Basshole18

red hooks also.

7.2 pounds on this past sunday. I was fishing a club tournament down on the Cape. Weigh-in was at 1:00 P.M. It was about 12:30 and we wanted to hit one more spot so we ran across lake and got there with maybe 15 minutes to fish. There was several submerged boulders the size of volkswagën "bugs". The wind was absurd. I threw a few jig and pigs at the rocks, no bites. I switched to a carolina-rigged Zoom Magnum Lizard in Green Pumpkin. The whole rig landed on top of the boulder. I pulled it slowly off the rock, the weight fell first and the lizard slowly "crawled" off the rock behind it and fluttered down underneath the bottom of the rock. I felt nothing but a little pressure, a "mushy" bite and I set the hook HARD. At first I thought I had snagged the rock it felt so heavy then she budged and I saw the flash of her side and realized it was a PIG. I fought her as fast as I could and landed her. I thought she was closer to 8 pounds. Fish of a lifetime. Now, here's the AWFUL and still very painful part...I did NOT win lunker bass for the day. I did NOT even get first place. Somebody weighed in a 7.8!!! I had an awesome bag and thought for sure I had the win. Five fish for 19.9lbs! The winner weighed in 5 fish for 21.7lbs!!! UGGHHH it was brutal. The third place weight was 10.2 pounds and fourth was 3.9 pounds...Most people had 1 fish and some had no fish. People opted to stay deep for a smallie bite and we fished shallow. It paid off.

I am currently fishing a small boat tournament trail and doing well. My only problem is our boat is only 12 feet and has limit space with all of our gear packed into it and it has no livewell so we need to use a cooler with an aerator system in it. Most of the others do the same and most have more intricate systems. We simply have a medium cooler with one spray pole aerator. We have not lost any fish yet but we did have to release on at the last tourney due to it getting very weak. It did not end up hurting us but it could have. I am looking for advice on how to make the most efficient cooler-livewell. How many aerators should I use? How many ice packs should I put in it? etc., etc. Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you in advance!!!!!!!

Good story, NICE fish too! It's really warming up in my neck of the woods,(Cape Cod, MA) it's been 85-89 degrees the last 3 days and they are startin' to really "blow up" on those froggys. Just a suggestion on the baitcaster/frog problem; try a Spro bronzeye frog. Or really any hollow rubber frog. They really get thru the slop and they cast a country mile. I know it's not the same buzzin' action of the ribbits but they work awesome especially for HAWGS! And I saw someone else mention the Strike King Rage Tail Frog---UNBELIEVABLE action/bait. They really chug, bubble, and gargle. Good luck on getting that big girl again. Thanx for the good ol' fishin' story! Tight lines!!

I read somewhere once that Picks eat like up to a million bass fry a day. I, too, have no problem with dead pickeral. I have a 135 acre lake 10 yards from my back door and we kill all pickeral we catch and bass fishing has improved. They are useless.

Texas rigged tubes/craws, and flippin' jigs w/ chigger chunk trailers (Berkley) around shallow structure. Lay downs and grass have been good. Lily pads that have just started poppin' up are producing really well. The Strike King Rage Tail Craw has been AMAZING. I've been t-rigging it on a 3/0 EWG hook, with a 3/16 oz. weight. I just pitch it to shallow cover and hop it slowly and frequently. When the bite seems to slow I will hop it even slower but then suddenly do a hard, fast hop/jerk and that seems to trigger big reaction strikes from them. I've also caught some big females off of beds. I caught a 5 pounder off a bed and had to annoy her for about 20 minutes before I found the "sweet spot" on the bed and she bit. The bite has been amazingly good. I am on Cape Cod. I have a tournament this weekend and cannot wait. Me and my partner WILL take 1st. Period.

Over the winter and a little bit of last season I picked up a ton of swimbaits. Some soft plastic/hollow, some hard plastic/wood, and some soft plastic and weighted and pre rigged. I have been throwing them a lot with very little success. How does anyone else do out here on the east coast and what could I be doing wrong? I have had a few days that the bite was unreal and caught several 5 pound fish. I have not been throwing any huge swimbaits either. Most are under 6" or 7" and all are under 2oz. so I doubt they are too big for out here. I just seem to catch much better limits with larger flippin' jigs and t-rigs. I usually go to a swimbait when the wind picks up a lot and I already have a good limit (in a tourney). When do you guys pick up the big stick? I am just wondering what kind of experience everyone else has had and when they believe "optimum conditions" are for the swimbait. Thanks!

