New PB - 9.06 LMB on a Chatterbait / UPDATE - 6.32lb Bonus Bass ! 2025

Goose52 reply :

So I go over to the cove where I've had so much luck lately on spinnerbaits and lipless cranks.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/71085-winter-spinnerbait-and-lipless-crank-bass-1951lb-bag-update-another-14lbs/page__hl__spinnerbait+best+bag__fromsearch__1 I have a repeat of the weather pattern that was successful 3 times before - several warm days to get the fish up and active, then a low-pressure area rolling in to get them feeding before they go deep again. Water temp was 49 - pretty warm compared to the earlier pattern so I had my hopes up.

I worked that cove and each side of that cove for an hour with the lipless crank - nothing, no one home. Hopes on the weather pattern dashed. THEN, I thought about a thread I read yesterday about Boyd Duckett using a chatterbait to catch a lot of his fish in the Classic and I remember that I had added some chatterbaits to my last TW order. I've never fished a chatterbait before - so I think, I got nothing to lose. Since the winds were up to 20mph right in my face, I tied one on a spinning rod I had in the car and started working it. I got no trailers or anything with me so I'm just fishing the chatterbait as it came out of the packaging.

As I work the bait, I'm thinking - this is pretty cool, lots of vibration, you can work it REAL slow, seems like a good bait. I make quite a few casts around that cove to get the feel of the bait and when I'm making what was going to be just about my last cast (it was getting dark).........BAM. I got my 25 year-old Shakespeare spinning reel with the (marginal) drag singing and a BIG fish taking out line. Got her to the edge of the bank, lipped her, and got her out of the water.

25", 9.06 pounds, my new LMB PB (previous PB was 7.75)

Thanks to Boyd Duckett for fishing a chatterbait...and for Skeet22 on this board for reporting that!

Life is VERY good, high on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee 8-)

A-Jay reply :

WAY TO GO ! What a TOAD !

Man you have been tearing them up.

You may want to consider entering that beauty in The Tennessee Angler Recognition Program ~

http://www.tn.gov/twra/fish/tarp/tarp.html

Congrats !

A-Jay

Fat-G reply :

Dude you have been so on them lately! I'm really happy for you my friend.

Of all the people posting inthe Outing section lately, you hands down deserve it the most.

Congrats dude! That is a toad! Way to go!

Ima Bass Ninja reply :

Great fish Goose!!!.....chatter baits have been a productive part of my arsenal too..Keep experimenting by adding different trailers and retrieves and you'll find they are one of the most versatile lures you'll ever own..

WanderLust reply :

Great fish!!!

My newly aquired Karu arsenal is ready to go as well.

BassThumb reply :

Great fish! You'll have to make that your new avatar pic. It's a lot bigger than the other one. ;D ;D

ryan21 reply :

congrats man! that stuff is just priceless.

bassfisherjk reply :

Awesome fish Goose,Congrat's.

gotarheelz14 reply :

omgggg what a freaking toaddddd!!!!!

Goose52 reply :

Thanks guys! It's been a lot of fun lately. All of these fish I've been catching have been out of a little cove, in water between 39 and 49 degrees. I thought earlier today that the party was over and this pattern was not going to repeat. Then this girl comes along. Just incredible!

Too bad our board fishing tournament doesn't start until March 15 - this fish wouldn't have won...but it would be a respectable entry (62% of the TN state record).

Captain Shane Procell reply :

That is an awesome fish...Congratulations!

South FLA reply :

A story for LIFE!

shimmy reply :

that is just flat out beautiful. Well done.

piscicidal reply :

Wow...great fish, Goose.

The one that got away reply :

Great story and a great fish!

bassman31783 reply :

Awesome fish bud. Happy for ya. Always good to push that personal best up a few pounds ;D. Great job. Go out and get a 10+ now.

Goose52 reply :

Quote
Awesome fish bud. Happy for ya. Always good to push that personal best up a few pounds ;D. Great job. Go out and get a 10+ now.

That would be the next goal for sure!

