bow in place of the red green one . A Great Blue Heron appeared out of the darkness and lit in the bow of my boat , I was fishing from the stern. Scared the crap out if me .

Steveo-1969 reply :

Mine was 3 years ago. I had already rediscovered fishing after a 13-year hiatus and finally talked my son into fishing with me. We waded out to a spot that I had caught some fish at in the past and he hooks up with a 14" smallie on his first cast. For the next hour we caught over 30 smallmouth between us. Nothing big, but he was literally hooked after that and is now my favorite fishing partner.

Best fishing day ever...

everythingthatswims reply :

This year in September I hit a local river for some green ones and brown ones. The first 2 miles of river is almost exclusively largemouth, and they were CHEWING. It was drizzling and overcast, so I was able to throw a cavitron the whole time. My first 5 casts produced 3 bass. From then on it was an all out slaughter on the cavitron, I don't know how many I landed, but I was finding schools and catching 2 or 3 in a row with regularity.

After that I got into the more "smallmouthy" stretch of river, my first one there was 17" on the cavitron. Water was cooler because of another river feeding it so I had to change to a spinnerbait. I ended up catching around 2 dozen smallies and a few nice largemouth before my float trip ended and I called it a day. Best smallmouth was 19" probably 4lbs and the best largemouth was a little bigger than that.

I've had plenty of days where my 5 fish limit would have been bigger than that day, but there's something about having a day when it's like you can't do anything wrong!

Photos tend to post sideways coming from my phone, not sure why.This fish was only about 3# but it was a very good looking fish. The bigger largemouth was kind of ugly

Dwight Hottle reply :

My best day for size was 5 largemouth between 43-44lbs down at lake Baccarac in Mexico with my buddy Jeff. All fish were caught deep in 20-25 fow working different baits up a rock slope.

scaleface reply :

Thats a bad stringer Dwight .

Fentawn reply :

A bad day fishing is better than any great day at work or school. Keep the stories coming, good stuff.

hawgenvy reply :

Yesterday I had the afternoon off, or so I thought. My wife kept giving me chores: mail a package at the post office, stop at the bank, put gas in her car. Feed the dog. Buy such and such at the grocery store. Dinner at 6:30. Well, I figured that would leave me almost an hour to fish, from 5:20 to 6:15. I chose a nearby lake behind a friends house. Results: Four 2-3 pounders, a 3-3, a 3-12, a 4-12, a 5.1, and a very fat 5-11, caught on a black/blue jig. I was home for dinner at 6:23. My wife wanted to know, while I was setting the table, why I was doing it with such a big grin!

Ersteman reply :

My best day of fishing was with a guide in Michigan on a small lake. First time fishing jerkbaits. My 2 brothers and I caught 20 smallmouths. A 6, a couple 5s, a couple 4s and some others. Beautiful fish in an overcast and chilly day. I'll never forget it.

hawgenvy reply :

On 2/3/2016 at 12:52 AM, geo g said:

You want some stories that sound special. Here in South Florida we usually have seasonal rains and seasonal dry periods. The everglades are effected greatly by these drops in water levels. Usually the glades are three or four feet deep in the great marsh. The bass are way back among the reeds where you can't get to them, and they are feasting on all types of critters among the stems. When the water really drops fish have to find deeper water or become gator food as they become trapped. They have dug canals 10 feet deep all though the marsh to help control the flow of water during heavy rains. During drought times these canals become full of bass that come from miles away to survive the shrinking shallows. During these periods the catching gets crazy. I have been out from 7:00 to noon with a partner and we have caught over 250 bass in five hours. You would come in with your thumb bleeding from lipping fish. Ten in a row on ten casts is not unusual. You would catch fish of all sizes during these periods. It is something really special, and unique to south Florida. This remains until the rains come and they head for the flats again. South Florida is truly a special place with loads of bass, peacocks, freshwater snook, land locked tarpon, Oscars, snakeheads, and about every other type of exotic found in the tropics. Everyone that fishes the glades on a regular basis experiences these concentrated feeding frenzies. Besides fishing, Over the years I have seen a large snake in the marsh, a Crocodile, heard a panther on the spoil banks and islands calling to another cat, Lemurs in the trees bouncing from branch to branch. Never a dull moment in the glades. On a normal year this crazy period will last several months, until the rains come.

Lemurs?

geo g reply :

On 2/6/2016 at 12:16 AM, hawgenvy said:

Lemurs?

Yes Lemurs, whether released on purpose or escaped during Hurricane Andrew, there was a happy population of Lemurs in the trees out in the glades by the Indian Reservation. At least 10 of them.

hawgenvy reply :

On 2/6/2016 at 3:47 AM, geo g said:

Yes Lemurs, whether released on purpose or escaped during Hurricane Andrew, there was a happy population of Lemurs in the trees out in the glades by the Indian Reservation. At least 10 of them.

Amazing. Thanks, good post on the glades. I'll be out there late spring -- if the water level actually drops this year! Lake O is the highest it's been in many years. When I do I'll keep an eye out for lemurs.

DogBone_384 reply :

I haven't had my best day of fishing, YET.

I look forward to a better day every trip out ?.