That video you posted is actually a "BIG" ika which is a different bait. It is a bit longer and quite a bit skinnier and less bulky. Rigging a BIG ika w/ a weight is not a bad rig at all. A FAT ika I would not reccomend rigging with a weight that often but if yoiu needed/wanted to flip into heavy cover you'd want to. But in that situation I would just go with a big fat tube. My favorite way to rig a FAT ika is to use a 4/O or 5/O owner riggin' hook. (Ultra wide gap hook with a shorter shank for short, bulky baits like the fatika) I rig it in thru the skirt so the skirt is on "top" and then I take a lunker city nail weight (the smaller ones) and use half or less of it and stick it into the tip of the FAT ika. I then pitch it to the edge of brush, mats, lily pads, docks, etc. and let it "swim" away from me on slack line. This rigging will allow the bait to glide backwards under the cover right into the fish's face. It's an absolutely awesome rig. Also works great on the beds, because you can lift it and drop it and it keeps gliding back onto the bed and often right into the fish's face and literally hits her on the nose and they cannot resist it. Hope this helps. Good Luck!!!

I need a heavy or extra-heavy rod for frogging/flipping/smaller swimbaits/DEEP jigs, DEEP c-rigs/heavy cover general purpose. (I know it's a lot to ask out of one rod but I am limited as to how many rods I can fit into the boat between me and my partner) Problem is...I fish from small craft. A 10 ft. Pelican Bass Raider pontoon boat to be exact. My question is does anyone here fish from a small boat similiar in size to this and use a 7'6"+ flipping stick? And if so do they have any problem with room, i.e. hooking your partner or being inhibited during casting. I am looking at 2 rods: Kistler Magnesium TS Jig N Toad special extra heavy 7'0" rated 1/4-1 1/2oz. Kistler Graphite Plus Telescopic Flipping Stick 7'6" rated 1/4-1 1/2oz. (Since this is telescopic I figured it'd help in the small boat). Which rod do you think would be better?

As for the megabaits, in my opinion they are junk. Probably why they are out of business. But as far as the 2 jackall baits go...AMAZING. Jackall is by far one of the finest companies out there right now. I buy a lot of premium japanese tackle and everytime I get a jackall product I am utterly impressed. The Giron is a HUGE go-to bait for me. When those bluegill are swarming the shallows pestering the bedding fish and cruising bass later in the year...nothing is better. I've caught some of my bests on the Giron. The jackall mask is an awesome bait too. I have not used the flexible version but the regular one is phenomonal!

The other day I was out on one of my favorite smallie ponds down here on the cape. It happens to be where the old state-record smallmouth came out of. It was real cold and the largemouth were not biting at all so we decided to go for smallies. They were biting very scarcely also. Well anyway I was drop-shotting a zoom 4" meathead in green pumpkin. We were off a long point right on a break where the water depth dropped rapidly from 5 ft. to about 17feet. I was casting along the drop off and I was really dazing off just talkin to my buddy when instantly i felt like I was hooked into a volkswagen driving away from me. I didnt even have time to set the hook, it was instant. I knew it was something gigantic and my buddy seemed to be able to tell also because of the look on his face and the bend on my rod. I've caught a lot of big fish but this one just felt incredibly stronger I was actually questioning if it was a snapping turtle or something. Then the fish jumped and it was absolutely incredibly and absolutely a BIG fish. When I finally got it to the boat, we were seriously questioning how close it was to a state record. I have a 5lbs, 10oz. smallmouth that I caught when I was 11 "stuffed" on my wall and this fish completely and utterly dwarfed it. We got the scale out and in my mind I was saying 7lbs, 2-4oz. or somewhere around there. My buddy Keith said "that's EASY 7lbs". But I was the one holding it and it really did not feel that heavy. When I looked at it's belly it was skinny. Anyway, I put it on the scale and it was 6 pounds even. I was SOOO surprised because this thing was just so much bigger than my stuffed fish and Keith had caught a 5lbs 4oz. fish earlier in the season and this one was way larger. The length and height from dorsal fin to belly was utterly incredible, but the girth was SO small. As the day progressed we saw tons and tons of dead and floating fish, mostly smallmouth but largemouth also. (Probably just because this pond holds a SM to LM ration of probably 3:1). This made me nervous because this particular pond is part of a VERY productive chain of lakes down here. They are all connected by very small creeks but I am worried if there is something wrong with the water quality that it will spread to all of these lakes. I spoke to another guy who loves to fish these same lakes and he said one of the other ponds in the chain has been producing very strange looking fish. He said they all seemed incredibly and ridiculously thin and their color was way off. These ponds are known for their awesome growth rates as they are fed by alewife/herring runs that produce an amazing forage base. Is there anyway I can find out if there is something significantly wrong (i.e. contact enviro' rangers, etc.)? And does anyone have/had any similiar situations? And does anyone know what it could be?