To the Florida guys - some of you know that I lived in the Miami area in the 50s through 1967. Used to fish in the Glades with my Dad - biggest bass I got down there was 4 3/4. I never would have believed that I would finally get a 9 pounder in 49 degree water in Tennessee! Go figure... :

Fish Chris reply :

That fish is so perfect, it look mounted

Congrats, and continued success to you

Fish

Goose52 reply :

Thanks Chris! I was fishing alone, from the bank, so no one to take any "glamour" shots. All I could do was lay the bass out next to the rod for perspective and get out the "point-n-shoot" camera. It was nearly dark, and very cloudy, so the flash fired and I got some glare from the fish.

It was a very healthy, chunky, and good-fighting fish - much "fuller" than I usually catch in these little lakes. My previous PB was actually an inch longer at 26" but much skinnier at 7.75lbs - that fish just seemed old and tired...

roadwarrior reply :

Great story, great fish!

Goose52 reply :

Thanks RW!

I had picked up some individual fish from that cove over the preceding few days (including a 4 pounder the day before) but I was really looking forward to a repeat of the weather pattern - hoping to score 5 or more quality fish like the previous 3 times. I fished that cove (and the one next to it) for 90 minutes in the morning and nothing. Then, when I thought the weather would be optimum in the evening, I fished for another 90 minutes and nothing...then BAM. This was the only fish I caught yesterday over those 3 hours of fishing but the time was well-spent for sure! 8-)

Grey Wolf reply :

Congrats. on your P.B. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dwight Hottle reply :

What can I say Goose but congratulations. Very impressive fish.

brushhoggin reply :

dang goose, you're so money well done man

senile1 reply :

Nice one, Goose! That's a beautiful fish and a hell of a nice reward for your persistence.

Intrepid reply :

congrats Goose, thats one beautiful fish. i have an affinity for shakespeare products even if theyre not considered the best. while mine arent near as vintage as yours, they have served me well the last few years and hope they continue to do so as your old reel seems to have treated you well. ive had a chatterbait in the package brand new for over a year, im definately gonna have to use it this year. mine came with a trailer in the package, did yours not?

Goose52 reply :

Thanks again guys for all the positive comments!

The saga continues - see next post...

Goose52 reply :

So I go over, again, to the cove where I've been having good catches on spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and now chatterbaits. As I'm at the car putting on my gear, a guy pulls up and says: "I saw you out here fishing yesterday - did you get anything?" So I proceed to tell him that I spent a whopping 3 hours fishing there yesterday and only got one bass. I said "I think the water is still too cold." He wisely nodded and agreed and drove off. Phew...

So I go to "the spot" (flat rock where I can cast to most of the good water) and work that end of the cove slow with the chatterbait. Nothing. I go out to a little fishing pier at the end of the point and start working the approaches to the cove that I can cast to. Nothing. I turn around and yikes! Another angler is on "the spot"...but he's using a spincast rod with a lipped crank so I figure he's not going to be much of a problem.

So, I go over to "Cove B" where I've picked up a few fish. Nothing. I work back to "Cove A" and the guy is still on "the spot." I move to "Cove C" and beat the water waiting for the guy to leave - he finally does.

I go out on the pier and work the approaches to the cove with a lipless crank and get a 12" white crappie. I then leave the pier and go to "the spot" and start working back in the cove as far as I can with the lipless crank (stumps in there...). I switch back to the chatterbait and tell myself "self - just work the water in front of 'the spot' and then call it a day." Just like yesterday, on what was going to be about my last cast...BAM.

Bonus fish to follow-up my PB from the day before! 23" - 6.32 pounds - surface water temp still 49 degrees.

Life is getting better all the time high on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee ! 8-)

Fat-G reply :

Haha good lord dude. You're using up all your luck now! You're not gonna catch much in the summer, LOL. I hope I can do something like that soon, I'm sure getting bored of "casting".

FL_Sharpshooter reply :

Both bass command respect, nicely done! I really need to learn new techniques, getting too skunked these days.

paul. reply :

you're on fire man!!! fantastic.

Goose52 reply :

Quote
Haha good lord dude. You're using up all your luck now! You're not gonna catch much in the summer, LOL. I hope I can do something like that soon, I'm sure getting bored of "casting".

