King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah
Fishing ? Instructor!
Aside from a few people, the first run of pictures seemed to get pretty good feedback, so here's another run, this time with some backstory for context. Enjoy!
This one was a carp I caught right before leaving for the day. Sometimes I'll get into a spot and fish multiple species at the same time. Didn't have time to chum them or anything so just found a choke point they would have to go through and I fished a bottom rod while working a jig for largemouth at the same time and it worked out!
This next one is of me at age 18 a bunch of years ago. Almost took my eye out that day. Had a little girlfriend at the time do me dirty and I didn't know what else to do, so naturally, I went fishing. I was working a 7 inch texas rigged berkley power worm and got snagged on the bottom. Pulled back on the rod and the bullet sinker actually held true to it's name and shot back like a bullet and hit me just below the eyeball leaving the EWG hook hanging from my cheek. I was by myself and having a pretty terrible day, but pushed forward anyway. Pulled the hook out with pliers, wiped the blood away, had a seat for a minute to compose myself, and went right back to fishing. Got rewarded with almost a 5lber and a few more good ones mixed in.
This next picture is the tail fin from the biggest carp I've ever caught. Thing was 32lbs! Those overgrown goldfish don't get the credit they deserve as great gamefish in America, but they'll always be pretty special to me!
In this picture is a pretty decent redbelly I caught wet wading literally in a tiny creek down the road to my house next to a gas station. How's that for urban fishing? Lol! People get so caught up in the money and technology and mental game of fishing, especially when you're a super hardcore angler like myself, and sometimes it's nice to just kick back and get back to simple plain old fishing and there's nothing that brings you back to your childhood better than wading creeks and catching a bucket full of bream! Everybody wants the new fishing gear and the newest boat, but two legs, a rod and a can of worms or a simple spinner is all you need. Side note - this creek branches off one of the rivers that feed into lake Allatoona and sometimes I'll actually stick a pretty decent surprise catfish, crappie, or spotted bass in there too. Never know what you'll get!
What you're looking at here in this photo is a male and female brown bullhead I found spawning on the bank of my favorite lake. I have video of them swimming back and forth protecting the little things too. At first it just looks like a black swarm underwater kind of like mosquitoes in the air, and then you see fins and the parents show up. I think a lot more of their young survive because they get protection from both parents instead of only the male like with sunfish and bass or worse, like stripers which don't dig any nest or anything at all and just let the eggs drift downstream.
This next photo is of the very first fish I had ever caught on a big swimbait. If you saw me on the Fish North Georgia show or at Mike Bucca's grand opening event for his store, or read any of the swimbait information I've shared here on the forum, you know I'm pretty into throwing the big stuff for big bass and stripers. This fish was the day it all started. Years ago, I had decided I had enough of the 5-8lbers and I was determined to catch a 10. One of the best ways to do it was to eliminate the odds of catching smaller fish. I wasn't entirely convinced though and kept hearing the "they only work in california" rhetoric so I went with a few smaller swimbaits. I took an S-waver and spent awhile teaching myself to fish a glide bait for the first time and upon my 2nd or 3rd presentation, I stuck a 5 pounder my first day. That was the beginning of the swimbait addiction. I wrote it off as a fluke that day, but caught another one a little smaller on another similar bait the following week. Now I'm no dummy. One fish is a fluke. 2 fish is luck. But 3? That's a pattern. After that I bought a dedicated swimbait setup and never looked back. Several monster bass later, I'm glad I made the jump.
This picture is of an almost 7 pounder caught on a buzzbait in February last year. Tiny little overfished pond in a public park, but with weather just warm and stable enough to move fish up. You may think February is too early for topwater, but the right time for surface lures is any time the fish are shallow and active. These smaller ponds also warm faster than other bodies of water. Did some modifying to the buzzbait to fit the situation which I'll get into ity anyone asks, but long story short, chucked it over this flat, got it halfway in and saw that big toilet bowl flush and the rod loaded up. Bystanders freaked when they saw how big it was after swearing there were no fish in there and nobody ever catches anything in all the years they'd been going there.
Here you see a bass well over 8 pounds I caught one morning before work on a carolina rig. I was told I was noticeably happier that day! I still have the exact bait I caught and released her on and the bait is in a shadow box on my wall. While she isn't my biggest fish, she's definitely one of the most memorable.
In this one is an old picture from a trip with my family to Ft. Lauderdale I dunno how many years ago. I booked my first ever party boat trip and went offshore to the reefs in about 200-250 ft of water bringing with me a few boat rods and speed jigging rods. This is the Atlantic, so it's much deeper much closer to shore. We were within sight of the beach and already in 200ft. In the gulf, you have to go out to sea for miles to reach that depth. If you've never fished a speed jig or slow pitch jig for reef fish, I'd highly recommended it! Drop to the bottom, and burn and rip that thing back up to you as fast as you can and you'll get crushed! The Almaco jack (cousin to the greater and lesser amberjack) in this picture took me for a ride! Holy smokes what a strong fish!
This last picture is just of my buddy Rich on the Sunshine skyway bridge in Tampa hooked up to a pretty solid 27 inch Gag grouper. Man was only using a 7ft rod and 20lb line and still got that bruiser in. If West Point is my favorite place to fish freshwater, this is definitely my favorite place to fish saltwater. Jekyll island here at home being a close second.