Now, there's a man that knows what he's talkin about. Kistler, IMO is the best rod, hands down. And I've had/tried just about ALL companies. I also have a carrot stix and it is pretty nice!

THANK YOU INFIDEL!!! I am sponsored by the TACKLE shop, nothing at all to do with Kistler. He is not an official Kistler dealer or anything like that either. In FACT, I convinced him to bring in Kistlers he did not even carry them because I loved them so much. My buddy hooks me up from his tackle store, and like infidel said, I can choose whatever company I want. I was trying to give useful information and help someone out. I will say it again: I AM IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH, WORKING FOR, OR SPONSORED by KISTLER!!! I just think they are the best rods I've ever used and would like to pass that on to the next man.

wow...A rage craw on the back of a chatr....that action must be just plain RIDICULOUS!! gotta try that one

Shimano Curado 100D or Shimano MG50 definately amazing reels that are super user-friendly and super sturdy and super light!!!

KISTLER KISTLER KISTLER. Let me tell you...I have a carrot stix and my buddy has 2 cumaras. The cumaras are very nice and I am a bit disappointed in my carrot stix but if you want the best rod with the lightest weight, and BY FAR the most sensitivity get a Kistler Helium LTA (229.99$). They use a "semi-secret" graphite that is truly innovative and unbelievable. They have no foregrip, an awesome hook hanger, and it is very "pretty". I am in no way a spokesperson for Kistler either. These rods are just amazing. I've had and used St. Croix, Daiwa, G. Loomis, Cumara, Carrot Stix, etc. and truly nothing compares to Kistlers. I have been replacing ALL of my rods with Kistlers because I feel as though I have really been cheated fishing all these years w/ out Kistler. Their customer service is awesome also and their warranty is great. Check these rods out they are lighter than just about any rod I know of and truly WAY more sensitive than my Carrot Stix and my buddy's Cumara. (He is even selling one of his Cumara's for an LTA). I use a Helium II LTX for drop shotting and I feel the fish BREATHE on it. I know the fish bit before she does! Really, Kistler has changed my fishing 150%!!!!!!!

My SX was awful and started grinding and became uncastable withing 10 uses. Really crappy compared to the STX. I love the STX. What does everyone think of the premier? Is it worth the extra loot? I love light reels.

Also pass the tag end back thru the top of the hook eye to make sure the hook stands out straight. DROP SHOTTING IS THE FUTURE OF BASS FISHING!!!

Items sold, Sorry, No I am not an advertiser I am just a member that is selling some stuff in the flea market section. Sorry if I sounded like an advertiser trying to exploit sales!!! I later read through the forum rules more carefully and realized this is technically double-posting so I apologize and the items are sold! http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1209833588/0

SOOO confused...the before this cold front the fish were starting to come onto the beds which was REALLY early especially for Cape Cod...then this intense cold front came and the cold rain and I did not bother to fish...THEN this morning I decided to go out and I was expecting to fish real deep with finesse baits and drop shots as we're still basically in a cold front. I got no bites deep so I moved in shallow w/ a t-rigged chigger craw in black/blue flke and I saw a good size female on the corner of a bed. I pitched to it and on the first "twitch" she inhaled it. She was in about 5 feet of water so I stuck to that pattern just moving along the edge of the pond casting to beds and flats in front of me and absolutely CREAAAMMMEDDD them. It was ridiculous. I was catching BIG females every few casts. They were on a feeding frenzy. I ended up getting my best limit of this year by far. I'm sooo confused...How could this be?