LOL - you got that right. Won't be too much longer before I'll be driving to all of my 11 lakes, trying to catch 12" bass... ;D ;D

Thanks Paul - things are pretty good right now on top of the plateau !

Brett - I bet you've got a couple baits that you haven't used yet - get 'em out and give 'em a try!

CJ reply :

WOW! You're really on to something! Way to go Goose!!!

hookset on 3 reply :

Goose, that there are some big sows! Be sure to give thanks for the special lakes up in the Cumberland Plateau, that have rewarded all your perseverance.

WdyCrankbait reply :

wwwwwoooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!! :o :o

Goose, how is the weather on cloud 9? Well done!! Awesome stuff, two great catches! What lure did you catch them on again? LOL!!

Goose52 reply :

Quote
wwwwwoooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!! :o :o
Goose, how is the weather on cloud 9? Well done!! Awesome stuff, two great catches! What lure did you catch them on again? LOL!!

Weather is fine for now but all good things will eventually come to an end... :

Bait? Z-Man TrailerZ

OHIO reply :

Nice fish man!

hookingem reply :

Nice fish and shows persistent pays off!

SausageFingers23 reply :

Great fish! You're really on them.

I'm jealous. Still staring at ice. I would kill for 49 deg water temps.

Goose52 reply :

Quote
Great fish! You're really on them.
I'm jealous. Still staring at ice. I would kill for 49 deg water temps.

Last ice I saw was about 10 days ago! We could possibly have one more "freeze-over" but the odds are getting smaller of that every day...

senile1 reply :

You're really getting dialed in Goose! That's another beautiful hog. Your posts and some others are really turning up the Spring fever. After a week of temperatures above 50 I checked my lakes and they are still ice. We needed another week of warm temperatures but, alas, winter temperatures returned this week. I'll keep checking.

Lund Explorer reply :

Hey Goose,

I don't want to say that I hate coming to this section of the forum during the dead of winter, but I really do try to avoid it.

Couldn't miss you mentioning your new PB elsewhere though, so I better suck it up and offer my congrats as well.

What's the fish count year-to-date? You are getting quite the head start on me. My first real chance is still over a month away. :'(

Goose52 reply :

My fish count is not high. 31 so far this calendar year. It started well with a 3.76lb bass on New Years day. Then nothing until Jan 30/31 when I got a 17" and 19" fish. Much of January the lakes were iced-over. However, starting on February 1 I've just been nailing them in this cove. Not so much in numbers...but quality fish. I've had the cove ice-over with skim ice twice in February so I lost some fishing opportunities there. But when the water was soft, and 39 degrees or above, I've been doing well. I've really been able to capitalize on some air and water temp fluctuations, combined with some low-pressure fronts, that have brought the fish into this cove.

On quality - here's the weights of the top 10 fish so far this year (these numbers are much better than I did ALL last season):

9.06

6.32

5.31

4.87

4.60

4.40

3.92

3.76

3.54

3.04

Those are just phenomenal numbers for any time of year in my lakes - let alone in Jan/Feb in water from 39 to 49 degrees!

Quality is good for sure ! 8-)

Shane J reply :

Yeah, buddy! That's the way to kick off a fishing season! Keep it up!

Goose52 reply :

Quote
WAY TO GO ! What a TOAD !
Man you have been tearing them up.

You may want to consider entering that beauty in The Tennessee Angler Recognition Program ~

http://www.tn.gov/twra/fish/tarp/tarp.html

Congrats !

A-Jay

Thanks for the suggestion A-Jay! My previous PB in Tennessee was actually longer at 26", but it was a skinny fish at only 7.75lbs and I never considered putting in for the recognition certificate. This fish was only 25" but was heavier at a bit over 9 pounds, and it may be a while before I better this weight, so I decided to apply for the cert.

Dwight Hottle reply :

Hey Goose you should have blackout your name. Now everyone on the Internet is going to know who you are.

Goose52 reply :

Not a problem Dwight - my real name has been easily found anyway with a bit of web sleuthing for a number of years now. Sometimes you just have to leave a "footprint" on the web...

1540

New PB - 9.06 LMB on a Chatterbait / UPDATE - 6.32lb Bonus Bass ! 2025

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