CJ reply :

I've had days where I threw back over 25 4 lb. plus smallmouth and won a tournament with 27 lbs(avatar pic). I had a day last year when I caught my PB with my best fishing bud y'all know, Paul. It was a great day! But my best day was when my son Gavin caught his PB at 4 lbs. when he was 9 years old. I don't think I have the picture on this PC but he out fished me that day 29-27. To me, that's what it's all about. Gavin will be greater than I ever will be or was. Big O coined the phrase as "The Masters Plan".

Bankbeater reply :

My best day of fishing was about 4 years ago. I took my daughter out bluegill fishing on a local subdivision lake. She had my old kiddie pole and I had my ultralight rig. My bait never got wet. Between taking pictures, helping to bait hooks, and taking bluegill off of the hook the time flew by. She caught around 50 in 2-1/2 hours.

Florida Cracker2 reply :

Since most everyone is talking bass, I will keep to it. My best fishing days have been fishing salt water. But my best bass day was about 25 years ago I was at a orange grove drainage ditch about 25 foot wide and a little over 10 miles long that ran the perimeter of a grove. Usually it is so badly choked with hydrilla it can't be fished. That day they had the spillway that drains it into a large drainage canal open and the waterflow had all the grass laid flat. Using firetail black worms I caught one after another nearly every cast until I ran out of time and had to leave. I don't know how many I caught in the 3-4 hours I was there, but it was a blast. Most only in the 2-3lb range and only one over 4. Now you can't get to it anymore unless you work there.

Mosster47 reply :

On 2/3/2016 at 8:51 AM, drew4779 said:

I almost hestitate to post this, since this sounds so unbelievable, but a buddy and I once caught over 200 smallmouth in a day at Lake St. Claire. I was literally exhausted by the time we went in. 90% were at least 2 lbs with the largest being 6. I can't imagine ever having another day like that again.

I believe you. We have some mass number smallie lakes but they won't have that size for another decade.

Did you have the hook set jerks in your sleep that night? My wife always tells me I do at night after we fish one of those.

paul. reply :

any trip with my wife, my kids, my dad, or my buddies. to me its the company and the good times that make the trip. sooner or later you're probably going to forget how many or how big. even if you don't forget, sooner or later you realize that how many or how big matters to very few people except you. but the smiles, the high fives, and the laughter come back to visit often and call to mind a time when just for a minute, life was perfect.

slonezp reply :

Best bass fishing trip so far was my first trip to KY Lake. It was the week of Easter 2008. This was our annual spring break trip with my dad and my son. The lake was at flood stage. We had nothing but a Hot Spots lake map and basic electronics. My son and I decide on a spot that was visually appealing. Dad had his heart set on crappies and my son was casting for bass. I was switching back and forth from minnows to bass baits. My son started catching some decent sized bass and my dad landed some crappie. I hadn't caught a fish yet after maybe an hour of fishing. They're both razzing me and I replied I'm going for quality, not quantity. Shortly thereafter I casted a crappie minnow about 2ft down off the bobber into some brush right on the shoreline. Bobber starts bouncing up and down like a bluegill. I set the hook and land my PB bass which was pushing 7lbs. That trip we caught more quality bass than any other trip we had taken in the past, and any trip since.

A-Jay reply :

I feel Extremely Fortunate in that I've had some memorable days "Fishing". Some of them did include me catching a few.

However, The Very Best ones weren't about me.

A-Jay

Hog Basser reply :

I've had two best days so far, hope to add many more in the near future once my sons get old enough to fish.

1. 22 years ago with my older brother (who I lost almost 15 years ago) on a farm reservoir in eastern Arkansas. This was leased land that we had for duck hunting, but could fish it too. This reservoir was loaded with 5 lbs bass and you could catch one on almost every cast. It was loaded with gar too. Well, I caught a gar that, once I got it to the boat, I had a hard time getting the treble hook out of its beak. I was using pliers and the gar was so strong that it ripped the pliers out of my hand with one twitch and lodged the hook in my finger. One more twitch and it laid my finger wide open. The fishing was so good my brother wouldn't leave. He took me back to the bank in our little jon boat and dropped me at the car. I drove back to where we were staying and cleaned it up, bandaged it and headed right back out for more fishing. That was a good day and a great memory. He taught me everything I know about fishing. That reservoir no longer has the fish it once had because the landowners didn't manage it for that and ended up draining it a few times since then.

2. Now I'm passing that on with my nephews. I've had a few good trips with the older one, but the younger one kept getting skunked. Well, in the same general area in eastern Arkansas, we now have some of our own land with a fishing lake on it (something my brother would be proud of). This was the closing weekend of duck season (just a few weeks ago) and it was unseasonably warm, so what else to do but go fishing! Nothing better than getting some ducks in the morning and fish in the afternoon. Well, I only caught one bass, but my (previously skunked) nephew caught 10 bass and a crappie on the same crawfish crankbait. I was much happier watching him be successful than catching fish myself and I hope it continues. I think both my nephews now have the bug. The best part is, most of the fishing gear we use and that crankbait were my brother's. He is still helping us fish after being gone 15 years. I've added a few new rods/reels and baits, but the bulk of my stuff is due to my brother being such an avid fisherman and it is the reason I fish today.

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