I wanted to know how everyone here feels about the drop shot (especially being from the Northeast), when they like to use it, what baits they like to rig it with, and any special techniques you may use. I believe the drop shot is one of THE most important rigs. It's also very VERSATILE, yep, versatile. It's time to dispell the rumors and stereotypes of drop shotting. "It's only for pressured/cold-front situations" and "It's only effective in deep, clear water" and "It should only be fished on spinning outfits with light line and small baits"---ALL FALSE. These are all true in their own ways. It is very effective in all those ways, but now it's finally being recognized as more versatile (i.e. article about shallow water/heavy cover "hawg shotting" with big baits in May's Bassmaster magazine). I use the drop shot almost every time I go out. Fishing a "hawgshot" in shallow, heavy cover water is an amazingly effective technique. It stays above the bottom weeds, you can shake it for painfully long periods of time in front of the fishes face. You can hold it and shake it right next to a good piece of structure for as long as your heart desires. Fish are not used to seeing a craw hovering in front of their face with no weight on it. You can allow the bait to fall and rise as many times as you want without even moving it closer to you. I was skeptical at first but it has really changed my fishing. Two weeks ago I was fishing a very heavily covered pond here on Cape Cod and I was pitching a t-rigged Strike King Rage tail craw. I was getting some bites but not nearly as many as I wanted. I decided to try the "hawg shot" i had been reading about and it was unbelievable. I saw fish just sit and stare at it while I shook it til they just could NOT stand it anymore and finally they'd inhale it. My buddy stuck w/ the t-rig with the exact same bait as me (Rage tail craw in watermelon/rdflke) and I outfished him 17 to 7. Not to mention the fish I caught were a lot larger. I've fished it almost every day since then and had GREAT luck with it. Needless to say my buddy is now fishing it too. Dont get me wrong, I am not trying to say this is THE rig or that it's the only rig you need or anything crazy like that. There is still plenty of situations where there is much better baits to throw than this. But it is highly effective and just shows that you cannot follow the "rules" of bass fishing techniques. Try anything, no matter how crazy it may seem because that's how techniques get created. I'd like to hear what people think about this and traditional drop shotting and if anyone has tried it and had as awesome an experience as I've been having.

For SM I've been using suspending jerkbaits. Especially the Lucky Craft Pointer I have in a matte perch pattern. For LM I've been getting them on jigs pitched to shallow brushpiles/laydowns/grass/etc. I've also been getting them on crankbaits, and jerkbaits and I've been doing AMAZING on a drop shot rigged up witha Roboworm 4" Alive Shad/Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm/YUM 6" Big Show Paddle worm.

Hey I'm new to the Forum and from Cape Cod but was wondering if it's cool if I meet up there??? I would like info on where/how I rent a boat and if I can bring a trolling motor as I heard they only come w/ gas outboards. I would be bringing a buddy with me also. Let me know because I will definately be there if it's cool.

6 rods usually CASTING: 1 Kistler Helium LTA 6'9" MH for T-rigs and Jigs 1 Kistler MagnesiumTS 7' M Cranking stick for all cranks and some topwater (1/8-3/4oz.) 1 Daiwa TD-S 6'6" MH for close-quarter spinnerbaitin, buzzbaits, jerkbaits (I like stiff rods for these techniques) 1 Kistler Helium LTA 7' X-heavy for Froggin, Punchin Mats, and swimbaits (in MA the HUGE swimbaits dont fly too well) All with Shimano Curado 100s or 200s except the Xheavy has a Pflueger Summit SPINNING: 1 Kistler Helium II LTX 6'9" M for Dropshots, shakeyheads, flick-shake, darterheads, finesse in general (with Shimano Stradic Magnesium 4000) 1 St. Croix Avid 6'6" M for weightless worms, tubes, light cranks. (Shimano Sedona 4000)

I am from the cape and Mashpee-Wakeby is the only one I have experience fishing. Mashpee Wakeby can be tough but most of the time it is AWESOME. The Wakeby side has produced better for me. They are really two different ponds but they are connected so people often consider them one. It is a clear water lake in most areas and the best cover for smallmouth this time of year will be the large rock areas. Fish the large boulders that emerge the water. I usually make casts to the side that has the wind blowing over it. the "back" side. Try a fast reaction bait. There is potential for some really huge smallmouth in this pond. A suspending jerkbait, crankbait, or spinnerbait will smash them. Last time I was there about 10 days ago the largemouth were still staged in deeper water off of points. THey were also not in the backs of coves but on the cuts coming into the coves. There is a lot of males shallow most likely right now and probably a few large females not far from them. I had best luck with a drop shot and carolina off the points and also a football jig. The points with fast drop off's seemed to produce a lot more. The water temp is significantly warmer since I've been there, probably 4-5 degrees more anyway but I'm sure they haven't moved too much from this type of pattern. Mashpee-Wakeby is a great pond that can really humble you and fishes a lot more like a large impoundment. Dont waste time on spots that dont hold significant bass cover as there is a lot of "dead spots" in this pond. If you've never fished my best advice would be to move fast. Fish spots that look like they'll hold bass (points, drop offs, lay downs, boulders, etc., etc.) and if you fail to get a bite within 10-15 minutes then move to the next good looking spot. Good Luck and let us know how you do/did.