Nice Bass and Sunnies on the Golf Course

Today was hot and humid, perfect fishing weather if you ask me! The golf course was waiting, and I wanted to catch some more big 'gills. Even though the bluegill spawn was heading to a close (prime time is when surface water temps are 70 degrees, and little ponds heat fast), I wanted to get in some more nice gills, and maybe some big bullheads and bass.

So I set up my rods, 2 with live and dead chubs, one with a little crankbait, and proceed to get fishin'.
Action was hot in the beginning, with some smaller gills and some nice pumpkinseeds. Pumpkinseeds were absolutely gorgeous, as always.

Nothin better than some colorful 'seeds!

A while later, a spunky little bass decided to strike right at my feet. Almost gave me a heart attack, he struck so hard!

 A little while after, while I'm still fishing the crank, I see one of my rods bouncing, a I run to it and grab it. Lo and behold, there was another snapping turtle on the line! (I had caught one the other day, but today I didn't get a picture. Don't want to risk it. Them darn things can take off my finger.)

Here's the one from the other day; Will took the picture. 

Then some thing unthinkable happened. 

As I'm dealing with this one, my other rod starts bouncing. I put my rod wedged in the fencing and I run over to prevent my other rod from swimming. I reel in yet ANOTHER giant snapping turtle. Both their shells were well over 20 inches. I ended up just cutting the line to avoid loss of any appendages. I feel kinda disappointed, though. The snappers found my bait really fast. When it comes to pests I usually think of runt bluegills, not big snappers. This makes me afraid to do any more catfishing. 

What I end up doing is taking my bigger rod and putting on a carolina rig with a 7 inch black and chartreuse ribbontail worm. After a little while, I traveled to a little muddy flat  on the other side of the pond. 

I felt a vicious strike, set the hook, and felt a strong fight on the other end. Unfortunately, that feeling was over soon. I pitched another cast to the same spot, another strike, and another fight. The fish didn't fight as hard as the lost one (don't they always?), but still a very respectable fish, especially for NJ. 

There's a reason they're called bucketmouths... and look at that belly!!! (the fish I mean :P   )

 I went to a gravel-rocky shallow area, and I tied into another respectable fish, again with a big gut. The water in which I was fishing was so shallow, I saw the wake the bass made as it rushed over to my worm!

The big worm provided no more action other than one small fish, probably 12 inches, that took a worm more than half its length. Hehe. Aggressive little guy.

A bluegill rounded out the day, and I headed back home. I am going to make a point to fish bigger baits for bigger bass this year, hopefully I can get an NJ bass finally over 4 lbs! (my PB NJ largemouth is 3 lbs, 15 ounces, but my PB largemouth anywhere is 6 lbs)

Another perfect day gone, and I'm wishing for many more in the summer!