This one was a carp I caught right before leaving for the day. Sometimes I'll get into a spot and fish multiple species at the same time. Didn't have time to chum them or anything so just found a choke point they would have to go through and I fished a bottom rod while working a jig for largemouth at the same time and it worked out!
This next one is of me at age 18 a bunch of years ago. Almost took my eye out that day. Had a little girlfriend at the time do me dirty and I didn't know what else to do, so naturally, I went fishing. I was working a 7 inch texas rigged berkley power worm and got snagged on the bottom. Pulled back on the rod and the bullet sinker actually held true to it's name and shot back like a bullet and hit me just below the eyeball leaving the EWG hook hanging from my cheek. I was by myself and having a pretty terrible day, but pushed forward anyway. Pulled the hook out with pliers, wiped the blood away, had a seat for a minute to compose myself, and went right back to fishing. Got rewarded with almost a 5lber and a few more good ones mixed in.This next picture is the tail fin from the biggest carp I've ever caught. Thing was 32lbs! Those overgrown goldfish don't get the credit they deserve as great gamefish in America, but they'll always be pretty special to me! In this picture is a pretty decent redbelly I caught wet wading literally in a tiny creek down the road to my house next to a gas station. How's that for urban fishing? Lol! People get so caught up in the money and technology and mental game of fishing, especially when you're a super hardcore angler like myself, and sometimes it's nice to just kick back and get back to simple plain old fishing and there's nothing that brings you back to your childhood better than wading creeks and catching a bucket full of bream! Everybody wants the new fishing gear and the newest boat, but two legs, a rod and a can of worms or a simple spinner is all you need. Side note - this creek branches off one of the rivers that feed into lake Allatoona and sometimes I'll actually stick a pretty decent surprise catfish, crappie, or spotted bass in there too. Never know what you'll get! What you're looking at here in this photo is a male and female brown bullhead I found spawning on the bank of my favorite lake. I have video of them swimming back and forth protecting the little things too. At first it just looks like a black swarm underwater kind of like mosquitoes in the air, and then you see fins and the parents show up. I think a lot more of their young survive because they get protection from both parents instead of only the male like with sunfish and bass or worse, like stripers which don't dig any nest or anything at all and just let the eggs drift downstream.This next photo is of the very first fish I had ever caught on a big swimbait. If you saw me on the Fish North Georgia show or at Mike Bucca's grand opening event for his store, or read any of the swimbait information I've shared here on the forum, you know I'm pretty into throwing the big stuff for big bass and stripers. This fish was the day it all started. Years ago, I had decided I had enough of the 5-8lbers and I was determined to catch a 10. One of the best ways to do it was to eliminate the odds of catching smaller fish. I wasn't entirely convinced though and kept hearing the "they only work in california" rhetoric so I went with a few smaller swimbaits. I took an S-waver and spent awhile teaching myself to fish a glide bait for the first time and upon my 2nd or 3rd presentation, I stuck a 5 pounder my first day. That was the beginning of the swimbait addiction. I wrote it off as a fluke that day, but caught another one a little smaller on another similar bait the following week. Now I'm no dummy. One fish is a fluke. 2 fish is luck. But 3? That's a pattern. After that I bought a dedicated swimbait setup and never looked back. Several monster bass later, I'm glad I made the jump.
This picture is of an almost 7 pounder caught on a buzzbait in February last year. Tiny little overfished pond in a public park, but with weather just warm and stable enough to move fish up. You may think February is too early for topwater, but the right time for surface lures is any time the fish are shallow and active. These smaller ponds also warm faster than other bodies of water. Did some modifying to the buzzbait to fit the situation which I'll get into ity anyone asks, but long story short, chucked it over this flat, got it halfway in and saw that big toilet bowl flush and the rod loaded up. Bystanders freaked when they saw how big it was after swearing there were no fish in there and nobody ever catches anything in all the years they'd been going there.Here you see a bass well over 8 pounds I caught one morning before work on a carolina rig. I was told I was noticeably happier that day! I still have the exact bait I caught and released her on and the bait is in a shadow box on my wall. While she isn't my biggest fish, she's definitely one of the most memorable.In this one is an old picture from a trip with my family to Ft. Lauderdale I dunno how many years ago. I booked my first ever party boat trip and went offshore to the reefs in about 200-250 ft of water bringing with me a few boat rods and speed jigging rods. This is the Atlantic, so it's much deeper much closer to shore. We were within sight of the beach and already in 200ft. In the gulf, you have to go out to sea for miles to reach that depth. If you've never fished a speed jig or slow pitch jig for reef fish, I'd highly recommended it! Drop to the bottom, and burn and rip that thing back up to you as fast as you can and you'll get crushed! The Almaco jack (cousin to the greater and lesser amberjack) in this picture took me for a ride! Holy smokes what a strong fish!
This last picture is just of my buddy Rich on the Sunshine skyway bridge in Tampa hooked up to a pretty solid 27 inch Gag grouper. Man was only using a 7ft rod and 20lb line and still got that bruiser in. If West Point is my favorite place to fish freshwater, this is definitely my favorite place to fish saltwater. Jekyll island here at home being a close second.
