Dwight Hottle

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoyed that article. Sounds like a good idea to target deep areas on the great lakes.

Sounds like you guys had a great time. Congrats.

Hey Dwight! We have almost the same thread running two lines down: What is "big"? Kent I guess I didn't get my point across very well. I'm trying to compare what is your biggest largemouth to your biggest smallmouth from a personal goal standpoint. When you aspire to catch a certain size largemouth as a lifetime goal how big of a smallmouth does it take to compare to it. In your avatar your holding a 7lb+ and a 8lb+ smallie. From a personal satisfaction point of view how big would the two largemouth have to be to equal your accomplishment with the smallies. Would you have to be holding a 12lber & 15lber? Bigger? Kent

Not really. Pike often react to cold fronts by hunkering down or hugging bottom. Smaller pike like shallow water & will tolerate warmer water than large pike. Thats why large pike can be found shallow in the spring & fall when water temps are cooler. Once the water temps rise too much larger pike are found relatively deep. I have caught pike from 13-20 lbs in 60 feet on the bottom while jigging for lake trout.

My fishing buddies & I have always considered the benchmark for a lifetime trophy largemouth to be 10lbs. Out of all serious largemouth fisherman probably only a small percentage actually achieve the 10 lb plateau. We have always considered a 7lber to be the benchmark for smallmouth. Once again only a small percentage of bass anglers achieve the 7lb plateau. Disregard your own personal geographic location favoring either largies or smallies. What do you consider the equivalency to be between lifetime trophy largemouth & smallmouth? Does a 10lb largemouth equate to a 7lb smallmouth regarding trophy status? What does a 8lb smallmouth compare to in a largemouth? :-/

My early starts are round 8-9am. I guess if your retired it doesn't matter as much. Al Linder always said the fish don't start to bite until I get there anyhow. Time of year & water temps dictate sleep in or get up early. ;D

Outstanding. We both know it's its a great fishery. How was the boat traffic?

Five lbs as well

That is a great bass for CT. Love that girth.

Looks like you had a very sucessful spring.

Great fishing & pictures. I'll bet you sent those pictures home.

Yellow tiger works well.

1st 12lbs, 2nd 14lbs

5.5 lbs plus or minus 2 ozs.

Try trolling crankbaits & spoons covering different depths. There are many baits out there that run 25 to 30 feet deep straight lining. Rapala deep tail dancer model TDD-11 & Reef runner 800 series will run 30 feet & 28 feet with 260-280 feet back on 10lb mono or 20-30 lb braid. Spoons will get down deeper with snap weights attached or with a jet diver or dipsie diver. Good luck. Your likely to have better sucess with the walleye than the pike because of water temps.

Keep it up. You got love those lc baits.

Two beauties in the same picture. Well done.

The quality of the fisherman on this board & their willingness to openly share their hard earned knowledge makes these forums The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide. The first time I stumbled upon this site it impressed me and it continued to do so.

Fishing Rhino well said.

A quote from a fishing friend. "When preparation meets opportunity it is not luck." ;D

Its not a bass but it is my biggest so far this year. 49" long by 21.75" girth. 32 lbs. ;D

Second the suggestion of buying a camera. Congrats on your new pb.

6.75lb smallie 23" long.

I have fitovers marketed by Jonathan Paul and they are great. No eye strain or dry eyes from fishing all day. They retail for $49. The gold lens works best for almost all light conditions. They are polarized.

120lb florocarbon leader.